God Gives His Divine Service

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

If there is one thing that all religions have in common, it is the notion of sacrifice. Something or someone must offer or be offered as a sacrifice to appease the deity or universe or nature, or whatever. Sacrifice is a concept so familiar, one might almost say that it is ingrained in the human psyche.

Therefore, one often does not stop long to consider the meaning of the sacrifices, and what God is commanding, in a passage like Deuteronomy 12. God commands the Israelites to destroy the pagan worship sites in their land, left over from the Canaanite peoples they have conquered. Then, they are to go to the place which God will choose, and offer there the sacrifices, offerings, and tithes, which the Lord has commanded.

So that would make it seem as though the Lord is appeased by the slaughter of domestic animals and the incineration of pantry staples. That is the end of the thing, right?

Or is it?

God Gives the Church

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Why does the Church exist? What is the driving force behind this institution? Every institution exists for some purpose, some underlying cause – whether it be social interaction, support of a common cause, shared belief, or whatever – and if it does not, or ceases to, then the institution crumbles.

In the 19th Century, the German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher asserted that the Church is “a fellowship created by the voluntary actions of men.” That is, men and women come together and form this sociological body that we call the Church for purposes of mutual assurance and affinity. And of course, if the mutual assurance and/or affinity changes or ceases, then the assembly is free to mutate in order to restore it, or else simply to disband – whatever is most expedient for the group.

But is that really what the Church is all about?

God Gives His Word

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Advent is a season of preparation. For much of society, it is simply a pre-Christmas; it gives an excuse to put up the tree, spend gobs of money, and go to parties. A preponderance of the talk, thought, and advertising this time of year is devoted to giving gifts. You must find the perfect gift for everyone on your list. You must determine the best place to buy said gift. You must beat the rush, the crowds, and your own budget to get the best deal. And you expect everyone else to do the same for you.

But this Advent, we will take some time to meditate upon the Gifts that God gives to us.

An Everlasting Sign

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He created the sun and the moon. He created the seas and the dry land. He created the plants and the animals. He created every seed-bearing plant and every fruit-producing tree. And then, as the pinnacle of creation, He created man and woman in His image and blessed them with the fruits of all creation.

From the beginning of creation, God created things and set them in order. He created the plants and the animals, and He arranged them in the Garden of Eden. The plants grew each according to their own kind. They flowered and produced fruit according to their various kinds. And it was all good. Things were beautiful. Adam and Eve were well fed through the bountiful provision of the Lord. They had merely to reach out and receive the fruits of the earth.

Creation was perfect. Every living thing brought forth according to its created order, and it was all very good. The Garden was in perfect order, subdued and in service to the man and woman to whom God had given charge over creation.

"Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.” That sounds good. Good directions for the Christian life. Seek God while He may be found. And when is it that God may be found? Right now, of course! God is here, just like He has always been. The time to find God is always now, the present, this moment.

Of course there is a temptation in this knowledge. You can seek the Lord today, or you can seek Him tomorrow. He has always been here, so He will be here later when you decide that you need Him. Things are good now, you might think, so you do not need the Lord. All quiet on the western front, God is in His heavens, and let's leave well enough alone.

Martin Luther once compared the Gospel to a passing rain-shower. It is here today and gone tomorrow. The Lord may be found while He is here, but He does not promise to be handy to you at all times. The Spirit blows where He wills. If you turn your back on Him today, He may choose to leave you to your own devices tomorrow. “Have it your way” may work great for hamburgers, but it is a terrible word of judgment from the Lord of Hosts.

Eat With Your Ears

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What do you have that was not a gift? What do you have that you have not received from the hand of another? Your body is the product of the design of God and the flesh of man. Your life is a gift sustained by the providence of God. All that you have and all that you are is a gift from God, who has created you and called you into being.

What do you have that was not a gift? You have sin. You have the disease of concupiscence, that ancient evil infection that corrupts your entire being with a bottomless desire for all things opposed to God. This, even, was an inheritance received from your fathers and forefathers before you, who received it from their fathers, all the way back to our first-father, Adam. But your sin is your own. It is the product of your own sinful nature, which finds ever more inventive ways to flout the command and promise of God.

"We Give Thanks to Thee for Thy Great Glory!"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1-3)

Giving thanks is something you hear spoken of quite a bit around this time of year. Every year, people come up with new gimmicks for spending the month of November being thankful. One of the primary social skills we teach children is to say “please” and “thank you” whenever appropriate. And all of that certainly is good. But often what we hear, especially in the mainstream media, fails to answer two fundamental questions about giving thanks.

First, to what or to whom should you be giving thanks? Proper thanksgiving only occurs if and when you are thankful to some source. It is not enough simply to meditate on “Gee, it sure is nice that I have this neat thing.” That is not thanksgiving. Gratitude has an object, a reference point, a focus. The Psalmist demonstrates this in the opening verses of Psalm 136. To whom must you give thanks? To the Lord, the God of Gods, the Lord of Lords. He is the object of your gratitude, the focus of your thanksgiving. Direct your thanks to Him.

"We Worship Thee"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“The woman said to [Jesus], 'Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.'” The Samaritan woman at the well was astute enough to realize that Jesus was a prophet. What this meant to her is another story, but she could not but confess that the man talking to her was the messenger of the Lord sent to her. Being that Jesus had already spoken to her of her thirst and the gift of living waters, it was no surprise that she took Him to be a prophet. But her question is meant to uncover more than a mere prophet.

Something about her acknowledgment of Jesus is a little off, at least to certain ears. We cannot know her true intent, but it almost seems as though she is out to test Jesus with a “tough question”. It is like when you meet someone, and he finds out you are a Christian, so he asks you the most ridiculous, most potentially offensive question he can come up with. “Why do you hate gay people?” or “Why do you believe in a Bible so full of contradictions?” This woman's question is akin to asking, “Why should I go to your church every week?”

"We Praise Thee; We Bless Thee!"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 103:1-2)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 1:3)

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. (Luke 1:68)

Thus begin each of our lessons this evening, with ascriptions of blessing and praise to the Lord God. But what does it mean to bless, and how and why do we bless God?

First, consider who is blessed. The Holy Scriptures declare that God alone is truly blessed, just as He alone is truly good, truly holy, and truly righteous. He alone is blessed, and He remains so without respect to you or to anything in all creation. Just as God's Name is certainly holy in itself, so also is He blessed in Himself. He does not rely on your favor or your blessing to be so, for this is who God is.

The Lord God alone, being the eternally Blessed One, is the one and only source of all blessing. For He is the Lord of Hosts, the creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. He is the king of the universe. Without Him was nothing made, and in Him all things live and move and have their being. To Him do you cry out, and He alone answers.

"Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” The Lord is the author and Creator of all things. He is above all creation, and yet He fills every bit of the cosmos with His Word and Spirit. By His Word the universe was made, and His gracious hand sustains all that is and all that shall ever be. From the tiniest subatomic particle to the largest star, the Lord has formed each and every one according to His design.

Who can declare the things of God? Who can do what He has done, or even speak of all the wonders of His works? No one. The Scriptures proclaim that the glory of the Lord is beyond description, beyond compare. The Lord is God, and there is none other. Confess, and do not deny, but confess the glory of the Lord, in all His overwhelming splendor and majesty.

"O Come, O Come Emmanuel"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The human race spends untold millions of dollars and man-hours on the business of preservation. This church's mailbox is regularly littered with offers from tuckpointing companies offering their services. The home-improvement industry is a massive force in the American economy. Even more behemoth is the market for anti-aging creams, pills, potions, and products. We are a culture saturated and infatuated with preservation.

Preservation is a natural instinct, it may be argued. For the good of the individual and the of the species, we are driven toward acts of self-preservation and toward things that will ensure the continuation of the human race. Two things drive a great deal of the decisions the average person makes: food and procreation.

"Prepare the Royal Highway"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” Harsh words from St. Paul to summarize the human condition in former times. You were separated from Jesus Christ, having no hope, without God, alone and isolated by your sins and trespasses.

Sin separates you from God. It always has, ever since the serpent first tempted Eve. It must be so, because God is holy and just and righteous, and you are not. Sin makes communion between God and man impossible. Whereas before Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the Garden and talked with Him openly, now they, and all their children, have been cast out of paradise, out of the presence of God. The way back to God is barred by the flaming sword of the eternal Law, brandishing the wrath of God unto death for any that dare approach.

"Comfort, Comfort Ye My People"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked” (Ephesians 2:1). So St. Paul gives this gloomy assessment of the state of man without the grace of God. Dead and buried. Gone from the world. Locked in darkness and the shadow of hell. You were worse than dead – in bondage to sin, death, and the devil. And so you would have remained forever.

But then dawned the Light of Life. The Lord called out, “Comfort, comfort My people!” The Word of the Lord went forth from heaven and scattered the darkness, giving light and life to all mankind. The Son of David came into His own, and He won for us salvation. He shined the light of God's love into our dark hearts and brought us out of death into life. The restoration of man is accomplished!

Savior of the Nations, Come!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people.” O God, do not be angry with us because of our sins! If You kept a record of wrongs, O Lord, who could stand? Remember not our iniquity forever! On account of our sins, we rightly deserve only Your righteous condemnation and all-consuming wrath. Because You are the God of all the living, do not look upon us in judgment!