Matthew 2:1-12

A sermon for Epiphany

We in the West celebrate Christmas from Christmas Day to Epiphany, and then we say the Twelve Days of Christmas are over. But in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, they celebrate Christmas on the sixth of January, yesterday, what we call Epiphany.

In the Western Church this means that we forget about Epiphany, and that is really too bad because it is a major festival. The word itself means “shining forth,” and it is celebrated at this time because the days are growing longer. The light is coming back. We’re celebrating the fact that we are no longer in darkness. You know the great place in Isaiah 9:2 that we use at Christmas: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” Over against the darkness, we celebrate the light.

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John 1:1-18

A sermon for the Sunday after Christmas

In this remarkable prologue, the first 18 verses of the Gospel of John, one of the key points is something we call “grace.” What is grace? It can mean many things. “Grace” is a women’s name. When we watch the diving competition in the Olympics, we are awed by the “graceful” dives. When we say someone is “gracious,” we mean they are kind and thoughtful.

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Luke 2:14, Romans 16:25-27

A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

What makes Christmas? First of all, there are the things we commonly do, the traditions, made up of colors like red and green, silver and gold that glitter and shine, and call to mind what is precious. There are also lights and candles and tinsel that sparkle and twinkle. There are special foods and desserts. There is the great music of Christmas, and, of course, the presents, which makes everything mysterious and exciting. It’s a time when families get together as the older generations connect with the younger ones as they together help make Christmas what it is.

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Additional Christmas sermons can be found on the Series B sermon page.

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John 1:6-8, 19-28

A sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent

This year on the First Sunday of Advent we had the verse from Isaiah that Luther lifted up repeatedly: “All our righteous deeds are filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Then the Second Sunday of Advent we had that Advent message: “Wake, awake for night is flying.” Wake up. But we don’t wake up and we can’t. Rather, God does it. As we can see there is a real progression in this season of Advent – our best works are sinful, we don’t wake up as we should – which means that we are now faced with a huge question: Since God does it, does that mean that everybody is saved? We can quote Scripture, for example, 2 Peter 3:9 that God’s will is that “none should perish.” Or does this mean, as the Psalmist says, that if the Lord would count iniquities, who could stand? None of us. Is there then really no hope?

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2 Peter 3:8-15a

A Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent

In this rather unusual text in 2 Peter, the question is raised: How come it keeps on going? How come life continues as before? After all, the Lord has come. He has sent his Son to die on the cross to settle the whole thing. How come it keeps on going?
One of the answers the author gives, quoting Psalm 90:4, is that God thinks in different kinds of time. One day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8).

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