Mark.9.2-9; The Transfiguration of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, February 14, 2021;

Mark.9.2-9; The Transfiguration of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, February 14, 2021; Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN; And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. (Mark 9:2-9, ESV) Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What a wonderful sight it must have been, on that mountain, Jesus shining like the sun, Moses and Elijah there with him. The disciples never forgot it. They wrote about it in their letters, they must have spoken about it often. John wrote in his gospel. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, ESV) And Peter said, For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2 Peter 1:16, ESV) They were talking about this mountaintop experience when Jesus was transfigured before them. “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God.” we say with the collective memory of the church. Here is where human beings saw Jesus Christ shine in His full glory, as the Only Begotten Son of God. That’s what happened there on that mountain. Jesus was “transfigured.” The word is really metamorphosized! He changed his appearance; he became brighter than any bleach could bleach clothing. It’s another mountain top thing. Just like when he gave the law to Moses for the people. It’s a people of God event. That means that the transfiguration has something to do with us! But, more on that later. First, we need to talk about what’s happening to Jesus. I said here we see his ‘glory.’ Really what we are talking about is his divinity, his “god-ness,” shining through his humanity. We should carefully note that Jesus is all at once True-Man and True-God all together in one person. God, The Father, and Mary is his mother. He is 100% God and 100% man. You don’t get Jesus by gluing a God-board to a Man-board. Or taking God stuff and mixing it together with man-stuff to get a God-Man mixture. He’s not a hybrid. He is not a superman or a lesser god. He is God-Man. Unique in the universe. There is nothing like him anywhere, and there never will be. St. Paul said it like this. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, (Colossians 2:9, ESV) That’s what Peter, James and John saw on that day, Jesus Christ revealed, God and Man. So, what does that mean for us? We weren’t on that mountain to see it, but here we are some miles and several thousand years away. What does Transfigured Jesus mean to us? It is important to know that Jesus is God and Man together in a special way. You don’t get just a part of Jesus, ever. When you talk about Jesus it is always Humanity and Divinity. When we say that Jesus is here (because he promises to be where two or three are gathered together, For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20, ESV) we mean that he is here in humanity and divinity. His humanity isn’t in heaven and his divinity on earth with us. He is not physically present “at the right hand of God” and spiritually present with us right now. He is here, among us, body and blood, flesh and spirit, God and man. The same Jesus born, in the flesh, in a food trough. The same Jesus, in the flesh, who walked and talked and laughed and cried with his disciples. The same Jesus, in the flesh, who became as bright as the sun on that mountain. The same Jesus, in flesh and blood, who bled and died on the cross, who rose again, sits at the right hand of God and rules the whole universe. How about a little quiz? Was God born to the Virgin Mary? Did a human being shine with God’s glory on the mountain of transfiguration? Did God die for your sins on a cross in Jerusalem? Does a human being now rule over the universe? The answer to all these questions is “Yes” in Jesus Christ. God and man inseparable, undivided for all eternity. It really answers the question: “How can the death of one man be enough to pay for the sins of the whole world?” It can be because the death of that man was the death of God. The death of Jesus was a “God-sized” death. A human life is worth one human life, but God’s life is worth an infinite number of human lives. When God dies his death, in Jesus Christ, it is worth more than the lives of all the people that have ever lived, all that are alive now and all that will ever live. That’s how Jesus redeems us, with his holy and precious blood and innocent suffering and death, as Martin Luther put it in the Small Catechism. Notice also that God, in Jesus Christ, deals with us through his humanity. He comes to us in ways that humans can comprehend and understand; he comes to us in flesh and blood. He comes to us in words spoken that travel through the air and strike our ears. He comes to us in water poured on our heads. He comes to us in bread and wine. All of these ways are earthly, physical and ordinary. God reveals himself to us in the ordinary, human, flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. If you want to know what God is like, all you have to do is look to Jesus. Jesus shines there on the mountain. And it’s more than the disciples can take. Peter says something about building tents. We don’t know exactly what he means, but he must have wanted to make some way of remembering what he saw. He probably wanted to build some kind of memorial that they could return to and remember. If he had done that, we could all go there and visit. There’d be a sign: “This is the place where Jesus was transfigured.” But no one really knows where it was, and maybe that’s a good thing. The idea of setting up tents was probably a way of trying to bring God under control. It’s something we human beings are really good at trying. We put Jesus in a box, in a church, in our hearts, instead of looking for him the only place he promises to be. We put him where we’d like him to be instead. We privatize Jesus and make our faith only personal, private faith. “Just me and Jesus on a mountain.” “I can worship God, just as well sitting out in a boat on the lake.” Lord, it’s good that we’re here. Forget everyone else. Let’s build a tent and remember the experience, the good feelings right here and now. That’s where we want Jesus to be. We forget to look for him where he says he’ll be, in the preached word, in his supper, in Baptism, and his people gathered around these things. Gathering here isn’t about feelings or experience, it’s about meeting Jesus the way that he promises to come. He is here with us in Word and Sacrament even if we don’t feel any different at all. But we are so much more impressed by visions and feelings than humble words, ordinary looking bread and wine and plain old water. Yet though these Jesus promises to forgive. What would it be like if Jesus, and Moses and Elijah appeared standing right here and their images were burned into the walls of the church? When word got out people would come from everywhere. Our little building here would be packed to the gills and everything would change. We’d speak quietly when we entered, we’d bow our heads, and never want to leave. No one would sleep if Moses and Elijah appeared in the pulpit to tell you about the forgiveness of sins found in Jesus Christ. And yet, we have that very thing here every Sunday. Jesus is here along with the angels and “all the company of heaven.” Every time we gather here, we are standing on the mountain of God. Every time we receive the forgiveness of sins won for us by Jesus Christ. Every Sunday He comes here to preach to you the Good News that you have been forgiven by his bloody death on the cross. And he comes to you in his very body and blood for you to eat and drink, right here. You see something more than the miracle of the transfiguration happens here all the time. Jesus takes sinful people and declares that they are his saints. You can’t see it; sometimes you can’t even feel it. You have to hear it in his Word. That’s the only difference. Jesus is here for you and me, just the same as he was on that mountain for the disciples. The only difference is you can’t see him the way they saw him. The truth be told you really don’t want to see him. The sight of Jesus in all his glory would be way too much for us. It left “the Rock” blubbering about tents. The Glory of God left Isaiah shivering in his shoes saying he was dead. And the Apostle John tells us in Revelations that in the presence of God he fell to the ground like a dead man. “No one can see God and live.” We are told. Jesus gives us a break. He is gentle with us. He comes to us in very hidden ways. So hidden, in fact, that most people pass him by without even noticing. So, hidden that we even sometimes forget that where the Church is gathered around his word Jesus is truly there. There’s something else important to notice about the transfiguration. God speaks to us there. “This is my son, whom I love, listen to him.” Everything is focused, right where it should be, on Jesus. Moses and Elijah fade away and Jesus is left there alone. “Listen to him! He has the words of eternal life.” In many and various ways God spoke to His people of old by the prophets. But now in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son. Heb 1:1-2. “Jesus alone” that’s really what the mountain of transfiguration is all about. Only Jesus is God’s beloved Son. Only Jesus shines with the Glory of God on the mountain. Only Jesus died on the cross bearing in his body the sins of the whole world. Only Jesus rose again from death never to die again. Only Jesus sits with God and prays directly to the Father for us. Only Jesus comes to you in Word and Sacrament to save and strengthen you. St. Paul said, And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV) Jesus Christ present here with us right now in Word and Sacrament is here to transfigure you. He is changing you from the outside in, changing you to become like him. It’s a hidden thing, this work that he is about. But when he appears in His Glory again at the end of time His work then will be shown for all to see. He will … will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (Philippians 3:21, ESV) That will be a Transfiguration day to see! Come Lord Jesus, Come! Amen. The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Mark 1:29-39; The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany; February 7, 2021;

Mark 1:29-39; The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany; February 7, 2021; Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marias, MN; And immediately [Jesus] left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. (Mark 1:29-39, ESV) Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Mark is a fast paced Gospel. He won’t let Jesus stand still. Did you notice that we are still in chapter one? Just glancing back to the beginning we see a very active Jesus. He’s baptized, tempted by Satan, he calls his disciples; he heals people and throws out demons. But most importantly, he preaches. In fact, the very first words we hear from Jesus in this gospel are a sermon. and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15, ESV) And all of it is laced together by the word “immediately.” It emphasizes what Jesus is doing, almost like the time is critical. Remember last week, we had Jesus casting out a demon in the synagogue (after he preached) and telling the demon to “shut up.” The demon wanted to tell everyone who Jesus was. Jesus wants to show us who his is. And immediately after that he leaves the synagogue and goes to Peter’s house. Peter’s mother-in-law is sick and immediately they tell Jesus, and she is healed. Notice too how she gets up and serves right away. It’s like she had never been sick. Her strength is back full force. After the sun went down the town’s people begin to stir. At first it sounds strange to us but remember this is the Sabbath day in Israel. And remember for the Jews, the new day starts at sunset, so once the sun goes down the Sabbath is over, so they are allowed to move about again. They have been waiting all day after hearing about Jesus casting out the demon in the synagogue earlier. Mark tells us that they brought “all who were sick and oppressed by demons.” The news has spread everywhere in town. “the whole city was gathered together at the door.” Really the way Mark writes it he gives us a picture of the folks all standing around at the front door of Peter’s house, looking at it, waiting in anticipation of Jesus doing what they want him to do. They want him to heal the sick folks they’ve brought. And Jesus does just that. He heals and throws out the demons. And again, notice how he won’t let the demons speak. They know who Jesus is. They are trying to shout out “You are the Son of God, the Messiah!” But Jesus prevents them. Like we talked about last week, he doesn’t want the people to come to know who he is from the shouts of demons. After all the sickness and demons are taken care of everyone goes to bed. But early in the morning, actually in the middle of the night, (very early in the morning) Jesus gets up and goes out to pray. When the disciples get up, they don’t find him and the go looking for him. Actually, there seems to be a bit if anger in their search, the word Mark uses a word that means to track down or hunt. Apparently, the crowds have all gathered again, ready for Jesus to continue doing what he was doing last night. “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus has different ideas. He doesn’t go back to the house. Instead, he tells them it’s time to move on. Notice again the detail that Mark gives us. “Let’s go to the neighboring towns, so that I can preach there, because that is why I have come out.” And that’s what he does. Again, Mark seems to give us a Jesus that might make us a bit uncomfortable. Last week we saw him say “Shut up” and today we see him ignoring people in desperate need. Jesus prefers preaching. But remember the disciples don’t get it either. They wonder why he’s gone out on his own when there’s so much to do with the folks that have gathered around. These are people just like you and me. Put yourself in the crowd, and with the disciples. You know what it’s like to be sick and suffering. You’ve come to the altar here in pray for Jesus to do something different. Remember, suffering is a constant. They had friends with cancer, sons and daughters who were injured in accidents. There were women who had lost their husbands, and fathers who were separated from their children. These were people who saw the helpless looks in doctor’s eyes. There were people in pain from the loss of a child. They were human beings, just like you and me, who had an intimate relationship with disease and suffering. And just like you and me, they wanted it to end. And, according to St. Mark, that night at Peter’s house Jesus healed them all. But that morning they were left wanting more. We can easily think that this is all there is to Jesus. I think this is what Jesus is trying to avoid. That’s why he doesn’t go back to the house. He moves on to preach because that’s what he has come to do. It’s easy to see Jesus as a miracle worker instead of a Savior. Of course, the hope of all Christians is the promise of the whole creation restored, an end to sickness and the control of Satan over people. Jesus is all about doing just that. That’s what Jesus is talking about when he preaches, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15, ESV) God is staring you in face. He is here setting things right again. You can see the start of it, the demons go out not screaming, sickness and death are in Jesus hands. But let’s not get sidetracked from what Jesus has come to do. It involves suffering and death. The world is being set right because God has come, staring you in the face, to bring forgiveness of sins. All that pain and heartache; all that illness and death are the result of sin. In this we all have our own part. There are times when we suffer because of specific sins we have done, smoking too much causes cancer; unfaithfulness in marriage leads to broken marriages and divorce… the evil things we all do fill our lives with consequences. The world is troubled by sickness and death because it is populated by sinful people. You and I live troubled lives because we are sinful. But we even have trouble that is not related to our sin. Sometimes illness comes for no fault of our own. Sometimes accidents happen. Sometimes life runs out of control and there is nothing we have done or can do to control it. Dearest fellow sinner, Jesus shows us what life forever with him will be like; an end to sickness and death; an end to Satan’s control over our lives. Picture Peter’s mother-in-law joyfully serving after the fever was taken out of her. Our Savior took her by the hand, and it left her. She was at full strength to serve. And so, it will be for you and me, but for now Jesus doesn’t go back to the house, for now we continue to live in this sinful world. We would have Jesus stay and heal. But Jesus must go to the cross because, sickness and demons isn’t the root of the problem. They are simply the signs of the real sickness. In Jesus preaching he says, “Repent and believe the good news.” The good news is that Jesus has come to do away with sin. You see we are sicker than we realize. We are more diseased than we can see. Sin is our problem, and it requires something more than surface healing. It requires the cross. It requires our death. Jesus heads for the cross to be our death for us. And Jesus won’t be sidetracked from that purpose. His death on the cross heals our sin-sickness. The healing of our sin-sickness leads to the healing of our bodies. That’s what we confessed just moments ago. “I believe in the resurrection of the dead.” The Apostles’ Creed says, “the resurrection of the body” not “the resurrection of the soul.” Forgiveness of sins and healing of the body are directly connected in the cross. When we see Jesus on the cross, we are seeing our helplessness. We cannot heal ourselves. No where do we see our total need for salvation more clearly. It takes God become man in Jesus Christ. We lie in our sin and sickness like Peter’s mother-in-law. Jesus grasps us with a pierced hand and saves us. He lifts us up out of our sin-sickeness and we live. His death on the cross means forgiveness for us. This is a picture of our salvation, both now as we live every day in faith and finally, when our Lord reaches out to raise our dead body from the grave. Amen. The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Jonah.3; Third Sunday after Epiphany, January 24, 2021;

Jonah.3; Third Sunday after Epiphany, January 24, 2021; Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN; Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Get ready to hear the shortest sermon on record… don’t get your hopes up; it’s not the one I’m preaching right now. The short sermon I’m talking about is the one found here in the book of Jonah. It’s right in the middle of Chapter three. Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (Jonah 3, ESV) You all know the story of Jonah the reluctant prophet. The guy who ran away from God and got swallowed by a big fish for his efforts. “The word of the Lord came to Jonah,” is how the story starts. Jonah was a prophet; his job was to take the Word of God to the people God told him to go to. And God gave him the task of taking that Word to Nineveh. Now Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh. It wasn’t a nice town; in fact, it was very evil. The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what they were doing that was so bad; it just says that their “wickedness” had come up before God. But there’s more to it than that. You see Nineveh was the enemy. They had threatened the people of Israel before. They had a reputation of going around, sacking cities, and killing all the people that lived in them. Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh because they were the enemy. Now it’s not exactly the same thing, I’m not saying that they are evil over there in Iowa City, but It would be a little like sending a died in the wool ISU fan to Iowa City to preach about the virtues of the Cyclones. Jonah didn’t want to go, and he was willing to do just about anything to avoid it. So, he went to the coast and chartered a boat for the farthest place he could thin. f “Tarshish.” We don’t really know where Tarshish is but there is good reason to believe it is Spain, which as far as the Jonah was concerned was the end of the world. The most important part of Tarshish’s location for Jonah was that it was in the opposite direction of Nineveh. So that’s where he headed. But God of course, was determined in his plan for Nineveh so he sent a storm and a fish. Jonah gets thrown overboard and into the fish’s belly, where he spends three awfully long days. Finally, after he should have died, Jonah got spit up on the shore. And God said to Jonah a second time, “Go to Nineveh and proclaim to it what I asked you to proclaim.” And Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord. You’ve gotta love the bible here for its understatement. After being chased down by a storm and spending three days in the fish; of course, Jonah went to Nineveh. He knew he couldn’t run again. Who knew what God had in mind if he decided to run again? So, Jonah went to Nineveh, but he was still the reluctant prophet. And this is where that short sermon comes in. Jonah preached as little as he could preach. Apparently just enough to satisfy what God told him to say. “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” At first you might be tempted to think that that’s just the content of his message. But if you look, you’ll see that those are very the words he used. It was eight simple words (actually on five in Hebrew), but a complete sermon. Jonah, it seems, still wasn’t very anxious to do what God had asked him to do. Kinda like the child who’s supposed to go up and clean his room, and shoves everything under the bed. The room looks clean, but it isn’t. Jonah delivers the message, but only in the most minimal way he can deliver it. But God’s Word always has its way. In spite of Jonah, the people of Nineveh believe what he says. the people of Nineveh believed God. It’s important to notice that they believe God, not Jonah. They take the message they hear as if it comes from God. And not only do they believe but they put their money where their mouth is. Everyone, even the sheep and cattle, fast and sit in sackcloth and ashes as a way to show God that they are truly repentant. And God changes his course of action against them. God’s threat was taken seriously, and he doesn’t have to carry it out, because the people had believed. And Jonah, well he gets mad. “I knew it!” He spoke. “That’s why I didn’t want to come here. I knew you’d wimp out and not destroy the city. And if any city needs to be destroyed it’s this one. These people are not your people, they’re Gentiles, they’re Ninevites! Aren’t they outside you plan? No… You… God are ‘gracious and compassionate.’ You let them off too easy.” Jonah, it seems had a lot yet to learn, and the book leaves us hanging and never tells us if he did. And so, what about that short sermon? “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” Well, I don’t think I can ever use it here, but it is good message. You see, it has law and gospel in it. Nineveh is going to be ‘overturned.’ Jonah says. Well, what he means is that Nineveh is on the fire and brimstone schedule, just like Sodom and Gomorrah. “Annihilate” is probably a word that better describes what God had in mind than just “overturn.” It fit pretty well in Jonah’s way of thinking, too. God was planning the total destruction of Nineveh because of her “wickedness.” You do know that we all fit into that category. Our wickedness comes up before God on a daily basis. No, we aren’t out there destroying cities and killing the inhabitants. We aren’t out there committing great big, huge sins. But the truth is that we too are wicked in God’s eyes. We can’t even keep any one of God’s laws perfectly let alone all ten. Jesus clearly tells us that it’s not just a matter of doing and not doing what the commandments say. It’s a matter of the heart. He said that you don’t have to kill someone to be guilty of murder. All you have to do is call them a ‘fool’ or think bad things about them. He says that you don’t have to have an affair to commit adultery. It happens when your eyes wander. And in case you think that that’s not the wickedness that Jesus is talking, about he says that people who break the least of the commandments aren’t worthy of the kingdom of God. Sin begins in the heart. The bible says, “the wages of sin is death.” The wages of sin is overturning, annihilation. And not only that we easily find ourselves standing in Jonah’s shoes, with Jonah’s attitudes about people. “I’m not as bad as they are,” we say, “after all I’m a member of a church and there are lots of people who don’t belong anywhere. Surely God looks at them differently than he does me. And what about the members of our church who never come? They’ve got to be further down on the favor scale that I am. Maybe they deserve punishment, but not me. I’ve always got my checkbook out. I’m regular in attendance; whenever work needs to be done here, I’m first on the list to volunteer.” Jonah too, expected God to be gracious to him. He was thankful when God saved him from the fish; it didn’t bite him in half. It didn’t swim to the bottom of the sea and stay there. Let’s face it that’s what Jonah deserved. He had been given as specific task to do; there was no doubt about it. He was running away from God. God could have struck him dead. But God was gracious to him and let him live. Jonah’s problem isn’t a lack of thankfulness for what God had done; it was a failure to see that God’s grace is for other people too. The people in Nineveh needed God’s word. They needed to hear God’s plans for them, but Jonah didn’t want them to have it. He wanted to keep it for himself, and the people who he saw as the people of God. That simply wasn’t God’s plan. Think about how we would treat the doctor who walked through those doors compared to the smelly bum. Think about our desire to get people to come back to church for the sake of the budget instead of their benefit in hearing God’s Word and receiving forgiveness here. There was Gospel in Jonah’s message, in spite of Jonah’s wish. “Forty more days…” he said. There was yet a chance for the people of Nineveh to repent. There was time before the destruction to get things right with God again. Just the fact that God sent Jonah in the first place was an act of God’s grace. He could have destroyed them without any warning at all. God’s plan for the Ninevites wasn’t destruction but restoration. God is ‘gracious and compassionate’ as Jonah said. He didn’t kill Jonah. He didn’t destroy Nineveh when they repented, either. God is gracious he gives us a time and a place to repent of our sin. He gives us his word that convicts us of our sin. And he tells us of our Savior, Jesus. Who bled and died on the cross for our forgiveness instead of our destruction? Well so, what’s this text really all about? It’s not about Jonah getting swallowed and spit up by a big fish. It’s not about how wicked the people Nineveh were. And it’s not even about us and our sin. It’s really about God, His grace, His forgiveness, and His Word. He is gracious and compassionate. Peter, Jesus disciple says it this way: The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9, ESV) That message about God’s grace is the message of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to us in our Nineveh, even though we were the enemies of God and deserved punishment, overturning and annihilation. Jesus wasn’t reluctant, like Jonah, to come to us; he did it of his own free will, because it was part of God’s plan to save the whole world. Jesus preached an equally simple message. “Repent the Kingdom of God is here!” Now is the time to act. Now is the time to repent and set things right with God. God could have just destroyed the world without warning, but instead he sent Jesus to save you and me. That punishment that we deserved, that overturning and annihilation, Jesus Christ took it on himself on the cross. He was overturned and killed instead of us. He died and spent his three days, not in the belly of a fish, but in the darkness of death. And God changed his deserved action against us. Jesus died instead. Just like the fish spit Jonah on the shore, Jesus broke free from death. And we are free from the punishment of our sin. God’s Word had its effect on the people of Nineveh. They repented of their sins. They turned from their evil. God was gracious to them. God is gracious to us. He has forgiven us, because of Jesus. We hear God’s Word that tells us to turn to Him for forgiveness. And we have faith in him, so we do repent, and God forgives. The power for the people of Nineveh was in the Word of God, that great little sermon from the reluctant prophet. The power for us today is also in the Word of God. It says confess because I forgive. Think about what it means to have the Word of God in this place. You can come here Sunday after Sunday and hear about the forgiveness won for you by Jesus. You can come here and see that forgiveness given to God’s people in Baptism, and Holy Communion. And remember that that Word of forgiveness isn’t just for you, it’s for the whole world, even the Ninevites. The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

1 Peter 3:18-22; The Second Sunday after Epiphany; January 17, 2021;

1 Peter 3:18-22; The Second Sunday after Epiphany; January 17, 2021; Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN; For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. 1 Peter 3:18-22 (ESV) Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” That’s a saying we’ve probably all learned in school. And we probably all would agree. We’ve seen people in power. We know how they get there. And is seems that the more power someone has the more they want. Worst of all the longer someone stays “in power” the more likely they are to be corrupted by it. The more likely they are to do something self-centered and self-indulgent. We all want power, don’t we? Whether it is power to tell our boss that the project that is being done is stupid, or the power to make it rain on our own beans. We’d like the power to change the way our children act, or even the power to bring ‘peace’ to the world. But we know how we use power when we do get it. As someone once said, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Today we are going to look at God’s power, especially God’s power in Jesus Christ. God’s power is different from the power we are used to. In fact, God’s power looks like weakness to the world. If there is one thing that we can say about Americans, it’s that we really appreciate power. Just look at our army. It is the most powerful military force ever assembled. We are proud of the men and women who make it what it is. We are proud of their ability to do whatever is needed for our safety. We also appreciate financial power (maybe even more that military power!). Every year we look over the top ten richest people in the world and envy those who are there (probably wanting just a tiny fraction of their wealth!) And there is power in numbers… King David was a powerful man also. Even though he was surrounded by hostile nations, he became a powerful king. Even if you don’t remember much about the stories of the bible, you probably remember King David. We usually remember him for his power. The truth of the matter is that David wasn’t chosen to be the king of Israel because he was a powerful man. In fact, he was a lowly shepherd boy. He was the youngest son in a large family with a bunch of stronger older brothers. When the brothers of Jesse lined up to be considered by Samuel, David wasn’t even a contender. God had already chosen David. He was the very unlikely choice, the one no one else would consider. David was the king of Jesse’s Stem. Jesus Christ is called the “rod of Jesse.” That’s a reminder that He too wasn’t the obvious choice for the Messiah. He wasn’t born the way kings should be born. His family didn’t have any power. Joseph, Jesus stepfather, was a regular blue-collar worker. He didn’t rule with an iron hand from a jewel-encrusted throne. Instead, His reign is from a cross. Instead of the kind of power people expect in a king, Jesus power is shown to us by His suffering and death. Jesus was selected by God for a specific task, just as David was. That’s why we call him the rod of Jesse, instead of the rod of David. Clement of Rome, one of the churches early preachers said it this way: The scepter of the majesty of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, appeared not with pomp of pride or arrogance, though well he might, but in humility (Clement of Rome, 16.2). God’s power doesn’t work the way we expect power to work. It doesn’t even work the way we experience power, armies, money, or prestige. God’s power does something the world’s power can never do; it destroyed our greatest enemy, Death. Worldly power, in reality, doesn’t get us too much that is of any real value. Think about the rogue nations of the world. They strut around showing force trying to project power. What has their show of power really do? Threats of war; People starving because the rulers of the country spend so much on the military. Greater division among the countries of the world. All that show of power doesn’t really gain anything. Worldly power rarely makes things better. King David learned that lesson the hard way. He let his power go to his head. He thought he was above the law. Even though God said that David was a “man after God’s own heart” David let the temptation of power control him. He used his position to sleep with another man’s wife and then had her husband killed to cover up his sin. David’s heart was stained with sin, just like you and me. There were lots of good that he did as king; he worshipped God faithfully; and built a strong kingdom for his people. But just like any human, power corrupts. Really, in David’s case, just as it would be for any of us, power goes to our hearts when we are able to act on the sin that lives there. David misused even the power given to him by God’s choice, the power given to him for God’s purposes. Is there anyone who could really use God’s power for only good? It is only God who can do it selflessly. Jesus Christ is the true Key of David. He succeeds where David fails. If we had God’s power, what would we have done with it? There’s a movie called “Bruce Almighty” with Jim Carey. That’s exactly what Bruce finds out when he gets to play God for a time. The power corrupts him. You and I would do the same. We’d take revenge on our enemies. We’d work out things to benefit only ourselves. But that is not Jesus. He even allowed himself to be put to death. We would have called down the angels to save us. But Jesus did not. He used God’s power perfectly. He used God’s power in peace. He used God’s power in love. That’s why He has now “gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God” according to St. Peter. And he goes on to write “angels, authorities, and powers [have] been subjected to Him.” That means that heaven is now open to Him and it is open to us. Every one of us! Jesus is the perfect key of David. He used God’s power to open heaven to us and undo the power of death for us. In his cross, Jesus Christ brings to us the forgiveness we need for sinful use of power. So, we thank God for Jesus Christ, the Rod of Jesse and the Key of David. He used God’s power for us. He defeated death for us and opened up for heaven’s door. Amen. The Peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Mark.1.4-11; Baptism of Our Lord; January 10, 2021;

Mark.1.4-11; Baptism of Our Lord; January 10, 2021; Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN; John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”” (Mark 1:4–11, ESV) Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I’ve been reading this text over and over again wondering what it's really talking about. Is it about who John the Baptist is? Yep, it surely talks about him, camel’s hair coat and all. We’ve usually talked about him before Christmas… It’s interesting that he shows up again here so close after. Is it about the people who came to John, confessing their sins? Sure, it’s important to see that these people came to be baptized, but first they confessed their sins. They knew their place before God. They knew they were sinners needing forgiveness. Is it about the beginning of Jesus earthly ministry? Yea, this is the turning point for Jesus, up until now we’ve heard precious little from the gospel writers about Jesus was doing from the time he was 12 years old. But now everything is different. Jesus Baptism is where the story really gets going. I’d have to say that this text is surely about that too. This text about Jesus coming to John to be baptized is about all those things. And it’s about something else too. It’s about relationships. There are lots of relationships described here and they’re not as confusing as this is: 76-year-old Bill Baker of London married Edna Harvey. She happened to be his granddaughter’s husband’s mother. That’s where the confusion began, according to Baker’s granddaughter, Lynn. “My mother-in-law is now my step-grandmother. My grandfather is now my stepfather-in-law. My mom is my sister-in-law and my brother is my nephew. But even crazier is that I’m now married to my uncle and my own children are my cousins.” From this experience, Lynn should gain profound insight into the theory of relativity. Our text today speaks about several much simpler relationships. There’s the relationship between John and Jesus. They’re cousins, and yet John knows something more about Jesus, the one whose “sandals he’s not worthy to stoop down and untie.” John knows that God has sent Jesus and that he is the one who will deliver God’s people from their sin. “He will baptize with the Holy Spirit,” says John. And yet Jesus comes to John to be baptized. We read earlier that John’s baptism had to do with repentance and forgiveness. So why is Jesus there to be baptized? According to the writer of Hebrews Jesus is without sin: he was “…tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.” (4:15) Clearly, he doesn’t need to confess his sin and be baptized. So just what does John think he’s doing? Well, he isn’t giving Jesus forgiveness he doesn’t need. Jesus is acting in accordance with God’s plan, and John is simply helping Jesus to do just that. Jesus baptism has everything to do with his relationship to God the Father… and to us. And that’s the relationship we want to look at next… Jesus didn’t need to be baptized for forgiveness, but we do. Jesus is acting on our behalf. He came to be a God’s servant to people. He didn’t come to be served by people. Jesus said it himself; “… the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 That was his mission. Just like John served Jesus by baptizing him, Jesus serves us by being baptized. You see, no way can God look at us and say, “with this one I am well pleased.” We are sinful people, born into sin because of the sin that came to us from our parents. As soon as we were conceived, we were out of relationship with God, and actually object of his wrath. … among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:3, ESV) Very often don’t want to follow God’s will for our lives. We want to be in control ourselves. How many of you guys have a hard time letting your wife drive? You may think it’s with good reason… even your wife knows she’s a better driver. But that’s kind of the way it is with our relationship with God. Most of the time we want him along as we speed through life. We want him to call out and tell us what’s ahead to keep us from having an accident. We want to know what’s over the next hill, and where to find the smoothest road. But most of all we want to decide where the car should go. We want to have a hold of the wheel. If God’s way gets a little rough, we start looking for that little red button that says, “ejection seat,” so we can get back on a smother road. It is God’s will bent to our own, instead of our will following God’s. “You are my son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased,” said the Father of Jesus. Jesus followed God’s will, even though His road was going to be very rough. Jesus followed God’s will even though it meant that people would hate him and try to kill him. Jesus followed God’s will even when it meant that He would have to suffer… even when it meant he would have to die. Instead of going the way that we often do, Jesus went the way of God. He was the perfect servant to you and me. He lived the life that we cannot live, and he died the death that we dare not die. He was perfect but died for our disobedience. We are disobedient but we receive forgiveness because He earned it for us. He earned it by living his life perfectly in the will of God the Father. He let God drive. He also earned it by dying in our place and suffering the punishment that we should have suffered. And God was so pleased with his son that after he had died, He gave him life again, and Jesus rose from the dead. That’s what Jesus relationship is to us. That’s what his baptism was all about, taking our place and being our servant. You know, that’s what your baptism is about too. It’s about what Jesus Christ did for you. It’s about what Jesus Christ did for your relationship to God the Father. St. Paul wrote that: You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Galatians 3:26-27 To be baptized is to become a “son” that God loves. It is to be once again in a relationship with God. To be clothed with Christ is to be seen by God as the Father saw Jesus, a beloved son in whom he is well pleased. That means that God looks at us differently. We are wearing Jesus’ clothes. God sees us like he sees Jesus. So, what exactly does that mean? Well, it’s like this. We’ve been driving along minding our own business. Everything seems to be going very well. Suddenly out of nowhere there’s a bump in the road. It’s more than a flat tire; it is actually deep muddy path. At first, we think we can get through it. So, we press on the gas a little bit more. But the mud cakes up the front end and we can’t steer. Finally, the car comes to a halt buried half up the door in a muddy mess. We’ve made a wrong turn somewhere and gotten into a big mess. We’re buried deep in the mud and there is no way out. That’s when we realize that we’ve left God out all together. We’ve been driving ourselves. We’ve been ignoring his direction because the road seemed to be much easier this way. “God!” we say. “I’ve done it again! I’m stuck in the mud again and I can’t get out. I should have listened to you.” God doesn’t look at you and say, “It serves you right for not listening to me. I ought to just leave you there to suffer on your own.” Instead, he says. “You are my beloved child, whom I love. I forgive you. I’ll help you.” He does it because of Jesus. You see, our relationship, the one that was made by Jesus, means that when we sin, we can turn to God for forgiveness and he will forgive. Not because we deserve to be forgiven, but because Jesus earned forgiveness for us, and he has given it to us in our baptism. There’s one more relationship we should talk about today. It’s the relationship we have with everyone else. It has to do with being baptized into Christ Jesus and being clothed with Christ. Remember how John was a servant to Jesus? And Jesus is a servant to us? Well, being a child of God means that we too are to be servants. We can be servants to others because Jesus Christ is a servant to us. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that we aren’t servants of others already. We do lots of great things right now. Because of Jesus, we are servants to people right here, where God has placed us. Time and time again this church has proved it can do anything it decides to do. I’d like to challenge you to do something special for this community. Something new! Not something to gain new members. But something to show people the love of Jesus Christ, weather they know him or not. “You are my beloved Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” The Father said to Jesus. Jesus had seen the sign, and now he heard it. He knew what God’s will was for his life, and he followed it. That was his relationship to God, the Father. Everything Jesus did he did for us: his life, death and resurrection. He did it all to make us God’s children, too. Amen. The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ, Jesus. Amen.

Isaiah 63:7-14; First Sunday after Christmas; December 27, 2020;

Isaiah 63:7-14; First Sunday after Christmas; December 27, 2020; Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN; I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely.” And he became their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit, who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.” (Isaiah 63:7–14, ESV) (from and outline by Joel Biermann, Concordia Journal Fall 2013) Grace and peace to you from our Savior Jesus Christ. Well, it'll be nice to get back to normal won’t it? Christmas is nice, New Years can be fun (if you don't overdo it!), but normal is nice. But who knows when normal will return? What's with this text anyway? It doesn't seem very Christmasy. God giving extraordinary loving kindness to Israel and their response is rebellion. And then returning to the Lord once again and he forgives. It's an endless refrain. A familiar story. But it seems out of season. Let's hear something more about the Baby of Bethlehem. Yes, let's not forget that the Baby was born. Let's also not forget that once the baby arrives there's no going back. Any couple can tell you the baby changes everything. There's a new routine. A new emphasis. This week we still want the baby. But next week when we take down the tree, we might rather pack the baby back in the box with the rest of the Nativity scene and let him stay there till next year. But, this baby, this Christmas baby, won't be packed away. Because this baby is no ordinary baby. The changes he brings are not the same as midnight feedings and new bills. This Baby brings something much more. He has come to stay. And he comes on his own terms. He comes with an agenda. He is the King. He comes to bring his kingdom. A kingdom can only have one King. That's the problem the children of Israel had. They rebelled against their one King. It's an old story. God acts to bring salvation. Human beings rebel. There actually is no choice. It is a consequence of our fallen, sinful nature. Without the baby, we are blind, dead, enemies of God and we want to be our own King, and the new King born in the manger is a threat. We think we can make it on our own. We think we are self-reliant. We think we have charge over our lives. It's an illusion. It's an illusion that began in the garden when Adam and Eve thought they knew what was better for them than God. What they wanted was not theirs to have. They thought they wanted what they didn't actually need. The illusion is brought full force to our eyes and ears through cultural inputs. Movies and television and music assure us that we are the master of our own destiny. And the illusion is so strong that in spite of the evidence, our broken relationships, our inability to do what we know we should do, our lack of care for our neighbors, and our insistence on our own way, that we think we have everything in control. But we fail daily in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and left undone. We fail to love God with our whole heart. And so, we resist the new King is strongly as Herod who sought to kill him, too. Herod is the great evil man in the Christmas story who would dare to strike out and kill a helpless child. He strikes out in a violent attack against the one who would be king in his place. There we stand. In Bethlehem, the baby comes with an agenda. He is the Lord. He is the King. There can be only one. We cannot rule ourselves and bow before the true King. The true King will not be content until he rules all, even every aspect of our own lives. He comes to remove sin from your life and mine. Even the sin I don't want to get rid of. If you think about it, Herod's reaction isn't really that surprising. This baby King changes everything. This baby comes, and makes demands, and someone is going to get hurt. Someone is going to die. There's no getting around it. This baby King threatens to kill my rule over my own kingdom. Actually, this baby King, threatens to kill me. And I won't have it. But maybe I will. Because I need a Savior. I am unable to rule over my own kingdom. My rule leaves my life in shambles. My failures are stacked up. My relationship with God is shattered by sin. Someone is going to get hurt. And if not me than the baby. And he does. In fact, it's why he was born. What Herod tried to do by force, the baby does willingly. He gives himself into death on the cross. In the fight to reign over my own life God will win. He will do whatever is necessary, including sacrificing himself. My sin and rebellion are punished by God in the baby on the cross. And I will die. In Holy Baptism, my old sinful nature is drowned to death. My rebellious nature is killed. And the baby's claim on my life is set forever. I am beat by the baby. All that happened with Israel is repeated. I am raised from death to new life. I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Fourth Sunday in Advent, December 20, 20208

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Fourth Sunday in Advent, December 20, 20208 Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN; Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ’ Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ” (2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16, ESV) Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. “Surprise” You know as I think about how God works in our lives it seems to me that God surprises us all the time. We get settled into our way of doing things and then all of the sudden God hops in and says “Surprise! It’s not going to be that way anymore.” I’ll bet many of you could come up with many more stories of that kind of surprise, than I can. Ask my wife about the surprise of Hannah. She tells the story much better than I ever could tell it. It gets better every time I hear it. Surprise is a part of life, and very often it’s God who’s on the giving end of it. The bible too, is full of folks who were surprised by God. St. Paul is one. He was a deeply religious man, the student of one of the most important Rabbis of the first century. He was sure that he was doing exactly what God wanted him to do. He very zealously sought out, and arrested members of a new “cult” that was causing divisions in the church. He had papers from the highest church officials that allowed him to travel wherever he needed to go to find them and root them out. And he was good at it too. Paul, his name was Saul then found Christians wherever they were. He was even present and approved of the execution of an incredibly famous Christian named Stephen. Saul was certain he was doing exactly what God wanted him to do. But, one day on the road to Damascus Jesus, the one who’s church he was attacking, knocked him off his horse and said “Surprise! You think you’re doing God’s will? Well, you’re not. You’re not persecuting a bunch of religious fanatics you’re persecuting me! It’s time to stop. I’ve chosen you to be my voice and my servant. And not only that; now your going to be called Paul. Surprise!” Paul was indeed surprised. It was a life-changing event for him, and a life changing even for the Church of Jesus Christ. Just imagine the surprise for that young girl in the Gospel for today: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. (Luke 1:26-27, ESV) “Greetings,” the angel said to Mary. “Surprise! Things are going to be quite different for you now!” Mary had plans of her own. She was soon to be married to a local businessman. She was young, but that was normal for her day. She soon expected to have children; it was expected of all married couples to have children as soon as possible. “You are a very favored woman.” The angel said to her. “And God himself is with you.” The text says that Mary was troubled at the greeting. Surprised, I’d say, and afraid of what was going to happen to her. But the angel insisted that everything would be ok. “Don’t be afraid… but… Surprise! You’re going to have a son, and he’s not going to be your husband’s son, he’s going to be God’s son. God’s going to give him the throne of David. Surprise! Your son, God’s son, is going to be King!” Of course, Mary didn’t know how this was all going to come about, because although she was engaged, she wasn’t married yet. “Remember what I said, Mary, this child is going to be God’s son. He will be placed into your womb by the Holy Spirit.” Mary was surprised but she allowed her plans to be changed. And the world was changed because of the surprise that God planned for Mary. Another king in Israel was surprised, too. This king was a distant relative of the Surprise King born to Mary. He too, was God’s man. He wasn’t perfect but he lived in God’s forgiveness and God called him a man after His own heart. King David was settled in his palace after God had done everything, he promised to make David king. He was at rest from his enemies, the text says. As he looked around at all that God had done for him, he made some plans of his own. “I live in a great palace that God has given me. It’s time to give something back to God. I’m going to build a house for God. Nathan, God’s prophet, agreed, “Hey,” he might have said, “that sounds like a great idea. Let’s do it!” But that night God said to Nathan, “Surprise! That’s not what’s going to happen. Go tell the king, Surprise!” It wasn’t that what David was planning wasn’t a good thing. It was proper for him to want to give back to God from what he had been given. It was proper to want a beautiful place to worship God. It’s just that God had a different surprise in mind. “Remember David,” Said God though Nathan. “Remember where you came from. You were a shepherd. I took you out of the pasture and made you king. That was big a surprise! Kings don’t come from shepherds, but I made you king anyway. I’ve led you to take care of my people and your descendants will take care of my people forever! You want to make a house for me, well I’m going to make a really great house for you. It’s all going to start with your son Solomon. He’s going to be the one to actually build the temple you’re talking about.” But the surprise wasn’t over. “What’s more, David, the house I build for you is going to be more than just a house of wood and stone. Surprise! Your house is going to last forever.” David may have been a little disappointed, but he listened to God. And God did build a house from David’s son. Solomon builds a beautiful temple, but David’ Greater Son, Jesus Christ built the house of God’s Church. The shepherds sitting on the hillside outside of Jerusalem were surprised, the night that David’s greatest son was born. We know the story well. “Greetings, Surprise!” the angel said. “I bring to you, shepherds (yes you!), good news of great joy. The King and Savior of the world is born for you tonight!” They were surprised and terrified and joyful. And when the sky was filled with the surprise of a “host” of angels. Surprise probably isn’t the word that best describes what the shepherds felt. When it was all over one of the shepherds said, “Hey guys, to you think we ought to go and see this King?” I’m sure the others looked at him with a funny look, of course they were going to go. They were surprised, but they went and found everything just as the angel said they would. But that wasn’t the end of it all for them. When they told other people about everything that had happened to them “everyone” was surprised. “Surprise! God told us shepherds first!” So, God surprises us with Jesus. He was born where no other king would have been born. And he was going to do what no other king could do, build an everlasting kingdom. That kingdom is the church. It’s not liked any other kingdom. God’s people aren’t the “cream of the crop.” We are sinful people. God’s kingdom, in Jesus, is built on the forgiveness of sins. That’s the biggest surprise of Jesus. Our sin should be our death and punishment. Jesus, our king, doesn’t punish us, instead he takes it to the cross. When we gather here on Sunday morning we expect to hear, “Your sins are forgiven.” But it really is a surprise. David’s surprise, Paul’s surprise, the Shepherd’s surprise, and Mary’s surprise are all about this surprise of forgiveness for you and me, in Jesus. But really, I wonder… is it really a surprise? I don’t think so. We really shouldn’t be surprised that God keeps his promises. What should really surprise us is that when human beings broke their relationship with God in the garden, he didn’t kill them on the spot. Instead, he said, “Surprise! I’m going to fix everything. Satan, who tempted you and who will continue to torment you, will be crushed once and for all. I’m going to send a Savior and he’s going to rebuild your relationship with me.” That’s the promise that was fulfilled when Mary gave birth to Jesus in the dirty stable that first Christmas night. It really isn’t a surprise at all. It really wasn’t a surprise that God chose to make the announcement to the shepherds first. God was really fulfilling the promise he made to bless all the world through the Seed of Eve. He just wanted the shepherds to remember (and us too!) that the promise of Jesus Christ is for all people, even those who aren’t very lovable. It wasn’t really a surprise that David wouldn’t build God’s house, either. God was really just trying to show David that he was in charge. He wanted David to remember that even though his son Solomon would bring peace, (that is what Solomon’s name means after all), but that there was going to be an even greater prince, and even greater son who would bring peace. In fact, he would be called the Prince of Peace. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace who sets right what human beings set wrong. He wins the peace by his suffering and death on the cross. Even Mary’s surprise wasn’t really a surprise at all. All along God promised that he would take care of sin. All along God was promising that he would take care of the “wages of sin.” Every time a sacrifice was made in the temple, it reminded the people that the spilling of blood was necessary to pay the awful price of breaking God’s law. And from the very beginning God promised to come and pay the price himself. It was in God’s promise to another woman, Eve, that God said his own heel would be bruised. When Mary looked at the baby lying in her arms, she was looking at the flesh of God that would pay that price. And as for Paul; no real surprise there either. It was just God making sure his promise went exactly as he planned. That plan included you and me, and Paul was the man who would bring the Good News of God in the flesh, the Good News that God and man are reconciled, to the gentiles. In case you’ve forgotten, we are gentiles. The Good News that Paul preached is for you and me. The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.