February 7, 2021                                                                             Text:  Mark 1:29-39

Dear Friends in Christ,

            There is a church in Sweden that has a painting by Danish artist Carl Heinrich Bloch who painted the Lord Jesus Christ in various episodes of his life.  In this painting titled, “Christus Consolator,” Bloch shows the resurrected Christ surrounded by people of all ages both male and female.  Two are laying their heads on his body while grasping his tunic.  Most of the rest are looking into his eyes.  One or two are gazing elsewhere.  Each one is below Jesus as they seek comfort.  “Christus Consolator” can be translated the “Christ who consoles.”

            Consolator is not a word we hear anymore.  A word we do hear is consolation.  That word usually means we lost at something.  Here is a participation trophy.  Go home and console yourself with that; you lost.

            Those of us of a certain vintage may recall a commercial where his father was consoling a young hockey goalie after he let in the winning goal.  The dad felt the son’s anguish but could only console him with a Life Saver candy.  The son grudgingly took it as the father said there would be other games.  The announcer said as the scene ended that Life Saver candies are a part of life.

            Is it that simple when you need consolation?  Do you want a Life Saver?  A candy bar?  A stiff drink?  A hug? 

            Let’s see what Jesus does in our Gospel lesson for those who needed some help . . .

“WHAT KIND OF CONSOLING DOES JESUS PROVIDE?”

            Isn’t it appropriate that the painting we referenced at the beginning hangs directly above the altar?  Jesus is welcoming the distressed and those who need healing and rest.  Here He comforts with His love and forgiveness and death and resurrection and life and heaven.  That painting makes sense hanging over an altar.

            Jesus strides into the sickroom of Peter’s mother-in-law.  She has a fever.  A few of the other translations have “high fever” or “great fever.”  As one who suffered fevers of 103 to 105 as a child I know that kind of fever makes you delirious.  She was very sick and there were no antibiotics so her life hangs in the balance.  Mark was close to Peter but doesn’t tell us her name even though he must know it.  Why?  Mark is telling us that the Lord Christ attends the anonymous, the forgotten, and the nameless, faceless individual that is in need of consolation.  The Lord came to her and lifted her up.  He took the initiative to extend her life.  The fever left.

            When I had my high fevers they were the result of step throat.  The sickness of choice that afflicted me quite often in my younger years.  Man, I hated those penicillin shots in my rump, but they always had the desired affect.  My fever would lessen and eventually go away.

            The Lord provided that medicine to console me.  He does even more than that.  Isaiah writes, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” (Is. 53:4)  Matthew writes, “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” (Mt. 8:17)  He became our sin and took our death.  He takes what robs us of our humanity, and He restores us with His virtue, His blessing, His victory, His truth, His love.  That is consolation.

            This life is often not pretty.  This life is often not comfortable.  People are looking for ways to cope with trouble.  Some look for it in an ill-conceived relationship.  Some try a fifth of bourbon or gambling with their monies.  Some try to grasp it in online shopping or a makeover.  Others overeat or spend hours in mindless entertainment.  This is all vanity and it usually exacerbates the problem we are trying to escape.  Our Lord brings us something more.

            He lifted the woman.  He saved the no-name daughter of Jairus.  A Life Saver candy was no solution but the Giver of Life gave her life back.  He raised her up.  Resurrection is consolation.  The Lord’s empty tomb is divine consolation for sinners like us who face death constantly.  “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (Jn. 10:10)  Simon’s mother-in-law received life and then she got up and served others.

            How do you see this in your life?  Here in the Divine Service Christus Consolator serves you through the Word that you hear preached.  Christus Consolator serves you at the altar as you receive His body and blood.  He consoles you with resurrection and then He sends you out to serve the other men and women He created.  Your high fever of sin is forgiven.  Shame has been removed.

            In the Christus Consolator painting there is one child looking at us sad and lonely.  As our Savior hangs onto us, will we be there for the young person, the elderly, those sick with sin?  May the Holy Spirit lead us because we got to see and experience what kind of consoling Jesus provides.

                                                                                                Amen.

January 31, 2021                                                           Text:  Deuteronomy 18:15-20

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Have you ever been on a sailboat?  You are on a journey but you are not quite sure where you are going.  Water all around, shore far away.  Sailboats pretty much sail themselves and the speed is not excessive.

            Would you expect to go faster with the wind behind you or in front of you?  In sailing if you have a wind at your back at 5 mph you go 5 mph.  On the other hand, if the wind is coming toward the sailboat, then – with a zigzag route – you will sail faster than the wind.  You will get from point A to point B but the journey will be longer and have more challenges.

            In the Book of Deuteronomy. Israel is on the verge of a new journey.  For forty years they had traveled from Sinai to Kadesh-barnea then on to the King’s Highway and around Edom and through the plains of Moab and now they are on the east bank of the Jordan River gazing west into the Promised Land.  They made it from point A to point B but if you have ever looked at a map of their travels it was like they were in a sailboat – no straight lines just a lot of zigzagging.

            Do you ever feel like your life takes a zigzaggy route?  In a sailboat where sometimes the wind is at your back and other times it blows right in your face?  We need a stable direction and we have it this morning . . .

“A NEW JOURNEY”

            Moses makes this promise in our text, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me.” (v. 15a)  Because Moses was under divine judgment he would not lead the Israelites into the Promised Land.  He only saw it from afar.  But the Lord would raise up other prophets – Joshua, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha – these prophets were the Lord’s voice, leading Israel in her journey of faith.  The prophetic Word endured forever.

            The final fulfillment of the Lord’s promise of a prophet like Moses is Jesus who is greater than Moses.  Jesus not only speaks the truth, He is the truth.  He not only speaks God’s Word, He is God’s Word.  Jesus not only knew the Father face-to-face, He is the face of the Father.  Moses longed to see the Lord’s glory, while Jesus is the glory of the Father.  Moses led Israel to the brink of the Promised Land; Jesus completely finishes what he began. 

            Verse 15 says we are to listen to this prophet.  Consider this passage from Hebrews that we sometimes say in our liturgy, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” (Heb. 1:1-2)  Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.  To know Jesus is to know God. 

            Jesus would take a new journey.  He would see His travels take him this way and that way.  It all began at his birth when his family had to take another route home.  His roundabout journey ended on a hill called Calvary.  The One the prophets had spoken about gave his life for you and me.  He then went to hell to declare victory and rose on the third day to continue the earthly journey for forty more days.  Then His ascension took place and He rules at the right hand of the Father.  He made it from point A to point B but it was never easy.  He took a journey and completed it.  It could only be done by Jesus.

            What journey has you on edge?  When do we come out of the pandemic?  Should we journey with a new child through this world?  Does the Lord have a faithful spouse waiting for me?  Where will my child matriculate for college?  What do we do with dad and mom as they age?  Will my job and finances always be secure?  Do we leave our home for better weather and a more stable state?  Is a new journey on the horizon?

            Satan interrupts our thoughts with his whispers.  Expect the worst.  Triple lock all the doors.  Protect yourself from every danger and peril.  Worry yourselves to death with “What if?”

            Jesus took his journey to perish those thoughts from our mind.  Because of the cleansing blood, resurrection joy, and the power of Pentecost we march straight ahead.  Paul tells us why in 2 Cor. 2:14:  “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession.”

            I went sailing once, in San Francisco Bay, with my dad and uncle.  It was a new journey.  We started in the South Bay and made it up to the Candlestick Park area.  Then the clouds started to roll in and I was asking the “what if?” question.  What if this wind blows us out into the Pacific Ocean?  This Gilligan is standing here so you know I made it back to homeport.  We made the journey safely.

            The journey is life.  God is telling us to go.  But He guarantees you will never, ever, go it alone.  “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers – it is to him you shall listen.”  Listen, we must.  Follow, we will!

                                    Amen.