First Sunday After Christmas Service

The Prophecy of the Branch and the Messiah’s Justice

The Lord be with you. Let us pray. Oh God our maker and Redeemer You wonderfully created us and in the incarnation of your son yet more wondrously restored our human nature. Grant that me we may ever be alive in him who made himself to be like us Through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit.

One God now and forever y 'all may be seated.

And I think I better look for the readings for today.

Here we go. The Old Testament reading for the first Sunday after Christmas is taken from the Prophet Isaiah chapter 11. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit and The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding The spirit of counsel and might The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord and his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear. But with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He shall strike the earth with a rod of his mouth with the breath of his lips.

He shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness the belt of his loins. This is the word of the Lord. Speak the gradual together. You are the most handsome of the sons of men.

I address my verses to the king. Our epistle is taken from Galatians chapter 4.

I.

Mean that the heir as long as he is a child is no different from a slave though. He is the owner of everything. But he is under guardians and manages until the date set by his father in the same way. We also when we were children were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

But when the fullness of time had come God sent forth his son born of woman born under the law. To redeem those who are under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons God has sent the spirit of a son into our hearts crying Abba.

Father.

So you are no longer a slave but a son and if a son then an heir through God. This is the word of the Lord The Holy Gospel according to st.

Luke the second chapter. And his father and mother marveled at what was said about him and Simeon blessed them and said.

To marry his mother. Behold This child is appointed for the fall and the rising of many in Israel. And for a sign that is opposed the sword will pierce through your own soul also so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.

And There was a prophetess Anna the daughter of Faniwell of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin and then as a widow until she was 84.

She did not depart from the temple worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

And When they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord They returned to Galilee Into their own town of Nazareth and the child grew and became strong filled with wisdom and the favor of God was upon him.

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Sermon hymn is 389. You may be seated. Grace mercy and peace you from God the Father Son and Holy Spirit. You may be seated.

Christmas Has Come: The Sublimity of God Made Flesh

In the name of Jesus. What great texts we have today? Christmas has come our Savior has been born. God has humbled himself and that's kind of the point and taken on Human flesh and to talk about our texts.

Well, there's a word We don't use a lot here in the English language anymore. But it has some meaning and worth kind of re-adopting and the word is sublime. It is truly sublime what it is that we are seeing in our texts today.

That God has taken on human flesh and as the prophets prophesied is doing the work that is necessary to Save us to redeem us to destroy the works of the devil not to destroy us destroy the works of the devil and set us free from slavery to sin death and the devil and.

The best way I can describe it is that our gospel text kind of has a vibe to it. That's kind of how the younger folks talk today things have a vibe. What's the vibe? Well, I have to give you an analogy and this is going to require me to kind of flesh out the concept a little bit.

Here and we'll draw a parallel so a little bit about myself. I don't normally like to preach about myself. But I think it's important in this analogy the sermon illustration for you to know a few things.

Number one my grandfather my grandfather was from New York, he grew up in Brooklyn and He lived when I was born in a place called and you have to pronounce it this way New Hyde Park Long Island. This is the way he would talk and my grandfather was a fanatic when it came to the Dodgers an absolute nut.

Okay, a man who was normally respectable ceased to be respectable whenever you would put on a Dodger game or Even better when he would come and visit. One of the things that my grandfather loved to do Was when he would come to visit and he would often visit us at least two times a year grandma would get on an airplane fly from New Hyde Park Long Island all the way to Southern, California and When he would show up during the baseball season, and I think he strategically chose to do this on purpose.

Then there was a very specific thing that happened at least one Sunday sometimes two. Depending on how long his stay was and the Sunday went something like this my grandmother who insisted on going to the Latin Mass.

Would make us all attend the Latin Mass. But if it was a Sunday and we were going to a Dodger game in the afternoon. We would go really early in the morning which made it really great for me because then I could just sleep through the whole thing.

Right if unless my grandmother caught me and then I was no longer allowed to sleep. But the idea then is we would get the Mass over with quick and then my grandfather would put us into his rental car.

My brother and myself and sometimes my dad would go with us and what we do we head off to Chavez Ravine to Dodger Stadium and for a 135 start in the afternoon. It was sunshine and he would always make sure to get really good seats somewhere behind home plate.

I don't know how he had the money to do this. But alas things were a lot cheaper back in the day and my grandfather when the Dodgers were doing good. He was up on cloud nine, but as soon as somebody made an error, I did something stupid.

He would yell out at the top of his lungs damn bums. You know and he would yell at the umpire. He was just embarrassing right, but the idea then was this is that by going and seeing my grandfather's passion for the Dodgers that kind of stuck with me and Then as a child when I had opportunity I started following the Dodgers all on my own and I learned that the baseball season kind of has a rhythm to it.

Right.

You have spring training spring training the dot the pitchers show up first then the rest of the team and then you have these Exhibition games and the game you never put any stock. And what happens in spring training.

There's a lot of talk and people try to figure out who's gonna win the World Series based upon spring training. It's all baloney. This is just nonsense. But then something magical happens and the thing that magical that happens is opening day.

Every game counts from that moment in early April. And you know that the baseball season is going to last all the way to the end of October. And there's something really peaceful about it, and it's it as soon as opening day hits.

You know that everything is right with the world. The sunshine is coming back. The temperatures are getting warmer and you have the assurance that when you turn on the radio You're gonna hear Vin Scully calling the game and it was just.

Absolutely.

Sublime.

Even the years I didn't track with the Dodgers like I did when I was younger. It was just reassuring to hear when you'd go to the beach. You can hear Vin Scully calling the game because somebody always had the radio on and there was something about My life that was anchored in of all stupid things baseball.

Right now. I'm not gonna do a victory dance about what happened this past October. Okay? That's not necessary, but all of that being said I want you to consider in our gospel text is Kind of like that feeling that concept of sublimity and everything being right with the world magnified by multiples of thousands.

Because the prophets you can think of them as the spring training report. They are telling us what the Messiah is going to do. We have a talent getting ready to enter the field enter the battle himself and boy.

Let me tell you about this guy right and it's all future tense stuff. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse. A branch from its roots shall bear fruit. Now let me kind of flesh this out for a little bit here.

If you think back in the book of Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar, right. Nebuchadnezzar, what a miserable Self-centered narcissistic little tyrant that guy was. Right, but you're gonna know God humbled him greatly and He ends up believing.

Before his death but before he was humbled you'll note that God sent him a warning vision a warning dream and He then revealed the details of that dream to Daniel who God gave the ability to interpret that dream.

And when Daniel interpreted he he hit it's like the color in his face left. And he said make made this dream not be about you. May this be about your enemies. And what was the dream that Nebuchadnezzar was this ginormous tree that Everybody could take shelter in the shade of of it, right?

Which kind of prefigures Christ if you think about it, and what did God do to that ginormous tree? He locked the whole thing down right, why. Because of Nebuchadnezzar's arrogance and I would note we've lost a few trees in our yard and we've had stumps sit there.

Lifeless just being stumpy. Okay, but that's kind of where things are interesting here here. Isaiah is prophesying and telling us about the house of David the Davidic Kingdom. Where the United Israel in the glory days of King David?

Came to nothing with his heirs. God ripped apart the kingdom because of the Of the foolishness of the wise man Solomon right, he made a lot of idolatrous concessions to his multiple wives and God tore the kingdom from him and ripped it apart and the Davidic Kingdom itself came to nothing and Basically came to an inglorious end an inglorious end with the with Judah being banished into Exile in Babylon and then coming back from it the Davidic Kingdom was not restored.

And so there the Davidic Kingdom because of Israel's Idolatry because the stubborn obstinacy of the wicked kings of Judah the whole tree had come down and there it sat. Stumpy. Rightly so. But God Said there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jess that lifeless stump.

Something is gonna happen and it's gonna be glorious. A branch from its roots shall bear fruit. And the spirit of Yahweh shall rest upon him that branch and the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge in the fear of Yahweh and His delight shall be in the fear of Yahweh.

Oh. If only we had politicians like this. May I warn you? Put no faith in politicians. Especially the ones who win the elections that you voted for. Our trust is in Christ and it's foolish to trust in princes.

We pray for them weekly here because you'll note that they have feet of clay just like you and I. But this one being described here. Oh, if only oh. Aren't you looking forward to the day when we see Jesus face-to-face in a kingdom without end and we will never ever Again hear a political corruption of politicians writing sketchy laws and having to worry about Persecution on the horizon.

Right. Never again will wickedness flourish. While the righteous suffer never again. Oh, if only we had. Well, he's king of kings and Lord of Lords now. But you get the point. We're still at the spring spring training report here.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear but with righteousness he shall judge the poor. He will decide with equity for the meek. A King who cares about the lowly.

And the poor who shows no favoritism for the rich and the powerful. You know, one of the things I thought was fascinating was watching is the growing friendship between Donald Trump and Elon. Why hasn't Trump had a burgeoning friendship with Joe Schmoe the trash guy from Grand Forks?

Why is it the rocket guy? Instead of the trash guy. Think that out. It says of Christ he will decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips.

He shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness the belt of his loins. And you'll note the scouting report from Isaiah is all written in future tense. He will he will he will he will.

But in our gospel text and we're gonna have to look at a little bit of context to it. It's not future tense. Christ is on the scene. Everything's different and I want you to understand what's at stake in order for Christ to win the day.

It is like asking any Major League Baseball team that in order to win the World Series this year. You're going to have to win every Single game as a baseball fan. I can tell you if your team loses half their games your team's doing good.

Part of being a baseball fan is basically eating crow. It's a bitter experience following a baseball team bitter and I can't imagine how you Minnesotans are doing it. I'm just saying Okay, but all that being said.

What's at stake here? Is that Christ has to win every battle? There isn't a single inning where he cannot not dominate. He must dominate every inning. He has to win every single game because if he doesn't we're doomed and I would note that Christ begins his time in the battle.

He begins it as an infant. I've had three infants in my home three of them and I can tell you Infants don't do a lot of stuff. They eat. They poop. They cry. They sleep rinse wash repeat. And one of the things I find fascinating here and I'll kind of set this up here.

Is that what we see happening regarding Jesus is not at all like what happens when you have a newborn infant? Okay, I remember when our kids were these tiny little packages and we were taking them out to the grocery store to get things Right that everybody had to stop and say oh, I gotta see the baby.

Especially older women for whatever reason they want to see the baby and all this kind of stuff, right? And it's it's kind of cute. It's a little bit annoying perfect strangers coming up to you and stuff like this.

But I would note that my children like everybody else's child. Those of us who are all descendants from Adam and Eve. They were they were conceived and born in sin just like the rest of us. There was nothing special about them in the sense that their specialty regarding Christ and one of the things one of the stories I think is absolutely hilarious is that one time Barb and I with Joshua.

We went to Target. And of course everybody had to see the baby. One of the things we were struggling with is that Joshua's lactose intolerant and we had back then our doctor didn't know how to kind Of manage all of this and there was this one lady who came up to see Joshua.

Oh, let me see the baby he's so cute the most darling thing ever and Joshua filled his diaper and a lactose intolerant Infant that fills his diaper creates an aroma in public. That nobody should ever have to experience.

I'm surprised we have not heard from the Geneva Convention. And what was funny is that Barb took Joshua into the bathroom and there were ladies who literally ran out of the bathroom gagging.

Okay.

It's kind of Sally. This is all the result of sin.

All of it.

Christ’s Active and Passive Obedience in the Gospel

But in our gospel text today, we're gonna back up into the context. Jesus doesn't have that sin. He is God in human flesh and he is already legitimately Conquering he is already Obeying God's law. Perfectly he is already winning every single game and the season has begun with him at his weakest at his most vulnerable and That's the sublimity of all of this.

I want you to consider again one of the two of the verses from the hymn. We just sang listen to this. Within an earth-born Form he hides who hides. God hides His all creating light to serve us all. He humbly cloaks the splendor of his might.

He undertakes a great exchange puts on our human frame and In return gives us his realm his glory and his name. Brothers and sisters again Sublimity here is Amazing and here's what our gospel text says.

I'm going to back up just a little in the context. It says when the time came for their purification. According to the law of Moses. They brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written in the law of the Lord.

Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. You see when it comes to obeying God's law You this this is the part that a lot of people don't understand in order to obey God's law perfectly.

You have to obey it not only actively, but you also have to obey it passively. There are things that God's Word requires be done because Jesus is the first male to open the womb of his mother the Virgin Mary and Jesus is in no position to obey those commands at all.

None.

How then can he obey them? They must be obeyed for him by his parents. And so God chose very carefully very wisely to holy humble and devout parents for his Messiah. Who then obeyed God's law actively for Christ.

Who was then passively obeyed? Because of them and. Had they failed at this point. The game would have been over the season lost and darkness would have descended forever.

But he is already.

Conquering God and human flesh in a tiny little bundle and it's Sublime and everything is right with the world because of it. And so they offered a sacrifice According to what is said in the law of the Lord and this is what the text says.

A pair of turtle doves and two young pigeons. Which is only a portion of what is required. I would notice. Stop and think for a minute. Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In the Nicene we confess that he is God of God Light of light very God of very God begotten not made in scripture.

He is described as the Alpha and the Omega the beginning in the end, right? He is.

Everything.

His throne there is no higher throne than his and he has chosen in his sovereignty by his own choice. To be born not only to humble devout parents of the line of David, but to poverty stricken parents.

I remember when I was at the University the first year I Hadn't really learned how to manage money. Well, and I didn't even have a proper job. And I can tell you I learned very quickly that macaroni and cheese.

Very.

When you think about how much cost is it cost to buy a box of macaroni and cheese today, right. Buck 52 bucks, maybe right. It was like 25 cents in the 80s. Like 25 cents and I can make a box of Macaroni and cheese last me for three days.

Because that's all I could afford.

Mary and Joseph could not afford the proper sacrifice for Christ. They couldn't. So the sacrifice that was given was the one. That is given as an exception for those who do not have the ability to pay for the other one.

And so the sacrifice for Christ was a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. You can get them for cheap There at the temple.

Because they couldn't afford a lamb. What does this tell you about God?

What does this tell you about you?

We live in a world where we want the best. We want the greatest. We want the newest the shiniest the blingiest. We want attention. We we don't want to live in poverty. We like to have good things. Christ chose to be born to a family.

To a family that didn't have the money for any such.

Things. And here's the word again.

Oh.

The Holy Spirit, Simeon, and the Consolation of Israel

While they're there He was about waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him. You see here we get a foretaste. Christ will send the Holy Spirit on all. Here the Holy Spirit has chosen a fellow by the name of Simeon.

Hebrew word for he heard. Okay, interesting. I don't think that's a mistake and the Holy Spirit is previewing what he's going to do. You'll note that the Holy Spirit does not draw attention to himself.

The Holy Spirit is about drawing attention to Christ. He will convict the world of sin and unbelief. He will testify about me and bring to your memory all the things that I said and taught and did. Right, so the Holy Spirit gives us a little bit of a preview of what he's going to do because there's Simeon a righteous man.

The Holy Spirit is upon him and it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death. Before he had seen the Lord's Christ the Holy Spirit quietly saying to him I know that death is coming for you Simeon.

But do not fear your eyes will see your salvation. Your eyes will see the Messiah. And so that day it says he came into the he came in the spirit into the temple. I'm not exactly sure what that means.

Did Simeon wake up that morning and brew his coffee and brush his teeth and go. I just need to get to the temple. I need to get there now. Well, why I don't know. I just know I need to be there. I just know that I know that I know that I know.

Either way he's moved and he comes into the temple under the power and the unction of the Holy Spirit. And when the parents brought in the child to Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law they were minding their own business and I assure you Jesus was not the kid with the halo.

Okay, forget all the Renaissance art. Jesus was not a kid with a halo. He would have freaked out all of his Classmates and all the other kids in town. He would have been no fun to play kickball with right?

But the Holy Spirit pointed Jesus out to him. And so Simeon swoops in and he takes Jesus up in his arms and he blessed God and listen to what he says. These words are words that we sing. Lord now you're letting your servant go in peace again.

Everything is right with the world. Christ is here. He's not coming he's here. You are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word your promises. My eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a Light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel.

I assure you. Not with any of my infants. Did anybody say anything like that about them? Nor would it have been appropriate for them to say such things. My children needed to be baptized. They needed to have their sins washed away.

Like their father and the mother before them but not Jesus. So his father and mother they marveled at what was said about him and this is where our text begins kind of an odd place. Right always it again.

You have to ask the church fathers. Why'd you pick that start verse 33, right? His father and mother marveled at what was said about him not because they didn't know this already. But I want you to kind of think of it in this way.

Why were they marveling? Well, the prophets told us what would happen the angels announced what would happen and what Jesus would do. And now Simeon out of nowhere under the power of the Holy Spirit speaks prophetically these amazing words and Everything is saying the same thing.

Salvation unto us has come. He's here and Then in that same blessing Simeon gives some darker notes in the song that he's singing. Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and the rising of many in Israel.

You see because the reason is this is the question that Jesus would later 30 something years later ask his disciples. Who do people say the Son of Man is and then pushing farther? He said who do you say he is?

Right that same question now is posed to everybody in Israel. Hang on a second. Jesus is very life his teaching his miracles Demanded an answer to that question and you'll note that there was a notable amount of people Powerful people religious leaders who said he must die.

While others Held on to his words and believed his promises for the forgiveness of their sins. So this child is appointed for the fall and the rising in many in Israel and he is the sign that will be opposed.

And indeed he was Opposed to the point where people were shouting out on that Good Friday morning crucify him and Then the darkest words of all words that I'm not sure how Mary had to process it. But it had to be something that probably ran like ice through her vein.

Her veins sword will pierce you through your own soul. Also, I think this prefigures the fact that Mary was going to be at the cross Here while Mary was nursing breastfeeding Christ Changing his diapers burping him Swaddling him and singing lullabies to him and that special special time Gives her a word of warning.

This very baby that you are caring for now is your Savior and you're going to see him die for your sins. You will watch as he breathes his last. No, no parents should ever have to see a child die.

Especially theirs.

But Mary would see her very son dying because her son was more than her son her son was also her Lord. And That's the sublimity of it and so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And There was a prophetess Anna the daughter of Samuel the tribe of Asher if that was enough now.

We got a prophetess on the scene. She was advanced in years having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin. So she was married for seven years and then her husband died and as a widow She lived to be 84.

She did not depart from the temple. She worshiped God constantly with fasting with prayer night and day. And Coming up at that very hour She began to give thanks to God and speak of him to all who are waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

You see that's the thing what we can't see with the natural eyes. God the Holy Spirit Opened their eyes to see the spiritual truth of what was happening. And so the text then concludes. And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord.

You sit there. This is sound so ordinary so routine so basic, but is it though? How are you doing at performing everything according to the law of the Lord if I am honest. On my best days, I'm terrible at it.

And so are you? But that's kind of the point with the birth of Christ. The season has begun. Everything is right with the world.

Everything and.

He.

Has already begun his conquering work and we can then say with Simeon Lord, I Can depart in peace. I have seen your salvation. I have heard the absolution. I've had my sins washed away. This Jesus has done so much for me.

And here's what's at stake and this is why he had to win because of something even more sublime. If you think about it if we all got what we deserved Not a single one of us could ever complain. We'd say God is right.

God is just in punishing me for my sins. But God has not seen fit that we all get what we deserve. Instead he has chosen to do something that is like.

Unthinkable.

Think back in American history with me for a minute think back. Okay, the United States fought a war Called the Civil War. Now, technically the war was not about slavery. It was about states rights. I understand how the historians argue it.

But the reality was this despite whatever was on the label. For what was the reason behind the war slavery was? Definitely in the forefront of it because at the end of the war the Constitution was changed and The slaves were set free permanently, but did that make their lives any better?

No, because we all know how Reconstruction went and it wasn't too long after the Civil War that the Ku Klux Klan arose and The slaves who have been set free free were oh, yeah, they're emancipated. But they were pretty much economically oppressed racially pushed down, right.

Much to our own shame as a nation. But see the thing is is that Christ hasn't come to just merely set us free and to emancipate us. It's more than that. In fact, it's unthinkable. Here's what it says when the fullness of time had come God sent forth his son born of woman born under the law.

To redeem those who are under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. We haven't been emancipated. Merely we have by Christ's death and resurrection been set free from sin from the tyranny of Satan.

But more than that Christ has adopted us. We're his brothers. God is our father now. We're no longer the children of Satan. We are the adopted children of God. And that adoption cost Jesus everything and It would not have been possible.

Had he lost even one battle or even been? Disobedient in one little commandment. But he wasn't. He fulfilled everything According to God's law for us to redeem us and to adopt us. And because of this y 'all Y 'all are sons of God.

Y 'all are sons and daughters of God. And God has sent his Holy Spirit in to us and we cry out in our hearts.

Abba father.

So you're no longer slave you're a son and if you're a son then you're an heir through God. And all of this because the Infant Jesus on opening day from the day one Began his work fulfilling God's law.

So that he can be our sinless spotless lamb of God who takes away the sin of all of us Kong's finger in the whole world. So brothers and sisters, like I said, this text has a vibe to it and the vibe is this Christ is now here.

Everything is right with the world In the name of Jesus Amen.

The Apostles’ Creed and the Prayers of the Church

We rise to confess our faith together in the words of the Apostles Creed. I.

Believe in God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit? Born of the Virgin Mary. Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified died and was buried.

He descended into hell the third day. He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit the Holy Christian Church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the Resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen. Remain standing for the prayers of the church.

Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs. Eternal Lord God in the fullness of time you sent forth your son. Born of a woman born under the law to redeem us and to give us the adoption as your sons and heirs.