Saint Athanasius Lutheran Church

A volcano erupts deep under the Pacific Ocean and a tsunami wipes out an island. A tiny virus infects the world. A construction error causes a structure to fall, crushing many people under its weight. Today, Jesus tells us how we should react -- I tell you... unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. When these kinds of things happen, it is an opportunity for us not to look at them and try to figure out why it happened to them... but to look at myself and what's wrong with me, and know it -- even worse -- should have happened to me.

We praise people when they do something well, when they achieve one of their goals, or for a certain accomplishment. And if the accomplishment is big enough or of particular note, then memorials are built, songs are written about it, days set aside to remember the event, so that the praise won't be just for a day or two, but be passed down the generations. So it was for Israel's exodus out of Egypt. But -- and you know the story -- God divided the sea so that Israel could walk through it on dry ground. So Israel sang out it, A hymn of praise.

Dr. Jeremiah has taken the spiritual temperature of Jerusalem and it is not good. They are sick. He knows the medicine they need, but they do not want it. The people did not repent. So God kept His Word. The city of Jerusalem was destroyed, the Temple leveled. So Dr. Jeremiah is making a house call to us this Lent, and calling us to repent and receive the medicine we need. The medicine our Lord has here for us. So the season of Lent... well, it's like our yearly spiritual physical. We're sick with sin. We can ignore it and die, or we can repent and live.

It started out okay. Better than okay -- it was good. Better than good -- Jacob and his family were being well taken care of as guests in the land of Egypt. But then time rolled on. The new Pharaoh and the people of Egypt began to wonder... who were these foreigners living in their land? For they became much more than a family, but a people, a nation. One that had to be reckoned with. One that could turn against Egypt. And the people of Israel, the children who had descended from Jacob, cried out to the Lord. Lord have mercy! And we read that God heard, God remembered, God saw, and God knew.

The devil really thinks he's something. And why not? He's got a perfect record. I'm not sure of the exact number, of how many people lived between the time of Adam and Eve until the time of Jesus, but however many it was the devil was undefeated. So when Jesus arrives on the scene, why expect any different? But Jesus did not go down. That is important for us to remember. If you try to go toe-to-toe, mano a mano with the devil, you will lose. And when you go down know that the Valiant One is on your side. You are forgiven.

Ash Wednesday is our yearly reminder, you didn't get away with it -- whatever "it" is. Whatever sin you did, whatever sin you continue to do, God sees and knows. Whether you have an ugly black cross on your forehead or not, you didn't get away with it. Not with God. Ash Wednesday is our reminder: you can't pull the wool over God's eyes. And so today is a day of repentance. Ash Wednesday is for repenting what Thanksgiving is for giving thanks. To bend the knees not of our bodies but of our hearts and say: Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

The verses we heard from the book of Hebrews today praise Moses. Twice it tells us that Moses was faithful in all God's house. But ask Moses, and he would tell you a different story. Moses knew he was nothing. He knew he had his good moments and bad moments, and he knew he was a great sinner. And for this he would not enter the Promised Land of Canaan. But Moses did enter the Promised Land -- just not this one. Not the one of this earth. The kingdom not of Israel, but the kingdom of God. That greater Promised Land Moses would enter, because of the prophet coming after Him, the one greater than him.

His brothers hated him. All eleven of them. They didn't just curse him, they wished him dead. And they didn't just wish him dead, they actually began plotting how they might do that. Joseph loved his brothers. They weren't his enemies, even though they treated him as their enemy. Time heals all wounds, some would say. But God heals all wounds, Joseph would say. The Word of God that had been with Joseph and working in Joseph all those years. Could you be like that? Like Joseph? Maybe yes, maybe no. For when you look at your life, who are you more like: Joseph? Or his brothers?

The Christian lives in two kingdoms. Two kingdoms that do not think alike, do not act alike. The kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God. Yet live in both every Christian does. But it is perilous. We are to see and use and enjoy the things of this world as good gifts from God, while at the same time not become too attached to them, not living for them, not relying on them. Whether they be people or things or accomplishments. Which, as you know, is not an easy thing. Yes, cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord... but then Jeremiah also said Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.

Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men. And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. And with these words, Jesus shows us that the most miraculous catch that day wasn't the fish! And what started off as just another day, with the same old routine, and the same old work, turned out quite differently. How do we make sense of all this? We do so by remembering who is responsible for the catch of fish. For on the one hand, Christ commands us to work, but on the other hand He shows us that our work -- on our own -- accomplishes nothing.

Nothing is greater than Jesus. Not demon, not illness, not physical ailment or disease. Nothing. Jesus overcomes them all. In Capernaum that day, He is the rescuer of the captive, the healer of the sick, the fixer of the broken. Whoever, wherever, whenever. Where Jesus is, things happen. Good things. Great things. But what about today? When we see so much evil in our world. In the midst of a pandemic. With so much sickness and desease... and death. Where Jesus is for US. To help us. Is that asking too much? Or... is it quite the opposite -- that asking too little?

The first thing to say on a Sanctity of Life Sunday is this: God loves you. Those the world thinks are worth something, and those the world thinks we'd be better off without. Those WE think are worth something, and those WE think we'd be better off without. God loves them all. And you. God loves you. Even when you don't love Him back. Because Sanctity of Life Sunday isn't about us better than them, because we're Christians and they're not. So this day is a day for us to do what the people of Nazareth that day did not -- repent. And receive the Jesus of mercy and grace that came for us. And the forgiveness He has for us. And the life He has for us.

The people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ... No, I'm not the Christ, John says. But the one you want, the one mightier than I, is coming. Someone so much greater than me that I am not even worthy to crawl to Him on my hands and knees and untie the strap of His sandal. So the Christ, Jesus, approaches him. Comes to him -- to baptize Him. The God who doesn't demand we come to Him but who comes to us. He is the God who is baptized! And stepping into the Jordan, it's as if He says: I'll be the sinner, and you be the son.

Follow the science! How often have you heard that little phrase or seen signs promoting that these past two years? But science isn't enough. There must be more than science. And sometimes the science is wrong. Now how it will turn out with this pandemic, I don't know. Was the science right? Did the science get it wrong? Was there some of both? We shall see. Science is a good gift from God. But science cannot BE God. The Wise Men needed more. They followed the science, but the science wasn't enough. So after they got to Jerusalem and to King Herod, it was the Word of God that guided them to Jesus.

We don't know a lot about Jesus' childhood. From Scripture, all we have is the story we heard today -- of twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple. Our curiosity would like to know more, what the child Jesus was like, what it was like in Joseph and Mary's household, what it's like raising a perfect child -- but more we are not told. But what we have here, what we heard today, does tell us something of Jesus. He is eager to learn. We need to think a little deeper. For there's one more thing we heard today -- that last line, which should not be overlooked. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

What do you want for Christmas? How many times did that question get asked this past month? But today I want to think about this: not how you answered that question, but how would Simeon have answered that question? What did He want for Christmas? Well, he wanted to die. For, you see, he had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So while this day is called The Presentation of Our Lord, maybe we should say that a little differently today, and call it the Present-tation -- the day Simeon's present was given to him.

Christmas is a time when people try to set aside and forget about the problems of life. At least for a day or few. Be merry, not grumpy. Generous, not stingy. It is a time to transcend the ordinary, the everyday, and fly above it all... for as long as you can, anyway. But Christmas for God, is exactly the opposite. For God it is not a day to try to forget about the problems of this world and life and fly above it all. Christmas is the day when God came down into the midst of it all. Into our trials and troubles, struggles and sins, grumpiness and guilt, doubt and death. Because today the Word became flesh.

Tonight, we heard again how much God loves you and was willing to give, or pay, for you. And it is no disappointment, no little price. As creator of not only the world, but the universe and all there is, all that exists, He could have given any or all of that for you. But that was not enough. But what is there that is greater than all that? Than all that exists? Well, there is only one thing: God Himself. So God went into His innermost being, into what He is as God, and took what is dearest to Him -- His Son, and gave Him as the price for you and me. To redeem us from our bondage to sin and death, so that we could have peace.

The music, that is, that we just sang. It was rather haunting and stirring, not at all like the Christmas melodies we all love and know so well. But the words... the words are priceless. The words are exactly what Advent and Christmas are all about. Words of hope. Words of promise. Words of comfort. Words about real life and real salvation. And where that all lies for us. In Mary's infant Son, as the last three words of the hymn said. Here is the pure Gospel: the almighty God comes as a child. Just as the sun rises on us each morning, so the Son -- of God! -- has risen and comes for us. For The Night Will Soon Be Ending. The Son has risen and is coming soon. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

The time of Christmas really is "A Great and Mighty Wonder". It is a great and mighty wonder that God would love sinners and rebels like us. Who sin not just a little, but a lot! And it is a great and mighty wonder that God comes to us today with His gifts and gives us His life. Our God is truly a wonder-ful God. And I think that wonder is what Joseph must have felt. But in his wondering, the God of wonder sends his angel to him with wonder-ful news. So I think Joseph can teach us a bit as we wait for our Lord to come to this advent season, and beyond. Even as Zechariah taught us about waiting in silence, and Mary and Elizabeth taught us about waiting together, so with Joseph we wait in wonder.