Sermons

What is preaching? St. Paul writes in Romans: “Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14-15)

Therefore our Lutheran Confessions state: “It is also taught among us that one holy Christian church will be and remain forever. This is the assembly of all believers among whom the Gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are administered according to the Gospel.” (Augsburg Confession VII:1-3)

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Abide with Me – Advent Midweek 1 2012

05. December 2012
Advent Midweek 1
Psalm 73

This season of Advent we are considering the hymn “Abide With Me” for our midweek meditations. This hymn is a favorite of many and yet also unknown by many. In our hymnal it is prescribed to be sung at close of day. Our agenda also prescribes the hymn’s first and last stanzas to be sung at the committal at every funeral. It is an evening hymn, a funeral hymn, and much more. It resonates with the anxieties and fears of the evening. It speaks with those who are older and face death. It even speaks to the young who yearn to be with Christ.

This hymn was written by Henry Francis Lyte of Brixham, Devonshire, England. As is often the case with our hymns, “Abide With Me” was written in the midst of suffering. Pastor Lyte was frail and dying from tuberculosis. Three weeks before he died, he composed this hymn. His poetry is written to bring comfort to his own fears but also to comfort his beloved people for whom he had provided our Lord’s pastoral care.

The text for Pastor Lyte comes from the Emmaus story of Easter evening. You recall that the same day Jesus rose from the dead, He met two people on the road both grieving and in sorry. Jesus walks with this father and son, possibly his own uncle and cousin. The story of Emmaus is about seeing Christ for the first time. Everything they had come to think of Jesus needed to be seen from a new perspective.

Jesus’ story is a repetition of the whole Gospel journey. He rehearses for them everything happened in Jerusalem. He opens to them the Old Testament to show why He came into this world. This story brings the two great comfort. They plead with Jesus to not go any further. While they don’t recognize Him yet, they yearn and long to be with Christ and dwell with Him.

When we are looking for the presence of Christ? It’s probably when we dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. What are we looking for when the darkness deepens? There is a similar wanting and desire in us. We need to be close to God. This desire is built into us. We desire our Lord to be present, to abide with us, to join us into communion, to remain with us, and to be with us forever.

These desires are especially felt when we’re in darkness. “As for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped.” We only lose our step and stumble when we’re walking in the dark. Asaph, one of David’s tabernacle song leaders, tells us about his darkness. He was envious of the prosperity of the wicked. When he looks at them, he thinks that they have no troubles.

When we consider ourselves according to others we’re in the dark. Our worth and value are not judged based on our prosperity, our pride, our abundance, our ease, or riches. If we judge ourselves by this standard, we are in the dark. These things all wither and fade. They come and they go. Even the rich will ultimately face death. No amount of strength can overcome a life that will pass away.

We need life that will never pass away. No other comfort can do. We are helpless. We need comfort. This is especially true in the evening and when we are dying. All other helpers and comforts flee and fail. Everyone is looking for someone or something to fill the loneliness that we all feel. Our spouses, children, friends sometimes help but ultimately only Christ can do. We are totally broken and in need of Christ. Nothing in this world abides like Christ. Only Christ can abide forever, giving us peace that passes all understanding. He can fill us in a way that only God can fill. The Emmaus disciples knew that Jesus could fill their every longing. As Asaph sang, “Nevertheless, I am continually with You, You hold me by my right hand, You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory.”

We live in a suffering world. The decay of this world is seen in our brokenness of sin, the attacks of the devil, and all the difficulties of this world. When its dark, night, or near death, our defenses are broken down and we get overwhelmed by the darkness. Even earth’s joys grow dim and pass away. Everything is changing and is in flux. This is why we want to abide with the changeless one, Jesus. We look for the one who is faithful.

The truth is that we don’t have the luxury of time anymore. The clock is ticking. Especially as we age, we savor every moment not knowing how many more there are. As you see your children grow and grandchildren born, you see yourself in them both good and bad. We become more conscious of our mortality, our brokenness, and our sin. We live in a fleeting world where our lives are but a blip on the timeline. We sometimes think we’re so important because we are the center of our own existence. When you look in the big picture we are only a small part. We are held to our own sense of brevity, the larger cosmic plan of God.

“Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever… It is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all your works.”

The fact that God doesn’t change is a source of comfort. The Biblical view of Christ acting in mercy comforts us. The mercy of the Lord endures forever. He gives forgiveness. We sheds His blood. He is love. Even before the foundation of the world, the Lamb was slain. The plan has remained unchanged. God’s promised mercy is given. It is for you. Broken people. Lonely. Melancholy. We don’t know what to do when we get this way. Earth’s comforts fail. Our pleasures flee. We need something bigger. Greater.

Jesus works through timeless Word bound to timely means. The Word of God endures forever. Everywhere the Word leaves its mark endures forever. Your baptism endures forever. We long for these sure promises that never change. Jesus, yesterday, the same, and forever. He promised to come. He promised to die. He promised to have His blood cleanse, wash, and forgive us. He feeds you with the Lord’s Supper. This is heavenly food and eternal.

That is why “Abide with Me” is fitting for evening and funerals. It confesses our own want for communion and the longing to dwell with Jesus. It also leads us on a pilgrimage of comfort. We are searching for the holiness only God can give. We find this rest in Jesus.

In Name of the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
Grace Lutheran Church
Dyer, Indiana

Christmas and Sol Invictus

Originally from Steadfast Lutherans » Redeeming Holy Days from Pagan Lies — Christmas and Sol Invictus.

Did Christianity Steal the Date of Sol Invictus?

The claim is that Sol Invictus “Invincible Sun” is a more ancient pagan holiday in Rome celebrated on December 25th. The claim assumes that this pagan holiday was so popular and dangerous that the Christian Church sought to suppress it by establishing the celebration of Christ’s Nativity on December 25th. By doing this, the claim continues, the Christians adopted the pagan day and some of the practices of that pagan festival to make the celebration of Christmas more appealing to pagans.

Remember first that the Christian faith is as old as the curse on Satan in Genesis 3:15. And while pagan worship of the sun certainly existed in Rome before the spread of the fulfillment of that promise in Christ came to the city; the celebration of Sol Invictus as a god in Rome actually came as pagans attempted to suppress Christianity. This early attempt as suppressing Christianity by means of the pagan worship of Sol is found in the Historia Augusta, a pagan history of Rome compiled in the fourth century AD.

The Historia Augusta in TheLife of Elagabalus (1.3) relates events from the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, a particularly twisted man, who reigned from 218-222 AD. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus came to be called Elagabalus after the name of the Syrian sun god, and was himself initiated as a priest of that false god. He viewed himself as the personal manifestation of the Syrian sun god. After coming to Rome and being established as emperor at the age of 14, theHistoria states:

4 Elagabalus [established himself] as a god on the Palatine Hill close to the imperial palace; and he built him a temple, to which he desired to transfer the emblem of the Great Mother, the fire of Vesta, the Palladium, the shields of the Salii, and all that the Romans held sacred, purposing that no god might be worshipped at Rome save only Elagabalus. 5 He declared, furthermore, that the religions of the Jews and the Samaritans and the rites of the Christians must also be transferred to this place, in order that the priesthood of Elagabalus might include the mysteries of every form of worship.  [Latin]

And, coincidentally, very shortly after Elagabalus tried to establish worship of the Syrian sun god, Sol Invictus, he was thought to be too licentious and was assassinated by his own people, pagan Romans, at the age of 18 years old.

From that time there is no mention of the celebration of Sol Invictus in Roman history until the rule of Aurelian (A.D. 270-275). Aurelian did try to re-introduce the worship of Sol Invictus by decree in the year 274. But there is no record of this festival being held on December 25th. “The traditional feast days of Sol, as recorded in the early imperial fasti, were August 8th and/or August 9th, possibly August 28th, and December 11th.”(Hijmans, p. 588 )

Aurelian did declare games to Sol every four years. But there is no record from the period or early historiographers that these games were associated with December 25th in any way. The best evidence suggest that the games were held October 19-22 of their calendar. Anyway, on another coincidence, a year after Aurelian declared these games in honor of Sol Invictus, he was assassinated by his own pagan Roman officers out of fear he would execute them based on false charges.

The earliest calendar to mention that Invictus as a specified date for Roman religious life comes from a text of the Philocalian Calendar, VIII Kal recorded in an illuminated 4th Century manuscript calledThe Chronography of 354. In this late manuscript the date is listed in Mensis December (The Month of December) as N·INVICTI·CM·XXX.

[The calender can be seen by clicking here ]

Many scholars through the years have assumed that INVICTI in this calendar must mean “Sol Invictus.” This is possible. However, elsewhere the calendar does not hesitate to make explicit mention of festivals to Sol, for example: on SOLIS·ET·LVNAE·CM·XXIIII (August 28th) and LVDI·SOLIS (October 19-22).

Even if INVICTI does refer to Sol Invictus on December 25th of this calendar, all this shows is that the celebration of Sol Invictus was placed on December 25th after Christianity had already widely accepted and celebrated December 25th as the Nativity of Christ.

There are many historians and people following them who will still assert that December 25th is Sol Invictus in ancient Rome. Some will even claim that another religion, Mithraism, has close connection to this December 25th celebration. In actual fact there is no ancient documentation tying Mithraism to December 25th or Sol Invictus. The Christian celebration of the Nativity of Christ as December 25th predates anything in the earliest actual documentation for Sol Invictus on December 25th. That documentation is from the much later Philocalian Calendar Chronography of 354.

[For those interested in a more technical look see T.C. Schmid’s article athttp://chronicon.net/blog/christmas/sol-invictus-evidently-not-a-precursor-to-christmas/]

Advent 1 2012 – Jeremiah 23:5-8

02. December 2012
Ad Te Levavi
Jeremiah 23:5-8

In the beginning, God created man in his image. He had all the characteristics of God. He was upright, truthful, sincere, honest. He lived in accordance with God’s design. He did not backbite with his tongue, nor did evil to his neighbor, nor would he take up a reproach against his friend. (Psalm 15:3) Man was right with God. And so, God’s righteousness was man’s righteousness.

When sin entered the world, so unrighteousness, and consequently death. Every child born of woman breathes this poisoned air and drinks from the polluted well of this world. Children, yes even they, act according to their selfish, envious, and prideful heart. We see moments of greatness and even a pale kind of rightness—men with greatness and women with virtue. Still, the infection has permeated everyone. The works of the flesh are evident: all manner of evil, rebellion, and finally mortality. Thus we have God’s righteousness presented in stark contrast to our lack of righteousness.

This lack of righteousness is catastrophic. When we stand at the last days in judgment, how will we be judged? “Behold! The days are coming, says the Lord when I will send a righteous branch to execute justice. How will the righteous branch judge you, oh Jerusalem? You recognize that your peril is not in this world but the next. Your fear of judgment is not of what you have done in this world but what you have failed to do for the next.

Faced with this reality you have a few choices. You could make excuses. The woman made me do it. I couldn’t resist. You made me this way (a sinner). You could try to change the standard. Faced with God’s perfect rule, you want to find some way to fudge the math, fix the system, cheat the Powerball, and win. You could despair, to throw up your hands and exclaim, “To hell with me, I’m damned anyway.”

All attempts to reconcile yourself to God’s holy ideal fail. Excuses won’t cut it. Despair is a start but still leads to death. The not-so-little secret of our faith is that the bet is rigged, the system overruled, the math fuzzy. The promise made to Abraham, that lopsided covenant, is in your favor. The Seed was promised to our mother redeems, rescues, and saves mankind. Every faithful parent of old—Seth, Noah, Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob, Judah, David, and Joseph—trusted that God would reconcile us to Himself.

No excuses are needed, only forgiveness received. There is no despair for we wait in hope. The covenant is fulfilled and your end of the deal is to believe: God has reconciled you to himself as a free gift. In this midst of these dark and latter days, Christ comes to keep the Lord’s promise, to save rebellious Judah and give security to Jerusalem. Christ Jesus is the light than banishes all fear! Christ comes to offer comfort, security, rest, and peace. The true salvation of Judah and the true safety for Jerusalem. By this one man’s obedience, even to death on the cross, you are made righteous.

We have been hearing for the last three weeks of Christ’s judgment. As this new church year begins, we take the expected turn towards the Nativity, Christmas. Before we arrive at the manger, this season takes us through prophecy and the Passion. Even today, we heard our Lord ride on in majesty, riding into the old Jerusalem to die. Lost in the pre-Christmas shuffle, the many manger scenes, the cheery seasonal jingles, is the reality that Jesus comes to us to save us. He comes in judgment of sin but this is his foreign work. He comes chiefly to execute righteousness. God promised to Eve a seed who would crush the serpent. Jeremiah tells the promised coming of a branch. The seed promised to Eve will grow from David into a branch, a righteous branch. He comes to pronounce his people righteous.

A dark cloud hangs over the manger scene, the long shadow cast by our Lord’s passion. Righteousness comes by His Christmas incarnation and by His body agony, His innocent suffering and death, His three-day rest in the tomb, His glorious resurrection, and His ascension into heaven. Christmas points to the cross, where the God-made-man dies our death to make us righteous.

In Christ’s suffering, our unrighteous relationship to God is healed and we are recreated, made right before God. In the resurrected flesh of Jesus, peace is made between God and man over our sin. God himself came in flesh to make all flesh right! God was born as man to recreate man… to restore his creation! He comes not so that you may call him righteous but so that you, his new Jerusalem and rescued Judah may be named “the Lord our righteousness!”

Now all baptized believers have our advocate and surrogate in the divine court. When Christ comes to execute his judgement, he will not see our fallen faces but his own reflection. We were named his in baptism and put on Christ as our garment. Before the judgement seat, our appearance has none of the self-righteous, self-made appearance. No, before Christ we are now a reflection of His own image. The character of God is made right with the character of Man.

We need not fear this coming judgement. “Our righteousness” is for the body of believers. This righteousness unites, equalizes, and levels the playing field. In Christ we stand together before God, as one body of believers. We have one faith… expressed in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. In Christ, our innate desire to elevate ourselves above others is put to death. Now we are all brought up by Christ to His standard… the standard of the Law…. the standard of His righteousness. His righteousness is our righteousness.

For the last few weeks under the “end of the church year” our theme has been Christ returning in judgment. Now as we enter advent and the beginning of the church year, our eyes look at judgment through the babe in the manger and through the cross towards the judgment. God’s promise is made manifest, delivered to you just as He said. Through his gracious will, you have eternal rest of Christ. In him, you are safe. In Him, you are secure. In Him, you are named His own. His righteousness is your righteousness. Christ is our Emmanuel. He ransoms captive Israel, saving you from the depths of hell. He gives you victory over the grave. You see God’s gracious action—His promised son sent for you—so that His righteousness is your righteousness.

In Name of the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
Grace Lutheran Church
Dyer, Indiana