“Who are you?” This simple question can actually be quite complex. It is easily answered with your name or where you are from. I am Mason Beecroft and I am an American. Sometimes we respond with our job or vocation. I am a pastor. Or I am an engineer or lawyer or whatever else it is that we do to make a living. We almost always define ourselves based on our name and our livelihood. Beyond these somewhat immediate, typical, and superficial responses, however, this question can be quite profound. It possesses the ability to probe the farthest reaches of our soul. “Who are you?” In other words, who are you at the very depths of your person? Who are you when nobody else is around? What gives you satisfaction in this life? What makes you anxious and uncertain? Why are you lonely and dissatisfied? Are you committed to someone or something? Where do your loyalties reside? What compels you to action? Why do you do the things that you do? Why do you choose not to do certain things? Indeed, this question can be complex. If we ask it of ourselves and want to give an honest answer, then we are forced to confront the reality of our identity with all the good and the bad. Perhaps this is why we rarely consider it at length and rather settle with the expected, yet glib and uninteresting response of our name and our job.

“Who are you?” In our Gospel lesson this morning, this is a loaded question. The priests and Levites come to the banks of the Jordan to get the scoop on John the Baptist. They ask him the question, and they want to know more than just his name. They already knew the easy answers to this question. John’s father, Zechariah, was a priest from the line of Abijah, a family name with plenty of baggage from a tarnished history of wickedness. But this was not true of Zechariah. Zechariah had a reputation as a righteous, upstanding priest. And it is no stretch to say these priests and Levites who came to interrogate John the Baptist were aware of his ancestry. They knew he was John, the son of the faithful priest Zechariah. What they really wanted to know is why he was preaching and baptizing in the wilderness? Who did John think he was? Did he think he was the Messiah?

John does not shrink from their interrogation. He boldly confesses with no uncertainty that he is not the Christ, the anointed one of Israel. He does not allow them to think this for a second. Are you the prophet Elijah? There were expectations among some Jews that Elijah himself would appear prior to the coming Messiah. John responds, “I am not.” Perhaps you are the Prophet like Moses that God promised to raise up? John denies it, “No.” John’s refusal to make any such claims for himself leads to frustration for the religious leaders. “Who are you?” “Tell us who you are so that we can make our report!” So John the Baptist tells them who he is. He is the one that Isaiah promised, the voice crying in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord!” This did not clear up their confusion. If John was not the Christ, Elijah, or the Prophet, then he should not be baptizing people and calling them to repentance!  What authority does John have to claim a cleansing baptism? What authority does John have to call people to repentance? What authority does John have to talk about the approaching Kingdom of Heaven?

John responds by telling them that they are not only ignorant of who he is, but they are also ignorant of the One that is coming. It is bad enough they are confused about him. Even worse, they do not know the Messiah is in their midst. They do not know who He is and why He comes. This One is so great that John is not even worthy to untie his sandals! To the ears of the Levites and priests this would have been shocking. Unfastening sandals was the job of a slave. It was the lowest possible task. And John stated he was not even worthy of doing a slave’s job for the One who was coming! This is no hyperbole from John. He was right. He was not worthy of unfastening those sandals. In relation to this One, John was lower than a slave! This One was the King, the Messiah, the promised Prophet.

John’s identity was completely wrapped up in the One who was to come. While John was not Elijah, he filled the office of Elijah and functioned to prepare the way for the Messiah, just as Malachi had predicted. John was the forerunner of the Messiah. He was preparing the path for the King. In the ancient world, roads and paths were often rough, even blocked with trees, rocks, or other debris. There are ancient documents that describe how to prepare a road for a King or even a procession of idols. These documents would instruct the people how to get a road ready for the dignitary or festival. John operated in this way. He was the one who prepared the road for the coming King by preaching repentance and the nearness of the Kingdom of Heaven, and baptizing in the Jordan River. Of course, this King is Jesus. John prepared the way for Him and Jesus alone is truly important. Therefore, who John is does not really matter. John’s identity is only important in its relation to Jesus. St. Augustine remarked that John’s voice only spoke for a while, but Christ is the eternal Word in the beginning. John the Baptist must decrease, but Jesus must increase.

This was important for John and it is important for us. Jesus is the Word who was with God in the beginning and who is God (Jn 1:1). Jesus is the Word become flesh who dwelt among us, the only begotten of the Father (Jn 1:14). Jesus is the Prophet promised in Deuteronomy. Jesus’ words come from the Father. Jesus’ words give eternal life. Jesus the Prophet speaks, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:5). Listen to these words and remember your Holy Baptism when your filth was washed away and the Spirit gave you new birth to life everlasting! Jesus the Prophet says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (Jn 5:24). Listen to Jesus and believe that He is the one who has come from the Father for your salvation. Jesus proclaims, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves” (Jn 6:53). Listen to the words of Jesus the Prophet and eat His holy body and drink His blood with the sure knowledge that Jesus nourishes you with His life. Jesus the Prophet came to proclaim the true word that He Himself is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus alone gives access to the Father and the benefits of eternal life. This is because Jesus alone was the One who was lifted up from the earth on the cross to draw all men to Himself. Jesus alone was the One that cried out, “It is finished.” And Jesus alone was the One that rose from the dead and now tells us, “Peace be with you.” Listen to these words of the Prophet Jesus, words that endure to eternity because He is the eternal Word!

This is Jesus, but who are you? We all have given names. We all have jobs and vocations. But again, the question, who are you? Like John the Baptist, you are not the Christ. Yet so many live their lives and spend their energies as if they are their own Messiah, as if they can secure redemption through their own hard work, good deeds, and just generally being nice. We know this is the height of folly. So we pause and reflect, who are you?  If you reflect on this question with a measure of seriousness, then you will undoubtedly gain some understanding into why you do the things you do and what motivates and compels you in this life. Your reflections will give insight about what you consider to be important and meaningful. If you examine yourself according to the Word of Jesus the Prophet, then you will find dark places in your soul and life, places you do not like to venture and places others have never seen. Such an examination according to the Word of God should strip away the false identities we present to those around us. We will find idols; we will find hatred and lust; we will find jealousy and covetousness; and we will find arrogance and self-righteousness. We are all complex people; diseased with a sinful nature, formed by both the good and evil of our environments and experiences, and inextricably engaged in the unfathomable mysteries of human existence. But the importance of our identity does not really matter. Who you are is not the most important thing. Just as it was for John the Baptist, it is for us. Our identity matters only in how it relates to Jesus, the One who came to bring life and salvation to sinners like us. Our identity must be wrapped up in Jesus, the eternal Word of God. For it is in Jesus and His Words that we are forgiven; we are holy; we are righteous; we are redeemed; and we are resurrected.

And even as we admit that we are not as important as we would like to make ourselves, that Jesus is the most important thing, our Lord Jesus, the Prophet, speaks of our importance. The One whose sandals we are not worthy to untie, stoops down to serve us, undoing our sin and death. This fourth Sunday in Advent is also called rorate coeli in the Christian Church, which translated is “rain down you heavens.” Today, the clouds are dark and threatening, not with judgment for us, but with salvation. Isaiah’s words in the introit cry out, “Rain down you heavens from above, and let the skies pour down the Righteous One; Let the earth open her womb, and bring forth Salvation.” And as we gather this morning, we are mindful to look to the skies because they will soon open up and pour down the Righteous One, who is Jesus our Lord. We, fallen human beings, are so important to the Father that He gave His one and only Son. This Friday we will celebrate that gift, the Son of God become man! He descended into the womb of Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit. On the Nativity of Our Lord, we will celebrate Christmas, or the Christ mass, when the womb of Mary was opened to bring forth Jesus, Immanuel—“God with us,” for our salvation! We were so important, in spite of the depths and complexities of our sin, that God took on human flesh to save us from the bonds of sin and death! So who are you? You are baptized into Christ Jesus. And in Jesus you are the Redeemed of the Lord. You are a Christian, a little Christ. You are Jesus’ brother. You are a child of the Heavenly Father. You are a temple of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus you are important beyond your wildest imagination. You belong to Jesus now and forever! This is who you are. So rejoice, rejoice. +INJ+

From before he was born, John the Baptist was bearing witness to Jesus. When Blessed Mary, pregnant with our Lord, visited Elizabeth, the Holy Spirit worked in John, in utero, and he leaped in the presence of the incarnate Christ. At six months in the womb, John pointed to Jesus. This was God’s call on John, from conception to death; to prepare the way of the Lord.

This is exactly what John did. Donning his camel hair coat and leather belt with a lunchbox full of locusts and honey, John went to work in the wilderness. He preached God’s Law and called the people to repentance. He reminded the gathered crowds, “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” He told the people what they needed to hear, namely, that they were marked with sin and iniquity. Their lives were like our bermuda grass in the winter. Their lives were like a cut flower out in this cold. They would not last. Their sins would bring death. They were in need of the deliverance that could come only through the Word of God that endures forever. So John proclaimed the impending arrival of the Messiah. To prepare His way John preached repentance and baptized sinners.

When Jesus then arrived on the banks of the Jordan, John pointed and proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” There, next to those muddy waters, stood the Word of God in the flesh. In that unlikely place and in that unlikely person from Nazareth was the whole Kingdom of Heaven. By grace, John the Baptist knew Jesus was the Messiah. Then, to prepare Jesus for His ministry, John baptized Jesus. John, of course, was initially reluctant. He knew it was unseemly for such a sinner to baptize the One who was sinless. Yet His Lord told him it was necessary to fulfill all righteousness and so John was obedient. At the moment of Jesus’ baptism, the Father proclaimed, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased,” and the Holy Spirit descended. John the Baptist was given a glimpse into the mystery the Most Holy Trinity, and so began the public ministry of the Son of God, the Word in the flesh. John the Baptist had prepared the way for the Lord. He had gone out into the wilderness. At the right time, he bravely proclaimed repentance for sins, even to the powerful and privileged, there on the banks of Jordan River. John the Baptist had been faithful and obedient.

It seems strange then, that some three years later, John, now in prison would have grown suspicious about Jesus’ identity as the Messiah. He had publicly declared Jesus as the Messiah, the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world, which included his sins as well. John had heard the reports about Jesus’ ministry. Jesus had been giving the blind their sight, giving the deaf their hearing, making the lame walk, cleansing lepers, and raising the dead. All of these miracles demonstrated Jesus’ power over sin and death and hell. But John had known all this about Jesus his entire life, from even before birth. So why would John the Baptist call his disciples to his cell and send them to Jesus with the question, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Was John really confused? Had John become disenchanted with Jesus and His ministry? Or perhaps John was upset about the difficult circumstances of his own ministry?

When we hear this account, it is so easy for us to project our own faith on John the Baptist. If we found ourselves in prison for the sake of the Word of God, then we would certainly question the purposes of our Lord. If we had to suffer for the Gospel, then we would be confused about Jesus. I imagine John’s disciples were similar to us.  “Yeah, John, is this Jesus really the one? If so, then things better change soon!” The hard demands of faithfulness to Christ and His Kingdom make us uncomfortable so we assume it would be the same for John the Baptist. Too often we suppose the Christian faith to be warm and easy. We like to imagine we can be disciples of Jesus apart from the cross and suffering and repentance. Christianity then becomes nothing more than a set of ethical principles to help us toward worldly goals like self-actualization, wealth, happiness, and personal success. Faith is merely a tool to help us deal with our fear of death and promise us good things now and in eternity from some genie in the bottle deity. Hardship and suffering and persecution are not part of our equation. So if we found ourselves in John the Baptist’s predicament, then we would most definitely be confused, upset, and full of doubts.

However this is not the case for John the Baptist. Luther writes, “It is evident John knew very well that Jesus was he that should come, for he had baptized him and testified that Christ was the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, and he had also seen the Holy Spirit descending upon him as a dove, and heard the voice from heaven: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ … Why then did John ask this question? Answer: It was not done without good reasons In the first place, it is certain that John asked it for the sake of his disciples, as they did not yet hold Christ to be the one he really was. And John did not come in order to make disciples and draw the people to himself, but to prepare the way for Christ, to lead everybody to Christ and to make all the people subject to him.”

The life and ministry of John the Baptist was to prepare the way for Jesus Christ, the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. So he sent his disciples to Jesus. He sent them to the Greater One. John the Baptist knew that he must decrease and Christ must increase. John the Baptist and his ministry had to diminish. His disciples should not be his disciples, but they needed to be disciples of Jesus. This is why John the Baptist sends them to Jesus with the question, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” John the Baptist knew that Jesus was the Son of God and there would not be another. His disciples, however, did not yet know this. It was necessary for them to know and believe in Jesus and so John sent them on their way. There Jesus reported to them what John already knew. Jesus was reversing the effects of sin and death and hell. He had the power of the Creator because through Him all things were made. Jesus was the Son of God in the flesh. Jesus Christ is the Word that will stand forever. So John the Baptist, once again, prepared the way of the Lord by sending his disciples to Jesus.

As John’s disciples left, Jesus addressed the crowd concerning John. “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,”‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’” John the Baptist was not weak, fickle, and faithless. He was not a reed shaken in the wind. He did not abandon the Word of God for worldly pleasures and comforts. He was not in doubt about Jesus. No. He was the promised forerunner. He was God’s messenger who would prepare the way for Christ. He prepared the way for Christ in the womb of Elizabeth. He prepared the way for Christ on the banks of the Jordan. He prepared the way for Christ from Herod’s jail.

John the Baptist even continues to prepare the way for Christ through the liturgy of the church. In the Agnus Dei, his words from the Jordan sound forth from our lips, “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus the Messiah, who was incarnate in the womb of Mary, joins us in this place. Jesus, the Son of God, who stood at the banks of the Jordan and was there baptized, enters into our midst. We are directed to the altar, where the very body and blood of Jesus Christ are present in the mystery of Holy Communion. The Holy Body that hung broken on the cross at Calvary and the Holy Blood that poured forth from His precious wounds nourish us with forgiveness and salvation through the bread and wine of the Eucharist. Just as he did in his life on this earth, John the Baptist continues to point us to Jesus Christ, because He alone is our life and salvation.

Jesus Christ is the Word of God that will stand forever. We cannot listen to any person who would direct our attention elsewhere. Preachers, prophets, priests, and politicians who would point us to themselves, their charisma, their ideas, their philosophies, their promises, or, even worse, teach us to look inside ourselves, only point us to death and destruction. They are no servants of Christ, but servants of their own ends. They are not stewards of the mysteries of Christian faith, but stewards of their own earthly kingdoms. Neither can we place our hopes and dreams in the disordered desires of our decaying flesh or the vanishing things of this dying world. These things will not endure. This life will end. Our accumulations will rust and be destroyed. We need a savior from sin and death.

Only Jesus Christ can make us stand in the midst of sin and death. John the Baptist knew this and so pointed people to Jesus. His ministry continues in the Holy Christian Church where the Gospel is proclaimed and the Sacraments are administered. These point to Jesus. For in Jesus Christ there is eternal life, an inheritance that will endure forever and ever.  In our baptismal waters, Jesus Christ, the Word of God that will stand forever, joined us to Himself by the power of His Word. Jesus gave to us the forgiveness He won by His death and the certain promise of His resurrection from the dead unto life everlasting. This is why Jesus could tell the crowds, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” We, born not only of woman, but also of water and Spirit, the least in the kingdom of heaven, are greater than John the Baptist. We are greater because we have been joined to Jesus Christ. Our faith and life, then, is all about Jesus Christ our Lord. In Christ, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Even in the midst of trial and hardship, sickness and suffering, tragedy and heartache, Christ comforts, comforts us with the tender and certain promise that He will deliver us through death to life everlasting. He will end our warfare and pardon our iniquity. So behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, even ours!

The italicized words were inspired by a sermon written by Rev. Mark Buetow. I take the blame for their adjustment and everything else, of course.

Today, December 6, is St. Nicholas Day. When we lived in Germany, we participated in their custom of placing our shoes outside the door in hopes of finding them filled with goodies the next morning. According to German tradition, St. Nicholas went from house to house during the night of December 5, carrying a book in which all the children’s deeds are written. If the kids have been good, he fills their shoe with fruits, nuts and candies. If not, they may find potatoes, coal, or twigs. We always got a few twigs for good measure.

In America, St. Nicholas has been transformed into Santa Claus. He is a plump, white-bearded man in a red suit, who lives up at the North Pole with Mrs. Claus, some elves and reindeer, and an endless supply of the latest toys. On Christmas Eve, he gets on his reindeer-drawn sleigh, led by Rudolph, and then lands on rooftops, drops down chimneys, and spreads gifts underneath our Christmas Trees. He is nourished by cookies and milk. Of course, he also has a list, and he is checking it twice, to see who has been naughty and who has been nice.

The original story of Santa Claus, however, begins with a boy named Nicholas, who was born in the third century in a small village on the southern coast of Turkey. His family was quite wealthy and he was privileged. The members of his family were also devout Christians and they raised Nicholas according to the faith. Sadly, his parents died in an epidemic while he was still a young boy. Yet even as a young boy, Nicholas took seriously Jesus’ words to “sell what you own and give the money to the poor” and believed “heaven and earth” would pass away but Jesus’ words would not. So he sold his whole inheritance to help the needy, the sick and the suffering. Nicholas then dedicated his entire life to serving God and was subsequently made the Bishop of Myra while still quite young. He became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need and for his care of children.

On February 23, 303, in the middle of Nicholas’ ministry, the Roman Emperor Diocletian initiated a most severe persecution of Christians. He ordered the destruction of the church in Nicomedia, the burning of its scriptures, and the seizing of its treasures. This was the first step in his plan to eliminate Christianity from the Roman Empire. Diocletian considered the refusal of the Christians to offer sacrifices to the local gods to be treasonous. And so he ordered the persecution of the Christians, especially their bishops and priests and deacons. Bishop Nicholas was no exception. He suffered for the faith. He was exiled and imprisoned.

Until his death on this day in 343, however, Nicholas continued to serve the people of Myra as their bishop. He was known to be a servant of God, a true shepherd of the people, always caring for their needs. His active pursuit of justice for his people was demonstrated when he secured grain in time of famine, saved the lives of three men wrongly condemned, and secured lower taxes. He faithfully preached the Gospel and lived out his faith and devotion to Christ in helping all in need.

There are many stories about Nicholas. Typically, Nicholas is symbolized with three bags of gold in honor of his care for three young women. Their family was quite poor and could not afford a dowry for any of their marriages. As such, they were destined for servanthood and lives of poverty. Legend has it that Nicholas recognized their plight, and in the dark of night, threw a bag of gold into their house on three consecutive nights, each time landing in one of the girls’ stockings at the fireplace. This is where we derive our Christmas tradition of filling stockings hung at the fireplace. For those three girls, they were thus given a dowry and rescued from a life of toil.

My favorite account of Nicholas comes from his actions at the Council of Nicea. In the year 325, Emperor Constantine had convened a gathering of some 300 bishops from all over Christendom to debate the teachings of an Egyptian bishop, Arius. Arius had been teaching that Jesus the Son was a creature, not equal to God the Father. This threatened the essential claims of Christianity. As Arius argued for his position before the assembly, Nicholas became so incensed at his heresy that he walked up and slapped Arius in the face. Arius had defamed Jesus Christ, his Lord, and so jolly old St. Nick smacked him.  Needless to say, such a violent reaction, even against a heretic, was not well received by the rest of the bishops. Nicholas was immediately defrocked and imprisoned. However during the night, tradition tells us the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Nicholas and/or the bishops and so he was reinstated the next day. He continued to faithfully serve the people of Myra until his death eighteen years later. His faithfulness as a shepherd of Christ’s flock is marked by our tradition of the candy cane, which is a symbol of a shepherd’s staff, or a bishop’s crozier.

Jesus says, “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away.” St. Nicholas believed our Lord’s words and so he devoted his entire life to His word. He knew that the wealth inherited from his parents was transitory. So he gave it to the poor. He believed Christ was worth everything. So he was imprisoned for his faith. He confessed that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh and deserved his total allegiance. So he punched Arius in the faith for speaking poorly of his savior. Even from a very young age, Nicholas lived in His baptismal grace, giving away the things of this world and living in devotion to Christ. So for nearly 1,700 years Christians have remembered St. Nicholas on this day, even though many cultures have transformed him into their own image.

For us, however, on this day, St. Nicholas reminds us of our Lord’s words and so we confess the truth that this world is passing away. The rush of another Christmas season reminds us of this truth. It seems as if we just celebrated Christmas and now the trees, lights, parties, and festivities are again upon us. Then, before we know it, it will all be gone. The family will leave, the presents will be forgotten, and the decorations will be put in the attic. Similarly, this world is passing away. It will not be long before everything around is us gone, destroyed, vanished at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. For the world, this will be a shock, a terrible day of judgment and fear.

Our problem is we don’t believe this world is passing away. Too often we live as if this is it. We live as if this life is all there is. So we worry about how we’re going to be comfortable and happy and have enough stuff or get what we want. We live as if the most important things are the things we can buy and the worst problems we have are wishing we had the things we don’t. We live as if the most important things are the things that pass away and we neglect the most important things, the ones that never pass away: such as Christ and His Word. The way the world celebrates Christmas is a great example. What’s most important is what we can buy and accumulate even though it’s soon forgotten or neglected and tossed in the back of the closet. While only Christ’s Word preached and eaten will last forever, our sinful nature would lead us to cling to fashionable, trendy things that will disappear. So this Advent we are called to repent for Christ’s return is at hand. It is closer now than even in the days of St. Nicholas.

“Straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Pay attention to the Son of Man so that when He comes again on the clouds, you will receive Him in faith, just as you receive His enduring word in faith. Look now to Jesus because His redemption is drawing near. Jesus has conquered your sin and death. Jesus has claimed you as His child through Baptism. Jesus has secured your redemption and so look to Him. Lift up your heads. The nations cannot lift their heads up before the Lord for they remain in their sins and fear. They will be downcast on that great and terrible day. But there is no need for us to be in fear. We can receive our Lord Jesus with our heads held high, certainly not because of anything we have done, but because His words will never pass away. Jesus’ words on you at Holy Baptism, “You are mine,” will not pass away. Jesus’ words in Holy Absolution, “For my sake, your sins are forgiven,” will not pass away. Jesus’ words in the Holy Supper, “Take, eat, this is my body” and “Take, drink, this is my blood shed for you,” will not pass away. So lift up your heads.

“Stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” We live in this fallen world and are lives are marked by hardship and adversity. Our circumstances may not be as difficult as St. Nicholas’, but our flesh, this world, and Satan still afflict us. Now if you happen to be in a season of calm and comfort, then give thanks to the Lord. But do not fall asleep. Be awake and stay faithful because “all these things” dictate that your faith in Jesus needs to be strong. Gather here in the Divine Service, praying to God through Christ Jesus so that you may be strengthened in the faith. Gather in prayer so that you can always be reoriented to that which is truly important, your life in Christ that will endure forever.  So, like St. Nicholas, keep your eyes open and directed to Jesus. Listen to His words, words that can never pass away, and you will be ready to stand before the Son of Man. His words guarantee forgiveness of sins; His words mean life and salvation. Jesus even speaks those words to you today, St. Nicholas Day, December 6, 2009, in this place, from this altar, at this rail. INJ

Humans are religious by nature. This is evident in the diverse number of religions practiced throughout the world. Human history and experience reveals a vast pantheon of gods and goddesses. This all points to an innate human desire for an object of worship. It also reveals a human recognition that there is something more. Humans search for salvation and redemption. Even atheistic humanists are not immune. They merely worship humanity and search for salvation in human designs. All human beings have their gods. The real question, of course, is does the god really exist? Or is the god merely the construct of a deceived imagination?

While we humans are religious by nature, we are also idolatrous. We make gods in our own image. We construct gods that we can control or appease. We seek gods that provide a salvation we desire, or god that exist to bless our personal wants. Left to our own devices, we will create gods of all shapes and sizes. None of these gods, however, have anything to do with reality. They are merely coping mechanisms, projections of our own selves, figments of finite, weak minds.

Thankfully, the true and living God has not left us to our own devices. He has not remained silent, forever hidden in the heavens. Rather, God has spoken. He has disclosed Himself. The only true and living God has revealed Himself as the Most Holy Trinity. Last week, we reflected on the work of the Holy Trinity in creation and sustaining all creation as the Father creates through the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. Tonight, we reflect on the redemptive work of the Holy Trinity.

The creation and subsequent fall of humanity into sin and death established the need for redemption. The fallen human person is diseased and in need of a cure. So like a loving parent, the Holy Trinity provided the cure. The fallen human is broken and needs to be fixed. So like an artist that loves what has been created, the Holy Trinity provided the fix. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, is the cure and fix for sin and death. Jesus Christ is our redemption and salvation.

Throughout the Old Testament scriptures, the Holy Trinity was promising this redemption and salvation through the advent of the Messiah. “In many and various ways, God spoke to His people of old through the prophets, but now in these last days He has spoken to us through His Son” (Heb. 1:1). The fulfillment of God’s promises are realized in Jesus Christ, incarnate in the womb of Mary, born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, crucified and resurrected in Jerusalem, and ascended into heaven. St. Paul writes, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal 4:4-6). The Father sent the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. At His Baptism, the heavens opened and the Father spoke as the Spirit descended, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22). The Father was pleased with the Son because in the Spirit He had taken on humanity to redeem humanity from sin and death. The Father was most pleased with the Son, however, not at the Jordan River, but on the cross of Calvary. There and then Christ purchased the redemption of humanity with His broken body and shed blood, His innocent suffering and death for sinners.

In the sublime mystery of Good Friday, the Son commends the Spirit to the Father. There is a disruption in the Godhead as the Son bears the eternal weight of condemnation for sin and death. “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Mark 15:34) The Son takes on our unrighteousness and is forsaken by the Father. “I am thirsty” (John 19:36). The Spirit departs from the Son as He bears our judgment. The Most Holy Trinity accomplished our salvation on that dark Friday and sealed it through the resurrection of the Son by the Spirit, thus proclaiming the sacrifice was well-pleasing to the Father.

As Christians, we can think of God in no other way than He has revealed Himself to us as the Most Holy Trinity. To make God into some generic, abstract principle or spirit, denying the Triune Name, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, would be to make an idol and amount to a denial of our redemption. After all, our redemption was secured in the Father sending the Son in the flesh by the Spirit to redeem sinners. This is the whole story of Holy Scripture. And this redemption came to us in the waters of Holy Baptism “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19). At the font, the “goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, and he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” We continue in this baptismal faith every time we gather and God places His name on us, “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” We continue in this baptismal faith when we confess our faith in the words of the creeds of the church.

The Most Holy Trinity brought us into His life by the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Word to create faith in Jesus Christ, the Son, who gives us access to the Father. St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Through Christ we have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph 2:17). St Irenaeus, in the third century, wrote, “ Without the Spirit it is not possible to hold the Word of God nor without the Son can any draw near to the Father, for the knowledge of the Father is the Son and the knowledge of the Son of God is through the Holy Spirit.” There is no redemption apart from the Most Holy Trinity. Martin Luther, in his Large Catechism, writes, “As we have explained before, we could never come to recognize the Father’s favor and grace were it not for the Lord Christ, who is a mirror of the Father’s heart. Apart from him we see nothing but an angry and terrible Judge. But neither could we know anything of Christ, had it not been revealed by the Holy Spirit.” There is no redemption apart from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Yet by the Holy Spirit, working through the Word of the Gospel, we are enlightened to the love of the Father for us through Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God’s love for you in Christ is beyond comprehension. Yet it is not beyond faith. You are a child of the Most Holy Trinity, through your Holy Baptism in that strong name of the Trinity. “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:6) You belong to the Father through the Son and by the Holy Spirit and so your redemption is secure. Your sin is forgiven. Your death is destroyed. Your salvation is eternal. +INJ+

This comes from A. Daniel Frankforter’s book, “Stones for Bread.”

“If worship is to flourish, churches must constantly critique what they do in the name of worship. But they must do so for the right reasons. When worship reforms are driven by a desire to grow a congregation rather than improve it (through strengthening its awareness of the reality of God), a church begins to turn itself into a theater. It may mount a show that draws a crowd, but to no very serious purpose.

American churches are exposed to powerful temptations to make themselves appealing by misrepresenting the Christian faith. Since they are voluntary organizations whose survival depends on their ability to recruit members in a highly competitive market, their leaders tend to develop a business mentality. They fixate on ‘the bottom line’ and strive to maintain ‘market share’ by ditching old ‘products’ and experimenting with new packaging. Seldom do they take seriously Jesus’ warning that the message he sends them to preach is not designed to make the apostles popular.

Ecclesiastical journals are full of advice for revitalizing shrinking churches. Much of it is based on the work of pollsters and seers who  claim to be adept at discovering what the potential new consumer (i.e., the unchurched public) wants. Their usual suggestions are to fire the organist, hire a rock band, burn the vestments, and take an ax to the pulpit. They blame the falloff in church membership on outdated worship styles and promise growth to any parish that narrows the gap between its worship and the entertainments that enrich other purveyors of American popular culture.

Oddly, however, only a small percentage of people who leave churches say that discontent with traditional worship is the reason for their departure. Most simply dismiss the church as an irrelevant organization whose only function is to perpetuate itself. Such cynicism is encouraged by evangelistic programs that concentrate on growing congregations rather than transforming them. Recruits become seriously disillusioned when they begin to suspect that their church values them less for themselves than as trophies of its success.

The church must meet the challenge of demonstrating its relevance to a skeptical and unredeemed world, and this requires it to speak to the concerns of those whom it hopes to convert in languages they understand. But the church must be mindful of the dangers it faces when it engages the world. A congregation can easily attract the unconverted to its services if it allows them to dictate the terms under which they come. but ultimately such a church may cease to be a church, for it finds that it is preaching nothing that the worldly do not already know.”

In a pastoral letter sent on the festival of St. Andrew, Apostle, President Kieschnick  offered evangelical encouragement for pastors to  ”take note of the ‘Theses on Worship’ adopted unanimously by the Council of Presidents in September.” Well, I have taken note and, while I am pleased the discussion is taking place, I find them to be insufficient, mostly because they do not really say anything. It is really no wonder there was unanimous agreement on the COP. The theses are bland enough to be palatable to most, which is precisely what should make them distasteful. I want to reflect on thesis five, which states, “Great care is necessary in choosing forms, rites, and ceremonies because they either support or hinder true worship. There are no ‘neutral’ forms.”

My main issue with this thesis, and the entire document for that matter, is that while it recognizes there are no “neutral” forms, it does not discuss how forms, rites, or ceremonies inform or reflect our sacramental confession of faith. While there has always been liturgical diversity within Christendom, forms, rites, and ceremonies among sacramental Christians have also been consistently appropriate to their belief that the Most Holy Trinity is present, speaking, washing, and feeding His people with His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. As such, our liturgical forms, rites, and ceremonies have been marked by reverence, formality, and complexity, drawing the faithful into the profound, sublime, and transcendent mysteries of the Christian faith. In the Christian assembly, the risen and ascended Christ fulfills His promise to be with His Body always, to the very end of the age through the means of the Sacramental Word, Sacramental Water, and Sacramental Meal. In these gifts, Christ accomplishes His mission of salvation in us and for us. Through these gifts, Christ transforms our minds into His mind and sends us out into the world. Ite, Missa Est. Depart, you are sent forth in your lay apostolate. Now if we believe Jesus Christ is really, truly, and bodily present in our midst, doing His redemptive work, then our liturgical forms, rites, and ceremonies must reflect this reality.

I have been asked to present at the model theological conference on worship in St. Louis this January. My assigned topic is “Toward a Theology of Worship: Missional and Vocational.” My central argument is that a theology of worship that is missional and vocational must be sacramental. If we confess that Christ is present with us and for us, then our worship must reflect this confession. Our worship forms, rites, and ceremonies must reflect the biblical reality of being in the presence of God. Our worship forms, rites, and ceremonies should teach us to behave like Moses at the burning bush, Aaron in the Holy of Holies, Paul in the Third Heaven, and John in the Apocalypse. Our liturgical forms, rites, and ceremonies must be capable of bearing the weight of our sacramental confession.

Liturgical forms, rites, and ceremonies borrowed from modern evangelical sources effectively deny this confession of the real presence of Christ. They disembody the Christian faith, renting asunder form and content with their tragic, twisted syncretism of Cartesian, Docetic, and Gnostic principles. They relegate Jesus to some distant, far-off heaven where He is seated at the right hand of some old man on a jeweled stool. Worship is then focused on the affective, heart-felt response of the subject rather than the objective presence of Christ. Non-sacramental worship forms, rites, and ceremonies create an emotional atmosphere meant to manipulate the individual into believing the Spirit is at work because they can feel His presence. This is something, but it is not Lutheran. Of course few Lutherans would agree to using worship experiences to that end, but I could easily offer examples of congregations that employ such non-sacramental forms, rites, and ceremonies, which effectively deny the real presence of Christ. Now I do believe those who use such liturgies are doing so out of the desire to reach people with the Gospel. I will not argue with their motives. They are certainly missional, but also misguided. Any discussion of worship in the LCMS must come back to the question, “Is the risen and ascended Christ present in our midst?” If the answer is yes, then our liturgical forms, rites, and ceremonies must reflect this reality. While the LSB is not perfect, it does serve to keep us within the sacramental confession of our Evangelical Catholic faith. Any hope that the LCMS possesses for renewal and revitalization will be found in Christ, sacramentally in our midst at the font, the pulpit, and altar. Enough of a note for an ordinary Tuesday afternoon.

This group is very good. I would recommend the album, “I and Love and You.” Here is the video for the title track.

We had our Divine Service on Tuesday evening, which we found to work well with everyone’s of the travel plans.

Thanksgiving is all about food. Of course there are other things associated with the holiday. Family and football and naps are important, but Thanksgiving is really about the food. The cable TV can go out and you can still have Thanksgiving. You can be separated from your family and you can still have Thanksgiving. But you cannot skip the feast of turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberries, potatoes, casseroles, and pies and still have Thanksgiving. You could sit at table full of strangers without any football games, but if all the right food was there you would never doubt that you celebrated Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving in America is really all about the food.

Thanksgiving in the Church is also all about the food, albeit a heavenly food. It is the Eucharist, which comes from the Greek for “thanks.” God’s spread, His Eucharistic feast, is a little white wafer and common wine. Can you imagine your shock and disappointment if someone served you a Thanksgiving dinner of only some tasteless discs of bread and a shot of cream sherry? How many of you would stick around for the reception tonight if Lisa served rolls of white wafers and some wine you would never serve at your own table? Yet faith informs us that the finest feast we eat this side of eternity consists of such bread and wine. Of course it is not mere bread and wine, but sanctified by the Word of God it becomes the Holy Body and Holy Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the mystery of faith, our Risen Lord’s body, broken on the cross, fills our bellies with His salvation; and our Risen Lord’s blood, poured out on the wooden beams and soil of Calvary, quenches our thirst with His forgiveness. Our Confessions, speaking to this mystery, state, “in the Lord’s Supper the body and blood of Christ are truly and substantially present and are truly offered with those things that are seen, bread and wine. Moreover, we are talking about the presence of the living Christ, for we know that death no longer has dominion over him (Rom. 6:9).” This confession of faith is a scandal to the modern, rational, spiritually blind person. The notion that we kneel at this rail, believing our Redeemer is present for us in bread and wine, effecting forgiveness and salvation for us, is a stumbling block for many, but we must thank God for it.

We must thank God for this gift of the Eucharist because we do not want to be like those nine lepers. Remember, there were ten lepers who had cried out to Jesus, “Lord, have mercy.” And Jesus had mercy. It is what Jesus does for people. He cured them of their leprosy, a miracle equivalent with the resurrection of the dead. Jesus healed their dead, decaying flesh. Jesus gave them a new life. Jesus restored them to their families, friends, and community. But only one of the ten returned to Jesus. Only one fell down on his face before Jesus, the Son of God, and offered thanks for the mercy shown to him. This caused Jesus to ask, “Were not ten cleansed? The other nine… where are they?” Why aren’t they praising God with a loud voice? Why aren’t they falling down on their faces? The answer is obvious. They did not know really know Jesus and the power of His Word, even though they had experienced a great miracle. If they had known, they would have returned in faith to Jesus, and offered thanks. But they were thankless. And to be thankless is to be faithless.

When we gather around our Lord’s Word and the mysteries of faith, then we are giving thanks. We are thanksgiving. This is the right response to Christ’s mercy on us. In Holy Baptism, Jesus has shown us mercy. He washed away our sins and joined us to the power of His death and resurrection. So we return to Him with thanks. We do not want to be thankless. Remember, to be thankless is to be faithless. So we meet Jesus where He has promised to be with us always, in His Holy Word and His Holy Communion. In these gifts, Jesus is present for us. We are thankful for them. We are thankful because He continues to heal our leprosy, the sin and death that infects each of us. While our skin may not be scabbed and flaking off, the symptoms of our leprosy are evident in the many ways we fail to love God and love our neighbor. Faith teaches that Jesus alone can heal our flesh, so we come to Him and shout, “Lord, have mercy on us.” He does. This is what Jesus does for sinners. Jesus has mercy. Jesus even works the merciful miracle of joining His Holy Body to tasteless bread and His Holy Blood to bitter wine. Every Lord’s Supper that we celebrate is a miracle, no less than the miracles that Jesus did during His days on earth. Every Lord’s Supper that we celebrate is a miracle equivalent to healing lepers and resurrecting the dead. In fact, every Lord’s Supper is a miraculous healing of our leprosy and a nourishment of our bodies unto the resurrection. St. Irenaeus wrote, that our bodies, “when they receive the sacrament, are no longer corruptible, because they have the hope of the resurrection.” Our flesh is healed. Our life is restored. So we are here this evening, just like every other time we gather at the Lord’s Table, to give thanks for our Lord’s mercy us, and, as we receive His miraculous gift of mercy in the Eucharist, we leave with our bodies and souls nourished by His holy feast with His words ringing our ears, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” Happy Thanksgiving. Indeed.

December ushers in a season of expectation. Our minds are filled with Hallmark-inspired tableaus of family blissfully gathered around the Christmas Tree or at the table; roaring fires; snow-covered landscapes; ice-skating rinks; children bundled with sweaters, scarves and mittens; babies sitting on the lap of Santa; snowmen and a host of holiday cliches.  Reality, however, is rarely a Norman Rockwell portrait. The fragile, sentimental expectations created by marketers are often shattered by the frenetic pace of the season, financial anxiety, the uneasy gathering of extended family, the parties, the meals, the decorating, and all those gifts. Even when we establish our own traditions according to our own expectations, we hardly fulfill them as hoped.

As a child, I had high expectations for Christmas morning. I would imagine an unrealistic, even ungodly number of toys gathered under the Christmas Tree. I greedily anticipated a big score. When the morning finally arrived, I was filled with an almost uncontrollable excitement. Inevitably, my expectations were tempered by reality. I never received as much as I imagined. My parents could never have afforded such a Christmas, even if they would have been willing to indulge me, which they were not. Sadly, even as I received my gifts, there was a tinge of disappointment that Christmas was not quite what I had come to expect in my spoiled, selfish, unchecked and unreasonable imagination.

In December, the world around us will be prattling on about the holiday season. The world’s expectations will focus on the cultural kitsch and consumption. This should not be the case for the Holy Christian Church. For Christians, Christmas does not arrive until the darkness of the Christmas Eve Vigil passes, giving way to our celebration of the Nativity. In December, we find ourselves in the midst of the penitential season of Advent, which places unfamiliar and uncomfortable expectations on the faithful.

First, Advent is a season that looks forward to the return of Christ to judge the living and the dead and consummate all things in Himself. This is our Christian hope. As such, Advent is a time for us to make sure we are prepared for our Lord’s powerful return. Thus, we are called to examine our faith and life. We are called to fasting and prayer. We are called to study and meditation. We are called to practice spiritual discipline and focus our life on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. We are to raise expectations for our faith and practice.

Advent is also a season for Christians to concentrate on the continuing presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in His Church. Jesus promised to “be with us always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus fulfills this promise through His sacramental means. Jesus advents, or comes to us, through the Holy Word, Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and the Holy Eucharist. Jesus chose these gracious means to deliver His forgiveness, life, and salvation to His people. Christians are expected to be faithful in the reception of these gifts, not just the ones wrapped in fancy paper.

Finally, Advent is a season for Christians to reflect on the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus’ First Advent was marked by the humility of nine months in the womb of Mary and an ignominious birth in the backwater town of Bethlehem. Jesus came not with the sound of a trumpet, but in the silence of the night, disrupted only by the bleating of sheep. Jesus, the Son of God, became a child to suffer and die for the sins and death of humanity and give His righteousness to the unrighteous. Christians are expected to participate in the celebration of Jesus’ Nativity. Where else could we be on Christmas than celebrating the Christ Mass? Please don’t answer that question.

The season of Advent opens up the redemptive ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ as a precious gift. It pulls together the future, present, and past of our Christian hope. Still, Advent fails to meet many of our December expectations. In the Lutheran Church, we insist on singing Advent hymns, not Christmas carols. While all the world is singing “Joy to the World” (LSB, 387), we wait until Christmas. In the meantime, we sing “When All the World Was Cursed” (LSB 346). We stubbornly resist putting up Christmas decorations until the last minute. The call for fasting, prayer, and repentance seems out of place, especially when we are so busy with all the trappings of the shopping season. Then the addition of worship services competes with our parties and programs. While the world looks to the cuddly, harmless babe in a manger, the Church looks to the apocalyptic King Jesus arriving on the clouds in judgment. It is not easy to be a Lutheran during Advent!

Yet the message of Advent is central to our Christian faith. If we allow our December expectations to be set by Madison Avenue or Hollywood rather than Jesus and His Word, then we are to be pitied. For this reason, the Christian Church continues to spend its December in a different way than the world, knowing that this time is intended to focus on Jesus Christ, the Son of God who will come again at the end of the age; who continues to come into our midst with His gifts; and who came into time and history as a child. In this faith, we believe and trust that Jesus’ salvation to be fulfilled at His Second Advent will exceed all of our expectations for eternity, even as He exceeds them now in His grace and love. May our Advent be filled with repentance and true faith in preparation for both the Festival of the Nativity on December 25 and the unknown day when He will return to reign forever.

In 1970 my Dad was drafted into the Army. After finishing basic training at Ft. Lewis in Washington, he was assigned to serve as an MP at Ft. Gordon. Young and poor, he moved our family into a dilapidated trailer  in the red dirt of Hepzibah, Georgia. I was only an infant then so the time there precedes my memory, although my dad tells me I saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at the old Fulton County stadium in Atlanta. I trust I did. Now something my dad learned there in Georgia has remained stuck in my memory to this very day. It was an obnoxious radio song that aired every morning on the local station. Apparently, my dad woke up to this song during his two years there. I will never know why he didn’t just change the channel, or use the alarm. Growing up, he loved to sing that song to my brother and me to irritate and annoy us out of bed. While still deep in sleep, we would hear my dad’s voice echo down the hallway, “Get up, get up, get out of your bed. Get up, get up, you sleepy head. Get up and face the rising sun. Get up, get up, you son of a gun.” He would repeat the song over and over, louder and louder, until you finally roused yourself out of bed. The pain of waking up was much less than the pain of hearing my dad sing that grating song. The whole process was rather disturbing and unsettling.

The parable of the ten virgins reminds me of that song. The parable, like the song, is disturbing and unsettling. And just as my dad used that annoying song to get us out of bed, our Lord uses this parable to wake us. He wants to rouse us from our slumber. It is appropriate then that the parable comes around on this day. Today is the Sunday of the Fulfillment, the last Sunday of the church year. Today’s lessons direct us to the consummation of all history at the return of Jesus Christ. That day will come like a thief in the night. It will come suddenly. No one knows the day or the hour. As such, we cannot be asleep. We must be ready and alert. In the words of St. Paul, “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake.” In the words of Philipp Nicolai’s beautiful chorale, “Wake, awake, for night is flying.” In the words of my father, “Get up, get up, you sleepy head.”

It is important for us to be shaken awake. As the church year ends today, we should be mindful that another year has passed. Our Lord’s return is closer now than it was last year. Our own death is closer now than it was last year. Time moves so quickly. The night of this life flies by rapidly. As the Psalmist reminds us, the best of us are like vapors. Yet it is so easy for us to become drowsy and distracted in this world. It is so easy for us to live as if there will always be a tomorrow. If things are going fairly well for us, then we can sleep walk our way through this life. In this comfortable land where we do quite well for ourselves, it is too easy for us to neglect our life before God and our obligation to love one another. Our relative success, our generally good works, our being better than others, our self-sufficiency, our decent jobs, our long life expectancy, our religious imaginations, and our bank accounts all have the effect of a spiritual Benadryl or Ambien on us. They make us drowsy. They put us in a fog. They lay us down in a soft, comfortable bed. We could stay there all day and night. So our Lord speaks this parable to us. He wants to wake us up. He wants us to consider important questions. Are we ready for His arrival? Are we awake? Are we prepared?

Jesus tell us the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Notice that all ten virgins are waiting to meet the bridegroom. They all expect to be with him for the reception. They all assume they will be at the wedding feast. Yet Jesus also tells us that five of them were wise and five were foolish. The foolish virgins were foolish precisely because they were not ready for his arrival. They had failed to prepare properly. They did not bring enough oil with them and so, when they fell asleep, they would not have enough time to find more oil for their lamps. The wise virgins, however, were wise precisely because they were well-prepared. They made sure they would not run out of oil and so, when they fell asleep, they would still be ready. At midnight came the cry, “Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” The reception is about to begin. The party is getting started. Get your lamps and come out into the darkness.

The foolish virgins immediately recognize there is a problem. Their lamps are running out of oil and the bridegroom is almost there. They were not prepared for the long delay. They had fallen asleep and now there is not enough oil in their lamps. So they ask the wise virgins to share their oil. The request appears to be reasonable. It would only be right to share, wouldn’t it? But there is not enough oil to go around and it is essential to have this oil to make it into the wedding feast.  Each one is responsible for their own oil. So the wise virgins respond—“Go get your own!” We are not going to run out because you weren’t prepared and decided to sleep instead. You will need to find some oil in a hurry.

So the foolish virgins head out to find their own oil. While they are running down the aisles at Wal-Mart, the bridegroom arrives and takes the wise virgins to the party. Those who were roused awake and well-prepared join in the wedding feast. The foolish virgins eventually get their oil and, when they finally arrive, they knock on the door, “Lord, lord, open to us!” “We have finally made it.” From the other side of the door comes this response, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.” “Who are you?” “I only know those who were awake and well-prepared.” They are refused entrance. They are shut out. This is just a tad unsettling, a little disturbing.

Jesus then sums up this parable with the simple command: “Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” In other words, be prepared for the bridegroom. Christ will return. Christ will come again. He is delayed, but will not be delayed forever. The day is coming when Christ’s delay will be done and the cry will go out, “Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Christ the King will make all things new and His reign will be forever. Therefore, make sure you are awake and have enough oil so that you can enter into the wedding feast.

Christ’s parable is a call to repentance. It is meant to rouse us from our slumber. If we do not acknowledge our sin and constant need for the grace of Christ, then we are sleep walking through this life. If we ignore this call to repentance, then we will not possess the oil of the Gospel. We will see no need. We will simply presume on His grace. We will be like the foolish virgins who waited for the Bridegroom, but did not prepare themselves with the required oil. We do not want to be like those who deny their Holy Baptism by forsaking the Word of the Lord and staying away from the Holy Sacrament. We do not want to be like those who are satisfied with themselves, drunk with their self-righteousness, disordered desires, and the vain imaginations of their hearts.  We do not want to be foolish, running around saying, “peace and security” when we know that the Lord will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Rather, we are to be wise through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His Gospel is the oil that fills our lamp. In Holy Baptism, Jesus has prepared us for the wedding feast with this oil. In those life giving waters, Jesus Christ washed away all of our sins and joined us to the power of His death and resurrection. At the font, the Holy Spirit was poured out on us and created saving faith in Jesus Christ. There is nothing more that we need. Holy Baptism is the oil we need to last the night and light our way through the darkness of this life. This is why Luther tells us to wake up each day and remember our Baptism by the sign of the cross. Wake, awake and hold fast to your Holy Baptism and its certain promise of forgiveness, life, and salvation in Jesus Christ. Get up, get up, get out of your bed and remember that you have been baptized into Christ Jesus and so you belong to His Kingdom.

As we wake to remember our Holy Baptism, we are made alert to our need for daily repentance and faith in Christ Jesus. We are also roused to hear the Word of God that cries to us about the Bridegroom, Christ and Him crucified for sinners. This Word of the Gospel fills our lamps with the oil of faith and prepares us fully for the feast. Through the waters of Holy Baptism, we are cleansed for access to the altar where the Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus is the food and drink of our redemption. In the Holy Sacrament, we have a foretaste of the feast to come. We feed now on the food for the Wedding Banquet. In His Holy Baptism, His Holy Gospel, His Holy Absolution, His Holy Communion, our Lord Jesus Christ has given us everything we need to be ready for His return. In these gifts, our lamps our full with the oil of His salvation. So it is time for us to wake up.

Look to Jesus Christ and His gifts and the oil in your lamp will never run out. Look to Jesus Christ and know that the door to the feast is always open for you. “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.” Be encouraged that Jesus Christ has died for you. He has taken away your sin and death. He has taken away your punishment and condemnation. He has given you His holiness and righteousness. He has given you forgiveness of sins. Jesus has done all this for you. The precious oil of faith, God’s gift to you in Christ, prepares you for His wedding feast so that you will live with him forever. On the day when all things are fulfilled at His return, Jesus Christ will speak to all the faithful who have fallen asleep in Him, “Wake, awake.” And they will be bodily resurrected. This includes you. On the final Sunday of Fulfillment, the risen and ascended Christ will say to you, “Get up, get up.” You, and all the faithful, will rise from your graves to enjoy the new heavens and new earth forever and ever. Amen.  INJ