Jesus: The LORD Saves!

Jesus: The LORD Saves!

Luke 2:21“And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”                      

When you count off eight days from December 25 (the day of Jesus’ birth), you come to January 1 (the day of his circumcision). 

So while the world around us observes the beginning of a new solar year in time, we Christians celebrate the circumcision of a Jewish boy 2000 years ago and in doing so, the first of January becomes for us not just another notch in time, not just another passing year, but a genuine link with eternity through the flesh of God’s own Son.

The circumcision of Jesus may seem like an odd event to even remember much less celebrate–but some eternally important things for our salvation happened in this moments of our Lord’s life, things that we ought to remember and rejoice in this evening.  PAUSE

It is in this moment that we first see Jesus actively fulfilling the Law in our place.  Though his entire life was one of perfect obedience to the Law of his Heavenly Father in place of our disobedience, we see his obedience to the Law first as he was circumcised in keeping with the demands of the ancient covenant.

It is in this moment that we first see Jesus suffering and bleeding for our sins.  While Jesus he suffered and shed his life’s blood on Calvary’s cross to pay for our sins, his first shed blood upon this sin-filled earth was at his circumcision. 

Therefore the name he was given in this ceremony:  Jesus, the LORD saves--not only signified what he would do, but what he had already begun to do, in these moments, at just eight days old:  the salvation of the world by his holy life and bloody death. 

And so this evening, we not only look forward to a New Year, but we also look back to the very beginning of our salvation.  The Bible says

“And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”  

Every Son of Israel was given his name at the time of circumcision.  So our Lord was also given his name by Joseph. 

But his was no ordinary name!  His name was literally given from heaven, announced by an angel to both Mary and Joseph at his conception.  The angel told Joseph:  “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he shall save his people from their sins.”

And so this tiny bundle of humanity was given the strong name of Jesus:  the LORD saves!  A name signifying not only what he would do in saving the world-- but who he was–none other than the one true Savior God, the LORD, in the human flesh of a newborn baby boy. 

Jesus grew up from that moment on, to fulfill that name in the most wonderful of ways for us and for our salvation. 

All that God’s Holy Law demands from you and me, all that we have failed to do over this past year, Jesus fulfilled perfectly and completely–in all his thoughts, words, and deeds-- holy and righteous in his heavenly Father’s sight.

When we think back over the past year, when we reflect on our obedience to our heavenly Father’s will, we see that we have failed in countless ways to please him in thought, word, and deed.

Jesus’ circumcision began a perfect life of obedience for us, in our place–a life lived in perfect agreement with his Father’s will–a holy life that God counts as our own when we believe in Jesus. 

And so we go forward in this New Year confident in God’s grace, knowing that the Father is pleased with our lives on account of Christ’s holy life-- and that we are his children because we are connected by faith and baptism to his Son. 

All that you and I by our sins deserved, the punishment and death, the forsaken-ness by God-- Jesus suffered patiently and thoroughly (once for all) in our place on Calvary’s cross.  God the Father laid upon him the iniquity of us all and it crushed the life from him. 

For our salvation and to give us new life he was crucified, died, and was buried and rose from the grave on the third day with the promise that death is not the end for those who trust in him.  PAUSE      With the passing of time we cannot help but be reminded that one day, time will come to an end for us, and we too will pass from this earth. 

But Jesus’ story is one of new, eternal life for us and for all people because he was physically raised from the dead on the third day to give us new life.  New life here in time and in eternity and a fresh start for us in this New Year.

We go forward in this New Year confident of God’s grace knowing that through faith in the name of Jesus, we have already passed from death to life and we have nothing to fear when we pass from this life into the eternal presence of our Savior God.  The Bible says that this is why:

God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  And what a blessing it is for us to know that:  There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.  PAUSE

The Name of Jesus and all the blessings that it conveys is the best of news of all for us as we begin this New Year. 

The world around us is filled with uncertainty and bad news.  Where will our leaders take us?  What will happen in war torn areas around the globe?  What will the economy do?  What will this New Year bring for my job and my family and my health?  How will we handle the changes and chances of life in this New Year?

The Good News for us this evening is that by the grace and help of God we will handle all of it –both the blessings and the struggles--in the strong, saving name of Jesus.  PAUSE

Now, there’s nothing magical about the name of Jesus in and of itself–it was a common name then and in some communities it’s still a common name. 

Rather, the power in the name of Jesus is the power and authority of the Son of God himself and that power is ours as we go forth in this New Year in his Name.  So what does that mean for us practically in 2019? IT MEANS THAT:

1. When we pray in the name of Jesus, our heavenly Father regards it as Jesus’ prayer and so we can be confident that our prayers are heard and answered by our heavenly Father for Jesus’ sake to our eternal good.

2. When the Word of God is preached in the name of Jesus, it is the authority of Jesus Christ himself that stands behind that word:  calling us to repent of our sins and assuring us that we are forgiven and guiding us in how to live a life that is pleasing too God.

3. When we Christians give a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus or perform some other act of mercy or good work in this new year in his holy name, we can be confident that it is Jesus himself working through our hands and feet and lips to provide for the needs of our neighbor so that our charity and good works and gifts are a real participation in Jesus’ redemptive work of love in this dark and dying world. 

In summary, it means that whatever we do in the name of Jesus, whether in word or in deed in this New Year, we give glory to God and we can count on his presence and blessing in our lives and homes–our marriages and families

This evening, the clock will tick down on another year for planet earth and the big shiny ball will fall in Times Square.

But in this moment, we Christians gather together to gain a firmer grip on eternal things: to receive forgiveness for our sins–to hear the Good News that gives eternal life–to thank God for his blessings over the last year and to seek his blessing for the year to come–and in these ways to prepare for the eternity we will spend in God’s presence.

Confronted by the relentless march of time and the approach of death, the unbelieving world thinks it is better to spend life in drunkenness and carousing than to have to confront the terrifying truth that for each of them time will come to an end.

But we Christians rejoice tonight, even in passing years and approaching death, knowing that when time comes to an end for us, it is not the end of us at all, but the beginning of a new life that will last forever.

And so in the name of Jesus we begin the new year confident and secure and at peace.  And if, in this year, the day comes that we depart this earthly life, we still will have nothing to fear, for then we will die as we lived —in the strong, saving name of Jesus.  Amen. 

Put on Love!

Put on Love!

Colossians 3:12-17 Christmas is past and the New Year is at hand.  Have you had the nerve to step on the scale?  Have you checked your credit card balances?  Have you gotten all of your thank you notes written?  Am I spoiling your Sunday morning?

I ask these questions because, in day or so, millions of our fellow Americans are going to make their New Year’s resolutions.  They will resolve to lose weight and they will resolve to get their finances in order and they will resolve to get better organized.  These are all worthy goals and every journey begins with a single step and so I’m in favor of making resolutions.

But for the child of God, for us here today, those resolutions cannot be the only thing )or even the main thing) that we want to accomplish in the year to come.

Our hopes and dreams and plans for the future are not only for this year-- or even for this life-- but for the life to come.  And so we hear today from the Holy Spirit who encourages us in what really matters- and endures- and stands the test of time.

While these words from Paul are going to sound like a list of things to do—and they are—what they really are is an invitation to put on Christ—to put on Christ’s love and to put on Christ’s holiness.

We’re going to hear that language throughout the text and whenever you hear those words in the New Testament you are hearing baptismal language:  that we are to lay hold of the life of Christ into which we were baptized and put on his righteousness like a garment and wear it each day in the year to come.  The Bible says:

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience; bearing with one another… 

            This is our baptismal identity—this is who we are in Christ:  God’s chosen ones, holy in his sight through faith in Jesus and loved by him with an everlasting love. 

And so then, when the Holy Spirit calls us to lives of compassion and kindness and humility and meekness and patience—he is simply calling us to live out our baptismal identity as those who have died and been raised with Christ and who are empowered to walk in newness of life.

God is not asking us to memorize this list of spiritual attributes (though that would be time well spent), what he is asking us to do is to strive to live out Christ’s life in our own life:  to have a heart that is tender towards others in their brokenness, to think of the needs of others before ourselves, and to patiently endure the irritations that come when sinners live together in marriages and families and schools and workplaces and congregations.

Just imagine what this New Year would be like for us- and for those around us- if more and more of Jesus was made manifest in our lives?  Imagine what a blessing we would be to one another! 

But of course we know how often our best intentions and sincere resolutions fall short-- and so we must be people of forgiveness in the year to come.  The Bible says:

if one has a complaint against another, forgive each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 

            Many, many people are carrying some extra weight into the New Year.  Many, many people are carrying some extra debt into the New Year.  Many, many people are carrying a list of things to do into the New Year that is a mental and emotional burden.  These are all part of life.

That said:  brothers and sisters in Christ, I am here to tell you that there is one burden that you do not need to bear and that is the burden of your own sins and the burden of those who have sinned against you. 

Lay that burden down and do not even think about carrying it into the New Year for there is no need!

Our Lord Jesus Christ has fully and freely take away your sins.  He has paid the sin debt you could not pay.  He has borne the sin burden you could not bear.  As far as the east is form the west your sins have been removed.  They have been cast in to the depths of the sea and God no longer remembers even one of them.  Cast your burden on the Lord for he cares for you!

But here’s the thing:  he has also done this for those who have wounded you and sinned against and he wants you to not only lay claim of his blood-bought forgiveness for yourselves-- but he wants you to apply that same powerful, cleansing blood to all of the sorrow and pain and hard feelings in your heart because of the sins of others.  The Bible says:

Above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.

            Each and every one of us here today are loved by God and forgiven by Christ.  No matter what this New Year holds for us, there is a peace that passes all understanding that fills our hearts and minds because we know that the one thing that really and truly matters eternally—our life with God—is safe and secure in the nail-scarred hands of Jesus Christ.

            But in this New Year, our Lord Jesus Christ would have that love and forgiveness and peace we have received in faith, move from us to others in ever expanding circles of spiritual influence that impacts those around us in powerful, life-changing ways.

That is especially to be true of us in the church.  We are brothers and sisters in Christ.  We are members of the same Body of Christ.  We have the same loving Father.  All of the saving merits that Jesus Christ has bestowed upon us are to be evident in how we treat one another in the church.

In the early church the one characteristic that drew the attention and admiration of the pagan culture around them was the way the Christians treated one another and cared for one another.  “See how they love one another” was said of the church.

What a worthwhile goal for us in the year to come, that we grow in our love for our fellow saints in this place, that those in our community would take note of the way that we love and care for one another. 

For all these blessings of body and soul, the Holy Spirit says:  be thankful.   All of us want to make progress in the year to come.  Maybe we want to finish our degree or graduate from high school.  Maybe we want to save more money or get a raise or promotion at work.  Maybe we want to get healthier.

There is not a thing in the world with wanting to make some progress in life unless it blinds us to what we already have and silences our thanksgiving to God for those blessings.

To be more content and joyful and have more peace of heart in the year to come, it is not necessary in the least that we always have more and more.  Instead, the path to contentment and peace and joy begins with thanksgiving for what we already have. 

That we are sitting here today among God’s people fed and clothed and sheltered, makes each and every one of us among the most blessed people in the world and we need to make a commitment to be more thankful in our hearts to God in the year to come.  The Bible says:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

            If there is one thing that I wish I could make happen as a pastor by waving a magic wand it would be to get every member here more grounded in the word of God and more committed to the private and public worship of God.

There is simply nothing else that will bless you so profoundly as spending regular time in the Word of God.  There is nothing else that will more surely lead to spiritual maturity as reading and studying God’s Word on a daily basis.  And so then, I encourage you in the Lord…

Make a commitment right now that each and every day you will have a daily devotion.  Make a resolution that you will worship God each day and pray for yourself and one another.  And especially make a solemn decision that this year you will worship each Sunday and attend Bible class.

You need this and we need you.  We do not worship only for ourselves but we come together to worship to be strengthened by the presence of our fellow Christians—to be reminded that there are those who share our faith and our values in this dark, unbelieving world—and to make sure that the worship and knowledge of the one true God goes forth into the world.  The Bible says:

Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

            By virtue of our baptism into Christ we bear his name.  We are Christians.  And so here in these words is a wonderful summary of everything we talked about today:  that we would do nothing in this New Year that we cannot ask the Lord to bless—that we would only do those things upon which we would not be ashamed to place his name.

To glorify God in all that we say and do means that we will magnify him by what we say and do—it means that those around us will praise God because of what they see in us—it means that the Savior who lives within us by his Spirit would be made manifest in every moment of our life.

Losing weight and saving money and getting organized are worthy goals and helpful resolutions but they cannot compare to being a better, more consistent witness to Jesus.  And so then let us put on Christ and his love and glorify God in all that we say and do.  Amen.

The Virgin's Son

The Virgin's Son

Isaiah 7:10-14 The Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

           

The LORD spoke to Ahaz.  It may not be readily apparent, but there is profound comfort for each and every one of us in those words!

There is the promise that no matter how far we have fallen, no matter how great our sin, no matter the distance between ourselves and God:  the LORD is always ready to reach out to us in love—even to someone as terrible as Ahaz.

There is really no way to adequately convey to you what an evil man Ahaz was.  He was a king of God’s people who led the entire nation away from God.  He never turned to God in his need and instead sought out help from the pagan nations around him.

He burned his own children alive in worship to pagan gods and he established pagan worship places among God’s people so that they could follow his hateful example. 

His sins were really beyond imagination and what was even worse is that he led God’s people into spiritual slaughter by causing them to abandon their Savior God.

He was as evil a man as can be found in the Bible and yet…God loved him.  God loved him.  Can you imagine such a thing! 

Now please understand, God did not love his sin—not at all!  He hated it with a holy, righteous, burning hatred. 

But he loved Ahaz-- and so long as Ahaz was still among the living there was still hope for him to repent of his sins- and turn to his Savior- and lead his people in the way of life.  And so the LORD spoke to him with words of warning and promise.

To every person assembled here today—whether you are a so-called “Christmas and Easter” Christian who only make it to church on those days—whether you have been dragged here by your wife or mother and grandmother to keep the peace in the family—whether you are someone who struggles with a besetting sin and never seems to make any progress in being done with it:  no matter who you are, no matter what you have done—God loves you and he speaks to you today in his Word so that you might hear his voice and know his love.  The Bible says:

The Lord spoke to Ahaz:  “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”

            Ahaz had big plans for himself and for the nation he ruled.  He thought he had everything worked out so that he could preserve his reign and his fortune.  He formed alliances with greater nations than his own and he was certain that he would come out on top in the conflicts to come.

But all of this he had done without consulting the LORD who had other plans.  Even in those dark moments, even when Ahaz had abandoned the LORD and encouraged the people to do the same, the LORD promised that he would be their deliverer—that they didn’t need to rely on armies or alliances—that he was still their Savior God and could be counted on to save them.

And what’s more, he made Ahaz an incredible offer:  ask of me any sign you choose—anything at all whether it reaches the heights of heaven or the depths of earth and I will bring it to bear so that you can know and believe that I am the God who saves. Just ask me for a sign.

Our lives may seem pretty far removed from Ahaz --but his way of thinking is familiar to us. 

When we have a job and money in the bank—when our kids are healthy and happy—when we have big plans for our future and all that we want to accomplish—we may think that we have the world by the tail, but we need to ask ourselves the question Ahaz should have asked himself:  where is God in all this?  Have I sought his will for my life?  Am I going in his ways?  Is my only need of God to get a divine stamp of approval on what I want to do?

For Ahaz and for us, the LORD wants us to turn to him—to see in him alone our hopes and plans for the future and to trust that he will truly bring the blessings we need. 

And so what was Ahaz’s response to the LORD’s invitation to ask for a sign?  Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.”  At first glance this may seem very pious.  It is true that we shouldn’t demand a sign from the LORD.  The promises of the LORD should be more than enough to earn our faith and trust.

But it was the LORD himself who offered the sign.  And Ahaz refused.  Dear friends in Christ, I cannot begin to tell you what a terrible, faithless thing it is to refuse the signs that the LORD himself gives so that we can know and believe and lay hold of his love for us.

Think about God’s Word and Sacraments.  Much more than mere signs of God’s love—they are the very substance of that love set before our eyes and ears so that we might know the goodness and mercy of our Savior God.  And yet, what is our attitude towards them?

Do we eagerly open our Bible each day so that we might hear the voice of the living God of the universes who stands ready in every moment to encourage us and guide us and empower us with his Word?

Do we reclaim for ourselves each day (with the sign of the cross) the promises of our Holy Baptism:  that we have died with Christ and been raised with Christ so that we might walk with him in newness of life? 

Do we treasure the Sacrament of the Altar where we are given the very Body and Blood of Christ so that we might know that the One who died for the world on the cross also died for us, personally and individually?

Are we glad for every opportunity to gather among God’s people in this place to worship the LORD who goes far beyond the gift of mere signs to give us the very substance of his saving love?

We may look with scorn upon the lack of faith and false piety of someone like Ahaz, but while we do, we must also look at our own hearts and ask ourselves:  have I wearied the LORD with my own unwillingness to receive the gifts he stands ready to give?  Isaiah said:

“Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?

            My dad was a pretty patient guy but when he told us kids, “I am getting sick and tired of that” you had better pay attention.  That’s what that Hebrew word means when Isaiah says that Ahaz and the whole people of God had “wearied” the LORD.

The LORD didn’t have a short fuse.  The LORD had simply had enough.  These words were spoke after centuries of disobedience—after centuries of un-kept promises from his people to change—after centuries going the way of the world and following after false gods. 

And now, when the LORD stood ready one more time to come to their aid and give them salvation from their enemies, they turned their backs on his promises and rejected his sign and the LORD had simply had enough.

We know that moment had come for Ahaz and his people-- but we don’t know when that moment will come for us. 

And so we have to ask ourselves:  what am I doing that is wearying the Lord?  What promises am I rejecting, what signs am I neglecting, that would lead the LORD to say of me:  enough is enough?  I want you to hear now the LORD’s solution to the sins of Ahaz and Allan and all of you too.

The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Is that not the most remarkable, wonderful, comforting thing that you have ever heard?!  The Lord’s way of dealing with the faithlessness of Ahaz; the Lord’s way of dealing with a people on the wrong path; the Lord’s way of dealing with our sins and our allegiances with the world-- is the gift of a Son—given by the LORD himself in the most miraculous and wonderful way!

This was the Seed of the Woman promised to Eve (in the beginning) who would undo the destructive forces of sin and Satan and Isaiah promised that he would come into the world from the womb of a Virgin.  He would be given the name Jesus:  the LORD who saves-- and he would be our Immanuel, the God who is with us. 

Far, far from abandoning us to our sins--far, far from turning his back on us because of our wayward ways-- the LORD sent his Son into the world to be our Savior.

On Christmas day we rejoice in the birth of the Virgin’s Son.  It is a sweet and tender scene that fills our eyes of faith.  But we can never forget the reason why his birth was needed at all:  it was to die for our sins and the sin of the world.

Jesus Christ, the Virgin’s Son is the enduring sign of the love God has for us despite our sins—the Good News in human flesh that God is not done with us but desires that each of us would return to him with all our heart.  God grant it for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

The King of Israel