Gaudete 2021

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Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent

St. Matthew 11:2-11

December 12, 2021

When Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique in 1963, it launched so-called second wave feminism. Friedan asks a critical question in the famed opening:

The problem lay buried, unspoken, for many years in the minds of American women. It was a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century in the United States. Each suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night — she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question — Is this all?

“Is this all?” Others said long before me that the man who works in a factory all day might have the same question, along with the man stuck behind a computer screen processing spreadsheets. “Is this all?” is not a feminist question, it’s a human question. I think our metropolitan area is particularly susceptible to it. People come here seeking to change the world; they will fight for freedom and justice, along the way climbing ladders and collecting buckets of cash. 

It’s a religious question, too. You come to the church hoping to get your life changed, but you find squabbles over documents and budgets, pugnacious personalities, and meetings lasting so long you start to believe in Purgatory. “Is this all?”

Enter stage right John the Baptist. Things had gone surprisingly well. People thronged to hear him preach; the river was full of converts seeking baptism. 

But it turns out the Sixth Commandment was as unpopular then with Galilean kings as it is today with New York governors. But hey, you’re no different. Everybody likes calls to repentance until they come your way.

John’s in prison for saying “You shall not commit adultery” to Herod Antipas, who has taken up with his sister-in-law who’s also his niece.

Gone are the crowds. Gone the success. A few loyal disciples cry out to John in his dungeon, “Is this all?” 

Have you been there? Have you asked about your self, your life, your identity as a disciple of Jesus, “Is this all? Are we not to expect anything else?”

This is a trial, just as when you struggle with illness, or temptation, or challenges your children face. These all cause doubts to rise up in us. “Where is this all going?”

In the dungeon, doubtless miserable, John the Baptist does the only thing there ever is to do: he turns to Jesus. He sends his disciples to Jesus with the question, “What are we waiting for? Who are we waiting for? I thought it was You.”

Jesus answers by showing them the nature of His work: The blind see, the lame walk, the dead are raised, and then the capstone, “The poor have the gospel preached to them.” That seems less exciting, doesn’t it? Give me tangible results, not religious words, amirite?

But that little word—gospel, good news—is the heart of all the rest. This was John’s mission from the beginning. You remember his father, Zacharias, sang at John’s birth, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins” [Lk 1.76f].

Sin brought corruption into the world. Don’t be surprised that everything has gone to hell. That’s original sin, man. Genesis 3: work is hard, then you die. Or to put it in a more refined way, “The wages of sin is death.” We’re all in the dungeon, we all fell in the pit.

But whatever bad news you’re facing, John the Baptist is telling us the same thing he told his disciples: “Go take it up with Jesus. He’s your answer. In Jesus you have knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins.”

I don’t know what you’ve been up to the last three months, but I bet there’s been some sinning going on. True confession: sometimes a Lutheran pastor gets bored talking about the forgiveness of sins. It’s the devil’s temptation to the preacher. “Is this all?” The simple answer is, “Yes, it’s everything!” Because with sins forgiven, all the rest follows: Forgiveness with your brothers and sisters, reconciliation, and the patient anticipation that Jesus will do what He promised: raise the dead and renew the world.

Is this all? Yeah, that’s all! And it’s enough. So rejoice in the Lord always.  +INJ+

The Beheading of St. John the Baptist

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Every day is a battle, a battle against the darkness, a battle against the lie, a battle against our own impulses. But David had not gone out to the battle. He had already put himself in a position to sin.

When we skip our prayers and Bible reading, when we take the drink we know we shouldn’t, when we go out when we should go home, a thousand times a day we have opportunities to put ourselves in a position to sin, or a position to do what God has called us to do.

“So David sent and inquired about the woman…”

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The Tenth Sunday after Trinity

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“From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.” Thus the Apostles’ Creed summarizes what God’s Word says about the end of the world, the Day of Judgment.

Be not deceived: The judgment of Jesus is coming. On that day, your thoughts will be revealed. The things done in darkness will be brought to light; there is nothing secret that will not be exposed.

As Jesus approaches Jerusalem in today’s Gospel, He anticipates the coming judgment on that city. In less than four decades, Jerusalem would be burned, her stones toppled, the temple looted and razed, blood running through the streets as water. Jesus’ prophecy came to pass in the year 70 when Titus conquered Jerusalem.

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The Death of Decency

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Periodically I hit the “Browse” tab on Apple Music to see what’s happening in the broader—or more accurately narrower—world of mass musical culture. The featured music is usually quite dull, musically. (See Rick Beato’s video, “Why Today’s Music Is So BORING. The Regression of Musical Innovation.”) Lacking musical skill and creativity, the artists instead focus on the excitement of crass, racist, hyper-sexualized, and violent language. This is not new, one could find such songs throughout my lifetime and before. The popular music, however, relied more on innuendo and suggestion, and generally not gaining widespread listening without a catchy chorus or hook.

What is relatively new, I suspect, is that while the writing and musicianship is gone, nearly every single charting song is marked “Explicit.” Take a look at today’s Apple Music US Top 100:

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St. James the Elder

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Ambition is a vice cloaked in virtue. At the core of ambition is pride. Our first father sought to be as God; we in turn seek to be regarded as gods among men. Politics, sports, music, movies, the market, the military – all elevate the ambitious, who cravenly connive for advancement.

Such is the case in the church as well. Connections are exploited, elections are partisan, the ambitious prosper. You can see this evil spirit right in today’s Gospel reading: “Teacher,” they say to Jesus, “we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want?” He replies. ”Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.” Anticipating a political change, with Jesus enthroned as King, James and John request chief places in His administration.

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Second Sunday after Trinity

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Truly in our day the world has gone mad. Our culture no longer can see the difference between boys and girls, the new racists stir up strife from the boardroom to the classroom, the government spies and lies. But what is the cause of it? If Eusebius could hear our whispers and furtive texts, what would he say of us?

“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.” Do those words from today’s Epistle describe us?

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New Jersey District Convention Sermon

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“Repent!” That’s the first word John the Baptist preaches. It is also the first word when our Lord Jesus begins to preach. So it is to be with our own preaching.

But before we can preach, we must hear that word spoken to us. Repent!

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Exaudi 2021

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You need help. You probably know this already. You need spiritual help, because your mind and heart are not conformed to God’s will. You need bodily help, because you are dying. You need help.

Jesus ascended in order to send you the Helper. But pride says, “I need no help. I can do it on my own. I’ve compared myself to others, and I’m pretty good. My job gives me money, my doctor gives me pills, the black rectangle gives me entertainment. I don’t need help.” O foolish of heart and slow to believe! For you are a slave to your money, your doctor cannot avert your doom, and your black rectangle leaves you numb and empty.

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The Ascension of Our Lord

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“At what time of day do you think Jesus ascended?” That’s what a parishioner asked me earlier today. I’d never thought about the question before, but I quickly had a guess: 9am or 3pm. Those are the appointed times for the morning and evening sacrifices.

In the Ascension, Jesus performs a priestly act. Luke tells us that Jesus lifted up His hands and blessed them. Perhaps the sun illuminated the scars where the nails had pierced Him. What did Jesus say in His blessing?

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