Saint Athanasius Lutheran Church

Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? The Jewish leaders said no. You, Jesus, are not the one. The Romans said no. We have our own gods. But for twenty centuries now, the Church has answered yes! Jesus is the one. Jesus in the one who was, who is, and who is to come. And the Church has taken this message into the world. That is our joy this day. And so we lit the rose-colored candle on the Advent Wreath -- the joy candle. To remind us that the answer to John's question -- are you the coming one? is a resounding, yes!

This is the season of hopes, wishes, and dreams. Of getting something for Christmas that you would like very much. But one wish I hear more than any other -- and it usually comes from older folks -- is the wish that this year, this Christmas, will be like it used to be. Not so busy, not so filled with cares and concerns. Simpler. More joyful. Well a simpler, more joyful Christmas is what John the Baptist wants for you, too. And it's why he was sent. Not to treat the symptoms in our lives, but the problem in our hearts. And his prescription is this: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

So, whaddya think? Just skip Christmas this year? Forget the whole thing. Call it off. The reality, or the possibility of it, is the reason, in fact, for this season of Advent which we begin today. This season, these four weeks before Christmas, aren't here to get us ready to celebrate Christmas, but to prepare us not to. To prepare us for if there is no Christmas this year, and for that possibility to fill us not with sadness, but with joy! Because when the King comes back, when Jesus comes back, it will be for us a day of unrivaled joy.

Today you will be with me in Paradise. Someday, those words will be spoken to you. When the one who spoke them to the criminal on the cross next to Him comes to speak them to you. Where will you be when He does? When will it be for you? How will it be for you? None of us knows. But those words will be just as true for you as they were for that criminal, and will deliver for you the same: eternal life. Death and the grave will not be your end. Life will. Life in a "today" that has no end.

The sun came up this morning. I can tell you're not impressed, or surprised! The sun comes up every morning, right? Whether you like it or not. And honestly, there are some mornings we like it and some mornings we don't. The sun comes up and a new day dawns... ready or not. But this is not a lecture about nature. The new day dawns when Jesus comes. First, when He comes as the sun of righteousness who arose from heaven and came down to be our Saviour. Second, when He comes as the sun of righteousness who could not be swallowed up by the darkness of death. Third, the sun of righteousness if going to rise, on the Last Day.

As a pastor, I often get questions about what heaven is going to be like. And the truth is, the Bible doesn't give us a lot of answers. But I think trying to teach us about our next life is a bit like trying to teach a baby in the womb what life in this world is going to be like for her. You'll be the same person you are, but your life will be completely different. And yes, better.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. Old people and young people. Professionals and blue collar workers. The rich and refugess. Murderers and martyrs. The prince and the pauper. What do they all have in common? Not much, you might say. But this: sin. And death. But we heard this too, today. Something else they all have in common. They are clothed in white robes. So they all have this in common too: they're saints. God's saints. Made saints by Him.

At the time of the Reformation, it was not unusual for scholars to adopt a Greek form of their name for themselves, or what we today would call a pen name. Luther did this. For the name he chose for himself was: Eleutherius -- the free one. Now, if you were to ask folks to summarize what the Reformation was all about in one word, you might get answers like sola, or indulgences. Non-Lutherans might say heretic, rebel, or schismatic. But it is Luther himself who tells us what that one word really is, what the Reformation was all about: freedom.

It's easy to lose heart, isn't it? Jesus knows that. He is a man in every way like us except without sin. We worry, we doubt, we wonder what God is doing or why it's taking Him so long... if He sees and knows and cares about me. This is how God is toward us. Then and still today. Good and faithful and righteous. And when the Son of Man comes, what we may not be able to see clearly now we will see clearly then. When we stand before God we will see how tenderly He has brought us through these dark times.

So maybe like Adam and Eve, you've doubted God's Word and thought to yourself: it's just a little sin, after all! If so, good news for you! You have a faithful God. He sees your sin, your leprosy. He knows it better than you. And He says to you: I forgive you all your sins. In fact, they're not even yours anymore -- they're mine, He says. And so free to live. To live as the child of God you are. Free not to go back to your old ways, like Ruth. So now you -- rise and go; your Jesus has made you well.

Three little words. You know them. Wives long to hear them from their husbands, and husbands from their wives. No, not I love you! But I forgive you. So I don't know about you, but if someone sins against me and hurts me pretty bad and I forgive them, I'm feeling pretty good about myself. And yet we heard these words from Jesus today: So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.' And so when you forgive, when you speak those three little words, you're not earning anything -- you are simply giving what you have received. You are clinging to Jesus by faith, and you are giving Jesus to others.

Things look bad. And the future? Well, it's hard to predict the future, but it's hard to imagine things getting any better. We're on the wrong trajectory, and picking up speed. How can you turn this thing around? Well, Daniel saw all this, and he fasted and prayed. You might remember Daniel's story -- or at least part of it. He did not have an easy life. But like as with Daniel, God sends His angels to fight for you. So if you look around at our world today, it looks like it was in the days of Daniel. But Jesus, the promised one came, and is coming again. With His agels. And when He and His angels come, things change. So fear not. You have the victory.

One sheep. It's only one sheep Jesus. You still have 99. Don't worry about it. It'll probably just wander off again anyhow. But that's the way of man, not of God. For God, each and every one is important, valuable, and worth His time and effort. Not sheep, but sinners. He doesn't want even one lost. Because Jesus is here for all of you and each one of you. For each and every lost sheep, lost person. And there's no place He'd rather be than here, with you, with sinners, loving you, rescuing you, being your God.

How did you do it? How did you become a disciple of Jesus? Because you are. You're here. You confess. You're a Christian, a follower of Jesus. But you don't measure up. Because all those things I can'd do, Jesus did. He did leave everything behind. He did give up everything. He didn't let anything or anyone move Him from His mission. He did take His cross and die. For me. So that's how you did it, dear children of God. It wasn't you after all; it is Christ, and Christ who lives in you. And so you are His disciple. And even more that that, His child.

At my father's funeral, my brother, his son, and I all mentioned discipline in our sermons. My nephew talked about something my father had written, which referred to the strap that ended all foolishness in my father's house when he was growing up. That kind of discipline isn't done much today, if at all. As times change, discipline changes. The methods change, but the discipline continues. Because love continues. And the Lord disciplines those he loves. Discipline isn't just to stop a bad behaviour, but to instill a good one. The Lord's discipline, too. We heard today that God disciplines us that we may share his holiness.

The rich man in the parable Jesus told today was exactly right. The rich man's desire to relax, eat, drink, and be merry is spot on. That's exactly what God wants for you. Now. As His baptized children, you can relax now in your Father's love and care for you. You can eat and drink here and now at His Table. And you can be merry now because you have an inheritance in heaven that your brother, Jesus, provided for you with His death and resurrection. An inheritance that doesn't end or go away when you die, but one that will never be taken from you.

Surely the disciples knew how to pray. The Jews had their prayers and their times for prayer. The disciples knew how to pray, like we know how to pray. For prayer is the breath of the Christian. We breathe in God's Word and we breathe out that word in prayer. Yet we could be better, do better. So we can understand the request of the disciples that we heard today: Lord, teach us to pray. It is our request, too. The hardest part of learning is learning to ask the right questions. This was the right question, the right request. Lord, teach us to pray.

Be different! That's the message rom God to you today. Be different. Don't be like the people around you. Don't do what they do. You, be different. That's what God gold Old Testament Israel in the reading from Leviticus we heard today. Don't be like everyone else. Don't be like the world. Because you're not. You're mine. I am the Lord. Sometimes when we hear that phrase, I think we hear it like parents say it. Except that's not how God means it at all! I am the Lord is like the Invocation we hear at the beginning of every Divine Service here -- In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

So you don't go to the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God comes to you. Sounds backwards, doesn't it? But not with God. For Him, the kingdom is on the move. The kingdom of God comes to sinners, finds sinners, and forgives sinners. Even here, to you, today. Don't see it? Maybe you're looking for the wrong things. That was a stumbling block to people in Jesus' day, and in our day, too. We want a church that is powerful and influential, that the world will look up to and pay attention to. So repent. And know that when you hear I forgive you all your sins, that's Him, not me; you hear not me but Him who sent me. And the kingdom of God has come near to you.