Tidings of Great Joy: A Christmas Eve Meditation on Luke 1-2

And it came to pass in those days, 

that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus

 that all the world should be taxed.

(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, 

into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; 

(because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, 

the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, 

and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; 

because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, 

keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, 

and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: 

and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, 

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, 

which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, 

which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; 

Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

 And suddenly there was with the angel 

a multitude of the heavenly host

 praising God, and saying,

 Glory to God in the highest, 

and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Good tidings of great joy, is what the holy angels brought to the shepherds that first Christmas Eve, now nearly two millennia ago.  It was a message from the very throne room of Almighty God, King of the Universe, declared not by one great Archangel alone, but sung together in chorus with a countless heavenly choir.  What Gabriel spoke privately to the Blessed Virgin Mary at his first Annunciation to her nine months prior, the whole of heaven celebrates with the Advent of her Son that holy night.  That night, so long ago, the Word of the Lord’s promise uttered to our first parents in the misty dawn of time, was brought forth as the Incarnate Son of God.  This Child, whose human nature and soul was taken from His mother Mary, was also fully God, the timeless and eternally begotten of the Father, in unbreakable communion with the Holy Spirit, one Triune God unto all ages of ages the same.  This Child was not merely another human son, born under the inherited curse of original sin and death, but rather the immortal and infinite Lord God Almighty made flesh, that He might dwell among us, and save His people from their deadly curse.  This Child was the living sign of the holy and eternal, condescending to meet the lost and finite— this Child is the intersection of time and eternity, of humanity and God.

This Child, this Holy One, this Glory of Israel, this Light of the Gentiles, this One who reconciles in His own Person that which was rent asunder by human pride and demonic deception; this is the One of whom the angels sing.  The Eternal Word of God made present in time, the Promise of God fulfilled, the presence of God made manifest, and the love of God shining forth for all to see and believe:  this is the Child, Jesus.  He is the tiding of great joy to all nations, both the source and the summit of God’s good will toward men.  He is the great reunion of those divided, the restoration of those who were lost.  He is the Shepherd who has stood watch over His people from the beginning, and who has come to dwell among them, that He might save them from their ancient enemies of sin, death, hell, and the devil.  He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, descended from Adam, Abraham, and David, whose Kingdom shall have no end.  He is the High Priest of His people, and their last, most holy Sacrifice, as well.  He is the Prophet whom Moses said would come, in whose Word the people would trust and live forever.  He is the healing of the nations, restoring in Himself the fellowship broken not only between God and humanity, but between every tribe and tongue of men.  In Him is the Light which no darkness can overcome, which has become the light and life of men, forever shining forth in the abiding gifts of Faith, Hope, and Love.

Behold the Word of the Lord who comes again to you this Christmas Eve, who brings eternity into your present moment, piercing every cloud of gloom and darkness.  Behold Him who is your Savior, your Brother, and your King.  Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and your sins also, that you might be reconciled through Him to your Creator, and in Him reconciled to all His good creation.  Behold the babe, born of humble parentage, adored by Judean shepherds and oriental kings, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.  Behold the Child over whom His blessed mother Mary kept watch in wonder and awe, for whom His saintly guardian Joseph quietly provided, and to whom is given the Name above every name in heaven and on earth.  Behold the Lord Jesus Christ, who enters your dark and dangerous moment, that He might lead you into eternal light and life.  Hear Him as He calls to you, see Him as He comes to you, trust Him as He promises to keep you, and cling to Him as He embraces you— for in this Child of Bethlehem is the good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.  For unto to us is born this day in the City of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  Amen.

Laboring in Hope: An Advent Meditation on Psalm 126

When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, 

we were like them that dream.

Then was our mouth filled with laughter, 

and our tongue with singing: 

then said they among the heathen, 

The LORD hath done great things for them.

The LORD hath done great things for us; 

whereof we are glad.

Turn again our captivity, O LORD, 

as the streams in the south.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, 

shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, 

bringing his sheaves with him.

Our Advent readings for this week remind us that though our labors may be hard, they work toward a hopeful end.  Psalm 126 begins with the recognition that it is God who saves Israel from their captivity, and whose redemption provides the laughter and singing which emerge joyously from their lips.  God’s work of salvation even gives the nations around Israel the opportunity to reflect on the goodness He pours out on His people, and to praise God (either gladly or begrudgingly) for the great things He has done.  It closes with an encouragement to those who continue to labor in tears, that God’s salvation is coming for them as well, just as the harvest comes to those who labor to plant their fields.  Thus, both the one who basks in the presence of God’s salvation, and the one who labors while waiting for that fulfillment to come, give thanks to God with joy and singing for what He has done, and what He has promised to yet to do.

As Christians, we share in this ancient reflection upon God’s works— those He has done, those He is doing, and those He has promised to do in the future.  We remember that God has called the world into existence, continues to sustain it in our present moment, and to bring all things to completion at the end of time.  We remember that He promised to bring to us a Savior descended from our first parents, that He was incarnate of the blessed Virgin Mary, suffered, died, and rose again for our salvation, and has promised to come again at the end of the age.  We remember that God sent His Holy Spirit to speak through the Prophets and Apostles over the course of thousands of years, has left His Spirit with His people in every time and place to guide them into saving faith and repentance in His Word, and has promised to seal us together in His Spirit unto eternal life.  We remember that Christ told His disciples to take up their crosses and follow Him, that the eternal life of every Christian is hidden in the unending life of Jesus Christ, and that even as we die in this world we live forever in His grace, forgiveness, and mercy.  We remember that Jesus established His Church upon His Word and Spirit to the glory of God the Father, that He is present in His power and grace among His people in our age, and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, even to the end of time.  We are a people alive in the promises of God— those He has already fulfilled, those He is currently fulfilling, and those which He will yet fulfill.  Knowing the goodness and the promises of our saving God, we press on in every age, through every day, every struggle, toil, and burden, singing and laughing in the joy of our salvation in Christ alone.  Like the countless generations who have come before us and those yet to come, we rest, work, and rejoice in the faithfulness of our saving God.

To you, this Word comes again today.  Have the burdens of your life worn you down, and the sorrows of your time stolen your joy?  Remember the Lord who made you, who seeks you, who saves you, and who preserves your life in His grace forever more.  Remember Him who loved you before the world began, paid for your sins upon the Cross of Calvary, and rose again that you might have forgiveness, life, and salvation in His Name.  Remember as you pick up your cross to follow your saving Lord that He has already walked this path ahead of you, already broken down the gates of hell, conquered death and the devil, and given to you His victory over every dark and dreadful thing.  Remember that the love which sought and saves you, abides with you today, and shall abide with you all the days of eternity.  Leave behind the tears and weeping of hopeless despair, that the joyous song of faith may once more be upon your lips.  Hear your saving Lord as He calls to you from eternity and into your present moment, that you might turn, believe, and live.  Amen.

Prepare the Way: A Meditation on Mark 1

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, 

which shall prepare thy way before thee.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 

Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

John did baptize in the wilderness, 

and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, 

and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; 

and he did eat locusts and wild honey;

And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, 

the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

Much of Advent focuses on preparation, as the Church looks forward to the coming of Jesus at Christmas.  Our readings allow us to step back in time with the people of God who waited expectantly for the long prophesied Messiah to come.  Adam and Eve, at the dawn of our human race, looked forward to the One who was promised to come, born of a woman, yet divine so that He might crush the devil who had taken them captive through sin and death.  Abraham, around 2000 BC, looked forward to the fulfilling of his calling that in his descendent all the nations of the earth would be blessed.  Moses, around 1500 BC, foretold of one who would arise like him, though greater than him, who would finally lead the people out of slavery, bondage, and death, as his Exodus from Egypt had prefigured.  King David wrote in his Psalms around 1000 BC, of his faith in the promise of a descendent who was promised to reign forever in perfect righteousness, saving His people from the wrath of their dreaded enemies.  Prophets like Isaiah, writing between 700 and 400 BC, wrote of the promised Messiah, miraculously born of a virgin, who would deliver not only the people of Israel, but restore the whole creation.  For thousands of years before Jesus came on that first Christmas, the people of God were preparing for Him to arrive.  Generation after generation was born, learned the Word of God’s Law and Promises from their previous generations, and handed them on to the next.

Which brings us to the time of John the Baptist, whose birth was only a few months earlier than Jesus’.  He was the one who was foretold who would announce and prepare the way of the Lord even as He was coming, preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins for His sake.  He was rough, likely having grown up in the wilderness surrounding Jerusalem, as some have speculated with the eccentric Essene community (the one’s who likely buried many of the scrolls discovered at Qumran in the last century) due to the extreme age of his parent at his birth.  He wore the clothing of a desert ascetic, foregoing the softer fabrics which most people enjoyed, and wearing instead a rough garb made of camel har.  Rather than enjoying popular or savory food, he chose instead to eat locusts and wild honey.  He was not beholden to either the Pharisees or the Sadducees, not having studied in their respective schools or communities.  He was not a puppet of a political movement, neither aligned with the rebellious Jewish zealots, nor with King Herod and his court.  But what he was, he was called and made to be:  a voice crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, and make His way straight!

It is Jesus Himself who later tells us that there is no human being who had arisen greater than John the Baptist.  This odd and disturbing fellow, whose story we have only in fragments knit together between the four Gospels, Jesus declares to be greater than every prophet, king, and commander ever born before him, and yet least in the emerging Kingdom of God.  John did not start a political movement or religious sect, he didn’t have prestigious credentials or portraits of famous people hanging on his wall— for all we know, he might not have even had a wall to hang them on, other than the jail cell in which he was later imprisoned and beheaded.  But what John had was what he was given by God, and he faithfully used that gift of God’s prophetic Word to prepare people to meet Jesus.  He called people to repentance and the forgiveness of sins, to baptism, pointing them to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world— the One whom the great John the Baptist was unworthy even to untie His sandals.

And so, John’s message rings in the ears of the Church again this Sunday, as we remember the preparation which the people of God made before meeting Jesus in His Incarnation, and which we still need as we look forward to His second coming at the end of the age.  The call to repentance and the forgiveness of sins, the great herald of God’s eternal Law and Gospel, reminds us that we must meet God on His terms rather than our own.  He is the author of creation, by whose Word we live, and move, and have our being.  It is His Word which gives life, rescues from sin, death, and the devil, and leads His people into everlasting joy.  His Word made flesh in the very Son of God, Jesus Christ, proclaimed down through the ages, calls every soul to make straight the crooked and the perverse, to make level the corrupted and the convoluted, to make bright the dark and the foreboding.  His Word calls everyone to turn from their evil, and by faith to receive His grace of forgiveness which also gives new and everlasting life in Him.

Together as a world, as a nation, as a people, as a congregation, as a family, and as individuals, the Word of the Lord calls again today.  Hear His call to prepare your heart for His arrival in this coming celebration of Christmas, but also as He comes to meet you each dawning day, until that Last Day.  Hear John the Baptist’s call to faith and repentance, that your sins might be forgiven for Jesus’ sake, and that you might meet God as your Savior rather than your Judge.  Hear Him, believe, and live.  Amen.

Judgment: A Final Meditation on Matthew 25 for this Last Sunday of the Church Year

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, 

and all the holy angels with him, 

then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

And before him shall be gathered all nations: 

and he shall separate them one from another, 

as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, 

but the goats on the left.

At this turning of the Church year, in that often forgotten space between Thanksgiving and the Advent season, the people of God take a moment to ponder the Last Things.  The crescendo of the lectionary readings builds to this day, so that we might not forget that Judgment is coming upon the world, despite our love and our work which we pour into it.  The homes and communities we build, the nations and monuments we erect, the great swelling words of poets, the beautiful strokes of artists, the penetrating thoughts of philosophers, the ponderings of theologians, the conquests of armies, the calculations of scientists and engineers, will all one day come to an end.  Our Lord reminds us in the 25th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, that we are a people with one eye and one foot in this temporal world, but also with an eye and a foot in an eternity which quickly moves toward our present moment.

In this final image of the chapter, Jesus reveals that not only will He come again at the end of the world, but that He will come in all His divine glory with all the holy angels to judge the living and the dead.  Everyone, from every corner of creation and from every epoch since God breathed our universe into existence, will be resurrected on that Day to stand, both body and soul, before their Creator and Judge.  Jesus, having defeated death through His own life, death, and resurrection on Calvary for the sins of the whole world, will finally remove death from the creation so that it may no longer torment His people, casting death and hades into the Lake of Fire.  There also will be cast the great tempter of our race, the Devil and all his legions of evil angels, to be imprisoned forever and no longer able to hunt or harm God’s people.  What Jesus promised to Adam and Eve at the dawn of man’s fall into sin, won for the world through His Cross nearly 2000 years ago, and has continually sent out by His Word and Spirit through the preaching of His Gospel through every age down to our present day, He will come again to bring to completion.  With all the enemies of God who have wreaked havoc on the creation and on mankind since the dawn of time finally put into everlasting chains, humanity will stand before their Maker and Judge to give an account of their lives.

It is a terrifying vision, to be sure.  Jesus will separate all peoples, regardless of their age, race, or time, into two great groups:  one will be on His right hand, and the other on His left, metaphorically distinguished as a shepherd separating his sheep from his goats.  To the people at His right hand, the sheep who have abided in the Word of their Shepherd by grace through faith, living out their faith in works of mercy and love for the people around them, He will welcome them into His eternal Kingdom which was prepared for them from before the foundation of the world.  To those on His left hand, the people who have rejected the Word of the Shepherd and thereby rejected the gifts of faith and grace which would have inspired them to lives of divine love and mercy, He commands into the everlasting flames of hell, there to be imprisoned together with the Devil and his wicked hosts.  The blessed people on Christ’s right hand protest that they have done nothing worthy of their own salvation, and Jesus assures them that the works of love which He worked through them for their neighbors as they abided in Him, are the fruits of living faith which show forth their baptismal grace.  The cursed people on Jesus’ left hand protest that their works don’t deserve eternal perdition, and He declares to them that their lives apart from Him were only reflections of the dark motivations of the demonic hordes.  In an instant all their fates are sealed, and both justice and mercy are executed in perfect judgment upon all the people of the world.

And yet, the vision is only terrifying to those who hope to stand before God apart from His saving Word— those who hope to stand upon their own righteousness and works, to demand of God that they receive their just due.  The great warning is that everyone who desires to stand before God and be judged according to their own merits, will be judged according to His holy Law and receive the condemnation they deserve.  No person’s heart is pure for even an instant, let alone for the entirety of their lives; no one sees all the needs of their neighbors and serves them as God would have us to do; no one loves as God loves, abiding constantly in His truth, love, mercy, justice, and perfection.  To the one who wants to be justified according to their own works and merits, who wants to stand before their Creator on equal footing and demand to be recognized for their own greatness, God will give them what they call for:  He will show them their true selves in the perfect mirror of His Holy Law, and by that same Law pass their sentence as wicked and corrupt rebels whose only fate can be the Lake of Fire.  For those who reject God openly and live in public scorn of their Maker, or those who presume to wear the cloaks of piety yet lurk as wicked wolves in sheep’s clothing, the fate is the same before a God who cannot be deceived or mocked:  to those who desire a judgment of Law apart from grace and faith, they will each receive their wish.

But to those who abide in the grace of their Maker, who stand not upon their own sullied works but the perfect works of Christ by faith in Him, that Last Day should hold no terror.  The Law having been satisfied in the Cross of Jesus, those who abide in him by faith and repentance receive His grace and mercy, with His Holy Spirit enlivening them to live forever.  They know their works are insufficient to save them, and fall before God in humility asking not for what they deserve, but for the merciful gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation for Jesus’ sake.  To these is revealed that even their small and paltry works of love and mercy for their neighbors have been hallowed in the Blood of Christ, and Jesus through them has done far more in the world than they might have realized.  In them was preserved the three great and abiding gifts of faith, hope, and love, as Jesus and His Word became incarnate in them, sealed in them by the Holy Spirit.  Their lives of faith were begun in Jesus when they were born from above by Water and Spirit, grafted into Jesus’ Vine as once dead branches but now living and fruit bearing people.  For those who abide in Jesus, there is now no condemnation, in this present day, or the Last Day, or for the endless Day of eternity.  

To you this Word of the Lord comes, even as the world presses closer toward the inescapable end of all things.  We shall all meet our Maker, and face Him as either our Savior according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or our Judge according to His irrevocable Law.  Hear Him call to you this day, that you might have nothing to fear on that Last Day, or any other day in all eternity.  Turn from the selfish, rebellious ways of darkness which can have no end other than perdition, and rather come to the Shepherd who has always longed to save you in His grace.  Hear the Word of the Lord, repent, believe, and live.  Amen.

Accountable Stewards: A Meditation on Matthew 25

For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, 

who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; 

to every man according to his several ability; 

and straightway took his journey.

In the parable of the stewards and the talents, Jesus continued His teaching to His disciples about the coming end of the age.  Here in the middle of Matthew’s 25th chapter, the emphasis is laid upon the duty and accountability of those to whom God gives His gifts, where the word “talent” refers metaphorically to a large sum— technically a weight measure— of money.  Three stewards or servants of the owner were gathered together, entrusted with the owner’s resources according to their abilities, and then the owner left on a long journey.  Within the context of the other parables in Matthew 25, the assumption is that the stewards knew their master would return, but not precisely when.  Rather than focusing specifically on their master’s return, they were expected to focus on being faithful in their duties, trusting that he would return at a time which was appropriately known only to him.  In essence, the duty of the stewards didn’t depend on the return date of their master, but rather on their relationship to him and the gifts he had entrusted to them.

When the master returned, two of the servants had used their master’s resources wisely and industriously, resulting in the growth of their master’s wealth.  The first was given ten talents, and through his faithful efforts doubled them; likewise the second servant faithfully labored and doubled the two talents given to his care.  The third, however, did nothing with his single talent, but bury it in the yard and wait for his master’s return.  There’s an interesting interlude where this lazy, unfaithful servant tries to accuse his master of wrong doing while he’s being held accountable for his sloth, and the master will have none of it.  The master called out this wicked person’s selfishness, laziness, pride, and unfaithfulness, then took the buried talent and gave it to the first servant, while condemning the lazy, unfaithful steward to ‘the outer darkness”— another way of describing the condemnation of hell.

The parable should deeply shake anyone who reads it.  Every person who lives, or who has ever lived, or who will ever live in this world, is the beneficiary of God’s good gifts.  Life, time, resources, and aptitude in a myriad of combinations is given to every person He creates in time and space.  Not all people are given the same gifts in the same quantities or in the same ways, but in His wisdom, God gives to everyone according to their ability, and holds everyone accountable for how they manage His gifts.  Eventually, every single person will stand before their Maker and give an account of what they did with the resources God gave to their care, whether that day is the end of the world or the end of their lives.  Everyone who comes into this world is bestowed with the grace of God’s resources and a duty to steward them according to His design.  Likewise everyone will eventually stand before the God who made them, and be held accountable for what they have done with what He entrusted to them.

Who among us can say that we’ve used all the gifts of this mortal life well?  Who among us can stand before our Maker and declare that our every breath, every moment, every thought, every energy, every material resource, every intellectual endeavor, was stewarded according to God’s design?  Knowing that our God has woven into us and into all creation the Law of Love— the humble love of God and the selfless love of our neighbor, upon which is built the entire Law of Holy Scripture and the proclamation of the Prophets— who can say that they have never used their gifts for greed, or avarice, or self-indulgence?  Who has never used the good gifts of God for their own pride, their lust, and their hatred of others?  Who has never taken a good gift of God and locked it away so that others could not benefit from it, and then cursed God in their heart for convicting them of laziness, selfishness, and unfaithfulness?  In truth, we are all more like the third unfaithful steward than we would like to admit, and the terrible sentence which befell him at the end of his days, is the fate we deserve as well.  In the end, with all the life and time and resources we have been given, we must confess that we have not used them in perfect accord with our gracious Master’s loving intent, but more often than not for our own twisted desires.  We stand guilty as unfaithful stewards, and no attempt to impugn God’s goodness by exporting our own infidelity to Him, will assuage our accountability before His holy Law.

But thanks be to God, that we need not stand in such judgment!  For Christ, who knew our weakness and our unfaithfulness, served in our place.  He who is always faithful because His is the eternally begotten Son of the Father, in the everlasting communion of the Holy Spirit, One God now and forever, stepped into our world as a servant in our likeness, that He might render to God what we were unable to do.  Jesus took the good gifts of God and used them exclusively for the good of all mankind and the glory of His Father, offering Himself as the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and thereby satisfying the Law of Love through His holy cross.  Unable to save ourselves from the righteous fate due to unjust stewards, the love of God manifested in Jesus Christ took upon Himself our hell, our outer darkness, our condemnation, and our punishment, so that He might in turn offer to us His forgiveness, life, and salvation in His holy name.  Rather than fearing our unescapable reckoning with our holy Judge, we are free to look forward without fear to the day in which our loving Father receives us for the sake of His Son, in whom, by whom, and with whom we have become inheritors of His kingdom.

And it is in this hope, this faith, that we now live, surrounded by the good and gracious gifts of God which abound to us in every conceivable way.  This life, this time, this multiplicity of resources, this endless depth of God’s grace and mercy is now given to us, that we might reflect His goodness to all people, and by His Holy Spirit be fashioned into witnesses who burn with the love of God and our neighbor.  No longer left to our own fallen abilities, we are raised up in the new life of Jesus, that He may live in us, and His stewardship might flow through us to a lost and dying world.  No longer do we look forward in fear to the inescapable end of the age, but in faith, hope, and love, we labor joyously for our Lord, knowing that His return is the salvation of all who put their trust in Him.  Hear the Word of the Lord come to you again this day, that you might leave the dark destiny of a faithless steward behind, and rise up in faith and repentance to a new life in the faithful stewardship of Jesus your Savior.  Amen.

Living Prepared: A Meditation on Matthew 25

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, 

which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

And at midnight there was a cry made, 

Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

And the foolish said unto the wise, 

Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

But the wise answered, saying, 

Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: 

but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; 

and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: 

and the door was shut.

Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour 

wherein the Son of man cometh.

Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish virgins sits in the midst of several parables He uses to teach people about the Kingdom of God, and specifically about His second coming at the end of the age.  There is a Bridegroom, Jesus, who has promised to come at the end of the world, to judge justly the living and the dead of all times and all places, and gather into His eternal banquet hall all those who abide in Him and His Word by His grace through faith.  Those who abide in Him by grace through faith, whether they are alive at His coming or have already passed into His heavenly kingdom through earthly death, meet Him as their Savior.  Those who refuse to abide in Him and His Word, who have despised, ignored, repudiated, or rejected Him for some other worldly fixation, will meet Him on that last day as their inescapable Judge.  These are the only two eternal fates which Jesus describes in all His recorded teachings, and to which all the Old Testament Prophets and the New Testament Apostles bore witness.  Whether we meet the Lord on the last day of the world, or the last day of our earthly lives, we can only meet Him as either our Savior or our Judge— either according to His Gospel, or according to His Law.

The point of the parable of the 10 virgins is that no one knows the day or the hour of the Lord’s return, and that the wise will live prepared for His coming, while the foolish will cavalierly ignore it.  The same kind of analogy applies not only for the end of the whole world, but for the end of every individual’s world when death finally comes to meet them.  Like the end of the world, no one really knows when their earthly life will end, and they will be summoned before the God of all creation to give an account of the life they were given.  People can either live their lives prepared to meet their Maker and the eternal destiny which that meeting will prescribe, or they can live as if they are ignorant or disinterested in it.  Across Jesus’ parables about His Second Coming, He is clear that being prepared to meet Him is to abide in Him and His Word through living faith and repentance, reflecting divine love toward their God and their neighbors.  To be unprepared is to discard the Word of God, ignore His Law and His Gospel, living rather in their pride, lust, violence, and selfishness.  Jesus tells us that to live prepared to meet Him by faith and repentance is wise, because the grace He has won for us by His life, death, and resurrection has secured for us a blessed place in His Kingdom, and that He pours out this grace of forgiveness, life, and salvation freely through His Word and Sacraments, daily administered in His Holy Church throughout the world.  He also tells us that to be unprepared to meet Him is foolish, since apart from His grace won for the world at Calvary and lived out in the fellowship of the faithful, every soul stands accountable before God according to the perfection of His eternal Law— a Law which reveals every person to be corrupt in their nature and in their lives, justly condemned to the fires of hell, forever tormented and imprisoned together with the devil and all the evil angels.  The Gospel of Jesus will save every soul which clings to Him by living faith, and the Law of Jesus will condemn every soul which refuses His grace through willful unbelief.

And so the Word of Jesus comes to us again this day, calling all people to be wise rather than foolish, for our Creator has sought every soul in His loving compassion, that none would be lost.  He who creates and sustains every soul which shall ever be born into this world, sent His only begotten Son to suffer and die for the whole world, that He might meet every person as their Savior rather than their Judge.  Hear Him call to you today, that you might leave behind the ways which lead to death and eternal destruction.  Hear His Word of grace and abide in Him by the faith He so freely gives to you by His Holy Spirit, that you may meet Him forgiven and free, no longer standing under the Law by the merits of your own selfish works, but in the righteousness imputed to you from Jesus.  Hear His Word call you out of the ways of death, offering freely to you the grace which prepares you to meet Him in mercy and hope, for the sake of His own sacrifice in your place upon the Cross.  The hour is late, and His coming is already foretold as an hour no one knows, whether it is the end of your earthly life or the end of this whole world.  May the Word of the Lord make you wise by His Spirit, that faith and repentance may keep you in the grace of His Gospel forevermore, and that you may meet your Maker on that last day as your loving Savior rather than your inescapable Judge.  Amen.

The Word is Everything: A Meditation on John 1, upon the Celebration of the 500th Year of the Reformation

In the beginning was the Word, 

and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him; 

and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

And the light shineth in darkness; 

and the darkness comprehended it not.

On October 31st, 2017, it will have been 500 years since the German catholic priest, Augustinian monk, and Doctor of Holy Scripture at the University of Wittenberg posted his now infamous invitation to debate his 95 Theses.  As a priest, Martin Luther’s concern was for the souls of those people given to his care as he administered Jesus’ Word and Sacraments to them.  As an Augustinian, Luther was informed by the traditions which dated back a thousand years to the original St. Augustin, who had tirelessly worked to preserve biblical orthodoxy against the popular onslaughts of heretics like Pelagius.  As a Doctor of Holy Scripture, he was at the apex of the theological faculty of his university, and as a condition of his office, took a sacred oath of fidelity to Scripture.  Far from the caricatures made of him by either his devotees or detractors, Luther’s presentation of points worthy of debate were fully within the regular duties of his vocation, his theological formation, and his educational expertise.  Luther was doing what God, the Church, and his university had called him to do:  be a faithful steward of the mysteries of God.

The Reformation which ensued, from a Lutheran perspective, was centered on this idea of Scriptural primacy, because in the end, it was Scripture which affirmed that the Word of God was and would always be everything.  In the beginning, it was the Word of God which called forth the cosmos, setting all things in their order.  It was the Word of God which breathed life into every living thing, and which communicated His Law and Gospel upon which all of existence depended.  It was the Word of God which pursued and saved every fallen sinner from the dawn of time, who would respond to Him in faith and repentance.  It was the Word of God which became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth which the darkness of this fallen world could not overcome; who suffered and died for the reconciliation of humanity to God; who rose from the dead to declare His saving work complete, and to send forth His disciples as His witnesses; who ascended into heaven, sitting at the Father’s right hand of authority, interceding for His people for the sake of His own sacrifice on Calvary; who sent the Holy Spirit to enliven His people in every age, working through His Word and Sacraments to create faith, and raising dead sinners to eternal life; who promised to come again at the end of time, to put away all evil forever in the fiery prison of hell, to preserve His people in their final strife, and to restore all creation through the last, great, and total resurrection.  The Word of God, Jesus Christ, second Person of the Holy Trinity, has and shall always be the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of all things.

This is the witness Luther sought to be— a faithful herald of the Eternal Word of God.  Luther knew, as so many other faithful heralds had known across the centuries, that no one could divide the sanctity of the Word Made Flesh from the Word made written, given by the Holy Spirit through the Prophets and Apostles.  Thus to be faithful to Christ in His Person was and shall always be coterminous with faithfulness to His Word in Holy Scripture.  Luther was not alone in his time, nor was he alone in the history of the Church.  Though the 95 Theses were never collected into the formal confessions of Lutheran Christians in the 16th century (they were really just debate points, after all,) the other official writings of Lutherans were replete with references to the Councils and Church Fathers which predated Luther by up to 1500 years, demonstrating their appeals to Scripture were not novel, but reflected the best of the common catholic tradition.  Bound together in the 1580 Book of Concord were the ancient Creeds (Apostles, Nicene, and Athanasian,) the Augsburg Confession with its Apology, the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, the Smalcald Articles and Catechisms of Luther, and Formula of Concord— each with their appeals to ancient Christian consensus in the Word of God, and how that Word had been appropriately understood across the ages.

The great sadness of the Lutheran Reformation’s drive toward the centrality of Christ and His Word to the people of God, is that the hearts of many men preferred schism and war so as to retain their own power and pride, shattering the outward unity of western Christendom.  500 years before the Reformation, those same human failings erupted in the Great Schism between the Eastern and Western Churches in 1054 AD— another schism not yet healed.  The Reformation itself eventually shattered into numerous other movements, until we reach today’s cacophonous and confused Christian landscape with dozens of varieties of Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans, Calvinists, Baptists, Pentecostals, Catholics, and Orthodox.  While Lutheran fellowships argue over who among them is more authentically Lutheran, so to do various Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestant communities.  Debates rage about the legitimacy of bishops, regions of authority, preeminence of people or nations or cultures or liturgies.  In the end, the Reformation is not unique in having prompted yet another schism, when the Bishop of Rome excommunicated Luther as he had excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople and all the East before him.  Perhaps unique with the Reformation was the resulting trend toward endless fracture, as the dark 16th century prophecy was fulfilled in every man thinking himself a pope, starting his own church in his own name, and selling his wares to anyone who would buy them.  But then, fracture, schism, and division is always a great sadness, and a scandalous sin against Christ which St. Paul goes at length to warn against in his epistles.

And so, on this 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we can offer no glory to God for reveling in rebellion, selfish pride, schism, and division.  What moved Luther, and other servants of the Word of God in ages past and present, is a call to the unity of Christ.  Christ is not divided from the Father or the Spirit in the perfection of the Holy Trinity, nor is he divided in Himself according to both his divine and human natures.  Christ the Incarnate Word of God is likewise not divided from Word of God he caused to be written, nor are His people divided from Him when they abide in His Word.  The great call of the Reformation is not to schism and discord, but to harmony and fellowship in the Word of God, who Himself is our life, our hope, and our salvation.  As we ponder this solemn milestone in the history of the Church and the world, it is worth remembering that all the human divisions made by sinful men among the people of God are not the enduring truth of our existence; it is not how Roman or how Lutheran, how Anglican or how Calvinist, how Baptist or how Pentecostal we may be which determines our fellowship with God.  Rather it is our fellowship in the Word of Christ who alone creates, sustains, enlivens, redeems, and saves all creation.  There we find the call of the great Reformers from antiquity to the present day, that we find the totality of our fellowship and life in the Eternal Word of Jesus.

As it did to Abraham, to Moses, to David, to Elijah, to Isaiah, to John, to Paul, to Ambrose, to Augustine, to Chrysostom, to Athanasius, to Anselm, and to Luther, the Word of God comes to you again this day, calling you to hear the living Word of Jesus which binds you forever to Him by grace through faith.  Hear that Word today, turn from the paths of darkness and division, and find in Jesus through His Word the whole household of faith gathered together in Him.  May the deeper call of the Reformation ring in your heart and mind, that Jesus has come to seek and to save every lost soul who will put their trust in Him, living and abiding in Him by the power of His Holy Spirit.  Let rebellion and schism cease, and the people of God find themselves once again united in the indivisible and everlasting Person and Word of Jesus.  Amen.