Things Are About to Change

[n.b. This is Pastor McDermott's final sermon as regular pastor of St. Peter.]

 

 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Things are about to change. This is the way of things in this world – they change. You are not the same as you were yesterday, and neither is the world around you or the things in your world. Things are changing.

Today's lessons speak about change in what appear to be very different ways, but they parallel each other in a few key points.

The Lord Came

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). The Word of the Lord has gone out into every generation of man, in many and various ways, but remarkably always through the mouth of men. Today you have heard about one such man, a boy really, and how the Lord called him to be His messenger to the people of Israel.

The Old Testament lesson begins by recording that “the young man Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli.” Samuel, from his conception, was devoted to the Lord. His name means “heard of God”, because God heard the cries of his mother Hannah and granted to her a son. Therefore, she gave him to the Lord to minister in the tabernacle. Samuel from a young age was brought up in the Lord's house, and he honored the Lord, even though he did not yet know Him. For this, the same is said about Samuel as would be said about our Lord: “Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man.” (1Sam. 2:26)

And yet, for spending his childhood in the house of the Lord, Samuel did not yet know the Lord.

Taking Baptism Seriously

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The examination of the Baptism of our Lord today prompts one to ask this question: How have you treated your own Baptism?

In Baptism, you have a mighty work of God, by which your sinful nature is drowned, and a new man in the image of Christ is brought forth. So Baptism is not merely a minor event that happened in your past. It is a great treasure with deep meaning for your life as a Christian.

Have you treated your Baptism as a sacred thing? Or not?

Where He May Be Found

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The prophet Isaiah proclaims, “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” In today's Gospel lesson, these words find a sort of fulfillment.

St. Luke records that when Jesus was twelve years old, He went with His family to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, just like they did every year. They went to the Temple like good Jews. They sacrificed their Passover lamb like good Jews. They said the ritual prayers and ate the ritual Passover meal like good Jews. And they recalled the history of God delivering His people out of slavery in Egypt like good Jews.

Mary and Joseph, and the others in their entourage, were good, pious Jews. They did what the Law required of them in terms of their worship “according to the custom of the feast,” as St. Luke records. That is, they did the religious things that had become habit for them. In this, they are not unlike most church-going people, or observant people of whatever religion. Why are you here this morning? Is it because of a burning desire to hear some guy in fancy robes drone on? Or is it because you are accustomed to coming here at this time on this day of the week and doing these things?

In Christ

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

As we review the year coming to a close – how have we used it? “Is there one commandment we have not transgressed? Is there one day in which we have not sinned?” Is there one gift for which we have been perfectly thankful and used always and only as God intended? Is there one day where our mouths have poured forth only prayer and praise? “Is there one rescue from trouble for which we have offered the proper praise to God” (Walther)? Is there one sermon we have heard (or preached) that we have fully applied and taken to heart? Is there one neighbor whose needs we have seen to completely and joyfully?

As this year comes to a close, we can only cry out, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” And for those good things we have done, we can only say, “We are but unprofitable servants; we have only done what was our duty.”

“His Own Received Him Not”

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

He came unto His own and His own received Him not. It is not merely wicked Herod, but all of Jerusalem with him, that is deeply troubled at the coming of the wise men from the East. The wise men want to know where the King of kings, that Prince of Peace, is to be born. These wise men are wise by virtue of Daniel who prophesied in their country. And yet, they have more of the Scriptures, more of God’s wisdom, than merely Daniel. By God’s Grace they also have Moses. From Moses they have Balaam’s promised sign of a star. They have seen it fulfilled and with faith, with trust that the God of Moses has fulfilled these things and provided a Savior, they come to worship the One thereby announced.

But they do not have everything.

The Christmas Gift

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today is opened before you a gift of inestimable worth. It is a gift spoken of from in many and various ways, by prophets and patriarchs, by kings and poets. But it is not a new and strange thing. The New Testament contains this great gift. For the New Testament is nothing more than a revelation of the Old Testament. It is as though someone had sealed a letter long ago, and it is just now broken open. So the Old Testament is the testamentary letter of Christ, which He has commanded broken open after His death and proclaimed to the whole world through the preaching of the Gospel.

The fulfillment of the Scriptures is brought forth today, wrapped in swaddling cloths. What was formerly wrapped in shadows and mysteries, known only to seers and prophets, is now revealed to the whole world. The mystery is broken open, the gift is given, the will is read. God is no longer hidden in cloud and smoke; He is present in flesh and blood.