Monopoly With Friends (Old Long Ago)

Monopoly with friends is comfortable. We talk smack, exchange fake bills with glee and frustration, laugh and laugh again, and groan loudly when a certain someone lands on Free Parking--AGAIN--and rakes in our taxes and dumb fee money.

This New Year's Eve, we've consumed lots of water and chocolate and near-misses on the Millennium Edition board. It looked so futuristic twelve years ago, but its shine is too metallic now and its tokens quaint (a ginormous cell phone and a roller blade. Chortle with me, now). But life is like that, isn't it, especially in these long evenings that go by so quickly and that turn into years, and years. We don't know what's coming next year, whether the cliff will serve us a belly flop, whether we'll get an unexpected raise or a much-wanted child or a surprise move or none of the above, or whether our friends and family and dear ones will suffer and love and cherish and go homeward, heavenward. What comfort then that no matter the monopoly that sin and the unknown hold over us, that our lives are in trust.


But I have to go now, here in these last moments of 2012, because Papa's about to win the game. Happy New Year, friends. For Old Long Ago, my dears. 

What the President Should Have Said, but Could Not

The Third Sunday in Advent

16 December A+D 2012
Rev. Jon C. Olson

There is a sharp contrast between the preaching of John the Baptist and most other preaching heard today.  You can notice it in the way John’s hearers responded to his preaching.  When John preached he laid bare the sins of the people, exposed their guilt and shame, and they could only respond: "What then shall we do?"  Most preaching today is less personal and less direct, less about sin, and more about achieving your hopes and dreams.  You can tell this by the response of the people.  Today, the biggest question after the sermon is not "What then shall we do?" but "Where then shall we eat (after church)?"  In other words, John preached a message that meant life could not go on as it had been.  Today preaching seems almost designed to keep the status quo, that is, un-confrontational, and that seems to be what the hearers want, or at least are comfortable with.
            So whose fault is it?  Are the preachers in the pulpits of today worse or is it the hearers in the pews?  Or both?  Preaching that is not direct, that doesn’t apply to individual Christians in the pew, is definitely problem.  Something is wrong with the preaching when we are not convicted by the weight and burden of our sin and moved to call on God for help.  When hearers are distracted from hearing the Word of God because hearts and minds are caught up in the here and now, something is wrong with the hearers.  Every sermon should lead the hearer to be moved to ask "What then shall we do?"
            John came as a lone voice crying in the wilderness.  It was his vocal chords sounding the words, but God's Word coming out.  God was speaking through His preacher to awaken His people to prepare for the Savior who was coming. 

John did not beat around the bush.  He called a spade a spade, and sin a sin.  He called a thing what it is.  He called out judgment against sin – a judgment that could not be set aside by the claim of being descended from Abraham (Jewish children of the promise), or rank in life, (that is, “you can’t tell us what to do, we are people of power and position”).  The urgency of John's preaching was marked by the sharp and critical nature of the content of what He preached.  His preaching did not allow anyone to escape the consequence of what God is doing.  No one.  No where.  No how.

I suspect that if all John preached was a Law of condemnation and judgment, He would have been rebuked by Jesus.  But this was no doom and gloom preacher and message.  It was not "repent for the end is near."  No, this was the voice of hope.  "Repent for the Kingdom of God is near."  In other words, the focus was not escaping the wrath of God but being ready to meet the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.  John the Baptist did not just point out the problem, he proclaimed the solution.  God was coming to His people to save them.  He was entering time and space; taking on human flesh to fulfill His promise of salvation and deliver His people from their sins.  It was not mere fear of God’s wrath that shaped the people's response, but profound hope in the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
            They were called not to run and hide from sin, but to confront it head on with repentance.  The promise here is that if you confess your sin, God, who is faithful, and just, will forgive your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.  Does that sound familiar?  We need to get rid of our sin not to escape God's wrath but to meet His Son who comes with salvation and life.
            Our problem today is not merely that we don't get all that upset about sin and morality.  Our problem is that we do not hunger and thirst for forgiveness and righteousness.  We have grown casual and complacent.  The message is not urgent because we expect God to meet us as we are – just like everyone else in our lives has to.  We are not moved to live repentant lives because we no longer hunger for God, at least not a God who does not like us just the way we are, still stuck in sin.
            Where preaching does not confront us with this urgency, it is flawed and pointless.  Where we do not hear this compelling call to repentance and faith, we become complacent and oblivious to what God has done and what He has promised to do. 

This morning, the families and friends of the children murdered in Newtown, CT are not complacent.  As our broken world rages with evil in these last days, the devil is found lashing out in much the same if not even more violent ways.  He is seething with rage, because the Savior Christ Jesus has defeated him.  He hates life and loves death.  For these young innocent children whose lives have been cut short, Jesus has died to grant resurrection to life once more.  In Holy baptism He has joined His death and resurrection to sinners to protect our children's bodies and souls for all eternity.  He avenges evil.  He will return to judge what happened and end the violence once and for all.  

“What then shall we do?”  Well, you have heard it said, “you can’t take anything with you when you die.” Truly, truly I say to you, “there is one thing you can take with you, and that is your children”.  You can see them again!  Baptize your children, and grandchildren.  Be diligent to give them more than the material things this world offers.  Keep them and their souls safe in the ark of Christ's holy Church.  Give them the Word of God not only at Church but in the home too.  As parents, be models of the Gospel to your children; let them hear you say “I forgive you” to your spouse.  Teach them how precious all human life, from conception onward, truly is. 

Ultimately, John was not speaking for himself.  No preacher does.  The message is God's, though the voice may belong to the preacher. Advent is not about the call of God that comes to us today to prepare for the coming of the Savior to be born in Bethlehem.  It is much more than that.  Advent is instead a time to prepare for His return to finish His new creation.  He is calling to us not to shape up for judgment, but to prepare for the completion of the work of God began in Bethlehem, to Calvary, and to the Garden of the Empty Tomb, to His Ascension and finally to the coming of Jesus Christ on the Last Day. 

There is a sadness that we all feel as a result of the terrible events of this past week.  Yet in Christ there is also hope and expectation as we await the Day when Christ comes to seal His victory for all eternity.  As you wait, repent and live daily in the light of God's mercy. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.  And be saved. 

Rejoice in the Lord always, Again, I say rejoice! (Phil. 4:4) Jesus said, “Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev. 21:5) Even so, come Lord Jesus, In His name we pray, Amen.

(Special thanks to Rev. Peters for the main direction of this sermon, and Rev. Sherill for some of the main thoughts concerning the shooting murders in Newtown, CT.)

Prayer “While Reading the News”

WHILE READING THE NEWS

I thank you

for this net that sweeps all waters

and brings me news of all the daily life

of all my neighbors

everywhere in the world.

Make me compassionate,

O God of all mercies,

with all my neighbors’ sufferings.

Teach me to know and feel

that distant anguish is

as aching as my own.

Teach me to pray,

“Thy kingdom come!”

as widely as Your Son

has willed it and meant it.

Teach me to do

what I can and must do

for all men.

Teach me long-reaching charity.

Give me faith to know,

when news is black as ink,

that Your hand is guiding all,

obscurely and unfathomably

but surely, surely

toward Your goal;

that when the world shakes

and Satan triumphs with short certainty,

Your Son, Jesus Christ, is Lord of all,

that He, the Lamb slain for our sins,

is opening the seals of Your book

and is working out

Your good and holy will.

Remember in Your mercy

the gatherers and disseminators of the news.

Protect them from all harm.

Keep them

from cynical and cheap success,

from a single taste for disaster,

from considered or deliberate distortion

of the sad and wondrous face of man.

From Pray for Joy, by Martin H. Franzmann (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1970)

ChrisTmas

Week of Second Sunday in Advent 12/12/12, Sermon ~ Rev. J.C. Olson

Often the Season of Advent becomes merely pre-Christmas, a time to prepare to meet the Baby Jesus in the manger. Of course, we all know that we cannot travel back in time to meet him. This would be like saying during the four weeks prior to Martin Luther’s birthday, “now is the time to prepare to meet the great theologian Martin Luther”. Everybody knows that we cannot prepare for an event that has already occurred.

A better way to understand the first coming of the Messiah, the incarnation, is that it enables us to look forward with joy to Christ’s second coming in judgment. Because of Jesus’ path from the manger to the cross to the grave and to His glorious resurrection, we can lift up our heads to see the kingdom of Christ coming to its fulfillment among us now today.

The Lord through His speaking brings judgment upon His people. His Law crushes our claims of righteousness. No greater burden could be placed on the human heart than to face the judging and powerful word of God’s Law. When God speaks His Law against our sins are revealed. “Out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem”. (Is. 2:3)

Judgment falls on us each and every day. The goal of such judgment is to produce repentant hearts, willing and wanting to hear and receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is through the Word made Flesh that God chose to judge His people. In Christ, God graciously grants us pardon and forgiveness. In Christ, God graciously gives to us a perfect life, suffering and death that satisfies God’s wrath and demands for justice because of our sinfulness.

The Christian Church exists on earth to proclaim and send forth the message of forgiveness in Christ. For it is the Word of God alone that creates and sustains faith in the hearts of people. Holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit to write down that the Lord comes to judge His children not guilty through the incarnate Christ. This is what, or rather WHO the Bible is all about.

The Lord will use His shepherds, His pastors, to instruct you in the Word of God. Christ commissions men to speak on His behalf, telling us that in His first coming there is Spirit and life that will stand at His second coming in Judgment.

Christ’s second coming on the Last Day holds no terror for us Christians because Christ’s first coming in the incarnation tells us the meaning of His ultimate return. In these last days, through His speaking, we will be declared blameless, and there will be peace on earth and good will from God toward man. Christ paid the ultimate price that we may have peace now and at the last.

Christ comes to bring peace with God, a peace that remains forever a gift of God. If left to figure out our own plan of salvation, we would be forever sharpening our swords to kill this God who demands holiness and righteousness. Like a child who pitches a temper tantrum when he doesn’t get his fruit snacks when he demands them for breakfast at 7 in the morning, we are born on a warpath against our gracious God. And like a parent who holds tightly to a child who is raging out of control, our God smothers us in His Son’s weak body offered for us upon the cross.

The Christ child leads us in the way of peace. He alone rescues those who desire to make war on God and His Word. So why did He come? He came to “give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace”. (Luke 1:79) Christ has defeated all our enemies of sin, death and the power of the devil and even war itself. By His blood of the New Testament, give and shed for you, for the forgiveness of all your sins, Christ declares all hostility between Himself and you to be over.

In the end, instruments of war will become signs of peace. After WWII, all the naval scrap iron was converted into raw materials to be reused by cruise ships, skyscrapers, and cars. Material once used to wage war was recycled and used to produce things that were symbols of peace and prosperity. The ultimate sign of warfare with God is the cross of Christ. God converted that which had been our weapon against His Son into the sign of our new life in Christ, who died to save us and give us life.

Though God’s plan of salvation began in a feeding trough for animals, thankfully it did not end there. For what did He come? Jesus went on in his short earthly life to keep the Law of God in your place, die upon the cross for your sins, and be raised from the dead for your justification. All of the seasons of the Church year find their fulfillment in the Cross of Christ.

Merciful God, Your Son, Jesus Christ, was lifted high upon the cross that He might bear the sins of the world and draw all people to Himself. Grant that we, who glory in His death for our redemption, may faithfully heed His call to bear the cross and follow Him, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

(Nearly) One-Year-Old Sweetie

Well, our Baby Girl is fast approaching her big one-year mark, so I thought I'd compile some fairly recent pictures of her before that milestone is long gone.

C starting taking steps by herself on Saturday, November 3. She'd been standing by herself (randomly standing up in the middle of the room with no assistance) and creeping (holding on to furniture and walking) everywhere, so we knew she could do it. Papa and I were sitting downstairs while the kids played, and she crawled over to the coffee table. Except she didn't make it. Instead, she stopped, stood up, and took two steps to reach it. We think she forgot that she wasn't crawling. In the last week, she's gone from three or four steps at a time to ten or twelve. So now it's onward-ho to staggering, running, and general speediness for little C! Happy early birthday, Sweetheart.

 

 

And to think: just yesterday (it seems), she was only this big!