advent – From the Pulpit

Posted on December 29, 2024 by pastorkevinjud

The Lord returns to the Temple

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Christmas 1 2024
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
December 29, 2024
Exodus 13:1-3a, 11-15, Colossians 3:12-17, Luke 2:22-40

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Herod the Great expanded the temple mount, doubling its size to a magnificent 36 acres above the rest of the city. The temple atop the mount was refurbished and expanded and is now the visual focus of the whole city of Jerusalem with the pinnacles soaring 150 feet up from the top of the mount. The temple and its plateau mount are a bustling center of activity bringing in people from all over.

Jews come to worship and pray and bring sacrifices. Gentiles can come up onto the mount, but not inside the temple. Jewish women can come inside the women’s courtyard to pray and watch sacrifices in the inner courts through the passageways. It is a constant bustle of activity with so many people coming and going — bringing sacrifices and offerings.

There are those who come to the temple to fulfill Jewish laws and rituals and there are those who are at the temple waiting for Israel to be redeemed.

Anna is a prophetess who stays at the temple. That day Anna sits off to the side in the women’s courtyard watching all the comings and goings. Anna is an elderly widow who worships with fasting and prayer day and night at the temple. Her eyes are growing weak but she still watches all that happens. She is waiting for the redemption of Israel; she is waiting for the Christ to come. It is winter and she pulls a shawl close over head and shoulders against the chill. As she adjusts her shawl, just then she sees it.

Her eyesight is not so great but she can recognize Simeon easily as he sits across the way keeping an eye on the gate. Simeon is also a fixture at the temple and is waiting for the Christ to arrive. It is said that the Holy Spirit has revealed to him that he will not die before he has seen the Lord’s Christ.

Simeon quickly stands up and is suddenly on the move. Anna struggles to follow him with her eyes as Simeon zig zags deliberately through the crowd towards a destination Anna cannot see. She gets up and tries to follow, but she loses sight of him in the crowd so she squints and scans the mass of people. Simeon emerges from the throng moving towards the Beautiful Gate on the Eastern side of the Temple. Simeon approaches a young couple. The woman is carrying a baby and the man holds a small cage with two birds. They must be coming for her purification and the baby’s redemption. With the help of a walking stick Anna continues towards Simeon and the family as fast as her 84-year-old legs will move. She keeps her eyes on the small group as she walks. Simeon marvels at the young family and then takes the baby up in his arms and looks heavenward. He begins to speak and Anna is now close enough to hear, Luke 2:29–32 (ESV) 29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Could this really be the one? Is this little baby in Simeon’s arms really the Lord’s Christ? Simeon declares his eyes are open to God’s salvation. Simeon proclaims that this baby has come for Israel, but also to open the eyes of the Gentiles.

600 years earlier, the prophet Ezekiel had a vision of the glory of the Lord departing from the Temple — no longer confined to the Temple and the Holy of Holies. Ezekiel also prophesies that the glory of the Lord will return to the temple one day. Simeon and Anna are seeing the fulfillment of that prophesy before their eyes. Others are around, but are unaware of what is happening. The Glory of the Lord has returned to the Temple as a tiny baby boy.

The boy’s mother and father marvel at what Simeon is saying. For them it is one more confirmation of what was told them by angels 10 months before. Luke 1:31 (ESV) 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. Luke 1:35 (ESV) 35 … “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”

Simeon blesses the three of them and then addresses the baby’s mother with a troubling warning. Luke 2:34–35 (ESV) 34 … “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

The sword of the Christ’s revelation will go through Israel bringing great opposition and revealing hidden evil. You would not think that the bringer of salvation would cause such trouble and conflict, but He will. The darkness rebels against the light. The Christ has come as a light to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel, but He will face constant opposition and danger. He will be arrested, tortured and executed on a cross in order to silence Him from bringing the Good News of salvation. Despite all they will do to him the Christ will rise from the dead and ascend into heaven and send the Holy Spirit upon His followers. They will continue to spread the Good News of Salvation in Jesus of Nazareth despite opposition and danger and even death.

This is a dark and troubling warning. This baby, the Lord’s Christ, will bring trouble. The shepherds were given a sign of a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. The second sign is that the child is destined to be spoken against.

The shepherds received the announcement about the Christ from the angels, sought Him out, and then spread the good news of the birth of the King. Anna receives the message about the Christ from Simeon; she gives thanks and spreads the message of the Song of Simeon to all who are waiting for the redemption of Israel.

Her pregnancy with Jesus was announced by angels to Mary and Joseph. Elizabeth and unborn John the Baptist recognize the Good News upon Mary’s visit. On the night of Jesus’ birth, shepherds receive the announcement from an army of angels, and now 40 days later Mary and Joseph get additional confirmation from Simeon and Anna as to the identity of their child.

Jesus is the Christ, but life for Jesus will not be an easy life. He will reveal the evil intent of many who pretend to be religious leaders. There will be those who want to silence Him; kill Him.

Life as a follower of Jesus is not the promise of an easy life. Still today, Jesus brings opposition from a world that pretends to follow God but has evil intents. As followers of Jesus we continue to learn how to live together in the face of this opposition and evil. In his letter to the Colossians St. Paul instructs us how to live with one another with all the ongoing temptations and distractions and false teaching. Colossians 3:12–13 (ESV) 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

There is such a tremendous temptation to let impatience and anger and pride destroy relationships. This is dangerous in families and it is especially dangerous in the Church; Christ’s body on earth. The Church is where the truth of God’s Good News is proclaimed and people are set free from the curse of sin, death and the devil, and the evil one wants it to stop. This gathering together of believers is your source of comfort and support on the difficult journey of life. So… Colossians 3:14–15 (ESV) 14 … above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”

What a great picture of getting ready each day by putting on, like clothing, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and above all these…love. Christ is born. Jesus, YHWH saves, has come to be God with us. So each day, as a baptized child of God, start your day by putting on your Christmas best, your Christian best, to live in the love and light of Christ; to live as the love and light of Christ in a dark world that wants to silence Jesus.

And each week, as you receive the body and blood of Jesus…as you hold the body of Christ in your hand like Simeon did at the temple so many years ago…know that as a child of Christ… as the Lord’s servant…you are ready to depart in peace.

Your eyes have been opened to know that Jesus has given you the gift of salvation for the Last Day. You have peace with God. And so, like Anna, you thank God and speak of Him to all who are waiting for Jesus to return. Amen.

Posted on December 8, 2024 by pastorkevinjud

God’s Bulldozer

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Advent 2 2024
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
December 8, 2024
Malachi 3:1-7b, Philippians 1:2-11, Luke 3:1-20

John the Baptist is sent by God on a mission of earth moving; a mission of roadbuilding. Fulfilling the words of Isaiah the prophet John is… Luke 3:4–6 (ESV) 4 …“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

John is sent by God to fill valleys and level mountains. John is God’s earthmover…God’s bulldozer. His job is to prepare the way of the Lord. John is God’s bulldozer.

No, it may just be my inner six year old boy talking, but bulldozers are pretty cool. I love to watch the bulldozers on the gold mining shows. Bulldozers are incredibly powerful. A small Caterpillar D1 dozer weighs 9 tons and costs over $200,000. It is 80 horsepower and can push about 2 tons of dirt at a time. The Cat D11 dozer is a behemoth 850 horsepower, 114 tons and costs over $2 million. It can push 45 tons of dirt with a blade 20 feet wide and 7 feet high. I enjoy watching the big dozers moving tons of earth to get down to the gravel pay layer where the miners hope to find gold.

Sometimes they get down a ways in the overburden and find a rock hard layer of permafrost. The blade of even the biggest dozer cannot penetrate this layer so the miners deploy a ripper, a curved, sharp-tipped arm that extends down from the back of the dozer to rip through the permafrost and expose it to the sunlight so it can thaw.

John the Baptist is charged with earth moving, but John does not have a bulldozer. Caterpillar won’t make their first bulldozer until 1945. So, what kind of bulldozer is John? John’s blade and his ripper are the Word of God. With God’s Word John pushes people to turn from their sin and rips into their belief that they can save themselves by strict obedience to the Pharisees’ many additional commandments. John pushes and rips and exhorts folks to return to the Lord, their God. The Pharisees instituted an extensive legal code in order to avoid God’s judgment, but they lost sight of God, and His mercy, and His promised Messiah. John proclaims a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He calls people to turn from sin and self-righteousness and believe in the coming Messiah.

And like a bulldozer, John is not subtle as he pushes and rips with the Word of God. Luke 3:7–9 (ESV) 7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” John is clearing the way for Jesus and ripping deep into the false securities of the people.

Different people react differently to his words of warning. Many hear John’s words and repent. They turn from their sin and receive John’s baptism of repentance in the Jordan River in order to be prepared for Messiah’s arrival. They ask John “What then shall we do?” John tells them to be generous with those in need and do what you have been given to do with honesty and integrity.

Some are just curious. They come out to see this crazy wilderness prophet and investigate what all the fuss is about, but they are not interested in John’s message. They resist repentance, and instead trust in their ancestry and their own works. They are the children of Abraham and they have everything under control. They do not need a coming Messiah.

Bulldozer John speaks the blunt truth to all, including those in charge. Herodias, Herod Philip’s wife who is living with her husband’s brother, Herod Antipas, hears John’s words of warning and is greatly offended. Who is this wilderness madman to tell me who I should be sleeping with? Herodias will demand that John be arrested and thrown into prison and Herod Antipas will comply.

John is in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord. He is spiritually filling valleys and lowering mountains and straightening curves. John calls on the people to turn from their sin and believe that the promised Messiah is near. The children of Israel entered the Promised Land through the Jordan after the exodus wilderness wanderings. In the same way, the children of Israel who repent pass through the waters of the Jordan in baptism and return to the Promised Land knowing the Messiah is near.

God’s law is still proclaimed today. John’s message to repent is still being preached. When the world hears God’s Word of law warning them to turn from sin and return to the Lord their God, how is it received? When you, a follower of Jesus, hear God’s word of warning to repent…how do you respond?

Many hear God’s law and get angry and reject God’s call. Martin Luther addresses these people in his Large Catechism writings about the First Commandment. “They utterly disregard whether God is angry at them or smiles on them. They dare to withstand His wrath, yet they shall not succeed. Before they are aware of it, they shall be wrecked, with all in which they trusted. All others have perished like this who have thought themselves more secure or powerful.

Such hard heads imagine that God overlooks and allows them to rest in security, or that He is entirely ignorant or cares nothing about such matters. Therefore, God must deal a smashing blow and punish them, so that He cannot forget their sin unto their children’s children. In that way, everyone may take note and see that this is no joke to Him. These are the people He means when He ways, “those who hate Me” [Exodus 20:5], i.e., those who persist in their defiance and pride. Whatever is preached or said to them, they will not listen. When they are rebuked, in order that they may learn to know themselves and make amends before the punishment begins, they become mad and foolish. They rightly deserve wrath…”[1]

In Old Testament times…at the time of John the Baptist…at Martin Luther’s time…and still today… there are so many who do not listen to God. They have turned away from God and have become, “people with brute hearts who think that it makes no great difference how they live.” [2]

God’s law preached by John the Baptist or by preachers today is a call to repent; to have a change of heart; to turn away from sin and return to God – to know you need a Savior because you cannot save yourself.

Hearing God’s law I believe there is a danger that you can sometimes feel like you have God’s law under control and most of what He is concerned about does not apply so much to you. That God’s law is mostly about those other people, the ones proud of their sin; that God’s law is aimed at those who are proud of engaging in ongoing, open sexual immorality, or theft, or violence. And God’s law certainly is targeting those people to turn from sin and return to the Lord. But God’s law is also targeting you and your own struggles with secret temptations of thoughts and words and deeds. But sin is not just sexual sin or stealing or violence.

This is where God’s law rips deep into the permafrost of your heart. Reading the list of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5 you see that sexual sins are listed, but a much greater emphasis is put on sins of division and anger and strife.

Galatians 5:19–21 (ESV) 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

The plowing and ripping of God’s law in your life hurts. Valleys are filled. Mountains are lowered. Curves are straightened. As a baptized child of God, let the ripper arm of God’s law pull up the permafrost of stubborn sin in your life and expose it to the light of Christ’s forgiveness and love.

There are four warnings of sexual sins, two for having other Gods, one for drunkenness, and eight examples of infighting and divisions. This is a reminder that it is far too easy to fall into the sin of division and discord. This happens in families, at work, at school, in the community and in God’s family here at Immanuel. Anger and rivalries and such are the devil’s work getting you to proudly believe that you are right and they are wrong. The devil wants you to get annoyed and angry and judgmental at your fellow believers in Christ so he can use that crack of annoyance to drive in a wedge of division and tear apart God’s Church. Be on guard against the devil’s temptations of anger and division.

God’s law is for you. As a follower of Jesus, you feel the bulldozer of God’s law pushing away daily sin and ripping deep into the longstanding hardness of your heart and it is painful. It is tempting to try to justify your thoughts, words and deeds that you know are contrary to God’s will. It is tempting to reject God’s call and believe everything is just fine. It is tempting to ignore God’s law and bury your sin deeper and deeper. Anything but say those most difficult words. “I was wrong. I messed up. I sinned against God. It is my fault, my own fault, my own most grievous fault.”

The plowing and ripping of God’s law in your life hurts. Valleys are filled. Mountains are lowered. Curves are straightened. As a baptized child of God, let the ripper arm of God’s law pull up the permafrost of stubborn sin in your life and expose it to the light of Christ’s forgiveness and love.

John’s message is, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Jesus is coming to reign, but His reign is not immediately a reign of judgment and punishment, but rather a reign of forgiveness and love — a reign of service; sacrificing Himself as the payment for all sin. John 3:17 (ESV) 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Advent is a difficult season. Advent is a time of waiting. Advent is a penitential time when you look deeply and honestly at yourself and allow the Word of God to dig up your stubborn sins and have them melt away in the light of Christ’s love. It is a time to ponder, once again, your helplessness to save yourself and the great joy of knowing that, on the cross, Jesus has already forgiven your sin and freed you from the guilt and shame.

Advent means coming and coming means preparing. Jesus is coming back and you do not know when. To stay prepared you continue to hear the Word of God’s law which convicts you, and hear the word of God’s Gospel which sets you free in the blood of Jesus. Living in the light and love and forgiveness of Jesus you bear good fruit. Galatians 5:22–23 (ESV) 22 …the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Despite the pain, let the bulldozer of God’s law do its work in you. You are God’s treasure and He loves you enough to refine you like gold into His most precious possession. You belong to the Lord Jesus. He is coming back to claim you. Stay ready. Amen.

[1] Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions—A readers edition of the Book of Concord – 2nd Edition, pg. 362

[2] Ibid, pg. 361

Posted on December 1, 2024 by pastorkevinjud

The Main Ingredient in your Advent Soup

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Advent 1 2024
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
December 1, 2024
Jeremiah 33:14–16, 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13, Luke 19:28-40

Today is December 1. You are at the starting line of a very busy month. There are just so many things to get done before the 25th. If December was a pot of soup it would be overflowing onto the stovetop. So many ingredients get added to this December advent soup. So many different things get mixed together that there is a danger of losing the flavor of the main ingredient.

This is a busy time in the church and in life in general. Retailers try to make big money before December 25th so they try to start the Christmas season earlier and earlier each year to get people to buy more and more.

Christmas decorations seem to go up sooner each year. Now, just after Halloween, many folks begin the celebration of this season of lights by draping houses and bushes with hundreds…thousands of twinkling lights and yards are full of Christmas inflatables. Christmas trees are decorated and wreaths are hung. A Cincinnati Christian music radio station started to play Christmas music on Reformation Day. There is a tremendous wave of early Christmas cheer that is difficult to resist, but I do wonder if we are a little premature in our celebrations. Advent is, after all, a season of waiting…of anticipation.

A lot of this early celebrating is a fairly recent phenomenon. It was not that long ago that Christmas trees did not go up until Christmas Eve.

Now, retailers want to make more money so they start earlier and earlier, but I wonder if there is something else behind society’s desire to extend the Christmas season. I wonder if folks are trying to find meaning and joy in the lights and the decorations and presents and traditions and memories rather than finding joy and meaning in Jesus coming to be Immanuel; God with us. Is it possible that people have made Christmas celebrations so complex and extravagant that Christ gets obscured and forgotten? All of the busyness of Christmas preparations can be overwhelming as we skip over the anticipation of Advent and try to celebrate Christmas for the whole month of December.

For adults, December can seem like the shortest month of the year with all the preparations; cookies to bake, presents to buy, parties to attend, cards to write and on and on. The joyful anticipation can be tarnished by fatigue and guilt that their Christmas celebration won’t be just perfect.

For children, December can seem like the longest month as they await Christmas day and the presents. School days just drag on. Joyful anticipation of Jesus’ birth can get tainted by a case of the “I wants” and the “Gimmes”.

As we add so many ingredients to the mix, this season of Advent becomes a complex soup. So many things blended together; so many ingredients competing for your attention. This first Sunday in Advent I encourage you…keep Jesus as the main ingredient.

The word, Advent, means the coming or arrival of something awaited and momentous. Advent is a season of anticipation of the arrival of Jesus Christ. Advent isn’t easy. We are an impatient people and Advent is a season of waiting. Advent is a season of waiting and waiting is hard.

December can be so exhausting that by the time we get to the 25th, we are already tired of Christmas. This year, let us all set aside some time each day to rediscover the sense of Advent waiting and anticipation of the arrival of Jesus Christ. Let us keep Jesus as the main ingredient in our advent soup with thoughts of Jesus first arrival 2,000 years ago and looking forward to Jesus’ second coming. If you are able, gather each Wednesday at 6:15 PM for some homemade advent soup before our Evening Prayer service. Pick up an advent devotional booklet to read as a family each day. Maybe read the 24 chapters of the Gospel of Luke one per day in the days of Advent. Keep Jesus and His first arrival and His promise to return the focus of your advent.

During this time of year look forward to the celebration of Jesus, the son of God, breaking in on the world and coming in flesh as a baby born to Mary in Bethlehem. That baby is God in flesh, God with us; Immanuel. Look forward to the celebration of the incarnation; God becoming flesh and dwelling among us as the Lamb of God come to take away the sins of the world.

Also ponder Jesus coming again in glory on the last day; the judgment day. Look forward to the day when he will break through into our world in overwhelming glory and power and destroy evil and restore peace and righteousness.

Christmas images can seem sweet and heartwarming as you picture baby Jesus asleep on the hay, while Jesus’ return in glory and judgment can be more troubling. Jesus’ return comes with a sense of anxiety and fear. You struggle with sin, and for sinners, Jesus’ return is unsettling. “What if I’m not ready? What if I am caught in the midst of some sin?” As a poor, miserable sinner, it is hard to look forward to Jesus’ return. So, the season of Advent is also a penitential season; a time of the year, much like Lent, of self-examination when you sorrow over your sins and look for salvation in Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb, born in Bethlehem, the city of David.

The Christmas story can seem to be all sweet and wonderful, but Jesus’ first arrival as the baby in Bethlehem is actually full of hints of what is to come for Jesus. Jesus comes as the sacrifice for sin. The baby swaddled in a stone manger foreshadows a crucified Jesus wrapped in a shroud lying in a stone tomb. There is a gift of myrrh — a burial spice. There is Herod the Great trying to kill Jesus. Herod’s successor, Pilate, accomplishes the task. Jesus comes to be the once-for-all sacrifice for sins; your sin and mine. Advent is a time to reflect on our sin and heed John the Baptist’s call to, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Advent indeed is a complex season. It is a mix of memories and decorations and sadness and generosity and joy and anticipation. As all the elements of the season mix together keep Jesus as the main ingredient.

During the reading of the lessons you may have wondered, “we are in Advent, why the Palm Sunday reading?” This is a traditional reading for the first Sunday in Advent. The events of Palm Sunday help us consider Jesus’ arrival. The folks in Jerusalem that day look forward to Jesus entering the city. They hear he is coming and they get ready. They gather and wait; they have been waiting a long time for the Messiah and he is almost here. They can see him coming down the Mount of Olives. The king is coming!

The people cry out, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in Heaven and glory.” From the Gospel of Matthew we know they also shouted, “Hosanna in the highest!”

The Lord Jesus is right there with them riding on His donkey and they cry out to him, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” The Lord is right there with them.

You sing the same words. You will sing them today in the Sanctus. “Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord!” And why do you sing these Palm Sunday words? You sing them because Jesus is right here with you today in sacrament of Holy Communion. Jesus said, “This is my body, this is my blood.” He comes to you in these veiled forms to strengthen and preserve you until the time when he comes again. As you sing out with those lining the streets of Jerusalem you know Jesus is present with you today and you look forward to Jesus coming again in victory.

That Palm Sunday Jesus rides the donkey colt down the Mount of Olives. Forty-seven days later he will be back up on the Mount and ascend into heaven with his disciples watching. After He ascends, angels of the Lord appear and tell the disciples, Acts 1:11 (ESV) 11 … “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Jesus will return. Not like he came the first time as a humble infant wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. He will return. Not in humility riding a donkey of peace. He will return. Not veiled under bread and wine, water and the Word. He will return in full glory and he will conquer evil once and for all.

So now you wait. You wait for Christmas when you celebrate Jesus’ first coming, and you wait for Jesus to come again to restore all things. This advent season is a time of waiting. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Amen

Posted on December 24, 2023 by pastorkevinjud

Jesus Becomes Immanuel — God with Us

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Advent 4 2023
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
December 24, 2023
2 Samuel 7:1–11, 16, Romans 16:25–27, Luke 1:26–38

Sermons online:
Text and Audio:         immanuelhamiltonchurch.com click “sermons”
Text:                           pastorjud.org
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It is December 24th. It is the morning of the eve of the celebration of the birth of our Lord. Tomorrow morning we will have a communion service to remember Jesus’ birth, the Christ Mass. This afternoon and evening and tomorrow morning we will be in Bethlehem for the birth of the Savior. This morning, for the 4th Sunday in Advent, we are going back 9 months and traveling 90 miles north to Nazareth in Galilee. Today we go to Nazareth to meet Mary for the first time.

Mary is likely a teenage girl up in the hills in the small town of Nazareth with maybe 400 or so inhabitants. Everyone knows everyone else and nothing gets past the busybodies in town. When the angel visits, it seems that Mary is alone, maybe at home, maybe outside working, maybe drawing water at the well, we are not sure. One tradition has it that Mary was at home and that home is now inside the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. There have been many churches built and destroyed over Mary’s small house from the time of Emperor Constantine in the 4th Century until the construction of the current church in 1954. The Bible is unique among religious books because you can actually visit the places you learn about in the Bible because these things really happened.

Mary is a teenager engaged to be married to Joseph. From all we can tell, she is a nobody from a nowhere little town until God shows Mary favor and sends the Angel Gabriel to bring Mary amazing news. Gabriel’s name means, “God is my strength.” He brings news from the throne of heaven … Luke 1:28 (ESV) 28 …“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

Mary is greatly troubled. What is going on? What is this heavenly being doing talking to lowly little me and calling me, “O favored one?” Why is Mary favored? She has done nothing important. She is not famous. She is just a regular young lady from Nazareth. Why is the Lord favoring the humble estate of Mary? What does this mean?

Gabriel continues, Luke 1:30–33 (ESV) 30 …“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Conceive? Bear a son? Call him Jesus? The throne of David? Reign forever? Mary’s head is swimming with all this information. What can this all possibly mean? Mary goes back to the first part of what the angel told her. “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son.” Mary is young, but she knows where babies come from and this is impossible.

Luke 1:34 (ESV) 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

Luke 1:35–37 (ESV) 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Genesis 1:1–3 (ESV) 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”

In the beginning the Spirit hovered over the creation. At the conception of Jesus the Spirit hovers over Mary and Word of God brings about new life in Mary’s womb. The Lord speaks through His messenger Gabriel and Jesus takes on human flesh as a tiny new life inside Mary. The Lord’s Word is powerful; it makes things happen.

In a world that is awash with words it can feel like words are not very valuable; not very powerful, but today we see the power of God’s Word.

In the beginning God spoke — and the world was created. Jesus takes on human flesh through the Word of God. This morning, the Lord’s Words are still powerful as He declares to you that all your sin is forgiven. His Word is powerful; bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus because Jesus says, this is my body, this is my blood.

God’s Word declares you to be His child in the water and Word of Holy Baptism, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The Word of God saves you in the Words of forgiveness, the water and the Word of baptism and the Word with the bread and wine bringing the Body and Blood of Jesus. God’s Word is powerful. It makes things happen.

The angel Gabriel has never come to visit me that I know of, and it seems that I would know if he had. None of you have said the angel Gabriel has come to you. But you have encountered many messengers of God bringing to you the Word of God. Many messengers have told you that you are favored by God and the Lord is with you.

In a world that is awash with words it can feel like words are not very valuable; not very powerful, but today we see the power of God’s Word.

Because Mary carried the Lord Jesus in her womb and gave birth to the Savior who lived and died and rose from the dead, you now carry Jesus in your heart. You have the power of the Holy Spirit in your inner being, Ephesians 3:17–19 (ESV) 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Jesus dwells in your heart. Jesus died for you and rose from the dead for you. You are favored by God. Living in this era after Jesus ascended into heaven and waiting for Jesus to return on the last day, you know more about Jesus and what He has done than Mary herself knew. Through His Word the Lord has saved you. You may not have heard from an angel directly, but God speaks to you through His messengers and in the words of the Bible.

In this life there are a lot of other religious options; lots of various people and ideas to follow. There seems to be a continuous string of spiritual fads that all promise fulfillment. There are many options, but you know there is no substitute for Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. When others are abandoning the truth of God to follow after the lies of the devil, the world and their own sinful flesh, and the Lord looks to see if you are going to follow them, you can say in the words of St. Peter, John 6:68–69 (ESV) 68 …“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” The Word of God is powerful, it makes things happen.

Blessed are you, O favored one. The Lord is with you. Amen.