✠ Psalmody: Philippians 4:4-6;Psalm 85:1;80:1b, 2b, 1a;80:2b;85:1-2a;Isaiah 35:4a, b, d
✠ Lection: Isaiah 40:1–8;1 Corinthians 4:1–5;St. Matthew 11:2–10
In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, Rejoice. Rejoice as we move into the latter half of this Advent season of preparing for the coming Christ. Rejoice as the darker color of repentant violet (purple) is lightened a few shades to the rose (pink) that you see today, as your dear Father in heaven reminds you of the great love with which He loves you; to remind you that even as you reflect upon the wretchedness of your sin and the depth it runs to the very bottom of your heart, that you are not left there holding it on your own to despair as one who has no hope. Rejoice in the faith that He has given to you to believe and trust in the face of all your sin that the Lord is favorable to you, forgiving the iniquity of all His people, covering all your sin. Rejoice that this truth endures forever, just like His Holy Word, for it is His Word that commands and is combined with the water of your Holy Baptism, that blessed moment of time when the Lord baptized you, putting His very name upon you for you to carry and live by and under throughout all your days in this life and into the next. Rejoice that at the baptismal font, you, either as an infant, or an adolescent, or even an adult, did no work of righteousness of your own, but were rescued out of death into eternal life by His mercy through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, again I will say, Rejoice. Rejoice that the might of your baptism is more solid than this beautiful 100-year-old marble font that stands central in God’s house, in His Divine Service as your reminder that you are baptized into the only-begotten Son of God; that your baptism is just as effectual this day and tomorrow, as it was in that moment when the water with the Word was poured upon your head regardless if it was at this font or another one, or in a lake, or in a river, for in God’s baptism plain water becomes life-giving water when it is used in the sacrament in accordance with and including His Word. Rejoice every time you pass this font on the way to meet Jesus at His Holy Supper as He invites you as one redeemed by the giving of His body and the shedding of His blood on the cross; the very same Body and Blood upon which you feast every time you eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord as He bids you do in remembrance of Him. The font sits right there as the physical reminder of your entry into the kingdom of God, the means by which you now approach Almighty God without fear but with great consolation. Rejoice that coming into God’s presence means death and destruction for those who remain in their sin, but for you, the baptized children of God who have put on Christ in your baptism, you now come forward and approach the Maker of Heaven and Earth not with fear and trepidation, yea, fear not, redeemed in Christ, but come to where He comes to you. Come with the boldness of love that you have for Him in thanksgiving for the love He first had for you. Rejoice that you are now to fear no condemnation, for the wrath of God was fully poured out on His only-begotten Son, so that Almighty God has worked your eternal salvation.
By the Lord’s work on your behalf, you are numbered among His people in the eternal Jerusalem, among those whose warfare has ended because your iniquity is pardoned, “It is finished,” for you have received from the Lord’s hand double for all your sins. Do not be confused by Isaiah’s words, because you are indeed right to think that your sins deserve much wrath and punishment. But recall by looking upon our beautiful crucifixes of when and where that wrath and punishment happened for you. Rejoice that the double that you receive from the Lord’s hand as a result is this: He has removed the punishment of sins from you and placed it upon His own Son Who hung cursed from the tree of the cross. He also took the spotless, holy righteousness of that same beloved Son, and robed it upon your shoulders, so that now you have received double goodness even though you are a sinner. He has removed your iniquity and given you the righteousness of the Son of God so that you can call upon Him as your very own Father Who art in heaven. This was the great and glorious exchange that happened in the Lord’s baptism, fulfilling all righteousness so that He would then institute the Sacrament of Holy Baptism for you in which your sins would be washed away and you would be robed with Christ. You experienced a baptism back on that day, whenever and wherever that was, but you continue on into every new day with sure hope of Christ’s eternal day to come; hope as of a child of God who is baptized into Christ.
Our Lord Jesus Christ assured His imprisoned forerunner John the Baptist, His voice that had been crying out to prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness of this sinful world that He had come to redeem, that indeed He was, that indeed He is the Messiah, the Anointed One Who was to come to bring salvation to the whole world; Whose redemption and blessed promised return will bring sight to the blind, restoration to the legs, backs and arms of the lame, cleansing to the leper, hearing to the deaf, and life to the dead, not just temporarily, but forever in the age that is to come when He, the One Who came, Who comes to us now, and Who will come again, will make all things new and wipe away tears from every eye. That very same One was Who touched you with the life-giving power of God that He possessed veiled in His humble flesh as He walked among us. That very same One instituted the Sacrament, the mystery, of Holy Baptism so that you can look to that which came from outside of you to save you, so that you can cling to Him through it, confident in His actions upon you by water and His Word, in the darkest of nights, trials, pains, worries, struggles, tears, and temptations, and still come to rejoice that you are a child of God, redeemed by the shed blood of God, baptized into Christ’s death, and raised with Him to walk in new life, life that will never end. You are baptized, by Him. Beloved children, remember this and rejoice in it, oh yes, rejoice in the Lord, always. Again, I will say, Rejoice.
In ✠ Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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