Is Christmas Over?

Christmas Day in 1999 was on a Saturday. I preached at the three Christmas Services on Christmas Eve, then at the two Christmas morning services. Then I preached at the two Sunday morning services on December 26. I was pretty tired by Sunday afternoon – and a little glad that at least that part of Christmas was over.

That Sunday morning was the first time I noticed something. As I was driving into town to get to the church, I went past about a half dozen houses that had their Christmas trees lying at the curb of the streets.

It struck me as more than a little sad that people were throwing out their Christmas trees so soon after the presents were opened and the dinner was digested.

As the years have gone by, however, I feel a little more empathy to this idea. There is a sense of “being done” with Christmas – especially after such an early Thanksgiving. Our tree had to come down this weekend. Not because we wanted to be over and done with Christmas, but out of necessity. We cut down our tree at Richardson’s tree farm in Spring Grove the day after Thanksgiving. That was back on November 23! This past week –even though we’ve been diligent in watering the tree – it was dropping needles like crazy.

After the gifts have been unwrapped, after the visits are over with, after the leftovers are slim pickings, there is a sense of completion with Christmas by this weekend.

But even though we are mostly done with Christmas, something feels left undone.

This is the First Sunday of Christmas. Yes, Christmas is more than a day. It is a season. It is a short season – only 12 Days (hence the song) – that comes to a close with the Celebration of Epiphany on January 6.

In reality, we are only half-way through Christmas. Yet, the trees are coming down. Extended family is going home. All the movies have been watched – It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, A Christmas Story, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Most of the radio stations that have been playing Christmas music have gone back to regular programming.

I was sitting up last night reading in the glow of the Christmas tree lights and I felt that even though – for all intents and purposes –Christmas was over, I felt something has been left undone.

The Christmas story is glorious while at the same time familiar. Mary, Joseph, Bethlehem, Angels, Shepherds, and Gloria in Excelsis!

But that isn’t all there is to Jesus’ story. If all we do is listen to the Christmas story, by the time we get to the Shepherds returning to their fields and making plans to tell others about what they have seen, we really have only the beginning of the story.

It isn’t over, people. Christmas is just the beginning. If all we hear is the Christmas story, then we are left with a sense of “is that all there is?”

The answer is, “no, there is more!”

After Christmas comes Epiphany – the time we remember the presentations of Jesus. A better, more liturgical word would be “manifestations.” These manifestations are how Jesus was revealed as the Messiah, as the true Son of God who came to take away the sins of the world.

This short season of Christmas quickly turns to Epiphany.

And this year, Epiphany quickly turns to Lent.

Epiphany will begin with the Wise Men seeking Jesus, then quickly move to the Baptism of the adult Jesus and then, just as quickly, finish with the Transfiguration of Jesus.

Yes, there is more, much more, to this story of Jesus than just His birth that we celebrate at Christmas. After the Christmas story, about a month and a half after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph brought Him to the Temple and there met an old man named Simeon.

He was an old man by the time Jesus was born. He had been waiting for Christmas His whole life. That’s something to think about when we get impatient with the coming of Christmas in early December – as I remember being when I was a little boy! I couldn’t wait for Christmas to get here when I was young, feeling that the last two or three weeks were an eternity.

But Simeon had been waiting for possibly 70 years for Christmas to come.

He knew that it must be soon as he was getting up in years. He had the Lord’s promise that “he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26).

After waiting so long, his story was nearing its end.

Finally, finally! It comes to completion for Simeon. The Spirit moved Simeon to be in the Temple the day Mary and Joseph brought Jesus in 40 days after His birth – to fulfill Mosaic Law.

Simeon’s response is glorious! It is a song the Church has been singing for centuries – usually after receiving the body and blood of Jesus in the Lord’s Supper. The song is titled “The Nunc Dimittus” – and we will sing it as most of us remember it being sung at the end of this worship service.

But let’s take a look at what Simeon says to Mary after this glorious song.

“Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).

Simeon celebrates his first Christmas! But already he understands that there is more to the story!

Simeon is talking about the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. Simeon is fulfilling his role as a prophet – foretelling that this child will grow up in order to fulfill God’s plan.

The wording is interesting. I think that the usual way of saying this phrase would be “rising and falling” – because you can’t fall until you rise. But Simeon – under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – reverses this. He starts with falling and concludes with rising.

This tells us that Jesus will “make all things new.” He will tear down the established religions of men – all the false religions and traditions of people that only lead away from God. He will cause these to fall. He will bring it all down to the foundation and build anew.

As Jesus rises from the dead, He will raise us up as well. Yes, on the last day all will be raised – some to everlasting life and some to everlasting condemnation. But even now, Jesus is raising up a new people for Himself.

This is the Church, built on the foundation of the prophets and apostles – which is to say on God’s Word.

Through Jesus’ death and resurrection – His own “falling and rising” – we, too, will be made anew.

We make a lot of new things out of old. We call it recycling. This Christmas that quickly turns into Epiphany which will quickly turn into Lent, let’s recycle the wood we have used.

The manger that Mary used as a first crib for Jesus is no longer needed. Just like our Christmas trees that held the promise and hope of gifts and light and a glorious season are no longer need.

Let us recycle them, using the wood that once held the Promise into something – also wooden – that will hold the Promise again.

The manger – and our trees – can be recycled into a cross. For this Baby, whose birth we have celebrated, was born to be our substitute under the Law – fulfilling what was demanded of us but what we couldn’t do. He grew up to live the perfect life demanded. Then Jesus suffered and died on a cross – again, fulfilling the promise made “in the beginning” to Adam and Eve.

The cross – like the manger before it – held the Promised Messiah.

But the wood of the cross is also no longer needed. Jesus died “once, for all.”

So let’s recycle that wood yet again. We can use it build a vessel. An ark, if you will.

The Church is now being built – in each generation – on the foundation of the prophets and apostles. The manger once held the Promise. Then, too, the cross. Now the Church holds the promise of Jesus. But we also share the promise of Jesus with others.

Parts of Christmas may be over – the gift-giving, the trees, the leftovers, the visits. But the story is not yet complete.

And we still have a part to play in this story of Jesus – we are called to share the Good News of Jesus through our lives. Let’s do just that, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Get Back to Christmas

Merry Christmas! It is my prayer that as we celebrate today, God would shower His blessings on us in such measure that we will flood our world with His love and peace as we anticipate the 2^nd coming of Jesus Christ!

I’ve heard quite a bit lately the sentiment to “get back” to a more real Christmas. By “real” I think many people are thinking “simple” and “less commercial.”

This is a noble pursuit, but I wonder if we really understand just what that might entail. I suspect that it will also lead us to focus on the wrong things about Christmas and its season.

Today, we have gathered together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ! We have gathered together in Jesus’ name to worship our God who loves us! That’s about a “real” as Christmas could ever get!

Speaking of getting back” let’s look at the first verse of the Christmas Day Gospel – John 1:1.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. – John 1:1

With John’s Gospel we get all the way back to the Creation! John’s Gospel begins with the same words as the Book of Genesis, “in the beginning.”

And look what is there! The first thing God says, according to Genesis 1, is “Let there be light!” There was darkness, and then there was light! Then there was darkness again – the darkness of sin.

But the creative light of God is not so easily dimmed!

On a dark night, over the fields of the little town of Bethlehem many thousands of years after creative light was spoken into existence, the skies exploded again with light!

A joyous light, and a message of song from the angels, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

We sing the same song – as the Gloria in Excelsis – in many of our worship services to remind us that Jesus – the Light of the World – was born to be our substitute. In that sense, every Sunday is a little celebration of Christmas!

A lot of momentous things happen in the dark where, when light shines, it shines very bright.

In the Old Testament:

· The Creation of the World

· The First Passover

· The Victory of Gideon over the Midianites & Amelekites

But even more momentous, in the New Testament:

· The Birth of Jesus Christ

· The Death of Jesus Christ

· The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

The reason, I think, that all these momentous things happened “in the dark” – especially the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus – is because darkness is sometimes defined as the absence of light. For a Christian, then, there is no darkness because Christ forever shines in our hearts; we are reminded of this at every baptism and the giving of a candle.

And in the dark, light shines the brightest! This is especially so with the Light of the Word – Jesus Christ!

I’ve got even better news than the light shines on this Christmas morning! The Light comes to each one of you!

Now, you have two choices when it comes to what do to with the Light you receive. 1) Accept Jesus as He comes to you; or 2) reject Him because he doesn’t fit your idea of what the Messiah should be.

There is only one Jesus. And He’s not some good person. He’s not some moral teacher. He’s not some figment of a church’s imagination. He is – and always has been and always will be – the True Son of God! He was before the foundation of the world – which is exactly what John’s Gospel tells us in verse one. He was born of a Virgin Mary, in the family tree of King David and a descendent of Abraham. He lived a perfect life. Yes, tempted to sin as we are, but was, in fact, without sin. Still, He died a sinners death on the cross – also bearing the punishment of God for sin – for us! Three days after His death Jesus rose from the dead. Again, this took place before dawn on the first day of the week (therefore, in the dark!). And He ascended into Heaven with the promise that He would be with us always and would return to take us and all believers to heaven.

That’s who Jesus is. We either accept Him as He is or we reject Him as He is.

We can reject Him by trying to make Jesus into something He isn’t. Just some moral teacher or good person who had the unfortunate luck to get Himself killed. This shouldn’t surprise us, that people reject Jesus because He doesn’t fit their idea of a savior or messiah.

⁹The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. – John 1:9-11

It is being done today, isn’t it? It is being done by removing prayer and Bibles from schools. It is being done by making pronouncements that terror happens because God is angry with us. It is done today by dismissing the importance of worship and the fellowship of Bible study.

We have these two choices: accept Jesus as He comes to us (and, in so doing, do what He tells us to do as His followers) or reject Him because He doesn’t fit our idea of a savior or doesn’t fit into our lifestyle.

I give thanks to God that He is forgiving and merciful, and gives us these times of celebration to remember the glory of His Light.

The glory of Jesus as the Light of the Word born on Christmas is that He is full of grace. He was born, lived, died, rose and ascended to give us full, abundant and everlasting life!

And the truth is that He continues to be with us as the Son of God, as our savior from sin, and as our true and dearest friend.

No matter what we do, that grace and that truth remains – because He didn’t come because of anything we did and He doesn’t stay because of anything we do!

I know, we still try to convince ourselves that God loves us because of something we do – whether it is a certain style of worship, or whether is it based on what we give in the offering, or it is because of where we go to church or are a member.

But the truth is that God’s loves you and me in spite of us!

This is the Truth of Christmas. It is, I think, what people mean when they wish we could “get back” to the real meaning of Christmas. For many, the true Light of Christmas is dimmed by all the commercialism we see nowadays.

But this is nothing new.

Centuries ago the Puritans we hear so much about at Thanksgiving thought that they were ruining Christmas with all their pagan rituals. They especially objected to the fact that the holiday usually came on a week day, therefore distracting people, they thought, from the Lord's Day of Sunday. But they did more than annually complain about it as we do. They took action and got rid of Christmas altogether! In Puritan settlements across 17^th century America a law was passed outlawing the celebration of Christmas. The market place was ordered to stay open for business as though it was no special occasion and all violators were prosecuted. It was against the law to even make plum pudding on December 25^th. The celebration was not referred to as Yuletide but as fooltide.

So we want to reform Christmas and clean it up, do we? Well, is this how far we want to go? Do we really want to be rid of it altogether? Then will Christmas, as the Puritans thought, be saved from us and our sinful ways. So what if we spend $40 billion annually on presents. Can you think of a better way of spending all that money than on gifts of love? And most of them are just that. And so what if all the lights and tinsel do is create a fairy tale setting that soon disappears as does the so-called Christmas spirit. At least it lets us know, if only for a brief time, what life can be like if we only try.

So let the message ring out this day, not that we are destroying this holy day, but rather, that we can never destroy this day – and instead will receive the Person Who’s birth we celebrate as He comes to us!. Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be for all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. Amen.

Anticipating Christmas

In A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving – which premiered on CBS-TV in 1972 – Sally bemoans the fact that she couldn’t go down to the store and by a “Turkey” tree because all the store had were things for Christmas. Her older brother, Charlie Brown, exclaims, “Christmas? Already?”

It seems that every year since then, stores have been rolling out their Christmas items and sales as early as late September.

Then there are the radio stations that devote their entire music programming to Christmas music – you know the ones I mean. They start the week or two before Thanksgiving and run through Christmas day or a few days after.

When I was an announcer / DJ at KFUO in St. Louis in the late 1980’s, I was given strict orders on the playing of Christmas music. None before December 1. Then, the first week of December I could play one Christmas song per shift, the second week I could play one Christmas song per hour, the third week, two Christmas songs per hour and the week before Christmas I could play three Christmas songs per hour. Christmas Eve we could finally play ALL Christmas songs.

Things have changed these days, that’s for sure.

Of course, you know that I absolutely LOVE the Advent and Christmas seasons. Our home is decorated with Blonski traditional decorations and I have my office decorated as well. I have Christmas music on in my office and at home. I look forward to producing my Classical Christmas radio program each year – and that airs from the day after Thanksgiving through to December 26 or so.

For me, the anticipation of Christmas is an integral part of the joy of this season. Shopping for the perfect gift, preparing the Advent and Christmas messages that I’ll preach or post on my blog, decorating, hosting get-togethers and attending others – all of this is part of my anticipation of Christmas.

Anticipation and expectation often are fused into one in many people. And when an expectation isn’t met, disappointment can quickly foul a mood.

I used to anticipate/expect a white Christmas each year and when it didn’t happen – as has been the case these past couple of years, especially – I would be in a funk.

But living in Southern California for four Christmases pretty much cured me of that, because you should not expect a white Christmas in the San Gabriel valley, where we lived. The mountains, yes, but not down at 1600 feet above sea level where our house was.

You need to be careful with anticipation and expectations – they should be reasonable and realistic. The older I get – and hopefully more mature – I tend to alter my expectations. I don’t necessarily lower my expectations so much as I “shift” them.

Today, a week before Christmas, let’s look at how we anticipate Jesus Christ.

As you read the Gospels, it is clear that Jesus did NOT meet the expectations of many, many people. He certainly DID meet the expectations of the Old Testament, but there was a disconnect with the people of 1^st Century Israel.

His cousin John the Baptist even succumbed to the temptation to expect something “else” from Jesus. He was languishing in Herod’s prison, knowing that he’d probably die there very soon. He sends some of his disciples to Jesus to get some reassurance.

John’s fear was that he might have been mistaken in who he was looking for in the Messiah he was sent to prepare the way for.

I don’t know what John expected Jesus to tell him, but we do know what Jesus said, “tell John what you have seen and heard...” Jesus sends word back to John and says, basically, “Why look for another? I’m the one you expected and anticipated!”

What do we expect Jesus to be? The temptation at this time of year is to focus so much on the infant in a manger that we forget or even miss that the baby grew up, taught and preached and healed and loved for three years and then died a horrible death on a Roman cross.

The infant in a manger is, perhaps, easier for us to expect. It’s safe. In that manger, Jesus doesn’t talk, and so He can’t make demands of us and our time and things. He just sits there looking all cute and cuddly.

In other words, we are tempted to believe we can control or manage the infant Jesus. The music is beautiful, the decorations are warm and inviting, but what is expected of us is, at best, manageable and reasonable.

But with this kind of expectation we are sorely let-down, because this expectation doesn’t solve the stress, depression, anxiety or any of the other negative effects of the Christmas Holiday season.

This kind of expectation can lead to regarding worship and the fellowship of Bible study as a “take-it-or-leave-it” kind of proposition – with most opting for the “leave-it” part. This is not what God intended when the 3^rd Commandment was laid down as law, nor what His inspired writers would say about gathering together for the breaking of bread, prayer and fellowship.

Thanks be to God that the infant Jesus was not all we got. We got the “whole package” of salvation – Jesus was born, He lived, died, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.

We live this salvation each time we worship – all the elements of it are in our worship services along with the Word of God and – every other week – the Sacrament of Holy Communion (where we digest the Word of God for the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation).

The music, the sights, the sounds, and the warmth of this holiday season can be a wonderful part of the expectation – Godly expectation – of our salvation. We need to keep the package together, though.

That’s what we get with Jesus – a complete package that needs to be received and used.

Here’s what I’d like you to do. Make plans now to participate in worship. Not just attend, but be an active participant in worship. And then make plans to participate in a Bible study – we have several here at the church but you can also do one at home with your family. Finally, make plans to have a personal or family devotion time – use the Portals of Prayer or the Lutheran Hour devotions we have here on the church office counter, or use one of your own.

Now, I can’t make any promises or guarantees about what will happen if you do all this – but God can and does: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, ¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

And God’s Word also promises, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

Hold God to these promises as we anticipate Christmas and consider our expectations of this time of year. In Jesus’ name, amen.

A Father and a Son

Does it feel like Christmas?

I was talking with several people this past week about this and a few of them mentioned that it doesn’t feel like Christmas to them.

They are not where they would like to be or are usually at Christmas time.

The family is all grown up and live far away some as far away as heaven.

Here (Chicagoland), there’s no white Christmas this year.

Some were so busy that Christmas just seemed to pass them by or got lost in all the busyness.

So, does it feel like Christmas to you?

The question behind that question is what is Christmas supposed to feel like?

I’ve come to the realization that all my feelings of what Christmas is supposed to feel like are mostly transitory. The presents, the white Christmas, the wonder and amazement in a small child’s eyes – these are all momentary, for me any way, of what Christmas is supposed to feel like.

You see, there were some years there are no presents, no white Christmas, and, of course, children do grow up. These feelings are fleeting and ephemeral. In other words, they don’t last.

That is why I chose to base this Christmas message on a somewhat unusual Scripture passage – Hebrews chapter 1.

Even before Jesus Christ was born, there was a Christmas Anticipation. It wasn’t based on a snowfall or anything fleeting like that.

¹Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

God had been speaking to “our fathers” for a long time about a coming savior.

The savior would be an offspring of Eve Genesis 3:15

The savior would be a descendent of Abraham Genesis 12:3 and 18:18

The savior would come from the Israelite tribe of Judah Genesis 49:10

The savior would be a prophet like Moses Deuteronomy 18:15-19

The savior would be the Son of God Psalm 2:7

The savior would be born of a virgin Isaiah 7:14

The savior would be born in Bethlehem Micah 5:2

The savior would save his people from their sins Isaiah 53

These were all promises made to our fathers – our fore-fathers, actually. And it was these promises that formed their anticipation of Christmas.

These promises, these prophecies, were handed down from father to child through thousands of years and hundreds of generations.

These promises were most important when so many fathers and children were in exile from their homeland. That anticipation takes the form of a beloved Christmas carol for us today.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear.

Anticipation for something that never happens is a cruel punishment. Our God is not cruel. He loves us with an everlasting love. One of the most awesome proofs of that love is that Christmas moved from anticipation to actuality.

¹Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets

² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 

Then, God spoke to our fathers. Now, God speaks to us by His Son. Jesus Christ speaks to us through words and action. Jesus speaks to us out of His humanity. Jesus was born.

On Christmas.

He became a man. He was the Son of God. And through His Son, God the Father speaks to us.

Christmas anticipation is culminated in Christmas actuality. But there are so many who are skeptical, at best, of any kind of Christmas authenticity.

Christmas is authentic as a father’s love. Ah, but that’s the problem, isn’t it? So many people today are missing their father’s love. Some call it a “father wound.” Some just call it reality today – with 17.8 million children not having a father at home. It’s not hard to look at the “Father’s Love at Christmas” with cynicism.

I can appreciate that. But there is a Father’s love that can be trusted, can be counted on, and that knows no bounds. In fact, it was the Son’s mission to convey that Father’s love to us.

Jesus was born on Christmas. And though many see today as the end of a long season of preparations, presents, and provisions, today is really just the beginning! It was the beginning of Jesus’ mission to bring us the message of God the Father’s love and it was the beginning of Jesus’ mission to bring us back to God the Father.

Today we mark the birth of Jesus Christ – who was born to be our substitute. Our sin, inherited from Adam and Eve and the sin we’ve committed during our lives, was paid for by Jesus Christ. Jesus lived the perfect life that we could not live. Jesus Christ then died on the cross to forgive our sin. He rose from the dead to give us new life (now and when we, too, will rise from the dead), and then Jesus’ mission was completed when He ascended into heaven with the promise that He will return one day to bring us to heaven, too.

Mission complete. Or very nearly so.

Until Jesus comes back, there’s something we have to do, now that we are saved from our sins. Let me, for a moment, speak directly to you fathers today.

Dads, this day can be a new day for you. You have what may be an historic opportunity. You could change history today. Think of it as a Christmas Act…

from a father to a child.

Dads, take the opportunity of having your children around you this day to first, pray for them. And second, tell them you love them and that God loves them through Jesus Christ.

I know some of you will feel uncomfortable because you feel you don’t know how to do that. I know how you feel. That’s why I lead a men’s Bible study each week; to learn more about God’s love for us, how to be men after his own heart, and how to share that with our kids. You can join us – we meet again Thursday, January 5 or Saturday, January 7.

But let me tell you a story about how a dad did this and made a huge impact on America.

“To my knowledge, no biographies have been written about the life of George McCluskey. But he was a man who decided to make a shrewd investment. As he married and started a family, he decided to invest one hour a day in prayer for his children. You see, he wanted his kids to follow Christ and to someday establish their own homes where Christ was honored. After a time, he decided to expand his prayers to include not only his children, but their children, and the children after them. Every day between 11 a.m. and noon, he would pray for the next three generations.

“As the years went by, his two daughters committed their lives to Christ and married men who went into full-time ministry. The two couples produced four girls and one boy. Each of the girls married a minister and the boy became a pastor. The first two children born to this generation were both boys. Upon graduation from high school, the two cousins chose the same college and became roommates. During their sophomore year, one of the boys decided to go into the ministry as well. The other didn’t. He knew the family history and undoubtedly felt some pressure to continue the family legacy by going into the ministry himself, but he chose not to. In a manner of speaking, this young man became the black sheep of the family. He was the first one in four generations not to go into full-time Christian ministry.

“He decided to pursue his interest in psychology and, over the years, met with success. After earning his doctorate, he wrote a book for parents that became a best-seller. He then wrote another and another, all best-sellers. Eventually he started a radio program that is now heard on more than a thousand stations each day. The black sheep’s name? James Dobson, without a doubt the most influential and significant leader of the pro-family movement in America. His ministry is the direct result of the prayers of a man who lived four generations ago.” (Steve Farrar, Point Man, pages 154-55)

This day – Christmas Day – is not just a birthday of a baby born 2000 years ago. It marks an event that changed the history of the world. It is also a day that can change your life.

Moving from anticipation, to actuality, to authenticity – Christmas is a day that a Father loved, a Son was born, and you are saved. It is also a day that you are put in a position to change the lives of a generation of children – change them with the Authentic Christmas Message.

Given and Shed For You

The Lord’s Supper.

Celebrated by millions of churches and billions of people each week. But what is it? What is given in it? What is the power of the Lord’s Supper?

Image courtesy of PhotoBucket

When Martin Luther drew up the four questions he used to teach people about the Lord’s Supper, the fourth question was a question of worthiness.

Martin Luther wrote this in his Small Catechism:

Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training. But that person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words “for you” require all hearts to believe.

There are three areas – all related – that we should focus on whenever we plan on coming to the Lord’s Supper. Repentance, personal faith, and a common confession of faith.

Repentance

The Lord’s Supper gives us three things: forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. We receive life and salvation because we are given the forgiveness of our sins.

The forgiveness of sins is the chief blessing in this sacrament. Jesus Christ gives us His body and blood in, with, and under the bread and the wine. He shed His blood on the cross. He sacrificed His body on the cross. He did this because He loves us. And when He did this, our sins were forgiven.

This is a free gift, given by grace alone.

But do not make the mistake of thinking that this gift – while free – did not cost. It cost Jesus everything.

The Lord’s Supper is  a gift given and a gift received. God has to give it. We have to receive it.

How do we receive it? We have to prepare ourselves for it.

Martin Luther mentions “fasting and bodily preparation.” Apparently these were common things to do in the 16^th century. Luther’s problem with them was not their commonality but that they were required by the Church. People had to do them to receive the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner.

Luther didn’t find that in Scripture. What Luther did find was that faith is the only requirement; faith in Jesus Christ. And faith in Jesus Christ leads us to repent of our sins.

Repentance is the key because the Lord’s Supper destroys sin.  Repentance is us letting go of our sin before Christ’s body and blood destroys it. If we do not repent – if we do not let go – we can be destroyed along with our sin.

This is what might have been happening to some of the members of the Corinthian church that St. Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 11: 27-30

²⁷ Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

Repentance is a key element to receiving the Lord’s Supper worthily. But repentance can only happen if we have faith.

Personal Faith

By faith I mean believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior, having a personal relationship with Christ. It is more than just knowing about Jesus. Even demons know about Jesus and it causes only fear. Christ died for you, not in some abstract way or in some general way. He died specifically for you, and you, and you, and me.

Too often, I think, we are content to be “John 3:16” Christians and not “Galatians 2:20” Christians.

John 3:16 says, ¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

But Galatians 2:20 says, ²⁰“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

The Lord’s Supper, then, makes our Christian faith intensely personal. Jesus doesn’t say He shed his blood “for the world” but “for you.”

This is the faith you have been given. This is the faith that is strengthened by God through His Word and the Lord’s Supper.

Common Confession of Faith

By “faith” I also mean our common confession of faith – that we all believe the same thing. This also is an important part of our reception of the Lord’s Supper.

Acts 2:42 and 1 Cor. 10:17 both tell us how important this common confession of faith was to the first-generation Christians. It was a way for them to define “family.” It was a way for them to make public confession to the world what they believed.

Today, we are criticized for this because it is perceived as being “stand-off-ish,” “closed-minded,” or even arrogant.

But even though we call this practice “closed communion” it doesn’t mean we’re “closed minded.” It means we take serious what God’s Word says.

Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before He eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.(1 Cor. 11:27-29).

This is no game. The Lord’s body and blood are powerful things. It is a gift that requires great responsibility. It can be dangerous, as the church in 1^st Century Corinth found out the hard way – they misused the Lord’s Supper and it literally killed some of them.

Conclusion

It was on this night – the night that Jesus was betrayed – that Jesus said the wonderful words “Given and shed for you.” This gift that we partake of once again is amazing. It is amazingly powerful. It is amazing love.

And as Jesus walked the way of the passion following what we call the Lord’s Supper, the words “given and shed for you” take on a profound meaning. Let us think on this as we walk with Jesus over the next several days – to the Garden, the courtyard of the High Priest, the Judgment Hall of Pilate, the cross on Golgotha, and finally the Garden Tomb.

Engraved on the Palms of His Hands

Image courtesy of wileywillows.blogspot.com

Palm branches remind us of … what?

-          A tropical beach vacation.

-          A warm January day in Southern California

-          A welcomed oasis respite in the burning desert

-          Children processing and singing “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

The custom of palms at the end of Lent can serve to remind us of a Sunday long, long ago.

¹²The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" ¹⁴And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

¹⁵ "Fear not, daughter of Zion;behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!" (John 12:12-15 ESV)

Why palms for such an event? In Jewish culture, palms are symbols of victory. What an awesome connection – Jesus rides into Jerusalem amid shouts of praise and symbols of victory. Little did the people know that the victory Jesus would win was not political or military victory but salvation victory!

Jesus is riding into Jerusalem amid the shouts and palms on His way to the cross. The cross would be where He won the victory for us over sin, death, and the power of the devil. The palms represent the victory that Jesus won over our sinful, corrupt nature. And God said of this nature,

^9"By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, ill you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;t for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19 ESV).

Remember those words? They were spoken over you when you received a cross of ashes on your forehead or the back of your hand on Ash Wednesday.

And the ashes we used were of palm branches used on a previous Palm Sunday. Interesting connection, isn’t it?

There’s one more connection I found. In the English language, “palm” doesn’t just mean a certain type of tree or the branch of that tree. It also means the part of the hand from the wrist to the base of the fingers. Our English word for this part of our hand – “palm” – came from the Latin word for the tree or branch. One source says the word traveled to Northern Europe (where the English language developed) via the Christians bringing the word for the tree they used on Palm Sunday in celebration of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

While that may be interesting to some – ok, maybe just me – that isn’t the connection I really wanted to make.

This is the connection I want to make. The English word “palm” – meaning the part of the hand – is used in an Old Testament Bible passage.

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. (Isaiah 49:16 ESV)

God says this to us to remind us that He has not – and never will – forget us.

Have you ever thought – or even cried out loud – “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me”? I know I have. I’m pretty sure that you have, too. It feels that way sometimes.

But God specifically tells us that He will not forget us. In fact, He says He cannot forget us because every time He looks at His hands, He remembers us. He has “engraved” us on the palms of His hands as a reminder of us, as a reminder of how much He loves us, as a reminder of what He did because He loves us.

Our names are not engraved on the palms of His hands. Our names are written in the Book of Life. I like to think that our names are written in the Book of Life not with ink but with the holy and precious blood of Jesus shed on the cross. Shed on the cross when He died for our sins.

Written with the blood of Jesus shed when nails where driven through the palms of His hands – thus marking Him forever.

© 2004 Icon Distribution / Flickr / Courtesy Pikturz

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.

The custom of palms – may it ever serve to remind us that God will never forsake or forget us.

The custom of palms – may it ever serve to remind us that God loves us.