by Jeffrey Spencer | Feb 4, 2025 | Sermons |
CLICK HERE for a worship video for February 2
Sermon for the Presentation of our Lord – February 2, 2025
Luke 2:22-40
Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
We see it every Sunday: the elderly making their way into our sanctuary, some of them moving slow, some shuffling behind walkers, some holding onto the arms of friends. Their determination in being here always impresses me. There is a joke among clergy that when the weather is really bad in the winter, the only people who show up for worship are the aged and the infirm. That’s how it often is.
And maybe part of the reason for this determination week after week is that the aged know better than anybody else about the reality of death. Their aches and pains are a constant reminder that their bodies are wearing out and winding down. One of the great burdens of growing old is the steady drumbeat of loss as you stand over the graves of one friend or family member after another. I’ve heard more than one “chronologically advanced” member of our congregation lament that all they do now for their social life is go to funerals. And then of course there is that particularly devastating loss that comes with the death of a spouse. We don’t like to think about it, but this will inevitably happen in every single marriage, and it is a loss many of our members have already endured. The aged do not have the luxury of living in denial of death. Maybe that’s part of what drives them to claw their way into this sanctuary week after week. They come seeking solace, seeking comfort. They come needing to hear of the One who has conquered death. They come so that their tearful and fading eyes might see his salvation.
We have two elderly individuals in our gospel reading today: Simeon and Anna. We don’t know exactly how old Simeon was, but the context suggests and tradition holds that he was very old, near the end of his life. St. Luke tells us Anna was 84 years old, and mentions that she lived many of those years as a widow. It isn’t too difficult to imagine what their lives were like. Their demographic is well represented in our congregation. We can imagine Simeon moving slowly as he shuffled into the Temple, perhaps with his hand on his aching back. We hear that Anna lived at the Temple, which brings to mind the many beloved church ladies all of us have known who practically live at the church. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if dear, holy Anna made quilts in some back room of the Temple complex or taught Bible study in a women’s circle.
These two knew of the reality of death. At some point in his life it had been revealed to Simeon that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Some people have a bucket list – things they want to do or see before they die. Well, Simeon had a bucket list with one thing on it, put there by God. Before he died, he would see the Christ. He would see the long-promised Savior. This is what the Spirit revealed to him. Simeon is described as righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, so this would surely have been a welcome promise, but it is hard to avoid the morbidity of it too. This was also a reminder that he would die one day. He could not live in denial of this reality.
Anna couldn’t avoid the reality of death either. Considering the actuarial tables, especially in the ancient world, at 84 years old she had no doubt already outlived most, if not all, of the people she grew up with, including many of her family members. She had already said goodbye to the one dearest to her, her husband, the one to whom she had been joined together as one. She had already spent many years with that aching absence in her life. So she, too, knew the reality of death. There was no denying it for Anna. No escaping it.
One day when the two of them were at the Temple, a young family came to worship. The mother held a swaddled infant in her arms, only six weeks old. This family had come for the ritual purification of the mother, which was required forty days after giving birth. They had also come to present their first-born son to the Lord, as required by God’s law. They were a poor family by the looks of them. While the usual sacrifice given for a first-born was a lamb, there was a sliding-scale for those who couldn’t afford it. The poor could bring turtledoves or pigeons instead, which is what they did.
Simeon noticed this young family. It was the Spirit who guided Simeon into the Temple that day, and so it must have been the Spirit who helped him recognize who that baby was. Simeon went up to Mary and Joseph. No words between them are recorded, but Mary, perhaps herself prompted by the Spirit, entrusted her precious baby to Simeon’s arms. Simeon held the baby Jesus close. He knew who this baby was! He knew he was holding the long-promised Savior, the one God promised he would see! And so as he held Jesus close Simeon praised God, saying: “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for 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 glory to your people Israel.”
At that very moment, Anna came in. She hobbled in closer to get a better look. She saw the baby in Simeon’s arms, and she too knew who that baby was! She knew that this baby was the fulfillment of God’s promise! She knew that the redemption of God’s people had come! Overcome with joy, she started telling anybody who would listen!
This baby brought peace. As soon as Simeon held that infant Savior in his arms, he was at peace. His waiting was over. His time had come. He could depart in peace.
This baby brought joy. Anna, even in the midst of all the pains of advanced age and the sorrows of widowhood, gave joyful testimony to the presence of the Lord’s Messiah.
Simeon’s words have become a part of the liturgy of the Christian church. His words are often sung after receiving Holy Communion: “Lord, now you let your servant go in peace. Your Word has been fulfilled.” Simeon’s words are an underused part of the liturgy, but they have a history of being sung in worship by Christians for centuries. Some of you will remember it was standard in the old LBW, the old green book. We’ll use that setting again soon during the season of Lent. We’ll sing a hymn-based setting of it as our sending hymn today.
But whether we sing it every Sunday or not, Simeon’s words should frame our understanding of what is happening every time we gather for worship, and especially every time we receive the Lord’s Supper. Because as we gather here for worship, Christ is present. He is presented to us. As we gather here, Jesus comes to us so that we can take hold of him. As he comes to us in bread and wine, we can literally hold him. God sends the Savior to us, that we might hold him close to our hearts, receiving the peace and joy he brings. This is what Simeon said this baby would do. He describes Jesus not only as the glory of God’s people Israel, but also as a revelation to the Gentiles – which means you and me, here and now.
No matter how young or old we are, whether we shuffle in here slowly or skip in on nimble feet, whether our hair is still brown or has turned white or is a little of both, or is all gone, we all – young or old or somewhere in the middle – we all come into this sanctuary from a world outside that is full of death. The older people usually know this better than the younger people do, but there are times when even younger people can’t deny the reality of death. We watch our parents get older. Our bodies start to give us hints that they have begun their inevitable decline. We learn from social media of former classmates battling grave illnesses or even dying. We hear of another jumper on the bridge or another overdose death. We hear of fatalities on the freeway. Thankfully we don’t hear about airline disasters very often, but we’ve heard of the terrible loss of life in Washington DC this week. We live in a world full of death. It is a reality we all must face. It is a reality we all will face.
We live in a dying world, but we have a living Lord – and it is here that he comes to us. It is here that we take hold of the Savior God has sent to conquer death for us. It is here that we can take hold of the promised Redeemer, who brings us forgiveness, life, and salvation. It is here that Christ Jesus is laid in our arms, that we would hold him close to our hearts and know the peace and joy he brings.
This child, Simeon reminds us, will be opposed by many, so it won’t always be easy being one of his followers. Just as Simeon foresaw that a sword would pierce Mary’s soul, so too will our souls be pierced with heartache at times. There will still be sorrow, and pain, and loss. There will still be death.
But this child also brings peace, and even joy. He comes to you in love as a fulfillment of God’s promise to bless all the peoples of the earth, as a fulfillment of God’s promise to break the curse of sin and death which hangs over all of humankind. Just as Christ Jesus entered the Temple, so too is he presented to you here in our sanctuary.
And so today we can sing with Simeon and celebrate with Anna. We too can depart in peace as we leave this place, no matter what our dying world has in store for us beyond these walls – whether it is a new ache or pain, another funeral, or even death itself. For our dying world has been visited by our living Lord, who is placed into our arms today, so that we too would see his salvation.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer
Oak Harbor Lutheran Church
by Jeffrey Spencer | Jan 28, 2025 | Sermons |
CLICK HERE for a worship video for January 26
Sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany – January 26, 2025
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10, Psalm 19, Luke 4:14-21
Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
We often discount the power of words. We often say things like “talk is cheap.” Sometimes, of course, talk is cheap – but that doesn’t mean it always is! It doesn’t mean that words – whether written or spoken – aren’t powerful! Words have the power to create a new reality. They have the power to bring an entirely new life. Words have the power to heal and renew. They have the power to set people free.
Think of words like “I love you.” Those words are life changing! They pack a punch! Think of the words a couple exchange when they are married. Those vows establish a new reality, relationally, spiritually, and legally. Think of the words a judge declares when a child is adopted. With those words a new family is established. Think of words like, “I’m here for you.” These words have the power to bring comfort and peace in the most desperate and dire circumstances. Think of words like “I’m sorry,” and “I forgive you.” These words have the power to open up a new future. They have the power to set people free.
Many of you remember that I saw a Christian counselor for a time after my mother died. I came to this counselor with an overwhelming sense of grief and guilt, and some of the things she said to me continue to ring in my ears to this day. Her words brought perspective and healing and freedom from burdens I’d been carrying for decades.
Yes, words are incredibly powerful.
Words are powerful, and we have a God who uses them! We have a God who uses words! And if our human words are powerful, if our human words have the power to bring life, to create new realities, to set people free, how much more powerful are the words of our Almighty God! This is what most of our readings for today are about.
Our first reading from Nehemiah describes a dramatic scene in Jerusalem. The people of God had returned from exile. It had been a long and difficult time of rebuilding, full of disappointments and frustrations. They had finally rebuilt the temple, and now, at long last, their worship life was about to resume. The people of God gathered in the square. Ezra the priest brought the book of the law of Moses, the Torah, also known as “the teaching.” Ezra opened the book and read from it. He read the words of God from early morning until midday – and the people listened! “Amen, amen!” they said, lifting up their hands. They worshipped the Lord, weeping as they did so. These words convicted them. They grieved for their sins, for their disobedience. They repented for the ways they had failed to keep the covenant.
But Ezra wouldn’t let them wallow in their tears. He told them it was a holy day. It was a day of celebration. It was a day to not only be convicted of sin by the Word, but a day of remembering God’s faithfulness, God’s steadfast love, God’s deliverance, which was also recorded in the words of the Torah. It was a day of joy, he told them, for the Lord was their strength! And as Ezra spoke God’s words to them, their mourning gave way to rejoicing. A new reality was established. A new future opened up before them. They were free!
In our psalm for today, Psalm 19, we hear that the law of the Lord is perfect. We hear that it refreshes the soul and brings joy! Warnings are in the Lord’s words, it says, but also his promised reward. This psalm teaches us that God speaks to us in both law and gospel, with commands and promises. It teaches us that God’s Word cuts us down to size, but that in the same breath it raises us to new life. It refreshes the soul and brings joy. That’s the power of the Word!
In our gospel reading for today we heard how Jesus was the guest preacher in his home congregation. He took the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, found his place, and then read:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus read from a portion of Isaiah which was originally addressed to the people of Israel as they were being released from their captivity in Babylon. These were words which announced good news to these Israelites who had lost everything. These words announced that they were being set free from their captivity, that they would be able to see again after this period of darkness in their lives, that the burdens oppressing them would be lifted. A new year was beginning for them, a new season, a year of the Lord’s favor.
This is the immediate context of these words, but these words also pointed beyond their immediate circumstances to a day when the Messiah, the Anointed One, would come to bring a deeper restoration, a deeper healing. These words pointed to the coming of a Savior who would bring a new life, a new reality, a new relationship with God.
Jesus read these words. Then he rolled up the scroll and sat down. (Preachers sat down to preach in Jesus’ time.) The eyes of all were fixed on him, St. Luke tells us. And then Jesus gave a short, one-sentence sermon. It was a sermon only Jesus could give. He said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
This might be the shortest sermon in history. It was only nine words – but they were powerful. The Anointed One, the promised Messiah, was now present and ready to fulfill those promises. Jesus was the one who had come to do all the things Isaiah said the Messiah would ultimately do. This was good news back then, and it is good news today too!
We gather for worship just as the people in Nehemiah’s day did. We come with our own disappointments and our frustrations. We come with the dust of our own disasters clinging to us. We come with our guilt. We come with our own sins and our struggles.
We gather for worship just as the people in the synagogue in Jesus’ time did too. We gather in the presence of the same Jesus they did. We hear the same words they did. Only now, they are addressed to us. The work Isaiah describes is sometimes thought of as a to-do list for us or for someone else to accomplish, but that’s not what it is. These words are a description of what the Messiah has come to do for us. It is a description of what the Anointed One has come to do for you!
Citing Isaiah, Jesus tells us he has come to bring good news to the poor. This certainly means those who are economically poor. It means the hungry and homeless. It means those on the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder. Jesus has come to lift them up. He has come to fill them up through the generosity of his followers. He has come to assure them that God loves them and that their lives have dignity.
But this good news is for people who are poor in other ways as well. This isn’t something you have to qualify for by proving a low income. This isn’t like Medicaid or Pell grants for college. It isn’t something that is doled out on a sliding scale. Jesus has also come to bring good news for the poor in spirit, for those who are in despair, for those who hunger and thirst for God’s love. Jesus has come to fill up every human heart which is empty and groaning for the presence and peace of God. Every heart, including yours.
Jesus has come to proclaim release to the captives. Just as God brought his people back home after being in captivity in Babylon, so too now God is working through his Son to bring all people out of every captivity – our captivity to death, our captivity to the devil, our captivity to our sinful selves, our captivity to fear and despair and to every force beyond our control. Jesus has come to deliver us out of our captivity so that we might be free and fearless as we make our way home to God.
Jesus has come to give sight to the blind. Jesus helps us to see what was hidden from us before. He has come to give us eyes of faith that can perceive God’s work in our lives, so that we can see God’s gifts given to us in Word and Sacrament, so that we can see the truth of who God is. Jesus has come so that we can all sing with joy, “I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”
Jesus has come to let the oppressed go free, to release us from the weight of sin and guilt, to release us from past trauma or failings, to lift the burdens we’ve been carrying on our shoulders and our hearts.
Jesus has come to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, a new season of hope and healing, a new season of forgiveness and new life.
Jesus doesn’t do all of this by words alone. He backed up his words with actions. He lived out his words by taking our sins upon himself on the cross. He has established a new reality for us by dying our death for us. He has opened up a new future for us by being bodily raised by the Father in a new and eternal life that he promises to share with us.
But our Lord Jesus delivers his saving work to us here and now through words. Listen to the verbs: He brings good news. He proclaims. Jesus speaks to us through the written words of the holy scriptures. He speaks to us through the scripture-soaked words of the liturgy. He speaks to us through the borrowed voice of a preacher. And today his precious, powerful words are fulfilled in your hearing.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer
Oak Harbor Lutheran Church
by Jeffrey Spencer | Jan 21, 2025 | Sermons
CLICK HERE for a worship video for January 22
Sermon for the Second Sunday after Epiphany – January 19, 2025
John 2:1-11
Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana is more than a magic trick. It is more than an emergency catering service Jesus provided. St. John calls it a sign. Signs are important to pay attention to, right?
Whether I’m out driving, or more often when I’m out for a morning run or an evening walk, I’ve noticed more and more over the last couple of years how often people aren’t paying attention to signs as much as they should. There are a couple of spots in particular where people just blatantly and regularly roll right through stop signs. Sometimes they don’t even slow down. Sometimes I’ll yell at them as they pass by, “Nice stop, buddy!” which means the process of me turning into my dad is almost complete.
Granted, these are usually quiet neighborhoods without a lot of traffic, but I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect that people pay some attention to the signs! They are there for a reason! It is important, right? The problem is that they think they know what to expect. They think they know the intersection and can merely give it a glance before breezing right past the sign.
I think we sometimes have the same problem with the sign in our gospel reading for today. We often roll right past it, thinking we already know what this story is about. We hear about water turning into wine and we think of all the funny memes and clever jokes which have come from the story, and we end up breezing right past the sign. And so I am going to suggest this morning that we come to a full stop, that we take a close look at this sign.
First of all, I think it is very interesting that we find Jesus and his Blessed Mother at a wedding. So far in John’s gospel we’ve had the prologue, then Jesus is baptized, then he calls some disciples – and the very next thing he does, before he does any teaching, any ministry, any healing or forgiving, the very next thing he does is go to a wedding! Jesus and his mother, Mary, go to celebrate the blessed union of a bride and a groom. This is a detail I think we roll past too quickly sometimes, but it is significant.
Jesus’ third public appearance in John, right after his baptism and his calling of the disciples, is to attend a wedding. This shows that Jesus and his Blessed Mother saw marriage as something worthy of support and celebration. This is important for the church to stop and notice. This is something we’re called to pay attention to. It is something we are called to emulate. It is an example for us to follow as the church.
Of course, the church should be a place where singleness is affirmed as a calling for some. It should be a place where divorced people find forgiveness and compassion and mercy. It should be a place where widows and widowers find love and care and community. But alongside all of this, the church should be a place where marriage is celebrated and encouraged and supported. It is especially important for the church to teach our young people that marriage is not merely a piece of paper or merely a lifestyle choice or a social construct. Marriage is woven right into the fabric of creation! It is a holy estate that is established and sustained by God. It can be difficult at times, but it is worth the effort. Marriage is something beautiful, and it only becomes more beautiful with time. Jesus and Mary found marriage worthy of their celebration and encouragement and support, and we should too.
We are at a point in American history where the marriage rate (not to mention the birth rate) is at its lowest point in history, having fallen by a whopping 50% since 1972. This can’t help but have negative implications for society. It has undoubtably contributed to the decline of the church. Back in the fourth century St. John Chrysostom wrote: “The love of husband and wife is the force that welds society together.” I read three or four books published in the last year which say essentially the same thing, using modern sociological studies to back it up. We shouldn’t be surprised then that when that welding isn’t happening, society starts to come apart. And so if the church cares about the world, it needs to care about marriage. It needs to encourage and celebrate and support healthy, loving marriages, just as Jesus and his Mother did in Cana.
This is important to stop and notice. This first of Jesus’ signs happened at a wedding, as a husband and a wife were being joined together in this force that welds society together.
This context of a wedding is important to stop and notice for another reason too. Over and over again in scripture, the relationship between God and his people is described using the metaphor of a husband and wife, with God as the bridegroom and his people as his bride.
The lectionary reminds us of this today by giving us one example from Isaiah. As we heard in our first reading, God says to his people Israel: “You shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”
There is a long history of the relationship between God and his people being described as that of a marriage, with God as the groom and his people Israel as his bride. And although this particular example paints a beautiful picture of this relationship, anyone with even a passing familiarity with the Old Testament knows that this marriage between God the groom and Israel his bride wasn’t always smooth sailing! There was one catastrophe after another!
It just so happens that at this wedding being attended by Jesus and his Mother Mary, a major catastrophe was about to take place. Mary seems to have noticed it first. “They have no wine,” she pointed out. To have run out of wine this early in the wedding celebration would have been a disaster for the couple. It was expected that the couple and their respective families would provide enough wine for the duration of the celebration. It was a way of honoring their guests and gladdening their hearts. To run out of wine would have brought shame upon them. Running out of wine would have brought the celebration to a screeching halt. Some would even have interpreted it as a bad omen on their marriage, that it was doomed to fail. It was that serious!
And so when Jesus had those six stone jars filled with water, and when he turned that water into wine – and not cheap or average wine, but the best wine – he wasn’t just doing a magic trick. He wasn’t just providing emergency catering. He was doing so much more! He was saving this couple and their families from shame. He was turning their shame into glory! They went from being almost ruined to being toasted as gracious and generous hosts! Jesus was rescuing this couple and their families from what they lacked, turning it into an abundance – not just an abundance of wine, but an abundance of joy.
This is what the prophets said the Messiah would do! He would bring a feast of rich foods and well-aged wines strained clear. He would deliver his people out of their shame. He would rescue and redeem the relationship between God the groom and his people, his bride. God would love them and cherish them and care for them in a new covenant relationship.
Israel was always running out of things, always coming up short. They ran out of patience with God. They came up short in keeping God’s commandments. Sometimes they ran out of faith in him. Sometimes they plain ran out on God altogether, jumping into bed with other gods! The prophets often described their idolatry using the language of adultery. But when the Messiah came, the prophets said, the relationship would be redeemed and restored so that the wedding feast would continue. A new covenant would be established.
Jesus wouldn’t ultimately accomplish this by turning water into wine, which is probably why he was reluctant at first to heed Mary’s request. He would ultimately do it when his hour had come. He would do it on the cross. He would do it by dying and rising again. But this miracle of turning water into wine was a sign. And this sign points to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah. He is the one God promised to send so that the relationship would be redeemed and restored and the wedding feast could continue. It was a sign that he is the one who has come to love and cherish and care for us, now and forever.
Signs are something that are supposed to provoke a reaction in us. We dare not roll past them or lazily ignore them. Signs demand a response. And the response of the disciples is instructive. St. John tells us: “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”
As we stop and look at this sign, we are ultimately being invited to respond the same way the disciples did. We are invited to see this sign and believe.
And here is what you are being invited to believe: God has come to you in Christ to turn your shame into glory. God has come to you in Christ to save you from whatever emptiness you are experiencing, filling you up instead with an abundance of joy. God has come to you in Christ so that just as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so shall God rejoice over you. God has come to you in Christ so that whatever is broken or lacking in your relationship with him would be restored, and the wedding feast would continue – both now and forever.
See this sign today. Come to a complete stop at it and take it all in. See the glory of Christ revealed, and believe in him.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer
Oak Harbor Lutheran Church
by Jeffrey Spencer | Jan 20, 2025 | Sermons
Sermon for Baptism of our Lord Sunday – January 12, 2025
Isaiah 43:1-7, Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Martin Luther once said, “There is on earth no greater comfort than baptism.” As much as we remember Luther as someone who was strong and stubborn, brave and brazen, he was also a human being, and so he often needed this comfort. The world Luther lived in was filled with harsh realities, just as it is today. He lived during times of plague and violent weather and social unrest. He lived at a time of deep corruption among both political and church leaders. He also had his own personal difficulties. He had strained family relationships – particularly, for a time, with his father. He frequently suffered bouts of what today we would clearly call depression. He had chronic physical health problems, especially as he aged. He experienced profound grief, including over the death of one of his children. And through all of this, he found comfort in his baptism. “There is on earth no greater comfort than baptism,” he said.
Luther was only hours old on November 10, 1483, when he was taken to his parents’ church in Eisleben and sprinkled with water in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. What was it about this event that brought him such comfort? What was it about this thing that happened to him so early in his life that he couldn’t possibly even remember it that made such a profound difference to him? Why would he later say, “There is on earth no greater comfort than baptism?”
The Baptism of our Lord gives us a perfect opportunity to explore this question, and in exploring it, to receive some of this comfort ourselves.
The first thing to notice in our gospel reading on this Baptism of our Lord Sunday is where Jesus is in the text. John the Baptist had been preparing the way for him. He had been proclaiming that the long-promised Messiah, the Savior of the World, was coming. He told the crowds that he wasn’t himself the Messiah, that the actual Messiah would be far more powerful than him, that he wasn’t worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. And then when Jesus appears in the text, where is he? He is with the crowds of sinners who are coming to receive John’s baptism!
St. Luke sets the scene in this way: “Now when all the people were baptized,” he writes, “and when Jesus had also been baptized…”
There is all this fanfare from John, all of this anticipation building up, and then Jesus just sort of shows up in the crowd! He is intermingled with those standing on the banks of the Jordan river. He stands in line with them, waiting to be baptized himself until it is his turn and he is baptized by John. And when he is baptized, he is washed in the same water they are, in the same way. Jesus submits to a sinner’s baptism, a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin.
Why? Why would the long-promised Messiah be found embedded in the crowd in the first place, rubbing elbows with common sinners? More to the point, why in the world would Jesus be baptized by John? Why would the one who is more powerful than John be baptized by him? Why would the sinless Son of God receive a sinner’s baptism?
Maximus of Turin was one of the early church fathers. He not only had the coolest name of any of the church fathers, but we have one of his ancient sermons on the Baptism of our Lord. In this sermon he explained that Jesus didn’t need to be baptized, strictly speaking. He didn’t do it for himself. He did it for us! Maximus wrote, “The Savior willed to be baptized for this reason – not that he might cleanse himself, but that he might cleanse the waters for our sake.”
The Baptism of our Lord, which is the first public appearance of the adult Jesus in all four gospels, tells us right away what Jesus has come to do. He has come to be found among common sinners. He has come to be embedded in the lives of normal, stumbling, flawed human beings like you and me.
Moreover, Jesus came to do exactly what John the Baptist said he would do. He came to bring a baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. Jesus completed John’s baptism by entering the water himself, bringing the very presence of God into the water, sanctifying it for us. As Maximus said, he cleansed the waters for our sake, taking away all the sin floating around in that muddy water once and for all. What John pointed to in his baptism as a future reality when the Messiah came was fulfilled when the Jesus consecrated the waters with his presence, with his grace, with the forgiveness he was bringing.
This is what the chaff language is all about. The baptism Jesus would bring, John said, would separate the wheat from the chaff, with the chaff being burned with unquenchable fire. This sounds a little scary on the surface of things, but note well that this is not separating wheat from barley, dividing one type of thing or person from another. Chaff is part of every grain of wheat, just as sin is part of every person’s life. What John is saying here about the baptism Jesus brings is that it will remove the chaff that obscures the precious wheat. It will remove the sin that obscures the precious image-bearing child of God inside, so that it can be gathered into the granary. Through the unquenchable – that is, ongoing – fire of judgement and forgiveness, of law and gospel, God will destroy the sheath of sin which separates us from him, so that we can be gathered in. This is about judgement, yes, but it is ultimately about being purified by grace so that we can be gathered into the presence of God.
So Jesus is found in the crowd of sinners. He enters into the muddy water himself. And when he does, the entire Trinity rejoices! The Holy Spirit descends like a dove and God the Father thunders from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well-pleased.” The work of salvation, the work for which Christ came, work which will be completed only with his death and resurrection, had begun.
The Baptism of our Lord shows us what our own baptisms are all about. In our baptism, God has come to us in Christ to meet us where we are. God has come to us while we were still sinners, still vulnerable, flawed, stumbling human beings. God has come to us in water purified by the presence of his dear Son, who made that water clean for us, that we might be cleansed by it.
This is what baptism does. Baptism is so much more than merely an outward sign of someone’s commitment or decision. Baptism is God’s work. In Baptism, God actually does something to us. God cleanses us and gathers us. This is why in Romans 6 St. Paul can say that baptism joins us to the saving work of Jesus. It is why Paul can tell Titus that baptism is “a washing of regeneration” which bestows a new life. It is why in 1 Peter 3 St. Peter tells us that baptism saves us. Baptism is God’s work, not ours. It is the way in which God comes to us and cleanses us, gathering us to himself, making us his own.
This is what makes baptism such a great comfort for us. This is why it was such a great comfort for Luther, and can be for you too. Baptism is not merely a past event, but a present reality. Whether you were an infant when it happened, or an older child, or a full-grown adult, God did something to you in your baptism. God did something for you. God met you in those waters. God called you by name and made you his own. God joined you to the saving work of his dear Son, your Savior, and thereby promised to be with you forever, loving you, forgiving you, giving you new life again and again and again until the day you are welcomed into his eternal kingdom.
In our reading from Isaiah we heard that beautiful promise that God would be with his people as they walked through the waters. And not only water, but fire too! God promises that when they walk through fire, they will not be consumed. This hits a little differently right now as we have seen the staggering devastation from the fires in Los Angeles. God doesn’t promise that there won’t be floods or fires or other calamities. God promises that he will be with his people in the midst of them. He promises that these calamities will not ultimately destroy them. So too with more personal struggles, with the fiery ordeals we all deal with in life. God never promises we won’t have them. Instead, God promises to be with us in them, and God promises that they will not have the last word over us.
In your baptism, God has made these same promises to you. In your baptism, God has come to be with you. Christ cleansed those waters so that nothing will ever separate you from him. In your baptism, he has called you by name, making you his own forever.
Remember this. Especially when facing fiery ordeals. Remember this, for there is on earth no greater comfort than baptism.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer
Oak Harbor Lutheran Church
by Jeffrey Spencer | Jan 5, 2025 | Sermons
CLICK HERE for a worship video for January 5
Sermon for the Epiphany of our Lord (observed) – January 5, 2025
Matthew 2:1-12
Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Follow the crowd.” I’m not sure anybody really thinks this is good advice, and yet we all seem to do it over and over again in one way or another.
“Follow your heart.” This is the theme of just about every Disney movie ever made – many of which I enjoy very much – and it seems to be the guiding principle of our age. Sometimes following our heart, or our gut, or our instinct, is helpful. Other times, not so much. After all, as scripture tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick – who can understand it?” So, there’s that.
“Follow the science.” This is something we’ve heard a lot of over the last few years. Science is affirmed as a good thing, generally speaking, in the Lutheran Christian tradition. It is seen as a good way to deepen our understanding of God’s creation. It is seen as a tool for serving our neighbors. However, the field has become alarmingly politicized in recent years. Exaggerated claims are used to advance agendas. Inconvenient findings go unpublished. Competing studies vie for our attention. All of this makes it harder than ever to know what to believe.
Follow the crowd. Follow your heart. Follow the science. These are the guideposts that often influence our lives.
These are the guideposts which seem to have influenced the magi as well.
The magi followed the crowd, at least in a way. In their journey from the east, probably Persia, they are sure to have followed major thoroughfares. We often see the magi depicted as traveling across a barren desert alone, but it is more likely that they followed trade routes, which were safer and faster and teeming with people.
The magi followed their heart, their gut, their instinct. They knew they were headed to Israel to worship a newborn king, and their gut led them to Jerusalem. That seemed to be the right place to go. It was the big city. The temple was there. The current king resided there. Their heart told them that surely this would be where they would find the newborn king.
The magi followed the science. “Magi” is where we get the word “magic,” but these magi were not magicians who learned illusions and tricks and sleight of hand. These were astrologers. They were the scientists of their age. They looked to the skies above and made complicated calculations which they believed could guide them. And when they saw a new star at its rising, signifying for them the birth of a new king, they followed it.
These magi, or wise men, followed the crowd. They followed their heart, their gut, their instinct. They followed the science. And where did these guideposts lead them? It led them to Jerusalem – not Bethlehem! It led them to Herod – not Jesus!
You can almost hear the Holy Spirit saying, “Recalculating, recalculating….”
It wasn’t until they heard a word from scripture that these wise men found what they were looking for. Herod consulted with the chief priests and the scribes about where the Messiah was to be born, and these students of the Word came back with a passage from Micah, chapter 5:
“‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
Herod, with a dark ulterior motive, shared this word with the magi, and now the wise men showed true wisdom as they trusted this word. The star now alighted over Bethlehem, and they followed it to Jesus. Overwhelmed with joy, they entered the house. They saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they knelt down in homage and worshipped him, offering him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
In writing about the detour of the wise men to Jerusalem, Martin Luther wrote:
“Why did the star not take the Wise Men straight to Bethlehem without any necessity of consulting the Scriptures? Because God wanted to teach us that we should follow the Scriptures and not our own murky ideas.”
There are many kinds of knowledge, many types of intelligence – and God can use them! God DID use them to draw these eastern astrologers to worship his Son! These guideposts at least got them in the vicinity! But what ultimately got these wise men where they were trying to go was the scriptures, the word of God.
So too for us, there can be ways to pursue knowledge that is helpful. You can be smart as a whip and ask a lot of questions. Christianity is not anti-intellectual! But to be truly wise is to follow the scriptures and not our own murky ideas. The scriptures lead us to the deepest spiritual truths about ourselves and our world.
Today these very scriptures lead us to the Christ child, the one who is the way, the truth, and the life.
The scriptures lead us to the newborn king, who was given a tribute of gold by the wise men, which was a common way to honor a king.
The scriptures lead us to the one who is our great high priest, our great intermediary between a holy God and a sinful humanity. The wise men gave Jesus frankincense, which was burned by the priests in the temple as their prayers and sacrifices rose up to God.
The scriptures lead us to the one who is our savior, to the one who would give himself for us as an atoning sacrifice. The wise men gave Jesus myrrh, which was a fragrant ointment used to prepare bodies for burial.
The scriptures show us foreigners worshipping Jesus – Gentiles, non-Jews, eastern astrologers! – which tells us that Christ has come for everyone. He is Lord of all. He is the savior for people of all lands and cultures and languages and races and backgrounds.
Our own murky ideas can lead us astray. But today we join the wise men on their course correction as the scriptures lead us to Christ, who is our king, our priest, and our savior.
Let us join the wise men in worshipping him. Let us join the magi in offering our gifts. And let us commit ourselves today to following the scriptures, that we too might know the overwhelming joy he brings.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer
Oak Harbor Lutheran Church
