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“Behold My Servant” (Isaiah 42:1-9)“Behold my servant,” the Lord says to us today. Who is this servant, you ask? It’s Jesus, of course. The Christ, the Anointed One, baptized as the Lord’s servant, to do the will of the one who sent him. Jesus, the Christ, anointed with the Holy Spirit at his baptism. And Isaiah is here to tell us about him. Through the prophet Isaiah now, the Lord invites us to look upon Christ, saying, “Behold My Servant.” “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him;...

“Arise, Shine, for Your Light Has Come” (Isaiah 60:1-6) “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” “Arise and shine”? Are you kidding me? On a Friday night? In January? On a dark and cold night, with snow on the ground? “Arise and shine”? Heck, it was hard enough to arrive on time, much less “arise and shine”! “Arise and shine.” After the week I’ve had? Yeah, Pastor, why are you dragging us out here on a Friday night in January anyway? I don’t know of many other churches that are...

“On the Eighth Day of Christmas: The Circumcision and Name of Jesus” (Luke 2:21) On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . . the circumcision and name of Jesus? Huh? What? Yeah, well, that’s what happened on this day. On the eighth day of Christmas, God’s true love gave to me--and to you, to us--the circumcision and name of Jesus. That’s what our text says, the Holy Gospel for this day, Luke 2:21, which reads again as follows, “And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the...

“And the Government Shall Be upon His Shoulder” (Isaiah 9:2-7) About 26 days from now, we’re going to have a change in our government. A new president will take the oath of office, and a new administration will take over. For some people this will be a welcome change; for others, it will mean weeping and gnashing of teeth. But in any case, there will be a new president, and the weight of the White House will rest upon his shoulders. Well, I’m here to tell you today, the most important change in administrations has already taken place, and it...

“Isaiah Foretold It, Jesus Fulfilled It” (Isaiah 7:10-17)In the hymn we just sang, “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” there’s this line, “Isaiah ’twas foretold it.” And yes, it was Isaiah who did foretell it. But what was it that Isaiah foretold? Isaiah prophesied the birth of Jesus Christ. The gospel writer Matthew tells us as much, that this is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. He writes: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God...

“Isaiah’s Immanuel Prophecy” (Isaiah 7:10-17)Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel! There’s that word “Emmanuel.” And we sing that hymn every Advent. But what’s it mean? Who is this “Emmanuel”? Why are we praying to Emmanuel to “come and ransom captive Israel”? And this “mourning in lonely exile” business--what’s that all about? Today we’ll find out, and we’ll find out how it applies to us, as we listen to “Isaiah’s Immanuel Prophecy.” The year is 735 B.C....

“He Comes, We Come” (Isaiah 35:1-10) “You go, we go.” That’s what the Chicago Cubs told their centerfielder and leadoff man Dexter Fowler the last couple of years. “You go, we go.” In other words, “As you go, Dexter, so we will go. You are the guy who makes this team go. When you get on base and play well, our team will do well.” And that is what happened. Fowler played very well, and the Cubs won the World Series. “You go, we go.” And now that Dexter Fowler has signed with St. Louis, the Cardinals are hoping for...

“Be Patient until the Coming of the Lord” (James 5:7-11) Advent is a season of waiting. We’re waiting for Christmas. This is a time of penitential preparation awaiting that festive celebration. The season of Advent always begins on the Sunday closest to November 30, which can be as early as November 27, and that’s what it was this year. So this year we’re having the longest possible Advent, a full total of 28 days. But we get kind of antsy about waiting and letting Advent be Advent: “We gotta get the Christmas tree up!” “We gotta have the Christmas party...

“The Shoot and the Root of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1-10) Today we continue our series on “Isaiah’s Advent Prophecies.” Today’s prophecy comes from Isaiah 11, and it begins, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” And then our text closes, “In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples--of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.” Notice that this one who is coming is first called “a shoot from the stump of Jesse,” and then he...

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand” (Matthew 3:1-12) “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand”: That was the message of John the Baptist as he came preaching in the wilderness. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”: That is the message of John the Baptist as he comes preaching in our midst today. Let’s listen and take heed to what he is saying. “Repent”: That’s the big word that comes through in our text today. What does this call to repentance mean for us and for our lives? What shape will it take?...

“The Mountain of the House of the Lord” (Isaiah 2:1-5) Today we’re beginning a series of sermons I’m calling “Isaiah’s Advent Prophecies.” We’re taking the Old Testament readings for this season of Advent, all taken from the prophet Isaiah, and making them the basis for these messages. Today it’s the reading from Isaiah 2, as we will hear. In the movie “Field of Dreams,” the main character is told, “If you build it, he will come.” What is it that he is to build? And who is it that will come? That’s what the movie is about. It turns out...

“‘Hosanna!’ Our Advent Prayer and Praise” (Matthew 21:1-11)Today is the First Sunday in Advent, the season leading up to Christmas. But you’ll notice that the Holy Gospel for this day is actually a reading about Palm Sunday. What gives? Why do we get a Palm Sunday reading here at the beginning of Advent? Well, if you think about it, there is a good reason for this selection. Think about what those crowds were doing on Palm Sunday. They were welcoming Jesus as their coming king. “Behold, your king is coming to you,” our text says, quoting from the prophet Zechariah....

“Thanking God for His First-Article Gifts” (Apostles’ Creed) Thanksgiving is a time for “Thanking God for His First-Article Gifts.” What do I mean by that? I mean all the good gifts our heavenly Father gives us that are summarized in the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed. Let’s turn there, shall we? Page 322 in your hymnal. We’ll read that article of the Creed itself and then the explanation from the catechism. Together: “The First Article: Creation. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. What does this mean? I believe that God has made me...

“Changing Kingdoms” (Colossians 1:13-20) Perhaps you recall, earlier this year there were a number of celebrities who said they would move out of the country if a certain candidate got elected. They were all going to move to Canada if he got in. They were willing to change their citizenship from one nation to another, because things would be so bad. Well, come November, that candidate did win, and so you would think there would be planeloads of celebrities evacuating the country and heading to Toronto. But somehow that didn’t happen. They’re still here. I guess their promise to leave...

“Signs of the End” (Luke 21:5-36) Tomorrow night, if the sky is clear, you will be able to see what is called a “Supermoon.” This Supermoon is a full moon, but it will appear about 15% larger than average, because the moon will be at its closest point to the earth in 68 years, since 1948. In the Holy Gospel for today, Jesus talks about signs of the end times. He says there will be “great signs from heaven.” He says, “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars.” So is this Supermoon coming tomorrow a sign that...

“The Greatest Victory Celebration” (Revelation 7:9-17) On Wednesday night, late on Wednesday night, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. As I was sitting there watching it on TV, as soon as the ball went into Anthony Rizzo’s glove for the last out, I let out a shout and threw my hands into the air and was utterly excited and ecstatic. For a lifelong Cubs fan from the north side of Chicago, this was quite a moment. After decades of following my team and suffering disappointment after disappointment, and even in this series, being down three games to one, and...

“An Eternal Gospel to Reclaim and Proclaim” (Revelation 14:6-7; Romans 3:19-28) It was 499 years ago tomorrow, on October 31, 1517, that Martin Luther nailed Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, thus beginning the movement known as the Reformation. We are the heirs of that heritage, and so it is that on the last Sunday in October every year we observe Reformation Day in our churches. We are grateful to God for raising up his servant Luther to bring the clear truth of the gospel to light and to prominence once again. And we want...

“The Pharisee and the Tax Collector” (Luke 18:9-17)“The one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Now I don’t know if our Lord was talking about my Chicago Cubs there or not, but finally my humble Cubbies have been exalted. Well, actually, I do know: Jesus was not talking about the Cubs, because he said, “the one who humbles himself.” And it wasn’t that the Cubs were humbling themselves all those years, it was all the other teams humbling them. So maybe the Cubs being exalted now is just a matter of them having a whole bunch of good players. So...

“Continue in the Sacred Writings” (2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:5) In our Epistle reading today, St. Paul commends Timothy--and I would commend all of us--to the word of God. More specifically, I commend you to the continued study of Scripture, to a firm faith in the word of God, and to the living out of the Bible’s teachings in the form of a righteous life. And so our theme this morning, “Continue in the Sacred Writings.” Paul tells Timothy: “As for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how...

“Remember Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:1-13)Do you ever get a little worried or fearful about what you might have to go through in order to live out your calling as a Christian? I mean, that your being a Christian and living for Christ will cause you to suffer in some way? Does that ever weigh on your mind? If so, you’re in good company. Because that seems to have been a problem for St. Timothy in the New Testament. Timothy apparently had a problem with timidity, with fearfulness, over what might happen to him because of his calling to serve...