Christmas Eve Sermon

Two posts in one day, exciting right!  Here is my Christmas Eve Sermon.  I worked really hard on this one because I think Christmas Eve always needs to be a better than average sermon.  As I was giving it, I was worried it was not very good and that I had dropped the ball the first Christmas Eve I got to preach.  However, several people including Pastor and his wife said I knocked it out of the park with both delivery and content.  This is just proof it is all the work of the Spirit not me!
[Just a side note, these manuscripts are never exactly word for word what I preach.  I write the manuscript, then learn the sermon thought by thought not word by word.  So quite a bit of the wording changes as I actually preach.  Then afterwards, I go back and change some of the wording that I thought was better said when I actually preached it; however, I do not remember or change everything.  Just wanted you to know, but it is still the same message nonetheless.]

This sermon was based on the Hymn of Praise - Gloria in Excelsis or "Glory to God in the Highest"

        Did you know that every part of our liturgy services in the front of the hymnals has a very specific meaning? Not only does each part have a specific individual purpose, but the overall order of the liturgy all works together for a very specific flow as well. In other words, there is a method to the Lutheran madness of why the liturgical services in the front of the hymnals are laid out in the precise order that they are. Each part serves a function and the entire service works together for the worship and glorification of our God. Now this does not mean that if you go to some other church and they do not use one of the Divine Settings they are not worshipping God. Not by any means! As long as the worship is based around the Word of God and His gifts He offers to us in the worship service, it is for the glory of God. But still, these Divine Services we have and that we use here at Mount Calvary are set up in a particular way for a reason. If you want to know more about this, I recommend taking a look at these new pamphlets we just got titled: “The Divine Service – An Explanation”. These can be found in the narthex of the church. In this pamphlet it lists each part of the divine service, gives scriptural basis, and then includes a short paragraph for the meaning of this specific part. It also includes a short application for daily living. This is a very handy and helpful resource to help you better understand each individual part of the service and the overall purpose of the service as well.
       During Advent we have been looking at different hymns. Tonight we are looking at hymns that are in the liturgy services. So at the four o’clock service Pastor Wurm gave a great sermon on the Song of Simeon. Now at this service we are looking specifically at the Hymn of Praise – Gloria in Excelsis or “Glory to God in the Highest!” So in the pamphlet, if you go to the Gloria, under meaning it reads – “Having just petitioned the Lord for blessings beyond the forgiveness granted in absolution, we now praise Him as the one who can deliver those blessings, because He is the all-powerful God. His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the lamb worthy of our praise, just as the angels praised Him at His birth.” The Gloria in Excelsis comes right after the Kyrie which follows confession and absolution. In our confession, we ask for forgiveness, and we receive it in the words of absolution where Pastor speaks the words on Christ’s behalf. These words of forgiveness truly are as certain as if they were coming directly off of the lips of Christ. We are undoubtedly forgiven by the authority of Christ Himself, which is why this paragraph includes the phrase, “the forgiveness granted in absolution.” Then the part of “petitioning for blessings beyond this forgiveness” is the Kyrie where we ask God for certain things and then respond with Lord have mercy. We boldly ask for peace, salvation, and unity for all those here to worship and for the whole world from our God who provides us with everything. We respond with “Lord have mercy” because we know we do not deserve these things on top of the abundant blessings we have already received. So it is by God’s mercy alone that He grants us such things. So we have asked for forgiveness and received it in the absolution, and we have asked for God’s mercy to grant us these other petitions in the Kyrie; now we join together to sing our praises to the one who is able to deliver these abundant blessings. The hymn of praise addresses all three persons of the Triune God, but it focuses mainly on Jesus, the only Son of God because Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world in our absolution and He is the one seated at the right hand of the Father, receiving our prayers and the petitions of the Kyrie as our intercessor between us and the Father. So we worship, give thanks, and praise Him for being our Paschal Lamb who takes away our sins and our intercessor who hears our prayers. He truly is alone the Holy one, alone the Lord, and alone the Most High, and we sing our praises to Him just as the angels sang His praises in the presence of the shepherds on the night He was born.
      Now you might have noticed that for the last three weeks we haven’t sung the hymn of praise in our Sunday morning services. If you look at it in the hymnal, there is a red line just under the heading “Hymn of Praise”, that reads, “During Advent and Lent, the Hymn of Praise is omitted.” However, it does not give any kind of explanation as to why it is omitted. Well, in the same pamphlet, at the bottom of the inside page, you will find an explanation for this. I’m paraphrasing here, but basically it states that because Advent and Lent have a penitential character to the seasons, the hymn of praise is omitted to set it apart as a very distinct time in the church year. The penitential character of these two seasons is preparing ourselves for the birth and resurrection of our Lord by examining ourselves and realizing we are dirty rotten sinners who do not deserve to have a Savior who would be born into the flesh or would die in order to be resurrected. This is why the Hymn of Praise is omitted during this penitential season.
       So this advent season is a penitential season that is meant to be used to examine ourselves and prepare ourselves for the coming of our Lord. Have you been using this season to examine your life, your actions, your choice of words, your habits, and even your thoughts? Then have you not only examined your life to see what areas you are struggling with, but have you actually repented of those sins? Have you gone to your Father in prayer admitting that you know this certain area or that certain struggle in your life has caused you to sin against Him and maybe continually sin against Him day in and day out? For example maybe you are struggling with an addiction. It doesn’t even have to be a serious addiction like alcohol or drugs, but maybe something more minor like gossiping, anger, greed, lust, or pride. Something that when you say your evening prayers, asking God to forgive you for all that you did wrong that day, this is that one sin that you keep finding yourself asking for forgiveness every day. So you have examined yourself and recognized your habitual sins, those sins you constantly find yourself recommitting. You have confessed these sins to God, asking Him to forgive you of these sins. The next step of repentance is to work towards changing your behavior, asking God for the strength to not keep committing these sins, and taking intentional steps to correct your sinful habits. It is not easy and most likely won’t happen overnight, but if you are truly repentant of these sins you do not want to keep doing them over and over and over. Your repentance drives you to correct or change this area of your life.
       Now we should confess our sins daily, and our repentance should drive us towards trying to change our sinful behavior year round, but these penitential seasons are a time in the church year that are set aside for the distinct purpose of preparing ourselves for the coming of our Lord. These seasons are meant to be reminders that if we have let ourselves slip back into old routines and old habits, it is time to start working on them again. It is time to start making the intentional prayers and effort to live a more sanctified life. The hymn of praise is omitted because we should be more somber and sincere about the fact that we are sinners who do not live up to the expectations God has demanded of us. Each and every one of us has fallen short of the glory of God and do not deserve anything from Him but eternal damnation. We do not deserve to be happy, healthy, or loved. We are sinners who sin constantly every day. So I ask again, have you used this penitential season of Advent to truly prepare yourself for the coming of the Lord? Has the omittance of the hymn of praise been a heeding to you this season that you are a sinner not worthy of God’s blessings?
        The good news though is that the coming of the Lord is not dependent on our preparation. From the time Adam and Eve fell into sin in the garden, all of mankind has been sinful and unworthy of God’s mercy. God promised to send His Son as the Savior in the garden, and from that moment up until Christ was born in Bethlehem was the first Advent. This entire period of history was the first preparing for God’s coming as His people awaited the promised Savior. If His sending His Son into the world in the flesh the first time would have been dependent on the people being rightly prepared, we would still be waiting for Christ to be born. But God did not wait for His people to be truly prepared because He knew they never would be. He knew they needed a Savior for the very reason that they never could be truly prepared. These sinners were not capable of living a life that would live up to God’s demand and this is the very reason He sent His Son to be born of the flesh. He sent His Son to live a life in this world, to die on the cross to pay the price of all sin of all mankind, and to rise from the dead to defeat sin, death, and the devil. And the good news is God sent Him when He knew the time was right. He sent Him even when the people were not ready to receive Him. Christ was born into this world upon the Father’s command while the people were still living sinful lives, still committing those same old sins, and still not rightly prepared. Christ was born, He died, and He rose to be the Savior of these sinful people.
       Now that Christ has been born, our Advent is not waiting for His birth. Even though we use Advent every year to prepare ourselves for the good news that He was born into the world, the Advent we are living in is now waiting for His return. We are waiting for Christ to come again and end the sinful condition of this world, to claim His reign and establish His kingdom once and for all. This is the coming of the Lord we are preparing ourselves for. And just as when God sent Him to the world the first time, His return is not dependent upon when we are rightly prepared. Our Father will send Christ back for His final return, the end of the world as we know it, when He deems the time is right. Yes, we should be trying to live the most sanctified life we can and we should be preparing ourselves for His coming, but we know our salvation is not based on our works and His coming is not based on our readiness. We have our assurance that Christ will come again, and He is coming to claim us as His people. Even though we continue to struggle with those same old sins, through His forgiveness we will be pronounced as sinless, holy, and righteous. He has granted us His mercy in forgiving us of our sins and by giving us abundant blessings in this life time. He does all of this for us not because we are prepared, ready, or worthy, but because He loves us and has chosen us to be His.
        So we do not sing the hymn of praise in Advent because we use the penitential season to examine ourselves, confess that we are sinners, and with the help of God try to be more sanctified. But we got to sing the beautiful Gloria’s tonight, and we will sing them again tomorrow morning, and we will sing them every Sunday until Lent now as we celebrate the birth of our Lord. We will sing the Glory to God in Highest to praise Him for Sending His Son to be our Savior. And as we sing these praises to our God, we know the Gospel truth that God sent His Son to be our Savior who is the Lamb of God forgiving us of all our sins and our Intercessor who hears our every prayer and petition while we are on this earth. We also know the Gospel truth that God will most certainly send Him again when He knows the time is right to be our Savior who claims us as His forgiven, righteous people for the rest of eternity.

In the name of our Savior who has come, who is come, and who will most certainly come again, Christ Jesus. Amen!

Christmas Day Sermon!

Greetings in the Christmas Hope and Joy that our Lord is born! I am the only one working in the office today.  I am trying to get everything finalized for our Mission Trip which we leave for THIS SATURDAY! Where does the time go!  I am so excited and have an amazing group of 7 students going with me. Here is the sermon that I preached Christmas morning in Brookings and then also this last Sunday in Watertown.  I did pulpit supply for a pastor who was on vacation in Watertown which is about 45 mins north of here.  I did both services completely on my own, and preached this sermon for them.  It was a great experience and I actually really enjoyed it.
Happy New Year!!!!

   Text is Isaiah 52:7-10 specifically looking

      In our text for today Isaiah speaks of beautiful feet. Now most people find feet ugly and disgusting. They are stinky and gross. They can have bunions and calluses and nothing about them expresses beauty. However, in Isaiah’s prophecy, these feet are beautiful because they are carrying good news. They are carrying a messenger, who has good news of peace, happiness, and salvation. Good news that “God Reigns!” It is because of the message that these feet are carrying that makes them beautiful.
     So if the feet of this random person that brings good news of peace, happiness, and salvation are beautiful; then the feet our Lord who is the good news of peace, happiness, and salvation are majestic. The feet of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are feet that look just like ours and felt just like ours and seemed to be just normal feet. However, when you look at how the Bible speaks of the feet of Christ you can quickly see that these feet are not just ordinary feet.
      When the Gospels tell the Christmas story, none of them ever specifically reference Jesus’ feet. But we know that He was born a healthy baby with ten fingers and ten toes. Now you may think that because Jesus was born with two feet and ten toes is earth shattering news; however, the fact that our God left His throne and all the perfection of Heaven behind to come to this sinful world and take on the flesh of human being is entirely earth shattering. He took on our form to be just like us. He chose to be born with feet and toes so that He could live in the same sinful condition that we live in. He is God and He could have stayed purely 100% only God, but instead He became 100% man on top of 100% God. He was born with feet and toes on that first Christmas, becoming man to save all of mankind. That’s what the celebration of Christmas is all about. We are here this morning to celebrate this miracle birth of our Lord.
       Then as this sweet baby Jesus grew up into a child and eventually a man, John the Baptist references to Christ’s feet. When John speaks of Jesus, he says that he is not worthy to bend down and untie the sandals from Jesus’ feet. John feels unworthy to be at the lowest level of Christ serving Him in the simplest of ways. This is kind of ironic since Jesus will reference to John as the greatest of men being born of a woman and the fact that John is the Elijah to come, the prophet sent ahead to serve Christ by preaching repentance in baptism. John has been specifically called to serve Christ and His Gospel message and yet he sees himself as unworthy to be face in the dirt in front of the Messiah. If John, the greatest man born to a woman feels this way, we most certainly should feel unworthy to be face down, kneeling in front of Christ. We should feel unworthy as sinners to be in the presence of our God. And yet every Sunday He welcomes us into His house to be in His presence, to hear His Word, and to receive His gifts. We as sinners should not be allowed to serve Him in even the simplest of ways because by our own merit we are certainly not good enough. However, Christ has called each one of us to serve Him daily through the power of the Spirit. He has enlightened us in the faith and empowered us with the Spirit to serve Him in more ways than simply untying His sandals. He has called us to share the good news of peace, happiness, and salvation that He brought when He was born into this world as a human being with His feet carrying Him throughout His ministry.
      Jesus walked into the river to be baptized by John, but later He will walk on the water when He comes out to the disciples on the boat. There is a Biblical theme of water that can be seen throughout both the New Testament and the Old Testament. The theme is that flowing water is life and still water is chaos. So when Jesus walks on the sea where the disciples are in the boat, this is still-water or symbolic for chaos. Yes, it is a miracle that Christ can walk on water, something no other human can do; but it is an even more powerful miracle when you see the sea as chaos. Christ is calmly walking on top of the chaos with all evil is under His feet. His feet carried Him on top of the water to show He is Lord of all creation, but they also carried Him on top of the chaos because He is the Lord of all power and authority who has the peace that can overpower any chaos.
       His feet carrying Him across the water were sure to get wet, another place we see Jesus’ feet get wet is in Luke 7 where the woman is crying. This woman referred to as a sinner, comes into the house of the Pharisees where Jesus is eating. She is weeping, most likely because of her awareness of her sinful condition. She serves Him in the same way He will serve His disciples at the Last Supper by washing their feet, but she does it in an even more personal way using her tears as the cleansing agent and her own hair as the towel. She knows this is the one who has brought good news of salvation, good news of forgiveness that can free her from her sinful condition and she very personally serves Him by lowering herself to the ground and washing His feet. I am sure she was much like John and felt unworthy to be in His presence even at the level of His feet, but she knows He is her Lord, so she cleans His feet, kisses them repeatedly, and anoints them with expensive perfume. She knows this is her Lord and she hears Jesus say the most beautiful words she ever heard when He looked at her and said, “Your sins are forgiven, go in peace.” She washed the feet of her Lord, knowing He is the good news of salvation and forgiveness, and she heard that good news from His mouth. The same good news that He has brought to all peoples.
       Eventually we see Christ’s feet leading Him somewhere He did not want to go. In the Garden of Gethsemane He prays for the Father to take this cup from Him. However, the Father does not take the cup form Him and allows His plan for salvation to continue. Christ’s feet carry Him to His trial where He is questioned, accused, beaten, mocked, and finally sentenced. His feet carry Him and His cross up the hill to Golgotha where He will be laid upon that cross and have a nail driven through both of His feet. His now bloody feet with a nail through them would hold Him up on that cross long enough for Him to ask God to forgive mankind for they know not what they do. They do not know that they are killing the one who has come to save them. Then as He exclaims “It is finished”, life leaves His body leaving Him a dead corpse upon that cross. His feet along with the rest of His dead body would be wrapped up and laid in the tomb where it appeared would be His final resting place.
       However, three days later His feet carry Him out of that tomb, risen and alive. Resurrected in the flesh, His feet carry Him to appear to the woman, the disciples, and the masses. The same feet that John felt unworthy to bow down in front of, the same feet that carried Him across the water and on top of the chaos, the same feet that the woman washed, kissed, and anointed, the same feet that were nailed to the cross and still have the nail hole in them now carried our Savior out into the world to proclaim the good news that He truly is the Savior who has won peace, happiness, and salvation.
       From the very beginning of sin, in the Garden of Eden, God promised that He would send His Son to be the Savior. He told the devil that the devil would bruise His Son’s heel but His Son would crush the devil’s head. That is exactly what Christ did by being born a human with flesh, feet, and toes. By being nailed to a cross to give up His own life for the price of all sin, Christ’s heel was bruised. He suffered pain, but that bruise, the pain Christ suffered is nothing compared to the crushed head of the devil, being defeat and crushed once and for all. I love this image of this promise because if you crushed a snake’s head with your bare heel, the broken bones and rough scales would bruise your heel, and this is exactly what Christ did. Through His life, death, and resurrection He crushed the devil, that ancient serpent’s head with His bare heel, bruising Himself for the life of us all. And even though His heel is bruised, even though His feet still have the nail holes in them, they are the most beautiful thing we could ever hope to see. They are the majestic feet that brought us ALL good news of peace, happiness, and salvation.
       And now that He reigns in heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father, St. Paul tell us that every enemy is under His feet. In Ephesians St. Paul states, “seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet”. Because Christ was born into this world in the form of a human with two feet and ten toes, He now reigns in Heaven at the right hand of God with all authority and power. Every other authority, power, dominion, and name, including sin, death, and the devil are under His feet, completely under His control. And just as we are welcomed to be in His presence here in His house hearing His good news and receiving His gifts, one day we will be in His presence in front of His throne, kneeling at His feet knowing He is our good news of peace, happiness, and salvation! Those beautiful, majestic feet will be the most glorious sight we have ever seen as we spend the rest of eternity living in His presence!

In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.    

Advent Sermon

     Greetings in the name of our Lord who will come again!  Happy official winter.  It has felt like winter here for a long time now, but I am glad today is the shortest day of the year so they will start getting longer again.  I am battling against a sinus infection/head cold.  I am not really sure what it is but I just have a constant head ache and pressure in my head.  I have been taking sinus medicine and that helps with the head ache.  I am still full of grossness and woke up this morning coughing something fierce.  I don't know if all the time I have been spending out in the cold is helping, but I get so sick of being in the house.  Yesterday I scooped all of my own driveway and sidewalks and then all of the church's too.  We only got a thick dusting, so it wasn't hard to move.  Then I went hunting last night, but the deer could hear me walking through the snow from a mile away so I didn't get any.  This morning the guy I hunt with and I went and just drove around.  We saw so many deer but it's not rifle season.  Even if it had been rifle season they were all out of range or on property that we do not have permission, so shooting one with the bow was certainly out of the question.  We did push a creek bottom with rifles for coyotes, but didn't scare up anything.  The only thing this sickness is really affecting though is my motivation.  I have three sermons in the next week and I only have one and a half done.  I plan to finish the second one yet tonight and hopefully the third one tomorrow.  I have had plenty of time, but just cannot stay focused.  I am sure they will all get done and the one that I wanted to be really good is done.  I think it is pretty good, but need to go over it again before I am actually accepting it as done.        
       Pastor and I did the preaching schedule for January through July and I preach 18 times if I counted right.  I preach every Wednesday for Lent and then my last three weeks here I preach all in a row.  I told pastor that way everyone is sick of me and ready to boot me out the door.  It is scary to think that the end of vicarage is already written down on my calendar.  There is a small part of me that is ready to be back at the seminary with my classmates again, but the much larger other portion is going to be very upset when vicarage is over.
       This week is going to be extremely busy with Christmas, but I will try to post both my Christmas Eve and Christmas day sermons before the New Year.  If I don't post on here before Wednesday, Merry Christmas to each and every one of you.  God is far too good to us.  Praise be to Him for all He does for us and how much He dearly loves us!  Here is my sermon from this last Wednesday evening.  It is based on the hymn "Go Tell it on the Mountain".

         “Go tell it on the mountain” is a beautiful Christmas hymn. It’s upbeat and cheery, it is easy to remember the refrain that is sung three times, and it always get me excited to hear the good news that “the humble Christ was born, and brought us God’s salvation that blessed Christmas morn.” The song’s verses are based on part of the Christmas story directly told in Luke’s Gospel. In Luke 2 we hear the full story: “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” This account told by Luke is the exact story in a little fuller detail of the story we hear in “Go tell it on the mountain.” The shepherds see a great light, are filled with fear, but then hear the good news that the savior is born.
         Then of course the refrain of the song points us to what the shepherds did after they heard the great news. Luke tells us they went down and found the baby, placed in a manger, wrapped in swaddling cloths, and knew he was the savior, who is Christ the Lord. Then in verse 20, we see that “the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” They heard the good news, saw for themselves that it was true, and went praising and glorifying God.
      This last Sunday afternoon we heard the children of the congregation tell us the Good News, Great Joy! Through singing songs, sharing their lines from the story, and the little kids acting out parts of the story with their action poems, the children praised and glorified God by telling the Good News that the Savior is born. They like the shepherds told the good news to share the great joy.
       However, the part most people don’t think about is how the rest of the people responded to the shepherd’s story. These men who spend weeks at a time on in the field with their sheep, and probably smelt as bad as the sheep they watched over, where not the highest class in society. These men dedicated their lives to protecting these animals that were too stupid to fend for themselves but were not highly honored among the rest of the people in town. Now imagine, these stinky, dirty men who have not only been in the fields with their sheep for who knows how long but have also traveled to Bethlehem and back, come walking into town talking about seeing a great light from the heavens, hearing a message from an angel, and finding a baby who was born in a barn and placed in a manger who is the savior, Christ the Lord! Maybe some of the people believed them, but some of the people probably looked at them wondering what new plant they had been eating out in the fields that gave them these visions. This would have been almost as believable as the hillbilly who comes in from hunting saying he spotted bigfoot or saw a UFO fly across the sky. Rumors probably spread like wild fire. People saying things like, “Those dirty, stinky sheep herders spend too much time out in the field with their beasts if they think they actually saw a light from heaven and heard angel,” or “Yeah an angel has such an important message to tell that the savior is born, I bet it would go to the shepherds before anyone else.” Luke even tells us that “all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.” These shepherds risked being the laughing stock of the town by waltzing in and telling such an extravagant story, and yet they didn’t care. They went glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard. They were so overjoyed they risked looking like fools to share the good news and great joy that they had been told. They didn’t care about what anyone else was going to think about them, they just wanted to share the good news.
         Now maybe the children on Sunday were not quite as overjoyed as the shepherds, being more or less involuntarily here instead of inspired to go out on their own, but nonetheless, they told the same good news and great joy. How often when we hear the Christmas story of our savior being born are we so overjoyed that we go and share the message with others? Or are we not quite as fearless as the shepherds to not care what others will think about us? Our self conscious tells us that if we told that person the “good news” of Jesus, they will think we are one of those crazy Christians who are overzealous! They will think I am a religious nut if I just out of the blue tell them that Christmas is about the birth of Christ! What happens if they ask me a question I can’t answer? I don’t want to look like I don’t know my own faith. Or what if they had a bad experience in the church once and me telling them about Jesus brings us those bad memories, I don’t want to hurt this person. I’m sure there are a million other reasons that go through our heads when we try to work up the courage to tell someone else the “good news” of Christmas, but we do let what others might think about us affect how we share the good news. We sing this song, about the shepherds climbing mountains and hills to share the good news, and yet we are guilty of failing to even tell our neighbor or co-worker standing right next to us the same message.
        Christ is born, and this is certainly good news! It is good news because it means that even at times when we fail to go out into the world telling everyone the Gospel message, the humble Christ who was born still brings us God’s salvation through that Christmas morn! Christ was born in a humble barn, with his visitors being stinky dirty shepherds. He lived a humble life of eating with tax collectors and prostitutes. Then He would die a humiliating death on the cross to forgive His people of all of their sins. Even their sins of omission, of not telling others the good news they have through Him. These sins of letting our self conscious talk us out of proclaiming the beautiful Gospel message are forgiven just as is every other sin because of our savior. Our Savior, who was born, died, and rose again is our savior from all of our sins. His salvation is for all people, that’s the Good News and the Great Joy the angel shared with the shepherds that first Christmas and the children shared with us this last Sunday. We truly are forgiven of all sins, and this forgiveness gives us a clean start each day to try to live a more sanctified life. It gives us a fresh start each day to go out like the shepherds and tell the good news of the great joy we know is true!
        God sent His Son to be the Savior of the world, and He uses unlikely people to proclaim that message. The stinky shepherds tending to their flock were not the most likely candidates to be the first ones to hear the good news from the angel, but they were the ones God sent His angel to. God worked through these unlikely men to share the message that His son was born, and He works through us today. He works through Pastor and I, certainly not saints or perfect men by any means, and yet through the power of His Spirit we can proclaim the Gospel message to you every week from this very pulpit. He works through each and every one of you giving you the faith to come here and hear His Word and His good news. Then He works through you giving you the opportunities and strength to share that good news with others. You may feel as unworthy or as unlikely a candidate to carry this message out into the world as those shepherds, but the Good News is that God still works through you. You have been enlightened through the faith to believe this Good News and Great Joy, and through the Spirit you have been empowered to share that good news with others. However, if you drop the ball and realize you missed an opportunity, do not fear or fret, know that you are forgiven in Christ and will have more opportunities for God to work through you just as He did through the shepherds. This is the fresh start we have each day in forgiveness to try harder each day to not worry about what others will think, to not drop the ball, but confidently and joyfully share the good news that the savior we have is born and he is for all people.
        So when you hear this beautiful Christmas song, be reminded that of the good news that your Savior is born! Then be reminded that God has chosen you to work through to GO and TELL this Good News and Great Joy that Our Savior, Christ the Lord is Born. He has come and won your salvation forgiving you of all your sins, and He will come again to once and for all announce you as blameless and guiltless of all sins. This is the Great Joy of the Good News that “the humble Christ was born, and brought us God’s salvation that blessed Christmas morn.”

In the name of our Savior who is born, Christ the Lord, Jesus. Amen.

Vacation

     Greetings in the name of our coming Lord, Jesus Christ.  I know the last week or two have been crazy busy and I haven't had much time to post about what I have all been up to.  I am not going to try to fill you in on everything, but here is a little summary of what's the latest.
      The details for our mission trip are finally all starting to fall into place.  We will leave Saturday January 4th and drive from Brookings to Grand Island, NE.  My friend Ben is going to help us out with a place to stay the night there and it works out great because it is almost exactly halfway for us.  So we drive six hours Saturday, stay the night, and then drive the other five on Sunday.  Sunday we will get into Boulder some time in the afternoon.  We plan to meet the LSF chapter at the University of Colorado. The pastor who is the ministry leader there did his vicarage in Brookings 7 or 8 years ago.  We will attend their church service at 5pm with them that night at their chapel.  We plan to sleep in the chapel that night.  Then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we will be working in Lyons, Colorado.  It sounds like they have the cleanup portion done and are now working on the rebuild chapter.  So from the sounds of it we will be assisting carpenters in the rebuilding of houses and businesses.  I am excited because I like that type of work.  For the nights that week we are working, a church in Longmont has offered to house us.  We will most likely be in homes of members of that church.  This means we will have warm beds and showers, but we will not all be together.  I think we will make the most of it, and we are certainly gratefully for the free housing.  Then Friday we are going to go skiing at Eldore Ski Resort just west of Boulder.  We will stay in the chapel one last night on Friday night before driving home Saturday the 11th.  Unless we run into bad weather, I plan to make the trip home in one shot.  I will have two of the students as drivers as well, so that will be nice.  We are taking one of the campus's 12-seat vans with a pull behind enclosed trailer for all of our luggage, winter clothes, and sleeping bags.  So I have been doing a lot of emailing back and forth and making phone calls to get everything set into place so when we leave everything is ready to go.  I have seven students going for sure, and two or three more still on the fence.  It should be a good group and a fun trip.  I am super excited for it and think the students are too.
      I went hunting two days last week with one of the elder's at his parents farm two hours north west of Brookings.  It was negative 18 degrees the first day and negative 26 degrees the second day.  Why we were even out there I have no idea but it was actually still pretty fun.  The first day we got the pickup buried and spent over an hour and a half digging it out of the giant drift by hand.  Then we sat that evening and I didn't see much.  The next morning I sat in the deer stand, but had to keep moving to make sure nothing froze solid so I wasn't the most quiet.  I left the stand early to go back in the house and drink coffee while the other two guys stayed out longer.  Then that afternoon turned into a circus of seeing all kinds of deer but none ever really in shooting range.  We did shoot at one group of does but unfortunately didn't hit any.  Then sitting that evening I had the craziest thing I have ever experienced happen to me.  I was kneeling in the snow in the corner of two fences.  My knees got cold being in the snow so I stood up and planned to just kneel back down when I actually saw deer.  While I was standing there a giant bird flew towards me.  As it got closer I realized it was a white snow owl.  It was a big beautiful bird. It hovered in the air about five feet from me watching for anything to move in the tall grass on the other side of the fence.  I stood as still as I possibly could.  He hovered for a while then slowly floated over my head.  I still didn't move or turn to see where he went.  Then as I stood there wondering where he went, he landed on my head!!!!!! I kid you not.  He perched himself up there since I was the tallest thing around and I assume was still just watching for his next meal to move.  As I stood there with an owl on my head, I wasn't quite sure what to do.  Eventually, I started worrying about him pecking me, so I threw my hand up and hit him off of my head.  As he flew away I turned around to look at him, and he had the most confused look on his face.  He had to be thinking, "What happened?? That fence post just moved and hit me!!!!"  It was quite the experience and made almost getting frostbite on my fingers worth it.  I ended up getting no deer, but it was still a fun couple days.  Then Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were some of the busiest days of my life. Trying to play catch up for being gone two days and get ready to leave for a week; it taught me very quickly why pastors do not take vacation very often.  On top of it all I preached on Sunday. I posted that sermon already.
     Monday night I drove down to Omaha and stayed with JoAnna.  Steven, his roommate, and I had a great time that night after JoAnna went to bed since she had to work the next day.  Then Tuesday morning, Steven took me to the air port.  I made it to Denver with no troubles.  Then a three hour lay over with an hour delay became a four hour lay over.  So I got lunch and walked around the air port before I found the airport bar and had a drink or two.  Then my flight to Phoenix went smoothly. I got in and Erin picked me up.  I have been down here all week visiting her where she is doing her fourth and final clinical.  We went out for supper Tuesday night.  Wednesday she had to work so I did some church work and some plumbing work around the house.  Then when she got off, we went for a hike and then met one of her co-workers for supper and a drink.  Then Thursday she had to work again so I did more church work and put up a new ceiling fan for the lady she is living with.  Then after work we went up to she her aunt and uncle and eat supper with them.  Erin had today off, so we did a 4.5 mile hike up a mountain this morning.  Then we went to a brewery for lunch and had a nice afternoon.  I fly out first thing in the morning and should be back in Brookings tomorrow night.  It has been a fun week and so good to see her again.
      Now it will be back to work and trying to survive the rest of December.  I will post more Psalm devotions when I get back, they are on my other computer.  I will post my January newsletter today though.  Hope you enjoyed the updates and enjoy the newsletter.

Isaiah 42:6 ““I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you;”

      Isaiah 42 is the Old Testament reading for the Baptism of our Lord Sunday. The baptism of our Lord is such a precious piece of Scripture because we get a glimpse of the entire Trinity. Jesus, God the Son, is baptized in the Jordan River by His cousin John the Baptist. God the Father opens the heavens and speaks saying, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” Then God the Holy Spirit descends down through the open heavens in the form of a dove and came to rest upon Jesus. All three persons of our one true God are seen present and acting.
      I have heard about people who say that they do not like that Jesus received the Spirit at His baptism. This may sound strange to you, and it did to me too. It was explained that their reason for saying this was because when Jesus goes out into the desert to be tempted by the Devil, He now has the Spirit to help strengthen Him. They made it seem as if Jesus could not have resisted the Devil by Himself without the aid of the Spirit. It seemed to them Jesus was “cheating” or “not playing fair” by having the Spirit there with Him. In other words it lessened the value of Jesus remaining holy by not falling into the Devil’s temptations because He didn’t do it on His own. However, to me this is not only absurd, but the exact opposite. The fact that the Spirit was there with Jesus is not discomforting, but it is actually comforting to me. Jesus received the Spirit at His baptism and then was able to fend off the Devil and His attacks. This is comforting to me because I know I received the same Spirit in my baptism which gives me the hope and assurance that with this same Spirit I too have the strength to fend off the Devil and his attacks. I also firmly believe Christ would have still not given into the Devil even if He did not have the Spirit, but it doesn’t matter because He did indeed have the Spirit with Him. So I will take great pride and joy in knowing the Spirit was there for Jesus and He is there with me too helping me live a more sanctified life, not giving into the Devil and his tricks.
       Then in our text from Isaiah God the Father also comes into play. The Father is speaking about how He has called Christ in righteousness and He will give His Son to be the covenant for the people and a light for the nations. In verse six here though we see a very powerful image of how the Father will be with His Son as He sends Him to be this covenant and this light. He says I will take you by the hand and keep you. The Spirit is with Christ in the wilderness, but the Father has “Him by the hand.” A father holding the hand of His Son to keep Him from going astray is certainly an image that hits close to home for probably most of us. I can’t remember a certain time where I remember holding my father’s hand, but I can remember many times out at the farm where he gave me specific instructions to stay away from dangerous machinery and would watch me to make sure I didn’t hurt myself. Maybe you can remember a certain time where your father held your hand to keep you safe from harm.
      Now the same people who say that Jesus having the Spirit with Him belittled His resistance of the Devil might say the Father holding His hand is even more discomforting for them. However, again to me this is comforting. Jesus went into the wilderness with the Spirit with Him and His Father holding His hand, and through the power of all three persons, the one Triune God resisted the schemes of the Devil. Really though, since all three persons are still only one God, it only makes sense that all three persons would be there working together. Just as all three persons are working together to keep us safe from the power of the Devil.         In our baptism we were marked with the sign of Christ on our hearts and our heads, being claimed as one of His. We received the Spirit into our hearts where He lives and reigns just as Christ lives and reigns over us in heaven. Then we see in Isaiah that we being a child of God just like Christ have the Father holding our hand. All three persons are working together to keep us just as they were all present and working together against the Devil in the wilderness. This should be the most comforting news we have ever heard!
So the next time you feel trapped under the power of the Devil, like he has a hold of you and just won’t let go, keeping you trapped and helpless, remember God is with you. Christ is watching over you from His throne where He has the ultimate power over the Devil. The Spirit is with you giving you the strength to continue on. And the Father is holding your hand and keeping you with Him. All praise be to our one Triune God who resisted the Devil in the wilderness and is present with us, keeping us safe from his evil powers.

In the name of our Triune God who reigns over us, reigns in us, and holds our hand, Amen.

Advent 2 Sermon

Greetings.  I am busy today trying to get everything done so I can go on vacation the rest of the week.  I am flying down to Arizona to see Erin!!!!!  However, this is quickly teaching me why pastors do not take vacation.  Trying to make sure you have everything done before you leave is very stressful, especially during Advent Season.  It will be good to get away and I am excited to see my lady again.  I will have time over the next couple days while she is at work to put up more about everything I have been doing lately.  I will also try to include a few psalm devotions.  For now though here is my sermon from yesterday.



Our Text for today is from the Old Testament reading from Isaiah chapter 11 specifically looking at verse 10: “In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.”

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

     Francis Scott Key wrote a poem titled, “Defense of Fort McHenry” in 1814. The poem was four verses long, creatively retelling the account of the British Navy bombardment on Fort McHenry during the war of 1812. The singing of the first verse of this poem to the tune of a British song of a men’s social club in London, became known as the “Star Spangled Banner” and on March 3rd, 1931 it was sworn in as the national anthem of the United States of America. We all know the story it tells of how during the night of constant bombing from the British ships, the fort never fell. The proof that the fort still stood strong and that the Americans were still holding on was that everyone could see the flag flying high above the fort. That red, white, and blue flag with stars and stripes continued to fly in the evening air, “the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there”. That flag was a signal of hope for Francis Scott Key and all other Americans as they watched that battle. Ever since then, that same flag has continued to be a signal of hope for us. It is a symbol of pride for us, which is why we remove our hats at the singing of the national anthem. We are proud of our flag as Americans because it is our signal of hope.
      Johnny Cash sings about this pride we have in our flag in his song “Ragged Old Flag”. If you have never heard this song before, I highly recommend you go home this afternoon and listen to it online. In the song he describes a man who doesn’t like to brag about a ragged old flag flying high on a small town court house. He goes through every battle it has been through from George Washington crossing the Delaware to Vietnam since the song was released in 1974. He includes that it has been shot, cut, and burned, but he states that “she’s in pretty good shape for the shape she is in.” He ends the song by saying “I do like to brag cause I’m mighty proud of that ragged old flag.”
      As American’s our pride in our flag stems from our national pride. We have been victorious in pretty much every war; we have made ourselves a powerhouse nation, being such a stable and strong country ourselves we attempt to bring justice and democracy to other parts of the world. We are the best country in the whole world and we are proud of that status. We all have a sense of national pride.
      We may not always be thrilled to death with the direction our country seems to be going, or the choices the government makes; however, no American wants to see our country fail. We never get upset enough with the government or its policies to want the destruction of our nation. Our national pride holds us together through even the most controversial debates and our flag still flying high is our hope that our nation can make it through even these trying times. So with this national pride, we look to our flag for hope. We look to our American freedoms for our comfort that we are safe and sound. Our national pride becomes our refuge and strength because as long as we are Americans, life is going to be alright. Yes, as long as our country still stands strong, and our flag still flies high, we know life is going to be OK. Our American identity, our citizenship of the US of A, and our standard of living as the best country is what gives us our hope to continue on each day. If that were ever lost, we would be sunk for sure and not know where life would lead us. If that flag ever falls, were all doom and all hope is lost.
      In our text for today we see this phrase “the root of Jesse”. This phrase is a reference back to verse 1 where we see a “shoot coming from the stump of Jesse.” What is Isaiah writing about here? Well, what Isaiah is referencing here is the great nation of Israel of Jesse’s times. Jesse was never a leader of Israel, but he was the father of the greatest king of Israel. Jesse was the father of David. David is the greatest king of Israel, not because he was perfect or never did anything wrong, but because he is the one king who never for a second led the people away from following the one true God. David, as king, built up Israel into a major nation controlling huge amounts of land and peoples. Israel was one of the biggest and most prosperous nations in the entire world. However, Isaiah calls this the stump of Jesse. If Israel is such a powerful nation during Jesse’s son’s reign, why does he call it a stump? Isaiah being a prophet has been given the ability to prophesy about the future. Isaiah knows the great nation of Israel is not always going to be as major as it was during David’s rule. The nation will eventually split into two nations, Israel and Judah. Then both of these nations will be sent into exile. The great nation will eventually be nothing more than a group of people separated into foreign lands under foreign rulers.
       Have any of you ever been to Sequoia National Park? I have never been but hope to see it someday. I did some research on Sequoia National park because they are famous for their giant sequoia trees. Did you know that there are giant sequoia trees in the park that reach over 250 feet tall? That’s taller than a 23 story building. These same trees that reach so high into the sky have a base with over a 100 foot circumference. A third of a football field could wrap around the outside of the trunk. These are massive, majestic trees. So now imagine, you travel to see these trees in this park. You take pictures of yourself standing next to them to show how little you look compared to them. You are thoroughly amazed by their size. Then sixty years later you go back to the same spot where you once took you picture standing next to the biggest one in the park, but now there is only a stump left there. It has been cut down! That massive, majestic tree that once towered so high, looming so far above you couldn’t even see its top, is now less than four feet tall. There is enough of the stump left to know that this giant tree once stood here, but it is now only a remnant of once was here.
      This is what Isaiah is saying about Israel. The once huge, powerful nation will eventually be nothing more than a remnant of once was. This prosperous nation of God’s people will become an exiled group of foreigners. And don’t you imagine their national pride during their peak years led them to believe that if their country ever fell, it would be hell on earth? Their country did fall, and their citizenship of the nation of Israel was lost, life was now a whole lot more difficult. They had lost their hope and comfort because their country that they were so proud to be a part of came to utter destruction and was nothing more than a stump of what was once a huge tree.
       However, the good news of this message is the fact that this stump will sprout new life. A shoot will come from this stump. This is what Isaiah is saying in verses one through nine. Then in verse ten we see that this shoot will be a signal for the people. This shoot of new life will be a signal of hope for all these people who once belonged to the nation of Israel. As they are living in exile under foreign rule, making up merely a remnant of once was their great nation, they have this signal of hope. This shoot, this signal of hope is Christ. When Christ is born into the world as a baby, this is the future time Isaiah is referring to that the nation of Jesse will be merely a stump. This is the time when God’s people will be only a remnant of the prosperous group they once were. The nation of Israel is a dead stump, but life will sprout. Christ, being born of the line of King David, David’s Son and David’s Lord, is this sprout that will bring life back to the now seemingly dead nation. He will be born in the city of David in Bethlehem. He will reestablish His kingdom throughout all of Judea and Galilee and eventually in Jerusalem. He was promised to continue on the throne of David forever.
       Although, just as Israel would become nothing more than a dead stump, Christ too will die. He will be hung on a cross and the “sprout” that came from the stump of Jesse would be as dead as the stump it sprouted from. The stump is dead, and now the sprout is dead too. But then, Christ came back to life. Christ arose from the dead bringing life to the nation of Israel and every other nation as well. Through His death and resurrection, Christ did establish the throne of David forever. Through this sprout, life is offered to all of God’s creation, including all His people. This sprout is the signal of hope because in this sprout we know we have life. We know our “national of Israel” the new nation of all believers will never die again. Christ is their signal of hope because He is the life that sprouted to be the life for all.
       The same is true for us too. Through this same Lord we too have the signal of hope, we belong to the new “nation of Israel”, the nation of God’s people who have their hope in Christ our Savior. So it is OK to have a little American pride and to respect our flag and remove your hats at the singing of the national anthem. However, remember this… you are Christians first and Americans second. Even if America were to fall under attack tomorrow and be overtaken, even if America ceased to exist as a nation, even if through the rocket’s red glare and the bombs bursting in air we see that our flag is no longer there, our hope is not lost. Francis Scott Key and the other Americans watched as their flag survived the night of terror. The flag was shot, covered in gun powered and smoke, and maybe even burned a little, but because it was still there at the end of the night, it was their signal of hope. We have a signal that is much greater than those stars and stripes. Christ, our signal of hope went through His own night of terror. He was beaten, spit on, and mocked as he hung nailed to a cross, blood dripping down from His head, His back, His hands, and His feet. The disciples and other followers watched as the night went on, and in the morning their signal of hope was not there. He had not survived the night and it seemed as though all hope was lost. However, He was not gone and hope was not lost. He walked out of the grave alive. He appeared to the disciples and showed them the holes in His hands and the spear mark in His side. Johnny Cash would have called Him a “ragged old flag” for the shape He was in. But we are proud of that ragged old signal of hope because our true hope is in the resurrected flesh and blood of our savior Christ Jesus which is so much greater than red, white and blue materials sown together. He is our signal of hope because He is our strength and refuge. He is our signal of hope, the sprout from the stump of Jesse, the king who arose from a fallen nation, a savior who died and rose three days later to never die again, is our signal of hope. He is our signal of hope in this sinful fallen world, today and tomorrow, no matter what happens to our country. Nations will come and go, they will rise and fall, but Christ has established His throne forever that will never fail. He is alive and present as our one true signal of hope for the rest of eternity, because our hope is in the life we have through Him.

In the name of the sprout of the stump of Jesse, who is our signal of hope, Christ Jesus. Amen.

Thanksgiving Sermon

I am so swamped today I do not have time to write much.  We are getting snow though and quite a bit of it.  I got to use the Cub Cadet to blow snow which was fun.  I am trying to get everything done today so I can go hunting tomorrow and Friday with one of our elders.  Here is my sermon.   God's blessings on your Advent services.



Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our Text for today comes from the Epistle Reading of St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians specifically looking at verses 11 through 13:
“11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

     If I asked you to think about it, you probably all know someone who is pretty easy going. You could think of someone who is always seemingly happy with life no matter what is happening to them. For me this person is my sister who some of you might have met this last weekend. She is the most easy-going person I have ever met. She just goes with the flow, no plan, no expectations, and no qualms. She doesn’t need a lot of nice fancy things to make her happy, she doesn’t let very much get under her skin, and she just always seem to be chill and mellow. Her life has had many highlights and great memories, but she has had some very difficult struggles too. At one point she had a brand new house, new car, and living above comfortable. Then she went to renting a bedroom in her friend’s house and taking a second job to cover school loans and debt. Her senior year of college she was taking 18 credits and working 40 hours a week at a full time job. Through thick and thin she has always been pretty positive, happy with where she is and what she is doing, and always willing to help others. Now obviously she is not like this 100% of the time, but for the majority of it she is just content with life. Again, most likely you have known people like this too. They take whatever life throws at them with a positive attitude, and most days even do it with a smile. They may not have two dollars in their pocket and yet when you talk to them you quickly realize they have everything they need. Easy-going, down to earth, go with the flow kind of people who are just content. Maybe you are that type of person yourself and good for you if you are.
     In our text for today St. Paul writes about being content. “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” St. Paul definitely knew highs and lows in his life time. Before his conversion on the road to Damascus, he was climbing the ranks of Jewish religious leaders very quickly, especially considering how young he was. He had quite the reputation for imprisoning and persecuting Christians, who in his Jewish state of mind where blaspheming against the true God. Being very good at what he did, helped him to reach a high status level in the Jewish world. However, once his conversion did happen, and he joined the apostles’ mission of spreading the true Gospel, his status changed a little. He was still highly loved and adored by now the Christian church; however, the Jewish realm saw him as a traitor. He was now the one being imprisoned and persecuted. In Lystra, they stoned him so badly that they dragged his body outside of the city thinking he was dead. Paul found himself in prison several times, and when being transported as a prisoner was in a ship wreck. On top of all of this, he had the constant “thorn in his side”, which was some physical ailment that would cause him pain the rest of his life. St. Paul is very genuine when he writes that “he has known how to be brought low and how to abound, and facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. And yet he shares that he has learned the secret of being content in every circumstance.
     I think this is the secret to life most Americans are missing. Our culture tells us we need to have as much as possible to be happy. The bigger the better, the more stuff we have, the better off our life is and the happier we can be. Consumerism thrives on this attitude of always needing more, always needing newer, always needing bigger. The problem with this attitude is it can never be satisfied because there will always be something else we “just have to have”, instead of just being appeased with what we already have. Can you imagine what the world would be like if we were all just truly content in every situation?
      Today is Thanksgiving, a day set aside for all of us to be reminded of everything we have. Everything we are thankful for. Some families even start their thanksgiving dinner by going around the table and saying what they are thankful for. That’s what this holiday is all about. That’s why it absolutely bewilders me how the Friday after the day of giving thanks has become Black Friday. A day set aside especially for buying as many things as possible for as little as possible. A day of pushing, budging, caring about nobody but yourself, because after all there are only three TV’s or five computers, or so many of whatever and if you don’t get a little aggressive you won’t get one at that amazing price. The worst part is Black Friday is taking over more and more of Thanksgiving. Stores are now opening at 8 or even 6 pm on Thursday, on Thanksgiving! Which means now, people have to be in those long lines at 1 or 2 to make sure they are going to get exactly what they want. People are looking at magazines, cutting out ads and coupons immediately after lunch or maybe some even do it as they are eating their turkey. The day of saying thanks for everything we have, is becoming the first of two days of buying more things, having to have more items, more stuff. Are we really so thankful for what we have if we immediately start planning and scheming on what we have to have next? Are we really content with any situation if we think we just have to have those items at those prices?
      The definition of content is to be “in a state of peaceful happiness.” This is how Paul lived his life, in the ups and the downs, in the beatings and sufferings, and in the praises and joys. He lived in a peaceful happiness. How? How can Paul live in a peaceful happiness through everything that he experienced? The answer is because the happiness of the Gospel gave him peace. The Gospel message that no matter what happens in this life, his future is secure gave him peace. Paul was a sinner, maybe the worst of sinners, personally persecuting the church of Christ, imprisoning and killing Christians. When God speaks to him on the road to Damascus, God says to him, “Why are you persecuting me?” God accuses Paul of persecuting God himself, by persecuting His church. And yet, even this man who was personally accused of persecuting God can live in peaceful happiness, because of the power of forgiveness. Christ died on the cross for the sins of all people. Not just Israelite, not just Jew, not just Gentile, not even just believers, but all people. He offers forgiveness as a free gift to all people. This gift of forgiveness cleanses us of all our sins. There is no unforgivable sin with repentance. The only unforgivable sin is the unrepented one! Christ took every sin you and I have ever committed and ever will commit on His shoulders when He hung upon that cross dying to save you and me. All of those sins, the sins of all human kind, including original sin, were taken to the grave with His dead corpse. Then when Christ walked out of that tomb, alive, risen from the dead, it is called the empty tomb! It is not called the empty tomb only because Christ was no longer in there, but because all those sins, all sin of all of humanity that was in the tomb with his dead body, is no longer in there when He walked out. It is the empty tomb because it truly is empty, free from all death, free from all sin. Christ has removed our sins from us as far as the west is from the east. He offers us this forgiveness of sins that completely removes all sins, leaving us perfectly cleansed and holy in the eyes of our judge. We are born unrighteous sinners, but in the forgiveness of Christ we are made righteous. In our baptism we were clothed with the righteousness of Christ. With this new righteousness, we are given eternal life in the name of our Savior who removed all those sins from us. This eternal life is certain and guaranteed. It is a done deal. We have our eternal life right now. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ, there is nothing that can remove us from the palm of His hand. We are His and we will one day be welcomed into paradise with Him. One day we will be in His Kingdom to live and serve Him as His free people for all of eternity. This is the reason Paul has peaceful happiness. His future is perfectly secure. His life in Christ for the rest of eternity has already been granted and he is living that eternal life. So since his future is secure, his life being perfectly secure in Christ, he has peace. In this peace he is happy with whatever life brings. He is content because Christ has given him his forgiveness, his salvation, and his eternal life, so anything else in this world no longer matters. The ups and the downs, the pains and the joys, the threats and the praises all amount to nothing compared to the joy of this salvation. We have this same Gospel message as Paul. Christ has given us our forgiveness of sins, our salvation, and our eternal life. We are living as forgiven, righteous, saved, eternal sons and daughters of God right now. Everything else we will ever endure in this world cannot compare to that joy and good news.
       And on days when the world seems too dark, when the suffering seems too great, St. Paul gives us the words of verse 13. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” In this sinful world we live in, the joy off the Gospel can become hidden and forgotten. The idea of being content, being peacefully happy in a world of war and sadness seems impossible. Nevertheless, Christ gives us the strength to endure it all. Jesus our Lord, who has given us our forgiveness, our salvation, and our eternal life, gives us the strength to remain faithful to that Gospel. He gives us the strength to endure pain and suffering. He gives us the strength to make it through the sad times and struggles. He gives us the strength to resist the temptation of thinking we have to have more stuff. He gives us the strength to take on anything sin, death, and the devil can throw at us. He has claimed us as His righteous people, and He gives us the strength to make it through every day remembering that Good News. He gives us the strength to live in a state of peaceful happiness because He has secured our future. He gives us the strength to be content because His Gospel is our peaceful happiness!

In the name of the one who gives us the strength to do all things, Jesus Christ. Amen.