January 2 2022
January 2nd 2022 Christmas 2
Old Testament: 1st Kings 3:4-15
Psalm: Psalm 119:97-104 (105-112)
Epistle: Ephesians 1:3-14
Gospel: Luke 2:40-52
Sermon Text: Psalm 119:97-105
Sermon Title: The Word Alone
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen!
“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”. (Psalm 119:105)
Joseph and Mary were faithful Jewish parents; worshipping in God’s house regularly with their family. Last week, we heard that regarding Jesus, “they performed everything according to the Law of the Lord”. (Luke 2:39a) and today we hear “His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover … according to custom”. (Luke 2:42) The Word of God (and the life of the temple/synagogue) was the most important aspect of their lives, even though (or perhaps because) they did not always understand it.
Last week, we heard Simeon tell them some things they did not know about their Son Jesus. Today, when they find Jesus in the temple; “He said to them, Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know, that I must be in My Father’s house? And they did not understand the saying that He spoke to them”. (Luke 2:49-50) Still, Mary, “treasured up all these things in her heart”. (Luke 2:51b)
Joseph and Mary serve as an example to us today that hearing, reading, studying and treasuring the Word of God (and receiving His gifts) is to be the most important thing in the life of a Christian. Moses told the people of Israel, “These words that I command you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise”. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”. (Deuteronomy 8:3) There are many other such exhortations in the Holy Scriptures.
The unknown author of Psalm 119 knew this too; beginning the longest of all the psalms with the words, “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of the Lord … I store up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against you”. (Psalm 119:1,11) All 178 verses of this psalm are about the necessity of the Word of God in the life of a believer; including our text for today, which begins, “Oh how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day”. (Psalm 119:97) This is to be the life of the Christian, living in this fallen world.
But is it? Do we; do you; hold the Word of God; the Bible; in high esteem? Do you love the law of the Lord? Do you meditate upon it? Or do you think you really don’t need to study it, that hearing a sermon once a week, or once a month, or once a year is sufficient? In light of the fact that the Apostle Paul wrote “faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17) can we ever justify holding God’s Word in contempt? I think not.
The truth is that nothing will be accomplished in Christ’s church except through the preaching and study of God’s Word. Therefore, the Lord said through the prophet Isaiah, “My Word … shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and succeed in the thing for which I sent it”. (Isaiah 55:11) The Apostle Paul also exhorts us, “let the Word of Christ, dwell in you richly”. (Colossians 3:16) It is the Word of God that changes things.
But some say, I cannot go to church there, because so and so elder or life-long member offended me with their behavior. Or I can’t listen to that pastor because he is soooo boring or long winded or preaches too much law (or too much Gospel), or he obviously doesn’t care about me or he is a hypocrite. But this is no excuse to stay away from the Word and Sacraments; for “every Word of God proves true”. (Proverbs 30:5) Jesus said, “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples”. (John 8:31b)
The same is true of the Sacrament; it is the very body and blood of Christ given and shed for you, “for the power of the sacrament does not rest upon the worthiness or unworthiness of the minister who distributes the Sacrament … or of the one who receives it”. (F of C, Article VII, par. 16)
Also, remember the Gospel from last Sunday? Simeon and Anna, two older people, were both in the temple the day Mary and Joseph brought in Jesus, but who else was at the temple that day, and every day? The Scribes and Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, were also there, most of whom Jesus called hypocrites or worse. Yet despite that, Simeon and Anna were there, gladly hearing the Word and promises of God, even from those Jesus called hypocrites.
A few days before His arrest and crucifixion, “Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, the Scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you; but not what they do. For they preach, but they do not practice”. (Matthew 23:1-3) Paul said something similar, in the letter to the Philippians;
“Some preach Christ from envy and rivalry … thinking to afflict me … (but) whether in pretense or truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice”. (Philippians 1:15-18) He rejoices because he knows that the preacher is just an instrument that God uses and that it is the Holy Spirit alone who works faith … when and where He pleases through the Word/Gospel”. (Small Catechism)
Martin Luther wrote, “those who believe the message on account of the one preaching it are not believing the Word! Neither do they believe in God through the Word. Instead, they believe in the preacher. And as a result their faith does not endure … those who (truly) believe the Word, overlook the one who is preaching it. They don’t honor the Word because of the person, they honor the person because of the Word. They never place the person higher than the Word … Genuine faith clings to the Word … Genuine faith believes, trusts and honors the Word because of what it is, not who said it”.
Therefore, pastors exhort people to go to church, because you need to be there; for this is where God nourishes you with His Word and Sacrament. You need to be there to because you need forgiveness of sins; you need to be fed spiritually, you need to have your faith strengthened by generous and gracious gifts. For we deserve nothing from God and yet He gives us every good and perfect gift; forgiveness, life, and salvation; when we gather here.
So, the Christian (and the one who wishes to remain a Christian) eagerly hears the Word of God, no matter who says it, and even when it rebukes us for our sins. The old Adam in us needs the “instruction, admonition, urging and threatening of the law”; and the new creation/man welcomes it. As the psalmist wrote, “Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for it (the Word) is ever with me. I have understanding … because Your testimonies are my meditation”. (Psalm 119:98-99)
Paul testified that these “sacred writings are able to make you wise for salvation through Jesus Christ. For all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness”. (2nd Timothy 3:15b-16) Do you believe these words of Holy Scripture? And if so, why do you act as if your own wisdom is higher than God’s?
The psalmist continues, “I understand more than the aged … I hold back my feet from every evil … I do not turn aside from your words … for you have taught me … How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth”. (Psalm 119:100-103) “Therefore, I hate every false way”. (Psalm 119:104b) So, love of God’s Word also requires dedication to oppose and avoid the evil/wrong in our lives and in our teaching. Again, Paul said, “in anyone should preach a Gospel, contrary to the one we preached to you, let them be accursed”. (Galatians 1:8)
To summarize, the person who follows the simple truths of God’s Word, is wiser and has more understanding than those who pay allegiance to the various theories and sayings of the wisest of men. “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world”? (1st Corinthians 1:20) “The Word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God”. (1st Corinthians 1:18)
Therefore, in our church, “we believe, teach, and confess, that the prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testament are the only rule and norm according to which all doctrines and teachers alike must be appraised and judged”. (Formula of Concord, Epitome, Part 1, par. 1)
We trust the Holy Scriptures because they are the perfect, inerrant Word of God; which testify throughout of the only means of salvation; faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning death and bodily resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of eternal life. Through faith “in Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight … when you/we heard the word of truth … the Gospel of your salvation”. (Ephesians 1:7-8, 13b)
We thank and praise You for “Your Word, O Lord, (it) is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”. (Psalm 119:105) We pray that the Lord would grant us grace and faith to “hold fast to the instruction (of His Word) and not let go, for she/it is your life” (Proverbs 4:13) and salvation. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You (alone) have the words of eternal life”. (John 6:68) Amen.
The peace of God …