Encore Post: At Christmas time, we see them everywhere. The crèches — Nativity scenes — appear on lawns, in malls, under Christmas trees and especially in our churches. They are not only great decorations, but they are ways to tell the Christmas story to those who cannot read. In virtually all of them, there are three figures bearing gifts. They stand next to camels. Often they look like kings from the Middle Ages of Europe.
Yet these figures were not yet there on the night Jesus was born. Nor were they kings. They were scholars from Persia or Babylon, skilled in the study of the stars. No wonder the star got their attention. No one knows what the star was, but it appeared two years before they got to Bethlehem. They are in the stable because the Christian Church in the West celebrates their arrival on the twelfth night after Christmas. It makes it easier to explain what is happening on both holidays. You can read their story in Matthew 2.
The day that follows is called Epiphany — appearance. It is the first day of the Epiphany season, when the Church celebrates how Jesus revealed himself through his ministry in ancient Galilee and Judea. The church cherishes the Wisemen because they were the first Gentiles to worship Jesus.
The child Jesus did not remain small, however. Like every one of us, he grew up, learned his lessons, and worked with his father and brothers as a craftsman. Both God and his community were very pleased. Yet this is but the first way that Jesus earned our salvation. This season, watch for the other ways Jesus and his Heavenly Father reveal the rest of the story.
Encore Post: Epiphany is a season of unwrapping God’s gifts. The word comes from Greek. It means reveal, make known, and, in Old English, make manifest or clear. As creatures and sinners, we cannot fully understand God. Even if we could stand in God’s holy presence, we would die. (Exodus 33:20) Even as Christians, we often find ourselves saying, “I don’t get you, God!”
God knows this well. It is why he reveals himself to us in Jesus. When we want to see God, we can look at Jesus. The Apostle John sums it up nicely: “No one has seen God. The only begotten God, he is from the Father, and he has made him known.” (John 1:18) In the season of Epiphany, we get to know Jesus by what he said and did. We sit at his feet and see with our own eyes that he is the Messiah — and more than that — that he is God himself.
The season begins with a θεοφάνεια (Theophaneia) — God appearing or making himself known to people. At the Baptism of our Lord, we see the Son of God, hear the voice of the Father, and the Holy Spirit settles on the Son in the form of a dove. For the Three-Year Lectionary, the season ends with another θεοφάνεια. The Son glows with his full glory as God; the Father speaks, and God settles on the mountain in the ancient Cloud of Glory.
In between, he calls disciples from their nets, turns water into wine, feeds whole crowds with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. He casts out demons, raises the dead, gives sight to the blind, not with shows of great ritual, but with a few words: “I will; be clean!” “Get out!” “be still!” He prays and teaches with authority — unlike the Pharisees and Bible experts. In the following season, Lent, we will see him be the Lamb of God, who takes our sins to the cross, pays the price of our salvation with his own blood, and rises from the dead to break the seal of the grave forever.
So we get to know Jesus, and through him, get to know God. One day, we will see him — and God — face to face — in our own flesh, we will see God.
Encore Post: The data is out there. The trends are known. We know before we go about our duties. We know who is likely to remain in the church. We know who is likely to return to the church. We already know.
Will the married couple remain in the church after their wedding in our building? Will the family bring their baptized child into the Lord’s house regularly? Will the catechumens remain in the church after they’re admitted to the altar? Will the new visitors become a permanent fixture here after transfer or conversion? Will the family, newly invigorated by the death of a closely related blessed saint of the Lord, lose their zeal or keep it? Will the children keep coming when the duties, passions, and hormones of adolescence drag them around wildly in their own minds?
Your pastors pray that the data is more dire than reality.
In each case, it boils down to habits and patterns.
Newlyweds: What is their family background? Was the couple from a similar upbringing? LCMS, regularly attending as a child and adolescent, and both parents bringing them to church? It’s the same way that similar ideas about money, number of children, and, chiefly, whether moms and dads were married and remain married, improve the chances of a successful marriage. The commonality of faith also improves the chances that these kids will be and remain in the church.
Your pastor will coach you on the difficulties you will face in the future when the odds are not stacked in your favor. Only in scarce circumstances will he refuse marriage. Success is always possible. But, for that to blossom, we have to be honest about the poor odds. Your pastor prays the Lord will deliver you from misfortune and strife, even the foreseeable kind.
Baptized child: What’s the deal with Mom and Dad? If they are or become regular attenders, the kids will probably follow suit. If they are not, their kids will still likely follow suit. Your pastor will often baptize a child whose future in the church is uncertain. He prays that foreseeable apostasy does not befall your house.
Catechumens, again, what’s the deal with Mom and Dad? Here, there’s more data readily available. Did y’all attend regularly before confirmation was on the horizon? If not, there’s a mighty high chance the catechumens will peter out quickly following confirmation.
Your pastors will desperately attempt to instill new habits in the kids. He’ll impose strict attendance standards or require seemingly endless piles of sermon reports. He’s seen parents drop children off for required church attendance, while driving off themselves. He’s grieved to know the child may be lost already. He prays he’s wrong, keeps up with his efforts, and prays the Holy Spirit defeats those odds. Rarely would he withhold confirmation.
Transfers/Converts/Those motivated by a close death: Where were you before? Are you returning to lifelong patterns of attendance at the Lord’s house? Or are these attempts to develop a new pattern? Those who attended before are more likely to attend again. Those who did not are not.
Adolescents: This group gets the most attention, the most ink spilled over them, and even individualistic ministerial attention. How often have you heard of a church with a minister of newlywed Christianization, baptismal life, catechetical instruction, or newly returned Christian life instruction? Prob’ly never. But, we’ve all seen churches with a youth minister or a youth ministry team.
Sadly, that’s also an example of the poor return on those efforts. Again, data indicates that strong youth programs don’t predict strong Christian adults from within them. Worse, when those programs look distinctively different from the churches from which they spring, they serve as an offramp directly out of the church. By the time the youth are at that age, the patterns are well-established. It will take an earth-moving effort by their father, dragging to the entire family to church, consistently to develop a new pattern. That effort has a chance. The youth group or activities are woefully unlikely to move the needle.
Can’t we beat the odds? Yes, we can. Your pastor prays you do. He preaches, teaches, and conducts himself towards you, assuming the data is wrong in your case.
As a body of believers, we have data to help direct our efforts. Children follow the patterns established by their fathers regarding church. As we discussed before, the data is stark in this regard. If we want baptized babies in church, children in church following along and learning, catechumens attending to the Lord’s house, youth who remain in or return to church, newlyweds who attend regularly and bring their babies to the font, we must have fathers to build those patterns into their children.
Your pastors already know. We pray every day that the data is wrong in your case.
Encore Post: 154 years ago, Wilhelm Löhe was the pastor of a small, rural parish in Neuendettelsau, Bavaria. He was a leader in Germany’s then-new Confessionalist movement. Because of this role, he always had a strained relationship with the leaders of his church body and so was kept out of the way — or so they thought.
Löhe was a man of boundless energy, persuasive when advocating a cause, and highly skilled at marshaling talent and funds to accomplish a goal. In 1842, he read Friedrich Wyneken‘s appeals for the spiritual need of German Lutherans on the American frontier and his stirring plea for pastors. Löhe published his own appeal. He arranged to meet Wyneken to publish a polished version of the missionary’s appeal, titled Die Noth der deutschen Lutheraner in Nordamerika (The Need of the German Lutherans in North America). These appeals caused donations to flow in, and soon, second-career men volunteered to meet the need.
But Loha was just getting started. With his friend Johann Friedrich Wucherer, he provided a basic education to second-career men who volunteered to go to America. Soon they founded a mission society, raised funds, wrote manuals, instructions, and churchly books. He at first sent these men and donations to the Ohio Synod’s seminary in Columbus, Ohio. When cultural and theological differences made that no longer possible, he worked with Wilhelm Sihler, pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Fort Wayne, Indiana, to found a “practical seminary” — an institution focused on providing pastors for the church as quickly as possible. In October 1846, this institution opened in his parsonage. This institution is now known as Concordia Theological Seminary — but that is another story!
Wilhelm Löhe, his friends, and his small parish were just getting started, though. Seeing the suffering of the poor, the ill, the widowed, and the orphaned, he revived the office of deaconess. He also sent men and material to the Wartburg Seminary and its church body, the Iowa Synod (now a part of the ELCA), to Australia, the German colonists of Russia, and other places. To provide a Christian witness to native Americans, he organized and founded Frankenmuth, Michigan, and neighboring communities. His liturgies and worship books became the foundation of the Missouri Synod’s liturgy.
At the age of 63, Wilhelm Löhe died still serving as the pastor of his rural parish on January 2, 1872. He is buried where he served. His institutions still continue to this day, serving God and his church worldwide.
Encore Post: The reign of Anne, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, was a peaceful time for Isaac Watts and his fellow Reformed believers. Her Anglican policy of tolerance made her a very popular monarch. When she died, great anxiety spread. It was possible that the Catholic Stewart family would try to claim the throne, even after Lutheran Elector George of Hanover was crowned King George I. Only the passage of time calmed frayed nerves.
Isaac Watts was intent on improving the worship of Reformed congregations by paraphrasing Psalms so that Christians could sing the Psalms from the perspective of faith in Christ Jesus. He cast Psalm 90 as a collect for times of uncertainty. “Our God our Help in Ages Past” reminds us of what God has done for us in the past, especially by the suffering and death of Christ for our salvation, and what he will do for us in the future, when he returns in glory. The middle stanzas contrast the temporary nature of life in this world with the eternity of God, his promises and his love. The final stanza asks that God would guard us now and be our eternal place of rest.
One of the most beloved hymns in English hymnody, the song is popular for the opening of a school year, Remembrance Day in Canada and New Year’s Day in many churches. The tune most associated with it, St. Anne, imitates the tolling of bells as they mark the passage of time.
The original text is as follows:
1 Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
2 Under the shadow of thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure.
3 Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth receiv’d her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.
4 Thy word commands our flesh to dust,
“Return, ye sons of men:”
All nations rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.
5 A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
6 The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by thy flood,
And lost in following years.
7 Time like an ever-rolling stream
Bears all its Sons away;
They fly forgotten as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
8 Like flowery fields the nations stand
Pleas’d with the morning light;
The flowers beneath the mower’s hand
Lie withering ere ’tis night.
9 Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
Encore Post: Our names are important to us. They are kind of shorthand for everything we are and have worked to build. They tell us which family we belong to and how close we are to the people who use it. At important times in our lives, our names change — when we get married, if we are appointed to an office, earn a degree or get married. Parents often take a lot of time deciding on the name to give to each of their children.
In the Hebrew culture of the Bible, names meant even more, if that it possible. They were thought to predict the kind of person the child would be. Often, people would change their names when life changed. Sometimes a name was given, along with the reason for its choice. Some of the most important people in God’s plan were named by God Himself.
On January 1st, the Lutheran Church traditionally celebrates the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus. God Himself gave Jesus his name. The name is a form of the name Joshua, which means God saves. (Matthew 1:27) The angel told Joseph, “For he will save his people from their sins.” In one sense, we dedicate each new year in Jesus’ name. In another sense, God dedicates us in the name of Jesus.
In the circumcision of Jesus, God’s son began his suffering for our salvation. He lived a perfect life for our sake, suffered and died on the cross for our sake, rose again from the dead, and ascended into Heaven for our sake. In our baptism, God’s name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is given to us. We are now his children, and we will live with him forever. On the last day, Jesus will return for us. He truly is Jesus because he saves us from our sin.
Encore Post: Simeon patiently waited for years. The Holy Spirit told him he would see the promised Messiah. On the day that the Son of God suddenly appeared in his temple, the Holy Spirit led him to the Court of the Women in the temple. There he did as countless rabbis did, took a baby in his arms. This time, the infant was different. He was the Son of God. Simeon’s song — the last in Luke’s musical — is sung by the church in the vespers, compline and in divine services.
We know the song by the first of its words in Latin — nunc dimittis: “Lord, release…” Simeon’s words sum up the checking off of the last item on the ultimate bucket list. He had held God himself in his own hands. He knew that in this Son of David, God would save his people — both Jewish and Gentile. He could die in peace.
When we sing the song of Simeon after the Lord’s Supper, we, too, have received the Lamb of God in our own hands and mouth as we eat his body with bread and drink his blood with wine. We, too, can go in peace. When we sing the song in the evening, we do it as we prepare for bed, knowing that we have seen the Lord in his Word.
There is one other time when we sing this song. When a pastor senses that the Lord himself will soon call us to be with him, the pastor will sing this song with us or for us. If he has time, he will bring us the Lord’s own supper as bread for our journey. If he is present with us when the angels come for us, he will sing this song for us again: “Lord, now let your servant go in peace, according to your word. For his own eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people. A light to lighten the gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.” I did this for my own wife twice during her last hours, just before the angels carried her home to be with Jesus. May we then rest in his peace, now and to the day of the resurrection of all flesh.
Encore Post: “He’s a saint!” you might hear someone say. What they probably mean is that the person is very good, generous, kind, or helpful. Most often, when we use the term, we mean someone respected and honored by the early or medieval church for their example of holy living or strong faith. Such people, called saints in the first few centuries, were witnesses to Jesus to the point of death. They were also called martyrs, witnesses.
The Bible does not use the word saint in such a narrow way. The word means “holy one” and is used to describe God’s people, saved and made holy by his grace. St. Paul goes to great lengths to explain how those God is making holy should live. Many Lutheran pastors follow this custom and call the hearers of their sermons “saints.”
During the Middle Ages, saints who were admired for their faith went from being good examples to be venerated — worshipped, really, although Catholics would object to that description. The church redefined a saint as someone whose good deeds were more numerous than their sins, so they did not go to purgatory but directly to heaven. (that subject is for another post!) There, it was said, they are aware of what is going on and pray for us. They can hear our prayers and do miracles for us—or instead, ask God to perform them. The honoring of and praying to the saints became known as the cult of the saints.
Martin Luther and the reformers believed the cult of the saints had gotten out of control. They believed it was good to give thanks to God for saints, to study their lives, and to imitate their faith. The Book of Hebrews says as much. (Hebrews 13:7) Yet the saints in heaven do not know what is happening on earth, and they do not hear our prayers. Prayer and worship belong to God alone.
So Lutherans do not pray to saints, collect pieces of their bodies, or things that belonged to them as magic objects. We study their lives, consider what happened to them, learn from their sins and mistakes, and imitate their faith and good works. We do this not because they are better than us, but because they are just like us. If God got them through this life by faith, he can — and will — keep us to everlasting life.
Sermon on the Holy Innocents, Martyrs Exodus 1:8-22, Matthew 2:13-18 December 28, 2025
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear saints, in a dispute with some Jews, Jesus tells them that the devil was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. As we read Scripture, we see this play out over and over. Of how the devil influences and guides people from God to evil. From the snake in the garden to sin crouching at the door and desiring Cain. To a people bowing before a golden calf, to arrogantly thinking the city of Jerusalem was safe because the Temple was built in it.
Perhaps, however, the greatest and most vile treachery of the devil is his targeting of children. The demonic practice of child sacrifice. Not only in the lands of ancient Babylon and Assyria, but even in the cultures of Central America. Human, and specifically child sacrifice, was…is common around the world. The blood of the young and innocent is shed to feed the desires of demons masquerading as gods. To serve the self as a god. To buy favor with a man or a false god.
It is not only the devil and his minions who are bloodthirsty. Many kings and generals through the centuries have been as well. They would conquer and slaughter for the sport of it. Or, perhaps it was out of fear, like when a group of your servants starts to grow larger than you are comfortable with. Or when you convince yourself, there is a rival heir to your throne.
These are the fears we hear this morning. A new king arises who is ignorant of or simply despises history. Does not know or care how, centuries ago, a man came to Egypt as a slave, was wrongly imprisoned, but saved the entire region from a severe famine. We also hear of a tyrant who feared any challenger. And when he hears of a newborn king, he fears this infant with a violent response.
Some 1500 years before our Lord’s birth, the devil is working to thwart God’s plan to redeem His creation. When a severe famine brings the chosen family to Egypt and the land of Goshen, the Lord blesses them greatly. They grow great in number. And now, the devil uses Israel’s size to scare the new Pharaoh. And as we heard, the lives of Israel are made miserable. They are mistreated and abused. But it was not enough to oppress God’s people. The devil had greater goals.
For God promised a seed from Abraham. But if the line is broken, if Abraham’s line is ended, the Messiah cannot come. God’s plan and promise to save mankind would be derailed, and you and I would be forever under condemnation. The devil uses Pharaoh as his vessel. The goal was to end the line of Israel. To systematically kill all male Hebrew children. To force the girls to marry into Egyptian families and end the line of the Patriarchs. So, the command to the midwives was to kill any male child immediately after he was delivered and to allow any girl to live.
Yet God will not be thwarted. Although a Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph or fear God, so also were there faithful and brave midwives. When choosing between honoring God and the command of Pharaoh, Shiphrah and Puah chose their Lord and your Lord.
Their faithfulness was rewarded, but the devil did not give up. He intensified. Rather than killing the boy at birth, Egyptians were commanded to find Hebrew boys and throw them into the Nile, to drown them. The very river that gave life and symbolized fertility was to be the agent of death.
We do not know how many children were tossed into the Nile nor how long this decree lasted. We are not sure what the age cutoff was, for Moses’ brother Aaron was about three when this began. But we do know that not all male children were drowned. A Levite family has a son, and when they can no longer hide him, they place him in a basket. They place it in the Nile. And the basket, like the ark during the Great Flood, protects the precious cargo. None other than Pharaoh’s daughter draws the basket and baby out of the water. She adopts and names the child Moses. And though it takes decades, through Moses, the devil is finally thwarted. God’s people are saved from their slavery and affliction. Egypt and her gods are judged. And the promise to Abraham and the Patriarchs is preserved.
We also hear this morning of another king. One whose reign at first was of building and relative peace, but devolved into depravity, paranoia, and tyranny. And when magi from the East arrive, reporting the birth of the King of the Jews, that paranoia went into overdrive. A man who was willing to kill his own kin to protect his throne had no qualms about having an infant murdered, either.
This jealousy and fear gave the devil another opportunity. While he failed to prevent Christ’s birth, he could still go after Him as a baby. And because the devil hates God and His creation, he was willing to kill any child he could while going after God’s Son. Like the Hebrew children in Egypt, we do not know how many boys were killed by Herod’s order. We do not know how many parents had their infants and toddlers ripped from them by the murderous will of Herod and the devil.
But we know God acted to preserve His promise. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were hidden away and safe in Egypt when Herod’s evil decree was carried out. They stay until Herod dies. In this time, the devil causes grief and sorrow but fails to accomplish his evil agenda.
Horror and turmoil persist today. People suffer at the hands of other people. People suffer from accidents and other natural occurrences. People still suffer from the devil’s antics and plans. When this occurs, weeping and lamentation are appropriate responses. The desire to comfort the afflicted and the suffering is good and natural. For we rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. Pray for all who are suffering, that they may know peace.
Today, we remember the children and their families who suffered due to the actions of the devil and evil men. We lament the lives that were cut short. But we also remember that God’s will and promise are still accomplished. He loves those children and families just as He loves all children and families. It is for them and for you that He comes as a baby. For them and for you, He dies. Not the victim of Satan, but as the victor over Satan. The schemes of the devil are ultimately all overcome by your God.
And so, we thank God that He delivers all His martyrs and saints from the great tribulation of this world. For all who have had their robes washed in the blood of the Lamb. Who are made pure and holy on account of the death and resurrection of Christ. Let us take refuge in all His promises. Rest in the knowledge that He will not let you be put to shame. Remembering that Jesus hands over the Spirit so that He may reside in you, delivering you from evil. Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Encore Post: “In the beginning was the Word…” John begins his gospel. (John 1:1) His introduction is very different from Matthew, Mark’s, and Luke’s gospels. He takes us back in time to creation itself. Where are the shepherds, the sheep, the star, the wise men, and all the details we’ve come to love? Why doesn’t the beloved disciple tell us the story? It is because John is not a biography like the ones we’re used to. (The other gospels aren’t either, but that is another story!) In fact, John tells us what he is trying to do: “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)
For John, what happened in Jesus’ earthly life is less important than why. The Gospel of John tells the good news simply, profoundly, and in ways that strengthen the faith of every Christian — young and old. So, John begins at the beginning.
Jesus is the eternal Word — the λόγος (Logos) — living with God the Father forever. He is divine, God himself, the Author of Life and the Creator of all things. He is Light itself, which overcomes darkness. He came to the world, and the world did not know him. His own people did not receive him. Yet those who believe in him, he adopted as his children, not born of human will, but by the will of God.
But John does talk about Christmas — he tells us the reason for the season. The Word became flesh and lived with us. This mystery is so profound that it makes no sense in Greek philosophy. To the Greeks, spirituality is all about denying the flesh and the material world in which it lives. To them, the body is suspect and evil; the spirit is good. That God’s Word would become human is backwards. For the Jew, it is offensive to think that man could be God. Yet that is precisely what happened at Christmas.
So, the beloved disciple teaches us, if you want grace and truth, look to Jesus. Human beings have never seen God, but the only begotten God — he is from the Father and made him known. Christians are blessed because when they discover they cannot understand God, they can look to Jesus. In him, God has come to live with us and will do so now and forever.
