1 December 2024 - Advent 1 - Isaiah 2:1-5

Please listen with me to these words from the second chapter of the Prophet Isaiah, beginning at the first verse:

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

So far our text.

Today’s news reports are filled with troubling accounts of violence and conflict in this world. In Europe, the war between Russia and Ukraine drags on, with horrible loss of life. Suffering and death persist in the middle east, in the destructive war between Israel and Hamas.

And today’s news reports do not focus only on unsettling events that are occurring overseas. The cities of our land are chronically afflicted with crime and lawlessness.

Rooted in political and ideological differences: tension, hard feelings, anger, and sometimes even violence, characterize many personal relationships in our country, as well. Why is the world like this? Why are we like this?

People in general wish for peace and harmony with others. But people in general never seem to achieve this wish, and they seem easily to succumb to temptations to act in ways that are contrary to this wish. Why is this?

According to God’s Word, the reason for such violence, conflict, tension, and hard feelings - and for all the other evils that we experience in our damaged world, and in our fractured relationships - is, quite simply, the sinful corruption of the human heart. As recorded in St. Matthew’s Gospel, Our Lord tells us:

“Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”

And as much as the higher part of our human reason would desire peace and harmony in this life, we cannot, by our own strength or efforts, shed our lower sinful nature, or cleanse ourselves of that corrupt nature.

Our inborn sinfulness is like the tin cans that boys used to tie to the tails of puppies. No matter how hard we try to run away from it, and leave it behind us, our sin sticks to us, and follows us wherever we go.

Organizations like the United Nations may from time to time be able to do some good, in minimizing some of the violence between nations. But ultimately this violence will remain.

Conflict, tension, and anger will not be completely erased from the human experience, for as long as the human race exists in this world.

“But what about God?”, we might ask. If there is a God in heaven, doesn’t he care about these problems? If God is all-powerful, can’t he do something about the violence and conflict in the world, and about all the suffering and anguish that are caused by this violence and conflict?

Some atheists have concluded that the existence of such human sinfulness in the world proves that God does not actually exist. That is foolish reasoning, of course.

What human sinfulness proves is that sinful humanity does exist. Human sinfulness does not prove that a holy God does not exist.

But even so, doesn’t God care about the violence and conflict that exist in our world, and in our lives? Can’t he do something about it?

Well, remember what Jesus tells us. Evil thoughts and murder - indeed, all human cruelty and all human conflict - proceed from the human heart.

The problem is inside of us. We are not just the victims of human wickedness. We are perpetrators - collectively and individually. We are all a part of the problem, because we are all infected by the sinful corruption from which these evils arise.

St. Paul soberly reminds us in his First Epistle to the Corinthians that “in Adam all die.” And he reminds us as well, in his Epistle to the Romans, that “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”

Some may have the idea that God should use coercive methods, physically to prevent people from saying and doing bad things to each other. There is a certain appeal to that wish.

If I am about to be the victim of a crime, I suppose I would be happy if a supernatural power would descend from heaven, and physically restrain the hand of my assailant. But I would venture to say that God does indeed externally restrain evil much more often than we realize.

Who knows how many bad things would have happened to us, that did not happen; or how much violence would have been perpetrated against us, that was not perpetrated: due to the fact that God sent his angels to protect us from these hidden dangers, at various times in our life?

The reason why we don’t know about these supernatural interventions, is precisely because these interventions did occur! And nothing bad happened.

But God does not intervene every time. The history of human warfare, and our own personal history of conflict with other people, prove this.

I believe that one of the reasons why God does not step in and externally prevent every potential act of violence, is because it would not be a real solution to the problem, but would instead hide and mask the real problem.

When violent criminals are thrown into prison, there is the benefit to society of their violence now being contained. Incarceration prevents them from causing further harm to law-abiding citizens.

But when a criminal is put into prison, his heart stays the same as it always was. If his heart was filled with anger and violence when he was physically free, it will still be filled with anger and violence when he is physically restrained.

In regard to the anger and violence that afflict the human race as a whole, God is not satisfied simply to tie a straight jacket around this problem, or just to treat the external symptoms of this problem. His agenda is to get into the human heart, and to change the human heart.

And the tools and methods that God uses to solve the problem of human conflict, at its root, do indeed have the ability actually to work in the human heart, for the accomplishing of this goal.

In today’s text, the Prophet Isaiah looks forward to the age of the Messiah - that is, the age in which we live. With the use of some beautiful imagery, he describes what God will do - what God is doing - to heal our human brokenness, and to correct our human destructiveness.

“For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

When God’s law goes forth out of Zion, to all nations and to all people, one of the first things it does is to reveal to us the underlying stimulus of our conflict and antagonism with each other: namely, our conflict and antagonism with God. St. Paul writes in his Epistle to the Romans that

“The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”

So, while outward violence is in a sense a consequence and symptom of man’s inner anger and animosity toward his fellow man, that inner anger toward other men is itself - in a deeper sense - a consequence and symptom of a deeper spiritual pathology: namely, anger toward God.

The sinful human heart is subconsciously angry at God, and hostile toward God, because God is both a threat and a rival to the sinful human heart.

He is a threat, because he judges and punishes sin, and therefore judges and punishes the sinner. And he is a rival, because sinful man - who is turned in on himself - worships himself as an idol.

In fallen humanity’s sinful pride and self-centeredness, fallen humanity cannot stand to hear the First Commandment, or to be told that we must fear, love, and trust in a different god - other than ourselves, and our own greed and ambitions - above all things.

But when the Word of the Lord goes forth from Jerusalem - to all nations and to all people - what that Word also does, is reveal to the human heart that the Son of God died in Jerusalem. Jesus came to Jerusalem, and he died in Jerusalem, to put an end to our anger and idolatry, our conflict and violence.

In his suffering and death in our place, Jesus diverted God’s well-deserved wrath away from us, and onto himself. And he crushed down and pushed back our impulse toward self-worship, by restoring us to fellowship with the true God.

The Word of the gospel - the message of the cross - does not just suppress our outward sinful behavior, and physically restrain us against our will. The Word of the gospel penetrates to our heart, and transforms our will.

The glad tidings of Christ’s salvation recreate us in the image of Christ, and unite us to the resurrection of Christ, who now lives his life in us.

The gospel brings pardon and forgiveness, for our old life of inner and outer conflict. And in the new birth of the Spirit, the gospel brings a new nature to us, and a new life of inner and outer peace. In his First Epistle, St. Peter comforts us with these words:

“You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’ And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”

There are way too many people in this world who harden themselves to the Word of God. They do not receive the law of the Lord.

And so they are not set free from their inner slavery to anger and hatred. They still perpetrate outward acts of violence and conflict. The are not liberated from the blindness of their idolatry of the self.

In their continuing violence, they testify to their deep need for God’s grace: a need that they sadly refuse to see and acknowledge. But also in their continuing violence, they vividly remind us of what we have been rescued from, by God’s grace.

In an indirect way, the violence and anger of the unbelieving world prompt us to remember, and to be thankful for, the way in which God has diverted us from this pathway of destruction: as he calls us instead to walk in the newness of life that has been given to us in our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection.

We do still struggle against the lingering impulses of the old nature - which continues to lurk inside of us; and which carries out a life-long insurgency against the new nature that God’s Spirit has birthed within us. The old nature, in its desperation, tries to overturn within us the peace of God that passes all understanding, which is ours in Christ, by faith.

But God, and the peace of God, fight back. Whenever you show love and compassion for your neighbor for the sake of Christ, without waiting for your neighbor to show love and compassion for you first, this is a sign that God has won a victory in you.

Whenever you find yourself forgiving an offense that has been committed against you, rather than bearing a grudge; or whenever you find yourself apologizing for an offense that you have caused, rather than justifying yourself, this is a sign that the Lord’s peace is with you.

By the power of his Word in the minds and hearts of men, God in Christ “shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples.” In the midst of human conflict, God shows his people a better way than the way of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Jesus calls you, and impels you, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and to love your neighbor as yourself. In the words of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, we “walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” And as St. John writes in his First Epistle, “We love because he first loved us.”

This love, which suppresses and supplants the envy, suspicion, and jealousy of your sinful nature, flows out from God himself, as he abides within you.

By the gospel of his Son Jesus Christ, in you God has broken through and halted the destructive pattern of anger and violence that infects sinful humanity as a whole. And for each of us - one person at a time - he has indeed shown us a better way: and in Christ has given us a better way.

In our personal relationships with others, we shall, as it were, beat our swords into plowshares, and our spears into pruning hooks. We shall not lift up our sword, and shall not learn war any more. We will instead remember the encouragement of the apostle Paul, given in his Epistle to the Ephesians:

“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

In our reconciliation with God, we are reconciled to each other. In Christ, the Prince of Peace, we are now a part of a kingdom of peace.

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths.” Amen.

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8 December 2024 - Advent 2 - Malachi 4:1-6

Fire. Heat. Sunshine. Light.

These are familiar images. Especially at this time of year, these images resonate with us in positive ways: as we wish that we could replace the cold temperatures we endure during a Minnesota winter with more heat, and replace the darkness of our short days with more sunshine.

But sometimes these kinds of images do not have a positive association. A warm campfire around which we sit with friends is great. But the hot flames of a fire that burns down a barn or a house - perhaps killing livestock or people in the process - are not great at all.

In the first part of today’s reading from the Prophet Malachi, these kinds of images do not have a positive association. There, God uses this kind of imagery to illustrate his judgment against unbelief and evil:

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says the Lord of hosts, “that will leave them neither root nor branch.”

What is pictured here is an intense fire. It does not simply singe the plants with which it comes into contact. And it is not limited just to the destruction of the part of the plant that is exposed above the ground. It is, instead, a thorough, raging inferno, which burns like an oven, with its intensified heat.

Such a fire reaches down into the root of the plant, and thoroughly destroys it. When a conflagration like this consumes the land and everything in it, nothing will survive. This is the way God wants us to understand the nature of the judgment that he will bring on the wickedness of sinful humanity.

In one sense, this prophecy points forward to the final judgment day, at the end of the world. All humanity is warned here of the fate that awaits the proud and all who do wickedly - those who rebel against God, who ignore him, and who defy him.

In the chapter of the book of Malachi that immediately precedes the chapter from which today’s appointed lesson comes, we can see some descriptions of exactly what God is talking about. The doers of wickedness of whom the Lord speaks are such as these:

“I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, [and who oppress] the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.”

There is quite an assortment of offenses here, involving various forms of betraying others, deceiving others, mistreating others, and taking advantage of others. God judges these things very severely.

The Lord also accuses those who have “robbed” him, through their stinginess and greed. Again, we read:

“Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.”

I suppose this will give all of us something to think about the next time we write out our Sunday offering checks.

When you contribute toward the Lord’s work, and toward the support of the Lord’s house, don’t think that you are giving God something that he doesn’t already own. You are, instead, exercising the privilege that your Lord has given you, to participate in the important work that he is accomplishing through his church - in our community, in our nation, and in the world.

But those who close their purses to these needs, show that they have also closed their hearts and minds to the Lord’s voice. Therefore these words of warning are delivered from on high against them.

God also tells us what he means in his declaration of judgment against those who are “proud”:

“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge, or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? ... Evildoers not only prosper, but they put God to the test, and they escape.’”

In other words, the proud - in their pride and arrogance - observe that those who defy God, and disobey him, seem to get away with it. Nothing bad happens to them. So, of what use is it to be reverent and submissive before the Lord, or to govern our lives according to his law?

But on the day when Jesus returns visibly to judge the living and the dead, all will have to give an account of their actions. St. Paul writes in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians that

“We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

But in another sense, according to a more immediate application of the section of Malachi that was read today, the burning that it describes can be seen as a reference to the judgment that God’s law brings even now: when it encounters and suppresses the sinful nature that resides in each one of us.

Insofar as you are still proud before God in your attitudes, and insofar as you yourself still think, speak, and do wickedly, you too are the object of this purging fire.

The Lord says through Malachi: “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant.” When you repent of your sins, and ask the Lord to cleanse you of those impulses that lead you to sin, you are asking him to burn away the arrogance and evil that still reside in you.

You are asking God to destroy the power of sin within you, so that you will become, instead, a person who remembers both the Ten Commandments, and the Messianic promises and foreshadowings that are everywhere embedded in the Mosaic Law.

This purging process doesn’t always go smoothly. In fact, it never does. The old nature resists it every step of the way.

The roots of our sin bury themselves ever deeper into the soil of our pride and self-justification, to try to avoid the destructive heat of the flame. The old Adam within each of us has a very strong survival instinct.

But within the Lord’s redeemed and regenerated children, the old Adam will not ultimately survive. God is faithful. He will give us the mind of Christ. He will conform us to the image of his Son.

Fire. Heat. Sunshine. Light.

Today’s lesson from Malachi also uses these kinds of images in a very positive way. It goes on from its warning about the hot fire of God’s judgment, to a different kind of message: a message of hope and joy for those who do in fact repent of their sins, and humble themselves before the Lord.

“But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings.”

Martin Luther’s comments on this passage are so helpful that I doubt that I could improve on them. So, I will just let him speak to us:

“Indeed, a new Sun will shine... It is the Sun of Righteousness, who justifies, who sends out the sort of rays that make men righteous and free from their sins, who drives out every harmful attitude of fleshly lust. Those rays are the Word of the gospel, which penetrates hearts, and [which] is seen...only by the eyes of the heart, that is, by faith.”

“[The Sun of Righteousness] shines by the Holy Spirit. It shines day and night. Clouds do not hinder it. It is always rising. ‘It will rise for those of you who fear’...the name of God...; that is, the humble, those who are not presumptuous, those who do not trust in their own works but recognize that they are sinners.”

“There will be salvation and protection under the shadow of Christ. Such, then, is the reign of Christ, that he himself is the Mediator and Protector, the way a hen protects her chicks from the hawk. Therefore, let everyone who wants to be safe from the wrath and judgment of God seek refuge under the wings of Christ. ... Under the Law there is weakness and condemnation; under the wings of Christ, under the gospel, there is strength and salvation.”

“The Sun [of Righteousness] rises when the gospel is preached. One hides under the wings when he believes. Therefore, although you may be a sinner, yet you will be safe when you flee for refuge under his wings. You will not fear death. The lust of the flesh will not overpower you.”

So far Luther.

Jesus, the divine Son of the Father from heaven, who shines upon us on earth, is indeed this Sun of Righteousness. He is, of course, righteous in himself - perfect in every way. But he does not hoard his righteousness for himself, just as the literal sun - around which the earth orbits - does not hoard to itself all of its hydrogen.

The literal sun, with its continuous hydrogen explosions, keeps the earth illuminated and warm. Likewise, Christ’s righteousness continuously bursts forth upon us, and shines down into our hearts and minds. His righteousness covers us and our unrighteousness completely, as we trust in his mercy. And we bask in its brilliance, in the presence of almighty God.

The beams of righteousness that shine upon us through the gospel are also able to heal us of our spiritual infirmities. Mental health professionals tell us that literal sunshine is actually one of the best treatments for clinical depression.

Those who suffer from depression are usually told to spend more time outside during the day, since the sunlight will benefit them both physiologically and psychologically. Jesus, the heavenly Sun of Righteousness, brings healing to our souls, as his light descends to us in his Word and Sacrament.

He lifts us from sadness into the joy of eternal life. He soothes our troubled consciences with the peace of his forgiveness.

In a few minutes we will have yet another opportunity to step outside the earthly house of shadows in which we now live, and to go, as it were, into the brightness of the Sun. As we partake in faith of the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, it will be a time of sacramental “high noon” - when the Sun of Righteousness shines on us more brilliantly and more intensely than at any other time.

And in this most intimate encounter with our Savior, we will nestle once again under the protection of his wings, to be comforted and healed.

Fire. Heat. Sunshine. Light.

Every day, God burns away the sin and death that lingers within us, refining us with the fire of his love. Every day, God shines the light of Christ upon us, and into us, to illuminate the darkness in our minds, and to bring warmth to the coldness in our hearts.

We close with these words from the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, where St. Paul writes:

“What we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Amen.

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15 December 2024 - Advent 3 - Isaiah 40:1-11

There is something inside every human being that gives him or her an innate desire to live, and to avoid death for as long as possible. Indeed, the quest for immortality is one of the recurring themes of the human imagination.

It is reflected in history. In the sixteenth century, Ponce de Leon engaged in a serious search for the mythical fountain of youth, which he thought might be in Florida. The quest for immortality has also been an oft-repeated subject dealt with in science fiction books and movies.

All of this resonates with the deep human instinct to stay alive. That’s why people run away from mortal danger. That’s why people who are drowning or suffocating struggle for air.

And even when people do acquiesce to the fact that they will have to die someday, they still try to put that inevitability off for as long as they can. Huge amounts of money and effort are invested in medical research and medical treatment, so that many diseases that used to kill people, today no longer do so, and people do live longer.

That’s not a bad thing. But even with the best of medical science, people do not live forever.

That being the case, people very often try to achieve at least a symbolic kind of “immortality,” through leaving a mark of influence on other people, on institutions, or on the larger society, that will endure beyond their mortal lives.

Authors and composers hope that people will still be reading their books, and listening to and performing their music, after they have died. Artists hope that people will still be admiring their paintings and sculptures after they have departed from this life.

And how often do we hear about the “legacy” that a president or political leader wants to leave - in the country and in the world - especially as his time in office is winding down?

And who does not find some satisfaction in the thought that after I have passed away, my existence as a human being will not be forgotten, because a monument will be erected in my honor; a plaque on the wall will bear my name; or a street, a building, or a ship will be named after me?

In today’s Old Testament lesson, through the Prophet Isaiah, God has something to say to all of this: to all of these fears and insecurities; to all of these proud aspirations and desperate efforts. And as you, too, in your own way, share in these fears and insecurities; and in your own life imitate these aspirations and efforts, God has something to say also to you:

“All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass.”

When is the last time someone told you that you are like grass - here today, gone and forgotten tomorrow? That might be taken as an insult, if another human being told you this.

But when God tells you this, you need to listen. And you need to understand why this is so.

Adam, our earliest ancestor, was created to live forever. He was given ongoing access to the tree of life, which would continually rejuvenate and preserve his life and health.

But Adam was also warned by the Lord that if he ever ate from a certain forbidden tree - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - he would die. We know what happened. He ate from this tree, and he died.

Spiritually, he died immediately. Physically it took a little while, but he did eventually die in that way, too. And his body returned to the dust from which it had come.

In Adam’s death, we also died. As his future descendants, we were all in Adam, dying in Adam. And because of Adam, we die now. We all die. Adam is in us, dying in us.

The wages of sin is death, as St. Paul soberly teaches. The wages of Adam’s sin is human death: human suffering, human disease, human mortality. The wages of your sin - your own willful concurrence in your ancestor’s rebellion and disobedience - is your own death.

It wasn’t supposed to be that way. But it is that way.

Humanity was not supposed to be like grass: fading and withering, dying and perishing, gone and forgotten after only a few decades of toil and struggle on this earth. But humanity is like grass.

You, as a child of Adam, in your sinful nature, are grass. And nothing you do - none of your immortality projects - will change that.

Someday your heart will stop, and your lungs will be emptied of breath. Your flesh will rot, and your bones will disintegrate. And, your monuments will crumble, your books will gather dust, your music will go silent, and your name will be forgotten in this world.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away;
they fly forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day.

We go on to read in Isaiah:

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”

Unlike fallen human nature, the Word of God will never falter or fail. God’s Word will never perish, crumble, or come to an end.

It might almost seem that in this passage, God is cruelly amplifying our misery, “rubbing in” our mortality and pushing our faces in it. But that’s not why God presents this contrast, between the death of sinful human existence, and the life of his eternal truth.

God’s Word is true and alive forever not just in itself, or for itself, but God’s Word is true and alive for you.

And when his Word - his life-giving message of regeneration and resurrection - touches you, enters you, and fills you, it makes you alive forever. You become immortal, not of yourself, or from your own proud designs, but in God.

Jesus Christ is the divine Word made flesh, through whose death and resurrection the sinful world has been reconciled to God. When God’s Word connects your mind, heart, and soul to Christ, you become reconciled to God personally. And in Christ you become alive personally.

Jesus once said:

“Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

Indeed, the whole thought expressed by St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, is this:

“The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And St. Paul also writes these words, to Timothy:

“God...saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

In the passage from Isaiah that we have been pondering, the Lord goes on to say:

“O Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’”

In the prophetic poetry of the Old Testament, “Mount Zion,” and the holy city “Jerusalem,” generally represented the Messianic church that was to come.

In Christ, this holy community, and dwelling place of the Lord, has been established. And we have been baptized into it.

This church is the confessing and worshiping body and bride of Jesus Christ, and is indwelt by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. And it is this church that God here addresses, and exhorts to be the herald of the good news that he wants the whole fallen world to hear.

It is not just the ministers of the church who proclaim the reality of Christ and his life, to a dead and dying world. The church as a whole - in what we together sing and pray, declare and share - bears witness to the Word of God, and to the hope that God’s Word brings to those who believe it.

The church, as it proclaims the message of the life and immortality that God gives through his Son, thereby offers true comfort to those who fear death, and who fear what comes on the other side of death.

The conscience does correctly impress upon people who listen to their conscience, that what they should expect after death is divine judgment, on account of their sins.

But the inviting message that the church proclaims to those whom it thereby seeks to draw to itself - a message that the church itself receives from God - is a message of pardon, forgiveness, and justification in Christ.

When God’s Word of peace envelopes you, and soothes your conscience, the judgment that is deserved, will not be the judgment that is pronounced and poured out. The death that is deserved, will not be the death that is experienced. As we read in Isaiah:

“‘Comfort, yes, comfort My people!’ says your God. ‘Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord’s hand Double for all her sins.’”

The wages of sin is death. But when the sin is gone, washed away by the blood of the Lamb, and absolved away by the atonement of Christ, then the death - the deeper death - is also gone.

And those traces of death that do remain in bodily mortality - and that even Christians still taste at the end of their earthly life - will eventually be undone.

These remnants of death will be finally vanquished in the general resurrection - of which the risen Christ is the firstfruits - and in the new heavens and the new earth that God will establish for his saints, where only righteousness will dwell.

The crucified Savior whose coming is anticipated in the season of Advent, is the Savior who comes to bring life out of death. The risen Savior who comes here and now, whenever the Word of God comes here and now, is the Savior who offers this life to you, in the midst of your death.

This life - this immortality - cannot be known unless you know him. But when you do know him, through his ever-standing Word, you know this life. Jesus says:

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

Our God, our Help in ages past, our Hope for years to come,
be Thou our Guide while life shall last, and our eternal Home!

Amen.