The first Sunday after Epiphany

In this Epiphany season we focus on what is practical. How does God work here and now, concretely, practically, really.

All analogies fail. But when we’re dealing with the Lord, he knows us better than we know ourselves. When we’re dealing with this, we’re dealing with forever. How does God work practically, now?

He works through his Word. It’s not just John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . . .” God comes in his Word and dies and rises again. It is as Paul writes in Romans 1:16: “The gospel is the power of God for salvation.” It’s important to realize what this Word is not.

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After Christmas many pastors start planning for Lent. As a consequence, Epiphany becomes an overlooked season. But it could be the perfect season to preach on the Word and sacraments. By doing this every year, congregations would develop a Lutheran identity and a joy in Luther’s rediscovery of the certainty of salvation, outside of us, […]

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A sermon for the Sunday before Epiphany

Ephesians 3:1-12

Every day it is a little lighter. In a few days, January 6th, it will be Epiphany, the coming of the light. Epiphany is a minor festival for those of us in the Western Church, even though for those in the Eastern Church (three hundred million of them), Epiphany is the most important celebration next to Easter. We forget that what we call Christmas did not become a holiday in the Western Church until 336 A.D., more than three hundred years after Christ died and rose again.

What is Epiphany?

When we talk about light and darkness, we know in physics that light is simply that which overcomes darkness. Darkness is simply not having enough light. The same with cold and heat. It’s just a physical thing.

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Jesus means “Yahweh Saves” or as a pdf document.

And Suddenly . . . or as a pdf document.

Peace . . . not as the world gives or as a pdf document.

He carries me on his shoulders or as a pdf document.

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A sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent

This is Mary Sunday. What do we say about Mary? In the Apostles’ Creed we confess “born of the Virgin Mary.”

This is part of the larger question: What is Christmas about? We say: “Let’s get back to a real Christmas.” What has happened is that Christmas has become frantic with shopping. Where is Christmas? Or is it just “Xmas,” and the “X” is the whatever, the unknown and you supply whatever is meaningful to you?

How do we put Christ back into Christmas? How do we get back to real Christmas? To talk about this is to raise the question: “Are you going to be a spoil sport? Don’t spoil Christmas. This is a magical time of year.” The reason that Christmas has become confused is our own fault. We have made it happen this way, and we have to face it.
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