Meditation on the Eve of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus

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Jesu Juva

“Your Name on Him”

Text: Numbers 6:22-27; Luke 2:21; Galatians 3:23-29

 

In the Name of (+) Jesus. Amen.

God told Aaron to put His Name on the people of Israel. Because that’s what you do when something’s important to you - you put your name on it. These people belonged to Him. He would bless them. His face would shine upon them - He wasn’t going to turn His back on them. He would be gracious to them and give them peace. They would have rest in a home of their own. They would have peace and security from their enemies. And God promised all this to them because from this people would come the human flesh of His Son, come to be the Saviour of the world. And so He put His Name on them. 

An when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son (Galatians 4:4), which we remembered and celebrated six days ago now. Christmas is one of the most joyous times of the year - which it should be. For God keeping His promise, God sending His Son, the Son of God being born into this world - is a big deal. So we should make a big deal of it. 

But we heard of something else God did tonight, that maybe doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. And that is what happened on the eighth day of Christmas, the eighth day after Jesus’ birth - and that is His circumcision. Luke records it for us in just one verse. No big narrative like Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem, or like we heard Sunday with Simeon in the Temple. And maybe that’s why we overlook it. For if it wasn’t worth Luke’s time and effort, then . . . 

But that would be a mistake. Circumcision was a big deal to the Jewish people. It connected them to Abraham and the promise of God made to him. A physical sign that yes, they were a part of the covenant. Failure to have that skin cut off meant that YOU were cut off - cut off from the covenant, because you had rejected God and His promise. So to be a real Jew, you had to be circumcised. 

But just that doesn’t solve the confusion of why JESUS was circumcised, and why HIS circumcision is such big deal. So maybe this is a good way to think about it and help us understand: it is the counterpart to what God commanded Aaron to do. For if Aaron was to put God’s Name on the people, when Jesus is circumcised is when God puts YOUR name on HIMSELF.

Which means Jesus is now doing everything in your name, on your behalf. What you don’t do, won’t do, and can’t do, He does for you. So all the commandments you break, He keeps in your name. All the things you should do but fail to do, He does in your name. When He ascends the cross, He dies the death you deserve, receives the condemnation of God you deserve. It is as if YOU are hanging there. And then when He rises from the dead, that’s in your name, too. For you, too. 

So all He does . . . it’s like . . . in a big trust fund. That’s what wealthy people often do - they put their wealth into a trust fund for their children so they are provided for. And when the children turn a certain age, they receive that gift. It was there all along, but then it becomes theirs. 

So it is now with us. Except we don’t receive all that Jesus did for us, in our name, when we reach a certain age, but when we are baptized. That’s what St. Paul was talking about in the reading from Galatians tonight. Before baptism, all the wealth and riches of God are there, like with a trust fund, before the children reach a certain age and are still under a guardian. But when you are baptized, it’s all yours. And it doesn’t matter whether you are Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female - whoever you are, that trust fund is for you. The riches Jesus won for you - the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and the kingdom of God. 

Now I don’t know about you, but to me, that’s a pretty big deal! And so Jesus’ circumcision is a pretty big deal.

The other thing that happened that day goes along with this, too. This son born to Mary is given a human name: Jesus. It is, as Luke tells us, the name given by the angel - or we could really say, the name given by this Son’s true Father, for the angel Gabriel simply spoke God’s Word to Mary - it is the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And this name was given because fits with what this Son would do: save us.

But as I said, this ties in with what is happening here with Jesus’ circumcision. Yes, He receives His human name, but with that knife and His blood shed for the very first time, He receives all of our names. YOUR name is given to Him. And He bears it for you. And He fulfills HIS name FOR YOU - He saves YOU. For your sin, forgiveness. For your brokenness, healing. For your death, life. For your condemnation, salvation. All you need, He has done. All you need, He gives. 

Which means that as we enter a New Year tonight, we rejoice in the gifts we have received from our Lord this past year, and look forward to the gifts we will receive from Him this coming year. And know that with God’s Name on us, and with our name on Jesus, we are His and He is ours. So like Israel of old, we have peace and rest, no matter what the future holds; no matter what happens in 2025, or beyond. 

For this you know:

The Lord will bless you and keep you;
the Lord will make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord will lift up his countenance upon you 

and [He will] give you peace.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas

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Jesu Juva

“Thomas, Simeon, and a God with Hands”

Text: Luke 2:22-40; Colossians 3:12-17

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have you ever said something like: I can’t wait to get my hands on . . . It could be that gift you saw under the tree, or that gift you really wanted. I can’t wait to get my hands on that, make it mine, use it. But you can also use that phrase in a negative way, a vengeful way. I can’t wait to get my hands on . . . that person who did that to me! Our hands possess things. Our hands can also exercise power. We can lend a hand, give someone a hand, raise my hand, shake hands, and hold hands. Hands can slap and hit and cause damage, but also soothe, comfort, and console. I don’t know if you’ve ever really thought about them much, but your hands are pretty important. Amazing creations of our loving God.

Well, hands play an important part in the Christmas story. Of course, Joseph’s and Mary’s hands are important as they held the baby Jesus after His birth. But there’s more. For this year, four days before Christmas and today, four days after Christmas we get important hand stories.

First, four days before Christmas, December 21st, is the day the Church commemorates St. Thomas the Apostle. You know him as doubting Thomas - the one who said, essentially: I can’t wait to get my hands on Jesus! Because he said unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe (John 20:25). I always thought it interesting that his day falls right before Christmas, but it makes sense if you know that the flesh he insisted on touching was the flesh that was born on Christmas and laid in the manger. So with Thomas, right before Christmas, we get a foreshadowing of why Jesus will be born - for life and faith. And once Thomas’ hands touched that flesh, that’s what he got! Life and faith, and so confessed My Lord and my God!

And then second, today, four days after Christmas, we heard the story of Simeon, who also couldn’t wait to get his hands on Jesus. For he had been promised (as we heard) that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So that day, when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus into the Temple, Simeon gets the gift he had been waiting for, takes Jesus in his hands, and basically makes the same confession as Thomas. He used different words, but essentially says, My Lord and my God! I can die now. You have kept Your promise. You have sent my Saviour. 

And that Saviour had hands. 

Well duh Pastor! Of course He had hands! What kind of mutant baby would He be without hands! 

Of course. But think about it. Why was Jesus promised? Why did Jesus come? Why did Jesus do what He did? It is as if after Adam and Eve sinned, God said: I can’t wait to get my hands on them! But not in anger, not for revenge, but to rescue them, lift them up, and bless them. So God promised a Saviour. He would come with hands. Hands of love and mercy. One of the criticisms of false gods we read in the Old Testament is that they have mouths but do not speak, eyes but do not see, ears but do not hear, and hands but do not feel (Psalm 115:5-7). But we have a God with hands. Hands that touch and feel and save.

First, they were tiny hands. Newborn hands. Christmas hands! Hands that weren’t even big enough to wrap themselves around Joseph’s little finger!

But then they grew, just like our hands grow. And as we heard at the end of the Holy Gospel today, they grew and become strong, probably lifting wood and helping Joseph with his work.

And then when Jesus began His work, His public ministry, He’s touching everybody! He can’t wait to get His hands on them! He touches the ears of the deaf and they hear. He touches the eyes of the blind and they see again. He touches lepers and they are cleansed. He touches the sick and they are healed, and the dead and they are raised to life again. Parents bring their children to Jesus and beg Him to . . . touch them. He is a God with hands.

And then there are all those who touched Jesus - who couldn’t wait to get their hands on Him! And He wanted to be touched by them. The woman who washed His feet with her tears. The woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. And so many more stories, because that’s what you get with a God who comes in the flesh, a God with hands to touch and be touched. To save.

But there were others, too, who couldn’t wait to get their hands on Jesus. Yesterday, December 28th, is the day the Church remembers when King Herod couldn’t wait to get His hands on Jesus and so killed all the baby boys in Bethlehem two years old and under. And the Jewish Sanhedrin plotted and planned and laid traps for Jesus until they finally were able to lay their hands on Jesus and get Him put on the cross. Which is where you die a death where your hands are nailed down. So He could no longer touch. They wanted to stop those healing, blessing, saving hands. 

But, of course, they couldn’t. Which is what the story of Thomas teaches us. Yes, Jesus was crucified and His hands were attached to the cross. But now He holds those same hands out to Thomas and says, Touch me. Put your fingers into the holes in my hands. And that touch brings life and faith to Thomas. And if Simeon made Thomas’ confession, My Lord and my God, just with different words, I think Thomas also made Simeon’s confession, just with different words. Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, for not only my eyes have seen Your salvation, my hands have touched my salvation, my Saviour.

And even more important, He has touched me. My Saviour, my God, with His hands.

And He has touched you. No, His physical hands are no longer here to touch as they once did. He is touching now in a different way - but a no less blessing and saving way. For still Your gracious and loving God can’t wait to get His hands on you! And so in the same way He touched through the prophets of the Old Testament and the Apostles of the New, so now through His Pastors He is using their hands to touch - to wash and forgive and feed. And with His touch, we now are the next in the long line of believers to confess with them and in their words. My Lord and My God we confess with Thomas in the Creed, and Lord, lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, we will sing with Simeon after being touched by and having Jesus’ Body and Blood placed into our mouths. And like them, through this touch, this gift, we have new life, and joy, and peace.

But then the question becomes: What do we do with our hands? 

Well, surely, lots of things. But if we use Thomas’ and Simeon’s words, how can we not just speak and confess like them but also be like them; that we can’t wait to get our hands on Jesus? But how can we, with a Jesus who is no longer here with us as He was with them?

Well, Jesus has told us how, before He ascended the cross. He said, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me (Matthew 25:40). So you get your hands on Jesus by getting your hands on your neighbor - your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, all those people God has give you in your life. When you get your hands on them and touch and serve and love and care for them, so you are to Jesus. And when you get your hands on them and touch to hurt or harm or persecute them, so you are to Jesus. 

St. Paul put it this way, as we heard today: Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, - or, we could add, as those touched by God - put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another . . . forgiving each other . . . And above all these put on love. And we can have hands like that when, as Paul goes on to say, the word of Christ dwells in you richly. For when Jesus and His Word dwell in you, and His Spirit dwells in you, your hands become His hands, His loving and forgiving hands.

So how are you using your hands? Who can’t you wait to get your hands on? And why? Maybe we need to think about that a little more before we do the things we do . . . And then keep coming back here in repentance for the loving, restoring, forgiving touch of Jesus. To be refilled with His Word, that it dwell in us not a little, but richly. So that when the time comes for us to depart this world, it will be like Simeon, in peace. And it will be like Thomas, confessing my Lord and my God!

So think again now: Who can’t you wait to get your hands on? Who has God given you as a gift to love and serve and care for? Who has He given you as a gift to do those things for you? And if your hands seem too small and too weak to do much, just remember that Jesus’ were once, too. But as those hands were God’s hands, so will yours be, and God will do great things through them. To judge how great is not for us to say. But as Jesus told us, those things we consider little and of no account, cups of cold water, words of encouragement, visits, compassion, and things like that, He considers those things great. 

So be bold! Bold to love and serve, to help and forgive! Bold like Simeon and Thomas were, who took Jesus up in their hands in joy and peace. And know that Jesus first has, and will continue to do, the same for you. And when the Last Day comes, it will be the same: Jesus can’t wait to get His hands on you! For the baby in the manger will be your God on the throne. You’ll see the nail marks in His hands, and know: my Lord and my God! And those hands will take hold of you, and that day will be better than Christmas. For it will be a Christmas, a new birth for you into eternity, with a joy and peace that will never end.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon for the Nativity of Our Lord

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Jesu Juva

“We Have Seen His Glory”

Text: John 1:1-14; Hebrews 1:1-12; Isaiah 52:7-10

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

There are many different ways the birth of Jesus is depicted. Some show the holy family in a stable, some in a cave. Some show Jesus in a wooden manger, some in a stone manger that looks like a little tomb - foreshadowing His death. 

Take a look at the cover of your bulletin today. What do you see? How is Jesus’ manger depicted for us there? Do you see it? It looks like an altar. For from the moment of His birth, the Father was giving His Son for the life of the world. He was laying His Son on the altar as the sacrifice for the sin of the world. A sacrifice He would actually carry out. He stayed Father Abraham’s hand and spared his son, Isaac, the son of the promise. But He would not spare His own Son of the promise. For this He came. For this He was born. To die as our sacrificial Lamb.

That kind of bursts the Silent Night, O Little Town of Bethlehem vibe! But not to take away that joy, but to give us even more joy! There is a time and place for the traditional nativity scenes, living nativities, candlelights and Christmas pageants. But let them not overshadow this glorious reality and truth - that this child was, even now, as an infant, destroying the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). For here was a child neither sin nor satan had corrupted. For here, in this child, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 

John tells us so much about Him. He is the eternal God. Through Him all things were made. He is life. He is the light of God’s truth and love in the darkness of this world’s sin and death. 

We learn also in the reading we heard from Hebrews, that He is the exact imprint of God’s nature - which means: you see Him, you see God. And He not only created all things but is still upholding the universe by the Word of His power. He is superior to the angels, and is worshipped and served by them. His throne is forever and ever, and though all creation perish, He will remain. And though creation is constantly changing, He remains the same. Steadfast, reliable, constant, faithful. 

That one - that one of whom all that is true! - has now come in your human flesh and blood, has come in lowliness and weakness, has come in humility and poverty, to serve and to save YOU.

And that really is the wonder of Christmas. That the Creator has come to serve the creatures, when we all know it should be the other way around. But this is the glory of God: that He is not like us. That creating in love, He comes in love, and dies in love. So when John says that we have seen His glory, this is what He means. This is what glory looks like. Which we need to know in this world where we get glory all wrong. Where we chase after a glory that does not last. This is what glory looks like. True glory. Godly glory.

That . . . It is the glory of God not to stay in heaven, in power, but to be born as a man, and to be wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.

It is the glory of God not to sit above everything that is happening, but to come and be obedient to His parents, and to be baptized as we are.

It is the glory of God not to separate Himself from us, but to eat with tax collectors and sinners and to touch lepers and those unclean with all kinds of diseases.

It is the glory of God not to flex His high and mighty muscles, but to allow those to whom He has given authority to use that authority against Him, arrest Him, flog Him, and then crucify Him.

All these things that we consider unglorious, are His glory. All these things do not diminish Him, but exalt Him and add to the wonder of His love. 

Luther once wrote about what a wonder it would be if the son of a wealthy king left his throne and went to the ghettos to serve the poor and diseased, the filthy and disgusting. It would be all over the press as people wondered at and tried to understand such mercy. Well, Luther said, that’s almost what the Son of the Most High has done for us. Except the Son of God left a far greater throne and came to serve far worse people. And that’s the glory of this day.

That’s why the angels sang as they did, as we heard in the Scriptures last night: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men (Luke 2:14). Glory to the God who, as Isaiah said, rolled up His sleeves, bared His holy arm, and got to work for us. Work that culminated with His ascending a mountain outside of Jerusalem and the glory of being the Son laid on the altar - the altar of the cross, where the Father offered up His Son and the Son laid down His life for the life of the world. 

But not just the life of the world . . . for your life. He did this all for you. For Jackie, for Tim, for Grace, for Caleb, yes, for all of you, but also for each of you.

It is said that people who have a near death experience often change their life and how they live. If you’ve dodged a bullet or been given a second chance, you get to do things differently. 

And so it is with you and me. Except we haven’t just had a near death experience - we were actually dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) and condemned for eternity, were it not for Jesus coming to save us. Coming to give us life again. 

So how are you now living that life? In gratitude or with an attitude of entitlement? Bringing peace or causing division? Serving or demanding? Giving or taking? Joyful or resentful? If you’re like me, it’s a bit of all of that. Some good, some bad, some ugly. Okay, a LOT ugly! 

So what’s a God to do? A God who did all this for us, starting with His birth that we celebrate today . . . and then we . . . we live as if He didn’t?

Well, He lays Himself on the altar for us. Just as the picture on the cover of the bulletin depicts today. He did so then, and He does so now. He lay in a manger of hay then, and He lies in a manger of bread and wine on this altar here today, to forgive our bad and all our ugly and work some good in us. That, as John said, we who receive Him here, who believe in His name, have the right to become children of God, being born not of blood or the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but of God. And thus born of God and here fed by God, when he says there that we have the right, it means that we are authorized, we are empowered to be and live as the children of God we are. 

But what does that mean? To live like that? Well, look no farther than Jesus. It means we get to live like Him now. That we have been set free to be glorious as He is glorious. Not chasing the glory of the world, but with the greater glory of God. The glory of serving, loving, mercying, and laying down our lives for others. Showing ourselves to be children of a God like that. Like Father, so His sons and daughters. For the Word not only became flesh and dwelt among us, He is dwelling in us with His life and light. Destroying the work of the devil in us and through us.

That’s what the Word made flesh has come to do. His coming is not just a thing of the past, an historical event to be remembered, and not just a thing of the future, with no real relevance to our life here and now, but a present reality. For the Word who was made flesh, still is. He didn’t shed our flesh when He was done with it and return to some pristine, godly state. That this being a man was just a temporary thing and something to get over as quickly as He could. No! This is who Jesus is. With His birth, and now, and forever. He is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin Mary (Small Catechism). He is your blood brother, your flesh brother, and it is not beneath Him to be so. It is His glory. His glory that we celebrate this day.

And that glory is what we’re going to sing of now. It is a hymn some might say is not very Christmassy, like the kind that are most known and loved. They’re good, but this one is better. You need to pay attention to the words, though. That’s where the joy is. It’s a hymn that fits perfectly the picture on the cover of the bulletin today, of a baby Jesus on the altar and His glory. Listen to how it talks about Jesus and all that He has done for us, and then come to His altar where He lay today, and receive it. Receive Him. And the glory of His love, His forgiveness, and His life, for you.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.