MISSING JESUS Matthew 2:13-23 Christmas 1A December 26, 2010
On Christmas Eve I spoke about finding Jesus because it was the shepherds who went to Bethlehem and found Jesus and all the joy that he brings. In today’s we gospel we read the ending of the story of the wise men who were also successful in finding Jesus. Reading this story reminded me of a story written about a fourth wise man who did not find Jesus – or so he thought. It was written by Henry Van Dyke in 1896 and is called “The Other Wise Man.” I would like to share an outline of the story with you this morning.
There was a fourth wise man named Artaban. He traveled to join the other three so they might together bring their gifts to the Babe. But he never reached the appointed place, because he came upon a man half-dead by the roadside. Being knowledgeable in medicine, he was able to save the man's life. But he missed the others and now he had no way across the dessert to where the Baby lay. So, he looked at the gifts he would bring the child, a brilliant sapphire, a deep-red ruby and a pearl. With a heavy heart he found a buyer for the sapphire and bought his own supplies to cross the desert.
He arrived in Bethlehem only to find that the Babe and his parents had fled to Egypt. All around him, parents were grieving as the soldiers came and killed their first born child. Artaban had a chance to bribe a solider who was about to kill a young child. He parted with his ruby, but he would always remember the sweet face of the infant he had snatched from Herod's wrath.
Thirty-three years later, he heard the news that the little Prince, the Christ child, would be sentenced to death on a cross. He hurried with his pearl to ransom the Prince of Peace. But even this last gesture of love for this Christ child was denied him; for he came across a little girl who was being sold into slavery. He exchanged his pearl for the life and freedom of the little girl.
Then a great earthquake came to where he was standing. Artaban was knocked to the ground. A soft voice came to him telling him that when he gave his jewels for his fellow man he gave them in reality to Christ. When he sold his sapphire, because he helped the beaten man, he sold it for Christ, when he used his ruby to bribe a guard to save a life, he used it for Christ, when he exchanged his pearl for a girl's freedom, he used it for Christ.
What did Jesus say in Matthew 25 in the great judgment hall? “when you have done it for one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.” Artaban may have thought he missed giving his gift to Jesus, but he really didn’t. Just like us today, he found Jesus in the face of those who needed his help. AMEN.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Christmas Sermon #2
FINDING JESUS Luke 2:1-20 December 24, 2010
“And the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing which the Lord has made known to us.”
And that is just what they did - “with haste” the scripture says. Having been told that their savior had been born, they immediately responded by looking for him. I imagine that when they got to Bethlehem they found that it was a city full of people and excitement and even chaos. There was a census going on which was not like the 2010 census in the United States which was largely done by mail from the privacy of our own homes. For this census everyone had to go to the home city of the head of the household, and for Joseph’s family that was Bethlehem. When the shepherds approached Bethlehem it must have looked like, well a lot like a city celebrating Christmas: lots of people, lots of moving around, lots of buying and selling, lots of noise. Why, they were even putting people up in the stables because there was no more room in the inns. For these poor country boys, it must have been overwhelming. Where do you start looking for one little newborn?
Scripture says they “found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger,” but you can bet that they did not find them right away. There were many stables in Bethlehem, and there were many innkeepers bustling about trying to keep up with the crush of all the people. They must have gone from building to building inquiring about a young couple with a newborn laying in a manger. Perhaps Mary was not the only young woman to give birth that night. Perhaps this couple was not the only one to be housed in a stable that night.
So the shepherds look and look. All they have to go on is the cryptic word of the angels: “this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” No GPS like people have in their cars today. No people finder like people use on the internet today. No helpful hints beside the phrase “not the Joseph of Nazareth you are looking for” like pops up on Facebook today. They looked around. They inquired. And they found him. They found their Savior.
“And the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing which the Lord has made known to us.”
Tonight it is Christmas 2,010 years later, give or take a few years. At this time of year there is a great deal of hubbub with parties and gatherings, gift giving and shopping. It can all be exhausting, sometimes confusing, and for many of us, overwhelming. What is the core meaning of Christmas? Is it the feasting and the drinking? Is it the family gathered from near and far? Is it the season when retailers finally turn a profit because of “black Friday” and “cyber Monday”? Is not the core meaning of Christmas finding that tiny baby in that humble stable, nestled in the straw? Is it not finding a savior who is Christ the Lord? We should all be like the shepherds in going to see what the Lord has made known to us.
In Isaiah 55:6 it says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.” That’s what the shepherds did. After all, we know that he did not remain near to those shepherds all that long. After the three wise men visited Jesus, the whole family - Joseph, Mary, and Jesus – fled to Egypt. And then, when it was safe to do so, they went to live in Nazareth which is where Joseph had work and where, most likely, Mary was born. But while he was near, the shepherds went to find Jesus.
That is what we are to do. But Jesus is not as hard for us to find as he might have been for those shepherds. When we go to our Bible and read- or when we go to church and listen – or when we go to the Sacrament to eat and drink – Jesus is there. When we “fall on our knees” and pray, Jesus is listening. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus said, “…..seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” This is God’s promise to you – when you seek him you will find him; just as the angels led the shepherds to believe that they would find the baby Jesus. He is not hidden like a needle in a haystack. He waiting to be found.
A rather humorous story appeared in the paper one Christmas. “After someone stole a valuable ceramic figurine of Baby Jesus from a nativity scene in Wellington, Florida, officials took action to keep thieves from succeeding again. An Associated Press report described how they placed a GPS tracking device inside the replacement figurine. When Baby Jesus disappeared again the next Christmas, sheriff's deputies were led by the signal to the thief's apartment.” That’s how the police found Jesus.
As Christians, we believe that Christ has always existed, but he came into the world in a new and wonderful way with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. As Christians we believe that Christ is every where – omnipresent, as they say – but he is distinctively present in the Word and in the Sacrament, bringing us the salvation that only the savior can bring through the forgiveness of our sins. And so, when we find Jesus, we find what the shepherds had been promised they would find: a savior who is Christ the Lord.
2nd Chronicles 7:14 has a wonderful promise: God says, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Forgiveness and healing – that is what all those who seek the Lord will find.
It is my prayer that this night you are glorifying and praising God for all you have heard and seen, just as the shepherds did as they, because you have found Jesus Christ to be your savior and your Lord and are living day by day for him. The invitation stands in Matthew 11 “come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” AMEN.
“And the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing which the Lord has made known to us.”
And that is just what they did - “with haste” the scripture says. Having been told that their savior had been born, they immediately responded by looking for him. I imagine that when they got to Bethlehem they found that it was a city full of people and excitement and even chaos. There was a census going on which was not like the 2010 census in the United States which was largely done by mail from the privacy of our own homes. For this census everyone had to go to the home city of the head of the household, and for Joseph’s family that was Bethlehem. When the shepherds approached Bethlehem it must have looked like, well a lot like a city celebrating Christmas: lots of people, lots of moving around, lots of buying and selling, lots of noise. Why, they were even putting people up in the stables because there was no more room in the inns. For these poor country boys, it must have been overwhelming. Where do you start looking for one little newborn?
Scripture says they “found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger,” but you can bet that they did not find them right away. There were many stables in Bethlehem, and there were many innkeepers bustling about trying to keep up with the crush of all the people. They must have gone from building to building inquiring about a young couple with a newborn laying in a manger. Perhaps Mary was not the only young woman to give birth that night. Perhaps this couple was not the only one to be housed in a stable that night.
So the shepherds look and look. All they have to go on is the cryptic word of the angels: “this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” No GPS like people have in their cars today. No people finder like people use on the internet today. No helpful hints beside the phrase “not the Joseph of Nazareth you are looking for” like pops up on Facebook today. They looked around. They inquired. And they found him. They found their Savior.
“And the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing which the Lord has made known to us.”
Tonight it is Christmas 2,010 years later, give or take a few years. At this time of year there is a great deal of hubbub with parties and gatherings, gift giving and shopping. It can all be exhausting, sometimes confusing, and for many of us, overwhelming. What is the core meaning of Christmas? Is it the feasting and the drinking? Is it the family gathered from near and far? Is it the season when retailers finally turn a profit because of “black Friday” and “cyber Monday”? Is not the core meaning of Christmas finding that tiny baby in that humble stable, nestled in the straw? Is it not finding a savior who is Christ the Lord? We should all be like the shepherds in going to see what the Lord has made known to us.
In Isaiah 55:6 it says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.” That’s what the shepherds did. After all, we know that he did not remain near to those shepherds all that long. After the three wise men visited Jesus, the whole family - Joseph, Mary, and Jesus – fled to Egypt. And then, when it was safe to do so, they went to live in Nazareth which is where Joseph had work and where, most likely, Mary was born. But while he was near, the shepherds went to find Jesus.
That is what we are to do. But Jesus is not as hard for us to find as he might have been for those shepherds. When we go to our Bible and read- or when we go to church and listen – or when we go to the Sacrament to eat and drink – Jesus is there. When we “fall on our knees” and pray, Jesus is listening. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus said, “…..seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” This is God’s promise to you – when you seek him you will find him; just as the angels led the shepherds to believe that they would find the baby Jesus. He is not hidden like a needle in a haystack. He waiting to be found.
A rather humorous story appeared in the paper one Christmas. “After someone stole a valuable ceramic figurine of Baby Jesus from a nativity scene in Wellington, Florida, officials took action to keep thieves from succeeding again. An Associated Press report described how they placed a GPS tracking device inside the replacement figurine. When Baby Jesus disappeared again the next Christmas, sheriff's deputies were led by the signal to the thief's apartment.” That’s how the police found Jesus.
As Christians, we believe that Christ has always existed, but he came into the world in a new and wonderful way with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. As Christians we believe that Christ is every where – omnipresent, as they say – but he is distinctively present in the Word and in the Sacrament, bringing us the salvation that only the savior can bring through the forgiveness of our sins. And so, when we find Jesus, we find what the shepherds had been promised they would find: a savior who is Christ the Lord.
2nd Chronicles 7:14 has a wonderful promise: God says, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Forgiveness and healing – that is what all those who seek the Lord will find.
It is my prayer that this night you are glorifying and praising God for all you have heard and seen, just as the shepherds did as they, because you have found Jesus Christ to be your savior and your Lord and are living day by day for him. The invitation stands in Matthew 11 “come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” AMEN.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Christmas Sermon #1
BELIEVE Matthew 1:18-25 Advent 4A December 19, 2010
Joseph could hardly believe it……when he heard the news that Mary was expecting a child. He could hardly believe his ears. Here he was, a man who had finally reached the point in life where he was established in his job, he had a home, and he was ready to marry a wife. Mary, he thought, was a beautiful and sensible young woman. Their families had arranged this marriage, but Joseph was happy with the arrangements. Everything seemed to be going his way. And now this. He had believed that she was the right one for him. He had believed that this was going to be one of the happiest years of his life. He had believed that their future together was bright. And in a moment all his dreams were shattered.
There is nothing written in scripture about Joseph’s inner struggles as he reacted to the situation, but they must have been turbulent. Joseph is described as a righteous man. His subsequent actions reveal him to be a compassionate man. How was he going to do the right thing in this situation with compassion and kindness. He was not one of those self-righteous men who immediately tries to follow the law no matter what the consequences and no matter who gets hurt in the process. He was not one of those proud men who would have reacted out of his wounded pride and maybe even lashed out in anger. He was righteous and compassionate, so he tried to do the right thing in a kind and gentle way. And the right thing, in that 1st century society, was to break off the engagement, painful as that might be, and public as that might be, given the way that society worked. His family would have expected him to do it. Other men of the town would have expected him to do it. The Bible commentator Keeler wrote about this passage, “[in this situation] Mediterranean society viewed with contempt the weakness of a man who let his love for his wife outweigh his appropriate honor in repudiating her." The judge in Nazareth would have immediately nullified the betrothal contract between their two families. It would be an open and shut case.
But just imagine what must have been going through Joseph’s mind. The sleepless nights. The dreams. The confusion. Many people in such situations wonder if God is still on their side. When the world seems to fall apart around you – for whatever reason – it can be hard to believe that God is still watching over you the way the Bible says he is.
Where is God when people we love and trust disappoint us so much? Where is God when someone we had planned a future with suddenly passes away? Where is God when we have tried our very best to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, as Ephesians 6 says to do, and they wonder off? Where is God, Joseph might have wondered, when I am faced with this situation?
The answer came to Joseph in the middle of the night. At that darkest moment, when Joseph was working up the courage to make public what he had resolved to do, an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid to embrace Mary as his wife, to welcome the child that was growing within her, and to face the future with courage and conviction. Where is God in this situation? God is with us. The angel might just as well as said to Joseph “This is not what you planned, and this might not be what you wanted, but God is with you working out his plan and what he wants. Just believe.”
What I am imagining is not that Joseph’s belief in God the creator of the universe was shaken. He did not become an atheist. He believed there was an all powerful God out there. What was shaken was his belief that this God was involved in his humble little life in far off Nazareth. What the angel in Joseph’s dream came to tell him was that God was involved in his personal life and that God did care for him.
In this respect, Joseph was like pretty much like everyone else. Big questions about the creation of the universe or about things that happened two thousand years ago are not nearly so important to most of us as the question of whether God knows each of us as individuals and is there to help us in our personal struggles. When Joseph had questions like that, he was reassured that God had not abandoned him nor forgotten him, but was doing something very special in his life.
“Do not be afraid” the angel had said to Joseph. “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” Do not be afraid of what other people might think and say. Do not be afraid of how you will react to the child that is to be born. Do not be afraid of tomorrow. Just believe that God is with us and always will be.
Herman Gockel, one of the early Lutheran Hour preachers, tells the story of a Christmas Eve in 1906, when Lars Erickson and his family faced a cheerless holiday. Lars was in poor health and out of work. He had reached the point where he didn't care if Christmas ever came or not. Depressed and irritable, he made poor company for his wife, Anna, and his five-year-old daughter, Greta. As they sat around their coal stove on that cold December evening, little Greta was humming carols and busily at work with her scissors, cardboard, and paste, constructing a crude little manger set.
"How do you like it Daddy?" she asked. "Fine," he said in a disinterested tone. "Daddy!" she said with disappointment, and with a wisdom of which she herself was not aware, "You didn't look at my manger set. If you want to see the Christ child, you'll have to get down on your knees."
Don’t let the problems of this world, as real as they are, rob you of the joy of this Christmas. Don’t let your personal situation cause you to doubt that God is with us, because he is with us even when things don’t seem to be going our way.
This Christmas Eve many a church will ring with the stirring notes of the solo “O Holy Night” which says in the chorus “Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices….” Those angel voices are telling us that God is with us as Jesus comes into our hearts and into our lives. Do not be afraid. Only believe.
Joseph could hardly believe it……when he heard the news that Mary was expecting a child. He could hardly believe his ears. Here he was, a man who had finally reached the point in life where he was established in his job, he had a home, and he was ready to marry a wife. Mary, he thought, was a beautiful and sensible young woman. Their families had arranged this marriage, but Joseph was happy with the arrangements. Everything seemed to be going his way. And now this. He had believed that she was the right one for him. He had believed that this was going to be one of the happiest years of his life. He had believed that their future together was bright. And in a moment all his dreams were shattered.
There is nothing written in scripture about Joseph’s inner struggles as he reacted to the situation, but they must have been turbulent. Joseph is described as a righteous man. His subsequent actions reveal him to be a compassionate man. How was he going to do the right thing in this situation with compassion and kindness. He was not one of those self-righteous men who immediately tries to follow the law no matter what the consequences and no matter who gets hurt in the process. He was not one of those proud men who would have reacted out of his wounded pride and maybe even lashed out in anger. He was righteous and compassionate, so he tried to do the right thing in a kind and gentle way. And the right thing, in that 1st century society, was to break off the engagement, painful as that might be, and public as that might be, given the way that society worked. His family would have expected him to do it. Other men of the town would have expected him to do it. The Bible commentator Keeler wrote about this passage, “[in this situation] Mediterranean society viewed with contempt the weakness of a man who let his love for his wife outweigh his appropriate honor in repudiating her." The judge in Nazareth would have immediately nullified the betrothal contract between their two families. It would be an open and shut case.
But just imagine what must have been going through Joseph’s mind. The sleepless nights. The dreams. The confusion. Many people in such situations wonder if God is still on their side. When the world seems to fall apart around you – for whatever reason – it can be hard to believe that God is still watching over you the way the Bible says he is.
Where is God when people we love and trust disappoint us so much? Where is God when someone we had planned a future with suddenly passes away? Where is God when we have tried our very best to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, as Ephesians 6 says to do, and they wonder off? Where is God, Joseph might have wondered, when I am faced with this situation?
The answer came to Joseph in the middle of the night. At that darkest moment, when Joseph was working up the courage to make public what he had resolved to do, an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid to embrace Mary as his wife, to welcome the child that was growing within her, and to face the future with courage and conviction. Where is God in this situation? God is with us. The angel might just as well as said to Joseph “This is not what you planned, and this might not be what you wanted, but God is with you working out his plan and what he wants. Just believe.”
What I am imagining is not that Joseph’s belief in God the creator of the universe was shaken. He did not become an atheist. He believed there was an all powerful God out there. What was shaken was his belief that this God was involved in his humble little life in far off Nazareth. What the angel in Joseph’s dream came to tell him was that God was involved in his personal life and that God did care for him.
In this respect, Joseph was like pretty much like everyone else. Big questions about the creation of the universe or about things that happened two thousand years ago are not nearly so important to most of us as the question of whether God knows each of us as individuals and is there to help us in our personal struggles. When Joseph had questions like that, he was reassured that God had not abandoned him nor forgotten him, but was doing something very special in his life.
“Do not be afraid” the angel had said to Joseph. “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” Do not be afraid of what other people might think and say. Do not be afraid of how you will react to the child that is to be born. Do not be afraid of tomorrow. Just believe that God is with us and always will be.
Herman Gockel, one of the early Lutheran Hour preachers, tells the story of a Christmas Eve in 1906, when Lars Erickson and his family faced a cheerless holiday. Lars was in poor health and out of work. He had reached the point where he didn't care if Christmas ever came or not. Depressed and irritable, he made poor company for his wife, Anna, and his five-year-old daughter, Greta. As they sat around their coal stove on that cold December evening, little Greta was humming carols and busily at work with her scissors, cardboard, and paste, constructing a crude little manger set.
"How do you like it Daddy?" she asked. "Fine," he said in a disinterested tone. "Daddy!" she said with disappointment, and with a wisdom of which she herself was not aware, "You didn't look at my manger set. If you want to see the Christ child, you'll have to get down on your knees."
Don’t let the problems of this world, as real as they are, rob you of the joy of this Christmas. Don’t let your personal situation cause you to doubt that God is with us, because he is with us even when things don’t seem to be going our way.
This Christmas Eve many a church will ring with the stirring notes of the solo “O Holy Night” which says in the chorus “Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices….” Those angel voices are telling us that God is with us as Jesus comes into our hearts and into our lives. Do not be afraid. Only believe.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Newsletter December 2010
“Our churches also teach that one holy church is to continue forever.” Augsburg Confession article 7
When the Reformers of the 16th century were attempting to bring about positive change in the church of their day they were often accused of trying to destroy the very organization they were doing their best to improve. Some people simply could not see how the church could survive some of the changes they were proposing even though these changes were, in actuality, a return to a more evangelical grace-filled life such as Jesus and the disciples lived and the scriptures teach. In times of stress it is much easier to cling to old traditions than to embrace the challenges of a new day.
One thing that the scriptures teach and that the Reformers affirmed is that God has guaranteed the future of the church until the end of time. Upon Peter’s confession of faith in Matthew 16:16, Jesus said, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” It is upon this promise, and others like it, that the Reformers could affirm that “one holy church is to continue forever.”
The church of which these Reformers speak is not to be confused with the many institutions that are a part of the church: congregations, committees, synods, denominations. As they said in the next sentence of Article 7 “The church is the assembly of saints in which the Gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly.” What Jesus has promised is that people will assemble for the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments until he comes again in glory. There will never come a time the church does not exist.
In the 21st century this promise needs to be heard again when the church’s future seems to be in doubt. In congregations where the number of worshippers is dwindling and the finances may be shaky, it is easy to fall into a “doom and gloom” mentality that focuses on the problems, real as they are, instead of the gospel promises, true as they are. In 2010 the heirs of the Reformation, including local Lutherans and Presbyterians, have faced serious financial shortfalls that led to heart-wrenching cut backs. In October of this year the Crystal Cathedral in California filed for bankruptcy after decades as one of the leading suburban mega-churches and the host of a popular television ministry. The Southern Baptist Convention reported a decline in the number of baptisms for the first time. Evangelicals, Pentecostals, traditional Protestants, and Catholics have all experienced some confidence-shaking problems recently.
In the face of the changes in the world today, Christians can live and must in the promise of scripture concerning the church and then be open to the ways the “one holy church” will continue as this century wears on. In the midst of change, re-organization, and some dismaying events, the church is called to listen to the voice of Jesus and proclaim the message of God’s love for all with its invitation to come to faith in Jesus Christ.
Back in the 19th century Nicholai Grundtvig was a Danish Lutheran pastor who wrote a hymn that expresses his scripture-inspired confidence and hope. (ELW #652)
Built on a rock the church shall stand,
even when steeples are falling;
crumbled have spires in every land,
bells still are chiming and calling –
calling the young and old to rest,
calling the souls of those distressed,
longing for life everlasting.
As America becomes a more religiously diverse nation and as more Americans seem to have little time for organized religion, remember that there are still “souls distressed” that are longing to hear the good news that only Jesus can bring. In a war-torn and violent world, there are still people longing for “that peace the world cannot give.” In a world of work-work-work to prove yourself worthy, there are many who are longing to hear “come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
The work of the church in preaching the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ and offering the comfort and assurance of the sacraments is not done, nor will it be until Jesus comes again.
When the Reformers of the 16th century were attempting to bring about positive change in the church of their day they were often accused of trying to destroy the very organization they were doing their best to improve. Some people simply could not see how the church could survive some of the changes they were proposing even though these changes were, in actuality, a return to a more evangelical grace-filled life such as Jesus and the disciples lived and the scriptures teach. In times of stress it is much easier to cling to old traditions than to embrace the challenges of a new day.
One thing that the scriptures teach and that the Reformers affirmed is that God has guaranteed the future of the church until the end of time. Upon Peter’s confession of faith in Matthew 16:16, Jesus said, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” It is upon this promise, and others like it, that the Reformers could affirm that “one holy church is to continue forever.”
The church of which these Reformers speak is not to be confused with the many institutions that are a part of the church: congregations, committees, synods, denominations. As they said in the next sentence of Article 7 “The church is the assembly of saints in which the Gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly.” What Jesus has promised is that people will assemble for the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments until he comes again in glory. There will never come a time the church does not exist.
In the 21st century this promise needs to be heard again when the church’s future seems to be in doubt. In congregations where the number of worshippers is dwindling and the finances may be shaky, it is easy to fall into a “doom and gloom” mentality that focuses on the problems, real as they are, instead of the gospel promises, true as they are. In 2010 the heirs of the Reformation, including local Lutherans and Presbyterians, have faced serious financial shortfalls that led to heart-wrenching cut backs. In October of this year the Crystal Cathedral in California filed for bankruptcy after decades as one of the leading suburban mega-churches and the host of a popular television ministry. The Southern Baptist Convention reported a decline in the number of baptisms for the first time. Evangelicals, Pentecostals, traditional Protestants, and Catholics have all experienced some confidence-shaking problems recently.
In the face of the changes in the world today, Christians can live and must in the promise of scripture concerning the church and then be open to the ways the “one holy church” will continue as this century wears on. In the midst of change, re-organization, and some dismaying events, the church is called to listen to the voice of Jesus and proclaim the message of God’s love for all with its invitation to come to faith in Jesus Christ.
Back in the 19th century Nicholai Grundtvig was a Danish Lutheran pastor who wrote a hymn that expresses his scripture-inspired confidence and hope. (ELW #652)
Built on a rock the church shall stand,
even when steeples are falling;
crumbled have spires in every land,
bells still are chiming and calling –
calling the young and old to rest,
calling the souls of those distressed,
longing for life everlasting.
As America becomes a more religiously diverse nation and as more Americans seem to have little time for organized religion, remember that there are still “souls distressed” that are longing to hear the good news that only Jesus can bring. In a war-torn and violent world, there are still people longing for “that peace the world cannot give.” In a world of work-work-work to prove yourself worthy, there are many who are longing to hear “come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
The work of the church in preaching the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ and offering the comfort and assurance of the sacraments is not done, nor will it be until Jesus comes again.
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