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Date: 4th Sunday in Advent Text: Matthew John 1:19-28
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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.
And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg.
The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the first chapter. This is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ.
And they asked him, what then, are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, no. So they said to him, who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees, so they asked him, then why are you baptizing if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?
John answered them, I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. These things took place in Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
This is the Gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus. Amen. O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here. Have you noticed that sin seems to separate us? Have you noticed that sin really is this awful thing?
It really, truly does make the world a lonely place, even if we live with other human beings. Have you noticed that you put two human beings in close proximity to each other, they've made vows before God and before their friends and family and neighbors, and well, you know, things can get a little volatile.
You know, that's a good way to put it, right? And have you ever heard of people who are lonely in their marriage? It happens, right? It really, truly happens. And all of this is because of sin. And then you think about how poorly we treat each other.
I remember the news story from just this week. Apparently there was a TikTok challenge. A challenge put out, and the challenge went something like this. Grab a gun and go and kill people at your high school.
It was a TikTok challenge. Law enforcement authorities were on high alert on Friday, and a bunch of kids just didn't even go to school because they didn't want to get dead. What kind of world do we live in where you have to worry about being gunned down by schoolmates because of a TikTok challenge?
You know, I think about my mom back when I was growing up. She said, if all your friends told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it? Right? Yeah, think about it. The world we live in is absolutely, horrifically, terribly awful.
And here's the thing. I'm not talking about out there. I'm talking about in here. And so as I was considering, you know, not only the sermon hymn today, the wonderful hymn, one of my favorites, Come, O Come, Emmanuel, considering the world that we live in and what we have to deal with ourselves in considering our own repentance in light of the imminent celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I had to think through these texts a little bit. Work with me here for a second. What am I supposed to do with this gospel text? Because I was super tempted to sit here and go, well, I could rail against bureaucracy and the need to not have to turn in TPS reports.
Because, I mean, that's literally what's going on here. You've got the Pharisees going, interrogating John the Baptist. Who are you? Where'd you come from? Why are you doing this? If you're not this guy, then why are you doing that?
Right? We've got to report all of this information. Oh, bureaucracy at its best, right? Then you have, well, this text from our epistle text. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice. Have you ever just wanted to punch somebody in the face when they told you to be happy?
Okay, and you weren't? I mean, it's just one of these things where you tell me how I'm supposed to feel, and I'm not feeling it. I'm probably not going to be happy with you. I remember as a kid being forced to take family photos or classroom photos, and there you are.
You don't want to be there. You didn't like the fact that they combed your hair because you don't like having people comb your hair. And there you're sitting there, and you're supposed to look happy. And so what do they do?
Say cheese. Cheese. Right? And no sooner do they click the shutter, you go back to looking mumpy. Right? Well, that was me. I hated having to say cheese. Don't like it to this day because you're going to basically photograph me looking like I'm happy, and in the moment, I'm not.
Okay? So rejoice in the Lord always. Okay, so we got a command to be happy, not happy with this. What am I supposed to do with this text? And then you got the, and if you, I'm going to send a prophet like Moses, and if you don't listen to him, I'm going to require it of you.
Oy. Okay. What do we do with this? Well, there was a phrase that John the Baptist said that kind of struck a note, especially in light of our need, my need, to daily repent and believe in the mercies of Christ.
John the Baptist, Jesus was one of these fellows who had a high opinion of John the Baptist. In fact, he said, of all men born of women, and by that, he means born the natural way, that none was greater than John the Baptist.
I mean, if you think about it, if anybody had something to brag about, and not his diet, we won't talk about that again. Okay? If anybody had anything to brag about, it's John the Baptist. I mean, he got the Jesus Christ seal of approval on being the greatest human being in all of humanity.
And what did he say about himself? You'll note that the most important thing that John the Baptist confessed in our text was not that he wasn't the Christ. It was not that he wasn't Elijah. It was not that he wasn't the prophet.
You know the most important thing he confessed? He who comes after me, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. That was the most important confession in our gospel text. And that one preaches if the greatest human being born naturally, descended from Adam and Eve, is still unworthy to untie the sandals of Christ, you know what?
Surely I'm not either, and neither are you. And that's the thing. When we think about this worthiness, oftentimes we think about God in such terms like you know, he's just going to be so unhappy with us because we're just not measuring up.
And indeed sin is, well you persist in sin and unbelief, there is an eternity of hell awaiting you. But God, his default setting, if you would, is not anger, wrath, or explosive wrath or anything like that.
It's love and mercy and grace and kindness. And so when we hear God saying whoever will not listen to the prophet that I will send, I will require it of him, let's consider a few things here. And so I'm going to kind of tidy up things a little bit.
If you were to look in Scripture, I think one could easily see. Christ says John the Baptist is the best. But when we look at candidates for potentially the worst, I think the Apostle Paul kind of qualifies.
Alright? This is a fellow who at the end of his life still was talking about how he was the chief of sinners. And when we consider what was going on with the Apostle Paul before he became the Apostle Paul, one that we can all agree on was definitely not worthy to untie Christ's sandals.
When we see how Christ dealt with him, I think we can have a little bit of hope. In the book of Acts chapter 7, starting at verse 54, we're at the tail end of, well, a kangaroo court. You know, mob justice is being served against a fellow by the name of Stephen who's about to become the very first Christian martyr.
And for what? For confessing that Jesus is the Christ and in him is the forgiveness of sins. And here's the thing. He was able to prove it from the Scriptures and the Jews who refused to believe in Jesus were annoyed beyond reason that this mere layman is able to outdo them with the Scriptures as it relates to the Messiah.
And so they put him on kangaroo court right there and he gives his great confession and doesn't even really point out the fact you guys really don't have the authority to do what you're doing to me. Doesn't even point out the injustice of it.
He just preaches Christ. And he preaches him from the Old Testament. He preaches him all the way up to his death, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension. And when, well, the Jews heard this thing, the text says they were enraged.
Have you noticed that your confession of Christ can get you in a wee bit of trouble? Right? They were enraged and they ground their teeth at him. Now this is something weird. I'm not quite sure I've ever seen this happen.
How does somebody get so mad that their response in anger is that they grind their teeth at you? Do they go, what does this look like? It's just weird if you ask me. It's like, go see a dentist. You can get that fixed.
Right? So he, Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And here's an interesting thing. We confess in the Creed that Christ ascended into heaven and he sits at the right hand of the Father.
A little bit of a detail here, and that is that with the very first Christian martyr, the first Christian martyr can see into heaven, sees Christ, and Christ is not sitting down. He's standing up. It's an interesting little thing.
It's as if Christ says, I can't sit for this. I'm going to watch this standing. Christ standing, watching as the very first Christian will lose his life for believing in him. And then, Stephen says, behold, I see the heavens open.
Son of man, standing at the right hand of God, but they cried out with a loud voice and they stopped their ears and they rushed together at him. Now, stopping their ears, I get this. I used to do this as a kid.
La, la, la, la, I can't hear you. Right? That's what they're doing. They don't want to hear any of this anymore. So they cast him out of the city, rushed together at him, then they cast him out of the city and stoned him and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man by the name of Shaul, Saul, Tarsus.
And as they were stoning Stephen, Stephen called out. And notice what he doesn't say. Lord, you get him. You avenge my death. No, here's what he says. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, do not hold this sin against them.
And when they had said this, he fell asleep. That means he died. Rather than crying out for justice, he begs God to have mercy on them and to not hold this sin, murder, against these fellows. It's interesting.
In the case of Saul, of Tarsus, Christ heard that prayer of Stephen. He really did. Now the text goes on to say that Saul approved of Stephen's execution. That would kind of add legitimacy to it. This was a murder.
This wasn't an actual court case where he committed a capital crime. This was a murder. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.
Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, entering house after house. He dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. For what? What great danger are they posing to society?
They're not. And you can see it. If this was like in a movie form, this part right here would be like a movie montage. And you would see police in front of a house with one of those battering rams bashing down the door, rushing in with guns at the ready.
And then them grabbing up men and women, putting on their handcuffs, leading them out. And Saul sitting there going, good job, guys. Good job. Him leading the charge. So rather than loving his neighbor, he's hating his neighbor.
He's imprisoning his neighbors. He's taking the life of his neighbors. How many commandments are being broken here? Oh, and by the way, he's doing this in the name of Yahweh, which tells us he doesn't know a thing about Yahweh.
But remember Stephen's prayer. Lord, do not hold this sin against them. Christ heard that prayer, and in chapter 9 of Acts, Saul still breathing out threats and murder against the disciples of Yahweh, the Lord went to the high priest.
He asked for him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way, that's the first name for Christianity, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. What kind of church is that?
A church that has authority to arrest people and drag them from Damascus down to Jerusalem? I'm sure that trip was fun, right? What kind of church is this? Well, I think Jesus describes it best in the book of Revelation.
This is what we call the synagogue of Satan. So as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
Ah, the light of heaven. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness is not overcoming. Who are you, Lord? He said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Rise, enter the city, you will be told what you were to do.
And the men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus, and for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Yeah, three days he gets to consider his life choices at this point, thinking that maybe, just maybe, he was betting on the wrong horse, rooting for the wrong team. Something's amiss here, but the thing is, had he understood the love of God, even in the Old Testament, he could have easily seen that he was guilty of breaking those two commandments, idolatry, as well as refusing to love his neighbor as himself, and then shrouding it in religious activity, in a pious veneer.
So there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias, and he said, here I am, Lord, I want to point this out, that you're going to know, Ananias did not graduate from Jennifer LeClaire's prophecy school, he never had a prophetic activation, he heard Jesus' voice say one word, and he knew exactly who it was.
Just saying. If Jesus is talking to you, you know it. Here I am, Lord. Rise and go to the street called Straight, at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. He's praying. He has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.
But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.
But the Lord said to him, go. He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. I will show him how much you must suffer for the sake of my name.
So Ananias departed and entered the house and laying his hands on him, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me to you that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Now, you've got to think about this. There are people at that moment who are still in prison because Saul put them there. And what is Christ doing? Forgiving him. Having mercy on him. When you think about outrageous high-handed sins against God, Saul of Tarsus is a guy whose sins stack up.
They stand out. Even Ananias, when the Lord is talking to him, says, I've heard about this guy. But Jesus says, I've chosen him. How does one choose sinners like that? That's the only thing that Jesus has to choose from.
And you'll note that many of us think that we are far outside the grace of God. We struggle. We fear that God is not going to forgive us. That there is no mercy for us. But you'll note there's mercy for Saul of Tarsus.
Rank sinner. There's mercy for John the Baptist. The greatest of us still needs mercy. You and I, we need mercy as well. And it's this type of story, this historical account that should give us some hope.
Maybe, just maybe, Christ truly did die for you. I mean, after all, does scripture ever lie? Christ died for the sins of the world. I know the Calvinist would tell you that means the elect. It's not true.
He died for the sins of the whole world. Every one of us. Whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Including Saul of Tarsus. So, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes. He regained his sight and then he rose. He was baptized and taking food. He was strengthened. And for some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.
Amazing grace. How sweet the sound. Saved a wretch like me. Once was lost. Now I'm found. Was blind. Now I see. Isn't that all of our stories? And if you don't think this is your story then we need to have a chat.
Because Christ only died for the ungodly. He did not die for the righteous. In fact, the righteous don't need a savior. You and I do. From John the Baptist to Saul of Tarsus, we all need to be forgiven.
None of us are worthy. It's in this context and we consider some of the words that Paul wrote later. Much later than his conversion. He wrote a letter to the church at Colossae. A church that he planted.
So from the day we heard, oh sorry, he did not plant. This is a church that he had heard about their faith. Somebody else had planted. So from the day we heard about your faith we have not ceased to pray for you.
Asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding. So as to walk in a manner that is worthy of the Lord. Fully pleasing to him. Bearing fruit in every good work.
And increasing in the knowledge of God. Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might. For all endurance and patience with joy. And then listen to these words. Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in line.
The apostle Paul clearly wasn't worthy to receive God's grace. John the Baptist did not consider himself even worthy to untie the sandals of Christ. None of us are either. But listen to these comforting words written by that former persecutor of Christians.
We give thanks to the Father because he, the Father, he has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He, the Father, has delivered us from the dominion of darkness. He has transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of our sins.
So in hearing John the Baptist confess that he's not worthy, we recognize that we're not worthy. But God has qualified us. And how has he done that? Through Christ. This Jesus Christ, the one that John the Baptist bore witness about.
This Jesus Christ, the one that John the Baptist prepared the way for as a voice in the wilderness. This Jesus Christ has borne your sin and mine on the cross so that we can be forgiven, pardoned, reconciled, adopted into the family of God, taken from under the dominion of darkness into the freedom of the kingdom of his beloved Son, the glorious kingdom of light, all as a gift.
You couldn't earn it if you tried. And this is why it's so important that we recognize again and again that it's only in Jesus that we have redemption and the forgiveness of our sins. And he is not cheap or chintzy in doling out that forgiveness.
In that context then, consider then what Moses said. God, through the prophet Moses, said that I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
And whoever will not listen to my words that he, Jesus, will speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. And we hear something like that and we're thinking, uh-oh, we're going to have a pretty serious meeting here.
But I would remind you, what is it that Jesus said? Listen to Jesus' words. Hear these words. Take them to heart. Jesus said, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
And that's you. And that's me. Listen to these words. Jesus goes on to say, God did not send his Son into the world in order to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he is not believed in the name of the only Son of God. So God will require it of you. Hear his words.
Listen to them. Take it to heart. Jesus has arrived and he speaks words of peace, not condemnation. He speaks words of forgiveness, mercy, and life, not death. Listen to Jesus as Moses has commanded us.
That same Apostle Paul as he was finishing his course wrote a couple letters to a young pastor by the name of Timothy who was pastoring a congregation in the city of Ephesus. That Apostle Paul, just like John the Baptist, affirmed that he was unworthy.
And listen to what he says in 1 Timothy. I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me unfaithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, formerly I was a persecutor, an insolent opponent, but I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.
And the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. So the saying is trustworthy and it's deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief.
Sometimes when I look at my own sin I wonder if this is the only error in Scripture. Scripture is clear. Well, Scripture is without error. But when I look at my own sin and all the ways in which I have woefully fallen short, sometimes I feel like saying to the Apostle Paul, that was then, but this is now.
I think you're wrong, Paul. I think I got that title locked up now. Chief of Sinners. But that's the work of God's law. Hear it. And that's the thing. Maybe, just maybe, we've got it wrong if we don't think that this is an error.
John the Baptist recognized his own unworthiness. Even Paul, at the end of his life, recognized his. So it's a trustworthy saying. It's deserving of full acceptance. In fact, what Paul says here shows that he heard the prophet whom God sent who would be like Moses.
He heard the words of Christ. So the saying is trustworthy. It's true. Christ Jesus came in the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief. But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, as the chief of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
Christ has come to us in the loneliness of our sin. In the loneliness of our exile. And our exile and loneliness, we've brought it upon ourselves by our sin against God. It's the reason why we don't get along with each other, and it's the reason why we hate God and we disobey his commands.
But Christ didn't come into the world to condemn us. He came to forgive sinners like you and me. It's in that context, then, that maybe, just maybe, when I hear Paul's words here in our epistle text, rejoice, not just to rejoice, but rejoice in the Lord always.
Hearing his voice and knowing that he didn't come to condemn me or you, that gives me something to rejoice about. It takes the loneliness, the bitterness of sin, the bad days that come because of it, and gives me something truly to rejoice in, to be happy for, to have joy in.
So rejoice in the Lord always. O come, O come, Emmanuel, ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice. Rejoice. Emmanuel. Amen.
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