Spend Epiphany Star Gazing!

Epiphany Sunday, 1/3/21 Matthew 2:1-12 Spend Epiphany Star Gazing! I. At Jesus your Shepherd II. At Jesus your King This Wednesday is a red-letter day on the calendar of the Christian Church on earth. The Epiphany of Our Lord, which we’re celebrating today, is one of the major celebrations in the church year. And yet, if I asked you if you’ll do anything different this Wednesday, I’m guessing all of you would tell me you don’t plan on it. It’s likely that this coming Wednesday will be similar to almost every Wednesday in this new year. And that’s OK. There is no command from God for Christians to observe Epiphany. It’s fine if we do and it’s fine if we don’t. But it would be a shame if you didn’t observe Epiphany spiritually. What do I mean by that? The word “epiphany” means to reveal or make known. In the season of Epiphany, we see how Jesus reveals himself as the Savior of the world. On the day of Epiphany Jesus wants you to see him as your Savior. In fact, he wants you to do that very thing every day of your life. In this morning’s gospel, we heard how the wisemen were guided by a star literally to go and see Jesus as their Savior. In a way, that miraculous star in the sky pointed them to a far greater Star—God’s Son in human flesh and blood. And once they saw him, they worshipped him. So, back to my original question. “How will you observe Epiphany?” Let’s follow the lead of the wisemen and spend it Star gazing. Spend Epiphany Star gazing. Matthew’s account of this event gives us some amazing truths to see and take to heart. Part I. Now that your celebrations of Christmas and the new year are completed, your life will get back to normal quickly, if it hasn’t already. And I’m guessing that many of the issues you faced as last year ended are still in front of you in 2021. Things aren’t much better, if at all. In fact, they might even be a little worse. So, imagine Jesus appearing right here right now and asking you what you need him to do for you. Wow! Where would you even begin? If given just a little time, I’m sure you could come up with quite a long list that would keep him busy for good amount of time. As I mentioned earlier, we have before us this morning the account of the wisemen following the guidance of a miraculous star to visit Jesus. It’s a very familiar account; one which I’m sure you’ve heard and read many times before. And that’s true for me as well. But when I studied this text last week, I noticed something for the first time. It’s in the words that the Jewish experts quoted from the Old Testament prophet Micah. Yes, Micah foretold that Jesus would be born in lowly Bethlehem. We focus on that truth every Christmas. But notice also what Micah foretold about the person who would be born in Bethlehem. “For out of [Bethlehem] will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.” There it is. One of the most endearing descriptions of the person and work of the Savior. He would come to shepherd his people. As all of us know, Jesus is our Good Shepherd. So, when you gaze at the Star of Bethlehem, see him as your shepherd.In fact, over the next six weeks—the entire season of Epiphany this year—we’ll see Jesus serving as the shepherd of his people. First, we focus on his miracles. At his baptism, which we’ll celebrate next Sunday, we’ll see the miracle of him being anointed with the Holy Spirit, marking Jesus with divine certainty as the one God sent to be the Savior. Then we’ll see him performing his first miracle—changing water into wine. Each one of his miracles is divine attestation that Jesus is the Son of God and the world’s Savior from sin. In doing so, Jesus is serving as the shepherd of your soul. And then, during Epiphany, we listen as Jesus begins his ministry of preaching his word. He preaches that word to individuals, small groups, and crowds of people. In the words of the 23rd Psalm, he leads them into the green pasture of his word. He is serving his people by shepherding them. And once again this Epiphany, you and I have the blessed opportunity to see and hear the Star of Bethlehem serving as our shepherd. So, accept my encouragement for how to observe Epiphany. Spend it Star gazing at Jesus, your shepherd. I asked you earlier what you would have Jesus do for you if you had the opportunity to ask him. Now let me ask you something else. What do you think Jesus will do for you in 2021? No one knows exactly what Jesus will do for them in the year ahead. But we do know at least one thing. He will do everything he has promised to do. And one of those things is serving as your shepherd. And, if you think about it, that’s exactly what you and I need him to do. He will continue doing miracles in your life—the miracle of sustaining your faith in him. He will use his word and sacrament to keep you in your faith in him as your Savior. There’s nothing more important in your life than your faith in Jesus, because with that faith, you have a blessed relationship with Jesus now and the guarantee of an eternal relationship with him in heaven. So, spend Epiphany Star gazing! But that’s not easy to do. We get distracted by life. We convince ourselves that we have other things to do that are more important. Or, we get bored with it or view it as an unwanted interruption or a burden. Sinful attitudes like those reveal just how much we need to Star gaze at Jesus. See your shepherd lay down his life—for you! I realize you might not have any plans to celebrate Epiphany this year. Outwardly, physically, visibly—that’s fine. But spiritually, spend it Star gazing at Jesus, your shepherd. Part II. As familiar as this account of the wisemen coming to worship Jesus is, there’s a good deal about the wisemen that we don’t know. We can only take some educated guesses. We don’t know how many wisemen there were. We only know there were three gifts they presented to Jesus. We don’t know exactly where they came from. A good guess would be Babylon. And how did they come to know about the promise of a Savior? Well, we know from the Book of Daniel that Daniel was placed in charge of the magi in Babylon. Among other things, the magi were interested in studying ancient literature. It would make sense that Daniel introduced them to writings of what we call the Old Testament and the focus of those writings—the promised Savior. We’re led to conclude that somehow God indicated to them that the appearance of the miraculous star marked the birth of that Savior. But notice once again how they refer to Jesus. They arrived in Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jews, and begin asking around, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” They were aware of God’s promise to send a Savior who would rule as a King forever. After centuries of waiting, you would think that the Jews would be interested in gazing at that Savior. Not so. Listen to what Matthew tells us. “When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” At this point, Herod was near the end of his life. He had already murdered one of his wives and some of his sons because he feared they were plotting against him. And that was his diabolical plan for this reported “king of the Jews.” All Jerusalem was disturbed with him. Why? The likely reason is that they knew that when Herod got disturbed, blood flowed. They dreaded what he might do. Fast forward about thirty years, and the Jews were disturbed by Jesus again. They wanted him to be their king, but on their own terms. And when Jesus refused, they wanted nothing to do with him, in spite of the fact that they witnessed his miracles. And when the Jewish leaders felt threatened by this “king,” they succeeded where Herod failed. They murdered the King of the Jews. By the grace of God, how differently you and I view Jesus! With hearts full of faith, we see Jesus as our King, just as the wisemen did. And that’s what he is. He came to redeem us from Satan’s kingdom to his kingdom. His kingdom is not of this world, as he testified before Pilate. His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, and we are members of it by faith in him. His kingdom is eternal, and we’ll live with him in it eternally. Herod and the Jews were afraid that Jesus had come to take something from them. But the polar opposite is the truth. He came to bless us. He came to win our forgiveness, a forgiveness we need each day of our sinful lives. He came to sacrifice himself to win that forgiveness for us. He came to win peace for us with the holy God. He rose again from the dead to make us certain that we’re not guilty before God and to assure us that we, too, will rise from the dead on the Last Day. And now he lives as the King over all things, directing the history of the world for the good of his believers on earth. He’ll continue doing so until that day when he returns and reveals himself before every human being as your King and mine. How blessed we are to know Christ as our King! So, spend Epiphany Star gazing. Gaze at Jesus, your King. Have you spent some time wondering how 2021 will be? Better or worse than 2020? You and I don’t know. But your King does, and he has everything under control. The King who died and rose for you is working everything out just as he planned in eternity. No matter how powerful evil forces might become in 2021, they’re no match for your King. So, be still and know that Jesus is King. Spend time Star gazing, today, tomorrow, on the day of Epiphany, throughout this season of Epiphany, every day of your life. Star gaze at Jesus, your King, as he blesses you each day in the way that he deems best. That’s what these wisemen did. That’s what wise Christians still do. Amen.

Don’t Put Christmas Away!

1st Sunday after Christmas, 12/27/20 Colossians 3:12-17 Don’t Put Christmas Away! I. Instead, put Christ on in attitude. II. Instead, put Christ on in gratitude. I didn’t see any yesterday, but I’m sure if I spent some time looking, I would have seen one or more. No, I’m not speaking about snowmen made out of the dusting of Christmas Day snow we received. I’m talking about live Christmas trees out at the curb, ready for pick-up by a trash collector. And how many people will already have all their Christmas decorations packed up and stored in attics and closets by the end of today? While most people want to enjoy their Christmas decorations at least for a few days after Christmas, there are people who want to be done with Christmas as soon as Dec. 26 rolls around. They put their Christmas decorations up right after Thanksgiving and they’ve enjoyed them enough. For them, it’s time to move on. Maybe you share that opinion to one degree or another. And, if so, that’s fine. There aren’t any rules or laws about Christmas decorations. You’re free to enjoy them longer or not. And yet my encouragement for you this morning is don’t put Christmas away. So, what do I mean by that? Am I contradicting myself? Christmas for Christians is not simply an event to celebrate on a day or two a year and then move on to whatever is next on your calendar. For Christians, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ who came into this world to be our Savior from sin. He lived and died and rose again to establish an eternal relationship with you, one that continues even after your Christmas trees and decorations are removed and packed away. Christmas makes an eternal difference in your life. St. Paul speaks about that very thing in this morning’s sermon text from Colossians 3. In a way, he tells you not to put Christmas away, but to put Christ on. Listen again to the opening words of our text, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves.” Clothe yourselves. Did you receive a sweater or some slippers for Christmas? If so, did you try them on? Most likely you did, as soon as you unwrapped them. Paul urges us as Christmas Christians to put Christmas on spiritually. So, don’t put Christmas away. Instead put Christ on. Let’s see what that means as we continue to ponder the meaning of Christmas for our daily lives. Part I. I hope it didn’t happen at your celebration of Christmas this year. And what is that? I hope no one said or did something that “ruined” your celebration. People try to be on their best behavior when celebrating Christmas with others, but you know how things can go wrong in a heartbeat. Someone says something that slightly offends someone else, and the offended person takes that as an opening to retaliate and the next thing you know, the joy that once filled the room has evaporated, and the stench of ugly words fills the air. It’s sad, but it happens. It’s almost as if the birth of Jesus meant nothing to them. And, if something similar didn’t happen already to you, it will probably sooner than later. People that you love will say or do something that would give the impression that they have forgotten all about the truth that a Savior has been born for them. They’re speaking and living as if Jesus had never arrived. That shouldn’t surprise us. Every Christian still battles with a sinful nature every day and far too often that sinful nature gets the best of them, the best of us. We live like Christmas doesn’t matter. So, what’s the solution to this dismal ordeal? Don’t put Christmas away. Instead, put Christ on. Listen to Paul explain that for you. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” That’s quite a list of things to put on. Let’s look at the first five together: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Paul here urges inward and outward Christlikeness. Let what Christ has made you on the inside show outwardly to others. That starts with realizing that, at your baptism, the Lord Jesus made you his own child by faith in him. That faith naturally produces the fruits of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. It genuinely cares about someone who is giving you every reason not to. That’s Christlikeness inside and out. Next, Paul tells you to put on forgiveness. He says it like this, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” That concept is exactly the opposite of the way our world operates. The world expects you to get even or get run over again. Jesus tells you to put on forgiveness. That should be easy to do when someone asks for it. But what if they don’t? What if we’re bearing a grudge against them and we’re struggling to forgive them? Forgive as Jesus did. Recall his words on the cross, asking his Father to forgive the people who were crucifying him. There’s your power to forgive others! Thirdly, Paul tells us, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Recall that this is Christian love, not some sappy, unreliable worldly love. This is the love that knows the object and wants what is best for it and is willing to act on it. In other words, Christian love for another person knows that person’s faults and weaknesses, but wants what is best for that person and is willing to do what it takes to accomplish it. That’s the kind of love Jesus has for you. The “best” that he wants for you is life with him and he did what it took to accomplish it for you. Don’t put Christmas away. Instead, put Christ on in attitude. Considering what Paul wrote here, having that kind of attitude toward others isn’t going to be easy. After all, how much sin from others against you should you be willing take? As much as Jesus did. But that’s hard. In fact, for us that’s impossible. But that’s why Jesus was born into this world. He came to forgive others in a way that we never could, and he did it in our place. And then he took our sins on himself and suffered the punishment for us. That’s why his Father sent him into this world that first Christmas. And now we have the opportunity, having seen God’s love for us, to show that love towards others. That doesn’t mean we’ll overlook the sins of others. We have the responsibility also to call people to repentance in a loving way. But ask yourself, “Who needs for me to show them Christlikeness in the days ahead? Pick someone out. And then put Christ on in attitude. Part II. Not much has changed in a month. Last November I stood right there and recorded a Thanksgiving video message for you in which I admitted it might be a little more difficult to be thankful this Thanksgiving because of what we’re going through here and around the world. And here we are a month later and not much has changed. And yet twice in the closing verses of our text Paul urges us to be thankful. As you ponder how you wanted to celebrate Christmas but couldn’t, maybe thankfulness is in a little hard to come by. So, how can you do what Paul is urging you to do? Don’t put Christmas away. Instead put Christ on in gratitude. Paul doesn’t mention a thing about the outward circumstances of Christians here. That’s because he isn’t urging you to be thankful because your life is one unending joy ride. He knows that isn’t the case with any Christian. In fact, the Christian life can be very difficult at times as it gets blasted by the people of this world. So, how can we be thankful? By recalling what Christmas did for you spiritually. Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem to win your forgiveness and eternal life. He came to open the gates of heaven to you and all who trust in him. He came to redeem you to be his own forever. Those tremendous spiritual blessings are yours no matter what’s happening around you. And your fellow Christians are surrounding you to remind you of it. Listen to Paul’s description of your Christian fellowship, “Be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Focus your attention on the word of God. Encourage your fellow Christians to do the same. Encourage each other to be thankful. Don’t put Christmas away! Instead, put Christ on in gratitude. This is the week for new year’s resolutions. Will you be making one or more? Maybe that’s not your thing to do. But let me encourage you to do what your Lord Jesus calls for you to do here in his word. Be thankful. Recall what Christmas means for you. Even if this Christmas wasn’t what you wanted it to be, or even if 2021 isn’t much better or any better than 2020 was, recall what Christmas means for you and be thankful. “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:11). Don’t put Christmas away! Put Christ on and let others see him through you. May the Lord bless your efforts to live for him in this new year! Amen.