The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services enacted a rule in January 2012 under the “Affordable Care Act” requiring employers to provide access to health insurance that covers most forms of birth control, even those that can cause the death of an unborn child. The rule, or mandate, exempts churches but applies to other religious employers. On Feb. 10, President Obama announced an “accommodation” for religious employers, saying they would not have to cover birth control, but that insurance companies would provide free birth control, including “morning after” pills.

You may have been wondering, “Where does my church stand on this?” Now if you are reading this, I should let you know that I am a pastor in the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod. So if you belong to another Christian denomination, I do not know your church’s official stance on this issue. (Unless you’re Roman Catholic, then you’re against. And as I’m about to point out, all Christian churches should be against this.)

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has an elected president. Currently that position is held by the Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison. Last week, President Harrison was invited to speak before a panel of Congress to discuss the mandate. President Harrison spoke intelligently and forcefully against this mandate. He sat with a Roman Catholic bishop, a Jewish rabbi and a Baptist minister in objection to what the government is forcing religious institutions to do. It goes against our beliefs and our conscience. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) objects to the use of drugs and procedures that are used to take the lives of unborn children, who are persons in the sight of God from the time of conception. This is clearly a case where the church must obey God rather than men, as President Harrison says in his speech.

I’m going to post some links with more information and articles about this issue. You can learn more from these than you can from me.

Here is a link to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s site on this whole issue. You can find video of President Harrison before Congress as well as other news clips and articles. Find them here: HHS Mandate- LCMS

Here are a couple of articles which discuss President Harrison’s opportunity to speak before Congress. Click here and here.

Finally, you may have seen a picture going viral after the hearing which points out that only men were testifying at this hearing. “Why were only men speaking when this is a women’s issue? How dare they! That is wrong!” are the general arguments. This is an attempt to distract from the real issue. This is not primarily a women’s rights issue. This is a life issue and a first amendment issue. Also, women did speak on the next panel before Congress. Don’t let this straw man argument sway you. Read this article (by a woman) which puts the focus back where it should be.

I hope this helps to educate you on this issue. Please pray that President Harrison’s words and others’ words would have an effect. Please pray for the unborn who are the real ones at risk because of this ruling. Please pray that the entire country would repent of the sin of abortion and value all life.

One more link to add! President Harrison talks about his experience on his blog.

From Jesus+Nothing=Everything by Tullian Tchividjian

This is most certainly true! I have fallen into this thinking. You have fallen into this thinking. Entire church bodies are trapped in this kind of thinking. This kind of thinking, once again, is called legalism. It is the belief that after a person has been justified by God’s work and grace alone, the process of sanctification is their work. It is something that they must do in order to insure that they stay in God’s good graces. However, legalism places a Christian under the burden of the Law once again, the very Law which Christ set us free from in his death and resurrection.

“In his law-fulfilling life, curse-bearing death, and death-defeating resurrection, Jesus has entirely accomplished for sinners what sinners could never in the least do for themselves. The banner under which the Christian lives reads, “It is finished.” (Tchividjian) It is finished. You do not have to seek God’s approval over and over again. Jesus won it for you once and for all time.”

This is a difficult concept for us to understand. As I mentioned in my last post “Making the Grade,” we are used to performing in order to gain a reward or earn someone’s favor. It is easy to transfer that “performancism” over to our faith. However, living the life under the banner which reads “It is finished” is so much more freeing! Tchividjian accurately and wonderfully points out, “Once we’re already approved and already accepted by God in Christ, we can freely follow God’s lead and grow in doing his will out of genuine gratitude for his amazing grace and without any fear of judgment or condemnation when we fail.”

In my next post, as I continue to reflect on Tchividjian’s book, we will take a closer look at what sanctification really looks like. Here’s a hint: It’s still about grace alone and not anything that you must do! Check back soon!

This is not a bad thing. How else will a school know that you are learning the material unless you perform well on all the assignments and tests? How else should your boss reward (or discipline) you other than basing it off your performance? While love for a spouse may not be primarily based upon performance, how else will your spouse know you love and care for them unless you tell them or show them?

The trouble with our emphasis on performance is when we transfer it over to our relationship with God. Your good standing before God is not based on your performance. It never has been. It never will be.

You are probably nodding your head in agreement. Most of you (my readers) are good Lutherans. It is by grace you have been saved, and this is not of yourself. It is a gift of God so that no one can boast. Jesus earned your good standing with God the Father through His sacrificial death and resurrection. We know this quite well. We coined the terms “Grace alone. Faith alone. Scripture alone.”

However, that does not mean that we do not get sucked into the same trap that, I would say, sucks in a majority of Christians. We believe that Jesus died for our sins and gave us new life. For us Lutherans, this new life was given to us at our baptism. We have been saved. Now what? Now we must obey. Now it is up to me. Now the Christian life is about a bunch of “do’s” and “don’ts” in order to lead a God-pleasing life. Isn’t that what sanctification is all about? Isn’t it about my performance? Isn’t my obedience the proof that I am a child of God?

It comes so naturally to us. Deep down, we have trouble with the concept of grace. We struggle with this idea that everything has already been completed for us. We don’t have to do a thing in order to earn a good standing with God or in order to keep our good standing with God. We always try to add something to grace.

In his book Jesus+Nothing=Everything, author and pastor Tullian Tchividjian (Yeah, I have no idea how to pronounce it either) tells his story about struggling with grace and with the trap of legalism. Legalism is performance based Christianity. Legalism sneaks into the church on the coattails of good intentions. Shouldn’t a Christian do good works? Shouldn’t we be learning about all the things we need to be doing? Shouldn’t we following the commandments: love God and love your neighbor? Pretty soon though, the Christian life becomes less about Jesus and his performance and more about me and my performance. Suddenly, I’m judging my worth before God in terms of my obedience.

As I said, legalism is tricky. We often fall right into it without realizing it. As Tchividjian  says, “Typically, it’s not that Christians seek to blatantly replace the gospel. What we try to do is simply add to it.” He adds,

The Bible makes it clear that the gospel’s premier enemy is the one we often call ‘legalism.’ I like to call it performancism. Still another way of viewing it, especially in its most common manifestation in Christians, is moralism… Legalism happens when what we need to do, not what Jesus has already done, becomes the end game… We know it’s wrong to worship immorality, like everybody out in the world seems to be doing; we find it harder to see that it’s just as wrong to worship morality, like everybody in the church seems to be doing…In fact, the most dangerous thing that can happen to you is that you become proud of your obedience.

In my next few posts, I want to explore this book a little further. Tchividjian has rediscovered the gospel and has also discovered Lutheran theology. He is not a Lutheran pastor but cites several Lutheran theologians as influential people for him in the writing of this book. He also quotes Martin Luther several times which makes sense because there is no greater champion of the gospel than Luther. (OK, maybe Paul) As I said, he is writing this book as a response to his own personal struggle and has seen the need to attack legalism which is resting comfortably in our churches right now. It is dangerous and needs to be opposed. The only way to do that is through the gospel. I hope you will join in this exploration of the gospel in these next couple of weeks because this is an issue that every single one of us needs to hear because I believe we all struggle with “performancism.” To quote Tchividjian again:

A Christian may not struggle with believing that our good behavior is required to initially earn God’s favor; but I haven’t met on Christian who doesn’t struggle daily with believing- somehow, someway- that our good behavior is required to keep God’s favor.

Remember: Jesus has made the grade for you!

Scott Klusendorf is the president of Life Training Institute and was recently a guest on the Christian radio show, Issues Etc. He was discussing the article he wrote that I will post below for your own contemplation and edification. It is a tough subject, but abortion is a subject that I believe all Christians should have knowledge and have the ability to discuss it intelligently. This article answers five common challenges or questions put toward the pro-life movement. Here is the link to the original article: “The 2012 Elections: Five Questions for Pro-Life Advocates.”However, I have also copied the full text below.

In 2008, a handful of notable pro-life evangelicals and Catholics threw their support behind a presidential candidate sworn to uphold elective abortion as a fundamental right. They argued that doing so constituted an enlightened pro-life vote that was morally superior to the narrow party politics of religious conservatives. Instead of passing laws against abortion, so the argument went, the candidate and his party would “reduce” it by addressing its underlying causes.¹ True, he was mistaken on abortion, but he was right on other, important “whole-of-life” issues such as opposition to war, concern for the poor, and care for the environment. The candidate’s political strategy was simple: shrink the significance of abortion so it was more or less equal with other issues.²
It worked. Twice as many white evangelicals age eighteen through forty-four voted for Barack Obama in 2008 than voted for John Kerry in 2004. Catholics, meanwhile, supported Obama at fifty-four percent, up seven points from what they gave Kerry four years earlier. The candidate got just enough pro-life votes from these groups to tip the election his way.³
I submit that each of these alleged pro-life votes represents a profound misunderstanding of the pro-life position. The fundamental issue before us is not merely how to reduce abortion, but who counts as one of us. How we answer will determine whether embryos and fetuses enjoy the protection of law or remain candidates for the dumpster. As Francis Beckwith points out, a society that has fewer abortions but protects the legal killing of unborn humans is still deeply immoral.⁴ Given what’s at stake, it’s vital that pro-life Christians persuasively answer five key questions before the 2012 election:

1. Are pro-life advocates focused too narrowly on abortion? After all, informed voters consider many issues, not just one.

Of course abortion isn’t the only issue-any more than the treatment of slaves wasn’t the only issue in the 1860s or the treatment of Jews the only issue in the 1940s. But both were the dominant issues of their day. Thoughtful Christians attribute different importance to different issues, and give greater weight to fundamental moral questions. For example, if a man running for president told us that men had a right to beat their wives, most people would see that as reason enough to reject him, despite his expertise on foreign policy or economic reforms. The foundational principle of our republic is that all humans are equal in their fundamental dignity. What issue could be more important than that? You might as well blame politicians like Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt for focusing too narrowly on defeating the Nazis, to the neglect of other issues. Given a choice, I’d rather pro-lifers focus on at least one great moral issue than waste their precious resources trying to fix all of them.⁵

2. Why don’t pro-life advocates care about social justice both here and in developing countries?

They do, which is why pro-life crisis pregnancy centers vastly outnumber abortion clinics in the U.S. and why committed evangelicals, most of whom are pro-life, give more than their secular counterparts.⁶
Nevertheless, pro-life Christians should reject the premise that because they oppose the intentional and unjustified killing of innocent human beings, they must therefore take responsibility for all of the world’s ills. Is the American Cancer Society wrong to focus on one deadly disease to the exclusion of others? It’s highly unfair to demand that local pro-life groups take their already scarce resources and spread them even thinner fighting every social injustice imaginable. This would be suicide for those opposed to abortion. As Frederick the Great once said, “He who attacks everywhere attacks nowhere.”
True, as defenders of human dignity, we should care about the poor, clean water, and the rights of others everywhere. The U.S. government, however, is not going to solve those problems in developing countries the way it can solve abortion here. For example, our government can’t ban poverty or stop the sex trade of young girls in Thailand. That is the job of that nation’s citizens and government! However, the U.S. government can and should ban the killing of unborn humans within its own borders. That is why prudent pro-lifers have always sought both moral and political solutions to that problem. While poverty and the sex trade are evil, no one in America proposes legalizing them.
Abortion is different. Far from reducing the practice, our government currently advocates it both here and abroad. For example, during his first week in office, President Obama restored funding to organizations that promote and perform abortion overseas. A year later, he signed a healthcare bill that subsidized insurance plans that fund it here in the U.S. At the same time, he rescinded federal regulations that protect doctors from forced participation in elective abortion and threatened to cut off Medicaid funding to any state that denied tax funding to healthcare entities that provide abortions.⁷ Finally, he nominated to the federal courts justices sympathetic to the abortion license whose rulings could set the pro-life cause back for decades to come.
Because ours is a government of the people, Christians have a fundamental duty to work within the political system to limit evil and promote good. Shouldn’t social justice start in the womb?

3. Why don’t pro-lifers oppose war like they do abortion?

War can be a moral evil, but it isn’t always so. Careful thinkers make distinctions between intrinsic (absolute) moral evils and contingent ones. For example, the decision to wage war may or may not be wrong, depending on the circumstances. However, the decision to kill intentionally an unborn human being for socioeconomic reasons is an intrinsic evil and laws permitting it are scandalous. True, a general in a just war may foresee that innocent humans will die securing a lasting peace, but he does not intend their deaths. With elective abortion, the death of an innocent human fetus is not merely foreseen; it is intended. The problem is that many Catholics and left-leaning evangelicals are perfectly willing to support a political party that supports an intrinsic evil simply because its members promise to help us avoid contingent ones. This is bad moral thinking.

4. Instead of passing laws against abortion, shouldn’t pro-life Christians focus on reducing its underlying causes?

First and foremost, the abortion debate turns on the question of human equality. That is, in a nation dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, do the unborn count as members of the human family? With that fundamental question in mind, it’s unreasonable for liberals to insist that pro-lifers surrender the legal fight to focus on underlying causes. As my colleague Steve Weimar points out, this is like saying the “underlying cause” of spousal abuse is psychological, so instead of making it illegal for husbands to beat their wives, the solution is to provide counseling for men. There are “underlying causes” for rape, murder, theft, and so on, but that in no way makes it misguided to have laws banning such actions.⁸
Moreover, why are liberals even concerned about reducing the number of abortions in the first place? If destroying a human fetus is morally no different than cutting one’s fingernails, then who cares how many abortions there are? The reason to reduce elective abortion is that human life is unjustly taken-but if that’s the case, then restricting the practice makes perfect sense. Imagine a nineteenth-century lawmaker who said that slavery was a bad idea and we ought to reduce it, but owning slaves should remain legal. If those in power adopted his thinking, would this be a good society? True, politics isn’t a sufficient answer to injustice, but it’s certainly a necessary one. Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, “The law can’t make the white man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me.”⁹ Frankly, if  Christians don’t think the government-sanctioned killing of unborn children merits a political response, then they not only misunderstand the moral gravity of the situation, but also their mandate to love their neighbor as themselves.

5. Should pastors challenge church members who support a political party sworn to protect elective abortion?

Yes and no. They should challenge believers and nonbelievers alike with the truth that elective abortion unjustly takes the life of a defenseless human being-and that truth should impact which party we support. They shouldn’t claim that supporting a particular party or candidate saves us from God’s righteous wrath against sin (only the gospel does that!) or that members of the opposite party are not Christians.
Nevertheless, in a nation where the people are the government, Christians have a duty to apply their biblical worldview in a way that limits evil and promotes the good insofar as possible given current political realities. At the legislative level in particular (House and Senate races), that usually means voting for the party that, though imperfect, will best protect unborn humans against one that sanctions killing them. The reason is simple: at the legislative level, political parties more than individuals determine which laws see the light of day.
Consider the House of Representatives. If a party committed to elective abortion controls the chamber, it will squash pro-life bills and promote pro-abortion ones. Even if that pro-abortion party has a few pro-life members, those members will likely never get to vote on a pro-life bill unless their party is not in power!
But it gets worse. These same pro-life members of that pro-abortion party almost always put party politics above moral principle when it comes to the most important vote they will cast-selection of the Speaker. Remember, the Speaker of the House ultimately determines the legislative agenda and if the party committed to elective abortion controls the chamber, its candidate for speaker will inevitably be pro-abortion. Nevertheless, these pro-life members vote for their party’s candidate for speaker, which all but guarantees that pro-life bills never see the light of day. In most cases, then, they aren’t reforming their party’s pro-abortion stance; they’re enabling it!¹⁰
If parties drive legislation, how should a pastor educate his flock on the relationship between politics and Christian morality? First, he should teach a biblical worldview affirming that all humans have value because they bear the image of their maker. Second, he should challenge church members to live out that biblical view in every area of their lives, including their political affiliations. Third, he should stress that while no political party is perfect, on the question of fundamental human value, some parties are more in line with biblical truth than others.
Suppose, for example, that it’s 1860 and fifty percent of professing Christians in your church are members of a political party dedicated to the proposition that an entire class of human beings can be enslaved or killed to meet the needs of the white race. If you’re a pastor committed to applying a biblical worldview in all areas of life, is this OK? You might be sympathetic to new converts coming to grips with Christian teaching, but mature church members? Pastors can’t use church resources to endorse political candidates or parties, but they can (and must) teach that a biblical worldview informs our political behavior-including which parties we choose to empower with our vote. Saying so is not wrong-it’s leadership.

-Scott Klusendorf

In our worship services, we Lutherans typically read a section of the Scriptures from the Old Testament, from an Epistle and from one of the Gospels. You may not know that these are not just randomly selected every Sunday. We follow what is called a lectionary which is simply a collection of Scripture readings. We at St. John follow what is called the 3-year lectionary which means that we every three years we will “recycle” the same readings. To learn more about the lectionary and its history, click here.

At the beginning of the church year, which is the first Sunday in Advent, we start a new lectionary series, either A, B or C. This year, we are in Series B. In Series A, which was last year, most of the Gospel readings were from Matthew. Series B includes mostly Mark. Series C follows Luke. The Gospel of John is interspersed throughout all three series.

Since we are in Series B and will have many Gospel readings from Mark, I thought it might be helpful to teach a little primer on Mark. As I said, each Gospel is unique, and Mark is no exception. Mark gives us a Jesus who is the true Son of God and acts as a man of great authority but whose ultimate purpose was to serve and to offer himself as a ransom for many, a purpose that is ultimately fulfilled at the cross.

Mark is the shortest Gospel consisting of only 16 chapters. Mark does not waste any words with his account of Jesus’ life. Mark doesn’t even give an account of Jesus’ birth or early life. He simply begins his gospel with: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” He then launches into the ministry of John the Baptist. One of Mark’s favorite words is immediately. He whisks along, building up to the climax of the story. Mark’s gospel is all about action. Mark includes some teachings and parables of Jesus to be sure, but he does not have long discourse sections like the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew.

Who is Jesus in Matthew? Jesus is the Son of God, first and foremost. (See Mark 1:1) Jesus is portrayed as a man with great authority. He is a man of power over disease, over nature, and over demons. Jesus is the main character in Mark which seems silly to say. Isn’t Jesus the main character in all the gospels? Well, yes, but in Mark, Jesus plays an especially central role, almost like a character in a Greek tragedy. Jesus is beset by constant opposition during his “quest.” Throughout Mark, Jesus is opposed by one thing after the other. Mark is a gospel full of conflict that builds and builds. The whole world is out to get him. It’s Jesus versus the evil spirits. Jesus versus his hometown of Nazareth. Jesus versus his own family. Jesus versus the religious leaders. Even Jesus versus his disciples! Hardly anyone in Mark is able to understand who Jesus truly is.

That is another theme in the Gospel of Mark. There is a sense of of secrecy, of concealment around Jesus. Jesus silences the demons so they cannot say who He is. He tells people that He has healed not to tell anyone what happened. He tells His disciples after the Transfiguration not to say anything about it. You won’t find a cuddly, friendly Jesus in Mark either. Jesus is portrayed as angry, even annoyed at times. He chooses who He wants to explain His parables to. He does odd things like cursing a fig tree for not producing figs when it was not fig season.

The gospel of Mark is not kind to the disciples. In the other gospels, the disciples certainly have their downfalls, but they kind of get who Jesus is at times. In Mark, the disciples are completely clueless. They follow Jesus obediently, but they don’t seem to know why. Even after the Transfiguration when God the Father says, “This is my Son; listen to Him!” they don’t listen or understand. They are fearful, non-insightful, and Mark takes special care to mention that when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane “they all left him and fled.”

Mark is building the conflict, creating suspense, keeping everyone in the dark for the climax. That climax is hinted at in Mark 8:31, “And Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.” The climax of Mark is at the cross. The purpose of Jesus is revealed at the cross. The conflict is ended at the cross. Jesus’ true identity is discovered at the cross, not by the disciples, not by the religious leaders or by a member of Jesus’ family, but by a Roman centurion, who confessed, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” And right there Mark connects his opening verse to the climax of his gospel.

Mark is saying that you cannot understand Jesus fully until you stand at the foot of the cross. The Jesus who taught and told parables, the Jesus who did miracles and showed authority is not the complete picture of Jesus. Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The Gospel of Mark was written in Rome to those undergoing persecution. Mark wants to encourage them to be strong and faithful. So Mark emphasizes that kingdom of God has come, but it has come in humility and lowliness through the cross. Mark stresses that in spite of your failures (or the failures of the disciples, his family, the religious leaders, the general populous) Jesus never fails. He is faithful. We have his word and his word is always true. The angel at the empty tomb says, “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” Mark also wants his readers to know that believing does not come from seeing. Those under persecution might often hope “If only we could see Jesus, it would be easier to believe.” Mark says “No, it wouldn’t. You believe in order to see.”

To conclude, I will use the “Blessings for Readers” section from the Lutheran Study Bible on Mark. The Gospel of Mark truly is a blessing that shows Jesus to be true God and true Man, ransomed for our sake that we might hear and believe.I hope you enjoy our journey through Mark this year and grow in your understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done for you.

As you read the Mark’s account of Jesus’ ministry and Passion, take special note of the emphasis on discipleship and faith. Jesus tells His followers that He will suffer and will ransom them (8:31-33, 9:30-31, 10:32-34,45). They, too, will face suffering on account of Him and the Gospel (8:34-9:1, 10:29-30). Yet, through repentance and faith, they will inherit eternal life.

When you face difficulty, cry out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (9:24). The Son of God, who ransomed you from the bondage of sin and death (10:45, 15:22-25), will hear you in compassion and have mercy (9:22, 10:47-49).

 

Happy Epiphany! Many of us relate the story of the magi, or wise men, from the east to Epiphany. You may be surprised to learn that this is a relatively new tradition. From The Treasury of Daily Prayer:

The feast of the Ephiphany of Our Lord commemorates no event but presents an idea that assumes concrete form only through the facts of our Lord’s life. The idea of Epiphany is that the Christ who was born in Bethlehem is recognized by the world as God. At Christmas, God appears as man, and at Epiphany, this man appears before the world as God. That Christ became man needed no proof. But that this man, this helpless child, is God needed proof. The manifestations of the Trinity, the signs and wonders performed by this man, and all His miracles have the purpose of proving to men that Jesus is God. Lately, especially in the Western Church, the story of the Magi has been associated with this feast day. As Gentiles who were brought to faith in Jesus Christ, the Magi represent all believers from the Gentile world.

Now that you’ve had a quick primer on Epiphany, I do want to talk about the magi and the star that arose which allowed them to find Jesus. What a miracle that God used a star to lead these Gentiles to Jesus so that they could worship him! It might make us wonder what miraculous way God will lead us to Jesus. What is your star? What sign is God going to show to you personally?

We see this kind of thinking in Christianity quite frequently; this idea that God is going to reveal himself to you in a special way and lead you on your own path to Jesus. Your star might be a powerful, mountaintop worship experience. Your star might be an inner voice that seems to be directing you where God wants you to go. Your star might be a form of obedience: through fasting, through meditation, through not drinking or not eating meat, through following a specific to-do list. Your star might be acquiring knowledge. Your star might be a vision which you believe to be from God. The key in this teaching is that God is going to speak to you and come to you in a new, completely personal way.

My friends, this is is dangerous thinking. First of all, it is completely subjective. Since these are all personal experiences, how are you to know that this is truly God speaking to you? Because you feel that it is? Are you going to place your confidence in your own subjective feelings?

Second of all, God does not work in this way. Notice that I say that God cannot work in this way. God certainly did use a star to guide the wise men. But that is a descriptive story. We cannot take that story and apply it to our lives by saying, “Just like God used a star to lead the wise men to Jesus, He is also going to use a ‘star’ (a personal sign) to lead me to Jesus and guide me in my Christian life.” God certainly is able to show himself to you and give you a personal sign. But how are you to know that it is truly God? Perhaps it is the devil masquerading as an angel of light.

Hebrews 1:1-2a “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” You see, God does give us stars, or signs, to lead us to Jesus. But these are not personal, subjective experiences. God works through means to deliver Jesus to us. Specifically, He uses the means of grace: the Word of God and the Sacraments. These are the “stars” that we can point to and say with confidence “There is Jesus.” We find Jesus in the proclaimed Word of God. We can say with confidence that Jesus has saved us and washed us from our sins because we can point to the sign and seal of Baptism which has the promise of Jesus attached to it. Jesus never said, “Make sure you pay attention because I might whisper some pretty important stuff to you sometime during your life.” But he does say, “This is my body. This is my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus Himself has promised that we will find him in God’s Word, in Baptism, and in the Lord’s Supper.

And we know that these promises are for all people because God led the wise men, who were not part of Israel, God’s chosen nation, to Jesus. So once again, happy Epiphany! Jesus is true God and true Man and is revealed as our only hope for salvation. We know exactly where to find Him: in the means of grace.

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

1.            This year, at St. John Lutheran School, principal Mike Saxton chose the school theme from Galatians 6:2 “Carry each other’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” The kids always do a great job of carrying each other’s burdens, of helping each other out, of being kind and considerate to each other. I have been holding a contest each month based on this theme. I try to identify the best example each month of a student who carries someone else’s burdens. The students are nominated by their own fellow students. The winner each month gets lunch provided by me from a local fast food establishment. I have already rewarded several students who have been wonderful examples of carrying the burden of someone else and fulfilling the law of Christ: which is to love.

2.            The Christmas story in the Bible is also a wonderful example of burden carrying. You have Mary, of course, carrying the burden of a child in her womb. You have both Joseph and Mary carrying the burden of gossip and rumors and suspicion because they were not married and Mary was pregnant. This next one is not in the Bible and is merely a common inclusion in the Christmas story, but the donkey bore the burden of a pregnant Mary on their way to Jerusalem. The shepherds carried the burden of being nobody’s, lowlifes, and the castoffs of society.

3.            Those burdens were lifted when Christ the Savior was born in the town of Bethlehem, in a lowly stable, lying in a manger. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory, glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. Joseph and Mary’s long journey was over. Their baby was born and the burden of all those suspicions was but a memory. The shepherds were visited by angels and were given good news of great joy. They were the first to bow down and worship the Messiah, the Savior long foretold. These lowly shepherds were given a great honor. Christmas lifted a lot of burdens.

4.            But for Jesus, Christmas marked the beginning of his journey, a journey which would become more and more burdensome every day of his life. Jesus’ burdens were just beginning to pile up. Jesus’ journey on earth began in the manger on the day we are celebrating today. But there would be no point in celebrating today if it were not for the rest of the journey.

5.            In the comedy movie Talladega Nights, there is a scene with a family gathered around the dinner table. The husband, played by Will Ferrell, says a prayer addressed to the baby Jesus. When his wife challenges him and reminds him that Jesus grew up, he responds, “I like the Christmas/baby Jesus best!” I think we all feel that way sometimes. We like the baby Jesus best. We sentimentalize the Nativity scene with Mary and Joseph and the shepherds looking adorably at the baby Jesus with cute animals scattered around. Sometimes we would prefer to leave Jesus in the manger without letting him grow up and continue his journey. Then we wouldn’t have to deal with the rest of Jesus’ story. We wouldn’t have to listen to John the Baptist’s call to repentance to prepare for Jesus’ ministry. We wouldn’t have to encounter the impossible demands of the Law preached by Jesus during the Sermon on the Mount. If we leave Jesus in the manger surrounded by his family, we would not have to deal with Jesus’ call to hate our own families and give up everything for the sake of following him. The baby Jesus leaves us feeling safe and comfortable. Who doesn’t love babies and birth stories? Christmas is all about glad tidings of great joy. We want to hear about that on Christmas. Tell us the wonderful story of a baby born in Bethlehem- he is Christ the Lord!

6.            On Christmas, we want to hear about the stable in Bethlehem, a place of peace and joy. We certainly don’t want to hear about the cross outside Jerusalem, the place of suffering and death. But we have to go there even on Christmas Day. Because without the cross, the manger doesn’t matter. It is pointless and meaningless. The whole reason Christ was born into this world was to go to the cross.

7.            The whole reason John the Baptist preached repentance is because Jesus would give out forgiveness through his death on the cross. The whole reason Jesus preached the Law so strongly on the Sermon on the Mount was to fulfill it and free us from its demands through his sacrificial death on the cross. The reason Jesus calls us to love and follow him above all things is because he is the way, the truth and the life. There is no life without him.

8.            Jesus’ journey was from the manger to the cross. When he went to the cross, Jesus carried the burden of sin for the entire world. He bore your burden. All of the sins you have committed. All of the sins you are going to commit. Jesus carried them. “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted…the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4,6a) Christ himself fulfilled the law of Christ: love. The one Christmas song that captures Jesus’ journey from manger to cross the best is “What Child Is This?” Verse 2 goes like this: 

Why lies He in such mean estate

Where ox and ass are feeding?

Good Christian, fear; for sinners here

The silent Word is pleading.

Nails spear shall pierce him through,

The cross be borne for me, for you;

Hail, hail, the Word made flesh,

The babe, the son of Mary!

9.            The child who was laid to rest in a manger was later in life laid to rest in a tomb. He gave up his own life to save yours. He carried your burdens so that you would be able to carry others’ burdens. Christmas is nothing without Good Friday. Let’s look at the picture I had up on the first slide. The artist’s name is Beate Heinen and the title of the painting is “Manger and Cross”.

In the foreground one sees a rock cave with the newborn Child Jesus – not in a kind of manger, but in a kind of trough looking like a coffin. From the manger a way starts through a blooming garden. Along the way the trees become more and more bare, the colors more gloomy. At the rear edge of the image a hill with three crosses can be perceived. The way is winding upwards; it is steep. Nothing is growing there anymore. There is no green, only grey. It is not a place of life, but of death. We know the name of the hill: … Golgotha. The way is leading from the Manger to the Cross. Jesus had to go this way. It was the way of his life. The painter showed it with her picture quite clearly: the Manger and the Cross belong together. It is not possible to accept only a part of the life of Jesus – for everything is connected, everything is woven together. The ultimate consequence of the Incarnation of Christ is his passion and death on the Cross.  The ultimate consequence of Bethlehem is Golgotha.  The ultimate consequence of the love of God is our redemption!

10.          But we also have to point out that Good Friday is nothing without Easter. Without Easter, Good Friday is a defeat. Easter is the victory. Easter is the triumph. Easter is the end of the journey for Jesus and it is the end of the journey for us as well. For we too will be resurrected from the dead and will be given new life. So really, Easter is merely the beginning once again. It is the beginning of new life that will never end. A new life in which we will not have any burdens to carry, either our own or anyone else’s. From manger to cross to open grave. From birth to death to resurrection to everlasting life. That is Jesus’ journey. It is your journey as well.

11.          In a Way of the Cross of the Advent season it says in the 1st station: “Get down on your knees, O soul, close your eyes and look within: Jesus is condemned to death: There lies the newborn Infant, subject to all the laws of nature: …coldness, hunger, nakedness and poverty await Him. Jesus’ first hour in the stable of Bethlehem is already a redemptive act – expiation, salvation, and satisfaction.  We adore You, O Jesus, and we praise You, for by Your holy Cross, already from that first hour of Your life, and by Your Passion and Death, You have redeemed the whole world.” Amen.

Here is the video I showed at the end of my sermon.

Now I am not one to get too bent out of shape if someone wishes me “Happy Holidays!” I don’t go out of my way to say “Merry Christmas” in response to “Happy Holidays!” Usually I will say something like, “Thank you and same to you.” It just isn’t that big of a deal to me. Other Christians get very worked up over this issue. Now I am not saying that this is wrong or sinful. I just wonder if it is a worthwhile battle, and as I mentioned, I stumbled upon a few people who tend to agree. I want to post these for you, not to tell you how to think but to give you something to think about. Feel free to agree or disagree. Put your thoughts in the comments below.

This first article is from a Lutheran pastor studying for his doctorate at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Here is a link to his blog. Below is his post entitled “The Whole ‘Christmas’ vs. ‘Happy Holidays’ Debacle.”

Well it’s that time of the year again. It’s the most WONDERFUL time of the year, as the carol goes! It’s also the time of the year when Christians all around the nation get up-in-arms. You know what I’m talking about – you’ve surely known at least several Christians to make an annual stink about how people are taking the “Christ” out of “Christmas” and how offensive it is that people say “Happy Holidays” now instead of “Merry Christmas.”

I can resonate with the frustration – but at the same time, I have to raise my eyebrows in wonder. Is it really THAT offensive? I mean, considering the fact that the world CRUCIFIED Jesus the first time He came, should we be that surprised that the world doesn’t like to celebrate His birth once a year? Is it worth annoying all your non-Christian friends by playing the “offended party” over a holiday that they don’t really celebrate as Christians anyway? And further, will it really make an impression on the non-Christian world?

As a Christian I find very little offensive in the world. How can you? Haven’t you read the Bible and heard the testimonies of what mankind is capable of doing? Do you believe what the Bible says about your flesh? Give Romans 3 a read! Can you really expect a non-Christian world to adapt Christian “custom” for the sake of custom itself, when they don’t really even know Jesus, their need for Him, and the Gospel? Further, why should we spoil a little harmless fun? Shouldn’t the secular “spirit” of generosity associated with Christmas be an opportunity to share, rather than to push people away with a manufactured sense of “offense”?

This is a fallen world, this is a world that has consistently taken “offense” at the message of Christ and the cross – should we really be that shocked that this holiday is no different? Don’t take offense when someone says “Happy Holidays.” Let the world take offense to Christ. When we get offended over such trivial matters, it only distracts from the true meaning of Christmas all the more. Don’t get offended – instead share the real reason for the season. Proclaim who the babe of Bethlehem truly was, why He came, and how He died for the whole world – the world he offended to the point that they consigned him to the cross. He loved the rowdy mob who shouted “crucify him,” surely you can love the well-intended secular folk who wish you “Happy Holidays.”

Now that I have checked back on his blog to post his article, Pastor Fouts has another post on this subject that is worth checking out.

Finally, here is a quote on this subject from Pastor Todd Wilken of Issues Etc.

I don’t expect the culture to keep Christ in Christmas; that’s the church’s responsibility.

Besides, the “Christ” of culture bears no resemblance to the Christ we find in scripture. So it’s probably best that the culture leave Christ out of the holiday.

What does disturb me is that many of the Christians worried about keeping Christ in Christmas have little problem with Christ being left out of the preaching they hear the rest of the year.

What do you think? You can keep Christ in your Christmas by going to worship to hear the Word made flesh proclaimed to you for the forgiveness of your sins and by eating and drinking His very body and blood. Christ is there with us no matter what anybody says. Merry Christmas!

The book that I am recommending is The Very First Christmas by Paul Maier. Here is the description from the Concordia Publishing House website.

Many children’s Christmas books are long on fancy and short on fact. Most of them ignore the themes of the first Christmas and opt instead for fairy tale settings or winter tableaus.

This beautifully illustrated book, a Gold Medallion Book Award winner, fills the gap by presenting fresh insights into the Christmas story from both the scriptural and secular context.

The book tells the story of a young boy Christopher, who no longer wants to hear fairytales; he only wants real bedtime stories. So his mother tells the amazing and miraculous story of Jesus’ birth. Along the way, Christopher learns the answers to some challenging questions about the Christmas story. And all the answers are right from the Bible.

This book makes a wonderful gift for children, families, and friends.

From the Author

Paul L. Maier, best-selling author, writes, “this book answers the real questions children ask about the nativity story.”

This book holds a special place in my heart because my family owns a copy, and my dad would read this book to us on Christmas morning before we opened our presents. Paul Maier is the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod’s premiere historian and is well known internationally for his work. He recently retired from Western Michigan University.

Definitely add this one to your library. You will not be disappointed. It will help you each Christmas season to keep your focus on the Christ-child.

Who hasn’t heard these three mentioned in regards to stewardship? However, I have been mulling over a quote that I read a number of weeks ago regarding the “3 T’s.” The quote (this is from memory) goes something like this: “God does not want your time, talents or treasures. He wants your trespasses.”

I really like this thought, but it does take some time to truly unravel what it means. I believe what this quote is saying is that God does not need your good works. God does not want your good works. In other words, the good that we do is not for God. The good that we do has no effect on our relationship with him. The only way to improve your relationship with God is trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. God wants your trespasses. He wants you to confess them, to give them over to him. He wants to give you the righteousness, holiness and forgiveness that Jesus won for you on the cross. He wants to give you new life.

And what do we do with that new life in Christ? We use our time, talents and treasures to serve other people. God does not need those things. Your neighbor does. And since we have given over our trespasses to God, we are free to be faithful stewards of the time, talents and treasures that God has given to us. Being a faithful steward means being a good neighbor. It means fulfilling your vocations wisely. It means giving an offering to the church so that the church can continue to serve other people.

We get a little mixed up in our stewardship sometimes. We think that our offerings, our volunteer service, our good works earn us favor with God and improve our relationship with him. Now certainly, our good works are pleasing to God. Certainly, we are motivated to give our time, talents and treasures because of God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. Certainly, a wise use of the “3 T’s” can be evidence of a mature faith. But as in most things, we tend to internalize stewardship, thinking that it is about “me and God.” Our response to God’s love is best seen in our love for our neighbor. You have been saved by God in order to love and to serve other people.

The "3 t's" where our trespasses were taken away

Anyway, that’s just a thought for today. I encourage you to think about what this means. God wants your trespasses. He wants to take them from you and give you to you Jesus’ righteousness that He already won for you on the cross. With our trespasses taken away, we are free to be God’s servants and show His love to others with our time, talents and treasures.