On Christmas Day we heard this from the Gospel of John chapter 1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” These verses talking about darkness and light are not talking about the good creation of night and day and its intricate balance made by God. This is talking about the theological difference and estrangement between the good of God and the evil of that which is opposed to Him. The darkness is referring to evil, sin, Satanic lies, to unbelief, ignorance, anything that is the opposite of that which is Good, Holy, Pure, true or wise which comes from the light of the True God and Lord of all. Spiritually speaking, the darkness struggles to grasp hold of the light and to understand it. So great is the chasm caused by sin and Satan’s deep delusion upon the earth.

Sadly, this darkness is the natural state of mankind after the fall into sin. As you know, every man and woman naturally born, is born with sin, without faith in God but rather an inborn fear and dread because of that sin: a fear for oneself as our natural inborn instinct is to worship ourselves. We are born as those belonging to Satan, the father of lies, the author of evil, who so often seems to be ruling this world through the evil thoughts and deeds of men and women.

But God did not create humanity for evil, for death, for punishment, but for life, true life which comes through knowledge of His light, His love, His truth which is fully revealed in Jesus the Christ, born on Christmas in order to rescue those who have dwelt in darkness and under the shadow of death.

This is the great message of Christmas and Epiphany. The message that the light of God in Jesus Christ has come to save and redeem those could not on their own understand the light and cannot by their own strength flee the darkness of evil, sin, and unbelief. Jesus gives them faith and by it, the right to become the children of God and receive salvation in His name.

This movement from children of darkness to children of light is not a soft and easy thing without any shock, pain, or strong reaction. When the Lord bursts into the lives of people with the glory of His presence and His Word… It is much like a person whose eyes are used to the dark and are suddenly exposed to a bright spot light: there may be shock, confusion, fear, panic, there may even be rage. “What? What is this? What does this mean? How dare you?”

When the holiness of God and the demand of His holy Law meet sinful mankind, the reaction is swift. When the Law strikes properly to convert minds and hearts, it begins with an awe that inspires fear of punishment, a recognition of unworthiness before the righteousness of God. We see this in the reaction of the shepherds to the light and message of the angel. We see this in the reaction to the Pagan magi, who see the light of the Epiphany star and immediately ask: “What does this mean?” And moved by curiosity and fear of the celestial warning begin to search and finally come to the Truth of God’s Word. This Word of God moves them and their noble caravans to travel to the land of Jacob’s heirs, to Jerusalem seeking “He who is born King of the Jews”.

However, in Herod, we see how all too often, the world and the flesh as it rejoices in its evil and immorality, in its thirst for earthly praise, power, and self made security reacts negatively to the Word of God. This is the negative and often times violent reaction of the darkness to the light of God’s Law, not in a proper shock and humility, but rather doubling back in rage, wanting and trying to destroy and overcome the light to protect the darkness.

In Herod we see the personification of Satan himself, He hears of a rival, and wishes to hear more, yet it is not to worship, but to plot against, to gather information to destroy and rage against in protection of his own glory. Satan is also insecure, even as Herod is insecure, even as each human clinging to their sin is insecure. Why so insecure? Why such dread alarm at the Law of God?

Because they know, sinners know, deep down, that they are weak, they are sinners, that they are in the wrong, but do not want to admit it. It is one part pride, but it is also one part delusion in that pride, not wanting to face facts and reality. Unbelievers are escapists. They wish to escape the reality of their mortality, they know that they only have so much time on this earth before they receive a judgement for their brutish selfishness. Therefore, they now justify their brutality to other people as a defense against the brutality that they fear from others: expecting that all hearts of men and women are like them, and that if they show weakness, they will be overthrown.

The Law of God is therefore a threat. The Gospel is therefore even a threat. Jesus Christ coming to redeem is a threat to evil, to immorality, to cruelty, to selfishness, to pride, to self rule, to a culture and mindset of utilitarianism: That is, the attitude: “I will only tolerate you, if I have a use for you from which I can benefit, but if you are a nuisance, a responsibility I do not want, a drag upon my conscience, I will thrash out against you, dehumanize you, seek to silence or eliminate you.”

We see this even in our modern dehumanizing impatient political discourse. We see this in the terms used for unwanted pregnancies where unborn children whose lives are individual and precious miracles are called “blobs of flesh” or “parasites” and scientific terms which sound less like “one’s own offspring and child” even though it is the Latin word for it. I’m speaking of the word Fetus, BTW.

This is all the delusion of sin, of Satan, of the darkness reeling and thrashing against the goodness of the Lord in being anti-life and anti-light. This also explains the increase of persecution against Christianity that we see in Nigeria, Uganda, Sudan, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, here at home and everywhere. Satan and those who remain under his power know that their time is short and they do not want to hear the Word of God, nor do they want others to hear it, because it is the truth and it frightens them, though it should comfort.

The Church in her calendar acknowledges that persecution and hatred is often the reaction of the world to the message of God’s Word in Jesus Christ. Dec. 26 was the feast day of St. Stephen, the first New Testament Christian martyr who was stoned for his confession of Christ. Dec. 27 is the feast Day of John the Evangelist who was persecuted and martyred in the sense that he was banished to the Island of Patmos. Today, Dec. 28, we commemorate what we call the Massacre of the Holy Innocents. The Church calls these young boys martyrs who bear witness to the truth of Jesus Christ not with their mouths but with their sacrifice of blood. For their blood was shed as the price to be paid for the madness and jealousy of evil Herod who reacted violently to the Word that came to Him that Jesus the Messiah and king would be born in Bethlehem.

But the good news cannot be overcome, Jesus Christ is still king. Herod could not destroy what God had designed. The children killed for his vanity were redeemed and are alive with the Lord while Herod is likely suffering in damnation.

Could there have been forgiveness for Herod? Is there forgiveness offered even for those who actively work against God’s Word, against the value of life, against anything that contains the light of God in His Word of Scripture or in Creation? Yes.

That too is the good news. Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world, the greater light which the star points and leads to. He came to overcome the darkness of all humanity’s corrupted hearts and redeem them from damnation by turning them to the light. He came to overthrow the spiritual oppression, the delusion, lies, and unbelief which the Devil tries to nurture. Jesus Christ overthrows the Devil’s plans to keep all in darkness. He is the Word made flesh. The light and life of mankind. Jesus took your sins and the sins of the world to the cross to receive our punishment, so that all who did and do receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”

He continues today to undo and overthrow the darkness of unbelief and evil by sending forth the Light of His Word in faithful preaching and teaching, and the administration of His Sacraments where He continues to give and work belief, wisdom, purity, kindness, and love, by His power in the forgiveness of sins.

Therefore, come and bask in His light here. Be warmed by it against the cold of the dark and deluded world. Be emboldened by His Spirit, and be made wise men and women, in Him. He is the one who in the light of His Word gives us faith to boldly proclaim His name and truth even against the hate of the world, the flesh, and the prince of this dark world, Satan.

You are now God’s children: Children of the light… not to be ruled by darkness again but in Jesus Christ have overcome the darkness, and have been given the light and life eternal by faith in Jesus Christ’s name, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Who doesn’t find great joy at the birth of a baby? Especially if it’s your own? With the pain and sorrow of the labor having come and gone, you’re left with a precious little child in your arms. And you’re mesmerized by this precious gift from God – counting the tiny fingers and toes – analyzing the features of the baby’s face – the eyes and nose and mouth. What wonder – what excitement – what joy! 

I’m sure a lot of this joy at the birth of a child feeds a lot of our thoughts and feelings about Christmas. We love that nativity scene – Mary holding her precious newborn son, Joseph hovering over them, ready to protect and to provide at a moments notice. As beautiful and serene as this scene is, it’s no wonder a lot of Christmas hymnody speaks of peace, silence, and wonder at the beauty of this sight.

Yet, like a newborn that suddenly awakens and screams due to hunger pains, the Gospel for this Christmas Day breaks the silence and awakens us to the truth that the baby in Mary’s arms isn’t just a lovely and cute son of man, He’s the eternal Son of God – who was in the beginning with God – who is eternally begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.

He wasn’t just with God in the beginning, but He is God. Along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, He made all things: hanging the stars in the sky, giving the sun its light, creating the earth fit for plants and animals and human life, and designing the miracle of the human body. “All things were made through him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3).

What wonder, what excitement, what joy, that this new mother and her husband would’ve had! Not only were they holding a precious newborn child in their arms, but they were holding the all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present God! That means the tiny fingers and toes they would have touched were God’s fingers and toes. The face they gazed upon would have been the very face of God. What wonder! What excitement! What joy! What an amazing privilege to behold the face of God in joy and peace and not in terror and judgement.

Yet, why did God take such drastic measures? Why would He – the creator of the entire universe – lower Himself to become a creature? Why would the God of the heavens and the earth come into His creation and join Himself to it, when the world that He made didn’t know or acknowledge Him? Why would He come to His own when His own people didn’t receive him? God comes into the world through the flesh and blood of Jesus, so that “all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God…” (John 1:12).

He descended in this way, so that we could know Him in His mercy rather than in fear and judgement. Before we were made children of God, we were “by nature, children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3), as St. Paul writes in his Letter to the Ephesians. We are born according to the flesh in sin, spiritually dead in our trespasses, born under the curse inherited from our earthly fathers. This is hard, if not impossible to believe or understand, especially when you’re holding a precious newborn child when they appear quiet, sweet, and innocent. Yet, the words of Holy Scripture are clear. The will of man begets children of man, children doomed to disobedience and ultimately wrath.

Spiritually dead in our trespasses and born under the curse of our earthly fathers, we are unable to free ourselves from the condemnation we justly deserve. Therefore, God in His mercy and infinite love, Himself takes on human flesh and blood to come and rescue us. He comes to redeem our fallen flesh by His Holy flesh. To make us His beloved children and to give us the forgiveness and life that we desperately need, The Holy Word of God, the only begotten son of the Father, is conceived then born in the person of Jesus.

Being born of an earthly woman, Jesus is a true human: “man” like you and me in our usual functions, one needing to eat and drink and sleep, one who is subject to illness and even death. Yet, whereas you and I were conceived by the flesh of man, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Where your flesh and blood has been corrupted by sin, His flesh and blood is pure and guiltless and free from sin. Where we fail to keep God’s Commandments perfectly, He placed Himself under the Law and was obedient to His heavenly Father in every way, even unto death upon the cross. All this He does for you and your redemption!

Jesus is the baby born to face your death. Carrying your sins, your burdens, your sorrows, the eternal Son of God goes to the cross to suffer the Father’s wrath for your sin. And dying the death that you deserve, He who was once wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger, would be wrapped in burial cloths and laid in a grave for you.

While Jesus is the baby, born to die in your place, He’s also the baby, born to be raised and live forever for you. As the eternal Son of God who fulfilled the plan of salvation, the grave couldn’t hold Him. He has been raised triumphant over death and sin. Jesus, as true God, has proven that He is the fountain and source of life now and for eternity. He lives today and He continues to work through His Word and Sacraments to give you His forgiveness and life. All so that you may know Him by faith, and be made a child of God, no longer a child of wrath.

St. Peter writes that we’re born again through the abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). He makes us His beloved child as the Holy Spirit works through His Word as it is spoken through preaching, Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper. This is wonderful news! We can’t make ourselves worthy to be His children or earn His love. Just as a newborn can’t change his diaper or feed or care for himself nor give anything in return for their parent’s love and service, so we receive and are cared for by God free grace and loving mercy.

This is God’s good and gracious will for us. As we heard in the Gospel for this Christmas day: “to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Fellow children of God, we can celebrate this Christmas Day with all the wonder and excitement and joy that even the smallest of children experience as they open their presents. Our heavenly Father loves us and has given us the greatest gifts, which are redemption, forgiveness, and the hope of life everlasting through Jesus Christ His Son. This Son, our Savior not only came to dwell for 33 years upon the earth during His ministry, but He continues to dwell and abide with us. He comes to us to us to strengthen us as His children, to walk in His ways. He restores our faith and joy as He gathers us here together in His house to unwrap and receive His gifts each and every week where He speaks His Word and gives us His body and Blood crucified and raised for the forgiveness of our sins.

As beautiful and serene as the Nativity scene is, we get to experience and receive its fulfillment in Christ, here. The glory of God is present in Christ’s presence. This is where God’s peace continues to descend on earth to those with whom God is well pleased for the sake of Jesus. With the same tenderness that we imagine Mary and Joseph showed to the newborn Jesus, God shows to us now as His beloved children born again through the washing of regeneration in Christ. As the most loving Father, He turns His face to us and looks upon us and sees us as precious and beautiful for we have received the holiness of His beloved Son. This is the beauty of the words of the benediction that we don’t always appreciate. “The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.”

He gives you His peace as He comes to you here in Jesus Christ. So justified by His Grace, let us continue to receive and rejoice in His tender mercy this Christmas Day and every day. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

A very Blessed and Merry Christmas to you all!

Tonight let us continue the theme of looking at the songs of Luke’s Gospel. Tonight we heard the words of the host of angels following the announcement of the initial angelic herald. These beloved words have inspired multiple Christmas carols, songs, hymns, including the hymn which we just sang a part of: “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come” which was written by Martin Luther. We also use the angels’ song in our liturgy which we sing most Divine services throughout the year in what we call the “Gloria in excelsis” or “glory in the heavens”.

The Words of this angelic annunciation and chorus are full of meaning though it be short in length. The interplay between the shepherds and the angels are filled with the themes which resound throughout the Christmas season and the life of the Church year. Enmity and division between God and Man being ended by reconciliation through a Savior bringing peace. Terror being met with peace and turned to joy, the darkness of evil being dispelled by God’s pure glory and light, humanity’s ignorance and unbelief being turned by God’s revelation to wisdom and faith.

The shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks during the night. Darkness surrounding them except perhaps stars and moon if the sky were clear. This is theologically like the world without the direct revelation of the Lord in His Word. The world abides in the darkness of unbelief not giving proper attention to the signs of His light in creation. Then when the Lord bursts into the lives of people with the glory of His presence and His Word…When light meets the darkness suddenly without warning: shock, pupils dilating, confusion, fear. When the holiness of God and the demand of His holy Law meet sinful mankind, the reaction is swift. When the Law strikes properly to convert minds and hearts, it begins with an awe that inspires fear of punishment, a recognition of unworthiness before the righteousness of God. This is described in the very real reaction of the shepherds to God’s reflected glory with the angel. Listen to how it is described in the literal Greek:
“An angel of the Lord came among them and the glory of the Lord shone all around them and they were filled or seized with a terror and great fear.” A “mega” Fear.

The verb described the kind of fear that puts to flight, to flee in terror: that is how great the separation created by man’s sin is to God’s holiness. But behold, the grace of God, sending the angel and angels, with the message: not a message of “yes, cower with fear o sinner”, no, he sends this message: “Don’t be afraid” “Fear not”. And then he explains why they don’t need to fear. In which he explains why you don’t need to be afraid of God. Why by faith your fear over sin is at an end. Why Christmas and the incarnation birth of Jesus is so dear and wonderful.

“Behold I bring you great tidings “euaggelizomai”, that is I bring you the Gospel, the Good News, News of joy, which in the Greek says “Xara megalayn”. Great joy in exchange for your great fear. Why? What makes this good news message so great with joy?

“Because brought forth/born for you this very day, the Savior, is Christ the Lord in the city of David.” Notice the word order. Born FOR YOU. For you. This very day. In the midst of this dark evening, the daylight has come upon you. A Savior, [who] is Christ, that is, the long foretold and promised Messiah, He is also “the Lord”, that is He is God. In other words, God has brought forth of Himself your Savior, your Christ, your Lord and God. And this happened in the city of David, which was understood by the shepherds to be Bethlehem. A sign of His fulfillment of David’s reign.

The sign to them was that they would find, and here the Greek is “Heurisko” that is, to find out for one’s self, to acquire, get, obtain, procure, to meet with after long searching and enquiry or to come upon. This is the same word base as “Eureka”, “I have found it” made famous in the discovery of Gold in California or by Archimedes and taken up as the cry of triumph for any discovery or any mystery revealed. But God is the One who has brought and revealed the gift to be “discovered”: that Savior far more precious than Gold. A new born infant in a feeding trough swaddled in common cloth. In flesh seemingly common to us all but Divine and perfect. A truly Divine mystery to be pondered.

What does this mystery mean to those invited to behold and come to know in the presence of this Christ? Now the angelic chorus rings out. It means that in Jesus Christ is: “The Glory in the heavens to God and [now] upon earth there is peace to mankind and good will and benevolence.” The glory of the heavens has come down upon earth. The heavens and the earth declare the glory of God because He has brought forth the Son of God, our Savior, the Christ, the one who will shepherd His people, who will reign upon the throne of His Father David forever as the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace with justice and righteousness with no end having defeated the enemies who dwell in darkness: that is the Devil, death, and sin.

This one of whom the angels sang and heralded to the shepherds, came to be your Savior. He reconciled you to God by His incarnation, death, and resurrection for the forgiveness of your sins. He has heralded this to you this night even as He did at your baptism and continues to in His Word. The sign of discovery which makes for your peace is still in Jesus, no longer in the manger, but forever crucified, raised, and ascended. This sign is not unattainable as a far and distant mystery, but you shall find Him wrapped in bread and wine with His body and blood for you to eat and to drink. To come and worship and be filled with His joy and peace by His righteous reign of forgiveness. Then return from here ever glorifying and praising God for what we have heard and seen: our Savior, Christ, the Lord, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

During our midweek Advent services this past month, we have looked at the songs of Advent in the Gospel according to St. Luke. These canticles celebrated the faithfulness of God in the fulfillment of His promises of mercy by sending the anointed Savior into the world. These songs were sung by Zechariah, Mary, and Simeon, faithful people all. They were all led by the Holy Spirit to sing out their confession of faith and joy because of the revelation that God had given them about the Christ child and the coming Messianic age.

As our Gospel lesson for today began, there is one who did not have a song of joy in his heart at the news that Mary was pregnant, a song more like the blues perhaps, but not joy. Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth, the betrothed husband to be of Mary. He had found out that Mary was with child. Joseph could not have known at this time that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Mary might have told him about the angel visitation and Gabriel’s message, but even if she had, honestly, how could Joseph believe her? He knew how things worked biologically. He knew that he could not be the father. Even though betrothal in the Hebrew world meant that Joseph and Mary were legally bound, during their betrothal they did not yet live together or have sexual relations. Could it be that Mary was just making excuses for having sinned with someone else? The time to make some hard decisions had arrived for Joseph. His options were two; he could take Mary to be his wife and claim responsibility for the unborn child which to the Jews would have been an admission of guilt and sin… or he could divorce her. By divorcing her, he would be absolving himself of any responsibility and guilt for the sin of fornication. The usual form of divorcing in such a situation was public denunciation which would then have exposed Mary to public humiliation and possibly execution by stoning.

Joseph is described as a just and righteous man; as such, he certainly wouldn’t admit guilt when he had been innocent, but he also didn’t want Mary to suffer shame and execution so he ultimately resolved that He would find a way to divorce her as quietly as possible.

Joseph’s plans to be married to Mary had been changed by circumstances beyond his control; now he had resolved to take control, to absolve himself and protect Mary in the divorce, but God had other plans for Joseph. As Joseph slept that night an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and addressed him: “Joseph, son of David” not only would an angel in your dreams be unusual but this greeting was unusual. The Gospel writer, Matthew had just given us the full genealogy of Joseph. Joseph’s birth father’s name was Jacob not David. It is true that Joseph was a descendant of King David, but he was 28 generations down the line from him. In fact, for the last 14 generations, the royal lineage of David had no throne to rule. Therefore, this formal greeting of the Angel referring to Joseph’s royal ancestry already indicates the significance of this child’s birth.

The angel after greeting Joseph by name, told him to change his plans again, to take Mary as his wife without fear. She was innocent of the sin of fornication. The child in her was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and was not a result of any carnal relations. God had a plan and purpose for this pregnancy with significance beyond the relationship of Joseph and Mary. The plan was revealed in the name that Joseph and Mary were to name this son once He was born: Jesus. Jesus is the English version of the Hebrew Yeshua which means “God Saves”. The name is the same as Joshua, the name shared by the Joshua who led the Israelites into battle for the promised land by God’s hand after Moses. Yet that Joshua only prefigured and pointed to the greater work of this Joshua, this Savior, announced to Joseph. This son born of Mary named Jesus/Joshua was born to be a God’s anointed savior by saving His people from a greater enemy than the Canaanites, and by leading all of God’s people into a greater destination that an earthly kingdom. This Jesus was born to save His people from their sins and bring them into an eternal kingdom by conquering sin death, and the power, of the devil.

How could He do this? Because this Son of Mary was not just a man, but He was also the Son of God. He was and is Immanuel which means “God with us”.

In the meantime, God’s plan for Joseph was to bless him and use him in the vocation of husband and adoptive father of Jesus. He was to protect them both Mother and unborn child as part of the miracle of God’s salvation plan. He was to be the earthly hands of the heavenly Father taking care of Jesus until the time was fulfilled for Jesus to enter into His public office of Christ.

We are not told a whole lot about the biography of Joseph of Nazareth. Based on Scripture, we know that he was alive and involved throughout the early years of Jesus…very much parenting when Jesus was 12 and brought to the temple. However, we assume that by the time Jesus began His teaching and preaching office as the Christ around His age of 30, Joseph had been called by God to His eternal rest. Yet, it must have been recent as Jesus was known in Nazareth as “the carpenter’s son” (Mt.13:55). We know that Joseph was a righteous man, but he knew that that righteousness came not from himself, but from God. It was God who had revealed the truth of Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. Joseph was given the ability to believe that this son of Mary was also going to save him, that is, Joseph from his sins.

As we heard last week, quite often in this life our earthly plans get changed and our expectations are limited. Unlike with Joseph and Mary, all too often the reason for the change in plans is because of sin and the failures within ourselves. This is part of the curse which we inherited from our first parents, Adam and Eve who first sinned. That original sin is passed down from generation to generation making all children of Adam born with unbelief, imperfection, sin, and are by nature at enmity with God, subject to His wrath. But God does not desire the death and destruction of all people. Because of His love and in mercy for our condition, God provided the suitable sacrifice for our sins by sending the Son of God, to be conceived the way He was: begotten from eternity, conceived and born in time by the Holy Spirit, outside the plans or desires of human flesh, so that His flesh and blood was perfect and sinless. Then Jesus lived up to His name. The perfect man and Son of God allowed Himself to be despised, rejected, and crucified so that people might be saved from their sins. He took the punishment of sin upon His flesh so that our own flesh could be redeemed. This was and is the plan of God the Father who sent His Son, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, men and women who receive this message of grace through the Gospel would believe and be saved by the forgiveness of their sins.

Dear, fellow redeemed, you may not have had an angel come to you in a dream to deliver the message of Jesus Christ, but you have been brought to the waters of Holy Baptism, and have had the curse of original sin from Adam and Eve drowned and buried with Christ in His tomb. Through His resurrection you have been given new life through faith. No longer are you slaves to sin, but you are set free to live holy lives by God’s Spirit in Jesus Christ’s name. God not only has a plan of salvation for you through Jesus Christ by the forgiveness of your sins, but He will bless you in your vocations. You can pray that God may use you and guide you in all wisdom as you make your earthly plans and pray that God’s will would be done in your life. He will continue to guard and keep you from fear and unbelief by His Word of promise. He continues to gather you and us and all the church at the foot of the cross, as we confess the times that we have failed and have sinned, but then receive forgiveness again. He strengthens our flesh for eternity as we receive the flesh and blood of our crucified and risen Savior in the bread and wine.

He gives us the power to also sing and rejoice at the news of Jesus Christ, for He has fulfilled His heavenly Father’s plan of salvation through His suffering and dying and rising again for the forgiveness of our sins. And we know that He will come again in glory to bring us soul and body to our eternal rest which Christ has prepared for us in Jesus Name, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Have you ever had failed expectations? I am talking disappointments in something you had hoped for, planned for, worked for, or believed in, but the results ended up not rising to meet your hopes. I would venture to guess that we all have experienced this to some extent, because life is filled with the unexpected. Sometimes it is easy to cope with these unexpected results, but sometimes it can result in great pain and anguish. Failed marriages, lost job prospects, disappointments in friends, children, loved ones, people letting you down… maybe realizing that the failure is in you, and you have let yourself and others down or maybe it isn’t you but doubt begins to grow within you…these can all lead to great soul searching, agony, and trouble of the soul and mind.

The book of James has written these words to those who feel downhearted in the midst of disappointment and suffering. James says, “be patient… as an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast.” It is not always easy to be steadfast in faith, in hope, when we are in the midst of suffering and turmoil. It is difficult when the world, the devil, our flesh, and the many events around us are constantly trying to tear us away from faith and the hope which we have in the expectation of Christ’s fulfillment. As we think of our own feelings and experiences, let us remember what James said. We are not alone in our suffering or doubt. Let us take courage in today’s Gospel lesson which speaks of John the Baptizer suffering in prison, but who receives words of encouragement from our Lord.

John was a great prophet, and as Jesus said, “John was more than a prophet, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” But where was John as we introduced the Gospel reading for today? He was in prison. According to some preachers, shouldn’t he have been having success, glory, and sunshine for doing God’s Work? No. Because that is not the reality of life as sin and the truth of God’s Word war with one another. John was living the weight of that spiritual and emotional war and despite the greatness of his prophetic power and His belief in Jesus as the Messiah, the account today shows that he may have been having his doubts about the Messiah, perhaps even about his own prophetic ministry. He had done everything he was supposed to do, and here he was in prison for preaching the truth and rebuking sin, most likely facing execution, which we know that he did.

We heard last Sunday that John preached repentance: preparing the way the Lord. John likely expected Jesus to immediately fulfill everything John had been given to preach. John expected Jesus to come baptizing with the Holy Spirit and real fire, that He was going to be a judge right then and there, as John declared about the Messiah, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and “He will clear His threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Jesus did not do this right away; bringing judgment and punishment upon all things was not what His first coming was all about. Therefore, John probably wondered as Jesus seemed to fail to meet his expectations. He sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” John was the last of the Old Testament prophets. John preached with power. John baptized the Lord Jesus and heard the voice from heaven and saw the Spirit descend as a dove. Surely someone who had all these experiences wouldn’t crack under pressure.

Wrong! For us Christians, there is never a time when faith is very far from the edge of unbelief. Satan never leaves us Christians alone, but each day he works harder to take us away from Christ. John was no exception. The sad reality is that preachers can lose the faith they preach to others. Both the preacher and the hearer are not immune to unbelief but need constant help. But how does Jesus respond to this questioning? Jesus answered John’s disciples, “Go and tell John what you hear and see.” Jesus understood John’s doubts. He understood that John needed assurance. He did not condemn John, but Jesus appointed John’s disciples to be apostles- sent ones, ones sent to deliver their witness to John. Jesus invited John’s disciples to witness His work and then take the proclamation of His work back to John. Jesus was fulfilling the Scriptures, Jesus was healing the blind, the lame were walking, the lepers were being cleansed, the deaf were able to hear, the dead were being raised up, and most importantly, the poor were having the good news preached to them. The miracles which Jesus performed were His credentials as the Christ. They validated His authority in His preaching as the One who was sent from God. These miracles pointed to an even greater miracle which only God Himself could perform, the miracle of forgiveness for sin and the gift of faith. This is the significance of the good news being preached. This good news is that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the anointed Savior, who not only works physical wonders of healing, but also brings spiritual healing and faith by the forgiveness of sins. John the Baptist was correct in thinking that the earthly ministry of Jesus was about judgment, but that judgment of God’s wrath for sin was placed upon Jesus. As Jesus was taking the burden of the ills, diseases, and pains of the world upon Himself, He also was taking the sins of unbelief and doubt upon Himself to the cross.

You see, John the Baptist, as great as he was, could not live up to the expectations of the Law. When it comes to the expectations of God’s Law, everybody has been and is a failure. It is not that the Law is unfair, it is that since Adam and Eve all creation, especially humanity has become twisted and sinful. Nothing goes the way it should it seems, good people do bad things, the pure becomes spoiled, and the expectation for this mess should be nothing but doom and punishment. That is why Jesus came, so that the more realistic expectation of punishment, condemnation, and eternal suffering would be turned away for those who repent and believe this hope: “Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me” said Jesus. We are blessed and accounted as righteous through faith in Jesus Christ by the forgiveness of sins. Jesus became a curse for you on the cross, so that you might be saved. Jesus became an offense to His Father by taking your guilt so that by His Word and through Holy Baptism you would believe and not take offense at the cross. By believing in Him you are now no longer offensive to the Father. As you were baptized, you have Christ placed upon you. You have His righteousness earned for you. You are forgiven through faith in these words even as John the Baptist was forgiven and saved through faith despite any doubts he had had.

Guadete, a Latin command to Rejoice! That is the theme of this Sunday in Advent, the significance of the pink candle. It is the theme of the Introit which we spoke earlier: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! The Lord sets the prisoners free. The Lord lifts up those bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous”. Dear friends, let this joy, the joy of the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached to you this day encourage and comfort you. Let it dispel all doubt and fear. May His joy abide with you always and be in your mouth and in your lives continually. You are forgiven through faith in Jesus Christ. He forgives your failures, and He gives us more blessings than we should ever expect. He promises to hear and comfort us when we call out for help when our earth-bound plans and expectations fail. He will help you and carry you through those times… even as He has carried your sins to the cross and buried them in His tomb.

When you are weak and heavy laden come to Him, confess your sins and your burdens, then receive His absolution, His forgiveness and love. Come to the altar and let Him remove the bitterness of the disappointments and sins of this life and fill your mouth and heart with the sweetness of His grace in the very body and blood of Jesus Christ given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. In this way He fills your mouth with joy again by His Holy Spirit. Rejoice with the Church as we wait and watch for the expectation of His final coming which will not disappoint. Rejoice, that by His Spirit we are given His love and forgiveness to be able to remain steadfast in the confession of faith. The Lord has taken His judgements away from you. The Lord God is even now in your midst, a mighty one who will save and has saved…you! In Jesus name, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

It is the season for deliveries. Now more than at any other time of the year, there is more mail, there are more packages being sent and received, and the people working in the shipping and delivery professions might even be working longer hours. As we look at these people, these postal workers, UPS, Amazon, and FedEx truck drivers delivering our packages, our bills for said packages, our messages of Christmas greetings to loved ones near and far, have you ever noticed anything about them? Something sets them apart. It sets them apart so that you can recognize them in their vocation as one who is delivering something to you that is yours. You can trust that they aren’t a sales person or a traveling heretic a la the Mormons or Jehovah’s Witness when they ring your doorbell, or some other person who may or may not be up to no good. What is it? It is their uniform. You can recognize them by their uniform.

In today’s Gospel lesson we are able to recognize by his uniform and his message another delivery man, John the Baptizer. John the Baptizer delivers the message from God to mankind, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” His uniform is the same uniform as Elijah the Tishbite. The same Elijah of the Old Testament who preached against the sins of Israel at the time of wicked Ahab and Jezebel and their son Ahaziah. This particular uniform of the prophet Elijah was no ordinary look, but is described in 2 Kings 1:8 the same way John the Baptizer’s look is described in our Gospel lesson. “John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt.” The purpose of this uniform as well as the diet mentioned “locusts and wild honey” is not to distract from the message, but rather to point to the seriousness of the message: The comforts and luxuries of this world will not save you nor bring you comfort in the face of God’s coming judgment. There is an end to this life and this world and there is only one way to “Make ready the way of the Lord, prepare His way, make straight in the desert, a highway for our God.” How is it and why is it that the hills and mountains must be made low and the rough places made smooth? The how to prepare is not by earth movers and a highway development project. It is much much more difficult. Why is it difficult? Because it involves sinners repenting and the moving of their hearts of stone. Yes, human broods of vipers, hard-hearted sinners whose souls are a wilderness of tangled weeds and fruitless trees that should all be crushed, cut down, laid bare and thrown into the fire. This describes us too, not just the people of Elijah’s or John the Baptizer’s day. We along with all people have been disobedient to our creator and master. We have sold ourselves to become slaves to our worldly cares and wants, to sin and the power of the devil, time and time again.

Yet the Law of God as cried out by John the Baptizer in the wilderness and throughout the ages is , “Repent, Repent, turn back from your sin!” This message has packaged within it, the message leading to hope. Hope for mercy, the message that there is a way to flee from the wrath that is to come. That hope is not within ourselves, and it is not within humanity. We do not have anything that makes us worthy to be saved. The message delivered within the Law, the message which exposes our sin and cuts us down in our pride, which brings us down from the hills of sand which we have gathered under our feet, causes us to repent so that the way into our hearts and minds and spiritual darkness might be cleared and de-cluttered for the hope that comes from God.

Behold the hope within the lesson of the stump and root of Jesse: the line of David many of whose sons were unfaithful kings and then were brought down in humility: chopped down to the very root by God’s judgement. This remaining stump and kingly line looked to be done as though no great tree of life or hero could come from it. Yet from this humble stump comes the branch and greatest tree of life, the One to whom John the Baptizer pointed, and still points. This is He who comes in the name of the Lord, who is righteous and has salvation as judge and redeemer. He is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He who was born of Bethlehem of Judea. The son of God and Son of man through Mary. His was the way John the Baptizer prepared, yet Jesus did not come in His first coming to clear His threshing floor, with a winnowing fork in His hand. He came in humility to serve, to preach, to heal, to suffer and to die. It is true what we heard Isaiah the prophet say in today’s Old Testament text, “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” Jesus came not with a prophet’s garment of camel hair and leather belt, nor did He come in king’s robes or priestly raiment, yet He fulfilled all three offices of the Messiah in His perfect sinless life. During His earthly Ministry His full glory was clothed in humility and meekness, but what the world perceived to be weakness was actually part of Jesus’ and God’s plan of salvation for us. The garment which Jesus wore was imperceptible to human eyes. Righteousness is the belt of His waist, and faithfulness the belt of His loins. This righteousness and faithfulness could not be fully perceived until all the clutter of earthly expectations were stripped and burned away. Then we and all mankind may behold Him as He is by faith, our sacrificed Savior, crucified among sinners as the payment for our sins. Through His sacrifice, because of His faithfulness to His Father in the keeping of the Law, His righteousness and love can cover over a multitude of sins. He experienced the full wrath of God upon sin at the cross, the same wrath which should have come to us and all people.

This is the Gospel hope. Jesus did come and has taken our punishment upon Himself. He is the One who prepares His own way delivering this message of repentance and salvation through His Word and sacraments. He is the one who sends His Spirit to move men, women and children to repent and be given the eyes of faith, to see Jesus Christ coming to them clothed in that righteousness and faithfulness. He does indeed baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire through water and the Word. As He has baptized us, He has washed away our sin and filth and burned away the brambles and weeds of unbelief. He has crucified our sins and has brought us forth through His resurrection to be grafted upon Himself and become His children and people. We are now clothed with His righteous robes, set free from sin and condemnation in Christ’s name.

We now wear the garment of salvation, we now have Christ put upon us as we have been anointed in His blood. Therefore, we are able to rejoice and praise the Lord with all His people, and come into His presence with thanksgiving. We are able to confess His Holy name, and receive His body and blood in the bread and wine as we celebrate His victory and the stomping of the serpent’s head in His death and resurrection.

Now that we have been redeemed, we leave this place clothed with Jesus Christ. When people of the world see us, do they see the garment and uniform of a Christian? Do we deliver to them a message which they can trust? A sure message of hope, forgiveness, and love in Jesus Christ? Or do we cover ourselves again with the garments of the world so that we blend in with our surroundings? It is difficult during this season, throughout our life, in a culture of consumerism and self-worship, with our old flesh nagging at us. It is difficult not to succumb and fall back into sin, selfishness, and lazy blending in. If we rely on ourselves and our own power, failure is inevitable. And if you sin, pray “Lord have mercy” and return, repent. This is what we do every Sunday and every time we are gathered together, we repent, and we are washed anew by the power of our baptisms in Absolution by the blood of Christ. He cleans those garments of salvation and prepares our hearts and minds to receive Him again through faith for the forgiveness of our sins and be grafted again upon the tree of life.

He continues to prepare us each and every day of our life, for we know that the day is coming soon, when time will have run out, and Jesus Christ will return with a shout and a trumpet blast. Then He will be coming with that winnowing fork for He will be returning to judge. Woe be unto unbelievers and the wicked on that day, but to those have returned and repented, who live by faith and not by sight, who have been clothed in Righteousness, we shall recognize Him as Christ our deliverer, who comes to deliver us to His resting place which shall be glorious and eternal. May God keep us in this hope, In Jesus’ name, Amen

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Who doesn’t like a good countdown? Especially if it is counting down to something nice and special. For example, some people will count down the number of days until a birthday: for themselves or someone else. Maybe they are counting down the days until someone is coming to visit. Maybe people enjoy counting down to vacation. Maybe it is a countdown to retirement or a graduation. Right now many people are probably counting down the days to Christmas. It is easy to count down the days when there is a set date or time for what we are looking forward to. It makes it a little bit easier to be patient.

But what if you don’t know the time or the day that something will happen? It makes it more difficult to be patient, and it certainly would seem to make it more difficult to plan. This is especially so when we are thinking about the hour and day when Jesus Christ will come again. It is certainly something that we should be looking forward to, even as it holds within it, terror for those who do not and did not believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. But unlike Christmas, anniversaries, vacations, or a birthday, we do not know the date when He is coming back. “No one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only”. This can be a problem for us, like in the lesson for last Sunday with the 10 virgins, because we may be tempted to lose vigilance and preparedness for lack of focus. Or we may be tempted to abuse the time, and waste it. In the verses following the Gospel lesson for today, Jesus spoke of how serious a matter that is. How vigilance and faithfulness will be vindicated and rewarded, but impatience and the temptation to unbelief and abuse will be punished. He said:
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Impatience is indeed a temptation for us all. Impatience can lead to doubt, doubt to unbelief, and with it, the temptation to fall back into the works of darkness from which we have been called in Jesus Christ. For indeed the darkness is what the world continues to stumble around in, and it is sin and ignorance and the indulgence of the flesh that our old nature wants to go back to and cling to, such is the curse of original sin.

Therefore, Paul said to the Romans only a few years after Christ’s ascension to “hang in there”, to “be vigilant”, to “walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

Though we do not know the hour or day when Jesus Christ, the Son of Man will return in all His power and glory, Jesus left us clues. One is quite obvious. What is that? Well, it is the elementary reality that every day in our reckoning brings us that much closer to the day of Christ’s full return. Simple enough. Yesterday was further away from the end that tomorrow is. We can certainly comprehend that.

Another clue is that the world will, of course, continue be doing its own thing as Jesus indicated: For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark”. Another clue is found here and elsewhere where Jesus compares the time of His coming to the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Because both with Sodom and in the days of Noah, the time and people were described as wicked and their sins as very grave. This clues us in to the fact that wickedness and lawlessness will likely increase upon the earth before Christ returns. It will undoubtedly seem that society will be getting worse and the numbers of believers may appear to be growing smaller, but only God knows and He will remember and sustain the Church regardless of how many or few remain faithful, in the same way that He sustains us today by His Word and Sacraments.

But as we wait, another temptation presents itself, and that is to take the clues and descriptions of the last days and Christ’s return and try to make predictions as to how and when it is going to happen despite Jesus saying “Nobody knows except the Father.” This is a major problem for some of our Christian brothers and sisters, and I think it is part of that temptation to impatience and wanting to feel more settled and focused as to our preparation. Therefore, there are those church bodies and leaders who have tried to construct scenarios and descriptions which sadly become actual dogmas and official teachings but go far beyond what Scripture says and ends up actually contradicting what Scripture says. One such doctrine is “Dispensationalism” and another closely tied to it is “millennialism”, and another concerning “the Rapture”. Without going into great detail about them, for to do so would take quite a bit of time and looking up various Scriptures to see where they get their ideas and then one by one deconstruct their wrong premises, I will simply say that they are wrong. In Brief, Dispensationalism is the idea that God works through various historic dispensations or time periods of specific national reigns. The dispensationalists take passages from Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation and try to make an exact counting as to how many dispensations there are and which country or empire is being spoken about in the prophecies. Many of them also hold onto the idea that at the end of the final dispensation, there will be a rapture. What they mean by this generally is that before a specific time of “tribulation” God will have believers taken up in a sudden and unannounced moment and removed from earth for a specific time of several years. The only people “left behind” will be unbelievers during which time who may be allowed a final chance to convert where things will be very wicked and then Christ will return with all His raptured people, not for a final judging but to reign here on earth for a thousand years and then He will judge from the literal Jerusalem. There are variations on this but they are all aberrations from what Scripture is indicating.

One of their chief passages that they try to use for justifying this “secret rapture” is here in our Gospel text. They take this passage: “Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.” And say that this describes and therefore prescribes “the rapture”. However, if you are faithful in interpreting Scripture and letting Scripture interpret itself, you would look first at the context of these verses, and then look at what the rest of Scripture has to say about it. What preceded these verses refers to the fact that Christ’s return will be sudden and that as He returns, the world will not understand what is happening in its suddenness, much like the people in the days of Noah “they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” And then the verses regarding the field and mill workers follows immediately to emphasize the suddenness of His coming. Furthermore this text emphasizes the fact that nobody knows when He will return. People will be going about their day, and it will happen. And when it happens, it will not be a secret, there will be a worldwide announcement by a shout of command, by the blast of trumpets, when the dead will rise first and then those faithful who remain will join them in the sky with Jesus Christ who has returned to announce not an earthly reign for a thousand years, but a judgement where the unfaithful unbelievers will be cast into the place of eternal weeping and gnashing of teeth, but the believers will be brought into an eternal never ending kingdom of a new heaven and new earth to live forever with their Redeemer and Savior Jesus Christ, with all the heavenly host.

Dear Friends, we do not know when Jesus shall come again, but we do know that it is drawing closer, and when He comes it will be glorious and it will be joyous: far better than any birthday, anniversary, vacation or Christmas celebration that we have ever known. Let us then not dwell upon it as though we are counting down days, nor that we make predictions that only serve to discourage people when they are incorrect. Instead let us endeavor instead “to put on the armor of light” as we work in the daylight of Jesus Christ. Let us be prepared by being faithful in our earthly vocations making good use of the time, having children, teaching our children, showing love to our neighbor, being lights in the darkness of the world, and coming here where Jesus continues to Advent to us. He comes to us as we confess our sins, as He renews us in the forgiveness accomplished for us by His death and resurrection and received through faith as He speaks to us in His proclaimed Word in baptism, absolution, and faithful preaching. Then He encourages us by giving us a preview of the eternal joyous banquet feast of victory here at the Sacrament of the Altar where He feeds us His crucified and raised body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. Here the Holy Spirit enlightens us to live in Him and be prepared until we live more fully with Him at the last.
Therefore,
“O house of Jacob,
    come, let us walk
    in the light of the Lord,” in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Remembering. Bringing to mind. Reminiscing. Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is remembering and as a Christian “thanksgiving” is remembering what God has done for you. It is remembering what He has said to you. It is recalling His promises yet to be fulfilled as well as recounting those which He has already fulfilled. It is bringing to mind once more the times when you have been granted and gifted even more than what you asked for, desired, or didn’t even know that you needed or would be good for you until you received it from God’s righteous right hand.

The whole life of a Christian is one that is centered around the activity of recounting, remembering and doing so in Thanksgiving. Why would you trust God or have faith in Him except that God has already given you His gifts of forgiveness of sins, of life, breath, and everything good and by faith you remember? Why would you pray to the Lord for help, for blessing, for yourself or anyone else except that He has already given it you before. You as a believer are called to remember this, and in this remembrance and thanksgiving for what has already been given to you, you may trust the promise to pray and hope for God’s ongoing guidance strength, and giving you what is best for your present and future good.

Therefore, the theme for every day but especially for a National day of Thanksgiving should be one of remembrance. Remembrance of the “what” and the “why” you can give thanks for. Remembrance too is the theme within the readings appointed for today.

In Deuteronomy, Moses tells the Israelites to “remember” many things. “Remember the whole commandment given. Remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness. Remember how He humbled, tested, taught, fed, and provided. Remember how your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Remember His commandments and His promise to bring you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing. Remember as you eat and are full to bless the Lord from whom the blessings come.”

Paul speaking to the Philippians, encourages them to “not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” How are they able to do this? Why can they believe that God will hear and answer their prayer so that their anxiety may be replaced with God’s peace? By remembering. “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” By recalling and meditating on the good things that God has done and promised. By focusing on the good around us and meditating on that rather than what the world is telling us that we lack. Instead of focusing only on the negative and the unhappy or our inborn sinful sense of “unfairness” and victimhood though God has given us more than we deserve, we are to recount and think about whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise.” In this way we are encouraged to trust, to hope, to have peace by the forgiveness of our sins.

Even in our Gospel lesson, the thanksgiving of the Samaritan former leper came from his “remembering”. He remembered; he remembered how just a moment before he had been sick, outcast, a man with a permanent death sentence, then he wasn’t. He was now healthy, able to be socially restored, a man with hope and a future life. And in this remembrance, he remembered who was the source of his healing. How could he remember and not give thanks? How could he not come running back in great joy, no matter how far the distance to the place of his Savior to speak his words of gratitude in the confession of his faith.

Dear friends in Christ, this is what faith is. This is what faith does. It is not only in the receiving, but it is in the reacting. Faith takes what has been given and immediately turns to the one from whom it has received and responds, not with a “oh is that all?” or “give me more more more!” Faith “returns thanks”. It responds in humble gratitude. Because faith also remembers what once was. Faith remembers that you and I do not deserve forgiveness of our sin. Faith remembers that sin is miserable and puts us in a hopeless death sentence. Sin makes us anxious because sin knows that it deserves nothing but punishment and hard times. Anxiety struggles with trust and so never finds peace. Faith remembers how that feels, remembers how that felt. Faith knows the change now granted by God’s grace. It knows, acknowledges, and glories in this grace as it remembers.

For faith recalls the proclamation of what has happened for it. That God loved the world. He loved and loves you and me. And in “remembrance” of that love and His promises, God has sent of Himself, His Son, to take what we deserve and He did not. He took on human flesh to toil in our temptations, our sin plagued life, while keeping the Law in its entirety so that in perfect innocence He would also take the punishment that we deserved, the righteous wrath of God. He died in agony so that we would receive life, and by life, I don’t mean an extra moment or year or more. No He came so that all humanity would not have just been wiped out from the earth and His sacrifice makes it so that the life that is promised is eternal life. A life of perfect flesh and soul living forever in the presence of our God and Savior free from the troubles, hardships, hungers, and dangers that we deserve and so often experience in part here on earth. The fullness of this promise is yet to come, but we have reason to hope because this promise has already been given to us even if only in part. He brings forgiveness of sins and by it, faith, life, and salvation in Holy baptism. He renews it in Holy Absolution, and confirms it and comforts our minds, bodies, and spirits by the meal of Thanksgiving which the Eucharist/the Sacrament of the Altar wherein Jesus comes to us with His crucified and risen body and blood to eat and drink in joyful thanksgiving.

So we gather here and remember and give thanks today and throughout our lives for this most important life giving gift of Jesus Christ our redeemer. And yes, we recall, recount, and give thanks tomorrow on the national day of thanksgiving for all the good that He has done that we are aware of from our youth until today, and bless and praise Him even for what protections and grace He has given that we are not aware. Let us give thanks before and after each meal, when we wake up and before we go to bed, thinking of all that he did that day and every day. He who gives us everything for the life of our body, for the salvation and upbuilding of our faith unto eternal life is indeed greatly to be praised, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Our modern culture teaches us many ideas. Some lessons are better than others and some are terrible. Among the various ideas are concepts concerning forgiveness. Sometimes, our culture may teach us that “Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself.” Or we may be taught that “Forgiveness must be earned,” or that “Forgiveness is a process.” If we examine these statements one by one in light of Scripture, we see that they are all at least a little off-target.

First of all, when we hear that “Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself,” there is some truth here. What I mean is that if you hold a grudge against someone, then you may be holding a burden of bitterness inside of you. Forgiving the person releases you from that burden. From a psychological standpoint, this makes sense. But is it Scriptural? In today’s holy Gospel, Peter asks, “How often should I forgive my neighbor? Seven times?” We can almost hear in Peter’s voice some frustration. If someone sins against you seven times, and each time you forgive, you will probably feel frustration. You may ask, “Are they really sorry they did it, since they keep doing it?” Like Peter, you may wonder how many times is too much. After all that forgiving, it begins to wear on a person. You may begin to feel taken advantage of.

The problem is, if a person tells us they are sorry, we are to forgive them. We cannot dig into their secret emotions and thoughts to find out if they are truly sorry. We may ask them, but then we have to believe their answer. If we believe they are thinking or feeling something without concrete evidence, then we are slandering them. We have to accept that they are sorry, and then we are obligated to forgive.

Who does the burden fall upon? Upon the forgiver. If you forgive, you are agreeing to not seek retribution. You are agreeing to not hold a grudge. You are saying, in essence, that you will not hold this sin against them from the very moment you say the words, “I forgive you.” You are giving up any right to pay them back for the wrongs they did to you. Like the king in the parable, the debt is canceled, so there will be no debt collectors coming to take the money.

This can be tremendously difficult for us. By forgiving, you are removing a burden from the one you are forgiving, without asking for conditions of repayment or restitution. This is really the opposite of the world’s view that says that forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. No, forgiveness is a gift you give to the person you forgive.

Forgiveness may happen to benefit you in some way. But that should not be your motivation. Think of your neighbor and his need. Think of whether you would want him to forgive you. Think, most of all, about the fact that Christ our dear Lord wants us to forgive our brother without conditions, without strings attached, without limits.

How can we do that? Not from our sinful heart’s ability. The new heart that is created in us by the Holy Spirit is strong and loving and willing to forgive. But sometimes the old heart weakens us and weighs us down. Sometimes our emotions become too strong and all we can think about is how much we have been wronged.

The culture around us also sometimes says, “Forgiveness must be earned.” Again, there is some truth here. When a relationship becomes strained because trust has been broken, it will take time and effort to rebuild that trust. But anything is possible in Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Because Christ shed His precious Blood, our forgiveness is not limited by our human heart. The price is paid already, no matter how serious a sin was committed against us. Therefore, there should never be conditions upon forgiveness.

All this assumes that a person repents of their sin. If they have no sorrow for sin at all, or deny that Christ died for them, then we are not obligated to forgive. As He said, “Whoever’s sins you do not forgive, they are not forgiven,” which means that we are to withhold forgiveness from the impenitent as long as they do not repent. May we also repent of our sins, by God’s grace, so that our whole life may be one of repentance.

When our culture says, “Forgiveness is a process,” there is a little bit of truth there. It may take some time before a person who forgives feels completely forgiving in his heart. So our culture often counsels us to wait to forgive until we are ready. We are warned that if forgiveness is given too easily, it will be cheap grace.

But the forgiveness itself is not from our heart. It cannot be cheap grace because true forgiveness is ultimately from Christ and His Blood. It was bought at a most precious price. We are not the Redeemer. We only pass along the Good News that His death has purchased atonement for all sins. Every transgression has been paid for, so that we can tell people that their sins, also, are forgiven. This is not from us and our love, but from the infinite love of God.

Yet we also want to forgive from our heart. Christ says in our text: “So also My heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” Although the source of forgiveness is not in our heart, but Christ, yet our hearts should follow along with what our mouths speak. In other words, we should feel that all is forgiven between us and a brother who wronged us, without any lingering bitterness or grudge.

This may take some time. Our fragile hearts are easily bruised and easily scarred. When terrible sins tragically injure us, we are often too frail to immediately give full and complete forgiveness from our heart. We should still speak absolution to one who has gravely hurt us, yet we likely will not immediately and fully love them as if nothing had happened. Injured feelings take time to heal, if they heal completely at all. Although the forgiveness should be spoken as soon as we can, regardless of our feelings, we want our feelings to follow along with the truth of the Gospel we speak.

So do not say that you forgive someone and then willfully hold a grudge. If you find yourself harboring bitter feelings against someone you have forgiven, then work on putting your emotions in line with the Gospel. Pray for strength to do so. This is a sanctification matter, so the Holy Spirit will work with you in this goal.

So where does the power to forgive ultimately come from? It comes from mercy, and mercy gives grace, and with grace, there is forgiveness. Mercy is that which we must learn, for mercy is the compassionate treatment of those in distress, especially when one has the power and right to punish or harm them. It involves kindness, forgiveness, and benevolence towards others, often in situations where they may not deserve it.

We like the unforgiving servant are quick to receive and accept mercy but very often do not show mercy in return because of our selfish self defense and fear. Repent, each and every one of us. Look to the Cross. Look to the infinite worth of the Blood of God, shed for you and for all men. There we see true mercy, benevolence, grace, kindness, and forgiveness that no sinner deserves. This all comes from God’s perfect love. Christ has paid for all trespasses ever committed right there. There we see the power to forgive which He then brings to you in His forgiveness given in His Word and Sacraments. Therefore, do not be afraid to show mercy to those who repent to you, even as God has shown and continues to show mercy to you by the forgiveness of your own sins in Jesus Christ’s name.

As the parable of Christ makes clear, anyone who sees that his own gigantic debt is canceled should willingly forgive the relatively small debts of others. We have had our tremendously huge burden of sin forgiven freely by Christ. We have a lifetime filled with iniquities, including a multitude of sins that we do not realize we committed against God and our fellow humans. All of these are erased from God’s record by the Blood of Christ. He in perfect love puts those transgressions away from His memory. He chooses not to remember them, and to see us only as holy sons and daughters because of His promise and then accounted to us by faith.

Among the many sins for which we need forgiveness is our failure to fully forgive. If we were perfectly loving, as we should be, then we would happily forgive anything and never feel any bitter grudges against anyone. But instead, our sinful hearts sometimes fail to fully forgive because of weakness. This failure out of weakness is not the same as stubbornly refusing to ever forgive. In our weakness, we still struggle to try and forgive more fully from the heart. God give us grace to accomplish this difficult task.

To learn to forgive best, receive forgiveness and mercy yourself. Come to the Supper where He gives His grace and mercy by the forgiveness of sins in the very body and blood of our Savior. Come to Holy Absolution and take this to heart: that our repented sins are truly forgiven and will not be held against us for Jesus Christ’s sake. Come to hear the Gospel preached and taught. Receive with sincere faith, as one who knows that you are a sinner who deeply needs this Gospel. To help us, the Word is always accompanied by the Spirit, who is constantly molding our hearts to be more loving and more forgiving. It is the Holy Spirit who will give the ability to forgive so that as we heard in the Epistle your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes only through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.
God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 

God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.

It was all very good. So good that we are told that it was good 7 times. One time for each day of the newly created week.

Yet, in the Gospel lesson we heard of an official in Capernaum who came to Jesus travelling to Cana, he went to Him and asked Jesus to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
In the Epistle lesson, St. Paul tells us and the Ephesians to take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day… that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
In the collect for this morning, we prayed:
Lord,
keep Your household, the Church, in continual godliness
that through Your protection she may be free from all adversities and devoutly given to serve You in good works;

But wait, when God created the heavens and the earth, when He created each element, when He formed Adam and Eve, and looked upon all His creation: everything was good. But in the Gospel lesson, we are reminded that there is now sickness, there is the threat of the reality of death. We pray for protection in the collect, free from adversities, and pray that we would serve God in good works. But everything was good in the beginning. Good was a given, good works a natural outcome of that which is good. There is no mention of sickness, death, adversity, or the necessity of protection or armor or a wrestling against an enemy, let alone Satan.

What happened? I am sure that you have heard the saying “that there is a little good in all of us”. If so, good works should be easy. Why does it seem that evil is what seems to come more naturally to people, to society, even from within ourselves? We are so quick to say and do cruel, mean, and selfish things. We are so controlled and manipulated by fear, selfishness, and rage, that the only “good” that we see or desire is for our own benefit. What happened?

What happened was sin. Sin which is the opposite of good. Sin which comes from unbelief, which has its origin first from pride, both in the fall of that angel, whom we have come to call Satan who was jealous of His own Creator and in pride wished to be rid of His care and service and be as God for Himself and then we see this also in mankind.

Once defeated and cast down, the Devil planted that same seed of pride with distrust in the goodness of God into the hearts and minds of Adam and Eve who then rebelled against God’s good and gracious provision and will.

With that sin, came the curse. The curse of separation from God as light from darkness from good and evil. The curse of death: stealing away life: so dying, sickness, weeds, hunger, thirst, ignorance instead of wisdom, unbelief instead of faith, fear instead of love appeared. This now is the “so-called natural state” and condition of mankind since that fall of Adam and Eve.

Is there still goodness in the world? Yes, there is. But it is perceived in brief moments within God’s creation which retains some of its original beauty. But to our sin plagued senses, it is veiled as though under shadow when viewed outside of faith. Without faith in our creator, this view of good is often inverted and perverted toward selfish gain. “How can we use this?” Our tendency is to ruin what is good. Or without faith, the world sees the leftover of goodness in creation and wishes to worship it without acknowledging the creator, misunderstanding its beauty and meaning as reflecting the beauty and power of God in His Truth.

How can this veil be removed? How can there be joy and contentment in this life with hope for something more? Dear friends, you already know what it is. You already have it. You have already heard it.

It is in the Lord and in His Word. His Word which is Jesus Christ, the same Word spoken by the Father at Creation through whom the Spirit brought forth light and life and all goodness.

This Word is the answer to the fallen flesh of fallen creation, to you, me, and to the world which so often turns a deaf ear to its redeemer and creator.

But God continues to call out to the world to shelter them with His goodness, to redeem them from evil, from death, and the devil. The clues are in creation as God continues to allow beauty, breath, temporary life by His ongoing provision, but He speaks clearly His mercies, His Will, and His goodness by His preached, spoken, and written Word as recorded in Scripture and in the life of Jesus Christ. There is the redemption of the World proclaimed. Jesus Christ is the hope over against the sickness of sin, ignorance, unbelief, death, and the eternal death which our sins and the sins of the world deserve.

That is why God sent Jesus into the world, so that Jesus, the Son of God in perfect holy flesh would live not in pride and rebellion but in humility and obedience or in other words, in truly good works of faith and love. Love for His Father and love for His own creation, for men and women. So, Jesus as true God and true man, kept the whole Law, preaching and teaching that His Word is good and contrary to evil, that His Word has authority over sin. That by His Word, sickness, death, unbelief, doubts, anxieties, sorrow: all are rebuked, bested, and overcome. The official in the Gospel text heard the words of Jesus and believed and His faith was vindicated as will be all faith in Jesus Christ.

Dear friends, repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Forsake the darkness of your sin, the dark doubts and selfish hopes of this world, and be made truly free by the forgiveness of your sins, and the wellness of faith which is proclaimed to you anew this day in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ in His righteousness and mercy died upon the cross to pay for your sins. He has spoken His name upon you and by that same Word which spoke creation into existence, He speaks His grace to you which makes you His new creation. For you have been baptized into Jesus Christ, into His death, burial, and His resurrection. You are now His child. A healing child, a beloved child, a child destined not for death, but life in His eternal new creation in Jesus Christ by that water and that Word. You have been absolved and renewed in that baptism today as a member of His household, the Church. The veil of unbelief, ignorance, and separation have been removed for you, and you are called to live in faith, joy, hope, and fellowship with God and His wisdom for now and into eternity.

Yet, Satan, wishes to recall you to spiritual destruction and unbelief and he tries to attack you using the trials that still remain in this fallen world. He tries to get you to hearken to the sinful flesh that clings to you, and He whispers and shouts in your ears daily. Beware the media that you expose yourself to. The Devil can and will try to use music, news, movies, books, and even coworkers and family to tempt you to think that there is good in sin and selfish behavior, or that there is hope only in the things of this world or even to despair of God’s love and mercy for you.

That is why Paul’s Words in Ephesians are to be followed, for these Words are the Lord’s and with them come wisdom. The Devil is sly, and against him, we have no power of our own to overcome him but instead would be overcome and overwhelmed to our eternal destruction.

But you do not stand alone. You do not stand bare and exposed to the darts of the evil one and his offensive onslaught. You have Christ on your side, you have Christ covering you in His righteousness. You have His Scripture protecting your mind and Your heard. Therefore Study that Word, wield it, and cut through Satan’s lies, and know that in Christ you are able to stand, will stand, and will be guaranteed a share in the victory which Christ has already proclaimed at the cross for you for your salvation.

The Power of Good is in God and His Word alone for you and for your good. So come to Him where He is for you. Receive from Him your good in the Divine Service, where He dresses you for battle and feeds you with the medicine of immortality in the body and blood of your victorious Savior, Jesus Christ. Continue to be made new in confession and absolution, renewed by His Spirit in the light of His Word of Truth and life. Be encouraged. Stand strong under His protection against all adversities to devoutly serve Him in good works even as He serves you perfectly, mercifully by His good works in Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas