1st Sunday after Christmas; Luke 2:22-40

“Departing in Peace”

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

            From the time Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary He submits Himself to His own Law.  He was circumcised on the eighth day, He was obedient to His parents, and, today, He is taken to the temple in order that a sacrifice could be made for Him.  Isn’t it amazing that  Jesus, the true Temple, who will be destroyed and raised again after three days, is taken to the temple that will be destroyed never to be built again?  Isn’t it amazing that the sacrificial Lamb of God, who will go to the cross in order to offer Himself as the final sacrifice on the cross for your sins and the world, today, has two turtle-doves sacrificed on His behalf?  He is presented to the teachers whom He will later teach. 

            But the learned men in the temple didn’t get it and few of them will.  It’s Simeon, the faithful and devout man, who sees His salvation in this 40-day old boy.  We don’t know much else about Simeon.  We presume he’s an old man, but the text doesn’t say indicate His age.  We don’t know his city, his occupation (though it wouldn’t be out of the question to call him a prophet), or marital status, but the text simply says that he “was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ,” but that’s all we need to know about him. 

            Though he may not have actually sang, this somewhat obscure man gives the church a song that will last unto the ages.  Upon taking Jesus in his own arms, he sings (or speaks) a song that has been used in her liturgy for centuries, called the Nunc Dimittis.  The words are familiar to [many of you] [you all], “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”  Jesus comes for Simeon, as He comes for you.  Jesus is for Simeon before Simeon is for Jesus.  Simeon receives the gift of Jesus and faith responds with praise and thanksgiving.

            Having seen the long promised child, which will bring about his salvation, he can depart in peace.  The Lord can end his earthly life at any time.  The promise has been fulfilled; the long awaited Messiah has come.  He can depart in peace.

Without Christ there is no peace.  Apart from Christ, there’s nothing but dissension and separation from God.  Apart from the Salvation that Simeon now holds in his arms, there is no approaching God in peace.  But Christ has come, Simeon sings his song, and both he and us can depart in peace.

            When we sing or speak these words, they’re words of Gospel.  “Lord, let your servant depart in peace…” it means there’s nothing left to do.  Christ has already taken care of everything.  Having received, by faith, the salvation accomplish by Christ we’re given confidence that God’s Word and promises have been fulfilled in Christ.  Jesus has gone to the cross for you, died in one of the most excruciating ways there was.  From worldly eyes, His death was anything but peaceful, but by His cross and His resurrection, He has won for you peace; peace with God by giving you His forgiveness, His salvation, His righteousness. 

To depart in peace is to hold fast to the promises that Christ has made to you in your baptisms, where God’s Word, combined with water, has been splashed over your heads in a saving flood.  To depart in peace is, also, is to even fall asleep in the Lord with the cross before your eyes, to behold the cross of Jesus and His resurrected body and hold fast to the words, “For me.  He did it for me.”

Through Christ, who has won peace between us and the Father, we can go and live out our lives and, yes, even shut our eye lids, in the peace of God.  That no matter what sins we’ve committed, no matter how heavy they hang around our necks, through Christ, who bore the Father’s wrath in its fullest for you, you’re at peace with God. 

That’s why the Church has long used the Nunc Dimittis, the Song of Simeon, after Communion.  At the Communion Rail, we’re standing, or kneeling, in the shoes of Simeon.  The Long promised Messiah, the One whom we’ve hoped and longed for, the One whom we’ve prayed, “Come, Lord Jesus,” is placed, not into your arms like Simeon, but into your mouth.  Having received the salvation given won for you on the cross, even to us Gentiles, the non-Hebrew, can then depart, having been given the peace of God.  For at the Communion rail, we see the salvation that God prepares in the presence of His people and there, the peace of the Lord is placed into our mouths.

These words are also used in the funeral rite.  The Lord has dismissed the dear saint of God from this world in His peace.  His word has been fulfilled, his promises kept and He will continue to keep His promises as the one who has fallen asleep in peace shall also depart from their grave in the resurrection.

After all, that’s what this child who has been placed into the arms of Simeon is to do; to win for the world forgiveness, salvation, and everlasting life by giving up His life for the world.  Luke records in our text, “And Simeon blessed [Joseph and Mary] and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

As Mary beholds her Son on the cross, winning salvation for you, her soul is pierced as the nails and spear pierces her Son.  He has come for the consolation of Israel and that even we Gentiles would be grafted into His vine.  Your sins were laid on Him, He bears them all and dies for them.  But He didn’t stay in the grave, but was raised again.  And so it is for you.  Death doesn’t have the final say, for to depart in peace is to depart from your grave to live, body and soul, with Christ.

To walk a few steps in Simeon’s shoes reveals the depth of our Lord’s compassion for us.  He received His Lord into his arms with joy, as the child he holds is the One to redeem you from your sins, so that you, like Simeon, can depart in peace.  His Word has been fulfilled for you.  Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus now and forevermore.  Amen.

             

            

4th Sunday in Advent; Luke 1:39-45

"Jesus Visits His People"  

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

            We stand, now, on the cusp of Christmas.  Soon the quiet reverence of Advent will give way to the joys and celebration of Christmastide; and, already, the joy is beginning to bubble. 

For the Lord visits His people.  He visits His people to save them.  You it see throughout the Scriptures that man doesn’t go to God, but God visits them.  He visits Adam and Eve in the garden, He visits Moses in the burning bush and the Tent of Meeting, He visits Joshua as the Commander of the Lord’s Army.  Man doesn’t need to build a tower into the heavens because the Lord visits and comes down to His people.

But in today’s text, it’s different.  Today, He doesn’t visit His people as a burning bush, a pillar of fire, as the Angel of the Lord, but He comes to us as one of us - the Lord comes wrapped in flesh.  Can you wrap your heads around this: that the God who created the heavens and the earth, the God who spoke into being all that exists, enters into His creation and is, Himself, existing in time and space, in human flesh and blood in the womb of Mary?  We confess often in the Creed that Jesus was “for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man,” but can we even begin to understand that God is developing in the womb of a virgin?  Can we even begin to wonder at the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has, in Mary, an earthly mother?  The Lord visits His people to save them, He visits for us and for our salvation; to enter His creation via the womb of Mary, to live, to suffer, and to die on a cross.

The Lord’s first stop, the first of our Lord’s visitation as man, recorded in the New Testamant, is to Elizabeth and John, the baby growing in her aged womb.  Two pregnant women who shouldn’t be pregnant.  The womb of the senior citizen, Elizabeth, has been opened and is bearing the heralder of the Lamb of God.   The womb of the young virgin, Mary, who had never known a man, has become fruitful by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus and His Prophet, who is to prepare His way, meet for the first time. 

And how do Elizabeth and John react with the Lord and His mother’s visitation?  Joy.  Sheer joy.  “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.  And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” 

            What joy they have!  So the question now is this: where’s our joy?  We go through this dark and cold world with little joy, at times.  It’s a dark world and a world full of sin.  We live in a world where, in the name of choice and freedom, babies are killed as they’re removed from their mother’s womb.  We live in a broken world where people are murdered in movie theaters. We live in a world where peoples’ lives are stripped from them while Christmas shopping in malls.  We even live in a world so heinous that a man would even enter into an elementary school and destroy the lives of innocent children.  We may feel somewhat safe and isolated from this world here in northeast North Dakota, but the world is no less broken here.  The same sinfulness that we’ve seen on our televisions these last few months can just as easily permeate our little community. There seems to be little joy to be had, at times.  Where’s our joy?

Well, it’s there in the text.  For you, beloved in the Lord, for you, O Christian, the joy we have, ultimately, isn’t in the things of the world, they will always disappoint.  The joy we have isn’t, finally, in what you can look around and see, for this world is fallen.  The joys that we do have in this life: friends, family, recreation are fleeting.  Friends come and go, family members live and die, time only gives us so much of itself to spend at the lake, but the joy you’re given is rooted and founded in Christ, who comes to visit you according to His grace. 

For the Lord who visited Elizabeth and John is the same Lord who visits you.  He made Himself apart of His creation, descended into this dreary world as a beacon of light, hope, and joy.  He’s no stranger to the sufferings we must, here, endure and behold on the nightly news.  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who visited His people, knows what it is to hurt, to suffer, and to die.  He endured all of this for you and for this broken world.  He has visited this broken world and has over come this sinful world by His death and resurrection.  And, He continues to visit you, as He visited Elizabeth and John. 

             Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit at the word of Mary, who carried the Savior, hidden, in her womb.  And such it is for you, beloved in the Lord.  Christ comes to you, hidden, under that which seems ordinary.  The world has filled your ears with much sorrow and sadness, but Christ visits you in order to fill your ears with the joy of His Word of Gospel, “Your sins are forgiven.  This sad world shall end and the joys of Paradise await you.”  The world has filled your eyes with all of its horrors, but with the eyes of faith, we behold our God who comes to us in the midst of sadness with the cooling balm of His Word connected with water that, even now, drenches your head; for you’re baptized.  This world has spoken to you unspeakable evil, but into your mouth the Lord visits you and gives Himself to you under bread and wine.  The fruits of the cross, all that which Jesus bled and died to win, He gives to you under these lowly things of word, water, bread, and wine.  Even in the midst of this sinful world, the Lord continues to visit you, in order to forgive you, and not in some sort of idea, but forgive you in real, tangible ways. 

            Like Elizabeth and John, that’s the cause of our unspeakable joy in the midst of this weary world.  For where Jesus visits His people and is forgiving sins, there’s joy.  When we behold this fallen world, it seems, there’s nothing but sin and trouble.   But when we behold the Savior on the cross for you, there’s nothing but joy.  The Savior who comes into the presence of Elizabeth and John, is the Savior who comes into your presence.  That’s what causes John to begin His prophesy in his mother’s womb as he leaped for joy, pointing to the Lamb of God who bears the sins of the world.

            And as Christ comes to visit us, we, too, bubble over with unspeakable joy.  For the Lord of heaven and earth, the Lord who created all things by His mighty Word, deigns to visit us lowly, unworthy sinners; who live in a fallen world.  What joy that Christ continues to come into our midst.  And this joy shall endure into the ages, for wherever two or three are gathered in His Name, partaking in His heavenly gifts, there He is in the midst of them.

Therefore, lift up your heads.  This old world has been overcome.  Its evils shall not last.  Whatever sin we must endure has been answered for in the cross and empty tomb; for because Christ lived, died, and rose again for you, sorrow lasts for the day, but the joys of Paradise lasts unto the ages.  We must bear our crosses, here and now, but after the cross comes the joys of the resurrection.  The Lord visits you, He comes for you that no matter what happens in this valley of tears, you’re safe in the hands that bear the scars of the cross.  This is for you.  This is what Christ has won for you. 

So, rejoice, O pilgrim throng!  Let the world do its worst!  No matter what sadness and crosses we must undergo, these cannot compare to the joys of Paradise and to the joy we receive each day as we meditate on the Word of God, remember our baptisms, and receive His most holy body and blood.  Oh what joy when our Lord comes to visit us one final time in glory, here on earth, to take us from this vale of tears to Himself in the New Jerusalem.  So the Church throughout the earth, amidst this broken world, continues to pray: Come, Lord Jesus!  Come quickly!  Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.

Rev. Mark Chepulis

3rd Sunday in Advent; Luke 7:18-28

"Suffering and Rejoicing"

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

            It’s Gaudete Sunday, Rejoice Sunday, Rose Colored Candle Sunday.   In fact, some congregations even have rose colored paraments that they’re using today.  We heard it in the Old Testament text, “Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.”   We heard it in the introit, we heard it in the Epistle text, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!” And if you look at the Gradual, it’s there too.  “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!” 

But it seems, for John, there’s not a whole lot of rejoicing going on.  The heralder of the coming Christ is now rotting in prison for telling Herod that it’s not lawful for him to have his sister-in-law, Herodias, for his own.  And as he sits there in prison, he can’t help but wonder, “Where did I go wrong?  Did I prepare the way for the wrong guy?  Was I wrong in pointing to this Jesus and proclaiming Him the Lamb of God?  What happened to the Messiah who was going to enact justice and judgment?  I was faithful, so why am I sitting here?”  “And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” 

            Doesn’t sound much like the John the Baptist we heard last week, does it?  His finger has gone from your chest in accusation, to Jesus as the Lamb of God who bears the sins of the world, and now to himself wondering if the guy he’s now pointing at is a fool for throwing in his lot with this Jesus guy.  He’s thinking “Where’s the glory?  Where’s the good stuff?  When is this axe that’s laid to the root of the tree going to fall?”  Well, sorry, John, but Herod’s axe is about to fall on you.

            Last week we talked about living out the baptismal life of a Christian in repentance and faith – confessing your sins to God in faith and trust that Christ has removed your sin from you.  We confess daily because we sin daily, but we never need to come to God and offer our sacrifice of a broken heart in our repentance in despair.  This is what John preached last week, but this week we see another aspect of the Christian life: in John, we see exactly what you can expect your life to be like as a Christian; it’ a life that’s lived under the cross.

            So, how’s your life going?  Have there been times in life when you suffered and were in anguish that caused you to raise your voice up to God, “Are you there, Lord?  Are you the one to come or shall I wait for another?”  Does it seem your life is a prison, at times?  Financial troubles?  Marriage problems?  Do you hurt?  Do you suffer?  Have things happened in your life that causes worry and anxiety?  Will there be an empty chair this Christmas?  Most of you, I’m sure, have heard by now of the terrible manifestation of sin that took place in Connecticut.  Twenty children are dead by that hands of a deranged man.  Though it’s Gaudete Sunday, Rejoice Sunday, there doesn’t seem to be much rejoicing, at times.

            As you suffer, and as John does in the text, it’s easy for us to take the John and His disciples approach, “I’ve been faithful.  I come to church.  I love Jesus.  So why do bad things keep happening?  Why do I suffer and the faithless prosper?  If you’re in control, Jesus, why is this happening?  Where’s the justice?  Are you the one to come, or shall we expect another?” 

            We have our own template of what we perceive to be fair and unfair.  We have our own idea of what God should do, we like to put the judge’s robe on, place God in the defendant’s chair and judge Him according to our notion of fairness.  In this template, that we love to place over God, it’s fair for someone who’s an unbeliever or for one of those truly horrible sinners to suffer all manner of things, while those who have faith in Christ should get a life of comfort.  But God shatters this template.  No matter times you’ve heard Joes Osteen say it or have seen it in his books, your best life isn’t now.

            This life is fallen, it’s sinful.  And in a fallen, sin-sick world, there are financial troubles, relationship problems, we get sick, we hurt, children are murdered, and we, ourselves, die.  It’s a life lived under the cross and crosses, ultimately, mean death. 

            Why must you endure these things?  What possible reason would God have to allow you to suffer so?  What reason could there be for God to allow such sinfulness to befall elementary school children?  Well, I don’t know.  It does no good  to try and crawl into the mind of God and ascertain what His holy will is.  We can say that God, at least, permitted it to snowed last week, but we can’t say why.  But, as a professor of mine once said, “God doesn’t always give us answers, He gives us promises.”

            So what’s the promise?  Well, Jesus gives us a glimpse of it in our text.   “And when the men had come to [Jesus], they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ In that hour He healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.  And He answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:  the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.  And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” 

            With the coming of Christ comes restoration; all things are made new, a new creation.  These healings of plagues and diseases, restoring of eye sight, cleansing of lepers, and, yes, raising of the dead are a little glimpse into nature of the New Heavens and New Earth at Christ’s glorious coming.  There are no more diseases or pains, for your resurrected body shall be glorious.  There will be no more financial woes, for you will have received your eternal inheritance in its fullness.  There will be no more relationship troubles, for all strife and enmity will be done away with.  There will be no more slaughtering of innocence, for there is nothing but eternal life.  

            This is given to you.  Because Jesus made Himself least in the Kingdom of God, so that you would be called the greatest.  The sufferings that you must endure here have been answered for in the sufferings of Christ.  We have a God who doesn’t sit in His ivory tower from on high, looking down upon us poor humans who suffer so.  But we have a God who descends from His seat of power and authority and dives into the middle of this sin-sick world to endure its sufferings, pains, and heartaches Himself.  He knows what it’s like to lack earthly things, for He Himself had no place to rest His head.  He knows what it’s like to suffer heartache, for His own creation turned against Him.  We have a God who knows what it is to taste death, for He was placed on a cross, suffered in anguish, for you; but was raised from the dead!  After the cross, comes glory.  And so it is for you.  It’s been given to you, it’s yours right now, but not yet in its fullness.

            He has won for you a place in Paradise, where suffering has ceased to be.  A good friend of mine, Pr. Christopher Maronde of Kiron, Iowa once wrote, and I couldn’t put it better myself, “Suffering comes before glory, and the glory that is to come is incomparable with the suffering that preceded it.”

Advent means “coming” and we look to the horizon for the coming of Christ, when the glimpse of the New Creation that we get in the text, shall be given to you in its fullest; that the sufferings that we, here, now endure shall give way to the joys of Paradise. 

            Today is Gaudete Sunday, Rejoice Sunday.  Though we must endure the sufferings of this life, rejoice. Rejoice for you have a God who has endured suffering, pain, and death for you.  Rejoice for through the crucified and living Jesus, you have been given a place in the New Heaven and New Earth at His coming. Rejoice for the time draws ever closer; the Day of Our Lord is closer than it once was.  Rejoice for suffering shall end and you shall live, body and soul, in the Paradise that the Lord has established for you, His faithful.  Rejoice, for you have been set free from the shackles of sin and death by Christ, who has suffered, died, and was raised again all for you.  He is the one who came and is coming again.  We need not look for another, for Jesus, Himself, shall return and make all things new.  Amen.

            The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.

            

Rev. Mark Chepulis 

2nd Sunday in Advent; Luke 3:1-14

"A Voice and a Finger"

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

            Christianity is a religion of history.  Events take place in time and space, just as they do today.  There was a man named Noah who built an ark and he and his family were saved from the destructive waters of a worldwide flood.  There was a man named Jonah who was swallowed by a large fish, whale, or some sea thing and remained in its belly three days and three nights and was spit back out alive.  And today, Luke puts before us another man who comes in history. 

            This is no “once upon a time” story.  Luke spends much ink placing him in a certain time and in a certain place.  He painstakingly records each of the tetrarchs, the prefects, the Caesars, and the high priests when all this happened.  He describes a man, who isn’t some character like Hercules, of whom we’ve heard many stories, but is a fictional character. 

            This man arrives on the scene when Tiberius was Caesar, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and when Annas and Caiaphas were high priests.  God places him in history at just the right time, at just the right moment, that he would prepare the way for the coming Messiah.  And the man’s name is John, son of Zechariah and Elizabeth. 

He’s a transitional prophet that bridges the Old and New Testaments.  He’s sent to proclaim a sermon to all of Galilee, to the world, and to us, “Repent.  Prepare the way for the coming Lord.”

            He comes in a specific time, in a specific place, to preach a specific sermon.  He’s the man of whom Isaiah writes, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” 

He comes as, Matthew records wearing weird clothing and eating strange things, but don’t pay attention to his outer appearance, because he’s sent as a voice.  A voice that bids the people to prepare the way of the Lord.

 Isn’t that what Advent is about?  Preparation?  But the Advent preparation of which John sounds has nothing to do with stockings, garland, and lights.  It’s easy to hang stockings above the fireplace, but very difficult to remove idols from our lives.  It’s easy to decorate the house with garland, but very difficult to look into our sinful souls and repent.  It’s very easy to string lights around the house, but very difficult to repent of the darkness of our sin.  The preparation of the coming Christ has nothing to do with stockings, decorations, or lights, but has everything to do with the preparation of the heart.

            And so, John the Baptist is sent as a voice to preach a sermon concerning this preparation.  But his sermon isn’t a popular one.  The Old Adam is repulsed at hearing of its own sinfulness.  Yet, John gives no regard as to how the people will receive it.  He whips out his long, boney finger and points it right in our chests and proclaims, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruit fruits in keeping with repentance.  And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’  For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.  Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees.  Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” 

            Wow!  That’s quite a sermon.  He strips away our excuse.  He sticks that long, boney finger right into our face and tells us precisely who we are: a brood of vipers; sinners who have need to repent.  He strips away any comfort we may find in  our family tree.  He tears down the idols of our own making.  He rips off the fig leaves that we use to cover up our own sinfulness and shame.

            The serpent dealt craftily with Adam and Eve and injected his poison into every child ever conceived and that includes you and me.  We have the venom of that first bite coursing through our veins and this poison is constantly on our lips.  We’re sinners, not just because of the bad things we do, but it’s who we are.  A serpent poisons its victim, because it’s his nature.  We sin, because our human nature has been sickened and corrupted by the sin of our first parents in the garden. 

            So, the axe is laid at our shins, ready to be chopped down by God and thrown into the fire.  It does us no good to claim, “But Lord, my family has been Christian for generations and generations, in fact, my parents helped build this church,” for God can make for Himself children from stones. It does no good to say before the Almighty Holy God, “But I’ve been the best person that I could possibly be,” for both you and God know that it’s a lie. 

And so, John comes to us with that stern voice and long finger.  He looks you straight in the eye, places that boney finger right into your chest, and with his stern voice, bids you, “Repent.  Repent.  Prepare your heart for the coming Lord.  Judgment is coming.  And bear fruits in keeping with your repentance.  That is, if you’re a thief, stop your stealing.  If you’re an adulterer, stop your adultery.  If you’re a murderer, stop your murdering.  Christ is coming.  Examine yourself in the mirror of God’s Law and see who you are.  It won’t be pretty; if you take a good look, you’re not going to like what’s glaring back at you.  Take a long look at the Ten Commandments.  What sinfulness dwells in your heart?  What evil have you done with your hands, eyes, and mouth? What idols have you made that compete with God for your trust?  Have you gladly come and heard and learned God’s Word or is church and Bible Study just one more thing on the laundry list of things to do that can be put aside as easily as running an errand to the bank?  Are there people you’ve failed to help, support, and love?  Repent.”

John’s sermon is stern but it’s exactly what we need to hear especially now in our point in history.  Repent and turn from your sin.  Don’t act as if it’s no big deal.  Don’t keep on sinning with a smile on your face, but live in the forgiveness that you’ve been given. 

Repentance is the rhythm of the Christian life, it’s something we do each and every day, for we sin each and every day and we sin much.  But, lest you think true repentance is only about telling God what you have done, Christian repentance has two parts, there are two sides to this coin.  First, we dig up the blackened coal of our sin, offer them to God as a sacrifice of a broken heart in our confession, and then, the coin flips to the other side as faith receives what Christ has done about your sinfulness. 

And that’s the second part of John’s Sermon.  John doesn’t leave us to languish in the Law.  He moves from the accusing voice of the Law to the sweet voice of the Gospel. Having confessed your sins in repentance and faith in Christ’s bleeding and dying for you sinfulness on the cross; living out the Baptismal life of a Christian, John removes that boney finger from your chest and points to He whose sandals even he’s not worth to stoop down and untie.  He takes that long finger of accusation, having terrified you with the Law and points you to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Where, as the text says, see our salvation.  Who takes away your sinfulness.  Every bit of it.  He carries the sins of which you’re unaware, and the sins that seem to follow you like a shadow.

            But Jesus comes into this world, not to heap a burden of God’s damning Law onto your back, but to remove it from you.  He comes to take your sinfulness, your idolatry, your despising of God’s Word, your careless regard for your neighbor and heaps it upon His back.  He caries the load, He bears your sin.  He carries it to the cross, where the Lamb of God is sacrificed for you, for every venomous word you ever said, for every poisonous deed you ever committed, for the venomous bite that has corrupted your nature that we call original sin.  Our Lord Jesus takes them as if they belong to Him, and wonder of wonders, if your sinfulness has been laid on the back of Jesus, then they’re not on you. 

            For you’re baptized and your head is still drenched with baptismal water, where your Old Adam was drowned.  In the waters of baptism, a great gift exchange has taken place.  Your sinfulness was taken from you and placed on Jesus and the very righteousness of Jesus was given to you.  Everything that Jesus has suffered and died to win for the world is imputed, is given to you in your baptism.

Now, standing in the forgiveness of Jesus that He has won for you on the cross and gives to you in Baptism, you can stand before the Almighty Judge who is coming to judge the living and the dead without fear.  For in Christ and His bloody sacrifice He has made for you on the cross, and only in crucified and risen Christ, not even God Himself can find guilt in you.  For when He sees you, beloved in the Lord, He sees His Son.

            This is also exactly what we need to hear in our day, in our time: that Jesus comes for sinners, so if you would rather hang onto your sin in unrepentance, then I have nothing for you; I’ll pray that God works repentance in your heart.  But for those, like the crowds who come out to John, who are hurting, who are terrified of what God thinks of them, who look into that mirror and would rather have the mountains cover them than face the Almighty God, I have the greatest news such a burdened soul could hear:  this Jesus, who bears the sins of the world, is the Jesus who bears your sin.  The sacrifice that He has made, He did it for you.  The burden of sin, shame, and guilt that He lifts, He lifts it off of you.  Behold the Lamb of God who bears your sin to the cross and dies, all for you.

            True repentance is confessing our sins and having faith in Christ who has removed our sins; these two parts of Christian repentance go together.  We repent of our sins and sinfulness, but never in despair.  For we also have been given faith that, as we live out our Christian Baptismal life, we have a God who suffers and dies for each and every drop of venom that infects you and has dripped from your lips.

            Christianity is a religion of historical events.  And these things that took place so long ago could not be more relevant in our day and time.  John the Baptist’s boney finger still points directly at our chests, each and every day, and that stern voice still  calls to us repentance; and that boney finger, still points to the One who has taken away your sin; and that  soothing voice of the Gospel still rings out like a finely tuned bell.  It sounds harsh and sweet at the same time, but that’s the way God’s Word is.  It condemns with the Law and frees with the Gospel. 

            Let us ever live in that baptismal life, of repentance and faith; trusting in the Lamb of God who makes the crooked paths of our hearts straight, the valley of our sin filled with His righteousness, and the rough places of our soul a level way for His coming.  Amen.

            The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life ever lasting.  Amen.

Rev. Mark Chepulis