Inheritance

Holy Week Schedule:

Maundy Thursday, April 5th– Service of Holy Communion  7:00 PM

Good Friday, April 6th– Tenebrae Service  7:00 PM

Easter Sunday, April 8th– Festivel Worship– 8:00 AM   Easter Breakfast following service.

We welcome everyone to our midweek Lenten services each Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. This year, we are following the theme: “See His Cross!”

Soup suppers are held at 6:00 p.m. for all worshippers who would like to have supper before the service.

We will observe Ash Wednesday on February 22nd with a service of individual absolution and Holy Communion at 7:00 p.m.  A soup supper will be served at 6:00 p.m.

On Christmas Eve, join us at Bethany for our Service of Lessons and Carols at 5:30 p.m.

On Christmas Day, join us at 10:15 a.m. for our Christmas Festival Worship service.

The Children’s Christmas program is Sunday, December 18th at 2:00 p.m.  Come and enjoy the Christmas story told by the children in word and music!

Sermon on Matthew 11:2-10

And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”  Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  “The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”  As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?  “But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.  “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  “For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’

My high school youth group was on a trip one summer.  We were driving out in the country and passed several signs that said, “cattle crossing next 5 miles.”  Nobody paid any attention to those signs.  After about a mile the driver suddenly
slammed on the brakes and sent pop cans and potato chips flying all over the place.  There was a very large cow lying in the middle of the road staring at us while another five or six cows walked slowly across the road.   The driver said he couldn’t believe that these cows had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.  One the chaperones said, “well what did you expect? The signs have been up for miles!”

In our text today, Jesus points out to the disciples of John the Baptist the signs that He is the Messiah John had been predicting and they had been expecting and Jesus shows that John is the messenger spoken of in Old Testament times who would prepare the way for the Messiah.

John the Baptist’s followers were not very happy.  They had followed this great preacher all over the place, listened to his words and followed his directions.  He had told them that Jesus was the “Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world.”  But John had baptized Jesus.   John was famous first.  Everyone had heard of him.  But now John is in prison, and this Jesus, who was supposed to be a great king wasn’t trying to get him out.  What kind of a Messiah is this?  How could the poor son of a carpenter save his people?  The disciples of John the Baptist wanted to follow John, not Jesus.

But John knows why he was sent:  to prepare the way for the Messiah.  And so he sends his disciples to ask Jesus if He really is the Messiah.  “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”   John already knew the answer.  He also knew that he had an obligation to his disciples to show them the truth.  They wanted to follow John, but John wanted them to follow Jesus.

We also are tempted to stop reading God’s directions, to stop following what He has told us. We may start looking at things and wondering if they are signs from God.   We may start to imagine that we can do things better than God.  We may
hear a wonderfully talented preacher on the television or the radio with a new teaching on what God’s Word says about something and stop and think, “He must be right-  it makes so much more sense that way!”   We sometimes get so caught
up looking for answers to little questions that we lose sight of the big picture.  We may end up looking for the type of Messiah John’s disciples were looking for- someone who will help us make more money, someone who will fix all our problems in this life, someone who will crush our enemies for us. Is that who we expect the Messiah to be?  Is that what God’s Word tells us?

When I was videotaping for our synod in Peru, we saw a donkey tied outside a house and thought it would look great on video.  And we set up the camera and I started taping.  I kept taping the donkey, zooming in and zooming out.  And finally the person helping me started tapping me on the shoulder.  He knew he shouldn’t talk while we were taping, but he wouldn’t stop tapping me.  But I wasn’t finished with the donkey yet.  Finally, he grabbed my shoulder and said, “look behind you!”  I
turned around and saw a family with two donkeys, some horses and sheep walking up the street towards us.  It turned out to be a great shot.  But it would have been even better if I had turned around sooner.

John the Baptist’s disciples are having a similar problem.  They’re focusing all their attention on John instead of on Jesus.  They’re seeing what they want to see, instead of looking where John is pointing.  He’s been telling them that Jesus is the one to follow, but they don’t seem to be paying any attention.  Now John is in prison for speaking the truth.  He can’t wait for his followers to come around any longer.  So he tells them to go and ask Jesus if He is the Messiah.  John already knows the answer.  But, he sends his disciples directly to the source for the truth so that they too will believe.  It’s as if he’s grabbing them and saying, “turn around and look.”

And when they arrive, Jesus directs them back to God’s Word.  He tells them,  Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  “The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” Jesus is pointing these men back to the Old Testament prophesies about Himself, like the one we heard a few weeks ago as one of our readings, from the prophet Isaiah:  “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.  The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, And the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel.”   God’s Word told them the answer to their question.  This prophecy and all the others, were being fulfilled right before them.

Jesus is essentially saying to them, “Well, what did you expect in the Messiah?  Everything God told you about me is coming true.  Why are you doubting?”  Jesus points them back to God’s Word, the source of all truth.  Jesus tells them to go back and tell John.  Maybe by the time they got back to John they would understand.  If not, he could explain it to them.

John the Baptist was a very important figure in the Bible.  He was to prepare the way for the Messiah.  John was a prophet.  But as Jesus says in our text, that He himself was “more than a prophet.”   He was the prophet who also fulfilled a prophecy about himself.  He was the only prophet whose prophecy about the Messiah was fulfilled as he spoke.

John’s teaching never wavered.  He never changed his teaching to make someone else happy.  When the disciples of John come to ask this question, the crowd around Jesus may have thought that John was doubting his own teaching—that he was wondering if Jesus really was the Messiah.   But Jesus stands up for John.  He tells the crowd in our text:  What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?  “But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’  Jesus shows everyone that John has not changed.

The people had followed John because he preached God’s Word.  He was not a reed shaken by the wind.  He didn’t bend to the winds of society.  He wasn’t willing to sell out God’s message in exchange for a life of ease- of soft clothing and a king’s home.  In fact, that’s why he was in prison-  because he had spoken the truth to King Herod about Herod’s adultery.  John knew that nothing was worth giving up God’s Word.

What do you come to Bethany to hear?   We may be tempted to think at times that being a Confessional Lutheran is boring or intolerant.  There’s a television show on every week that tells us there are directions given in God’s Word that can make us wealthy and happy here on earth.  We can be successful in our earthly lives, just by following these directions.  We hear dynamic preachers who tell us that we need to have the gifts of the spirit to be a true Christian- that we need to speak in tongues or see visions.   We see new thinking that may seem exciting to us.  Or maybe we get frustrated because we aren’t getting richer or happier, or because we can’t see these supposed gifts in ourselves.  We may start to think that maybe Lutheran teaching isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  And we may start to focus on other things.

But what did you come to Bethany to hear today?   What did you expect?   Did you come to hear a reed shaking in the wind?  Should we bend our teachings to the winds of society?  Should our society change our teachings?  Absolutely not.  It’s not the church’s mission to change according to the teachings of the world around it.  It’s the church’s job to preach the Law and the Gospel so that the world will be changed by God’s Word.

Sometimes we may be tempted to think like John’s disciples.  We may start to think that we should be looking for new teachings, that what God has already revealed to us can’t be all there is—that there must be more.  But the men who preach to you each week have the same responsibilty as John the Baptist did:  to point you back to God and His Word.  Anyone who points you in another direction, to earthly wealth or to supernatural signs is leading you away from your Savior.

Today, if you’re being tempted to look for new teachings or signs, I invite you to look to where John pointed his disciples.  Look to the Savior, to Jesus.  Look to the place where Jesus points… to His Word.  John writes in his Gospel account:  And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;  but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.  He doesn’t tell us what those other signs are– even though we’d really like to know.  But what we need to know is all there.  There’s nothing that needs to be added to it.  There’s nothing that needs to be taken away from it.  God’s Word itself is everything we need for our faith.

In two weeks, we’ll celebrate the birthday of the Savior, on Christmas.   This Savior, Jesus Christ, is the One John the Baptist points his disciples to in our text.  He is the one all the prophets of the Old Testament pointed to—the Savior we confess in the creeds each week.  He is the Savior who comes to us with forgiveness in the Lord’s Supper.  And even though we’d like to know so much more about Him, He doesn’t promise us any more than what we have revealed to us in the Bible.  Christ points us not to new teachings, but back to His Word—just as He directed the disciples of John in our text.

What should we expect in the Messiah?  The signs and evidence are right before us.  Everything that the Bible tells us, from the promise in the Garden of Eden to Jesus’ ascension into Heaven.  Christ died to save us, and believing that, it’s all we need to know.  Amen.

Midweek Advent Devotion

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”  But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then 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 bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.  “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; 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.”  Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”  And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.  “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.  “For with God nothing will be impossible.”  Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.  (Luke 1:26-38)

I’d like to take you back in time this evening—a little over 8 months ago.  Do you remember what you were doing on March 25th?   On March 25th this year, the Christian Church recognized the Festival of the Annunciation, exactly 9 months
before Christmas.  On this day the Church has remembered the announcement of the Angel Gabriel to Mary-  our sermon text this evening.  Tonight we we’ll visit hometown of Mary, the town of Nazareth.  Here one of the greatest announcements in the history of the world was spoken by a messenger of God to a poor, teenage girl who was engaged to be married. This announcement was news that would forever change history.

The message of our text tonight really has its roots thousands of years before the angel visited Mary.  In the Garden of Eden God first promised to send a Savior for all people.  The sin of disobedience against God that Adam and Eve committed was punished by God and a curse was forever on all people.  Death came into the world the day Adam and Eve sinned.  Death would never again leave anyone alone-  everyone would be under this curse.  But God also made a promise to all people that same day.  He would send a Savior.  That Savior would be an enemy of death, an enemy of Satan. God says in Genesis 3:15, And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.   This Savior would destroy death by His own death.

Sometimes we may ask ourselves: “Why do we need a Savior?  Can’t we do something to look good to God?”  We needed Jesus to come and live a perfect life because we can’t.  The original sin that we are born with prevents us from ever doing
anything good on our own.  Everything that we try to accomplish to please God ends up failing.  This original sin is so much a part of us, that we sometimes can’t even look at someone else without sinning in our minds.  But Christ, the baby announced in our text, would be born without sin.  He was able to live a perfect life and he exchanges that perfect life for our sinful one.  He takes our punishment of death and gives us life.

Original sin is a curse that we all live under.  Because of Adam and Eve’s sin, we are all conceived and born sinners.  This is also the same curse that Mary was born under.  She was no different than any of us.  Mary was a descendant of King David.  She had royal blood in her veins.  But so did hundreds, and maybe thousands of other Jewish women.  Mary was not a princess.  She had inherited King David’s blood, but not his wealth or power.  She lived in a small town in the hill country of Israel- a town called Nazareth.  It couldn’t have been a town of much importance, because we only hear it mentioned in connection with the family of Jesus. In fact, it may have had a bad reputation, or maybe a reputation of being a little backwards.  In the book of John, Nathanael says to Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, implying that nothing could. Mary was engaged to a carpenter.  She was probably very young by our standards—maybe 14 or 15 years old.

One day, things were probably going along as they always did, when something happened that would change her life and the lives of all people forever.  Mary was in her home when the Angel Gabriel appeared before her.  He greets her with these words, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”  What a greeting!  Here was a poor young woman, living in a tiny village in the mountains, and she was greeted as if she were someone of great importance.  Mary was probably a little confused by this greeting. We’re told, “But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.”   Why would an angel of God greet her, a common woman, this way?  Had he made a terrible mistake?  But Gabriel quickly tells her the reason for his greeting and for his visit…

But first he tells her not to be afraid.  Gabriel’s visit was not one that should frighten Mary.  He brought good news with him.  He tells her that she had “found favor with God.”   Then he tells her the message he had come to bring.  He tells her that she will conceive a child—not her and her fiancé together.  He simply says “you will conceive in your womb.”  This child would not be conceived  in the ordinary way.  Mary was to remain a virgin and yet still bear a child.  This child, Mary was told, would be a son.  And she was to call His name “Jesus.”  “Jesus” means “Savior.”   She was told to name her child “Savior”.  We usually think the opposite way—of parents saving children.  But this was to be no ordinary child.  This child was coming into the world to save his mother and everyone else who believes.

There was a display of ancient religious icons at Bethany Lutheran College a few years ago.  One of those icons caught my attention.  It was painted in three stages.  At the bottom of the painting was Mary, holding the infant Jesus in her arms.  In
the middle was Mary holding her Son’s body after it was removed from the cross.  But at the top was Jesus, in Heaven, holding Mary’s body.  It showed that even though Mary had taken care of Jesus while He was on earth, His whole purpose for coming was to take care of her and all of us—to be born without sin, to live a perfect life and to die to pay for our sins.  How comforting for us to know that we too will someday be gathered as Christ’s lambs into His arms in Heaven.

But it was because of our sinfulness that God sent Gabriel to make this announcement.  It was because of all the terrible things that we do—when we lie to each other, when we cheat, when we steal and break every commandment—that Jesus had to be born a man.

Mary is told before her child is even conceived that “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest.”  And she’s told that He will be a king!  He will be given the throne of David and He would reign forever!  Mary must have been ecstatic– until it struck her that this was impossible.   It would be nice to be the mother of a king, but… She was still a virgin.  She had never had sexual relations with any man.  How could she have a Son!?!  Mary didn’t quite understand the significance of the angel’s visit.  Even with this messenger from God standing before her, she didn’t quite grasp what he was saying.  “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

But Gabriel eases her mind.  He wasn’t trying to trick her.  He was not lying to her.  He was bringing a message sent by God.  The fact that she was still a virgin was important.  She had to be, to fulfill the Prophet Isaiah’s words. So Gabriel tells Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”

It’s almost as if Gabriel is trying to not break all the news to her at once.  First he tells her not to be afraid.  Then he tells her that she has found favor with God.  The suspense is building…  Then he tells her that her Son would be a king.  And now—that He would be the Son of God.  And before Mary can object that this too was impossible, Gabriel tells her that the impossible had already happened.  Her cousin, Elizabeth, too old to bear children, was sixth months pregnant, also with a son!   And he tells her, “with God, nothing will be impossible!”

Who else could be all these things that the angel spoke of?  Of all the women in Israel, of all the descendants of King David, she had been chosen to carry the Son of God in her womb.  The Messiah who had been promised to Adam and Eve, the Savior the prophets spoke of, the Holy One of Israel that she had learned of all her life would be her Son!  Most women would have been proud and thought of all the reasons why she had been chosen. But not Mary.

The Mary we see in this passage is not the “Queen of Heaven” some make her out to be.  She is not someone who wants to receive prayers or intercede between us and God.  She is one of the most humble people we read of in Scriptures.  She has
just been told that she will carry the Messiah, the Savior of her people and all the world.  And what is her response?  “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”   She calls herself a maidservant- a servant!  Not the wife of God, or any other fancy title.  She humbly submits to God’s will, as a servant to a master.  And Gabriel leaves her presence.

From that day, a child grew in her womb— a child who would be no ordinary little boy.  Growing in Mary was God himself—God-made-flesh.  God had humbled himself to be born a human, to be born of this humble woman, to fulfill the prophecy  Isaiah spoke hundreds of years before this:  “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”   Immanuel means, “God with us.”  Jesus would be called by many different names and titles.  Of all those, the two we remember most at this time of year are “Jesus” and “Immanuel.”  They tell us who He is and why he came.  He was God, with us, or among us.  And He was Jesus, “Savior.”

Now I’d like to move ahead 8 months.   If you had trouble at the beginning of the sermon remembering what you did last March 25th, think about how Mary must have felt in the months after Gabriel’s visit.  She married Joseph, who had also been visited by an angel.  Now she was facing a long journey by foot or riding on a donkey, just a few weeks from delivering her child, as they left for Bethlehem by order of the Roman government.  The events of that day eight months before
must have seemed like a dream at times.  But Mary knew that the baby she would deliver would be her Savior—that one day He would take her in His arms to Heaven.  Why?  Because with God, nothing is impossible.  Because God had promised.  And God always keeps His promises.  Amen.

Midweek Advent Devotion

Read Luke 1: 5-25 & 57-66

So, there he was, an old man, by himself in the temple, doing his duty by burning the incense.  He must have been  well-thought-of to be given this important duty as a priest.  But, his life probably hadn’t gone quite like he had planned.  The worst part of that was that he and his wife had no children—she was unable to conceive.  So, even though we’re told that they were very upright people, others must have talked behind their backs about their shame in not having any children.  They probably speculated on what terrible things Zacharias and Elizabeth must have done to deserve this punishment.  It must have been pretty bad for God to not give them any children.  And now, he served as an important priest, but that other part of his life was empty.  That’s where we find Zacharias in our text.  But his life, and his wife’s, change in an instant.

It is sometimes at these low points in our lives, when we have given up on something, that God does the impossible and changes our lives according to His will.

As Zacharias went about his task of burning incense, an angel appears to him in the temple and tells him that God understands his wife’s shame in not having any children.  And, not only will she now bear a son, but that son would play a very important role in God’s plan of salvation.  Zacharias is told to name his son John.

But now the doubts begin.  Think about the situation:  Zacharias in the temple, by himself.  No one else was allowed to be there.  There was a crowd outside praying.  And it would be unthinkable that anyone could have sneaked in.  It’s clear that
Zacharias knows that this isn’t a man off the street, or even anther priest.  He knows this is a messenger of God, delivering a message from God.  But he just can’t believe it.  It’s impossible.  His sinful nature takes control and he looks at himself and his wife instead of God’s Word.  He sees two old people, beyond child-bearing age.

Isn’t that how we are too?  We look at ourselves and we see our own abilities and our own failings.  We hear the Ten Commandments and we compare our lives to God’s Law.  And we hear God’s demand to “Be perfect.”  And we know it’s impossible for us.  And comparing our lives to God’s Law will always bring sadness and despair.  We are all so far from keeping God’s Law that we might as well give up.  It’s impossible.

Zacharias found himself not believing God’s Word, brought to him by an angel.  And we see God’s anger at unbelief.  Zacharias, out of weak faith, questions the angel, and by doing so, questions God.  And the reaction is quick.  The angel identifies himself as Gabriel, which means, “mighty man of God”.  He is only one of two angels who are named in the Bible.  And he says that he “stands in the presence of God”.  This wasn’t to brag, it was to show Zacharias that what Gabriel had said came directly from God.  Gabriel was the messenger, speaking the Word of God.  And, since Zacharias refused to believe what God had said, he is unable to speak.

This is just one of the many, many, miraculous things that happen both before and after Jesus’ birth.  God wasn’t allowing any mistakes.  He had decided it was time to send the forerunner, the one who would prepare the way for the Savior and it
was soon time for the Savior to come also.  And any opposition, even that of a priest’s doubt, would not get in the way of God’s plan.

Now, for nine months, Zacharias was unable to speak.  Maybe he tried to communicate what had happened to his wife.  But it would have been difficult.  Everyone seemed to know that something remarkable had happened to him in the temple.  But what was it?

After they returned home, Elizabeth became pregnant.  And, we’re told  that she hid herself for five months!  Maybe it was fear of losing the baby.  Maybe it was something else.  But Elizabeth certainly understood that her pregnancy was impossible.

Finally, the baby was born.  And all the family and friends are there for the naming of the baby.  By now, Zacharias must have gotten the story across to his wife.  And she tells everyone that the baby’s name will be John.  They all think she’s
crazy.  There’s no one in the family named John.  Why in the world would they name the baby John?  It was impossible!

But Zacharias writes down the same name.  Here he shows that he has believed God’s Word and promise.  And so God gives him his speech back- a man who has been unable to speak for nine months!  Impossible!

By now, Zacharias and Elizabeth both understood that with God, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)  The baby born to them and named John, we know best as “John the Baptist.”  He is the one God chose to prepare the way for Jesus, the Messiah.

So many things in life seem impossible.  Because we generally look at things from an earthly perspective, we can’t see what God sees.  But when God gives us a promise, it is never impossible.  He promised us in the Old Testament that this forerunner, the one who would prepare the way, would come before the Messiah.  We see this promise fulfilled in the birth of John.  God promised that the Messiah would come—the Savior—and He did.  God promises that the Savior has taken away the sins of the world—those same sins against God’s Law that condemn us.  God promises that through faith in Jesus, that Savior, we have the promise of eternal life.  God always keeps his Word.  He is able to do the impossible.  Amen.