Brent Kuhlman

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Fourth Sunday in Advent “C”                                             
20 December 2009           

St. Luke 1:39-45 (46-56)

Here we are.  On the cusp of Christmas.  And two women are pregnant.  Two mothers.  No big deal you say?  Well it really is.  The Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life has been at work.  Stirred up His power.  And through the Spirit-filled preached Word by archangel Gabriel these two women, humanly speaking, should not be pregnant – are! Mary is virgin teen.  As well as her senior citizen-ready-for- the-nursing-home-relative Elizabeth. Barren all her life. But now she is her second trimester.  Anything is possible with God.  

Mary carries the Christ – Savior of the world Baby Jesus in her belly.  Elizabeth bears the last prophet who bridges the Old Testament and New Testament - John the Baptist. Huge miracles that a virgin and a barren old woman are both pregnant. 

Gabriel told Mary that Elizabeth was in her sixth month.  And so Mary goes to visit her.  The Visitation.  A three-month Visitation!  When are given to hear only the beginning of the visit. 

When Mary arrives she greets her cousin.  As soon as her greeting goes into Elizabeth’s ears, the baby in the old woman’s womb leaps.  Yes, that’s right leaps.  Jumps.  Jumps for joy!  And Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit.  That babies roll around and jostle around in the womb is a common thing.  But that the baby leaps at Mary’s greeting is significant.  Already John the Baptist – sixth months in the womb – bears witness to the Christ!  The Christ in Mary’s womb. 

A profoundly prophetic moment.  The final fulfillment of all God’s promises to His people.  No wonder Elizabeth is filled with the Spirit.  The Spirit is at work.  Just as promised in the Old Testament to Abraham and all his descendants.  Behold the Old Testament Day of the Lord has come.  Forerunner of the Messiah is here.  The Messiah is here.  Babies – babies in the bellies of their mothers. 

Well the sound of Mary’s voice gives great joy for the six month old fetus.  He jumps for joy.  The Savior has come!  He is here on the earth!  In Mary’s womb.

And John believes it.  Rejoices in it.  This teaches us two things.  First, unborn babies are humans.  The unborn are not just blobs of tissue but babies.  From the very moment of conception.  Life begins there.  That’s how God created you.  He knit you in your mother’s womb through your parents.  The barely six-month old fetus John and the just conceived by the Holy Spirit Jesus in Mary’s womb are babies.  Humans.

Second, babies can believe.  Babies benefit from hearing God’s Word – even in the womb.  John the Baptist leaps for joy and Elizabeth is filled with the Spirit at the voice of Mary’s greeting.  How much more when we hear the living voice of Christ Himself through His Word!  One of the biggest prescriptions I can give you young ladies for pre-natal care is that you come to church!  That you bring your unborn children regularly to the divine service where Jesus Himself proclaims the Gospel to you and your baby and feeds you with His most holy Body and Blood.  Do you remember St. Timothy?  The apostle Paul rejoiced that he was hearing the Scriptures from infancy!  The Holy Spirit-filled Scriptures that are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus! 

Now, back to the text.  Mary greets Elizabeth.  And Elizabeth blesses Mary and the Baby Jesus she carries.  “Blessed are you among women.  Blessed is the child you will bear.”  Mary is blessed.  God chose her to bear the Savior.  And she receives what God gives.  She trusts.  Faith.  She believes. In what God promises and gives through His Word. 

Elizabeth is also honored.  “How has it happened that the mother of my Lord has come to pay me a visit?” She is astounded, stunned and amazed.  Elizabeth rejoices that Mary is the “mother of my Lord.”  Did you catch that?  “Mary, you are the mother of my Lord and my God!”    The Second Person of the Holy Trinity takes on flesh through Mary.  Mary, then, is appropriately called “Theotokos,” the bearer of God.  The mother of God.  Because the Baby in her womb is the Word made flesh.  Because the Baby in her womb is indeed the eternal Son of God.  Theotokos, bearer of God, the mother of God.  All these names not to call attention to Mary but rather to call all our attention to the Baby she bears.

The Baby is the Lord.  He topples nations.  Brings down rulers from their thrones.  Pharoah/Egypt.  Nebuchadnezzer/Babylon.  Alexander the Great/Greece.  The caesars /Rome.  Hitlers, Stalins, Mussolinis.  Even our mighty country will pass away one day.  He scatters the proud in their conceit.  He brings the mighty down from their thrones.  He alone, Baby Jesus, is the Lord.      

And yet He condescends to be a Baby.  And as that Baby Jesus to be the Savior.  Of all nations.  Of all peoples.  Such a Savior is to be worshiped.  To be praised.  And so Mary breaks out:  “My soul magnifies the Lord!”  “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”  “My Savior.”  Yes, she too needs the Savior.  Mary too needs to be saved.  And Jesus is the one to do it.   

She sings of God’s wonderful gift of salvation.  And that’s the Fetus growing in her womb is her Savior.  “The Mighty One has done great things for me,” she sings.  “Holy is His Name,” she declares.  Generations call Mary “blessed” because God used her body as the vessel, the instrument, or the means for Jesus to be born into the world to save sinners.

That’s you and me.  Sinners.  Humbled and brought low.  We confess that Jesus is Lord.  We are not.  God regards you and me as forgiven.  God has triumphed through the flesh of the Fetus named Jesus.  And with that Body He goes to the cross.  Raises His mighty arms, stretches them out to be nailed, and dies for you.

Have a blessed Christmas.

In the Name of Jesus.              

 

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Wednesday of Advent 3                                             
16 December 2009           

St. Matthew 2:1-12  “King”

If you’re going to look for the “king of the Jews”  -- if you’re going to try to find the promised king who would reign on the earth as the Savior of the world – then you’d better look in the capital – Jerusalem.  Makes sense doesn’t it?  Kings live in posh palaces.  Centers of political power.  Jerusalem is where a king of the Jews would be.  Right? 

Well, the Magi, that is, the wise men from the east sure think so.  They stop at the king’s palace.  King Herod “The Great” lives there.  And so at Jerusalem the Magi let everyone know:  “We saw the star.  The star of the promised king of the Jews.  We’re here.  We’ve come to worship him.” 

Well, King Herod “The Great” is not the promised king.  He’s a puppet of the Roman government.  He’s not even an Israelite.  He’s not a descendant of Jacob.  And he’s bad news.  Ruthless.  He murdered his own wife, three of his sons, his mother-in-law, brother-in-law and many others.  But now he has competition.  Another king has been born.  The promised Savior King.  Judea isn’t big enough for two kings.  It’s Herod The Great or no one will be king!

So Herod gets religious all of a sudden.  Let’s get out our Bibles.  Let’s see what the Bible says.  That’s probably the first time in his life he ever paid attention to Scripture.  So the call goes out to the Bible experts.  “Where does the Bible say that the Christ, the Savior, would be born?  After all, this Christ, this King, this Savior sure isn’t here.  And after we find out, you Magi, you wise men go to him and then I’ll come and worship Him too!”  Right.  That’s the last thing Herod would do.  He wants the Baby King dead ASAP!

And the answer is found in the prophet Micah.  You’ll find the Baby King in Bethlehem.  Yes, that’s right.  Out of the way Bethlehem.  Little Bethlehem.  From the line of King David there will be a new King in Judea.  A new King David.

So the prophet Micah gave the prophecy.  And now the prophecy is fulfilled.  So after a private meeting with Herod The Great it’s off to Bethlehem.  The star led the way again.  Went ahead of the Magi.  And then the star stopped.  Right over the place the Baby King was. 

Not a palace.  Just a house.  But the Magi are full of joy!  And when they enter the house who do they see?  The child with His mother Mary. 

They bow down and worship.  Not Mary.  But her Baby.  The Baby that she holds.  For this little Baby is God in the flesh.  God with us:  Immanuel.  Jesus.  Come to save His people from their sins.  And even these Gentiles are now His people.  For this Baby King Jesus is not just the king of the Jews.  He is the king of all.  He is King for Mary, Joseph, the Magi, you, me, and the world. 

His name is Jesus because He will save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).  He is Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23).  The Baby King Jesus Immanuel is the shepherd ruler.  The Savior.  The prophecy of the prophet Micah is fulfilled:  “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.”   The ruler is Jesus.  The king is Jesus.  He shepherds His people by giving His life for His people.  That’s right, dying on the Cross for sinners. 

This little Baby is the climax of the history of the world, the universe, and even your life history.  He reigns as King for you.  Lording His forgiveness over you.  And where there is forgiveness there is life and salvation.

With such divine giving the Magi fall down and worship Him.  With their bodies they confess that the Baby Jesus is the God King Himself on the earth.  Then they open up their treasure chests and offer Him the precious gifts of the east:  gold, incense, and myrrh.  Magnificent gifts.  They were free to give Him anything from their great treasures. 

But the highest worship of the Magi is that they believe.  They trust that Baby King Jesus has come even for them.  To die for them.  To win their salvation.  Again, I repeat.  The highest worship of Jesus by the Magi is that they believe. 

So too with you.  Baby Jesus who sits in Mary’s lap in King for you.  God for you.  He says that all your sin is answered for.  And that eternal life is yours.  In response you can fall on your face.  You can fall on your knees.  You can open up your piggy banks, wallets, bank accounts or any of your earthly treasure.  You’re free to do any of that and more if you want.  But the highest worship of King Jesus is this:  faith.  And faith says:  “Thank you Jesus.”

In the Name of Jesus.        
 

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