Gaudete (Advent 3)

Gaudete – December 14, 2025

Psalm 85; Isaiah 40:1-11; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

St. Matthew 11:2-11

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

As St. John the Baptist sits in prison for preaching against the adultery of Herod, he sends two of his disciples to ask our Lord a question, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”[1] This question is full of mystery and meaning. Why is John asking this question? Is he questioning if Jesus is really the Christ, the Messiah, come to take away the sins of the world? Is he confused over what the job of the Messiah is? Or is John trying to teach his disciples a lesson, to prepare them for his inevitable execution at the hands of the wicked Herod?

We can immediately rule out the idea that John is questioning if Jesus is really the Christ. It was St. John the Baptist who leapt in his mother’s womb when the mother of our Lord greeted Elizabeth for he knew his Savior was near.[2] John was our Lord’s cousin and grew up around Him, being only six months older than He. And in adulthood, St. John loudly proclaimed Jesus to be the very Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world; He whose sandal John was unworthy to untie; the One who must increase that John might decrease.[3] St. John saw the heavens opened as he baptized our Lord, and heard the voice of the Father proclaim, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”[4] Everything we know about St. John tells us that he is confident that Jesus is the Christ, the very Lamb of God and the Promised Messiah.

There is, however, a good chance that John is asking this question because he is doubting the job of the Christ. This says more about St. John than it does about Christ. John is wondering if he has misunderstood the Scriptures. Afterall, the Old Testament prophets speak of the Messiah freeing the captives. Isaiah says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound…”[5] And again, Isaiah says, The Messiah is given as a covenant to the people, “As a light to the Gentiles, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.”[6] And again, Zechariah says, “As for you also, Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.”[7]

Here John is sitting in prison, and he knows the Scriptures speak of the Messiah freeing the prisoners from captivity. He must be asking himself, “Did I misunderstand the Scriptures? Is this Christ different from the one who will free the captives? Will this one be the Lamb of God and then we must wait for another to fulfill these other prophecies? What gives?”

In this way, we can find St. John to be very relatable. There are plenty of passages of Scripture in which God promises wonderful things and yet our experience is different. Sometimes, we want to clear up this seeming contradiction by simply spiritualizing everything we read in God’s Word. “Freeing the prisoners just means freeing us from our sins.” That is true in one sense. Especially the passage I read from Zechariah, “Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit,” speaks of being free from the eternal consequences of your sin. The blood of the covenant speaks of the blood of Christ, which, because it was shed on the cross, has set you free from slavery to sin. This is most certainly true.

But if we are content with the Scriptures only giving spiritual truths, then the moment we face tragedy, disaster, poverty, or other great ills, there will be a strong temptation to believe that God has no answer. The opposite is also true. If Scripture only gives spiritual truths, then when we are tempted by sin, our pride will puff up, believing that since God only cares about the Spiritual, our actions have no consequence. God forgives me so it won’t matter if I give into this sin or that sin.

St. John is humbly asking Christ to clear up this confusion. The Scriptures say one thing, and I am experiencing something entirely different. Why? God sometimes allows His saints to suffer so that we would learn to rely on Him; that we would learn that God knows how to care for us better than we know how to care for ourselves. This includes learning not to trust our senses or our own experiences. St. John needs to learn that imprisonment and even suffering a martyr’s death are not the worst things that can happen to a man. The worst that can happen is to suffer eternity in hell. And so, John’s faith needs encouragement. His soul needs encouragement.

When Christ says, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see,” He is confirming for John that He is the Christ, the promised Messiah, and those things that He is doing have effects even in the material world, not just spiritual effects. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear. And these outward signs are themselves pointing to the spiritual truth, that Christ has forgiven the sins of these people. Just so, John will be released from prison. It won’t be the way that John hoped. He won’t walk free to again follow Christ across Judea. He will leave prison in a proverbial body bag.

But even this isn’t the end of the story. John also will be released from the prison of the ground. His flesh will be raised on the last day, reunited with his soul, and he will spend eternity with Christ, seeing Him, hearing Him, and praising Him without end. Once again, God knows better how to take care of His saints than we do.

To John’s credit, he already had some idea that this was true. The translation of John’s question we read this morning gets something wrong. John doesn’t ask, “Are you the One who is to come,” but “Are You the Coming One?” That seems like a small difference but it is important. Christ is not the One who came once, but the One who is eternally Coming to His church. Baked into his question, St. John is asking if Jesus is the One who not only came in the flesh but will continue to come to His saints. St. John is fairly certain that he is going to die in prison, so he wants to be sure that Christ is going to come for him in death and again come to raise him from death.

So Christ gives John an answer which says, “Yes. Not only did I descend into your flesh, but I will forever be with you. I will come to you in prison. I will come to you in death. And at the last day, I will come to raise you from the grave. There is never a time that I am not coming to you. My presence is not a fanciful, spiritual ideal, but a present reality, no matter what day or time you have in mind.”

And our Lord’s final words to St. John this morning are “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” This offense is not hurt feelings or a bruised ego or hurt sensibilities over manners. Offense in this context, like most of the times in Scripture, means to loose faith, to fall away from the faith, to abandon the faith of the Scriptures. Christ pronounces this beatitude on all who would not abandon their faith because God isn’t meeting their expectations; on all who humbly approach the Scriptures, realizing that any misunderstanding or seeming contradiction exists only because of a failure on their part, not on the part of God. St. John is truly blessed, as are you, for coming to Christ to say, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”[8]

The final option I gave for why St. John asked his question was to teach his disciples. This can be true even if John is also asking for comfort for his own soul and clarity for his confusion over the words of the Scriptures. St. John clearly confessed that he must decrease as Christ increases.[9] John does not want his disciples to make any mistake. His role of prophet was to point people to Christ, not to gather followers to himself.

St. John was a good pastor. His disciples loved him, even coming to take great care of his body once he had been martyred.[10] John’s chief concern was that his disciples not become “Johnnites,” but Christians. He did not want them setting up shrines or praying to John after his death, but to turn to Christ. And after the Ascension, John wants his disciples to listen to other preachers who have dedicated their lives to pointing people to Christ.

This Sunday is called “Gaudete,” which means, “rejoice.” We light the rose colored candle in the Advent wreath as a momentary break from the penitential nature of the season of Advent. The same thing happens about halfway through Lent, on the fourth Sunday in Lent, when we celebrate Laetare. It is funny that we celebrate the Advent Sunday of rejoicing by reading of St. John sending messengers from prison.

At the same time, this is an incredibly appropriate reading for a Sunday of rejoicing. St. John is experiencing perhaps the worst chapter of his life. What does he do? He calls on Christ. And what does Christ tell him? “John, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Though the kings and princes of the earth throw you in prison and execute you, they have no power over your soul. They have no power over your life. Live each moment knowing that your present suffering is nothing compared with the bliss of eternity which you have inherited through My Blood. Well done, My good and faithful servant. Soon, I will see your face in the kingdom of my Father.”

As we pray in the psalms, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.”[11] Christ assures St. John that this desire will be fulfilled in today’s reading. He is also assuring you of the same. This place, here at the altar of the Lord, you behold His beauty. And so long as you are not offended by Him, trusting instead that He knows what He is doing, then you will one day see Him as He is. Today, you see bread and wine with your eyes but the eyes of faith know that it is the very Body and Blood of Christ. In the day of the Lord, He will no longer veil Himself in earthly elements. You will see and behold Him as He is, even as you are made like Him.[12] What better cause is there to rejoice?

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] St. Matthew 11:3.

[2] St. Luke 1:41.

[3] St. John 1:29; St. Luke 3:16; St. John 3:31.

[4] St. Matthew 3:17; cf. St. John 1:32-34.

[5] Isaiah 61:1.

[6] Isaiah 42:6-7.

[7] Zechariah 9:11.

[8] St. Mark 9:24.

[9] St. John 3:30.

[10] St. Matthew 14:12.

[11] Psalm 27:4.

[12] 1 John 3:2.

Jubilate (Easter 3)

 Jubilate – May 11, 2025

Psalm 66; Isaiah 40:25-31; 1 Peter 2:11-20

St. John 16:16-22

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

The primary application of Christ’s words this morning concerns the apostles, however, Christ also intended them for you and for the Church of every age. His words have two main parts: 1) “a little while, and you will not see Me;” and 2) “again a little while, and you will see Me.”[1]

In the immediate application, Christ is speaking to His apostles concerning His death and resurrection. He spoke these words on Maundy Thursday, the night of His betrayal. It would only be a little while before He was taken from them, handed over to the Jews and Pilate, then hung on a cross until He died. Because of these events, the apostles wept and lamented while the world rejoiced in the death of Christ. Satan and his brood claimed victory over God when Christ breathed His last, believing they had overcome the Church and her head. The apostles wept because they still thought of the Kingdom of God as an earthly kingdom, whose victory would be defined by growth, property, and riches. Now that their King was dead, the death of the kingdom was sure to follow.

Christ’s words to His apostles even hold true after the resurrection. It was only a little while that He remained with them before they did not see Him after the ascension. Almost immediately after Pentecost, the enemies of Christ began to wage war on the Church. Persecution and martyrdom followed. It became the policy of the Roman Empire to stamp out the “Christian Pagans” who followed the words of the Crucified Christ. All but one of the apostles would meet a martyr’s death, along with countless others. The weeping and lamenting of the Church did not end.

There is an idea among some Christians that before Christ returns, the Church will conquer the earth. What that means is that the Church will gain prestige on the earth such that all false teachers and unbelievers will at least be brought under the temporal authority of the Church, and Christianity will govern the world. This will usher in a golden age where righteousness and blessedness will rule the world and then Christ will return. This thinking is sometimes summarized in the phrase, “We win down here.” It is also called Post-Millennialism.

But we don’t need to believe in such a radical departure from God’s Word to be deceived by the same thoughts. More locally, we are tempted to believe that if only we could get a few more members, we wouldn’t need to worry about finances. Or, more money in the church will mean less problems. Or, more people in the pews (or even more names on the roster) means a more faithful congregation. Or, more light-hearted hymns, easier liturgy, less doctrine, more events, or anything similar will solve the problems of the church.

Such thoughts might have practical value. More money in the offering plate means making decisions about repairs to the church are less difficult. More people in the pews means more hearts are being converted by the Gospel of Christ. Yet placing your trust or value in any of these endeavors is contrary to God’s Word. He has promised that the Church will always be outnumbered by the unbelieving.[2] The Church will always be despised by the world. Finances will always be a struggle for the faithful. There will always be weeping and lamentation among us.

Personally, and as an institution, we will always be weeping and lamenting because we are the body of Christ, the body that was betrayed, smitten, afflicted, and bore a cross to the mountain of Calvary.[3] Most of the world will always be on the side of our persecutors. The tares will remain until the harvest which is the return of Christ at the end of time.[4] Seasons of feast and famine will continue to turn but the feasts will seem shorter and the famines will grow longer. The faith of those precious to us will turn cold. Your body will continue to decay until it is returned to the dust from which it came.

Days of peril, violence, and persecution will increase. The preaching of false Christs will echo more loudly in your ears. Just this week, a new man ascended to the throne of the antichrist who, from what I’ve read, could be even more damaging to Christians than his predecessor. Idolatry, Atheism, Infidelity, perverted Science, false philosophy, worldly pride, heresy, schism, and turmoil from within and from without have marred the prosperity of the Church and will continue until Christ returns. A little while and you will not see Christ, and during this time there will be weeping and lamenting. Open your eyes to the state of the world and it is impossible not to see the fulfillment of Christ’s words.

But there is another, brighter side to Christ’s words. “And again a little while, and you will see me.” That is to say, it will only be a little while before you will see Christ. The suffering of this present time is nothing compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us when Christ returns.[5] What may last a lifetime on this side of glory, 70, 80, 90 years or more, is a blink of an eye compared with the eternity Christ has promised to His beloved disciples. “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in a petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time,” yet all our yesterdays pale in quantity and quality when compared to the joy of Christ’s eternal presence with you.[6]

The apostles were confused by Christ’s words because they could not imagine joy outside of being with Christ. Yet He was taken from them precisely to fulfill their joy, to fulfill their salvation. It was necessary that He fall victim to the betrayal of Judas and the death of the cross that they would see Him again. And then, after a little while, it was necessary that He ascend to the Father, that He would prepare a place for them in eternity. It was also necessary that He ascend so that the Apostles would go out into all the world, proclaiming salvation in the Name of Christ. The unavoidable agony of birth was necessary so that the joy of a child would follow.

And though we might focus on the “little while,” what comes after that little while is of greater importance. You will see Christ! That doesn’t mean He is absent right now. He is not gone. He is present with us. He has promised His Church to be present always, even to the end of the age, and especially wherever two or three of His disciples are gathered.[7] And yet He is not manifest in such a way that we could draw an outline of His body. So too is Christ’s True Body and True Blood present in the Holy Supper and yet you cannot discern a thigh from a forearm in the Eucharist.

To the disciples’ great relief and joy, they did see Christ again when He rose from the dead. They saw Him in the flesh, shared meals with Him, were absolved by Him, talked with Him, and heard more of His teachings. By the time of His ascension, the Apostles could stand, watching Him depart, yes with some apprehension but a greater understanding that what the Lord has promised them will come true.

In that same joy, we can trust the Word of Christ that no one can take His Word, His joy, from us. The sins of man can harm you in body and soul. He can take your life, but He can’t take Christ from you. He can’t take the promise of eternal joy with Christ away from you. This world can take your confidence, your health, your home, even your life, but no one can take the joy of Christ from you.

The joy of which I speak is not the same as “happiness” or even an emotion at all. It is the sure and certain promise that you have been declared right with God. As a pledge of this certainty, Christ has given you His Word, His seal in Holy Baptism, and fed you on His own flesh and blood. ‘There is not a fortune that will not be scattered and disappear. There is not a kingdom or nation that won’t fall into the obscurity of history. There is not a home that won’t crumble into nothing. Even prophecies shall fail, tongues cease, and knowledge vanish away.[8] But there is one thing which shall live on unharmed amid all changes, undamaged by disaster and calamity. The dampness of the tomb cannot extinguish it. God has stamped His own immortality on it. It is lit for everlasting years. It is the joy which the believer has in Christ Jesus.  That, no man can take away.’[9]

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] St. John 16:16.

[2] St. Matthew 13:3-9.

[3] St. John 15:18-20.

[4] St. Matthew 13:24-30.

[5] Romans 8:18.

[6] Cr. Macbeth, Act V, Scene 5.

[7] St. Matthew 18:20; 28:20.

[8] 1 Corinthians 13:8.

[9] Joseph August Seiss, Lectures on the Gospels, Volume 2 (Philadelphia, PA: Lutheran Bookstore, 1888), 591-592.

Gaudete (Advent 3)

 Gaudete (Advent 3) – December 15, 2024

Psalm 85; Isaiah 40:1-11; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

St. Matthew 11:2-11

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

St. John the Baptist was in prison because he preached to Herod that Herod’s adulterous marriage to his brother’s wife was sinful.[1] John was also hated by the Pharisees and those of the Temple because he called them a brood of vipers.[2] St. John, as the prophesied Elijah to come, preached primarily a message of repentance.[3] He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness to make the rough places plane, that is, to call people to repentance that they would be prepared to receive the Christ.

St. John also preached the Gospel. He baptized the multitudes who came to him from Jerusalem and all the region around the Jordan.[4] Holy Baptism is a preaching of the forgiveness of sins, the release from bondage to the devil, and adoption by the Father as a new creation in Christ. St. John pointed troubled consciences to Christ, the Prophet like Moses, who would die for their sins.

And yet it was not for the proclamation of Christ that John found himself in prison. It was for the preaching of the Law. It was for the call to repentance. The Holy Law of God is not just a perfunctory set of rules, independent from the call to salvation. When the Law of God first enters the heart of man, it reveals that he has not kept the Law. He has not done all that God commands. He has sinned and earned the wrath of God. As John is preaching the Law, he is revealing the rocky hills and steep valleys in the soul of man. This serves to prepare the way of the Lord by showing the necessity of making the path straight and the hills plane or level.

And the natural man, still in his sins, chaffs at this. It is uncomfortable to be told you are wrong. It is worse to be told that you are a sinner who makes God angry with your every action. And it is the worst to be told that because of your sin, you deserve damnation and the eternal wrath of God.

Now, if John only preached the Law, then all who heard him would either be led to pride or despair. Those drawn toward pride would seek only to justify their sin, finding reasons that their own actions are excusable, sensible, or even that their sins are in fact righteousness. And we are all guilty of this to some extent. “Sure, I didn’t honor my mother when I yelled at her for telling me to clean my room, but she didn’t need to ground me for it. Its her fault!” “Yeah, I didn’t keep the Sabbath holy when I stayed home from church, but I was really tired, and God loves me anyway so what’s one Sunday?” “If he wasn’t such a jerk about it, I wouldn’t have to complain to my friends about him.” And on and on.

Then there are those who would despair. These feel the weight of the Law on their hearts but refuse to find relief. “I am such a terrible sinner, God could never love me.” We, also, all have our temptations toward despair. A terminal diagnosis is the worst news we could imagine. It’s God’s fault. He is to blame for my sin, and He won’t do anything about it.

St. John’s preaching of the forgiveness of sins, the Gospel of Christ, continues even when he is in prison. He sends his disciples to Jesus as much for their benefit as his own. He wants them to know that Christ is the object of their faith. He wants them to know that Jesus is the One who is to come, the prophet like Moses, God in flesh, who will die for their sins. He wants them to be disciples of Christ, not just of John.

John sends them with a question, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”[5] They are to ask Jesus if He is the promised Messiah or if they should look for another. This question deserves three observations. First, no matter how Christ answers the question, yes or no, the question already expresses trust in whatever Christ will say. It is like Mary telling the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.[6] She doesn’t know what Jesus is going to tell the servants, but she trusts, that is she has faith, that whatever it will be is true and good. The question of John is the same. He, and his disciples, trust that whatever Jesus says is true and good, even if it means that Jesus is only another prophet.

The second observation, in light of the first, is that John and his disciples already have faith in Jesus. They trust His word above all others. There is some room for debate over whether John is only asking the question for the sake of his disciples—meaning that he already knows the answer, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God—or if John is experiencing a moment of doubt and is asking the question for his own benefit.

The text is somewhat unclear. Afterall, John is the greatest man to be born of woman and he was the first to recognize the Christ while he was still in the womb. He has known since before his own birth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And yet he stands in a long line of prophets who spoke directly with God and still experienced doubt. John is Elijah, sent to prepare the hearts of man to receive their King, and Elijah experienced doubt. He believed he was the only Christian left on the face of the earth and begged God to let him die.[7] Elijah doubted so it shouldn’t be surprising if John has a moment of doubt.

If John is sending his disciples for their own benefit, then it is a picture of God sending His ministers, pastors, to proclaim the Word of God for the sake of you, His beloved people. John is serving those in his care by sending them to Jesus. If the question is from John’s own heart, then it is a picture of God consoling His own through His Word. Either way, it is a message of consolation for the hurting heart, the sorrowful conscience.

The third observation we should make about John’s question is the title he applies to Christ. He asks if Jesus is the Coming One. It is this question that led our fathers in the faith to appoint this text for the Third Sunday of Advent, for Gaudete. Advent means “coming” and Jesus is certainly the Coming One. He is the One who came in the flesh at Bethlehem and who will come again on the Last Day. He is also the Coming One who comes to you daily in His Word and most intimately in the Holy Sacraments—Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. He brings Himself to you, joining Himself to you first in Baptism and then in the Holy Communion. There is never a time that Christ is not the Coming One. He is never only the One who came nor the One who is to come. He is and always will be the One who is coming to you.

Our Lord’s answer to John’s question is likewise twofold. He points to the miracles that were prophesied of the Christ and which He has fulfilled. When Jesus performs miracles of healing and restoration, He is not checking off boxes on a list of signs that He is the Messiah. He is showing compassion on His beloved people. He is the Light and Life of man. He cannot help but bring restoration and new life to those whom He loves because this is within His very essence. The prophecies which spoke of these miracles were given for our sake, that by them, we would recognize the Christ who is Coming.

At the same time, we would do well to note that John has not seen any of these miracles, nor did he perform any himself.[8] John must believe the report of his disciples. This is important because we find ourselves in the same position. I’ve never seen someone raised from the dead, nor the blind made to see, nor the deaf made to hear. I don’t expect to ever see these miracles and you shouldn’t either. In fact, we know that wicked men will perform miracles to deceive Christians into false religion. The demons are powerful and will inspire all kinds of signs and wonders to deceive even the elect if possible.

What John and all of us have is the Word of God. We have the faithful witness of the Holy Scriptures, inspired by the Holy Ghost, to tell us those things necessary for faith. We have the very Word of God to report all things necessary for salvation. This sure and certain Word of God serves us just as it does St. John the Baptist. In the face of suffering and even martyrdom, it strengthens you in body and soul to life everlasting. And that is why daily reading the Scriptures and committing them to memory is so important. It is not just an exercise or a work to be done. It is the very life-giving Word of God by which you are saved. We ought to view reading the Scriptures the way we see eating, drinking, and breathing. In fact, it is even more important.

“And blessed is he who is not offended because of [Christ.]”[9] Offended is not hurt feelings or disappointment. To be offended is to stumble, to fall, to lose faith. Jesus is saying, “You who do not stumble because of My Word, because of My life, death, and resurrection; You who hold tightly to Me and My Word shall truly be blessed. Sight, the ability to walk, health, hearing, wealth, and even life in this world are nothing if they are not in Me.”

Those who received these miracles of Christ were blessed by Him but that is nothing compared to those who believe in Him, who receive Him as King of kings and Lord of lords. The one true miracle of Christ is your salvation, the resurrection of all flesh on the Last Day when you will be made anew and join Christ for all eternity. This is what the Word of God has promised to those who are not offended by Christ. This is the promise of God by which you live and breathe and have your being. This is the promise in which you find rest, no matter your sight, hearing, wealth, or health. Christ is the Coming One, who has and is coming to you this day in His Holy Word.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] St. Matthew 14:3.

[2] St. Matthew 3:7-12.

[3] St. Matthew 11:10; Malachi 4:5-6.

[4] St. Matthew 3:5-6.

[5] St. Matthew 11:3.

[6] St. John 2:5.

[7] 1 Kings 19:14.

[8] St. John 10:41.

[9] St. Matthew 11:6.

Jubilate

Jubilate – April 21, 2024

Psalm 66; Isaiah 40:25-31; 1 Peter 2:11-20

St. John 16:16-22

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

From the very beginning, sin has been a rejection of God’s order; a questioning of His authority, and an assertion that we know better than He does. Satan’s temptation of Eve centered on the question, “Did God really say?” Sometimes we use that phrase as shorthand for the tendency of the sinful mind to subvert God’s wisdom, authority, and knowledge. God set all of creation in order and since that first bite of the forbidden fruit, man has gone about setting the world into disorder.

The twentieth century and on to today has fully embraced this type of thinking. Whether you agree with the statement or not, the idea that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” has dominated all western thought for over a hundred years now. It suggests that my taste is more important than something objective, something that exists outside of myself. This applies to the visual arts – paintings, sculptures, architecture – as well as music, dance, hymnody, and the worship of the Triune God. If something is pleasing to the eye, then it is valid. If you like it, then it must be beneficial, if not true.

This is the foolishness of the world, and it is sin. It is sinful to think that you know better than God. If God has said that the Body and Blood of Christ are bodily present in the Lord’s Supper, who are you to deny Him? As the Bride of Christ, we are often the object of such ridicule. The world laughs at our worship, our faith, and our suffering because it is not pleasing to the eye. At the same time, the world rejoices in sinfulness. The world rejoices because there is nothing else. There is nothing to look forward to. The world says, “Eat, drink, and make merry, for tonight we die!”

It is always amazing when we insist on something because it is the only thing we know. According to God, the only thing we know is sin. Faith is a radical departure from what we know of our own experience and the desires born in our hearts. The entire Christian life must be one of seeking the wisdom, authority, and knowledge of God while putting our own inbred thoughts to death.

The desire to seek God is born within you in Holy Baptism. It is born in you by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. But this desire does not spontaneously give you holy thoughts and liver shivers, provable only because it is something you like. Holy thoughts are born by the indoctrination of the Word of God, being steeped in the eternal truths given to Abraham, Moses, Peter, and Paul, then carried forth by Augustine, Luther, Chemnitz, Walther and more.

Such wisdom of the saints is recorded in our text as weeping and lament. How is that wisdom? It is wisdom in weeping and lamenting our sins. We cannot escape sinful desires. The Old Adam was drowned in Holy Baptism but he is a strong swimmer. We must continually put him to death by lamenting our sins. 

What does that look like? It looks like confessing. It looks like confessing before God Almighty, “I, a poor miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities…” And then trusting in the Word of the Almighty God that the absolution spoken by your Pastor is the very same as though God were speaking it directly from heaven.

It also looks like taking the things of God seriously. When was the last time that you obeyed the words of Saint Paul, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup,”[1] by coming to confession before receiving the Lord’s Supper, reviewing the Christian Questions and their Answers in your catechism, or simply reciting the Ten Commandments and determining where you have fallen short and where you need the shed Blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of those sins?

These are not laws in the sense that you must dot your Is and cross your Ts before you may commune. They are an admonition of God to take His gifts seriously. This is wisdom. This is the lamentation of the Christian in this time.

And this lamentation leads to joy. It leads to joy here in time and there in eternity. It leads to joy here as your sins are forgiven and you are unburdened. If you take the forgiveness of sins lightly, then your burden will only be lightly relieved. Given great weight, the forgiveness of sins will move the mountain of sins that weigh you down.

This joy, this true joy, will then lead to the enjoyment of the right ordering of God’s creation. Weighed down by sexual sin, you cannot enjoy the bliss of the marital union. Weighed down by the sin of wrath, you cannot enjoy the bliss of company, activity, or competition. Weighed down by the sin of anxiety, you cannot enjoy the bliss of determination, purpose, and direction.

That doesn’t mean that coming to hear private absolution will make everything joyful for you. It will relieve the burden of sin, but it may not “fix” your life. That is the sorrow of a world bent out of order by sin. The whole world fell in Adam’s fall and you still live in the world. You are still effected by this disordered world.

So long as you live on this side of glory, in one way or another, you are still the woman in labor. You will have moments of joy, when you see beyond the sorrow of this world and glimpse the glory of heaven, but the labor persists. Still, the promise of Christ stands, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.”[2]

The labor will come to completion and then you will have such joy that the danger, pain, and sorrow of labor will be forgotten. It will be forgotten in the joy that you now behold the Son of Man in your arms. You will see the face of Christ and rejoice. You will forget the sorrow and weeping that marks this life. Your lamentation of sin will come to an end. You will no longer seek the absolution because your absolution will be made complete, made whole, in the direct presence of Christ, now enjoyed by all the faithful.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] 1 Corinthians 11:28.

[2] St. Luke 6:21.

Gaudete (Advent 3)

Gaudete (Advent 3) – December 11, 2022

Psalm 85; Isaiah 40:1-8 (9-11); 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

St. Matthew 11:2-10

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

At first blush, today’s Gospel reading and the ceremonies seem contradictory. We name this Sunday, “Gaudete,” the Latin word for “Rejoice.” This name comes to us in the antiphon, or the phrases repeated at the beginning and end of the Introit: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, ‘Rejoice.’”[1] The paraments and vestments are rose to reflect this joyous character. The penitential nature of Advent is lightened for a day as we enter the final days of Advent. The Old Testament Lesson speaks of comfort and pardon, the glory of the Lord and His enduring word.[2] In the Gradual, we cry out to our Shepherd to come and lead us as a flock; to stir up His might and come to save us, enthroned upon the cherubim.[3]

The seeming contradiction arises in the Gospel lesson. John the Baptist is in prison. He undoubtedly knows that he will soon be executed. In preparation for his own death, and likely in a moment of doubt concerning the Christ, John sends two of his disciples to Jesus. They are to ask on John’s behalf, “Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?”[4]

Our Lord’s oblique response is to tell John the things the disciples see and hear, namely His miracles and teachings, and that he who is not offended by Jesus is blessed. As the disciples of John depart, Jesus questions the surrounding crowd concerning who John is and what he came to do. He says John is more than a prophet, he is the messenger of whom Malachi foretold, who would prepare the way of the Messiah.[5]

I say the Gospel reading seems to contradict today’s liturgical character because the Gospel text seems to focus on doubt. John is about to die and wants confirmation that Jesus is the Christ, the One Who is to Come, and that this Christ would save him from his sins. Then, rather than expounding on the glory of salvation, the mercy of God, or the compassion of the Father, Jesus reprimands the crowds for their impious curiosity in seeking John. Joy is not mentioned in the Gospel and the tone speaks more of rebuke for lack of vigilance.

And yet, such a contradiction only exists if you do not slow down and read the Gospel of St. Matthew with a careful eye. Twice in the text, Jesus makes reference to the Scriptures being fulfilled in His life. First, He speaks of His deeds, foretold by Isaiah. “The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them;”[6] and then He confirms the office of John as the messenger prophesied by Malachi.[7]

Our Lord is not trying to give the disciples of John an encoded message confirming that He is the Messiah. In the first place, He is pointing John, and his disciples, to the Old Testament, to the Scriptures, to the Word of God. He is saying, “Why ask Me if I am the Messiah? You have Moses and the Prophets. They tell you what to look for. Trust your eyes and ears that what you have heard and seen in Me is the fulfillment of them.”

In the second place, Jesus is directing John and his disciples to the concrete actions of the Messiah. It is all well and good to hear that a prophet has arisen in Galilee, and He is healing people. But the minds of men are strong. Our self-delusions are mighty. “Oh, such works are easy to fake. I heard He likes to eat with unwashed hands and gave wine to a bunch of drunk people at a wedding. Some Messiah…”

The ferocity of our sin will find any excuse to disbelieve the Word of God. Does your conscience tell you that you are a sinner and God couldn’t possibly love you for what you have done? Look first to the Scriptures and ask, “Did Jesus die for the sins of the world? Are you a part of the world?” The answer to both questions is undeniably, “yes.”

If you stop here, Satan will rejoice. He will whisper in your ear, “Are you sure? Did God really say that? And if Jesus did die for your sins, there are still people in hell. What makes you think you won’t join them? You’ve thought and done some pretty nasty stuff.”

Knowing the guile of our evil foe, God binds His Word and His salvation to physical means, so that we would have no excuse to disbelieve. These are the sacraments. What makes you think you won’t join the souls in hell? You are baptized! You are baptized and you receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. You desire the Body and Blood of Jesus. Your ears hear the words of Jesus from my lips, “Your sins are forgiven.” Do you know this to be true? Then you have nothing to fear concerning your salvation.

Even in the rebuke of the crowds, Jesus gives us a reason to rejoice. He says that John was more than a prophet, he was a messenger. While we shouldn’t apply this distinction too broadly, our Lord is here making a distinction between a prophet who speaks the Word of the Lord, and a messenger who also speaks the Word of the Lord but does so immediately before His coming. A messenger, or angel, is one who goes before the Lord to prepare the way.[8] St. John is a herald. He is the watchman on the gate who cries out, “Awake, Jerusalem, arise!”

Now, St. John was clearly the messenger sent to prepare the hearts of man for the first coming of the Messiah in the flesh. He was to prepare their hearts by confronting them with their sin. He did this, not with the final purpose of frightening them into inaction or damnation. He did this to reveal their sins and their need for the Messiah. He did this so that they would be prepared to be forgiven. This is the office of St. John the Baptist. After Christ began His ministry, after Jesus was baptized in the Jordan and anointed with the Holy Spirit, it was necessary for St. John to decrease that Jesus would increase.[9]

But St. John is not the only messenger, nor is the Incarnation the only time that Jesus comes to man in the flesh. When Jesus returns on the last day, the messengers will be the Holy Angles, who with the sound of mighty trumpets, will announce the coming of the King. This very day, Jesus comes to you in His flesh. He comes to you invisible to the eyes of flesh, but radiant to the eyes of faith. He comes to you in His Holy Body and Precious Blood, in the Eucharist. Before He comes today, however, He has sent His messenger. He has sent you a pastor to proclaim the Word of God, preparing your hearts and minds to receive your King.

How is this achieved? It is true that you need to be shown your sin. You need to constantly be shown the failure of your flesh and the weakness of your heart. Yet these things are so that you would be prepared to receive the forgiveness of sins. As such, your pastor is more a messenger than a prophet. He goes before to announce the coming of the King. So long as you are sincere in your faith, desire to be rid of your sins and to do better according to the Word of God, the Office of the Holy Ministry is never given to hold you under the water a little while longer, forcing you to suffer.

No. The Office of the Holy Ministry is to bring you the joy of the Holy Gospel. We hear the Word of God read and pastors preach before we receive the Sacrament because it is necessary that the messenger be sent before the coming of the King. It is necessary so that you would be prepared to receive your King. Having heard the Word of God, having been confronted by your sins and your need for a Savior, it is with most joyful hearts that we now cry out, “Stir up your might and come to save us.”[10] “Rejoice in the Lord always; [for] the Lord is at hand!”[11]

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Philippians 4:4-5.

[2] Isaiah 40:1-8.

[3] Psalm 80:1-2.

[4] St. Matthew 11:2-3.

[5] St. Matthew 11:4-10.

[6] St. Matthew 11:5; cf. Isaiah 26:19; 29:18; 35:5; 42:7, 18; 61:1.

[7] Malachi 3:1.

[8] St. Luke 1:76-79. The conclusion of the Benedictus.

[9] St. John 3:30.

[10] Psalm 80:2b.

[11] Philippians 4:4, 5.