Saint Athanasius Lutheran Church

That person, those people, don't matter. Maybe you don't say that, but have you ever felt it, thought it, or acted like it? Those people don't matter. Words that I hope bring all of us to repentance today. But words that can bring us joy too! In this way: to know that these are words that are not and will never be uttered by God. For the message of Sanctity of Life Sunday is that those people matter. That YOU matter. And not just matter, but are precious to God. And that, to use the words of Isaiah, your God rejoices over you! For those people -- and you -- were redeemed by God.

Why did Jesus have to be baptized? That's the question I am asked whenever people hear this story. And the answer, very simply, is this: He did not have to be. Jesus had no sin to repent of. He needed no washing of forgiveness. Jesus is the Lord and Creator of all, and the perfect, sinless Son of God -- what could John possibly give Him that wasn't from Him and of Him? Nothing. So why was Jesus baptized? Well, for the same reason He was born and lived and died: because you needed Him to be. Because when Jesus stepped into that water, the water didn't change Jesus -- Jesus changed the water.

Matthew is a lousy historian. He tells us this story of the wise men, but he leaves out so many details. For example, how long after Jesus was born did the wise men come? How long and how far did they have to travel? How old was Jesus when they arrived? And where were they from? Yes, Matthew is a lousy historian. But he is a great Gospel writer. For he knows this story really isn't about the wise men -- it's about Jesus. And so what's important in this story isn't the details about the wise men, it's that God is here, among us, in human flesh and blood.

Plans and preparations for Christmas have been going on for a while now. The church has been planning and preparing, too. The season of Advent is to prepare us and our hearts for the comings of the Lord -- to remember in His coming in the flesh at Christmas, to rejoice in His coming to us with His forgiveness in His Word and Sacraments, and to be ready for His coming again in glory. But there is one more who has been planning and preparing: God. And just as surely as that Christmas God was planning and preparing for came, so too will your Christmas. Not the one in two days, but the one on the Last Day.

Today is joy Sunday. The third Sunday of Advent. We lit the oddly-colored candle on the Advent wreath today, the rose-colored candle, the joy candle. For with this Sunday we have turned a corner. Advent is now more than halfway over and our remembrance of Christmas is close. And so the call rings out today for joy. But the readings we heard today weren't all joy... or so it seems. But to think there is no joy in the Gospel today is to misread it. Wherever Jesus went, He brought joy. He is fulfilling all the prophecies spoken of the Messiah. And that doesn't change just because John is in prison.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. Charles Dicken wrote those words over 150 years ago, yet how apt they seem for today. How wise we are, yet how foolish we often act. Perhaps the fact that Dickens wrote those words so long ago is a lesson to us, that the more things change... right? The more they stay the same. So I guess (to use words I began this sermon with) that makes the worst of lives into the best of lives! Not because we do it. But because He does it. Our Saviour does it.

So chronologically, this reading today of Jesus entering Jerusalem belongs to Palm Sunday and the end of the Lenten season. But theologically, it is fitting for today, this First Sunday of a new Church Year; this First Sunday of Advent. For Advent isn't just about getting ready to remember Jesus' coming at Christmas, but more to get us ready for Jesus' coming again at the end of time. Christmas is part of that. Palm Sunday is part of that. But it is this First Sunday of Advent that brings it all together, so that you can await His second coming with confidence and joy.

What are you looking forward to? Many folks were looking forward to this holiday weekend and spending time with family and friends. Or maybe you're looking forward to a new job, to finishing school, or something else awaiting you in 2019. The Introit we sang today reminded us of something else, too, that as Christians we are looking forward to: We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. And it will not just be the home of righteousness, it will be our home, too. So heaven an earth, this world, this creation, it's dying. But as Christians, we know what comes next.

Jesus says a lot of frightening things in the Holy Gospel today. First, He tells His disciples that the Temple they were just standing in and which engulfed them with its size, would be destroyed. Then, He says, there will be false prophets and false messiahs speaking false truths. There will be wars. There will also be persecution because the truth will not be popular. Well, relax. The one who endured to the end was Jesus. And that's why we have hope. That's the Gospel. We can draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

There were a lot of people in Jerusalem. It was almost the Passover. So people were coming from all over, coming to Jerusalem for the Feast. And Jesus watched. All kinds of people and all kinds of offerings. At last, she came in. After the many. At the end. Like she didn't want to be seen or noticed. Except Jesus noticed her. Maybe this story isn't so much about giving as it is about mercy. Or maybe the two go together... The end of the church year gives us that chance each year to remember that we may be living in the last days, and that one of these days, we'll be right. And so to hang onto the little things of this world a little less, and hang onto our bridegroom a little more.

These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. Tribulation, not ease. For life in this world is seldom easy. There is hunger and thirst and tears. There is trouble, trials, and temptations. There is weakness, fear, and death. And we are a little flock, hunted by the devil, hounded by his demons, and harassed by his evil, both without and within. And yet in the midst of such a world, we have hope. And we are given this vision of hope today. When Jesus comes again, and John's vision becomes reality. All God's promises, fulfilled.

Some would say that we should not have a Festival of the Reformation. We should not celebrate this day, but, in fact, mourn. For the Reformation, they would say, divided the church. Well, the church had been divided long before Luther ever came along. Which, honestly, is what we should expect. But though some sing a dirge on this day, it is not a time to mourn. For one very simple reason. Not because of Luther. We thank God for him, as we do for all the church fathers who came before us, who fought for the truth, who often gave their lives, and on whose shoulders we stand.

I wonder how far the rich young man had gotten? You know, the one we heard about last week. A couple of paces, a hundred yards? Before Jesus, maybe still looking at him, still gazing at him walking away, maybe still hoping he would turn around. How far had he gotten before Jesus said the words we hear today: How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! Then who can be saved? On our own, yes, it is impossible. But not with God.

Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? I wonder what caused this young man to ask this question of Jesus. Maybe something happened, shook him up, that caused him to think about life and what it's really all about. Or maybe, even though he seemed to have it all in this life... still, maybe there was something missing. Jesus says: one thing you lack... you must come and follow me. You see, the wealth, the treasures, they're not the thing. But they were holding him back. It wasn't really about the wealth -- it's about following Jesus.

In this world and life, death usually separates the wife from her husband. But this death, Jesus' death, unites us to Him. For He joined us in our death, to unite us to himself in His resurrection. To leave the ungood from cold, hard hearts in the cold, hard grave, and raise us from our fallness to good again. That we have what is really good, that we have life -- not because of a loophole in the Law, but in the forgiveness of our sins. Or as we sang: His Strong Word bespeaks us righteous.

So we call the church on earth the Church Militant. The Opening Hymn we sang today sounded very militant. A good wedding of text and tune, conveying the focus of this day. For although he lost the battle in heaven and has been cast to the earth, and although Jesus stripped him of his weapons against us, defeating sin and death on the cross for us, still satan isn't going to give up. So how good to know that we fight not alone. That the angels of God are fighting for us. So we have protection. God's own Secret Service.

The disciples were arguing about who was the greatest. When faced with news of Jesus' death, their minds went to who among them would be the greatest. It became all about them. But before you cast aspersions on the disciples, let's know that we do this too. It's part of our sinful human nature. It's just that some of us hide it better than others. For you can't think about the kingdom of God like you think about things in the world. So you want to be great? Remember your baptism. That there in those waters Jesus received you and made you great because He made you a child of God.

Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! I cannot think of a better description of a Christian and of the Christian life than that. Six little words that encapsulate our lives so perfectly. For as we live simultaneously as saints declared righteous and sinners who fall, it is always as dear children of God in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Our Saviour who came own from heaven to be born in our flesh, who came down from His Transfiguration to die our death, and now resurrected and ascended still comes down to you and me.

Did you ever wonder how Jesus could see and hear so much better than us? And I don't mean just that He didn't need glasses or hearing aids. How could Jesus see the needs of others better than we? How could Jesus hear the cries of the poor and needy better than we? How could Jesus have compassion so much better than we? He is in every way just like us, except without sin. Jesus is perfect man. And that, I think, is the reason why He could see what we cannot see, and hear what we cannot hear, and feel what we cannot feel.

Armor has a long history. To protect us against the enemies trying to hurt us. But what if the enemy isn't outside of you but inside of you? Then what? And so for us, as Christians, the right armor is the armor of God, because the enemy is not one that any armor of this world can defend against. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.