“Blessed, rather, are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”
God is with us in Word and Sacrament
God is with us in Word and Sacrament
Sermons on Luke (Page 12)
The word of the Lord does not return to Him empty, but it always accomplishes the purpose for which He sends it.
The First Sunday after Epiphany Luke 2:41–52; Romans 12:1–5
Now then, all of you who believe in God’s Word, let your watchword for entering the new year be this: “I am baptized!” Not as an excuse to keep on sinning, but as the reason and power to live life anew in God’s grace and Word.
New Year’s Eve Luke 12:35–40 + IN NOMINE IESU + There are two customary ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve. The world throws a party. It’s out with the old and in with the new. Auld Lang Syne with Guy Lombardo, Champagne toast at midnight, and dance the night away! Some churches prefer a more…
“When all was still, and it was midnight . . . .” The eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the most Holy Trinity, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, was born—bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, though without sin. God became man in the man Jesus Christ. And if we really fathomed what our Lord Christ has done by taking on human flesh, becoming our brother, living our life and dying our death, we would die of joy; our hearts would simply burst with joy. For the light of God’s love shines upon us in Jesus Christ, and yet the darkness of our hearts so often and so readily comprehends it not.
Ironically, though, our Lord does not instruct us to watch and look for these signs in the world. He doesn’t tell us to keep an eye out for the signs of the end times, to look for messages in the sun, the moon, and the stars, to watch for the distress of nations, etc. He instructs us, rather, to watch ourselves, so that we are not weighed down with dissipation, that is with self-indulgence, and drunkenness and the cares of this life.
Of course it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was never God’s day off. It was simply the day for men to rest: to rest and be refreshed by His Word and gifts. Our Sabbath never ends, for in Christ all days are the same, every sunrise is a reminder that death is dead and Jesus lives. The work is done. The healing complete. Jesus Christ is your health, your rest, your security, and your future. Soon the heaven’s will part and all creation will hear God say to you: “Friend, move up higher.”
Two great processions meet at the gate of Nain: one of death and one of life. Which of them will prevail: The boy by sin’s wages slain or the Prince of Life Himself? We know the answer. But knowledge does not always comfort when thoughts and feelings come to bear as we ponder those loved AND lost.
The questions we ask also reveal something about us. That is, they reveal what our assumptions are.