The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary – July 2, 2022

Introit—1 Samuel 2:1-2, ant. Luke 1:46b-47; Isaiah 11:1-5; Song of Songs 2:8-14

St. Luke 1:39-56

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

The Visitation refers to that occasion after the Angel Gabriel has revealed the conception of St. John the Baptist to Zacharias and Elizabeth and after the same archangel came to both Mary and Joseph, revealing Mary was to be the mother of God, when Mary traveled to visit her relative Elizabeth. The reason for this journey is not given by God. Some speculate that it has to do with protecting the Blessed Virgin from the contempt of her neighbors and safeguarding the reputation of pious Joseph. By Mary leaving Nazareth for three months, it was less likely the Holy Family would receive severe criticism. When she returned, it may have been easier for the public to assume the conception of Mary’s Son occurred after her marriage to Joseph.

This speculation may be true. It may be false. Either way, it isn’t very helpful. What we know is that the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her relative Elizabeth was the occasion both for St. John to leap in his mother’s womb and for the Blessed Virgin to sing the Magnificat.

There are two important lessons for us today: First, that we are unworthy of the least of God or man’s attention, let alone mercy; and Second, that we rejoice at the coming of our Lord.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth out of absolutely nothing.[1] Everything that was made was made through the Word of God according to the Will of God.[2] When God called Abraham and gave him the promise of countless generations, blessings without number, and a land in which to dwell forever, God was again building a people for Himself where there had been nothing. One of the commands given to Abraham was to leave his father’s house. No longer was Abraham to identify himself as of the lineage of Terah, but of the lineage of God. A new generation had begun.

The Prophet Isaiah speaks in this way in our reading today. “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”[3] It would be more accurately rendered the “stump” of Jesse. The Davidic line was all but dead. The family tree of Jesse, the father of David, was cut down. It was little more than a dried-up stump, devoid of hope. From this dead thing, Life sprung forth. A new Rod, a Branch full of life will spring forth and endure forever. This Rod is Christ, who is born of the Virgin Mary, herself a descendant of David.

But Mary was not worthy. She belonged to the stump of Jesse. She was poor, despised, and lowly. If tradition holds true that she was quite young when she bore the Christ child and Joseph was quite old, then it is likely the marriage was arranged for financial gain by her parents and to ensure she could be supported by her established husband. There was nothing remarkable about the Blessed Virgin. She daily went about her chores. She attended the synagogue and heard the Word of God. She belonged to the faithful remnant of Israel but even this was not particularly remarkable.

We see from the history of God’s actions that He chooses that which is lowly, despised, poor, and nothing. God brings up the downtrodden, frees the prisoner, and satisfies the hungry. He also casts down the mighty, binds the strong, and sends the rich empty away. The Blessed Virgin gives thanks that God has had mercy upon her and descended to her in her low estate.

Do not, for one moment, assume that you are something great. If you do, then God is not for you. Or the most you can expect from God is to be cast down into the pit. We are poor, miserable sinners. You are a poor, miserable sinner. You are nothing of importance to God or man. Even if you have achieved great things in this world, there is always someone smarter, faster, better, and more accomplished. If you are the greatest in the world, then know that there are thousands who seek your downfall because man loves to watch the mighty fall.

If you have achieved great things in this world, even the greatness of raising a child, holding a steady job, or attending to the gathering of the church, give thanks that these things do not make you precious in the sight of the Lord. Give thanks because if even simple tasks made you precious in the sight of the Lord, then your salvation would depend on consistently achieving them. One misstep and you would be lost.

Instead, give thanks that there is nothing within you worth the love of God because this means that He has regarded your low estate. This means that you are poor, lowly, and despised, precisely the type of person for whom God became man. Magnify the Lord because He looks upon you in love, not because of what you have done or have failed to do, but because of what He has done. He has called you by name to join Him on Mount Zion. God fills with you good things, His very Body and Blood.

If you have the riches of Abraham, the poetry of David, or the wisdom of Solomon, these things are trinkets before God. They are gifts of God, bestowed upon you for the praise of Him. When the Blessed Virgin hears the words of the Angel Gabriel, she rejoices that her Lord has condescended to be with her. Jesus Christ is also with you, this day and every day.

In the Song of Solomon, the church proclaims, “The voice of my Beloved! Behold, He comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.”[4] The Bridegroom calls to the Church out of great love and from a great distance. Before we see our Lord, we hear His voice. Before the Virgin conceived, she heard the Word of the Lord from the lips of Gabriel. Before John baptized his Lord, he leaped in the womb at the sound of Mary’s voice. Thus at the sound of the Word of our God, our ears perk up and our excitement heightens. The church rejoices to see and know her Lord, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!”

And before we can move a muscle; before the church can take any action of her own, Christ leaps down from Mount Zion, from the side of the Father, to join His beloved bride on the plain. He descends lower than the heavenly beings that He might join us in our flesh. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked, but my God would rather be born of a lowly virgin than institute an earthly kingdom by force of man.[5]

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Genesis 1:1.

[2] St. John 1:1-3.

[3] Isaiah 11:1.

[4] Song of Songs 2:8. The following draws from Bernard of Clairvaux, “Sermon 53,” On the Song of Songs, Vol 3, translated by Kilian Walsh and Irene M. Edmonds (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1979), 58-67.

[5] Psalm 84:10; St. Luke 1:42; St. Matthew 4:8-9; Acts 1:4-8.

The Second Last Sunday in the Church Year

 The Second Last Sunday in the Church Year – November 14, 2021

Psalm 54; Daniel 7:9-14; 2 Peter 3:3-14

St. Matthew 25:31-46

In the name of the Father, and of the T Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Christ our Lord has two primary lessons for us to learn this morning, both concerning the division of the Sheep and the Goats. First, we will examine the fact that the Sheep and the Goats are divided based on who or what they are, not by their actions. Second, we will see the fruit born of this identity and how it applies to us today.

The beginning of today’s lesson tells us that Christ is speaking of his second coming. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.”[1] On the last day, Jesus will return as he ascended, riding on a cloud. However, it will not only be visible to those gathered on a mountain top. There will be lightening in the East and all eyes will see him coming in glory. Christ will descend with all the heavenly host such that no living thing will miss it. All the nations, every human being will be gathered before him. After everyone has been gathered, Christ will separate humanity. He will divide his sheep from the goats.

When a shepherd divides his flock, placing the sheep on the right and the goats on the left, he is not judging the amount of wool a particular animal has provided nor the quality of cheese made from its milk. The shepherd divides the animals according to what they are – sheep and goats are different animals.

So too, when the Good Shepherd divides the flock of humanity, we will be divided based on who or what we are. Are you a child of God? Are you a baptized child of the Heavenly Father? Are you a repentant sinner? Do you have a white garment with your name on it in the Heavenly banquet hall? Do believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, who died for your sins? Then the Shepherd sets you to his right.

The Goats are more difficult to comprehend. The obvious goats are all who have rejected the Son of God. All supposed atheists, Buddhists, Sikhs, Muslims, “spiritual but not religious,” and any other worshipers of false gods are clearly goats. But there are also goats in sheep’s clothing. These are those who have despised their Baptism. He might attend the Sunday service regularly but sees it as a networking opportunity. She might volunteer for every board so that the other ladies will be jealous of her status masquerading as piety. These goats are the hypocrites in the Church, who confess with their lips, but their heart is far from God.

It is these goats in sheep’s clothing who will protest the judgment of Christ most loudly. “How dare you call me a goat! I did everything you said, and I still get no thanks. What kind of God are you?” Sadly, these goats may even be more sympathetic. “How could you God? I did everything you asked of me and still I suffered. In my day of need you were silent. If I have rejected you its your own fault!”

The goats have long since evicted the Holy Spirit from the temple of their soul. The goats have kept the law outwardly but are spiritually dead. They are no different than the Pharisees whom Christ calls “whitewashed tombs.”[2] The temptation to become a goat is often in the name of hypocrisy. The goats are the most likely to complain, “The church is too interested in right doctrine. The church doesn’t do enough for the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, or imprisoned. This should be our focus!”

The church absolutely should care for these people. But care for the poor is for the purpose of the salvation of his soul. The primary purpose of the church is to preach the gospel, the pure gospel of Christ – which means calling sinners to repentance and forgiving the sins of the repentant. The preaching of the gospel requires pure doctrine. If our doctrine is false or muted by the whims of the world, we risk preaching people into goats. We risk raising an entire flock of goats rather than sheep. We risk damning those we encounter rather than speaking to them salvation in Christ.

Having an idea of who the Sheep and the Goats are, we must again notice they are divided long before their works are recounted. The Sheep are Sheep. The Goats are Goats. Sheep go to the right. Goats go to the left. They are divided based on their identity, who and what they are, not what they’ve done.

After the division, our Lord speaks to each group in turn and recounts their works, or their lack thereof; but before we can examine the list of works, there is one more character in this parable that we must define: “the least of these My brethren.”[3] This phrase could simply refer to the destitute, anyone who is hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, or in prison. There is certainly a truth in this. All Christians are called to serve their neighbor, especially those of the household of faith, and especially in her time of need.[4]

The key phrase in this word of our Lord is “My brethren.” There is only one group of people in Scripture to whom our Lord refers as “My brethren”: The Twelve. The Twelve Apostles are the only group which Jesus calls “My brothers” in Scripture. All Christians are brothers and sisters in Christ, but our Lord reserved this title especially for those men called into the Office of the Holy Ministry because these men are called to serve in his stead, enduring particular hardships and receiving particular blessings. Thus, it is natural to read, “the least of these My brethren” as referring to pastors.

In this case, the works which are recounted by Christ refer to how the Sheep or the Goats received their pastors. These works are not strictly about how often you’ve served in the soup kitchen but rather how you received the man sent to you by God to bear God’s gifts to you. How have you received the man who bears the medicine of immortality, the Word of Life, and the font of pure water?

None of this is to say, how have you judged the individual called to minister to you. There is a distinction between the man and the Office but the Office is filled by an individual. What does a hearer owe his pastor according to his Office?[5]

·         “The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.”[6]

·         “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”[7]

·         “The pastors who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,’ and ‘the worker deserves his wages.’”[8]

·         “We ask you brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.”[9]

·         “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”[10]

The Sheep in the parable have heard the preaching of the Gospel and responded with joy. They have recognized the beautiful feet of those who preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things, who proclaim salvation and says to the Church, “Your God reigns!”[11]

It is true that I, nor the vast majority of pastors preaching in Christ’s church in the West, have never truly experienced hunger, thirst, homelessness, poverty, or prison. It is in the nature of the Office of the Holy Ministry to experience being a stranger. Often, we are called far away from our family, even if for just the four years of seminary. When we receive a call to a congregation, very rarely will we arrive knowing anyone or anything in the area. Making friends is very difficult because of the demands of the Office and our families. Those closest to us in the church are still our parishioners, still our spiritual children, and thus not candidates for the closest of friends.

What then do the actions of the Sheep look like in the modern West? Ensuring your pastor has a living wage and the ability to care for the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of his family, including their health. It also looks like making sure he has the opportunity to study the Word of God so that he is able to minister to you; to purchase books to broaden his knowledge so that he is able to teach you; to have time and space to contemplate the needs of the congregation and the mysteries of God. It looks like ensuring he has time to pray for you and his family. It looks like sitting attentively during the Divine Service, Bible Study, and when your pastor comes to visit you. The actions of the Sheep look like communicating with your pastor and thinking twice before disregarding his words.

The actions of the Sheep look like sharing the fruits of your garden with your pastor’s family or taking him out for lunch to talk about sports, books, or home improvement. It looks like giving him the opportunity to attend conferences, visit brothers in the ministry, and subscribe to journals so that he might be refreshed in his zeal for the Lord.

The actions of the Sheep also look like ensuring your pastor has time to rest; has time to play with his children; has opportunity to attend to his house; and is able to be the husband and father God has called him to be. It looks like encouraging him to care for his beloved wife so that she does not become lonely, isolated, or resentful.

This exhortation is not a checklist of necessary actions for your salvation nor is it a laundry list of my personal complaints. It is however, a list of examples of what it means to serve the ‘least of these, Christ’s brethren.’ This service should be rendered with a joyful heart, such that you might not even realize what you’ve done. The Sheep have no idea what they’ve done because they were simply grateful to have the Word of God preached to them so that they would be saved; so that they would be numbered among the Sheep at the final judgement.

The Goats respond to Christ’s judgment by calling themselves ministers. ‘When did we see you in these situations and not minister to you?’[12] The Goats believe they know better how to manage God’s church than the men called to serve, and yet they refused to seek this knowledge in the Word of God. They are set in the ways of the world and have no heart for the ways of God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.”

Most certainly, each of us has Goat moments. If we are honest and measure ourselves according to the Word of God, examining our own consciences against the Ten Commandments, we will quickly see there is no hope for us. Each of has despised the Office of the Holy Ministry, sinned against our own pastor or another man called to be a pastor. If you have the slightest bit of humility, you will know that you deserve to be a Goat.

Thanks be to God you are not the one who determines when and how you become a Sheep. The Blood of Christ sheers the coarse goat fur from your back and replaces it with white wool. For each of those Goat moments, cry out to the Father for mercy for the sake of Jesus. The Sheep are marked by repentance, for they know they are poor, miserable sinners. The Sheep also know they are pure as fresh snow on account of the forgiveness of Christ. You became a Sheep when the Name of the Triune God was placed upon you in Holy Baptism. To endure as a Sheep in this world is to receive the gifts of God from your pastor as from God himself. When you get your Goat up, repent and receive the gift of absolution from your pastor as from God himself. Pray for your pastor. Honor your pastor. Treat him as an angel, a messenger, of God. Above all, receive the Word of your pastor for it is not his word, but the Word of God.[13]

In T Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] St. Matthew 25:31.

[2] St. Matthew 23:27: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”

[3] St. Matthew 25:40.

[4] Acts 11:27-30; Galatians 6:9-10; James 1:27; 1 Timothy 6:18-19.

[5] According to the Table of Duties in Luther’s Small Catechism.

[6] 1 Corinthians 9:14.

[7] Galatians 6:6-7.

[8] 1 Timothy 5:17-18.

[9] 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13.

[10] Hebrews 13:17.

[11] Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15.

[12] St. Matthew 25:44.

[13] Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:23; Galatians 1:8; Revelation 1:20.