Christmas 1
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series IX, Cycle B
Object:
Theme of the Day
Christmas: dreams realized.
Collect of the Day
A prayer of thanks for human nature and God's act in Christ to restore it. God's mercy is petitioned that we might share in the divine life of Christ. Grace and Sanctification are emphasized. See Charts of the Major Theological Options: Justification (regarding Deification and Intimate Union).
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 148
* Hymn calling on all created things (including animals, trees, and mountains) to praise God. There are obvious ecological implications in this Psalm.
* "Horn" in verse 14 refers to God's strength and power.
* The praise afforded by nature reminds us that it does not stand on its own and that it remains dependent on God and His guidance. Strong doctrine of providence affirmed.
Sermon Text and Title
"Jesus Makes You Somebody"
Isaiah 61:10--62:3
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim that God's work in justifying sinners makes them important and beautiful, enabling significant lives. Links should be made between these themes and the Christmas message.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* A prophecy of Trito-Isaiah, probably offered after the Babylonian Captivity had ended.
* It is unclear whether the final verses of chapter 61 are words of the prophet or of the Suffering Servant of Deutero-Isaiah (esp. 50:4-11). When combined with verses in chapter 62 it seems more stylistically appropriate to interpret the whole lesson as the prophet's proclamation of the Hebrews' vindication.
* The Exiles' return to Judah will be seen by all the nations. The new name of the nation concerns a change in its status (v. 2).
* The people of Israel will now be a jewel in the Lord's hand (v. 3), totally God's people.
* The vindication seems related to the people being clothed in salvation and righteousness, like a bride adorned with jewels (v. 10). (A forensic view of Justification is taught here; see Justification/Salvation in Charts of Major Theological Options.)
* Righteousness and praise spring up like a garden from these shoots of righteousness (v. 11). Sanctification (good works) spontaneously emerges from Justification.
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* A text that seems to testify to God's forgiving grace (Justification) and the corresponding spontaneity of Sanctification.
* Martin Luther elaborates on the nature of being Christian and our dependence on Christ: He is properly called Christian because he simply depends on Christ without all merits, his own righteousness, and without all works (Luther's Works, Vol. 17, p. 345).
* Referring again to the text, Luther notes the relationship between faith and the righteousness of God that justifies, in turn leading to good works: To believe is to sprout righteousness. To speak is to build the church and convert others. This is the double glory of the godly, for where the word is there fruit will follow (Luther's Works, Vol. 17, p. 342).
* John Calvin elaborates on how in this text God's covering us with righteousness leads to good works:
He calls the church God's Crown, because God wishes that His glory should shine in us… Let us therefore be caused by this goodness of God the desire of leading a holy life, that His image may more and more be formed in us.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. VIII/2, pp. 323-324)
* Both Luther and Calvin understand the references to the Hebrews' vindication as referring to the church (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. VIII/2, pp. 317ff; Luther's Works, Vol. 17, pp. 341ff).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* A recent book by Alain de Botton, Status Anxiety, argues that much unhappiness in life is a function of anxiety about what others think of us -- we matter, get attention, and are admired.
5. Gimmick
Note how desolate and abandoned the people of Israel felt after the Babylonian Captivity and even after their return, as it had not really stabilized the fate of their nation. Also point out how we too may feel desolate and abandoned in life, especially after the Christmas holiday has ended and it is back to business as usual, what with all the anxieties we feel about succeeding in the world.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Note that we often feel a lack of confidence, and if we say that this is not often a problem that is just a cover.
* Suppose the most important people in the community, on the job, began to say you mattered? Would that kind of recognition not lead to happiness and contentment? (See Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.) This point illustrates our emotional fragility.
* It is as Austrian psychoanalyst William Stekel put it: "Anxiety is fear of oneself." We are afraid of what we are really like; we feel so ugly. And so we seek for someone (with power) to validate us. We desperately want to be somebody; but it is as American actress and comedian Lily Tomlin once put it: "I always want to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific." We do not know who we are; in sin, we do not even know who we want to be.
* The prophet, though, says we have been clothed with beautiful garments, with salvation and righteousness (v. 10). Now we wear crowns of beauty and royal diadems (v. 3).
* The word of Christmas, which is still celebrated today. The gospel word, is that Jesus and God have made you somebody! John Calvin claimed that God's glory shines in Christians, and Martin Luther said that when you believe you sprout righteousness. (See Theological Insights above for these quotes.)
* Our lesson says that you and I are beautiful (wearing the righteousness and salvation He's put on us). And if you are not wearing those beautiful things, if you don't carry that beauty with you, it is just like the American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson put it: "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."
* What has happened to Christians is a bit like what happened to Gilbert, an inner-city kid from a dysfunctional family. Never felt he mattered; jailed on some misdemeanors, but the last time for peddling drugs. And then a family from his church started visiting him in jail, letting him know that he mattered. When he got out on parole, they took him in. And now he was straight; now he mattered.
* Sinful jailbirds: If an intervention by a couple in church could matter to Gilbert, think what God's attention, His giving you all the beautiful garments of righteousness and salvation, can do for you.
7. Wrap-Up
Ask the congregation members if they matter. Tell them that they do, how beautiful they are, adorned with God's righteousness and salvation. They are somebody! That cannot help but lead them to live that way, living lives that matter.
Sermon Text and Title
"The Freedom Christ Provides!"
Galatians 4:4-7
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim the Christian's freedom from slavery given in Christ and how this freedom cashes out in everyday life (Sanctification).
2. Exegesis
* Polemical letter written by Paul to a church he had founded in order to affirm that Gentiles need to become Jews in order to become Christian.
* There three main sections: (1) A defense of Paul's apostolic authority and of the validity of his teaching (chs. 1-2); (2) An exposition of the doctrine of justification by faith (chs. 3-4); and (3) Practical and moral applications of his teaching (chs. 5-6).
* Central themes are Justification by Faith, freedom from the law, and Sanctification. The stress on freedom and grace is perhaps nowhere clearer than in this book.
* Addressing the enslavement of Christians under the Law and how we get free, Paul refers to the coming of Christ who, born under the law, redeems us (vv. 4-5). His coming is eschatological (the fullness of time [v. 4]).
* As a result of Christ's coming we are adopted as God's children (v. 5).
* Consequently, the Spirit of the Son (not the unity of the two) makes us relate to God as Father (v. 6). No longer then are we slaves (v. 7).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Seeks to affirm justification by grace and Christ's role in making it happen and the freedom in the Christian life they bring.
* Luther makes it clear that God's saving grace and confidence in it is the heart of scripture: "Moreover, the chief point of all scripture is that we should not doubt but hope, trust, and believe for a certainty that God is merciful, kind, and patient, that He does not lie and deceive but is faithful and true" (Luther's Works, Vol. 26, p. 386).
* Martin Luther speaks powerfully of the assurance we have because of Christ: "The Christian should entertain no fear -- he should not doubt -- that he is righteous and a child of God through grace" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/2, p. 229).
* Christians have the certainty that whatever a person does or thinks is pleasing to God (Luther's Works, Vol. 26, p. 378). Luther speaks of a certainty that that we are in a state of grace (Ibid., p. 379).
* About the law, Luther writes: "The law teaches us to recognize the unwillingness and perversity of our minds. They are wholly sinful before God" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/2, p. 237).
* He describes the joyful response to Christ: How can the heart avoid being free, joyous, and cheerfully obedient in God and Christ? What work can it encounter or what suffering endure to which it will not respond singing and leaping in love and praise for God? (Ibid., p. 257).
* We are warned against regarding Christ as a lawgiver (Luther's Works, Vol. 26, pp. 368, 372-373).
* Luther notes that Christ is under the law in the sense that He was made sin and a sinner (Luther's Works, Vol. 27, pp. 288).
* Christ drove the Law to blight out our conscience (Ibid., p. 371).
* The Christian and one under the law do the same works, but the self-righteous are like day-laborers of another's property. The righteous in Christ are doing the work like a son for his father (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/2 p. 232; cf. Ibid., p. 258).
* Freedom from the law entails for Luther that "externally there is not much difference between the Christian and another socially upright human being. The works of the Christian are cheap in appearance" (Luther's Works, Vol. 26, p. 376).
* In another sermon Luther wrote about freedom as follows: "If you are a Christian, you have the power to dispense with all Commandments so far as they hinder you in the practice of love..." (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/1, p. 166). These comments imply advocacy of a Situational Ethic.
* John Calvin contends that Christ was subjected under the law (v. 4) in the sense that a man may constitute himself a surety in order to redeem a slave (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXI/1, pp. 118-119).
5. Gimmick
Note how bad habits, negative feelings, and low self-esteem make you their slave. Jesus and Paul have a way out!
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Bad habits and negative feelings often tend to be outcomes of our need to prove ourselves to ourselves, to demonstrate that we are truly valuable, or in despair we give up and just say to hell with it. Once you are caught in these behavior patterns and attitudes it is hard (really impossible) to escape.
* American social worker and philosopher Eric Hoffer had it right: "The individual who has to justify his existence by his efforts is in eternal bondage to himself. One seeking to prove himself or herself by her performance is an addict" (be it to material goods, prestige, power).
* The gospel that Paul exhorts the Christmas word, sets us free from that bondage!
* Our lesson speaks of being enslaved -- to the elemental spirits of the universe and to the law (vv. 3, 5). Needing to justify yourself places you under demands, of all the temptations the universe has to offer. It also places you under the Law of proving yourself to others, for this demand of proving yourself to others demands work after work, task after task, and you never really succeed in finding peace.
* The good news is that Christ has come to redeem us (v. 5), to set us free from the law and all this need to prove ourselves.
* Martin Luther put it well: There is no need to fear, because Christ has made us righteous. Knowing that you are righteous means that you can be sure of your worth, because you are already somebody. In fact, Paul and Luther say, we have become children of God.
* John Calvin also made a neat point regarding Jesus' role in all this. We were slaves, he notes, but Jesus handed Himself over to take our slavery. He submitted to slavery so that not only would we be liberated, but we became the Master's (God's) child (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXXI/1, pp. 118-119).
* To be somebody's child, the child of a loving parent, is to be free. The child need not stress over care. The child receiving care is freed from material anxieties, freed to play.
* Life as play: That is a compelling image for Christian living. Of course it takes some of the glamour, the pious importance, out of living the Christian life. It makes the works of a Christian cheap in appearance, not much different from that of any upright human being (Luther's Works, Vol. 26, p. 376).
* But the play, the work is now undertaken in a different, more freeing and joyful spirit. Non-Christians are still under the Law and bound by the need to prove themselves. The slave, Martin Luther said, works the land because he has to. The beloved child works the land because it pleases the father (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/2, p. 232)!
7. Wrap-Up
Note that Paul had it right: Quote verse 7 again. Then point out that the best of all our Christmas presents has been that Christ made us His own, the child of His Father, and that our Father sets us free by caring for us and our needs, free of all the anxieties and need to prove our worth!
Sermon Text and Title
"The Christmas Dream Counts More Than Appearances"
Luke 2:22-40
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim the Christmas dream in its eschatological promise that in the Babe in the manger we are redeemed, making it clear that this dream is more real and authoritative than what presently appears to be the case.
2. Exegesis (see Exegesis of the Gospel for Advent 4)
* The story of Jesus' presentation in the Temple and encounter with Simeon and Anna.
* First-time mothers were to submit to rites of purification (Leviticus 12:2-8) and the first-born were to be set apart for service to God (Exodus 13:2, 12), which accounts for Jesus' presentation and the offering of a sacrifice (vv. 22-24).
* The devout Simeon looking for the messiah and the aged prophet Anna are introduced (vv. 25-26, 36-37). Both recognize that Jesus will bring salvation to Israel (vv. 27-32, 38).
* Simeon proceeds to praise God for letting him see the messiah by offering a song, the Nunc Dimittis (vv. 29-32), used to this day in Communion liturgies. Simeon sings that he is ready to die, ready to leave, since he has seen the messiah and the hope for salvation. The hymn continues, noting that the Child will be a revelation for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews. Simeon also prophesies that the Child Jesus will cause division among Israel, some falling and others rising as they respond to Him (vv. 34-35).
* Luke simply reports Mary's and Joseph's amazement over this praise for their child (v. 33), their return to Nazareth (v. 39), and the subsequent maturation of Jesus (v. 40).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Eschatology, Justification, and Christology are the prevailing themes. An appreciation of how these doctrines contradict present experience is stressed.
* John Calvin claimed that there is no clearer testimony to the doctrine of Original Sin than the divine decision to have Jesus come from His mother unclean, and that she is consequently polluted by child-bearing (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/1, p. 139).
* Christ is even more clearly manifest for us today, Calvin claims: "True, Christ no longer dwells in earth, nor do we carry Him in our arms: but His divine majesty shines openly and brightly in the gospel…" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/1, p. 144).
* Martin Luther found that Christ subjecting Himself to the law is a comfort showing us that Christ is like us in all things, but without Original Sin (Complete Sermons, Vol. 7, pp. 276-277). In addition he wrote: "Because Christ has done this, placed Himself under the law, He thereby has freed us from the law… For He did not break the law, He is no sinner, and the law has no right to condemn Him to death" (Ibid., p. 277).
* And yet this gospel is also a word of amazement and triumph: "The gospel should instill such amazement in us that we too would exult and proudly assert: I have been baptized in Christ; there is no doubt, that through the Lord Jesus, I became a lord and can overcome death and sin, and heaven and all creation must serve my best interests" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 5, p. 156).
* Martin Luther notes how amazing it is that an eminent man like Simeon would regard an infant as Savior (Luther's Works, Vol. 52, p. 103). Beginning is nothing, the end is everything (Ibid., p. 104). In this manner, we too must disregard the external evidence when contemplating God's works and cling only to His words, lest our eyes or senses offend us (Ibid.).
* Luther also critiques those who want everything evident and visible their own way. Few Simeons bless Christ, but the world is full of those who wish Him evil: "For whoever is not disposed willingly to despise all things and to be prepared to suffer, will not bless and praise God for long, but will take offense at Him quickly. To be sure some praise and bless Him, as long as He does what they desire and as long as He allows them what they want. But then He is not Christ, neither does He do Christ's work with them, but He is what they are and desire" (Luther's Works, Vol. 52, p. 109).
* The Reformer also notes that God's word must be a stumbling block (v. 34) and experience rebuffs: "He who wants it to be otherwise must look for another Christ" (Ibid., p. 117).
* He also reflects on how those who want to speak of Christ's redemption must concede that they are prisoners of sin, but that blind sinners find this an insult (Ibid., p. 143).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* As recently as 2004, surveys reported in Alberto Alesiina and Edward Glaeser, Fighting Poverty in the US and Europe: A World of Difference, that 60% of Americans think the poor are lazy (are to be blamed for their own poverty).
* Neurobiology has discerned that dreams and yearning keep you young. The exploration of new ideas and interests leads to production of protein in the brain (neutrophic factors) that helps create new nerve cells and repairs those damaged by aging (Sherwin Nuland, The Art of Aging, pp. 36-37).
5. Gimmick
Introduce Simeon and Anna, stressing their devotedness, the hopelessness many Jews felt during the period of Roman occupation, and their dreams.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Continue to tell the story of the presentation (and why Mary and Joseph went with Jesus to the temple), stressing how amazing it was that Simeon and Anna worshiped this little child.
* Faith, it seems, is not taken with present appearances. Note Martin Luther's observations and quotations in Theological Insights regarding how in faith we must disregard present evidence (Luther's Works, Vol. 52, pp. 103-104). He who wants it to be otherwise must look for another Christ (Ibid., p. 117).
* Faith is future-oriented, precisely because it involves being joined to Jesus who Himself condemns and overcomes the things of the earth that seem not to hold us in bondage (Galatians 4:3-4; see Complete Sermons, Vol. 5, p. 156). In the midst of sin and death, hear the Word (see the preceding Luther quotes affirming that these realities have been overcome).
* We are not naturally disposed to see life this way. We will praise God with the angels at Christmas -- as long as God gives us what we want... but not if things get a little tough.
* Some may say that had they seen the Baby Jesus in the Temple that day they would have blessed Him joyfully along with Simeon and Anna. They lie! Jesus' infancy and poverty would have caused you and me to turn Him away, just as we blame the poor for their own poverty today. (See Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.) We are people who judge a book by its cover.
* Our sinful preoccupation with the present leads us to imagine that we might not be saved because we are not yet acting righteously. Preoccupation with the present leads us to imagine that we might not be saved because we are not yet acting righteously. We fail to recognize that though God does not count us as righteous in the present (Romans 3:21, 25-26; Galatians 3:6; 4:5), he does not expect that this will be immediately manifest in present experiences. Our righteousness, like the Baby Jesus and the gospel, is a dream of the future.
* Dreams: You need them to thrive. Cuban-French author Anais Nin said so profoundly once: "Dreams are necessary to life." African-American poet and novelist Langston Hughes made a similar point, as he charged readers to "Hold fast to dreams, for if they die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly."
* The latest research on the human brain indicates that dreams or yearning keep you young. It seems that when you explore new ideas like you do when you are dreaming the brain produces protein that creates new nerve cells and also repairs damage to the old ones.
* The faith of Simeon and Anna helps us get free from present appearances that can seem so hopeless and gives us new directions when there seems to be no hope. They would have us dream the Christmas dream of salvation and redemption (vv. 30, 38) and the overcoming of hopelessness.
* Keep this faith and the Christian dream in mind the next time the next time you encounter suffering or run across someone who is undesirable. Keep in mind that present appearances do not ultimately matter. God has other plans for you.
* English poet William Blake said it so well in his The Land of Dreams:
Father, O Father! What do we here,
In this kind of unbelief and fear?
The Land of Dreams is better far,
Above the light of the Morning Star.
7. Wrap-Up
Note in closing what a good God we have, One who leads us away from the anxieties of the present. In the midst of this land of unbelief He leads us to the land of dreams that is better far, far above the Morning Star. Have your people praise God for the good and glorious future He has in mind for them and you. What a wonderful dream to bring with us in the new year.
Christmas: dreams realized.
Collect of the Day
A prayer of thanks for human nature and God's act in Christ to restore it. God's mercy is petitioned that we might share in the divine life of Christ. Grace and Sanctification are emphasized. See Charts of the Major Theological Options: Justification (regarding Deification and Intimate Union).
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 148
* Hymn calling on all created things (including animals, trees, and mountains) to praise God. There are obvious ecological implications in this Psalm.
* "Horn" in verse 14 refers to God's strength and power.
* The praise afforded by nature reminds us that it does not stand on its own and that it remains dependent on God and His guidance. Strong doctrine of providence affirmed.
Sermon Text and Title
"Jesus Makes You Somebody"
Isaiah 61:10--62:3
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim that God's work in justifying sinners makes them important and beautiful, enabling significant lives. Links should be made between these themes and the Christmas message.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* A prophecy of Trito-Isaiah, probably offered after the Babylonian Captivity had ended.
* It is unclear whether the final verses of chapter 61 are words of the prophet or of the Suffering Servant of Deutero-Isaiah (esp. 50:4-11). When combined with verses in chapter 62 it seems more stylistically appropriate to interpret the whole lesson as the prophet's proclamation of the Hebrews' vindication.
* The Exiles' return to Judah will be seen by all the nations. The new name of the nation concerns a change in its status (v. 2).
* The people of Israel will now be a jewel in the Lord's hand (v. 3), totally God's people.
* The vindication seems related to the people being clothed in salvation and righteousness, like a bride adorned with jewels (v. 10). (A forensic view of Justification is taught here; see Justification/Salvation in Charts of Major Theological Options.)
* Righteousness and praise spring up like a garden from these shoots of righteousness (v. 11). Sanctification (good works) spontaneously emerges from Justification.
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* A text that seems to testify to God's forgiving grace (Justification) and the corresponding spontaneity of Sanctification.
* Martin Luther elaborates on the nature of being Christian and our dependence on Christ: He is properly called Christian because he simply depends on Christ without all merits, his own righteousness, and without all works (Luther's Works, Vol. 17, p. 345).
* Referring again to the text, Luther notes the relationship between faith and the righteousness of God that justifies, in turn leading to good works: To believe is to sprout righteousness. To speak is to build the church and convert others. This is the double glory of the godly, for where the word is there fruit will follow (Luther's Works, Vol. 17, p. 342).
* John Calvin elaborates on how in this text God's covering us with righteousness leads to good works:
He calls the church God's Crown, because God wishes that His glory should shine in us… Let us therefore be caused by this goodness of God the desire of leading a holy life, that His image may more and more be formed in us.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. VIII/2, pp. 323-324)
* Both Luther and Calvin understand the references to the Hebrews' vindication as referring to the church (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. VIII/2, pp. 317ff; Luther's Works, Vol. 17, pp. 341ff).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* A recent book by Alain de Botton, Status Anxiety, argues that much unhappiness in life is a function of anxiety about what others think of us -- we matter, get attention, and are admired.
5. Gimmick
Note how desolate and abandoned the people of Israel felt after the Babylonian Captivity and even after their return, as it had not really stabilized the fate of their nation. Also point out how we too may feel desolate and abandoned in life, especially after the Christmas holiday has ended and it is back to business as usual, what with all the anxieties we feel about succeeding in the world.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Note that we often feel a lack of confidence, and if we say that this is not often a problem that is just a cover.
* Suppose the most important people in the community, on the job, began to say you mattered? Would that kind of recognition not lead to happiness and contentment? (See Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.) This point illustrates our emotional fragility.
* It is as Austrian psychoanalyst William Stekel put it: "Anxiety is fear of oneself." We are afraid of what we are really like; we feel so ugly. And so we seek for someone (with power) to validate us. We desperately want to be somebody; but it is as American actress and comedian Lily Tomlin once put it: "I always want to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific." We do not know who we are; in sin, we do not even know who we want to be.
* The prophet, though, says we have been clothed with beautiful garments, with salvation and righteousness (v. 10). Now we wear crowns of beauty and royal diadems (v. 3).
* The word of Christmas, which is still celebrated today. The gospel word, is that Jesus and God have made you somebody! John Calvin claimed that God's glory shines in Christians, and Martin Luther said that when you believe you sprout righteousness. (See Theological Insights above for these quotes.)
* Our lesson says that you and I are beautiful (wearing the righteousness and salvation He's put on us). And if you are not wearing those beautiful things, if you don't carry that beauty with you, it is just like the American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson put it: "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."
* What has happened to Christians is a bit like what happened to Gilbert, an inner-city kid from a dysfunctional family. Never felt he mattered; jailed on some misdemeanors, but the last time for peddling drugs. And then a family from his church started visiting him in jail, letting him know that he mattered. When he got out on parole, they took him in. And now he was straight; now he mattered.
* Sinful jailbirds: If an intervention by a couple in church could matter to Gilbert, think what God's attention, His giving you all the beautiful garments of righteousness and salvation, can do for you.
7. Wrap-Up
Ask the congregation members if they matter. Tell them that they do, how beautiful they are, adorned with God's righteousness and salvation. They are somebody! That cannot help but lead them to live that way, living lives that matter.
Sermon Text and Title
"The Freedom Christ Provides!"
Galatians 4:4-7
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim the Christian's freedom from slavery given in Christ and how this freedom cashes out in everyday life (Sanctification).
2. Exegesis
* Polemical letter written by Paul to a church he had founded in order to affirm that Gentiles need to become Jews in order to become Christian.
* There three main sections: (1) A defense of Paul's apostolic authority and of the validity of his teaching (chs. 1-2); (2) An exposition of the doctrine of justification by faith (chs. 3-4); and (3) Practical and moral applications of his teaching (chs. 5-6).
* Central themes are Justification by Faith, freedom from the law, and Sanctification. The stress on freedom and grace is perhaps nowhere clearer than in this book.
* Addressing the enslavement of Christians under the Law and how we get free, Paul refers to the coming of Christ who, born under the law, redeems us (vv. 4-5). His coming is eschatological (the fullness of time [v. 4]).
* As a result of Christ's coming we are adopted as God's children (v. 5).
* Consequently, the Spirit of the Son (not the unity of the two) makes us relate to God as Father (v. 6). No longer then are we slaves (v. 7).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Seeks to affirm justification by grace and Christ's role in making it happen and the freedom in the Christian life they bring.
* Luther makes it clear that God's saving grace and confidence in it is the heart of scripture: "Moreover, the chief point of all scripture is that we should not doubt but hope, trust, and believe for a certainty that God is merciful, kind, and patient, that He does not lie and deceive but is faithful and true" (Luther's Works, Vol. 26, p. 386).
* Martin Luther speaks powerfully of the assurance we have because of Christ: "The Christian should entertain no fear -- he should not doubt -- that he is righteous and a child of God through grace" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/2, p. 229).
* Christians have the certainty that whatever a person does or thinks is pleasing to God (Luther's Works, Vol. 26, p. 378). Luther speaks of a certainty that that we are in a state of grace (Ibid., p. 379).
* About the law, Luther writes: "The law teaches us to recognize the unwillingness and perversity of our minds. They are wholly sinful before God" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/2, p. 237).
* He describes the joyful response to Christ: How can the heart avoid being free, joyous, and cheerfully obedient in God and Christ? What work can it encounter or what suffering endure to which it will not respond singing and leaping in love and praise for God? (Ibid., p. 257).
* We are warned against regarding Christ as a lawgiver (Luther's Works, Vol. 26, pp. 368, 372-373).
* Luther notes that Christ is under the law in the sense that He was made sin and a sinner (Luther's Works, Vol. 27, pp. 288).
* Christ drove the Law to blight out our conscience (Ibid., p. 371).
* The Christian and one under the law do the same works, but the self-righteous are like day-laborers of another's property. The righteous in Christ are doing the work like a son for his father (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/2 p. 232; cf. Ibid., p. 258).
* Freedom from the law entails for Luther that "externally there is not much difference between the Christian and another socially upright human being. The works of the Christian are cheap in appearance" (Luther's Works, Vol. 26, p. 376).
* In another sermon Luther wrote about freedom as follows: "If you are a Christian, you have the power to dispense with all Commandments so far as they hinder you in the practice of love..." (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/1, p. 166). These comments imply advocacy of a Situational Ethic.
* John Calvin contends that Christ was subjected under the law (v. 4) in the sense that a man may constitute himself a surety in order to redeem a slave (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXI/1, pp. 118-119).
5. Gimmick
Note how bad habits, negative feelings, and low self-esteem make you their slave. Jesus and Paul have a way out!
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Bad habits and negative feelings often tend to be outcomes of our need to prove ourselves to ourselves, to demonstrate that we are truly valuable, or in despair we give up and just say to hell with it. Once you are caught in these behavior patterns and attitudes it is hard (really impossible) to escape.
* American social worker and philosopher Eric Hoffer had it right: "The individual who has to justify his existence by his efforts is in eternal bondage to himself. One seeking to prove himself or herself by her performance is an addict" (be it to material goods, prestige, power).
* The gospel that Paul exhorts the Christmas word, sets us free from that bondage!
* Our lesson speaks of being enslaved -- to the elemental spirits of the universe and to the law (vv. 3, 5). Needing to justify yourself places you under demands, of all the temptations the universe has to offer. It also places you under the Law of proving yourself to others, for this demand of proving yourself to others demands work after work, task after task, and you never really succeed in finding peace.
* The good news is that Christ has come to redeem us (v. 5), to set us free from the law and all this need to prove ourselves.
* Martin Luther put it well: There is no need to fear, because Christ has made us righteous. Knowing that you are righteous means that you can be sure of your worth, because you are already somebody. In fact, Paul and Luther say, we have become children of God.
* John Calvin also made a neat point regarding Jesus' role in all this. We were slaves, he notes, but Jesus handed Himself over to take our slavery. He submitted to slavery so that not only would we be liberated, but we became the Master's (God's) child (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXXI/1, pp. 118-119).
* To be somebody's child, the child of a loving parent, is to be free. The child need not stress over care. The child receiving care is freed from material anxieties, freed to play.
* Life as play: That is a compelling image for Christian living. Of course it takes some of the glamour, the pious importance, out of living the Christian life. It makes the works of a Christian cheap in appearance, not much different from that of any upright human being (Luther's Works, Vol. 26, p. 376).
* But the play, the work is now undertaken in a different, more freeing and joyful spirit. Non-Christians are still under the Law and bound by the need to prove themselves. The slave, Martin Luther said, works the land because he has to. The beloved child works the land because it pleases the father (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/2, p. 232)!
7. Wrap-Up
Note that Paul had it right: Quote verse 7 again. Then point out that the best of all our Christmas presents has been that Christ made us His own, the child of His Father, and that our Father sets us free by caring for us and our needs, free of all the anxieties and need to prove our worth!
Sermon Text and Title
"The Christmas Dream Counts More Than Appearances"
Luke 2:22-40
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim the Christmas dream in its eschatological promise that in the Babe in the manger we are redeemed, making it clear that this dream is more real and authoritative than what presently appears to be the case.
2. Exegesis (see Exegesis of the Gospel for Advent 4)
* The story of Jesus' presentation in the Temple and encounter with Simeon and Anna.
* First-time mothers were to submit to rites of purification (Leviticus 12:2-8) and the first-born were to be set apart for service to God (Exodus 13:2, 12), which accounts for Jesus' presentation and the offering of a sacrifice (vv. 22-24).
* The devout Simeon looking for the messiah and the aged prophet Anna are introduced (vv. 25-26, 36-37). Both recognize that Jesus will bring salvation to Israel (vv. 27-32, 38).
* Simeon proceeds to praise God for letting him see the messiah by offering a song, the Nunc Dimittis (vv. 29-32), used to this day in Communion liturgies. Simeon sings that he is ready to die, ready to leave, since he has seen the messiah and the hope for salvation. The hymn continues, noting that the Child will be a revelation for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews. Simeon also prophesies that the Child Jesus will cause division among Israel, some falling and others rising as they respond to Him (vv. 34-35).
* Luke simply reports Mary's and Joseph's amazement over this praise for their child (v. 33), their return to Nazareth (v. 39), and the subsequent maturation of Jesus (v. 40).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Eschatology, Justification, and Christology are the prevailing themes. An appreciation of how these doctrines contradict present experience is stressed.
* John Calvin claimed that there is no clearer testimony to the doctrine of Original Sin than the divine decision to have Jesus come from His mother unclean, and that she is consequently polluted by child-bearing (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/1, p. 139).
* Christ is even more clearly manifest for us today, Calvin claims: "True, Christ no longer dwells in earth, nor do we carry Him in our arms: but His divine majesty shines openly and brightly in the gospel…" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/1, p. 144).
* Martin Luther found that Christ subjecting Himself to the law is a comfort showing us that Christ is like us in all things, but without Original Sin (Complete Sermons, Vol. 7, pp. 276-277). In addition he wrote: "Because Christ has done this, placed Himself under the law, He thereby has freed us from the law… For He did not break the law, He is no sinner, and the law has no right to condemn Him to death" (Ibid., p. 277).
* And yet this gospel is also a word of amazement and triumph: "The gospel should instill such amazement in us that we too would exult and proudly assert: I have been baptized in Christ; there is no doubt, that through the Lord Jesus, I became a lord and can overcome death and sin, and heaven and all creation must serve my best interests" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 5, p. 156).
* Martin Luther notes how amazing it is that an eminent man like Simeon would regard an infant as Savior (Luther's Works, Vol. 52, p. 103). Beginning is nothing, the end is everything (Ibid., p. 104). In this manner, we too must disregard the external evidence when contemplating God's works and cling only to His words, lest our eyes or senses offend us (Ibid.).
* Luther also critiques those who want everything evident and visible their own way. Few Simeons bless Christ, but the world is full of those who wish Him evil: "For whoever is not disposed willingly to despise all things and to be prepared to suffer, will not bless and praise God for long, but will take offense at Him quickly. To be sure some praise and bless Him, as long as He does what they desire and as long as He allows them what they want. But then He is not Christ, neither does He do Christ's work with them, but He is what they are and desire" (Luther's Works, Vol. 52, p. 109).
* The Reformer also notes that God's word must be a stumbling block (v. 34) and experience rebuffs: "He who wants it to be otherwise must look for another Christ" (Ibid., p. 117).
* He also reflects on how those who want to speak of Christ's redemption must concede that they are prisoners of sin, but that blind sinners find this an insult (Ibid., p. 143).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* As recently as 2004, surveys reported in Alberto Alesiina and Edward Glaeser, Fighting Poverty in the US and Europe: A World of Difference, that 60% of Americans think the poor are lazy (are to be blamed for their own poverty).
* Neurobiology has discerned that dreams and yearning keep you young. The exploration of new ideas and interests leads to production of protein in the brain (neutrophic factors) that helps create new nerve cells and repairs those damaged by aging (Sherwin Nuland, The Art of Aging, pp. 36-37).
5. Gimmick
Introduce Simeon and Anna, stressing their devotedness, the hopelessness many Jews felt during the period of Roman occupation, and their dreams.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Continue to tell the story of the presentation (and why Mary and Joseph went with Jesus to the temple), stressing how amazing it was that Simeon and Anna worshiped this little child.
* Faith, it seems, is not taken with present appearances. Note Martin Luther's observations and quotations in Theological Insights regarding how in faith we must disregard present evidence (Luther's Works, Vol. 52, pp. 103-104). He who wants it to be otherwise must look for another Christ (Ibid., p. 117).
* Faith is future-oriented, precisely because it involves being joined to Jesus who Himself condemns and overcomes the things of the earth that seem not to hold us in bondage (Galatians 4:3-4; see Complete Sermons, Vol. 5, p. 156). In the midst of sin and death, hear the Word (see the preceding Luther quotes affirming that these realities have been overcome).
* We are not naturally disposed to see life this way. We will praise God with the angels at Christmas -- as long as God gives us what we want... but not if things get a little tough.
* Some may say that had they seen the Baby Jesus in the Temple that day they would have blessed Him joyfully along with Simeon and Anna. They lie! Jesus' infancy and poverty would have caused you and me to turn Him away, just as we blame the poor for their own poverty today. (See Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.) We are people who judge a book by its cover.
* Our sinful preoccupation with the present leads us to imagine that we might not be saved because we are not yet acting righteously. Preoccupation with the present leads us to imagine that we might not be saved because we are not yet acting righteously. We fail to recognize that though God does not count us as righteous in the present (Romans 3:21, 25-26; Galatians 3:6; 4:5), he does not expect that this will be immediately manifest in present experiences. Our righteousness, like the Baby Jesus and the gospel, is a dream of the future.
* Dreams: You need them to thrive. Cuban-French author Anais Nin said so profoundly once: "Dreams are necessary to life." African-American poet and novelist Langston Hughes made a similar point, as he charged readers to "Hold fast to dreams, for if they die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly."
* The latest research on the human brain indicates that dreams or yearning keep you young. It seems that when you explore new ideas like you do when you are dreaming the brain produces protein that creates new nerve cells and also repairs damage to the old ones.
* The faith of Simeon and Anna helps us get free from present appearances that can seem so hopeless and gives us new directions when there seems to be no hope. They would have us dream the Christmas dream of salvation and redemption (vv. 30, 38) and the overcoming of hopelessness.
* Keep this faith and the Christian dream in mind the next time the next time you encounter suffering or run across someone who is undesirable. Keep in mind that present appearances do not ultimately matter. God has other plans for you.
* English poet William Blake said it so well in his The Land of Dreams:
Father, O Father! What do we here,
In this kind of unbelief and fear?
The Land of Dreams is better far,
Above the light of the Morning Star.
7. Wrap-Up
Note in closing what a good God we have, One who leads us away from the anxieties of the present. In the midst of this land of unbelief He leads us to the land of dreams that is better far, far above the Morning Star. Have your people praise God for the good and glorious future He has in mind for them and you. What a wonderful dream to bring with us in the new year.
