Weekly Message & Bulletin

As we continue to march on into the Advent season, our fundamental focus remains that Jesus came to establish peace between the LORD and sinners.  God the Father sent His promised Messiah, His Savior-Son. Jesus redeemed us through His perfect life, sacrificial death and victorious resurrection. The Holy Spirit grafted us to God’s family tree in baptism and keeps us as growing branches through the means of grace.  

The readings for this “Second Sunday in Advent” speak of the Savior, who comes as the “root” from the “stump of Jesse.” St. Paul reiterates Isaiah’s message stressing that faith in Jesus unites Jews and Gentiles into the one family tree of God. John the Baptizer warns the Pharisees and Sadducees against lifeless formalism in their religious life.  The Baptizer prepares the way for the Savior, by commanding people to repent and turn to Jesus in faith for forgiveness. 

This “Last Sunday of the End Time” closes the current church year. As we look back over this past church year, we know Jesus remained our ruling King controlling “all things for our good” (Romans 8:28). When we look forward to this new church year, we trust the same and look forward to Jesus’ second return—that day will usher us into our protecting King’s paradise. That’s why we rightly call today “Christ the King” Sunday. 

Besides God the Father anointing Christ our King, Jesus also fulfilled His offices of prophet and priest (“Christ” means “The Anointed”).  God’s prophets anointed Old Testament kings to rule, protect and lead people in His righteousness.  So, the LORD anointed Jesus to be a unique Prophet-King who gives us the righteousness needed to enter heaven.   

St. Paul reaffirms who this Priest-King is: the Son of God, the Christ, who delivers us from the kingdom of darkness and Satan. Christ our King brings us into His Kingdom of peace won for us by His blood, as He rules over all His creation. Truly, Jesus is “the head of the body, His Church.” 

Finally, Luke in the gospel presents Christ the King, shedding His blood on the cross, while assuring the dying, penitent criminal of a place in His everlasting kingdom. 

How can we, as poor sinners, stand acquitted before a just and holy God? Who has met our Lord’s demand, when He insisted: “By holy, as I the LORD God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2)?  

There are two ways sinful humans have tried to be right before God. One way fails to comprehend how sinful we truly are, that we can’t do anything to save ourselves. That’s not to say such a mindset doesn’t strive to please God. But in the end, the focus becomes a matter of degree on what “we do for God,” instead of trusting in “what God has done for us” in Jesus.  

The second way? People redefine sin and twist God’s word to support their flawed view. Such a practice “lessens” the wrong; it “minimizes” sin. That’s their pathway to “make right” all wrong so God will accept them.  

In the end, both ways of errant thinking are not biblical. They harm faith and endanger one to lose salvation. How thankful we remain that God the Holy Spirit has brought us to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, as succinctly summarized by the apostle Paul when he declared: “So we also believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law” (Galatians 2:16).  

The Broadway musical writer, George Gershwin, once commented, “The things that you’re liable to read in the Bible…it ain’t necessarily so.” What can we conclude from such an opinion? To this day people think in their sinfulness that the solution to sin and God is to deny them or at least minimize their significance. Regardless of what man concludes, reasons and thinks, however, all remain “liable” to God for their debt of sin.   

As the church year draws to a close, the thought of Christ’s return on the Last Day to judge the world comes to the forefront of our Scripture lessons. Jesus will return someday to “judge the living and the dead” as we confess in the Apostles’ Creed. Some deny this reality…hoping it’s not true; others wait in terror. 

As God’s people, though, we lift up our heads in anticipation as our final redemption draws near. We don’t have to deny God or fear Jesus. Jesus came to win salvation for us by fulfilling the demands of God’s holy law. He suffered and died on the cross to pay for all our sins. Jesus rose victoriously from death to assure He conquered our sin and defeated death.   

“Complacency” and “Contentment” may be near each other in Webster’s Dictionary, but Scripture sees them as worlds apart. One is abhorred by the Lord and the other He tells us is of great gain. The prophet Amos warns against attachment to worldly things that makes one spiritually complacent.  St. Paul also points to the dangerous pitfalls of affluence. It is easy to permit materialism (wealth) to become one’s god.  

Instead, God wants the believer to be content and make faithful use of His blessings to carry out His work of spreading the gospel message. Such God-pleasing use of material blessings helps one avoid the sinful “love” of money. 

The gospel lesson, too, teaches the greater importance of the spiritual vs. the material. The rich man, who had as much access to the Scriptures as anyone else, was totally preoccupied with his luxurious lifestyle. Lazarus, on the other hand (his name means “he whom God helps”), was rich with God by faith…which blessed him everlastingly.  Therefore, the Lord calls for our trusting acceptance of His word during this time of grace which makes us forever rich with God.

Money and wealth rule in today’s materialistic society. That materialistic mindset—as illustrated in today’s Old Testament lesson—can affect all making one easily forget that God is the One who blessed us with many physical blessings. How we handle those blessings, however, whether they be dollars or possessions, reflects our relationship with our God. 

In the Epistle lesson, Paul urges young pastor Timothy to be a faithful steward by praying for all people. Whether it’s by using our wealth, “business” savvy, or prayer life, God desires we be His faithful stewards in His mission to spread the gospel. 

In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus points out that non-Christians often show more keen business ability and wisdom in dealing with people than Jesus’ disciples show. When we fail to pull out all the stops to reach our goal of spreading the gospel, then we are like that man in dishonesty but unlike him in cleverness.  Jesus desires that we be both honest and divinely shrewd in managing God’s gifts to do God’s work of spreading the gospel 

St. Paul confessed as “the chief” of sinners, “This saying is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,’ of whom I am the worst” (1 Tim. 1:15).  God had mercy on Paul to “display His unlimited patience” (1 Tim. 1:16). Similarly, the LORD “turned from His fierce anger” (Ex. 32:12) against Israel on the basis of Moses’ intercessory prayer.  

Our ascended Savior, too, intercedes for us sinners before God the Father.  He is our great Good Shepherd who, “having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them,” would “leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it” (Luke 15:4). When He finds the lost one and brings it home, “the angels of God in heaven” rejoice greatly with Him (Luke 15:7, 10).   

Jesus places such high value on every soul. May we be led by His mercy to value souls just as much as we share the soul-saving news of the Jesus’ free forgiveness with all people! 

Life in the kingdom of God is often opposite what the world expects it to be. The world expects someone who does a hard job to be paid well; the world expects those who are the best at something to win an award; the world expects those in high positions to be honored. But we find that in the life of faith, God “rewards” those who do the hard job of spreading God’s word in spiritual ways…not earthly.  God calls on us to serve without personal gain, especially those in need who cannot repay us in this world.  

But make no mistake about it, our Savior will “reward” such acts of kindness done in faith, out of thanksgiving for His free gift of salvation.  As Jesus assured, “And if anyone gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42).  What grace!  Our God “works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13) and blesses us in the process!  No wonder, after establishing that God saves us by grace alone through faith alone, Paul stresses that true faith is never alone.  He writes, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). 

The way to heaven is narrow, because there is only one way to enter.  As Jesus Himself declared, “I am THE way and THE truth and THE life.  No one comes to the Father except by Me” (John 14:6).  Therefore, it is only through faith in Jesus as our Savior that we can enter heaven, not through outward attachment to a church or reliance on obeying God’s law.  

In today’s epistle reading, the writer piles up reasons to avoid falling away from the faith. Returning to reliance on the law to save ourselves is useless.  Why would we want to go back to the law, when we are under the gospel’s grace?  Those who rebel against God in work righteousness, in reality which is unbelief in His gospel promise, will receive unending punishment in hell. God’s mercy is broad and deep, but is found in only one place, the promised Messiah.  

Some from the chosen nation of Israel had rejected that narrow door of the LORD. Yet in Isaiah, the LORD, the covenant God of “free and faithful grace,” gives a promise to the faithful remnant of believers gathered from the four corners of the earth: the name “Christian” will endure with blessings for those who keep their faith in Jesus. 

The life of the believer in this world is marked by difficulties. Often it seems that unbelievers have easier lives in this world—consider what the LORD’s inspired writer pens in Psalm 73.   

In reality, however, the life of unbelievers may be easier on this side of eternity in some respects, but they are not better.  Jesus remains our strong and solid foundation in the face of any challenges.  Focusing on the cross of Christ prepares believers to meet these challenges with confidence. 

Standing up for Jesus and His cross, however, doesn’t bring peace from the world.  Although the cry in America these days is for “tolerance,” the word of God doesn’t always unite—it often divides. The word of God does not bring peace between believers and unbelievers, but division, even among the strongest of human relationships such as the family. Such troubles in life echo Jesus’ realistic reminder: “In this world you will have trouble.” Nevertheless, Jesus reminds us of His powerful promise: “But take heart!  I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).