Month: December 2023

Second Sunday in Advent
Our Hope Lutheran Church
Huntertown, Indiana

‌‌Text: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.””‌

Introduction: It had been over four hundred years since Malachi, the last prophet before John, spoke. Malachi had predicted that God would send the prophet Elijah to purify his people for the coming Messiah. John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of that greatest prophet. But the people just didn’t get it. He was not the Messiah, but the one who revealed the Messiah.‌

I. John the Baptist was the Last and Greatest Prophet

‌A. He was a Son of Aaron, heralded in the temple, born to the barren, living like Elijah, maybe even son of David…

‌B. They thought he was a kind of Super David.

‌C. He was instead God’s witness, the last and greatest Old Testament prophet, the one to point to Emmanuel – God with us.

‌D. He showed us where God is – on the cross.

‌II. In the midst of our troubles, we ask, “Where is God?”

‌A. Yes, our world is filled with sorrow, death, disaster, persecution, sin and disease.

‌B. Pagans tell us God is not there or is not at all interested in us or that we have angered Him.

‌C. Often they try to appease or bribe their gods or fix the problems with their own wits.

‌D. We are tempted to join them and ask, “Where is God?” looking in all the wrong places.

‌III. Emmanuel is by our side, with His good gifts and Spirit.

‌A. Even though we don’t see Him, He’s by our side on the battlefield, with His good gifts and Spirit.

‌B. Emmanuel saw our suffering and was moved with compassion.

‌C. He became flesh and lived with us.

D. He took it all to the Cross where He paid for it and broke its power forever.

‌E. Today, He is still with us and one day will bring it all evil to an end.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2023 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Encore Post: Zechariah should have known better. He was a Levite and a priest with decades of experience. He was steeped in the Torah, the Psalms and the Prophets. He knew that God has a habit of giving children to the barren — including Abraham and Hannah, the mother of the great Samuel: prophet, priest and judge. When an angel appears to you — you listen. And here the angel of God’s presence, Gabriel, stood before him when he offered to God the prayer of God’s people. He promised a super-natural birth and gave a name to his one and only son, whom he would love. Yet he doubted and was kept from speaking until the birth. His words, “his name is John” would be his first words after that. In his song, which we sing in the Matins worship service, he prophesied the role of his child, the last and greatest of the prophets. John the herald of the Messiah would be the capstone of the Old Testament.

John the Baptist had all the credentials to be the Messiah. His Father was a priest, descended from Aaron. His mother was related to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and so perhaps descended from King David. An angel in God’s temple announced John’s birth while his father was offering the prayers of the people to God.

Both of his parents were very old, like Abraham and Sarah, and barren, like Hannah, mother of Samuel. God named him John (Gods gift). In the same way, He named Isaac and changed Jacob’s name to Israel.

The angel announced that John would come in the spirit and power of Elijah, one of the greatest prophets. So John would qualify to be prophet, priest and king. Yet from the very start, he and his parents understood that John was not the Messiah, but the one who would reveal him to the world and prepare the way for him. Jesus called him the greatest prophet. (Matthew 11:9-14) John the Baptist closed the Old Testament. He was the first witness to the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2019 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Encore Post: Mary of Nazareth, mother of Jesus, goes by many titles in the Christian Church. The Scripture given her two of these: “Blessed” (Luke 1:28, 48) and “Virgin” (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23;; Luke 1:26-27) To these the church has added “Saint” (Holy One) and “Mother of God” (θεοτόκος in Greek — literally the God Bearer). The last title sounds very strange to the ears of Protestants, who rightly reject the cult of Mary that continues in the Roman Catholic Church today. They worry that calling Mary Mother of God makes her a part of the Godhead, when she is, in fact, a Christian just like us. Yet the title was given to emphasize that the Son of God was truly born, lived, suffered and died for our sins.

Just as the nature of God as one God in three persons is a doctrine that is beyond human understanding, the nature of Jesus Christ is also impossible to understand. So, what the Bible teaches us about the nature of our Lord seems to be filled with statements that contradict each other. Yet they all are true because it is God himself who teaches them in Holy Scripture. Like the doctrines of the Trinity, discussions during the first five centuries of church history helped Christianity sharpen its understanding of the person of Jesus.

During the last few centuries of the Roman Empire, the Greek philosophy of Plato shaped its culture. Plato believed that the spiritual world was good and the physical world evil. Therefore it was impossible for God, who is everything pure, to pollute himself by becoming human. The could imagine the Word of God, the Logos, adopting a human body in order to impart wisdom to humans, but not to become a man. Various heresies had the Son of God living in a human body, but not becoming man, as the Bible teaches. They could bring themselves to calling the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of the human nature, the Mother of Christ, for short. But never the nature of Jesus as God.

The church realized that the result would be two Christs, not one. They came to the conclusion that there was one, unique being in Jesus Christ. He is the God-Man — one person with two natures. What the Scripture teaches about the human nature of Jesus, then, it teaches about his nature as God as well. So, then, since the person of Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, she should be called the Mother of God.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

©2021 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Encore Post: For those outside the church and those in our midst, the answer to our complaints and questions can often be so easy that it escapes our notice. Plain as the nose on our face, we still miss it.

“I don’t feel like people at my church know me/want to talk to me.”

Have you tried going to church more often? We tend to engage with folks we see on a regular basis. The folks there are more likely to notice you, when they see you more. The folks there are going to feel like you’re interested in them, when they see you more often. Give them a chance. You may be surprised. Some of us are shy too.

“I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.” (Psalm 35:18)

“The hymns/songs are unfamiliar/hard to sing.”

Have you tried struggling through singing them? Have you tried being in the house of God more often to hear and learn the hymns you know less well? There are around 635 hymns in our hymnal. Some share tunes, but let’s assume there are 450 unique tunes. When you find one you don’t know, try this. Search for the hymn on your favorite video streaming service. In particular, checkout the short videos on the Rumble channel: Learn Every Hymn with Rev Kaspar. The channel is an ongoing project quickly introducing the melody of every LSB hymn and coaching us through rhythmic challenges. The project will be finished in early 2024.

In the long-long ago, we had to take our hymnals to a piano. I did this for most of my youth and young adult life. Plunking out a melody the old-fashioned way still works too. These hymns are our heritage, and are worth your time in learning.

The hymns in our hymnal are carefully selected to contain only true Christian doctrine using the words and concepts of the scriptures themselves. They are suggested for use and chosen to reinforce the lessons of each Sunday’s scriptural themes. Each one may not be your favorite. But, each one is good and useful in teaching us the faith.

“Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! … For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (Psalm 84:4, 10)

“The liturgy is confusing. I don’t know what page to turn to or when.”

Have you tried attending church more frequently? At Mt. Calvary, we use two settings of the Divine Service, and switch between them 4 times each year. Divine Service, setting Three (LSB 184) is used for the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, and the 1st half of Trinity each year. Divine Service, setting 2 (LSB 167) is used for the seasons of Lent, Easter, and the 2nd half of Trinity each year.

Many other churches observe similarly long use of the settings of the Divine Service throughout the year. The service is quite literally the same each Sunday. The more we attend, the more familiar we will become. Also, when you know what is going on and see someone else struggling, help them to find their way.

“O LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.” (Psalm 26:8)

“I don’t know how to contact the office/my elder/pastor.”

Have you tried coming to church? The office number and email are on the front of every bulletin, every Sunday. They are also on the website. The church can be contacted by phone, text, through social media, via the website, email, snail mail, and in person during office hours. We don’t make a habit of concealing the methods of communication.

“In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.” (Psalm 18:6)

“I don’t feel like Pastor knows who I am.”

Have you tried coming to church more often? Every pastor’s life actually revolves around preaching, teaching, and serving the people of God, in the Lord’s house on Sunday mornings (or it should). Putting your face in front of his more often will increase the likelihood that he’ll be able to get to know you. He’s also accessible via the contact methods listed above throughout the week. But, his primary day will always be Sunday. Those people will always be his people.

“Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.” (Psalm 111:1)

Here is an incomplete list of additional psalm references encouraging frequent church attendance.

“But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.” (Psalm 5:7)

“The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.” (Psalm 11:4)

“I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you… From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.” (Psalm 22:22,25)

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalm 23:6)

“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)

“The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’” (Psalm 29:9)

“They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.” (Psalm 36:8)

“I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD. I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.” (Psalm 40:9-10)

“These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.” (Psalm 42:4)

“We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.” (Psalm 48:9)

“But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.” (Psalm 52:8)

“We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng.” (Psalm 55:14)

“Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple! … Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!” (Psalm 65:4, 29)

“I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you.” (Psalm 66:13)

“Bless God in the great congregation, the LORD, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!” (Psalm 68:26)

“Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.” (Psalm 74:2)

“They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.” (Psalm 92:13)

“Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.” (Psalm 93:5)

“Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.” (Psalm 107:32)

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX
and
Mission planting pastoral team:
Epiphany Lutheran Church
Bastrop, TX

©2021 Jason Kaspar. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.