January 2020 – What Does This Mean?

Do Miracles happen today?

During Friedrich Wyneken’s theological examination, the interviewer said: “As is well known, miracles no longer occur nowadays. It only remains to be asked, if there really were miracles in former times or
not.” He then asked Wyneken: “What do you say to that?” Friedrich replied without further reflection: “God is a God who does miracles
daily” The young pastor had a point.

A miracle is something that happens that are beyond our ability to understand. As much as modern science has discovered, there is much more that we can’t figure out. Miracles break all the rules. The earth’s tilt on its axis and orbit around the sun are just right to maintain life. The cycles of seasons, rain and snow, heat and cold, allow the wide variety of life that support us and give us pleasure. How this all happens we are barely able to understand. These and everything that give us life are nevertheless very real, reliable and regular. In addition to these, God works through everyday people in our lives to make them what they are, all at the inspiration and provision of our Heavenly Father. God gives us all these things and more without fanfare and almost completely without thanks from us.

When we speak of miracles, though, these everyday acts of God are not what we think of. Our mind goes to the healing and suspension of nature that Jesus performed that continued in the ministry of the apostles. To a certain extent, this is deceptive. The events recorded in Scripture from the time of Abraham through the exile of St. John to Patmos cover two thousand years. As wonderful as miracles are, they did not happen all the time. Sometimes hundreds of years pass between them. Because they are all written about in the same place, we get the impression they were constantly present. Only in the ministry of Jesus was this true, and then only for the three years of his ministry.

It is possible that God does act in these ways today, but we do not know. Scripture does not say they have ceased nor that they will continue. What we do know is that God does care for us, heal us today and we occasionally can’t explain how. The miracles we do know about, however, are right under our nose. In water, he adopts us as his children and created knew hearts in us. In bread and wine, he gives us his body to eat and blood to drink to forgive us our sins and give us everlasting life. The greatest is yet to come for us. On the day our life here ends, he will take us to be with him forever and on the last day, raise our bodies from the grave. On that day, when he restores us and all creation, that will be one of the greatest miracles of them all.

Why did Jesus do miracles?

From the time our parents gave us children’s Bible story books, through Sunday school and Confirmation classes, to the regular readings in worship services, we hear about the many miracles that Jesus performed. He healed the sick, raised the dead, fed a crowd of five thousand — and a crowd of four thousand — with a few loaves of bread and several fish. It is easy to get the idea that he spent all of his time doing wonders. Yet he wasn’t always stilling storms, turning water into wine and healing people. In fact, for the first thirty years of his life, we do not hear of him doing even one So, why did Jesus do miracles?

First of all, Jesus did his miracles for the same reason he did everything else — to fulfill the promises of the Messiah proclaimed throughout the Old Testament. Unlike us, God keeps his Word. (see L uke 24:44) Second, miracles demonstrate that Jesus is the Messiah and God Himself. (Matthew 11:4-6, John 14:11)

The miracles also do two other important things. One is they tell us something about Jesus and so about God. He has compassion on us and in our sufferings. (Matthew 14:14, Matthew 15:32, Luke 7:13-16) Unlike everyday miracle workers, who make a big show of their work, he spoke very few word when he worked miracle. The other thing they do is strengthen faith. The Evangelist John sums it up well: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31)

As great as these signs were, they were temporary. The wine at Cana was drunk, the calm waters became wild again, the five thousand would be hungry again, those healed, even raised from the dead, would die. But one miracle would last forever. Jesus died for the sins of the world, shattering the power of sin, death and the devil. He died and rested in the tomb and then rose from the dead breaking the seal of the grave forever. That was the greatest miracle of them all.

The Healing of Lepers

The best comparison to sin is leprosy. This skin disease, at its best, discolored your skin and hair while exiling you from your community. So, no family and no worship in the Temple or Synagogue. So, if you’re a Jew, you are cut off from your people and your God. At its worst, it exiled you while also wasting you away to death. Your skin becomes lumpy and scarred. Your fingers and toes begin to fall off. Eventually, you die from this disease and there is nothing you can do to prevent it. In St. Luke’s account of Jesus healing a man with leprosy, the man is described as being “covered in leprosy,” and so we know that his disease is both a bad case and advanced.

He takes a great risk in coming to Jesus. He isn’t allowed to do it. But his situation is so dire, that he is willing to risk it all and come anyway. And when he does, he begs for mercy. “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” Jesus is, and Jesus does. Jesus touches this unclean man, and that touch makes him clean.

We also hear in 2 Kings 5 about a pagan who is struck with leprosy. This man is a commander of the army of Syria, an enemy of Israel. A child he took from her home tells him of a man who could heal him, so he goes. He expects a show and brings costly gifts to pay for his healing.

Yet he is disappointed when there is no show. In fact, he doesn’t even get an audience with the prophet. It is a servant who goes and tells him to, “Go and wash in the Jordan….” He is angry he wasn’t told to do some great thing or to wash in one of the nicer rivers of his land. But his own servants remind him of the good news: Has he actually said to you, “Wash and be clean?” And so Naaman goes to the Jordan, washes as instructed, and is made clean. He is cleansed of his leprosy. And not only cleansed, but his skin is restored like that of a child. It is made better than it was when he contracted the disease.

Naaman sees he is clean and has an epiphany. He realizes that this cleansing, through such simple means as water from the Jordan, was the work of God. The text goes on to tell how the gifts he brought were refused, for miracles and healings are not to be purchased. It goes on to tell that Naaman knows he continues to need forgiveness; continues to need absolution as he serves his king. When all is said and done, Naaman is clean and goes in peace.

We confess with King David that we are conceived in iniquity. This means that since the Fall, we all have a spiritual leprosy like Naaman and the man who came to Jesus, from our very beginning. It is eternally fatal. There is no human cure. We are by nature exiled from our God. We need mercy. We need a Savior.

And in the Lord Jesus Christ, mercy is given as he comes to stand in our place. To touch us and take away our leprosy and make us bright and shiny and new. He takes on our flesh to be our savior and substitute. Instead of suffering the eternal agony and punishment that we deserve for our leprous condition, he is lifted up on the cross, suffers and dies in our stead.

In this, he has already suffered for our leprosy. He has already been condemned by the condemnation we are owed. He has taken away all our sin and shame. And in our baptism, he makes us new. In our baptism, he promises to cleanse us, give us new life, and forgive us all our sins. In our baptism, Jesus shows us mercy. He says, “I will; be clean.”

The promises attached to simple water brings forth life from dead sinners. Sin is forgiven. Deliverance from death and the devil is delivered. And just like it wasn’t the words of the prophet or his messenger that accomplished the miracle, it wasn’t the words or hands of a pastor that did it either. It is the word and work and promise of God.

Rev. Brent Keller
Peace Lutheran Church
Alcester, SD

The Conversion of St. Paul

Encore Post: On January 25th, the week after the celebration of the Confession of St. Peter, the Lutheran Church gives thanks for the Conversion of St. Paul. This miracle brought to faith one of the most important missionaries, theologians and pastors in church history.

Saul of Tarsus was born to a well-to-do Jewish craftsman. His father made leather and canvas goods such as sails and tents. His father was a Roman citizen, a status inherited by his children. His home city had a good reputation, which served him well. His father was a faithful Pharisee, and provided his son with both a first-rate classical Greek education and the best training for eventually becoming a Rabbi. Like many of his educated countrymen, he had both a Hebrew name–Saul and a Greek name–Paul.

Paul became a disciple of one of the greatest Rabbis in the history of Judaism — Gamaliel. He excelled in these studied and may well have served in the Sanhedrin. He was so zealous for his religion that he became a persecutor of the followers of Jesus and a witness of the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr.

Intent on arresting every Christian in Damascus, Saul set out with a warrant from the Chief Priest. Along the way, Jesus appeared to him in light so bright it knocked him off his mount and blinded him. Jesus identified himself and commissioned Paul to go to the Gentiles. He directed Paul to Ananias who forgave his sins and baptized him. Paul’s sight was restored.

The Holy Spirit would inspire Paul to write 1/4 of the New Testament. He would take the gospel to the ends of the Roman world, including Spain. The Apostle to the Gentiles fulfilled his mission well.

To: St. Timothy | Confession of St. Peter | St. Titus

The Wedding at Cana

In John 2, we find our Lord at a wedding. He is there along with his mother and his disciples, all invited guests. In the course of the celebration, they run out of wine. And in the first century, running out of wine at a seven-day wedding feast was not a good thing for the host. It would be rather shameful, in fact. And so Mary comes to Jesus and tells them that the wine was gone. And already, we see she believes in her son. But we also see that she doesn’t have a full understanding.

Jesus responds to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Of course, he is right. Having enough wine is not his responsibility. Ensuring that the banquet continues as normal is not why he has come. Undeterred, faithful Mary looks at the servants and tells them, “Do whatever he tells you.” And they do. And what are they told? To take the six stone water jars, jars used for ceremonial cleansing, and fill them to the brim. Fill them until they are about to run over. And they do.

And they obey the Lord when he tells them to take this water from the jars to the master of the feast. Now think about this request: You are to take the water that people wash their hands in and give it to your master to drink. It is water that you wouldn’t want to drink, but you are to give it to your master. How many of you would be willing to do that? Even if you wouldn’t, they do. “Do whatever he tells you.”

The water, now wine, is brought to the master of the feast and he tastes it. And when he does, it is not dirty water that hits his palate, but the best of the best vintage of wine you could imagine. Only better. His response says it all. He calls the bridegroom and, in a way, chides him for bringing out the best wine later on in the feast.

Jesus submits to his mother and ensures that the joy of the feast is not interrupted. His time is not yet come, but he uses his power to provide for the needs of the newly married couple. But why? Jesus isn’t responsible for there being enough wine. He isn’t required to do anything. Why act? Because the is the first of his signs and upon doing it, he manifested his glory. And he manifests his glory for one simple reason: that his disciples would believe in him.

Throughout the ministry of Jesus, the disciples are witnesses to the teaching of Jesus. The miracles of Jesus. They see and experience his joy and pain. Reception and rejection. As they walk with him, they learn to trust him. To believe that he is the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world. But even as they do so, they stumble and fall. At times, they doubt. And that should provide us some comfort. They were with Jesus as he walked among them. We, some two-thousand-years later, are with him, but we do not see him in the flesh.

Though we don’t have Jesus in the body with us, we do have what the Holy Spirit had the apostles write down for us. We have the Word of God. And in it, especially in the Gospels, we read what Jesus did and what he has done for us. The Apostle John even gives the reason for writing his Gospel: That all those who hear it would believe in Jesus. That he is the Son of God, and that believing in him you would have eternal life.

We see in the miracles of Jesus that they are not to make us “healthy, wealthy, and wise,” but to be wise in what is the Truth. To be wise in knowing and trusting in Jesus. This first and chief sign of Jesus at a wedding in Cana clues us into what all the Gospel, and indeed, the Bible is about. It is about Jesus. How he creates all and then comes to it after it falls to restore it.

The wedding in Cana is a joyous festival, but it runs out of wine. The church throughout the world today celebrates the joy of Christ weekly by coming together, hearing the Word, and participating in the sign, the sacraments, that our Lord has given us. But we also wait for the culmination of the wedding in Cana. We wait for our own wedding feast as the Bride of Christ. It is there that he will again bring out the best of the best wine, and we will live eternally with him.

Rev. Brent Keller
Peace Lutheran Church
Alcester, SD

Jesus Teaches on the Mount and the Plain

Sometimes when surveys are taken of what people believe, the question is asked, “Who do you think Jesus is?” Good question. Jesus himself asked his disciples this question. Among the most popular answers are: “He was a great teacher” and “a new lawgiver — like Moses.” What people mean by this is often a guy with good advice into how you can live a good life here and now. From this perspective, there is nothing like the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew’s version) and the Sermon on the Plain. (Luke’s version) On the top of the list of most familiar teachings are: “Do to others what you would have them do to you,”(Luke 6:31) “Judge not,” (Matthew 7:1) and the Beatitudes. (Matthew 5:1-11, Luke 6:20-23)

Many sermons, Christian commentary and devotional literature treat the Beatitudes as a kind of recipe for the Christian life. They teach that Jesus is giving a new law on how to live your life at a higher level. They are taught to be the way to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) But such an analysis is missing the point. These are more descriptions of what Christians are like than what they must strive to do. They are predictions and promises, not commands to do to be saved or to be Super Christians.

But how can these be true? It is obvious to every Christian that they are far from poor in spirit–we think very highly of ourselves; we do not mourn our sins often — we kind of like them; we may say we want to be righteous, but keep our own favorite sins; we are mixed up at heart between the good we want to do and the evil we end up doing; we often want to carry grudges and have it out with our neighbor and dread persecution. Jesus’ line: “be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” haunts us.

Yet the promises of the beatitudes come true because Jesus lived them out perfectly. Having done so, he took our sins and imperfections to cross where he died to pay their debt and broke their power over us. Now when God sees us, he sees only the ways we live the blessed life and not the way we fail to keep it. These blessings and others like them in Scripture are also promises of the way life will be for us when we live in the eternal kingdom after Christ at last returns to take us home. So, we are blessed and will be blessed, in God’s kingdom now and in his kingdom come.

Look! The Lamb of God!

John the Baptist knew who he was from his birth, He was the voice crying in the wilderness — the first prophet in four hundred years. He would be the herald of the Messiah. Yet even he didn’t know who the Messiah was. His cousin Jesus lived such an ordinary life, he didn’t stand out even to the last and greatest prophet. All that changed when he baptized Jesus and God the Father spoke and God the Holy Spirit settled on him like a dove.

Now John knew who Jesus was and what he had to do. “Look!” he told his disciples, “The lamb of God, who carries away the sins of the world!” This insight was fro God and not his upbringing. The Jewish people mistakenly thought the Messiah would be an earthly king, who would defeat the Romans and rule the world from Jerusalem. But the Messiah was instead to be the sacrifice to atone for the sins of the whole world.

All the Passover lambs of history, all the scape goats of Israel, all the sacrifices for sin did not have that power alone. They drew the ability to forgive from the sacrifice of God Himself in Jesus. As the Lord’s Supper, Baptism and absolution draw their strength from the cross, so did all the sacrifices of Israel’s history. The Angel of the Lord, who stayed the hand of Abraham and promised that the Lord would provide the lamb fulfilled it in himself.

This title of the Messiah, then, is precious to us. It is why we use it in the prayer just before we receive the Lord’s Supper — the agnus dei. “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the word… have mercy on us… grant us peace.”

The Baptism of Our Lord

John the Baptizer arrived in the wilderness preaching a message of repentance. He called on those who came to him to turn away from their sin and pursue righteousness. When he is asked what to do, he tells them: Share your excess with those without. To the tax collectors, he said to only take what is owed. To the soldiers, he says to be content with their wages and not extort anyone. And as his title suggests, he baptized many who came to him. All the while, he is pointing to someone greater. To the One whose sandal he is not worthy to untie. Of whom he says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

John’s baptism is one of repentance. It is for sinners. So when Jesus comes to him to be baptized, it isn’t such a surprise the John balks. Jesus has no sin to repent of. He has nothing that needs to be cleansed. And it isn’t a surprise to me that John wants to be baptized by Jesus. It is, after all, Jesus who John says will baptize with both the water and the Spirit. Even still, Jesus answers John’s resistance: “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

And with this, John relented and baptized Jesus. And when Jesus is baptized and comes out of the water, something no one expects happened: The heavens were opened. The Spirit descended like a dove and came to rest on Jesus. And a voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

That day at the Jordan River, the entirety of the Trinity was revealed. Jesus, the very and only-begotten Son of God stands with the Spirit and the voice of the Father.

With the baptism of Jesus, the waters of baptism are sanctified. He, the pure and perfect Son of God, stepped into the muck and mire. And in his baptism, all of that filth is applied to him. And now, that dirty water is pure and clean. Those who enter it dirty leave clean.

Think of it like sheep at a pool. They are dirty from the terrain and get into the water, leaving the dirt and clouding the water. But then, a sparkling white sheep approaches the pool. This sheep is pristine. You don’t want the bright white wool to enter the water. But it does. And when he does, all of the muck immediately rushes and sticks to that sheep. It takes on all of the filth and leaves the pool. And even after he leaves, each subsequent sheep that wades into the pool loses its dirt, but the water stays clean. All the dirt is applied to the one pristine sheep.

In fulfilling all righteousness, Jesus has made baptismal waters like that pool. In them, all of your sin and unrighteousness falls off you and sticks to Jesus. He bears it all. I remember when I was baptized what I visualized. It was like slips of paper came off of me with all my sins and transgressions written on them. And if you think of what you have done, you know what those slips would say if they were yours. As they went into the water, they dissolved, never to be seen again.

In Christ, this is what happens for you as well. As he takes all your guilt upon himself, he carries it to the cross. He is nailed to it bearing your sin and my sin. This perfect and pristine lamb is made dirty to pay for your sin. He wins righteousness for you. He wins forgiveness, life, and salvation for you. And with the promises of baptism attached to the water in the font, it is applied to you. With certainty, you are made clean in Christ. Baptized with water and Spirit. You are forgiven of your sin. You are cleansed and given the purity of your Lord Jesus Christ. He takes all your iniquity and unrighteousness and gives you his own purity and righteousness for His Own Name’s sake.

And so may we rejoice in the gift we have in our baptism. Let us rejoice that we, too, have been made a beloved son of God, in whom he is pleased.

Rev. Brent Keller
Peace Lutheran Church
Alcester, SD

Epiphany

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany. It is the culmination of not only the Christmas season, but indeed is the culmination of everything we’ve been anticipating since the beginning of Advent. Here’s what I mean: Advent begins in Holy Week. We hear about Jesus entering Jerusalem on the First Day of the Week, making his way to the cross. We anticipate the celebration of our Lord’s birth, and watch for his return in glory. And even in a season of repentance, we have joy in what the coming of our Lord gives: forgiveness, life, and salvation.

On Epiphany, we hear that people who are in the dark see a sign. They see the light. Specifically, they see a star. The significant thing about this is not just the sign, but who it was that saw the sign. While angels announce the birth of Jesus to Jewish shepherds in the fields on Christmas, God reveals the birth of the Messiah to Gentiles as well. For this, he causes a sign in the sky. He chooses to reveal the birth of Christ to some men who would recognize it. And so some Magi from the east see it.

We find the word for Magi in the second chapter of Daniel. After Daniel interprets a dream of the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, the king made him governor of the whole province of Babylon and the prince of the governors over all the wise men (magi) of Babylon. Because of Daniel and the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, the Magi knew something of the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. And so when they see the star, they know that it means the King of the Jews have been born.

But why is this important? Why make a big deal out of some men who are not Jewish to see a sign and come to the Lord? Because Jesus was sent as the Savior of Israel. He even says so himself: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Before that, when he sends out the seventy-two, he tells them to only go Israel and not to the Gentiles or Samaritans.

So why, at the birth of Jesus, does God give Gentiles a sign? Why give them the star? Because of the promise he made to Abram Thousands of years before. “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God chose Abram to be the father of his chosen people. The people who would become Israel. And it is through these people that God promised to deliver all mankind from the darkness of their sin and death. And while there are a few examples of Gentiles becoming a part of the people of Israel in the Old Testament, they were largely alienated from God, worshipping their false gods. And so it isn’t surprising that the people of Israel often assumed and acted as if they were the only ones that God actually cared about.

In the book of Acts, Peter comes to realize that salvation is also for the Gentiles only after a vision and witnessing the Holy Spirit fall upon the house of Cornelius. And St. Paul writes that the revealed mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Already at the birth of Jesus, God is drawing Gentiles to himself. These magi see the star and come to Jerusalem to worship the newborn king. And this tells us that, even though they know something about this new king, they did not have full understanding. They knew enough prophecy to know what the sign meant, but they didn’t know enough Scripture to know where the birth would occur.

When Wise Men find where he was to be born, they set out. They see the sign once again and follow it to the Christ. Once there, they behold the child. And these magi, the Wise Men bow down and worship him. Indeed, these men have stepped out of darkness and behold the Light. They bring gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They return to their homes, and you have to think they spread the message, a good news about this Christ Child.

At the Fall, the world was cast into darkness. This is a darkness that you and I were born into. Yet even in the fall into darkness, we were promised redemption. As Abram is called out of his home to journey to an unknown land, he is told all would be blessed through him. King David is promised a Son who would sit on his throne forever. Isaiah prophesies that “darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.”

The magi saw the sign in the sky and followed it to Jesus. Our Lord followed his course, and at the proper time, was lifted up on the cross, upon the tree. The sign of one who is cursed, but the sign of our redemption. By the work of Christ, we have been brought out of darkness and into the light. In the waters of baptism, the sign of the cross is applied to you and you are made a found sheep of the house of Israel. And now, sitting under the light of the Word, you hear and joyously receive his good news of your redemption. And in the sign of the Body and Blood, you feast upon the food that gives life, forgiveness, and salvation.

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

Rev. Brent Keller
Peace Lutheran Church
Alcester, SD