February 2, 2025 Text: Luke 2:22-24

Dear Friends in Christ,

When the Gospel was read today, how many of thought, “I remember hearing these same words recently.” Well, you would be correct. You are dismissed. No, please stay. Our text for today we also heard on December 29, 2024. That day the sermon was also on the Gospel, but we concentrated on Simeon and his words. Today we focus on the first three verses which are right before Simeon enters the picture.
Back in 1931 Universal Studios produced the movie Dracula. In that movie you may remember the creepy black and white details of the interior of the eerie castle. Spider webs are everywhere. The white webs remain undisturbed as the Count makes his way through them. On the other hand, Mr. Renfield, who is following the Count, must cut through the webs. Dracula pauses and remarks, “The spider, spinning his web for the unweary fly. The blood is the life, Mr. Renfield.”
As we focus on Mary’s purification today and Jesus’ presentation in the temple, we tie these happenings together with the Old Testament commands. It helps us to see . . .
“THE BLOOD IS THE LIFE”
As Lutherans one of the things that we believe is that “Scripture interprets Scripture.” That is so true today. Mary and Joseph are going for Mary’s purification because it was commanded in Leviticus chapter 12.
In this chapter God speaks to Moses who then passes on these instructions to the people. The Lord tells him that when a woman bears a male child she shall be unclean for seven days. On the eight day the child is to be circumcised. That happened to Jesus right before our text in Luke 2:21. Then the woman is to continue in the blood of her purifying for thirty-three more days. So, we know that Jesus when presented is 40 days old. The first verse of our text says, “And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, the brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.”
We don’t follow the Old Testament laws today, there is no 40-day purifying for women, but they do need time to recover from childbirth. We could say we do present our children, either at the birth, the baptism, a gathering. There is a moment of “welcome to the world.”
Mary and Joseph did this for Jesus. They presented him to His Father. Back to Leviticus. The Lord commanded that after the purifying the parents bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering or a pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering. This made atonement for the mother. She would be clean from the flow of her blood. Since Mary and Joseph gave the birds instead of the lamb for the sacrifice, we know that they were poor. Again, our text, verses 23 and 24. (“As is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’? and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.’”
A sacrifice meant blood was spilled. This whole thing is bloody. The circumcision would have been bloody. The purifying was bloody. But you see, the blood meant something. The blood is the life.
We can bloody ourselves up pretty good with our behavior. A right cross to the mouth when we talk about others. A left jab to the eye when we see things differently than the Lord. An uppercut to the nose when we sniff around in places we shouldn’t be. Then the knockout punch to the side of the head when we downplay our deeds. We are bloodied. We are down . . . and we are out. We need some help getting back to our feet.
The blood is the life, but not our blood. It is the blood of the circumcised child who became an obedient Son of the Father all the way to the cross. It is the blood mingling down to take care of our questionable behavior. God set aside animal blood in the Old Testament as a picture that pointed to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Deuteronomy 12:23a says, “Be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is life . . .” But Jesus freed us from this restriction through his blood. So much so that the Apostle John writes in chapter 6, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jesus was born to shed his blood and give us life. The blood is the life.
Amen.

January 26, 2025 Text: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Dear Friends in Christ,
You receive a gift…and there it is a Mr. Potato Head. You pull out the potato head with all the holes that you will fill with body parts. This is going to be fun. You continue pouring out the contents, but you have 10 eyebrows, no nose or mouth, one eye and no ears. What’s going on here! How will Mr. Potato Head hear and believe?
Did you ever have this joy or see it in your child or grandchild? A nose where an ear should be? A mouth on top of his head? It probably brought on some good laughter. But children at a young age realize something. We have and need different body parts, and they have their necessary place.
Today in our text Paul is comparing the Christian Church to the parts of the body. We all play a part. You are part of a living body, and whatever function the Lord has assigned to you as part of the body, you can know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
You get to see yourself as a body part this morning. The question . . .
“WHAT BODY PART ARE YOU?”
Paul addresses the Corinthian congregation because this is becoming a problem. They see themselves as separate – Jew, Greek, slave, free – Paul is pushing their commonality. They are one body. One Spirit. Why does this text matter to us?
It matters because we distort our place in the body of Christ. We can divide ourselves in one of two ways. 1. We labor with a misplaced sense of inferiority, or 2. We labor with a misplaced sense of superiority.
It is easy to go after those who have an elevated view of themselves. The Corinthian church had many such people. Paul has already taken many of these folks to task in the preceding chapters. But here in the text he starts with those living with feelings of inferiority.
“Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” or “because I am a not an eye, I do not belong to the body.” (v. 15-16) Brilliant Paul, just brilliant. He is forcing the superior feeling people to empathize with those who feel inferior. They don’t even know what happened. So gracious.
Both groups need the stinging word of God’s Law. If you do not feel you are part of the body, you are accusing God of bad design. You have just broken the 1st Commandment. You have also broken the same commandment if you grovel in your greatness instead of God’s.
God knew what He was doing when He designed the body. “God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.” (v. 18-20) Beautiful. Look at it this way, we don’t want all mouthy people in the body of Christ. We don’t want those just good at listening. We need a combination. Those who speak well, but those who listen well. It is even better if people communicate and hear.
To those on the high horse, Paul has these words, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’” (v. 21) Every member needs every other member. That is how bodies are made.
Paul says we were all “baptized into one body” (v. 13). We are incorporated into the Body of Christ. Think about that. Whatever you can do or can’t do, flashy or pedestrian, if you are in Christ by your Baptism, you are a treasured member of the most exalted Body in the entire cosmos.
We are to have no division, because we are one in Christ. Loved, forgiven, saved. Made for this time and place. Giving of self for the body. Sharing the heartaches and the joys.
Could we have a better verse for today? See how the Lord planned this celebration for our body today. Verse 26b: “If one member is honored, all rejoice together.” The baptism of Ezra Simon Kirchner. It has been a long time coming. Patience has been needed. Ups and downs. Mary Anne and family made it to this day. My family has been praying for this day. Many of you have been praying for this day. The Lord brought it all about in His time. Today the body rejoices, like we always do when we witness a soul being baptized into Christ. Ezra’s joy, is my joy, is your joy, is the joy of the worldwide Christian Church.
So, have you answered the question? What body part are you? In Christ, we mesh, we care about each other. Everyone belongs, no matter what part you see yourselves as, we are united in Christ.
Amen.

January 19, 2025 – Sanctity of Human Life Text: John 1:1-14

Dear Friends in Christ,

In the beginning it was dark. Life begins in darkness. Let’s face the darkness firsthand.
Picture yourself on the other side of the bathroom door, locked and lying on the floor. You are crumpled among cartons, paper wrappers and pregnancy sticks with plus signs. Assaulted at the party and impregnated unwillingly, now throat knotted, eyes hot, gut twisting, fingers clenching. Reputation at risk, freedom and future in danger, success and sanity at stake. Baby daddy bullies you, father bawls you out, mom turns her back on you. Abandoned, ashamed, afraid, and what now?
The shadow of death and darkness settled over the valley. It is black like Hagar the handmaid having Abraham’s illegitimate issue, like Bathsheba bearing a baby not belonging to her husband. It gets black like Lot’s daughters when they liquored up and lay with the old man. It goes black like Mary knowing not a man and subject to public disrepute. Darkness has a name, and it is sin, iniquity, evil. It goes by privacy, choice, rights, or just abortion. But working darkness on the outside doesn’t remedy the darkness on the inside.
A better rescue remains. There is an answer for the darkness. The deep shadow has not arrived alone. Light always attends. It’s fit for power made perfect in weakness, fit for heavenly involvement. Son of God, came near, at hand and at work, made like his brothers in every respect. As a servant, obedient unto death. With grace and forgiveness from the outside, Jesus enters, driving away the dark by the everlasting light of Lord God Almighty. The Christ has died blameless to absolve your guilt, and He’s returned from the dead so that your conscience and spirit have release. There’s nowhere that darkness doesn’t touch, but there’s nowhere that the Lord doesn’t accompany. For those who perceive it . . .
“LIFE SHINES IN THE DARKNESS”
Behold the blessings, even on the other side of the bathroom door. Ultrasound pulse and sonogram smile, first word and first step, hugs and kisses. You anticipate birthday wishes and bedtime stories, tea parties and water fight. You are at the threshold of wiping gameday sweat and drying homework tears, learning to drive and late-night talks. You’re appointed for graduation caps and wedding gowns, “thank you mom and dad”, and belonging. Life shines in the darkness.
Picture yourself on the other side of the bedroom door. Shoulders slumping, head hung low. Buried under collection letters and divorce papers. Screams go silent, tears run dry, the empty bottles mock you. You are brought to your knees, and you can’t hold a distinct thought to pray. Ready to make the haters pay, you gaze at the blade like a misty graveyard. Desperate to take the pain away, you eyeball the bullet. Who would listen? Who would miss you?
Darkness settles over the land from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, then stretching into three days. It burdens like Paul, afflicted and imprisoned, appealing, “Take away the thorns!” It feels burdensome like Jesus, starved in the desert, sweating blood, pleading, “Take away this cup!” Some call it escape or ending it all. But wielding to the darkness on the outside won’t relieve the darkness on the inside. It doesn’t secure anything.
We have an antidote to the darkness. Eternal Word made flesh, present and powerful, subject to weakness, sharing in the flesh and blood the same as children. With compassion and mercy from above, Jesus engages, casting out the darkness by heavenly light of life. This Christ has died innocent as atonement for sin, and He’s risen again so that your body and being have relief. Life shines in the darkness. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He comes to give life. See the gifts even behind the bedroom door. Second chance and next chapter. Improved relationships. Purpose for life.
Picture yourself on the other side of the backroom door. Drifting between consciousness and confusion. Hooked to ventilator and catheter, hemmed in by bed rails and monitor beeps. Layered with drugs, abdominal nausea, aching everywhere. Spoon fed and sponge-bathed. Who’d live like this? Why not speed the process?
It blemishes like Job, bereft of everything dear and beset with disease. It blights all like Cain, or Naaman, or Bartimaeus, even like Jesus Himself disrobed and disfigured. The darkness has a name; end-of-life options, medical aid in dying, death with dignity. But wreaking darkness outside can’t heal the darkness inside. It doesn’t sustain anyhow.
Because a truer redemption remains. Here comes an authority over the darkness. The pitch black cannot occupy all by itself. Light inevitably unseats it. The Lamb of God sacrificing and arising, fits us for holy incarnation. Almighty Immanuel gave self. Carrying sickness and bearing sorrows. Your Christ has died righteous in exchange for your soul, and He’s resurrected so that very soon you will be rejoicing. Life shines in the darkness.
Witness the privileges even beyond the back door. Singing and praying. Distractions cast aside. Expressing yourself and advancing toward a family reunion. Life shines in the darkness.
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness. Instead, expose them. We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. We proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. They will see His face, His name on their foreheads. Night is no more, no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever. Life shines in the darkness. Amen.