Prince of Peace Sermon for Christmas Eve, 2023

Isaiah 11

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Merry Christmas to you all. It's a joy that we get to celebrate Christ's incarnation and birth every year. This is the night where we do that. We remember that God became a human being came down to earth to join us in our human existence, and live as one of us. The readings tonight tell the salvation story over the course of the history of Israel, looking at Genesis, the fall into sin at Abraham and his gift of His Son, the predictions of a Savior who would come and then the story of Jesus being born, that same savior that was promised. Today, I'd like to take a look at this, the passages from Isaiah, that help us to see who Jesus is to be. Isaiah chapter nine, says that he will be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. The Prince of Peace. Peace sounds kind of nice, doesn't it? I bet just about every one of you has a piece of your life, where you would like to bring that Prince of peace into right? At least to bring just regular old, plain old normal peace because we all something the Prince of Peace. What's amazing about this Prince of Peace is what the other passage in Isaiah describes his reign will be like, and it's pretty outstanding. He has the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, and His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. You shall not judge by by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness, He shall judge the poor. Righteousness, wisdom, understanding. And what an amazing result happens. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb. The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together, and a little child shall lead them. Oh, amazing, is that? It's actually kind of crazy, isn't it? To put a wolf and a lamb together in a pen pretty soon you only have one. You know which one it is, right? You put the leopard. And the young goats in the same space, you get a very short chase. And just a leopard remains. Wolves and lambs they fight. Leopards eat goats. What kind of piece is that? It's a crazy kind of piece. Right? Outside of our experience, something so crazy that you could set down a toddler with a cobra, and be happy about it. Can you imagine? We won't even let our kids play outside these days. The Prince of Peace? We could all use that kind of peace. Couldn't we? Wouldn't it be great if we could have leaders who are like this Prince of Peace? Perhaps the craziest thing about this prediction is that there might be a leader out there who has wisdom and understanding. When it'd be great if they would just not fight. If politics wasn't about blasting the other person if all they did was trying to bring about peace, justice. Couldn't we use that kind of peace? Wouldn't it be great if the people in our own lives could disagree with one another in love? Like we have a disagreement, and it doesn't devolve down to name calling bashing the They're running off to someone else and complaining about them. But we could simply just talk it out. Wouldn't it be great to have that kind of peace? But it's so rare? Wouldn't it be great if you could get along with your neighbors that way? I don't know about you, but I have really great neighbors. But not all of us do. Sometimes we fight about where they put the garbage can. Right? Sometimes what we do is we ask a simple request, and they yell back at you. Maybe it's not your neighbor, maybe it's your co worker. person you see every day classmate? Wouldn't it be great if we could have peace? Wouldn't it be great if our families, even just our families, could have peace all the time? The people who are supposed to love each other the most sometimes we fight each other, the hardest? And then we don't talk about it. And it builds up until we all get together for Christmas. And there is an explosion. Right? Wouldn't it be great if we could even have peace in our families? Wouldn't it be great if we could just have peace one place in our own hearts? I don't know about you. I'm a pretty happy guy. And even I have struggles. Don't always find peace in my own heart. Wouldn't it be great if we could have peace? That is what Jesus is about. He is the prince of peace, who comes to end all conflict, make wars cease. And his reign even is so radically peaceful that the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the goat with the leopard. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. And we see the peace of Jesus in the way he came into this world. Not as a warrior king in Great King Herod's halls, but with the sheep and the donkey in a small house, in Bethlehem, lying in a manger, where it wasn't the mighty and the powerful, who heard the announcement of the Savior being born, but shepherds out in a field working hard all night long. who suddenly get to hear that a Pete a prince has come the Prince of Peace. And he comes to end all this conflict by taking care of the heart of conflict itself, our own sin. You see, conflict isn't just out in the world and other people's faults. It always starts in here with each one of us. That's what our opening reading from Genesis is all about. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and the very first thing they do is blame each other. Right. Adam blames God for putting the woman there. Then he blames Eve. He blames the snake and no one takes responsibility. And they set the pattern for the rest of us. We don't have peace in our lives because we have sin in our hearts. And that peace causes conflict inside of us, in our families, and our neighborhoods, our workplaces and in the world. And what we need is the Prince of Peace, to come to us with his reign and rule to bring us peace. And that is Jesus. That's why He came to earth

to end the hostility between each other between us and God and to get rid of all All of our sin, the Prince of Peace came to bring that peace to you. And He does it by bringing his kingdom here. The Prince of Peace can come to you. Does that very simply, humbly and lowly. In a church, talk to the end of a parking lot, every Sunday morning. You've got normal human beings, none of whom who have true peace all on their own. With sin that brings about conflicts with problems in our families with hurts in our past with pain in our lives. And we come here because we need that Prince of Peace. Just like you, just like everyone, we need a Savior who came to earth to die for us, to rise for us, and who will make all things new. That Prince of Peace is wherever this ministry happened. So I encourage you, everyone who wants peace in your life, if you're seeking it in your own heart, in your communities, in your families, wherever it is, the only way to get it is to be where the Prince of Peace comes to fill you with His peace, to receive His Word, and Sacraments, to have him fill you with His peace. So that you can have it both now and when he returns to raise you from the dead. And so we come here tonight we celebrate a birth we sing the carols that we sing every year we think about the sheep and the shepherds and all of those cute and wonderful things. But at the heart of it all, is the Savior who wants to bring you peace wants to give that to you every single day of the year and calls you to come and receive it. In his name, amen.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

What Can I Do For God? Sermon for Sunday, December 24th

2 Samuel 7:1-16

Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”

But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in?I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

One of the nice things about the strangeness of this schedule for the church here is that we get to have the the last prediction of Jesus Christ birth, which happens on the fourth Sunday in Advent. Almost immediately, right before we celebrate it actually happening. See, that's what's going on this morning. We're in the Advent season. And we get the reading of the angel Gabriel coming to Mary. And he announces the good news to her. And she goes, Great, that sounds awesome. Which is kind of funny, because if an angel came to me in that position, I'd have some questions. We have a similar prediction. That is the prediction of what would happen in there with the story of David. Our Old Testament reading has the beginning of the covenant with David God's promised to him that he would establish for him a house and a kingdom that lasts forever. But it's kind of a weird story. Because it begins with a strange thing. David has an idea. Let's see what that idea is. So goes. Now when the king lived in his house, and the Lord God had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, see, now I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the Lord of God dwells in a tent. And Nathan, Nathan said to the king, go, do all that in your heart for the Lord is with you. So this beginning verse helps us gives us some context. David, who had been made king of Israel prior to this had been fighting wars all the time, because that's what kings did in those days. He had to conquer cities, he had to defend Israel from their enemies. And in fact, the city he was living in now Jerusalem was a city that he himself had to take and make his own, make the capital city of the nation of Israel. So he had finally found rest, there was no war. And he had finally built himself a house in his capital city. And he looks around and he says, Wait a second. We've got to city, we're not wandering anymore. And I built myself a house. But God is living in a tent. This seems weird. Now, there are two reasons. God, David might have wanted to build a permanent temple for God in his city. One of those reasons was a good old political reason. David was a king. And he wanted the people to listen to him. Which meant if he built a temple for God that could not move. And he put it in his capital city, the city that he had newly conquered, it would mean that everybody in all the nation of Israel would have to come to his city to worship. And they would have to do that for all the required festivals. Because the tabernacle it moved around, it was wherever the priests decided to place it. So if they had to come to Jerusalem, they would be there for for the Passover, for Pentecost for the day of atonement for tabernacles, five times a year, everyone in Israel would travel to his city. And David thought, well, this is a good way to secure my power, and to show everyone that God had chosen him. But I think there's another important reason there to not just the political. David simply wanted to honor God. And I think that's what is, is hidden there. When he says, See, now I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. David is saying, I've got this really cool house, and it's pretty amazing. But God's in this funky old tent. He deserves more than that. And it's a holy desire, a desire to do something for God, to say, God, I want to honor you, I want to serve you, I want to take care of you. And I think every Christian can have can associate themselves with that desire, right? When we think about our Savior, our God, we often think to ourselves, God, you've done so much for me, You sent Your Son to die for me, you you've chosen me forgiven my sins, I want to serve you. I want to do something for you. And anyone who has faith has that desire, I think it is simply springs from the power of the Holy Spirit. That's what we want. So the Nathan the prophet turns to David and says, What a great idea, go for it. Except God comes to Nathan in the middle of the night with a different word. Here's what he says, go and tell my servant David, Thus says the Lord, would you build me a house to dwell in? Have I not lived? I have. Have I not lived in a house since the day I brought my people up from Israel from Egypt to this day. But I have been moving about in a tense for my dwelling in all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar? God almost sounds offended here. At least that's how I read it. He goes, Well, wait a second. You I get that you want to serve me? But why this way? Did I ask anybody to build me a house? Did I tell you, you know, this tent, it's no good. I really need something super impressive. Really. When God chose to be with his people, he did command something. He said, Build me a tent. We'll call it the tabernacle. And this is where my presence will be. When the people of Israel move, I will move with them. When they walk, I will lead the way. When they go out to fight, the Ark of the Covenant will often go out in front. I will travel with my people. He set up a whole system where there would be the ark and the candelabras. And there's a table for bread and there's an incense for altar and a place to sacrifice and a place to burn the offerings. But he never commanded a place built out of wood, or stone, or anything that's permanent. Was David being presumptuous? Was David trying to tell God what he needed? Rather than simply listening to what God said? Perhaps his desire to do something for God was good. But the action was misplaced. Because God didn't need a temple. Maybe God didn't even want a temple at this point. David thought he was doing something for God, but God never asked him to do it. You see the timber tabernacle. And later when Solomon built the temple, was never designed to be a place that was for God. Did God need a place to live? Of course not. He dwells in all things. Did he need an ark of the covenant for himself? Of course not. The Ark of the Covenant was a sign of God's promise to his people. Not something that made him feel good. Did he need the gold and the offerings that people brought to the temple or to the tabernacle? No. This is Psalms say that the cattle on 1000 hills are his. All the earth is gone. Even the tabernacle wasn't there because God needed their worship and prayers. The tabernacle was so that God could serve His people

so that God could live amongst his covenant people and offer them His grace, it was a place where they could come and offer up their prayers and see a sign of His presence among a place where they could do their sacraments of sacrifice, and receive the forgiveness of sin. Where God could remind them that He is their God and he chose the tabernacle wasn't for God. It was for the people.

And David, well, his desire to honor God meant that he was making up something that maybe God didn't command. And I think sometimes, the Christians good and holy desire to serve God can turn us away from doing what God actually commands, and to create things that we do for God. Right? Because you ask yourself, when we put money in the offering plate, is it because God needs it? Does God say, Ah, if only I could buy a car. I need Christians to put that envelope in that offering. Of course, God doesn't need our money, or our stuff. Does God say, Ah, I just don't have the almighty power. unless everybody is praying to me. I need to build up my power battery by your prayers. No, of course not. He doesn't need anything from us. He doesn't need our money. He doesn't need our prayers. He doesn't need buildings for us to worship in. He doesn't need anything at all from us. What he wants is to give us His grace. This misunderstanding about serving God leads to all sorts of things. The clearest historical examples are things like the indulgences you could receive for doing devotional work back in the days of the Reformation, when they would come up with a whole long list of things that you could do, that might be good devotional practices. But the church said these things merit, some sort of gift of grace. Like if you do these things for God, God will return a gift to you. And today, we Christians, sometimes we create things like that ourselves. We say to ourselves, the only good work that a human being can do is volunteering in the church. Because that's where real service is. We say to ourselves, I have to go across the world to serve someone because I need to be doing mission work. Because that's what God demands. And we think to ourselves, I have to do something for God. But that's not how it worked with David. That's not how it works. Today. Christianity isn't about doing something for God. It's about God doing something for us. Let's take a look at the text. God says in verse eight. Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant, David, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be Prince over my people, Israel, and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and we'll plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people, Israel, and I will give you rest from all your enemies. And moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house and your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. So what God is doing here is he's saying, first of all, wait, wait, you're gonna build me a house? No. I'm gonna build you a house. He says to David, your response to serve is holy. But that's not how it works. I am the one who gives. I am the one who serves. I'm going to build you a house that will last forever. When Nathan, the Prophet gave this, this promise to King David, it might have seemed like a bit of an exaggeration, right? Who's going to be able to be on a throne forever? David certainly wasn't. Even his son Solomon didn't live forever. Now, his son had a son, and those sons were on the line of the house of Judah all the way as long as it was a nation. But none of them were on a throne forever. But we know that behind the words of Nathan, the Prophet was a promise even greater than what David could have imagined. That there actually wouldn't be a son, who would actually be on a throne for all time. And we heard about that promise, in our gospel reading, when an angel came to Mary and said, You're going to have a son, and he will be on the throne of his father, David and his kingdom will last forever. God made a promise to David, that there would be a king for his people for all time. And then he sent his son Jesus Christ, to die on a cross and rise from the dead, and ascend into heaven, where he is now seated on that very throne, at the right hand of God reigning over his church, and over all of creation for all time. God did it. He built David a house that lasts forever, and a kingdom that never ends. But not as a reward. He did it, because he chose David and his family, to serve. Listen to why David was chosen as king. He wasn't chosen because he would be awesome or because he thought David was super cool. He was chosen to be king to do something. He says, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be my be Prince over my people, Israel. And I have been wherever you cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make you a great name like the great ones of the earth. And I will point a place for my people Israel, and we'll plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly. God chose David, not because he wanted David to be happy. But because a king has a responsibility to protect his people. David, the king was supposed to protect them from violent men, use his armies to defend the nation of Israel. His service to God was not building a temple. But serving God's people. That's what God sends us to do. Our desire to serve God is good and holy. But it doesn't mean that we're actually doing anything for God. God doesn't need our offerings. God doesn't need our volunteer time. God doesn't need us to go to work, or feed children. Other people do, right? We offer our offerings here, because the ministry needs to happen. And without the ministry, you cannot hear the Word of God. You cannot hear the promises of Jesus Christ who died and rose for you. That's why we get we don't go to work because God commands it. We go to work because people need to eat. Right? Especially parents raising the young children, they go to work because there are hungry mouths at home. And without some job, well, they're gonna stay hungry. We take care of people, not because God commands it, but because people need it. And what that means is that we don't have to make up Our service to God. We don't have to, to create some sort of task that looks good and holy to God. All we have to do is look around us and see the need. And do it. I mean, there is no questioning, right? You don't have to wonder like, What does God need, I have to dive into the Bible to figure it out. Now, there is plenty of need around you.

Plenty of need in our congregation, plenty of need in your families, in our communities. Serving God means serving them. Because God is the one who serves us, so he doesn't come to extract from us worship and prayers and praises and offerings. God is God who served. That's why he sent the tabernacle. That's why he chose David to be king. And it's why he sent his son Jesus Christ to die for because God serves us. Our service to Him is simply to do the same for the people around us to see the need and to do it. In Jesus name, Amen.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: Luke 1:26-38 The Gospel Reading for Sunday, December 24th

John 1:6-8, 19-28

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be bornwill be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week, I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Gospel reading for Sunday, December 24, comes from Luke chapter one, verses 26 through 38. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, Greetings, oh, favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the sang and tried to discern what sort of grieving this might been. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, For you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, He will be great. And we called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom, there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, How will this be since I am a virgin? And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son. And this is the sixth month with her who was called barren, for nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me, according to your word. And the angel departed from her appearance, the reading. This is the classic annunciation story. It is such a treasured piece of the gospel, where the angel Gabriel appears to marry. And so let's begin with what the angel says, says greetings, oh, favored one, the Lord is with you. Now, many of you may be familiar with an older version where it says hail Mary full of grace. One might ask, what's the difference between a translation that reads Oh favored one, and one that means full of grace, full of grace points us to a quality that Mary has. The angel comes down looks at Mary and says, Mary, look at you, aren't you wonderful? Oh, favorite one is different. It is, Mary. There's something that God favors God favors you. God is looking on you with favor. Now full of grace means that Mary is chosen because she's extra special. Oh, favorite one means Mary has chosen because she's chosen. And Luther likes to point this out when he talks about the magnificant. The song that Mary sings, is that Mary was really not all that different from any one of us, is that she rejoiced in God not because she was extra Grace filled or she was amazing as a human. But because God had decided to choose her for this amazing moment, to bear his one and only son. Now, the honor that we give to her is definitely an honor higher than any other human beings, a of Jesus Christ himself. But still, it is only God's grace and his choosing. That makes Mary this special. Now, Mary responds, the text says, but she was greatly troubled at the saying and trying to discern what sort of greeting this might be. I have to say if an angel appeared to me after freaking out, and if it said, Greetings, oh, favorite one, the Lord is with you. I would also be troubled. I wouldn't know what is going on. Because when an angel appears, you know something dramatic is going to happen. So the angel comfort Sir, do not be afraid, Mary For you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus. So here again, the angel after calming her down, do not be afraid Mary says you have found favor with God. God has given you this favor. And behold, you will have a child and you will call His name Jesus. Now Jesus means he saves it or Yahweh Saves. It's actually the word for Joshua, which was used in the Old Testament that we transliterated as Jesus because of weirdness in history. The annual goes on, he will be great, and we call the Son of the Most High, I'd say, that's great, being the Son of the Most High, he wasn't just called Son of the Most High, he was actually the Son of the Most High. And he continues, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom, there will be no end. Now we know why the Old Testament reading for this week was chosen from the promise, the covenant given to David is because the Gospel reading is the fulfillment of that promise, the angel appears to Mary and says, King David, his child, his offspring, will come from you. And that offspring will reign over the house of Jacob forever. How is that possible? How can anyone reign over a house over a kingdom forever? Well, if you are the Son of God, perhaps you just might be able to do it then. Because when Jesus is both human and divine, his humanity can live forever, can be eternal. And so Jesus will be on that throne forever. Now, of course, Mary is puzzled, she says, How will this be since I am a virgin? And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. That's it. No big deal. Holy Spirit's gonna come, he'll handle it. Isn't that nuts? Like, oh, okay, that's fine. Now, the angel gives some evidence to support this, but just a little more than just evidence, and it says, And behold, your relative Elizabeth, in her old age has also conceived a son. And this is a six month for her who is called parent for nothing will be impossible with God. So I bet it's likely that Mary had heard that Elizabeth had had a child. And this would be a ping of evidence like, yep, you know, God has done this, God can do that. But there's also an interesting thing here is that not only is the angel saying, Yep, look at this, God has done something amazing with Elizabeth, who was called barren. But it's also look, you've got someone who you can go to for this. When I have to give this insight. I heard it from David Schmidt. At a podcast, he suggested that not God offered up this connection, so that Mary could go to Elizabeth and find someone who understands what's happening. Because she also had an angelic miracle with Gabrielle. And Elizabeth, receives Mary right after this. So Mary finds out she's pregnant, and she goes down to visit Elizabeth and Elizabeth Baby John, the Baptist leaps in her womb, because he's filled with the Holy Spirit. And then they sing the Magnificat. And it's amazing and wonderful. And Mary spends all this time with Elizabeth, probably because I don't know, being a virgin with a baby. At that time, nobody would really leave you. You know, if if someone got pregnant and said, Well, I didn't do anything. I just did just happen. I wouldn't believe them either. Be pretty isolating. But Elizabeth is there for her. But then comes the most amazing part. And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. Wow. Imagine hearing this news, your, your young girl 1614, whatever it is, that she would have been an angel appears and said, You're going to have a baby, he's going to be God. And it's going to be from the Holy Spirit. And she's like, yep, awesome. Let's do it. What a sign of faith. I you know, I said before that Mary was just like one of us and she was as like, just like a human. But at the same time, God had granted her such faith that she could simply accept what the angel said. Remember, Zachariah, he was in the temple, and the angel appeared to him and gave him a promise that Elizabeth would have a baby and he was like, No way. But Mary, simple girl. Yep. Let's do it. Wow. May we have that kind of faith? That's all I have for today. We'll see you On Sunday bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: Romans 16:25-27 The Epistle Reading for Sunday, December 24th

Romans 16:25-27

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week, I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Epistle reading for Sunday, December 24, is from Romans chapter 16, verses 25 through 27. Now to Him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel, in the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but has now been disclosed, and through the prophetic writings, has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith, to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ, amen. This reading in Romans, chapter 16, comes near the very end, where St. Paul is doing all of his sort of random stuff at the end of the letter. Romans is almost an introductory letter that Paul writes to the church in Rome, with the hope that he will come and visit them and establish a missionary base, I think. And so, chapter 16 has a lot of greetings, he greets everybody and their brother, because he's trying to say that he knows a whole bunch of people there. And let them know that we've got all these connections, and you can trust me, I'm a good guy, you can you can welcome me and my theology is good. But this doxology at the end is really fascinating. It's only a few lines long, but there is so much going on. So it goes Now to Him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ. So it begins by offering up a description of God, and what he does through the gospel and through the preaching of Jesus Christ. And it's to strengthen people, certainly not in in physical strength, but in strength of their spirit, as they grow in their ability to trust in God, as they follow Him faithfully as they deal with persecutions as they struggle with doctrine. It's the gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ that strengthens them in their faith as they hear it, and the Holy Spirit works on them. And then he adds something, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but has now been disclosed, and through the prophetic writings, has been made known to all nations. So there's a revelation and a mystery here. This mystery was kept secret for long ages. One of the great mysteries that St. Paul often highlights is the mystery that God has made the Gentiles, co heirs with the Jews. And a big piece of Romans is talking about this Jews and Gentiles thing that the Gentiles have now been brought into the promise given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And the crazy thing is that this seems like the opposite of what the Old Testament was saying. For so many Jews, it was about exclusivity, about being that God's chosen people against the Gentiles against the nation's always fighting them off the enemies, the bad guys coming to invade. And the great mystery of Jesus Christ is that he came, not to destroy the enemies, but to make them friends, to gather them together with the Jews into one, united people. What an amazing mystery. This could be, how crazy this might have sounded to the Jews of old, as they were thinking about the battles they would fight and the persecutions they would face as they're coming back from Babylon and exile. And they're dedicated towards being God's chosen people and following his law, and God sends a savior, to make them one with the dreaded Gentiles. And yet, it's so beautiful, and so wonderful, that you end the hostility not by destroying the enemy, but making them your friend. How amazing. And this has been made known through the prophetic writings. And we see that St. Paul highlights a number of things throughout the Old Testament. And if we look back, especially at books like Isaiah, and it talks about the servant of the Lord coming to be for the Gentiles, for the nations for the coastlands far away We can all of a sudden see the hints of what God had planned, even though it didn't make a ton of sense, when, when it was written. Now, when we see Jesus, when Paul sees Jesus, we can see, loud and clear, amazing. This is what God has planned all along. And now everyone knows through the prophetic writings, and the proclamation of Jesus Christ. The next phrase, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith. And so this mystery was not an accident. It is not like God came down and was like, Oh, those Jews, they just don't like me and they turned away my savior. Now I'm going to go to the Gentiles. It's not an accident. This was God's plan, right from the beginning. And it points back to the prophetic writings, again, two books like Isaiah, two, two books, where it would talk about God's law going out to all nations to, to the places that are far away. God was always about gathering together the people who are outside of his promise into the promise to make them part of it. And as part of that command that happens through Jesus Christ, and it goes to bring about the obedience of faith. Now that phrase, obedience of faith, it could be the obedience that leads to faith, or obedience that comes from faith for me. You know, I'm a Lutheran, we always translated that faith leads to obedience, or faithful obedience comes from the faith that God has already given us. And that's what this gospel and preaching of Jesus Christ does, because it's the gospel that actually brings about faith that leads to obedience. And without it, you've got nothing. There is no faith, there is no obedience. And at the end of this, it's the gospel that produces everything that gathers people together, that contains the mystery that is now revealed, that produces faith. And so St. Paul can only do one thing is praise God for His plan. And that's what he does to the only wise God be glory forever. Through Jesus Christ. Amen. That's all we have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: Psalm 89:1-5, 19-29 The Psalm for Sunday, December 24th

Psalm 89:1-5, 19-29

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;
    with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;
    in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”
You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
    I have sworn to David my servant:
‘I will establish your offspring forever,
    and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah

Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
    your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!

Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said:
    “I have granted help to one who is mighty;
    I have exalted one chosen from the people.
I have found David, my servant;
    with my holy oil I have anointed him,
so that my hand shall be established with him;
    my arm also shall strengthen him.
The enemy shall not outwit him;
    the wicked shall not humble him.
I will crush his foes before him
    and strike down those who hate him.
My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
    and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
I will set his hand on the sea
    and his right hand on the rivers.
He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
    my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
And I will make him the firstborn,
    the highest of the kings of the earth.
My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
    and my covenant will stand firmfor him.
I will establish his offspring forever
    and his throne as the days of the heavens.

James Huenink 0:00

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The psalm for Sunday, December 24, is Psalm 89, verses one through five and 19 through 29. I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever. With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. For I said, steadfast love will be built up forever in the heavens, you will establish your faithfulness. You have said, I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations. Let the heavens praise your wonders, oh Lord, Your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones. Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one and said, I have granted help to one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people, I have found David, my servant, with my holy oil, I have anointed him, so that my hand shall be established with him, my arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not outwit him, the wicked shall not humble him, I will crush his foes before him, and strike down those who hate him. My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him, and in my name, shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand on the sea, and his right hand on the rivers, he shall cry to me, You are my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. My steadfast love, I will keep for him forever. And my covenant will stand firm for him, I will establish His offspring forever, and his throne as the days of the heavens. Here ends the reading. This psalm ties in with our Old Testament reading, pointing out the steadfast love of the Lord for David, and the covenant that he gave David, that his offspring would be kings forever, on the throne of Judah. It starts with that celebration of that steadfast love. When he sings, I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever. And it moves on, you have said, I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant, I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations. Now, this psalm isn't a Psalm of David, David isn't singing this with joy, saying, God has made a great promise to me. It's interesting that this is a Psalm that says that God's promised to David is a great promise for Israel, or for the nation of Judah, is that God will establish a king for them to defend them. And that's a very important aspect of the promise that God gave to David is that God would give Israel a king, a king, who would protect them from their enemies, who would fight for them, who would save them. And so this covenant with David is not just a promise for him and his family, but for all of the people of God throughout the Old Testament. And now, this promise goes on in verses 19, through 29. And it talks a lot about the things that God will do for the servant, David. And so it says, I have granted help to one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people, I have found David, my servant with my holy oil, I have anointed him. Now, this reminds us of the anointing that Samuel did when he found David and pulled him from the sheep and chose him to be king. And it reminds us of the anointing that happened with Jesus when he was baptized, or even later, when his feet were anointed by the woman who washed his feet and anointed them with expensive oil. It continues, so that my hand shall be established in him, my arm also shall strengthen him, the enemy shall not outwit him, the wicked shall not humble him, I will crush his foes before him, and strike down those who hate him. Now for the faithful kings of Israel, that would happen in a pretty literal way. The enemies wouldn't, wouldn't defeat them, the armies that would come against them would be destroyed. We see faithful kings, trusting in God and God saves them in battle after battle, including David himself. But it looks a little different when we understand that Jesus is the final one, the one who is a part of this throne of David. When David goes up again, when excuse me, not David, when Jesus goes up against his enemies. He looks like he's the one who's outwitted. It looks like he's the one who is defeated. The Pharisees they nail Him to across the Romans, they put him there. He looks defeated. But of course, Jesus's enemies aren't actually human beings. It wasn't the Pharisees of the Romans that Jesus came to defeat, but sin and death itself. And Jesus entered into death, to destroy that. He took on our sin, to destroy sin. And so the psalm continues, it says, my faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him, and in my name, shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand on the sea, in his right hand on the rivers, he shall cry to me, You are my father, my God and the rock of my salvation. That is, of course, what what happens. Now, again, in the Old Testament, the power of the king, his right hand on the sea, and on the rivers, was somewhat metaphorical, that God would be with him and exalt him and protect him, but he wouldn't give him power over the sea or the rivers. But with Jesus, he called the storm, he walked on water. Pretty amazing, right? He called out to the father and said, You are my God, and the rock of my salvation. And the next promise goes, is pretty amazing as well. It says, I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. My steadfast love, I will keep for him forever. And my covenant will stand firm for him, I will establish His offspring forever, and his throne as the days of the heavens. This was certainly hyperbole for the human kings of ancient Israel. I don't think there could be any point in Israel's history, where he was the highest of the kings of the earth. Perhaps the closest we got was Solomon, who was wise and powerful and rich, but he never had a an empire, or the beauty of like Nebuchadnezzar or Babylon, or Cyrus the Great with Persia. He was still just kind of a local power. He was not established forever, because he grew old and died. But with Jesus, He is definitely the highest King. His throne is in heaven. He rules over all of the earth. And he will be on the throne of David his father forever and ever and ever, even past the day when he returns and makes a new heaven and a new earth and gives us eternal life. What an amazing promise that God gave to David and seen in Jesus. That's all we have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 The Old Testament Reading for Sunday, December 24th

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”

But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in?I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Old Testament reading for Sunday, December 24, comes from Second Samuel chapter seven, verses one through 11 and verse 16. Now when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him restroom, all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, see now, I dwell in the house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. And Nathan said to the king, go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you. But that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, go and tell my servant David, Thus says the Lord, would you build me a house to dwelling? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel, Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar? Now, therefore, thus, you shall say to my servant, David, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be Prince over my people, Israel, and I had been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies, but from before you, and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them. So they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more has formerly from the time that I appointed judges over my people, Israel, and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house and your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me, your throne shall be established forever. Here ends the reading. So the beginning of this reading marks the end of time of warfare for David, David had built himself a home in Jerusalem, the enemies that he had been fighting constantly, his whole life, the Philistines, and all the others, were finally done. And the king looks around and he says, Now is the time to build God a temple. So David says to Nathan, see, now I dwell on a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. So David is seemingly with with good intention, and with good heart, he wants to build God a temple. Now, some of this could have been to honor God and offer him, you know, the beauty and worthy building that he deserves. But another part might simply be that David is trying to establish in his city, the presence of God, Jerusalem was almost a neutral city for David because no Israelites had it. So he conquers it, he makes it his capital, and then he wants to plant God there firmly and squarely so that he will not move. So this could be a way for David to say, I am establishing my kingdom in my capital city, and God is here to he's not going to move away. So I think there's probably a mix of those two things. So Nathan thinks it's a great idea. Go for it, you can do it. But while he's sleeping, God comes to him and gives him a different word. He says, would you build me a house to dwelling? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day. But I had been moving about in a tent from my dwelling. So God is pointing back to what happened with Moses, they came out of Egypt, God instructed Moses to build the tabernacle. This tabernacle had been the place where the Ark of the Covenant dwelt, for all of those years, they wandered through the wilderness, they carried the Ark of the Covenant in the tabernacle, through the conquest through the judges through all of this time, all the way up through Samuel, Saul, and now, David. And nowhere did God say, Hey, why have you not built me a house? Why have you not built me a permanent temple? God kind of liked the idea of having a tabernacle. It moved with the people. Now this was especially important when the people were moving themselves wandering through the wilderness, but it all Also it was kind of cool that God would move around in Israel that he could be in any place that there or he could go to the north or to the south, even though it doesn't sound like he was often moving around. It's kind of God is in the midst of his people. So he cites some of the things that he did not tell the judges to build him a house, and he did not tell anyone to do it. And so God turns around, and says this to David, instead, he says, I took you from the pasture from following the sheep, that you should be Prince over my people. And I have been with you that you should be Prince over my people of Israel, and I have been with you, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make your you a great name like the great ones of the earth. So he says, this is sort of a, a piece of the political puzzle here, like David might have wanted to establish this temple in his capital city, to establish his name and his house and his people. And God says, no, no, no, no, you don't have to do that. You don't have to build me a house to establish your name. I have already done it, look at this, I took you from the sheep, I made you a great warrior, I made you king. And now you are the shepherd over all of my people, and I will take care of you. And even better that through you, I will take care of all of Israel. He says, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more as formally. And then he goes, for an the last, moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house and your house in your kingdom shall be sure forever before me, your throne shall be established forever. So some of this is David saying, I'm going to do something for you, God, some of this is I want to establish my position in Israel by setting up the temple in my capital city, and God goes, and he knocks down both of them. First is God is the one who establishes David. And he does it not by building a temple, but by protecting him and being with him. And the second is, he goes, Wait a second, you think that you're going to do something for me? Oh, no, no, you won't build a house for me, I will build a house for you. And that's really the heart of who God is, is that God doesn't really need anything from us. He doesn't need David to build them a house of theater, he doesn't care about having a temple or a palace or a giant church, or whatever. He isn't into those things like we are. Our buildings are for us. Like we build nice churches to remind us about God, not because God cares whether we He has nice churches or not. What God cares about is what he gives to us. And so he turns to David and says, I will establish a house for you. And your throne in your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me, your throne shall be established forever. This promise goes to David, that one of his children will be on the throne of the kingdom of Israel forever. Now, this seems like exaggeration. How could it be possible that someone would be on there forever, it just might means a really long time or in perpetuity. And that was true. All the way up until we get to Jesus, who is of the house of David, and is actually now on the throne of God's kingdom forever. He rules over all of us. And so David thought he was gonna build this neat little house made out of cedar, it's gonna be really pretty, and do something for God. But instead what God does is He does something for David, and through David. He protects the whole world by sending His Son Jesus to give us eternal life and a king that is on the throne forever. That's it for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

The Good News! Sermon for Sunday, December 17th, 2023

Isaiah 61:1-4

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn;
to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
They shall build up the ancient ruins;
    they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
    the devastations of many generations.

The good news. That's what we call the gospel, it is the good news that we are sent to proclaim. And it's the good news that the prophet Isaiah is talking about. He says, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God. What is this good news. To help us understand this, the gospel of Luke is pretty helpful. Jesus actually quotes it. In Luke chapter four, Jesus goes to his hometown of Nazareth, it's a Sabbath day. So he's in the synagogue. And they asked him to read, he opens up the scroll to the prophet Isaiah, and he says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. You may have noticed that there's a little bit of a difference there. Jesus talks about recovery of sight for the blind. That's not in Isaiah 61. That's the difference between the Septuagint, which is the Greek Old Testament that the Church used during its first centuries, and what we have as the Hebrew now today, they have different manuscript traditions. But what we see is that the prophet Isaiah was not thinking just about the good news for people coming out of exile. But the good news through Jesus Christ. And the good news of Jesus Christ is very different from good news that others might seek, especially if you are good news for the poor, for the blind, and for the capital. Because not all those who are poor, not all those who are rich, or wealthy, not all those who are free of liberty. And not all those who are sighted can see. Because the gospel of Jesus Christ is the thing that frees us. So let's start with that. He says to bring good news to the poor. What is that good news. A story from Mark chapter 12 helps us to see what good news for the poor is. Jesus is sitting near the temple and are watching people put in offerings. Many people come up and they put in large sums. And it goes, and a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny and he called his disciples to him and said to them, Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box, for they all contributed out of their abundance. But she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had all she had to live on. What can cause a person to do this? I think if if someone looked at this situation, they see a widow with only two coins that add up to a penny and you go what are you doing? This is crazy. This is all the money you have to live on. And you put it in the offering box. What about your children? What about your future? Isn't that crazy? Is that the kind of thing that you would do? If you pulled out your bank statement? And you found one cent there. Give up everything that you have to live on. The question is, how could this widow do such an amazing thing? Because the gospel of Jesus Christ Some good news for the poor. She had something, riches that are greater than any amount of money could be. She had faith in a God, who would take care of her. The widow trusted that the true God would be there for her. And that he would offer her a future, he would offer her something that she could hold on to that he would take care of. The wealthy who trust in their wealth, they're not rich. They don't have any. They have far less than that poor widow did. Because Jesus Christ's riches, are greater than anything we could ever want. He promises a day when he comes and gives us the whole world. Whether you are rich or poor, now, doesn't matter. The good news for the poor is that Jesus is coming. He will take care of us. He gives us salvation. Not everyone who has lots of money has true riches.

What about the blind, that Jesus came to restore sight? There's a story in John chapter nine where Jesus comes up to a man born blind. He goes to the man, he makes mud, puts it on his eyes, and he tells the man to go wash in the pool. The man goes off and he washes his eyes off, and all of a sudden, he can see. But the story isn't about the man being able to see in the miracle that Jesus does does. The real story is about the reaction to it. After Jesus heals the man, the Pharisees call him and they get mad about this. They get upset. Can you imagine? A man comes he's been blind from his birth, and all of a sudden they can see and they're angry. Can you believe it? But they were angry because he did it on the Sabbath. So they call him in front of them they and it says, so for the second time they called the man who had been born blind and said to him, give glory to God, we know that this man is a sinner. That is Jesus. The blind man answered, whether he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know that though I was blind. Now I see. They said to him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them. I told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? And they reviled him. What a statement. This man, he was not well read in the Scriptures, obviously, because he had been blind his whole life. He did not have a complex theology of who Jesus was. He simply knew one thing. One thing I do know, he says, that though I was blind, now I see. Isn't that fake? Jesus had come to Him and given Him a miracle. But the miracle wasn't that his eyes were opened and that he could see. The true miracle was that Jesus revealed Himself to him as his Savior. That's what happens now. Jesus heard that they had cast him out. And having found him he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? The blind man answered? Who is he, sir, that I may believe in Him. Jesus said to him, you have seen him and it is he who is speaking to you. He said, Lord, I believe and he worshipped him. Then Jesus says to those who are around for judgment, I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see and those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees heard him near him heard these things and said to him, are we also blind? Jesus said to them, if you are blind, you would have no guilt. But now that you say we see your guilt remains Not all who are sighted can see this blind man, you could see, because the true gifts is not the vision that comes from his eyes, or having the photons that bounce off particles hit your retinas. The true vision is understanding who Jesus is that he brings resurrection from the dead and eternal life and that he is the center of our life. He is the good news that gives us life. It's not just the poor. It's not just the blind. But it's also those who are in prison that Jesus has come to proclaim liberty. There's another story from the, from the Bible that talks about that, where Paul and Silas were in prison. Paul and Silas had been going out on their missionary journeys. And in Acts chapter 16, they get to a town of Philippi. In the town of Philippi, they are preaching and teaching, and a slave girl who is filled with a demon follows them around shouting, these are the servants of the Most High God, listen to them. Paul gets annoyed, like you would write someone walking around shouting all this time. And he says get out of her and the demon leaves. For me, I have to say, isn't that a weird reason to cast a demon out of someone? Like, lady, you are so annoying, I'm gonna cast this demon out. Yeah, I think it's weird. But it creates a problem. The owner of the girl was using her to tell fortunes. And this created quite a bit of income. And when the demon was gone, he could no longer sell those services. So he gets people excited, goes to the authorities and Paul and Silas are arrested. They're put in this inner part of the prison. And not only that, they are fastened their feet into stocks. This is an extra level of imprisonment. So not only are they locked behind bars, but they're also cuffed around their feet. Maybe even their hands too. I don't know about you. I think if that happened to me, I'd be pretty upset. If I were locked for no good reason inside a prison and then and then put together in chains. I might be a little depressed. I might be a little angry. I certainly wouldn't be happy. This is what the Bible says. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. And the prisoners were listening to them singing hymns to God. Can you believe it? Paul and Silas, singing probably the Psalms, prayers, praises to God and that horrible situation. Because not all the people who are free have liberty. And not all those who are in prison or without freedom. You could stick Paul and Silas wherever you want it in the deepest, darkest dungeon. And they would always be free because they have Christ. Same is for us. The gospel of Jesus Christ is freedom in all our circumstances, because we have a Savior, who lived and died for us. And what's really cool about this story is that God comes and brings freedom to these men who are already free. An earthquake happens, the doors pop open, and their chains follow. Now I don't know about you. But I think the last time we had an earthquake, it did not open up handcuffs. But that's what happens here. And when Paul and Silas go free, what do they do with it? They use that opportunity to bring the Gospel to their jailer and that man is baptized along with the rest of his family. So that's the good news of Jesus Christ. It's not about giving money. It's not about getting people out of jail or helping people see With our eyes. The good news of Jesus Christ is a freedom that each one of us has, in all our circumstances. Because not all the people who are free, have liberty. Not all those who are sighted can actually see. Not all the rich are truly wealthy. The good news of Jesus Christ, it's only they who have that. It's only us who have the sight to be able to see God at work in our lives and the process, the promise of the resurrection, who have the riches of the kingdom to come and freedom in our Savior, despite all our circumstances. In Jesus name, Amen.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: John 1:6-8, 19-28 The Gospel Reading for Sunday, December 17th

John 1:6-8, 19-28

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week, I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Gospel reading for Sunday, December 17, comes from the Gospel of John chapter one, verses six through eight. And then 19, through 28. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John, He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you? He confessed and did not die, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the Prophet? And he answered, No. So they said to Him, who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? He said, I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. Now, they had been sent from the Pharisees, they asked him, Why then are you baptizing? If you are neither the Christ nor Elijah nor the Prophet? John answer them. I baptize with water, but among newstands one you do not know. Even he who comes after me, the strap of who sandal I am not worthy to untie. These things took place in Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. He runs the reading. The Gospel of John has an interesting approach to telling the story of Jesus. And it has a different approach to telling the story of John as well. It doesn't introduce him using the standard formation, formulation, the guy who had the camel's hair and the belt around his waist, and then he's out eating locusts and wild honey, and then repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All that stuff that you see in Matthew, Mark. And Luke begins by telling us about John, who is a witness about the light, and is very emphatic that he is not the light. He is not the guy. He is a witness to the light. And it could be really easy for someone like John the Baptist, who got crowds to come out to see him who had baptizing people in the wilderness, and they were repenting and doing all this stuff to be well to make it about himself. But he doesn't. He came to point the way to Jesus. And the same thing happens when the Pharisees come to him, and ask him, Who are you? It's interesting, he says, it says he confessed and did not deny but confessed. John wants to make sure that you know that what John, that John the Baptist is saying is absolutely true. He is not claiming to be the guy. I am not the Christ. He said, he's not Elijah. He's not the Prophet. No, he's very simply a voice. He says, I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said, I like how John is, is taking the light away from him, so to speak, like the spotlight is not on John the Baptist, saying, No, it's not me. I'm not the Christ. I'm not the Prophet. In fact, I am nothing. There is one thing that matters. The Lord is coming. Make his pads straight. May ask him again. Why are you baptizing? And again, John takes the spotlight off himself. He doesn't say, I baptized because I'm also more because I do these things. He says, don't think about me, someone is coming, who's greater than me, strap of who sandals I am not worthy to untie. So he even takes that moment to point away from himself to Jesus. And I think that's a great model for us to understand within the within the church, for pastors, for teachers, for congregations, is that our job is to point away from us towards Jesus, which and it's really hard to do that because anytime a congregation gathers a little success makes a name for themselves. We like to think yeah, look at me, I did this but just always, like, point to Jesus. He's the one. I'm not the man. I'm not the one gathering people. I'm not the one doing ministry. It's all about Jesus. It's his power. It's his word. It's his mind. It's not me. Everything is about Jesus. And I think it's amazing that the greatest of all the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, spends this moment when they come and they ask him, what's your testimony? It's Don't worry about me, guys. Jesus is coming. And that's what we should consider. Let's not worry about ourselves and always point to Jesus. That's all I have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 The Epistle Reading for Sunday, December 17th

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Epistle reading for Sunday, December 17, is First Thessalonians chapter five, verses 16 through 24. Rejoice always pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything, hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may our your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, He will surely do it. Here hence the reading. This passage begins with a number of statements that seem relatively unrelated to each other are kind of like a grab bag of commands coming from St. Paul to the Thessalonians. Rejoice always pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Now, sometimes these passages can be talked about as if they're supposed to be like the joyful thing. Rejoice always pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. But sometimes I also think it's a little bit like what happens when my wife comes to me with a problem. And I tell her, don't you think you're overreacting? And she goes, Wow, that she actually never does that. Because I'm not that's, that's silly. I would never do that. Sometimes these commands that seemed wonderful are actually heavy burdens. For people who are really sad. And it's it can be a burden when your life is difficult to say, Well, Paul says that you should rejoice. What really we should be telling people is helping them to see how we rejoice in difficult circumstances. And I think that's what St. Paul really wants the Thessalonians to do. The Thessalonians, who just recently had gone through a difficult persecution, after Paul had left them. They had been arrested, they had been beaten up, find things were really bad. But they could rejoice always and give thanks in all circumstances, because they knew they had Jesus. Because Jesus was more and better than having good circumstances. He was eternal life. So the next thing he says Do not quench the spirit, do not despise prophecies, but test everything. So he says Do not despise prophecies. So when someone speaks, this could be called a prophecy from God. We often think of prophecy as like predicting the future. But that's not the only kind. Prophecy could be any utterance that is supposed to be from God. And so St. Paul is saying, Do not quench the Spirit. When someone says they're speaking for God. Don't tell them to stop. Don't despise prophecy and say, Ah, this is this couldn't be from God. But He does say test everything. And what we do is when someone says they speak for, for God, we should go and test what they say against the scriptures. Just like the Berean Christians did when St. Paul came to them, and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, they were faithful, and they went back and they studied their Scriptures to see if that was true. And that's what we do when someone proclaims a sermon, or stands up to teach in a congregation, as we test everything. Next, he goes hold fast to what is good abstain from every form of evil, relatively straightforward, at least to say, difficult to do. Right? And finally, Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ? Who calls you is faithful? He will surely do it. Now here we could get some misunderstanding when it talks about sanctifying you completely are kept blameless at the coming of the Lord. One might think is, Paul is saying that human beings can be fully sanctified in Jesus so that we do not sin anymore. But I don't think that's what's going on here. He's saying Now may the God of peace sanctify you completely as in, give you Jesus so that in Christ you may be found blameless it's the righteous pneus of Christ that makes us completely sanctified and keeps us blameless. And that's why he ends it with he who calls you is faithful, He will surely do it. Because it's not something that we can do for ourselves, but it's only Christ in us. The gift of the Holy Spirit through his means of grace keeps us holy, so that when Jesus returns we will be found blameless, not because we've been sanctified and have perfect actions, but because Christ's righteousness is in us. That's all I have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: Psalm 126 The Psalm for Sunday, December 17th

Psalm 126

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us;
    we are glad.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
    like streams in the Negeb!
Those who sow in tears
    shall reap with shouts of joy!
He who goes out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    bringing his sheaves with him.

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The psalm for Sunday, December 17, is Psalm 126. A song of a sense. When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter in our tongue with shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us. We are glad restore our fortunes, oh Lord, like streams in the Negev, those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy. He who goes out weeping, baring the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. Here ends the reading. Psalm 26 begins with the title, a song of a sense, the song of a sense, or a series of psalms that were likely to be prayed, as people were ascending the road towards Jerusalem. So wherever you are in Israel, you would always go up to Jerusalem because it was on the top of, of a hill, they called it Mount Zion. And so as you were taking a pilgrimage, going towards the temple for worship, there were all of these psalms that you could say along the way, the psalm of a sense, similar psalm of a sense is, my eyes, look up to the hills, from where does my help come, My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. And you can imagine them going up and looking to Jerusalem, where, where the temple was where God's presence was, and you say, My help comes from the Lord as you look up at the city. So here we have another song of a sense. And it begins with the remembrance. When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream that our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongueless shouts of joy. They said, among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us, we are glad. Now, this psalm shows a generic description of restoring the fortunes of Zion. You could say this has happened any number of times since the building of the temple. And it's when God defends his people from invaders. Anytime God had brought about some sort of punishment due to their idolatry, he could also bring about a restoration of the fortunes of Zion. And so the idea here was that the Lord God, Yahweh, the God of Israel, would defend his people. And when he does that, people would have shouts of joy. For me, I'm thinking especially of the story with Hezekiah Hezekiah, surrounded by a Syria, and the armies are outside and they are so overwhelming, and what happens? A plague strikes them. And hundreds and 1000s of people die in the night. And Israel saved. And you can imagine people want on the morning, the day before looking out on this, this mighty army surrounding the city of Jerusalem, knowing there is no way regular spears and swords was going to take care of this army, Jerusalem was doomed. And then you look out the next day, and they're all dead. The enemy defeated. It would be like, we were like those who dream. Our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue was shouts of joy. The psalm recalls the promises that God had given those people. And it then turns and says, now restore our fortunes. Oh Lord, like the streams. And the Negev says people are looking up to Jerusalem. It says, restore our fortunes have us who are now sowing in tears reap with shouts of joy, we who are now weeping, burying the seeds for sowing, she'll come home with shouts of joy bringing his sheaves to him. This is a reminder that when we come to the Lord, we who are maybe when things are terrible, when you're mourning when you've lost a loved one, especially as we're heading into the Christmas season, and there's an empty chair around your table, or the family isn't what you hoped it would be, or, you know, something has changed and you're mourning that loss. We can turn to the Lord with our weeping and he can give us joy, not always by fixing everything that doesn't happen. But by giving us Christ and the promise of the resurrection, so that when he returns we can have that Fold joy as we look up to heaven not to Mount Zion but to heaven and ask for our God to give us his good and gracious well that's all I have for today we'll see you on Sunday bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 The Old Testament Reading for Sunday, December 17th

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn;
to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
They shall build up the ancient ruins;
    they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
    the devastations of many generations.

For I the Lord love justice;
    I hate robbery and wrong;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
    and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
    and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them,
    that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
    my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
    he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
    and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
    to sprout up before all the nations.

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Old Testament reading for Sunday, December 17, comes from Isaiah chapter 61, verses one through four. And then verses eight through 11. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified, they shall build up ancient ruins that shall raise up the former devastations they shall repair the ruin cities, the devastations of many generations. For I the LORD love justice, I hate robbery and wrong, I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations and their descendants in the midst of the peoples, all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring of the Lord has blessed, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exalt in my god, For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself, like a priest with a beautiful headdress. And as the bride adorns herself with jewels, for as the Earth brings forth, it sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up. So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before the nation's Here ends the reading. The first thing we should consider when we think about this passage is the position of what this might mean for the people of Israel who would hear it. Isaiah is talking about how God has anointed him a prophet, to bring good news to the people who were punished during the unfaithfulness that Israel experienced. God's people were turning away from him, they turned to false gods, they turned to go after a Syria and other gods and all sorts of things. And because of that God was going to send in Babylon to destroy the city, and the them as a nation. And now Isaiah is saying that there is a piece of good news that goes out to the broken to the poor, to the brokenhearted, to the captives. And it says, To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn and to grant those who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes. And what we see with the prophet Jeremiah, and all of the terrible things that happened to Jerusalem was definitely a time of ashes and a time of mourning for God's people. The death and destruction that Babylon would have brought in the bad guys tearing down God's temple, would certainly brought mourning. And that's what the book of Lamentations is all about. And one of the comforts that Isaiah brings is that he is there to proclaim that God has not left his people, that he has sent good news to them, to bind them up, that eventually they would be brought back to their land. But more than that, Isaiah is pointing us to something deeper, something beyond what would just would happen with God's people going to Babylon and then returning. And Luke points that out in his Gospel in chapter four. Here, Jesus comes to Nazareth, and he goes into a temple synagogue and reads this passage. It says, He reads, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. He rolls up the scroll. And he says, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Now, what did Jesus been doing? Jesus had gone around in all of Galilee and proclaimed the kingdom of God, and he was starting to heal people. He was casting out demons he was proclaiming the good news. And that's exactly what Isaiah is predicting good news to the poor liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and liberty to the oppressed. Isaiah is looking ahead to Jesus, who would proclaim liberty, not from Babylon, but from all the evil forces that oppress us. But not only that, to give us a spirit of righteousness. There's some things here that are fascinating where he calls them that they may be called oaks of righteousness. or later on, it talks about free as clothed me with garments of salvation us covered me with a robe of righteousness. And then later for as the Earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up. So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise sprout up before all the nations. You see, bringing God's people back to the Promised Land did start a sort of renaissance in their religiosity. When they came back, they were far more dedicated to God and His law. And yet, even in that, they were still unrighteous. And that's the same thing for us, right? We are dedicated towards to our God, if you're listening to this, you are care about his word, and you want to learn more about who he is. And yet you still find yourself not being the righteous person you want to be not being as good or as holy, or as wonderful or as generous or kind, or, you know, all of that stuff. And what we have is Jesus coming to us to be our righteousness. And in him when you're brought into Him through baptism, or through faith, or by being a part of him, the righteousness that he gives us, sprouts up within us and changes us. Christians are given the amazing righteousness of Jesus Christ, the one who was truly anointed to bring this good news to us. And we know that while we struggle with Christ's righteousness, causing us want to be good and holy, and then our sin causing us to want to turn against it, we are waiting for a day when all the righteousness will be made visible, when Jesus will bring in us true fruition, his perfect righteousness, so that we can serve Him and everlasting righteousness innocence at blessedness, as Luther says in his explanation to the second article of the Apostles Creed, and we all can't wait for that day, when we who are oppressed and bound by our sin, by death, and the devil can finally be free. That's all I have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever, Sermon for Sunday, December 10th, 2023

Isaiah 40:1-11

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
    double for all her sins.

A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry!”
    And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
    and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades
    when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
    surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
    but the word of our God will stand forever.

Go on up to a high mountain,
    O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
    lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
    “Behold your God!”
Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.
He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
    he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead those that are with young.

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. We are looking at the book of Isaiah today, Isaiah chapter 40. And this passage begins with some wonderful words that we often will sing in hymns during this time of year. Comfort, comfort my people says your God, the hymnal that I grew up in the old read hymnal 1942. The hymn goes for comfort he might be people speak up start says our God. Maybe you know that one. Maybe you don't. It's that old read him No, right? I see some of you nodding, some of you not so much. This book marks a transition in the in the book of Isaiah, as it moves from a discussion about the old conflict that has been going on to the the words of comfort that Isaiah is going to be bringing to Israel, to Jerusalem, specifically in this passage, and all her people, that the warfare is ended, that she has received double from the Lord's hand for all her sins, that God is coming, and he's going to fix some things. And what I'd like to focus on today is a passage towards the middle of it, where it says in verse eight, The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. The word of our God will stand forever. Why is this an important message to the people of Israel and Isaias day, it was a big deal. The situation that Isaiah is confronting before all of this, in the first piece of Isaiah, is the great conflict that was in a part of Israel's political conflict, the fight with the northern kingdom, and an alliance with a Syria so very early on, you get, you get a conflict. There is the southern kingdom of Judah. This is David's family, running things with the promise of God. And then there's the northern kingdom of Israel, and they are all allying with another kingdom to fight against the nation of Assyria. A Syria is the big bully in the land, a Syria is gobbling up kingdoms and empires and building this huge tribute network taking over everything. And Israel goes down to Judah and says, ally with us against Syria, or else will attack you and make you ally with us. Now, I'm not sure whether it makes a whole lot of military sense for you to fight your nearest neighbor and kill their military to make them fight with you. But that was what they were trying to do. The king of Judah he thinks he's got a better idea. What he does is he writes to a Syria and says, Hey, uh, Syria, why don't you come in and attack Israel? And then we'll join your side? What a great idea, right? You get the big dog to go fight the little dog and then all you do is watch. Isaiah does not think this is a good idea. That's because God has given his people a promise that he will defend them. That if they remain faithful to Him, they do not need to make alliances with other kingdoms and more specifically, with their gods. Because in the ancient world when one people fought another, it was not just a battle with spears and shields. It was a battle between their city's gods. And if you asked the kingdom of Assyria to come in and fight for you, it meant that your God could not defend you that the Assyrian God was the God that was in charge. And it meant that your king had to worship that Assyrian God. And so the whole book of Isaiah the beginning part is all about out. Can we trust a Syria? Are we do? Do we trust the one true God? I bet you know which side Isaiah fell on. Not too hard to figure that out. And it's back and forth. Do you trust a Syria? Or do you trust the true God? And when we get to this point, Isaiah is looking around and he says, The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Promises of God stand forever. For the people of Judah, this was both a promise and a threat. For those who waited for the Lord to come and save them, as they are looking at their political situation, the dangers and the threats and all of the problems around them. And they wait for God to save them. It's a promise. It's a promise that Assyria is not the final word that the king of Assyria is like grass, as it says, All flashes grass and its beauty like a flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely the people are grass. Compared to the Lord, the King of Assyria is nothing. His power comes and it goes it fades over time. And they don't need to worry about it. Trusting God. The same thing is true when Babylon comes in many, many years later, King the king of Babylon comes through and he destroys the city of Jerusalem and he knocks down their walls and he burns the temple and knocks it over and they take all of the temple stuff and bring it back to Babylon along with the best and brightest of the people to serve in the kings in the Kings administration. And Isaiah reminds them, The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Assyria was destroyed, and Babylon would be next. And we see Isaiah as promises towards the people come true in the book of Daniel. Whenever there is a conflict between Daniel or the faithful of, of Israel. God comes out on top. Daniel gets caught praying when it's against the law and the king throws him in a lion's den. And what did the hungry lions do? They snuggle. Right? Like a kitty. I imagined Daniel given the little scratches behind the years of the lions while he's down there after a little bit, right? Because God's promise lasts forever. The power of Nebuchadnezzar was nothing compared to that. When Nebuchadnezzar builds up a statue and says Everyone must worship it, whenever they hear the sound of music Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego get thrown in a fire. And they come out. That's because the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord will stand forever. And finally, when Nebuchadnezzar gets to be too proud to grade a king, God makes him go crazy. And he spends a few years crawling around like an ox, eating grass, before God restores him. God shows that he is the one who has power. He's the one who has mite. And finally, Babylon gets taken over. And the very man that Isaiah predicts would send the people back to Israel, help them rebuild the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. Cyrus the Great does exactly what Isaiah says he was. The word of the Lord will stand forever. These are the promises that God gave His people through Isaiah, but they're also threats. If you're on a serious side, if you're the ones who are helping them out if you move their gods into your home and worship them outside the temple this is all heard against them.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but God is coming. Right? If you go into Babylon, and you decide to worship the Babylonian gods and follow the King Nebuchadnezzar, and you're one of the people who bow down before the giant statue, watch out, The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Babylon is going down, Nebuchadnezzar is going down, and God is coming. God gives promises. And these promises, the opposite of them are the threats. When he comes he comes with grace and he comes with judgment. It's just as true now. As it was back then. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. We have to ask ourselves what flesh? What people? What things of this world do we trust in the grass withers, the flower fades with the word of our God stands forever is just as much a threat as it is a promise for us today. The things that we trust in the world that is going on around us. It is like grass. As Isaiah says, The Voice says cry in what shall I cry? All flesh is grass. And its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades but the word of our God will stand forever

we have so many things that we trusted it's just part of being a human being is that our our hearts are trusts our minds end up resting on the things that we interact with. Luther explains the first commandment when he says we should fear love and trust in God above all things. And there's always something that we end up fearing, loving or trusting more than God. Isaiah reminds us, just like a Syria just like Babylon. These things will fade away. Your fear your love your trust in these things. They cannot take the weight of it. They will collapse. They will fall and only God's word remains. Ask yourself what do you trust? What do you put your heart on? And how can you change that? That him that I pointed out comfort comfort ye my people. It has a companion him. It's called or Jerusalem that we passed. You know it's old 1942 hymnal, right? It uses the same melody. It's refers to the story where Jesus is looking out over Jerusalem. It starts or Jerusalem thou we pierced in compassion, dearest Lord, and the hymnal uses the melody, the same melody to remind us that the same thing Isaiah said to Jerusalem comfort comfort ye my people was the opposite of what Jesus said when he looked at the city. Because Jesus came to a city with His love and His grace. And they rejected him. And they trusted in the things of the flesh. The powers in the politics, and he said, Oh Jerusalem, how I would gather you in like a hen gathers her chicks. But you would not. grass withers. The flower fades. But the word of the Lord endures forever. We have a promise from Jesus. All of us. who are gathered here? And he will come and raise us from the debt. And the reason you're here is because you know, this promise is the most important, even as our hearts drift to put trust in other things. And Isaias call to you today is simply to remind Jesus Christ promise is the only thing that lasts. His death and resurrection for you for the forgiveness of sins, is the only thing that will last forever. This world will burn. As Peter says, The heavens will fade and melt. Just like all of the other things around us. The promise of Jesus lasts forever. He will raise you from the dead. He will give you eternal life and the new heavens and the new earth that he will make on his return and he will live forever with Him. This is the one thing the one thing that lasts forever in Jesus name, Amen.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: Mark 1:1-8 The Gospel Reading for Sunday, December 10th

Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
    ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight,’”

John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Gospel reading for Sunday, December 10, is from Mark chapter one verses one through eight, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and all the country of Judea, and all Jerusalem, we're going out to him, and we're being baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. Now, John was clothed with camels hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached saying, After me, comes here, who is mightier than I, the strap of who sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie, I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Here ends the reading. Mark is a different gospel than the others because it begins very briefly and very simply, with the title almost the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And so the gospel of Mark is really just the story of Jesus, as he goes on this mission, the Son of God, a heroic mission to go to the cross. And his heroic journey is what actually brings him to death. It's kind of a tragedy in the in the, in the literary sense that Jesus is this heroic figure, whose mercy and love leads him into conflict with the Pharisees. And that ends up causing his death. And then his resurrection raises him to new life. This Gospel begins with a messenger, a quotation from Isaiah, Behold, I will send my messenger, the one crying in the wilderness. We read that in the Isaiah passage earlier this week, and I got to talk about that a little bit. Isaiah points forward to this man who appears next John, called John the Baptist, because he baptizes in the wilderness proclaiming this baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Now, one of the questions that people might ask is, what is the difference between a Christian baptism and John the Baptist baptism? I'm not sure if this text actually gives it to us. But we do know that the Christian baptism is what happens after Jesus comes. And so it's a different thing. I think perhaps the the phrase that we're looking for is at the very end where it says, I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. And so we see after Jesus, the baptism comes with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the gift of faith, which is why we baptize children as well as adults, because it's God's gift given to us. Now, John has an interesting figure. All the country goes out to see him and they're baptized, and they confess their sins. And so we see John's baptism focusing on this repentance and forgiveness of sins. And as she tells us about him, now John was clothed with camels hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. This is an image of a kind of a crazy man, right? You've got the the the camels hair and leather belt, and he's out eaten this weird food. I kind of want to imagine him with crazy hair and the giant bushy beard and the wild eyes. The idea of sort of like Elijah, the prophet being out there in the wilderness, this great prophetic model. And he says, After me comes He who is mightier than I, the strap of who sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. This is the great thing of John the Baptist is that he doesn't point to himself. He doesn't develop a church, a mega church out in the wilderness and then get ready to pass it on to his children and build mighty ministries and get his name on books and billboards. He says, Don't look at me. Look at Jesus. He's the one you got to pay attention to. Don't follow me. Jesus is coming. And that is the message that every pastor and preacher in our age needs to say A it's not about me it's all about Jesus that's all I have for today we'll see you on Sunday bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: 2 Peter 3:8-14 The Epistle Reading for Sunday, December 10th

2 Peter 3:8-14

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Epistle reading for Sunday, December 10, is from Second Peter chapter three, verses eight through 14. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is worth as 1000 years and 1000 years has one day, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise at some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. And then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these Be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. Here ends the reading. Here, the apostle Peter is looking forward to the day of the Lord. And he begins with a question that I, you know, I think many Christians have, why is it taking so long? Come on Jesus get down here. He says, with the Lord one day is as 1000 years and 1000 years as one day, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness. So he's saying, God is not slow, what is he? He's patient. He doesn't want people to perish. He wants all to reach repentance. But then he goes on to say, be ready. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. Jesus uses that image like a thief in the night. So we must always be ready on the watch. He describes the heavens passing away with a roar, and the body's burning up and dissolved as well as the earth and all the works are done, it will be exposed. The reason he's talking about the Earth and other heavenly bodies and all these things burning away and being dissolved, is he wants to show us that these things are temporary, that the only thing that matters is eternal life. And that's what he says in verse 11. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people out to you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, right? We shouldn't hold on to the things of this world. They don't matter. They don't last. Heaven and earth will pass away, burned up in this fire. And so all that matters is how we live and how we follow our Savior. He says, but according to this his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. So the promise we're looking forward to is not this earth continuing forever, but a new heavens remade after it's been burned up in God's judgment remade to be perfect forever. And so while we wait for that, we endeavor to be faithful so that when he finds us He will find us in Christ saved without spot or blemish. That's all I have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: Psalm 85 The Psalm for Sunday, December 10th

Psalm 85

Lord, you were favorable to your land;
    you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
You forgave the iniquity of your people;
    you covered all their sin.
You withdrew all your wrath;
    you turned from your hot anger.

Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
    and put away your indignation toward us!
Will you be angry with us forever?
    Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
Will you not revive us again,
    that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
    and grant us your salvation.

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
    for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
    but let them not turn back to folly.
Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
    that glory may dwell in our land.

Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
    righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
    and righteousness looks down from the sky.
Yes, the Lord will give what is good,
    and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him
    and make his footsteps a way.

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The psalm for Sunday, December 10, is Psalm 85. Lord, you were favorable to your land. You restored the fortunes of Jacob, you forgave the iniquity of your people. You've covered all their sin, you withdrew all your wrath you turn from your hot anger, restore us again, oh, God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you will prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not Revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, oh Lord, and grant us your salvation. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak. For he will speak peace to his people to His saints, but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is nearer to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land. steadfast love and faithfulness meet righteousness and peace, kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground and righteousness looks down from the sky. Yes, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps away. Here and the reading. The Psalm is a complaint Psalm, a communal complaint. So it's all the people of Israel, talking about what what God has done and asking him to change it. It begins with reminding god of his faithfulness in the past, that he restored the fortunes of Jacob and forgave the iniquity that at one time, he was angry with them, but he withdrew his hot anger. And we can see that pattern, especially in the book of Judges, were over and over again, God's people leave him. And then he sends in an army to punish them, and remind them that they need him for for their protection. And then they turned to him, God raises up a judge to defend them. And then the cycle starts all over. And so the psalmist is looking back at what God has done, and all the ways that he has done this and says, you know, you did this before, do it again. And that's what the verses following starting at verse four, say, restore us again, oh, God of our salvation. So there's obviously something going on, that is a problem in the mind of the psalmist. Now, the Psalms were written not just for a particular instance, but for the people of Israel to use on a regular basis. So this psalm would have been around anytime there was a major problem or national national emergency for Israel. But I think what's really interesting is how it sees the disasters as God's wrath. In verse five, it says, Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not Revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Now, what this shows is that God is actually in control of all the things, everything that happens is within his power. And Israel, when God brought disaster on them any kind of disaster, they would have said, God is angry with us. God is doing something to us. And so they say, God will stop it. Do something better. As it says in verse seven, show us your steadfast love, oh Lord, and grant us your salvation. And then it waits in Trust says, Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to his people to His saints, but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is nearer to those who fear Him that gory glory may dwell in our land. So it offers up this request. God, you're angry with us now. Let's stop it. returned to your promises. You've given them to us, we trust you. And then he waits for God's response, with the sure and certain hope that God will turn back to his promises as he always does. And then finally, there's the rejoicing of faithful people as they wait. steadfast love and faithfulness meet righteousness and peace, kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground and the righteousness looks down from the sky. Yes, the Lord will give what is good and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps away. Now one of the things we always have to remember about the Old Testament promises is that were they were given to a people in a land with real, actual consequences associated to them. When Moses talks about being In faithful to God, he says that all sorts of wealth follows faithfulness, and all sorts of curses follow unfaithfulness. So for Israel, when steadfast love and faithfulness, righteousness and peace and faithfulness all come together it means crops will grow, famine will be gone, armies will be kept at bay. For us Christians we know that when steadfast love and faithfulness meet righteousness and peace, kiss each other, when when faithfulness to God and from God come together. We don't get always the best things in life. What we get is the gift of God's grace and the promise of eternal life resurrection from the dead through our Savior. And so we get to look forward to the ultimate perfection of Christ's return and the joy he gives us there. That's all I have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: Isaiah 40:1-11 The Old Testament Reading for Sunday, December 17th

Isaiah 40:1-11

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
    double for all her sins.

A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry!”
    And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
    and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades
    when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
    surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
    but the word of our God will stand forever.

Go on up to a high mountain,
    O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
    lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
    “Behold your God!”
Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.
He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
    he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead those that are with young.

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Old Testament reading for Sunday December 10, is from Isaiah chapter 40, verses one through 11. Comfort comfort my people says your God, Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God, every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, the uneven ground shall become level and the rough places are plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. And all flesh set shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. A voice says cry, and I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely the people are grass, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Go on up to a high mountain, oh Zion herald of good news. Lift up your voice with strength, oh, Jerusalem, herald of good news, lifted up. Fear not say to the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules before him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him, he will tend his flock like a shepherd, He will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Here ends the reading. This passage is very famous and traditional for this time of year. And it has several sections. It begins with the passage of comfort, comfort, comfort, my people, says your God. This reminds me of one of the great Lutheran hymns called comfort comfort ye my people, goes, comfort comfort ye my people speak up is the Sassari God. What I love about Lutheran hymnody is that there's a paired him with the same verse that is about Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, where it goes, or Jerusalem, though we passed in that as our dear has Lord. It's interesting to see the the combination of the hymn both hymns using the same tune, one of God sending a messenger to comfort to Jerusalem, and another Jesus looking down at Jerusalem and saying, oh, Jerusalem, how I would gather you, and you would not. And I think this helps us understand this passage as well. Next, we get this voice that cries in the wilderness, Prepare the weight of the Lord. It looks forward to John the Baptist who speaks in the coming of Christ. And we see that in our readings this week, as John the Baptist stands in the wilderness, getting everyone ready for the coming of the Lord. One of the things I just learned recently, in this passage that I think is is interesting for us is what it says about the valleys and the mountains, where it says, Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low. The uneven ground shall become level and the rough places a plane. I was listening to a podcast about the ancient world. And one of the things that they said that was different about the ancient world is that they did not see things like mountains and valleys and waterfalls to be beautiful. They were hardships, marks, scars on the perfection of God's creation. And it's interesting to think that for us we who are in artificial environments all day long, when we look at a valley we think ah, God's beauty of His creation unmarked by humanity, or a mountain is looking at the wildness of its beauty. Ancient people would have just seen danger, difficulty, hardship. When the valleys are made, are made level and the mountains are made low. The danger there is wiped out. And the way of the Lord is made straight as a high away, something easy to traverse. You don't get lost. You don't get hungry. You don't die in the wilderness. You're on the road, because the Lord is coming. The next section of void says cry, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass and its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely the people are grass, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. What a fantastic passage on its own. Everything fades, doesn't it? It's not just the grass in the flower, but all of us. This passage compares humanity every person like grass that fades, grows up in the morning and then dies in the afternoon. But you know what lasts forever. The Word of our Lord, it stands forever. And his promises to us stand forever, even through death. Finally ends with a announcement that God is coming. There's go up on a high mountain of Zion herald of good news. And what does it announce? Behold your God, Behold, the Lord comes with might, and his arm rules for him. His reward is with him and his recompense before him. It describes a God who comes like a king with power and might, but also a God who comes like a tender shepherd. And it's interesting as we look forward to Jesus's first coming, we see him coming not in power and might but as that lowly shepherd who gathers people together, and we know when He comes again, this time it will be as that King with power and might, and he will come with recompense justice for his people. That's all we have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Rend The Heavens! Sermon for Sunday, December 3rd, 2023

Isaiah 64:1-9

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
    that the mountains might quake at your presence—
as when fire kindles brushwood
    and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
    and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
    you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
From of old no one has heard
    or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
    who acts for those who wait for him.
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
    those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
    in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
We have all become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
    and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is no one who calls upon your name,
    who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
    and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
    we are the clay, and you are our potter;
    we are all the work of your hand.
Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
    and remember not iniquity forever.
    Behold, please look, we are all your people.

Today we are at the beginning of a new year in the Christian church. And one of my habits over the years has been to choose one of the readings to preach on for the course of a year. Last year, I did the Epistle reading. So we read through all of those epistles, Paul's letters, Romans, Corinthians and all that stuff. This year, I'm planning on working through the Old Testament reading all year long. Now, the reason I do this is one, it's a good discipline. For me, that means that I don't just get to preach the passages that I like the most, the ones that are easiest to easiest to preach from, or my favorite hobby horse of the day. But it also allows me you guys to get an understanding of all of God's Word and how it works. So rather than focusing just on the gospel all the time, now we get to see some Old Testament theology, and how it relates to a New Testament Church, how it's different from what it would have meant for them, when it was written, as we understand it, and interpreted through Christ. Now, as we look at this reading, the reading from Isaiah, it actually seems a little odd. It seems to me, like Isaiah is kind of complaining, doesn't it? It's like, oh, that you would run the heavens and come down. A little bit like, Hey, God, get down here. It's time to do something. Right? Does that seem a little weird to you? Does that seem odd that someone might complain? To God? Is it okay for us to do that? I think for many Christians, the idea of complaining to God seems sacrilegious. Almost as if we're supposed to always be peaceful, always feel joyful and happy and grateful. And never really expressed that anything might be going on that's wrong. Or sad, or painful. And part of that, I think, is because we don't really like the word complain. Any parents knows the word complain? Because they have kids who do it all the time? Mom, I'm bored. Brussel sprouts? Again? I love Brussels sprouts, by the way. Really, are we there yet? No kid has ever said those things right? It would never complain about that sort of thing. That's not the kind of complaints we're talking about. When we talk about praying to God, that kind of complaint comes out of almost insolence, rather than trust. There's a different kind of complaint that I think every parent wants from their kid though. It's the time when their child comes up to them and says, Dad, I'm sad. I have a hug. And you go to them what's wrong? Tell me about it. And they do. Every parent wants that, right? They want their children to come to them when they have something that they need, when they're hurt when they're sad. And they don't say Stop complaining, your life is fine. Right. And I think that's something similar for what Isaiah is saying for us. That we have a father in heaven, who wants to hear about our entire life, and the good and the bad. In fact, that's what Luther says when he's he explains the opening to the Lord's Prayer, Our Father who art in heaven. He says, With these words, God tenderly invites us to believe that he is our True Father, and that we are His true children. So that with all boldness and confidence, we may ask him as dear children ask their dear father. This means that we can go to God and complain. And the Bible gives us a pattern to do that faithfully, so that we don't go as the insolent kid. But as the faithful person who needs and seeks comfort from God. And that is what Isaiah 64 is a good example of, for us. A way to complain to God faithfully and ask for him to come down and save us. And so it begins with an address just Like any prayer, this one's pretty short. It's just the word. Oh, right. You can imagine Isaiah looking up into heaven being like, oh, that you would come down. It's just like our prayers, the dress can be pretty short. Next, it moves on to the request. Oh, that you would rent the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence, as when fire kindles, brushwood. And the fire causes water to boil, to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence. Isaiah is asking something very simple, that God would come down with power and might be behind this is the complaint of the situation that's going on. It's actually after our reading that Isaiah describes what's been happening and why he's so upset. Verse 10, it says, Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem, a desolation, our holy and beautiful house where our fathers praised you has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins. Will you restrain yourself at these things? Oh, Lord, will you keep silent and afflict us so terribly. Isaiah has in mind, the coming destruction of Jerusalem, much of the book of Isaiah looks forward to the day when Babylon will come and do just that. They will tear down the walls of the city, they will destroy the temple where God has been worshipped for generation after generation, and leave Israel in desolation. And take off all the best and the brightest into Babylon, to serve the Empire there. Isaiah turns to God and says, In the face of this, come on, God, come down, look around at our suffering, look, what you have done to us, you have afflicted us and hurt us. Come on and fix this. Render the heavens and come down.

When we pray to God, complaint prayers, it is just fine to tell him all the things that are hurting us to the request is ran to the heavens, oh, God, and come down and fix my life. Because there are things that hurt, there are things that are wrong. And what I think it's really important for us to say as Christians is that it is okay to be unhappy with where your life is. It's okay to be hurt, and in pain, and it's okay to mourn when life is terrible. And we should call upon our God, and ask him to fix it. Because that is what he asks us to do. He wants us to turn to him and say, God, this is terrible. My life has become a desolation, a wilderness, ran the heavens and come down.

And what we do is, we trust in the promise that he will and that he comes to be among us. And that is what Isaiah does next. He has an expression of trust in God's historic action. It says, When you did awesome things that we did not look for you came down the mountains quaked at your presence. From an old no one has heard or perceived by the year. No, I have seen a God besides You, who acts for those who wait for him. You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. So we have here is an allusion to the promises and the actions that God has done in the past. For Isaiah and ancient Israel, that those were the stories of the Old Testament. God had done things to save them when they were not expecting it. He came down and did mighty and powerful acts began with Abram when God chose him and gave him a promised land. It happened with Moses Since when he called him out of the fields in the burning bush and sent him to Egypt, to bring all of the people out of the promised land into the Promised Land, even though they worshipped the gods of Egypt. It happened when God fed his people with manna and quail in the wilderness. Or when they came to the promised land, and they walked through the Jordan River on dry ground. It happened when they marched around the city of Jericho, and God knocks the walls down while the people shouted. And it happened when an angel came to Gideon, who was hiding in a well terrified, he might be spotted, and the angel called him to lead an army. And it happened over and over and over again, God would come down and fix things for Israel. Now, for them, that promise meant something different than it means for us. Ancient Israel was a people God's people had borders. They had a nation, they had a king and a government, which means they had to be defended by spears and shields and swords. So it's not so with us. We don't ask God to come down and set a wall of spears around our properties. Kind of weird, right? Yeah, it'd be no fun. But we do ask him to come down and fix some other things. To destroy the powers of sin, death, and the power of the devil at work in our lives. We can call out those same promises that he gives to us, not so much through Moses, but that God's Son, Jesus Christ did rend the heavens and come down, but he came down to be a human being amongst us to enter into our flesh and blood and live like us to die on a cross and rise from the dead, to break the power of the devil, thin and the world over us forever. We can point to that historic action and say your promises for me are true, because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. And we can trust in the future promise that God will fulfill what he has said that that same Savior will rend the heavens and come down on the clouds with power and might and fix everything. He will raise us from the dead, He will make the world new. And all things will be good and perfect forever. We can trust this promise. And when we cry out to God in complaint, we can follow this example. And remind ourselves of God's promises by speaking them to him, just as Isaiah did. What Isaiah does next is quite interesting. He then talks about being sinful. He says, Behold, you're angry and we sinned in our sins. We have been a long time and shall we be saved. We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind will take us away. There is no one who calls upon Your name who rouses himself to take hold of you, for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. Here Isaiah acknowledges that God's people were sinners, that they had turned away from worshipping Him that they had started following false idols. And some of them even move them into the temple, if you can believe it. And for Israel, that meant exile to God would spit them out of the promised land. We also when we turn to God and complaint must remember that we too, are sinners. As we confess later on in our servant in our service, we sin in thought, word and deed, and we justly deserve present and eternal punishment. And we know that we know that from sin comes its consequences. And that's why life is pretty terrible. So that when God brings in difficulty and disaster in our life turns hard. Well, we're sinners, and that's part of living in a sinful world. And yet we can still trust that Jesus came to forgive our sin and take it away. So that this time of pain and sadness will not last forever, and that Christ will return. So the final piece of this is the expression of trust. Even though we're in the midst of terrible difficulty, we know we can trust in God's promises. Verse eight says, But now Oh, Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay, and you are our Potter, we are all the work of your hand, be not so terribly angry, oh, Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please, look, we are all your people. This is the final movement in a faithful complaint prayer is that even in the midst of this difficulty, the pain and problem and all of that, we turn and we say, God, I know you've got a plan. I know that I am a part of your people you have chosen me. I trust that you will fix it. And we certainly can trust our father to do that. And we know that because you were chosen in your baptism. You are united with Jesus Christ when the water was splashed on you. And he chose you as your own. Which means that just as Jesus faced the terrible difficulty going through the cross, through the grave to the resurrection, we can trust that the promise is the same for us. Even when we face a cross, through the grave, the resurrection is coming. God may fix the problems we face now. Life may get better. But we know the ultimate promise is the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the gift that he gives us. It's okay to complain to God. It's okay to cry out to Him when life is difficult and painful. We must remember to do it faithfully. Isaiah gives us this pattern of calling on God. Offering up this complaint describing our situation is remembering God's promises and speaking them to him and confessing our own sin and expressing trust that he will solve this problem. In Jesus name, Amen.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: Mark 11:1-10 The Gospel Reading for Sunday, December 3rd

Mark 11:1-10

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week, I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Gospel reading for Sunday, December 3 comes from Mark chapter 11, verses one through 10. Now, when they drew nearer to Jerusalem, to Bethpage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of His disciples and said to them, Go into the village in front of you. And immediately as you enter it, you will find a cult tide on which no one has ever said, Untie it and bring it if anyone says to you, why are you doing this? Say, the Lord has needed it. And we'll send it back here immediately. And they went away and found a colt tied at his door outside in the street. And they untied it. And some of those standing there said to him, What are you doing untying the colt. And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the cult to Jesus and through their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut out from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting Hosanna bless it is he who comes in the name of the Lord bless it is the coming kingdom of our father, David Hosanna, in the highest urines the reading this reading for the first Sunday in Advent is one of the two options. There's another option where Jesus in Mark chapter 13, talks about the coming destruction and his return, and all the signs and powers and says Be ready. Stay awake. And so it's interesting that our lectionary gives us two options. One that is about the first coming of Jesus into Jerusalem, where he rides in under donkey, and one that is about the second coming when he's no longer on a donkey but with power, and on the clouds with might. Fascinating contrast there. But I chose to work on Mark chapter 11. So this is the very famous story. And what is interesting is we often read the Matthew account. And we're used to that from our John from the from Palm Sunday, when we celebrate Jesus entering into Jerusalem. And this one's a little different. This is the one from Mark. So Jesus sends two of his disciples in and they go into the village outside of Bethpage and Bethany. And as soon as they walk in, they're supposed to untie a colt, which of course, is stealing, right? And so it's obvious that somebody who's like, wait a second, what are you doing, you just walked in and you're stealing a donkey? Jesus is prepared for this. He says, No, it's not going to be stealing. What you're going to do is say, The Lord needs it. So they walk in, they they do this, they untie the Colt. The, the passers by are all like, wait a second, don't steal that guy's donkey. And they go, The Lord needs it. And so they they are allowed. So they bring the Colt out to Jesus, and they throw their cloaks on it. And he comes in, and the they cut leafy branches, it says this is not palm branches, but leafy branches from the fields, and they put them on the road. And I'd say Hosanna Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord bless it is the coming kingdom of our father, David Hosanna, in the highest. I think the most fascinating part about this is not everything that happened before, but the differences of the way Mark records this. So we go Hosanna Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. That's pretty standard, right? Hosanna means save us. And they're shouting, bless. It is he who comes in the name of the Lord, that is Jesus who's coming in the name of the Lord into the city of Jerusalem. One of the things that I love is that in the Lutheran church we often sing, sing that phrase, when Jesus comes down to be in the holy communion with his body and blood. We have this song called the song tus, which begins with holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth. Heaven and earth are full of your glory which comes from Isaiah, Isaiah as in the Holy of Holies. And he sees the presence of God and the seraphim are up Love him singing that song. And then we transition to this one, where we say Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest. Which means that we get to celebrate a coming of Jesus every single Sunday, when we we do this when we have Christ coming in his body and his blood, and sort of teleports us into this moment, when everybody is coming and seeing Jesus enter into the city. And then we look up at the altar. And we we know by faith that Jesus is descending from heaven, into the bread and wine to be one with us. Now, the next thing that cry out is Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. That's an interesting phrase. We don't see that one. And the other passages that we're not used to this one. So it's a blessing. We're excited about the coming kingdom of our father, David. So David had lots of promises. David was the one who was chosen that on the throne of Israel, there would be a King forever from David's line. And we saw that in the in the families of the nation of Judah is that David's kids, father to son was passed down this promise, and they were the kings all the way up until the Babylonian exile. And now, Jesus, the son of David reckoned through Joseph is coming as the king of Israel. And so what the people are seeing is they're recognizing in Jesus, the coming Kingdom of the father, David, the one that was promised, all the way back when David was chosen by God. And we see that in Jesus, and His Kingdom is different because he's on a donkey, instead of a war horse, he's not in front of an army, but a cheering crowd. And he conquers by going to a cross and dying, and then rising and ascending into heaven. Now, they didn't know it at the time, that the coming Kingdom of the Father would look the way that it does, that it's a King Who reigns from heaven and descends to his people in his body and blood. And that we're also looking forward when that kingdom is established forever and revealed fully on the last day. So we know that we are in God's kingdom now that he reigns over his church from his throne in heaven. And we are also waiting for the glorious coming kingdom of our father David, when Jesus returned, this passage leading into Jerusalem Jesus's entry focuses in on the hidden nests of his kingdom now, as he enters into our hearts and joins with us. The passage that is the other reading focuses on the glory of the coming Christ, and what we are to do as we wait, but the one we're looking at, we praise God for the gift that he gives us that he's given us, Christ and the kingdom right now. That's all I have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 The Epistle Reading for Sunday, December 3rd

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week, I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Epistle reading for Sunday, December 3 2023, is first Corinthians chapter one, verses three through nine. Grace to You, and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you, because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus, that in every way, you were enriched in Him in all speech, and all knowledge, even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end. guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, God is faithful, by whom you are called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Here ends the reading. This is the beginning of St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. And it's always interesting to look at the openings of Paul's letters to see the hints at what he's going to talk about. And Corinthians goes on for a long time about all the various things that he wants to correct and introduce and talk about to that congregation in current. And so we're going to take a look at some of these things and see what he's talking about. Paul begins his letters very similarly, when he says Grace to you and peace. In fact, that's often what I say, when I begin our sermons, Grace and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, very similar to what St. Paul says. He begins then by saying, I give thanks to my God always for you, because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus. Most of Paul's letters begin with some sort of giving thanks, that he says, Thanks for what God has done in that congregation. The only one that's different is Galatians, where he immediately starts to rip into them. Well, here he goes, I give thanks because of the grace God has given you. This is not a thanksgiving for what they're doing. But a Thanksgiving that God has given them grace. And I think for the Corinthian church, the the key behind this is that they are focusing on all of the things that they're doing. There's focus on the the gifts of the Holy Spirit and status and all of the inter church interactions that can cause problems and divisions. So much so that that St. Paul had to write about love. And in First Corinthians chapter 13, and about being united in the body of Christ, so that one cannot look down on another in in chapter 12. And so, what he, what he does here is he says, he's focusing on Jesus's grace, rather than on the things that Corinth is doing. And then he explains it, he says, that in every way, you are enriched in Him in all speech, and all knowledge. This is the thing that is a big deal. in Corinth, they were talking about speech and knowledge, wisdom of God and the power of God, which is something that he talks about a little bit later. Paul is saying that when the grace of God came to Corinth, they didn't need anything more. They didn't need to be wise in eyes, the world, they didn't need to have a secret knowledge or super high theological understanding of what God is doing. They didn't need to be puffed up and super great teachers. All they needed was the knowledge of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. In fact, St. Paul talks about the wisdom of God, the foolishness of God being wiser than the wisdom of men. He continues, even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, that is the speech and the knowledge is just the story of Jesus Christ. That is all we ever really need. That Jesus came, died and rose for us to give us life. Then he continues, so that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ. I think this is a good one for Christians to remember is that when we have Christ, we are not lacking anything. We can look at other Christians sometimes and say, Whoa, they're so much better than I am they they're so riveting, they're loving, they've got that life together, whatever it is, and we can think to ourselves, ah, I wish I could be like that. And maybe you do wish you could be like that. But that doesn't mean you're lacking anything. Because the one thing that Christians have, the one thing we need, the whole thing is Jesus. So you are not lacking in any gift. If you have Jesus, once you're baptized, once you're in the faith, you are one with Christ, and you have everything God wants to give you. And every time you come to receive the means of grace, to hear his word, to receive the sacraments, you get everything you need, over and over and over again. You are never lacking, you are filled with Christ. And He is the one who sustained us to the end, when Jesus returns. Then he continues by finishing up by saying, God is faithful, by whom you are called into fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. God is faithful, reminding him that the promises that He gives us will come true. God does not lie. And so in our baptisms, when God chose us and made us His holiness, He will honor that promise, He will return and raise us from the dead and the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we can trust in that promise. We know it to be true. That's all I have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Getting Ready for Sunday: Psalm 80:1-7 The Psalm for Sunday, December 3rd

Psalm 80:1-8

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
    Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your might
    and come to save us!

Restore us, O God;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved!

O Lord God of hosts,
    how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?
You have fed them with the bread of tears
    and given them tears to drink in full measure.
You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,
    and our enemies laugh among themselves.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week, I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The psalm for Sunday, December 3 2023, is Psalm 80, verses one through seven, give Eero shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who are in throne upon the chair of him shine forth, before Efrem and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your mind and come to save us. Restore us, oh, God, let your face shine that we may be saved. Oh, Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers, you have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure, you make us an object of contention for our neighbors, and our enemies, laugh among themselves, restore us, oh God of hosts, let your face shine that we may be saved. Here ends the reading. This is an interesting Psalm for Christians to be able to pray, because it gives us an approach to God that is a little odd. It begins by asking God to listen, you know, we think God always listens to our prayers. Why in the world? Would we start out by saying give here Oh, Shepherd of Israel. That's just like, listen, Oh, God. Why would we ask God to listen? Well, one of the reasons is that what they say later on, as they say, Oh Lord, God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers. So you can talk about God hearing our prayers in sort of two ways. There's one way where God promises always to hear our prayer. But I think what they're doing is they're saying, God, hear our prayer and act, do what we tell you to. Now, for them, the problem is, is a big deal. What they're going through is what you can see it says, You have made us an object of contention for our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves. This, this for ancient Israel would have been a series of likely military defeats, disasters, problems, all sorts of bad things that are going on in the nation of Israel, during the time of one of their kings. Because we remember, you always need to remember, God's promises to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament were different than God's promises to the church. God had promised that if they followed him, things would go well for them, that they would be safe, they would find rest, they would have food, they would be wealthy, and God would protect them from their enemies. That's very different from the promise that God gives to His Church is that we do not have the promise of wealth and happiness and and a peaceful life. But they did. And so when enemies would attack them come from outside, they would go up, and they would say, Oh, God, come on, like, come through on your promises. You said you would save us, you chose us. And so they're crying out? How long will you be angry with your people's prayers. So that's why God, they start out with this prayer, give here, listen. And it finally says, stir up your mind and come to save us. Now, if you look at the book of Judges, you've got all sorts of things where where this would happen, where the people would sin, they would forget God worship false idols, and then an army would come in. And those who the Roman remnant who remained faithful, they would cry out under this oppression because even the faithful ones would suffer under the oppression caused by the unfaithful people who worship false gods. So they would cry out, restore us, oh, God, let your face shine that we may be saved. And sometimes it took a really long time for that to happen, for God to raise up a judge to take over and protect his people. And so they could pray, you fed them with the bread of tears and give them tears to drink in full measure. You make us an object of contention for our neighbors and our enemies laugh among themselves. Restore us was the prayer, oh God of hosts, let your face shine that we may be saved. And so the Old Testament prayer was God raise up a leader for us to save us from our enemies so that we can drive them from our land and live at peace and self government once again. In the church, we have a different question. We also look around and we see in our own lives. Sometimes our own sin sometimes the problems around us these things they lead us into pain. But I think it's especially true when Christians face persecution. I can imagine people who are they see their churches torn down by governments that are officially hostile to Christianity. They see people who are killed for converting from their old religion to the True One of the Christian church. We see people getting hurt all the time rejected cast out, and we go, Wait a second God, aren't you the God of all creation? Aren't you the God who promised to come and save and make us rain with Christ for all eternity? How long? Are you going to going to wait? Why are you allowing all these things to happen? Stir up your mind and come to save us. But for the Christian, we know that this is something that God has already done. He sent his war leader, his great Judge Jesus Christ, who entered into death itself and destroyed the power of death, and rose to new life and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. And for us, we just have to wait until God decides to come back and raise us all from the dead and give us eternal life. And so we cry out, stir up your mind and come to save us. Come Lord Jesus, raise us from the dead and give us life and bring about the final kingdom. But until then, we often end up being fed with the bread of tears and tears to drink and full measure as we wait for that day. So this prayer becomes about the end, restore us of God of hosts, let your face shine that we may be saved. But we have the promise that it will happen, that even when our time here is over, Jesus will come and we will live forever with Him. That's all I have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai