Pious Lutheran

The Martyrdom of St. Stephen , Annibale Carracci, 1604 Merry Christmas!  Our readings for this second day of Christmas seem out of place at first glance. Reading about the stoning of Zecheriah, the stoning of Stephen, and Jesus prophesying about others being martyred as well doesn’t seem to fit in with little baby Jesus lying in a manger. But wiser Christians than myself long ago saw fit to read about the first Christian martyr on December 26th. In fact, it fits quite well, since the martyrdom of St. Stephen corrects our romanticized and commercialized view of Christmas. Christmas today has been, like Charlie Brown says, commercialized; even the dog has gone commercial. It’s about family gatherings, presents, concerts, and food. It’s about warm fuzzy feelings in your belly. We also tend to romanticize the first Christmas with pristine nativities and pretty Christmas carols about a baby Jesus who doesn’t cry. We tend to forget that Mary gave birth with the animals not because the ho...

Nativity, Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre, 1714-1789 Merry Christmas! “ The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. ” What a joyous message it is to hear that we’re not alone and that God is with us! The desire to not be alone is a strong one. Many people live in cities or towns, many people hope that aliens are real, many people spend too much time on social media, all because we don’t want to be alone.  It’s a sad reality then that so many people are extraordinarily lonely these days. We’ve got email, telephones, text messaging, video chats, and yet people feel more alone than ever before. Why? The simple reason is that God created us to be with other people in the flesh, not just virtually. It isn’t only other people we long to be with, but it’s God we desire to be with. When God created Adam and Eve in the garden, He walked with them! Adam and Eve didn’t initially know God as an invisible spirit, like we do, but as One who spoke to them face to face. It was a result of sin that Adam a...

The Nativity,  Sandro Botticelli, 1485 Merry Christmas! St. Matthew’s nativity account is much shorter than St. Luke’s. Luke talks about the angel speaking to Mary, traveling to Bethlehem, wrapping baby Jesus in swaddling cloths, lying Him in a manger, and the angels and shepherd coming to worship Him. Matthew’s account, which we read this evening, includes none of that. Luke focuses on Mary, while Matthew focuses on Joseph. While the blessed virgin Mary is certainly important (she gave birth to the Son of God!), Joseph is much more relatable to us. The angel Gabriel went from heaven to a small town in Galilee, Nazareth, and spoke directly to Mary. But to Joseph, an angel of the Lord appeared to Him in a dream, not even in person.  Mary experienced these things personally, she knew as a matter of fact that she had been faithful to Joseph and that the baby in her womb did not come about the usual way, which meant she knew from her experience that the child in her womb was from ...

Cindy, family and friends of Carol, God’s peace be with all of you. Hear these words of comfort from St. Peter again: “ According to [God’s] great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ”  Carol was born again in the waters of Holy Baptism. In those waters Carol died with Christ and rose with Christ. Therefore, Carol has an eternal inheritance awaiting her in paradise and it will be revealed to her and to all Christians on the last day. For that reason we hope in Christ and trust that Carol is being cared for right now by her Good Shepherd, awaiting the last day. Speaking of shepherds, Carol was somewhat like a shepherd for many years. She didn’t walk around with a staff, leading fuzzy animals around, while defending...

Saint John the Baptist Preaching to the Masses in the Wilderness,  Pieter Breughel the Younger, 1564-1638 This fourth and final Sunday in Advent, right before Christmas, has long been called The Preparation. John the Baptist is continuing to fulfill his calling as the forerunner of Christ who “ makes straight the way of the Lord. ” Before Christ comes this is our chance to prepare, this is the time for us to get our hearts ready, to make our rocky hearts straight. To our ears today these seem like unusual readings right before Christmas. In fact, all of Advent feels weird right before Christmas. The secular world starts marketing Christmas gifts and parties at the beginning of November! You’d think in church we’d be listening to readings and hymns about the angelic announcement that Mary was pregnant with Jesus, or Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem, or the wisemen visiting, or some other such things. We’re not really expecting John the Baptist baptizing people in the Jordan r...

What is a Christian congregation? Why are we here and what brings us together? Those are important questions for us to answer today, and thankfully they’re answered in chapter 3 of Titus. Chapter 1 we learned that this wicked world is reformed through the Word of God. Chapter 2 we learned that this wicked world is reformed when the Word of God is applied to the household and men and women live according to their God given stations in life. Here in chapter 3 we learn that the Word of God, through baptism, forms and shapes the Christian congregation. The mistake we often make is that we assume the Christian congregation is akin to the clubs and groups that we form. These groups are formed because of mutual interest and similarities among the members. A book club is made up of people who like to read books and talk about them. A garden club is made up of people who like plants and grow them. Service organizations like Rotary or Kiwanees or Lions are composed of people who like to do commu...

Saint John the Baptist in Prison , Victor Meirelles, 1852 The Lord is faithful, and so are His servants. There was a good quote going around recently on the internet from a church in Michigan, saying: “The church’s job is to be faithful, not popular.” This simple fact is just as true today as it was two millennia ago. St. Paul taught the church in Corinth what pastors are: “ This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. ” Pastors are servants, not servants of the people or of the world, but servants of Christ. Pastors are a particular kind of servant: a steward. The single most important requirement for a steward is to be faithful. This is obvious from a human example: if parents leave their children with a steward, what matters most is that the steward is faithful so that the children live. The steward may have a weird haircut, a dry sense of humor, and kind of an awkward...