Sermon -- The Festival of St. John, Evangelist (December 27, 2015)

1 JOHN 1:1 – 2:2

OUR FELLOWSHIP IS WITH THE FATHER 

AND WITH HIS SON JESUS CHRIST.

In the name + of Jesus.

     When St. John wrote his gospel, he stated his aim very clearly: “Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31)  In St. John's first epistle, his aim is very similar.  John wants you to believe in this reality: Jesus is God in the flesh.  God from eternity entered our time in order to save us and deliver us into eternity with him.
     St. John writes: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.  And we are writing these things so that your joy may be complete. (1 John 1:1-4)  Jesus is no legend or myth.  If he were, then your forgiveness is make-believe and your salvation is mythical.  If Jesus were not a real flesh-and-blood Savior, then your hope of the resurrection is in a fairy tale.  We would not only be pitied more than all men, but we should also be the butt of many well-deserved jokes.  Who sets aside time on Sundays and holidays to gather around to listen to fairy tales?  Who supports a myth with offerings?  St. John assures you that he has seen and heard and touched this Savior.  Jesus has come to deliver you from real guilt by his real death and real resurrection so that you will have a real, eternal life with God the Father and his Son.  Your joy is not based on fantasy, but on fact.
     We gather together because we have fellowship with one another in this Christian faith, but more importantly because our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  We gather together so that our Lord will bless us, sustain us, and strengthen us in faith and in this fellowship.  If we are united with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, then we receive all the good things they have to give.
     The Father himself established that fellowship through his Son, Jesus Christ.  The Father sent his Son into the world to cleanse us from all wickedness so that we would not be rejected and condemned by him.  God is light, in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)  God will not and cannot accept even a hint of sin.  To do so would to cease being holy.  If he ceases being holy, he ceases being God.  Therefore, the Lord enlightens us so that we will see our sins and make confession of them.  To confess means to say the same thing.  God has enlightened us so that we say the same thing about ourselves that God does—as St. John notes, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10)
     We do not deny that we have sinned; neither does God.  We say the same thing as God.  We are guilty.  We have not loved God above all and our neighbor as ourselves.  Quite the opposite, we have rebelled against God by believing that our ways are better than his ways.  And we have despised our neighbor by believing that we are better people, that our problems are priorities, and that our needs are more important.  You and I have sinned.  Repent.  God does not pretend that we have not sinned.  Rather, God does not treat us as our sins deserve.
     God established fellowship between us and him through Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)  The propitiation is the sacrifice that takes away God's righteous anger.  God is right to be angry with us for our sins.  But Jesus has given himself as the sacrifice which appeases God's anger.  The man, Jesus, endured the cursed death that all people deserve for their sins.  But since Jesus is also true God, his death was died on behalf of all people.  There is no reason anyone should have to be damned for their sins.  Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)  God so loved the world, and Jesus Christ has revealed that love to us.
     Our fellowship is now with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  Jesus cleanses us of every stain and spot of sin.  His blood purifies us from all unrighteousness.  That is why God the Father is pleased with us.  That is why God does not treat us as our sins deserve.  Because Jesus has been the sacrifice which has removed God's wrath from us, we are able to make confession of our sins without fear.  If you are haunted by some sin that will not let you go, you do not need to live under that guilt or with that shame.  Come and make confession of your sins and hold God to his word: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)  We make confession of our sins because we have this confession of faith: “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)  This is God's pledge, and we confess it.  We say the same thing as God.  This is also why our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
     Just as we have been taught to confess God's word with our mouths, so we confess it with our lives.  The kingdom of God is not all talk; it is deeds as well.  Therefore, St. John says, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” (1 John 1:6)  It is impossible to say the same thing as God and do the exact opposite as God commands.  That is hypocrisy.  It is impossible to have fellowship with the Lord and to dance with the devil.  Light and darkness cannot mix, and so a Christian confession and a life of sin cannot mix either.  We have been set free from sin.  Why would we return to it?  We have been delivered from death.  Why would we long for it again?  Our confession is not merely spoken, it is also lived.  We have been set free to honor and glorify God with godly lives, for he has cleansed us and treats us better than we deserve.
     Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  And our desire is to live in thanks for him.  Sadly, our lives never reflect our desire.  We still sin.  But your fellowship with God has not been without effect.  Yes, you sin, but you still confess.  Yes, you still need to be cleansed, but the blood of Jesus, his Son, still purifies you of all sin.  St. John also knew that you would struggle for the rest of your life.  And in your struggles, he reminds you that you are not banished from the fellowship with God.  He writes, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1)  Jesus Christ is your constant Savior, and he is your constant consolation that you are still God's dear children, that you are beloved, and that you are the Lord's.  Your fellowship remains with the Father, with his Son, Jesus Christ, and with his Holy Spirit.  He has marked you with his full, divine name.  He has been pleased to call you children of God, and he is not careless with his words.
     As surely as Jesus Christ was a real man—seen and heard and touched by John, just as surely you are a child of God, holy and blameless in his sight.  Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  Our forgiveness is certain.  Our salvation is real.  And that makes our joy complete.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

A Pastoral Concern -- Good, Lutheran Hymns

Okay, I am letting Rev. Hans Fiene of Lutheran Satire do the work here for me.  But his work is very good.  He sums up succinctly what makes for a good Christmas hymn.  Enjoy!

Sermon -- Christmas Day (December 25, 2015)

JOHN 1:1-14

GOD IS ONE OF US.

In the name + of Jesus.

     For whatever reason, people have been enamored with angels.  Especially at Christmas, we pay a lot of attention to the angels.  In one respect, that is understandable.  The angels were exceptionally busy in the Christmas narrative.  Angels made announcements to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, and Magi.  A myriad of angels appeared and sang of God's glory to shepherds who were tending their flocks in the field.  The best we can do is imagine that scene because we have not seen such a choir before.  We will one day, and we will be in the choir with them.  But for now, the best we can do is imagine.
     Whenever the angels did appear to people, their appearance always produced fear.  We think of Zechariah at the altar in the temple, Mary at her home in Nazareth, or the shepherds in the fields.  In each case, the angel had to begin with the words, “Fear not!”  We might imagine what the angel Gabriel looked like, but the Bible does not describe him.  That's because we are not to focus on how he looks; we are to listen to what he says.  The word angel means “messenger,” and so we listen to his message.  The angel came with a word from God, and that message was about the one who IS the Word of God.  The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:14)  God is one of us.
     If we are intrigued by angels more than Jesus at Christmas, it is because we know what babies look like.  We have not seen angels.  Apparently, the people to whom the letter of Hebrews was written were also enamored by angels.  So the writer reminds them that Jesus has become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.  For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”?  Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?  And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God's angels worship him.” (Hebrews 1:4-6)  The angels proclaimed that a Savior has been born to you, but Jesus IS that Savior.  The angels proclaimed the word of God, but Jesus IS the Word of God made flesh.  And though angels may take on the form of men, they never become men.  Angles remain angels, and people do not earn wings and become angels.  You were created to be you, and you will remain you forever.  But God has now become flesh.  God has become man.  God is one of us.
     St. John did not spend time retelling the Christmas story.  St. Matthew and St. Luke had already done that.  St. John has you marvel at the way God has revealed his love and his glory to you by becoming man.  The very first words of St. John's gospel take us all the way back to Creation.  “In the beginning,” John writes.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)  The Word, the Logos, is the second person of the Trinity, whom we refer to as God the Son.  He was not only with God at the creation of the world, he was not only there at the beginning when there was nothing else but God, he is in his very essence true God.  We probably miss the depth of the angel's announcement to the shepherds at Bethlehem, “Unto is born this day … a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)  He is Yahweh.  He is the one who created the heavens and the earth.  He is the Word which commanded that there be light.  He is the one who gave the word of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai, and he is the one whose word renders your final and eternal judgment.
     If the shepherds shook at the sight of the angel, the idea of God setting foot on earth should have petrified them.  In the movies, when a villain told someone to get ready to meet his Maker, that meant he was about to die.  To see God face to face was to stand before him in judgment.  That is the real terror of death—to have to give God an answer for what is in our hearts and what comes out of our mouths.
     St. John described Jesus as “the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)  We cannot boast that about ourselves.  We are not full of grace, but of selfishness.  If we give, we put a strict limit on it.  We give precious little time and effort to strangers.  We are even stingy to our loved ones with our time and effort.  Nor are we full of truth.  We are full of self-serving stories.  We warp the truth so that we always come out looking like the innocent victim.  When we get to tell what happened, all our faults are magically edited out of the story, so that our friends will always side with us.  We want to be sure that we always come out looking good.  Sadly, we need lies to do that.  But God sees every detail and knows every motive.  God shines the light of truth on us so that we cannot hide what we are.  The truth is that we are wretched sinners in need of divine mercy.
     The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. (John 1:9)  Yet, the angel at Bethlehem did not tell the shepherds to run for cover.  While it was true that God had come to earth, the angel told them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.  For unto is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)  Yes, the true light was coming into the world (John 1:9), but not to judge and destroy.  He who is full of grace and truth has come to save.  In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (John 1:4)  The light which Jesus shows you is not only that you need a Savior, but that he himself has come to save you from your sin, guilt, shame, lies, and from thinking you have to trust in those lies.  Your salvation never comes from how good you can make yourself look—and that often at the expense off others.  It comes alone through Jesus.
     The Lord has come to earth to save.  And to save man, God became man.  To demonstrate his love for us, God is now one of us.   The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)  God is now one of us so that he will be gracious to all of us and save us.  This is God's glory, that he loves and saves sinners.
     God is now one of us.  Jesus united himself to us and took up our cause.  This man who is full of truth and grace took upon himself all the lies and biases and and self-serving ways of men, and he gave his perfect life in exchange for them.  The Word became flesh gave his flesh into death to pay for our sins.  God became one of us in order to suffer and die for all of us.  He is full of grace, giving us the forgiveness we cannot earn and opening up the kingdom of heaven that we do not deserve.
     God is now one of us.  Therefore, all that he has earned by his perfectly obedient life and innocent sufferings and death is ours.  Jesus has conquered death by his bodily resurrection from the dead, and so you too will bodily rise from your grave to live forever.  Jesus has ascended into heaven to dwell with God, and so you too will ascend to Paradise.  Jesus has won God's favor by his willing obedience, and so God's favor rests upon you.  Jesus is the Son of God, and now you are also sons of God; and if you are sons, then you are heirs of the everlasting kingdom.  He is full of grace, and he pours out his fullness on you and gives you all that is his.
     The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:14)  And your body and blood Savior continues to come to you through the Lord's Supper to pour out his grace and truth into you.  In this Supper, God again distributes his gifts to you.  Here, Jesus unites himself to you again for your salvation.  Here is the one who pulls you out of death and darkness into life and light.  Therefore, we continue to join in the song of the angels and archangels, proclaiming the glory and the goodness of God.  It is still good news.  It still brings great joy.  And it alleviates all fear.  For behold!  The Word has become flesh.  God is now one of us, and he has, therefore, made us his.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

Sermon -- Christmas Eve (December 24, 2015)

         On Christmas Eve, we employed the Service of Lessons and Carols which includes nine lessons from the Fall into sin through the birth of Jesus.  We pondered our need for the Savior, God's gracious promise of that Savior, and the fulfillment of the Savior's birth.  There were brief devotions following each lesson.  Here is the devotion from the 7th lesson, Luke 2:8-20.


Glory to God in the highest!

Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)
He is the Lord.  He is Yahweh, or Jehovah if you prefer.  He is the one who made heaven and earth, Adam and Eve.  He is the one who appeared to Moses in the burning bush in order to deliver Israel from slavery.  He is the one who parted at the Red Sea to save Israel and destroy their enemies.  He is the one who gave the Law at Mt. Sinai and chose to dwell in the temple.  He is the one who has been born and lay in a manger.

Glory to God in the highest!
He is the Christ.  He is the Lord’s Anointed, sent and set apart as prophet for proclaiming good news to sinners; sent and set apart as High Priest for making the atoning sacrifice for sinners—for being the atoning sacrifice for sinners; sent and set apart as King for conquering our enemies—sin, death, and Satan.  He is the Lord's anointed, sent and set apart for redeeming us.

Glory to God in the highest!
He is the Savior.  In a trough where the lambs fed, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world was found.  The shepherds saw their Savior, their Christ, their Lord.  He had come as a commoner to save common sinners.
The shepherds came and saw.  The shepherds went and told what they had seen and heard.  God has been good on his word.  God has been merciful.  God has come for sinners.  God in the manger.  God with us.  God for us.

Glory to God in the highest!

A Pastoral Concern -- The Origins of Christmas

If you want to know the true origins of Christmas, it starts at Genesis 1.  Keep reading until you get to the end.  If you want the short version, it is recorded in Luke 2.  Luke demonstrates the Christmas account as a real event at a real place in in real history,  This is neither legend nor myth.  It is the word of God.  Whoever would reduce this to legend or myth has only mythical salvation or make-believe forgiveness.

But in case you read an article about the pagan origins of Christmas or that the Church ripped off other myths to perpetuate its own myth, Lutheran Satire does a nice job of debunking those who argue for a pagan origin for Jesus.

Merry Christmas.  It is only merry if it is real.  And it is.

Sermon -- 4th Sunday of Advent (December 20, 2015)

Mary Visits Elizabeth, by Rembrandt van Rijn.  This painting hangs at the Detroit Institute of the Arts.

LUKE 1:39-55

MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD.

In the name + of Jesus. 

     Two women with extraordinary news met in the hill country of Judea, just outside of Jerusalem.  One was the wife of a priest, an elderly woman who had never had children.  The other was a Galilean, peasant teen who was betrothed, but not yet married.  Both had received incredible news from an angel, and both deemed the news not only credible, but wonderful.  God had informed each of these women that they had miraculously conceived and would give birth to boys.  One would be a prophet; one would be the Lord.
     Both Elizabeth and Mary could have talked about how much their lives were going to change—both for better and for worse.  Both could have talked about how bizarre their pregnancies were—one in old age and the other a virgin conception.  Both could have magnified themselves, talking about how they were doing great things for the Lord.  Instead, they talked about one thing—Jesus.   Mary proclaimed, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!” (Luke 1:46-47)  It was not about Elizabeth’s aged motherhood.  It was not about Mary’s virgin motherhood.  It was about Jesus, the Son of God, and the Savior.
     My soul magnifies the Lord.  (Luke 1:46)  For, he has remembered to be merciful. (Luke 1:54, paraphrase)  When Scripture says that God remembers something, it means that he is going to act, to deliver, and to work for the good of people.  God has remembered to be merciful, meaning that God is acting to prove his mercy to the world by sending a Savior.
     We, on the other hand, forget ourselves.  We do not humble ourselves because of our lowly, sinful condition.  You and I magnify ourselves.  In our daily labors we strive to serve other people, and our labors may benefit them tremendously.  That is as it should be.  As God's people, we glorify our God by serving for the benefit of our neighbor.  For, God’s people want to seek the good of other people.  If we came together and talked about all the good we did, that all may be true.  But it does not save us.
     Besides that, we still forget ourselves.  We are not as good as we like to believe.  If you magnify yourself, you are lying to yourself.  It means you don’t believe your selfish attitude is bad, even though you sin against your spouse by it.  It means that you believe people deserve your sarcastic remarks because you think they are stupid.  It means that you believe you are better than other people, so that your rudeness and arrogance are understandable and acceptable.  To be rude, selfish, sarcastic, and arrogant and to still insist you are a good person is lying to yourself.  The Virgin Mary expresses the warning to you: “He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts...  He has brought down the mighty from their thrones...  And the rich he has sent away empty.” (Luke 1:51-53)  Repent.
     Though we magnify ourselves, the Lord reduces us to nothing, and that is good.  For, the Lord has nothing for people who full of themselves.  But Mary declares, “His mercy is for those who fear him.  He (exalts) those of humble estate; and he (fills) the hungry with good things.” (Luke 1:50,52,53)  When you recognize that you are not good and empty yourself of all pride, then you will crave God's mercy.  Only then will you rejoice that God remembers to be merciful so that God has sent a Savior for you.
     My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. (Luke 1:46-47)  He has sent Jesus into the world to pay for sins and to forgive sinners.  Jesus has answered for our sarcastic words which have left pain and scars by his gracious words of healing.  He has answered for our selfish hearts which have used people by his own pure heart which has only sought the good of others.  He has atoned for our lack of patience with other people by his incredible patience with us.  Jesus' righteousness atones for our guilt.  Jesus fills us with his good things—his righteousness, his mercy, and his salvation.
     Jesus magnifies God's love for you.  He is not sarcastic with you because of your weaknesses or foolish choices.  On the contrary, Jesus loves you.  He speaks tenderly to you.  He remembers to be merciful to you.  His innocent blood continues to atone for your sins and purifies you of all unrighteousness. Jesus does not begrudgingly put up with you because he has to—like you may have to put up with that guy in your office because you work together.  No, Jesus does not put up with you begrudgingly or because he has to.  Jesus genuinely loves you.  Jesus wants to dwell with you and have you dwell with him for eternity.  He has remembered to be merciful, and he has saved you for that purpose.
     All that we do is designed to magnify the Lord and his mercy.  We glorify our God by serving for the benefit of our neighbor.  For, God’s people want to seek the good of other people.  We love them.  We serve them.  We even demonstrate patience with them and forgive them—just  as our Lord Jesus Christ loves us, serves us, is merciful to us, and forgives us.  But we do not do this to magnify ourselves.  It is not our works that save us; Jesus does.
     That is why the Church gathers together and continues to talk about what Elizabeth and Mary talked about so long ago—Jesus.  My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. (Luke 1:46-47)  Our songs magnify God’s love for us.  Our praises highlight his mercy upon sinners.  Our confession repeats how God saves us.  We magnify the Lord Jesus; for he has remembered to be merciful, and he saves us.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

Sermon -- Advent Vespers, Week 3 (December 16, 2015)

MATTHEW 1:12-17

SEE HOW THE LORD 

BEGETS THE CHRIST.  

Through Returned Exiles.

In the name + of Jesus. 

     The Lord Jesus Christ has come to redeem his people from their sins.  Though they are all precious to the Lord, most of them are anonymous to you.  Even when their names are recorded in Scripture, you probably treat them as an intrusion and skim past them until you get to the important stuff in St. Matthew's Gospel.  Though these people are unknown and unimportant to you, they are certainly important and known to Christ.
     One of the reasons they are unfamiliar is because of the era in which they lived.  These are the ancestors of Christ from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ. (Matthew 1:17)  The last prophet of the Old Testament preached shortly after Israel's return to the Promised Land, so we do not have stories in the canon about most of these men.  And yet, though unfamiliar, these men are the returned exiles through whom the Lord begets the Christ.
     The first man in these verses was among the captives had been deported to Babylon.  Jechoniah had been king in Jerusalem.  He ruled over a people who became less and less interested in the word of the Lord.  The Lord sent prophets again and again to call his people to repent, but Israel reviled the prophets and rejected God's word.  The Lord may be slow to anger, but he does indeed get angry.  In judgment, the Lord summoned the nation of Babylon to destroy the city of Jerusalem, to burn the temple, and to carry unfaithful Israel into exile.  But even that the Lord did in love for his people and in faithfulness to his promise.
     The Lord had declared through Ezekiel, “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; ... they are dross of silver....  As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so … I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.  As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; I have poured out my wrath upon you.” (Ezekiel 22:18,20-22)  Of course, you do not melt silver to destroy it, but to refine it.  So, the Lord sent Israel into exile for seventy years to refine them and to purify a remnant who would serve him faithfully.  Through that faithful remnant of returned exiles, the Lord begat the Christ.
     But life for the returned exiles was not much easier.  They were continually threatened by enemy nations.  Israel was the parade route for armies from Syria and Egypt going back and forth to battle one another.  The Promised Land was one of the the spoils for the victorious army.  The faithful among God's people also endured intense persecution from the likes of a Greek leader named Antiochus Epiphanes.  Antiochus Epiphanes rewarded the Jews who abandoned the Lord's covenant, and he put to death many who were determined to remain faithful.  In all of this, the Lord was refining and purifying his people like silver.  The faithful were all the more committed in their faithfulness.  And the Lord was still faithful to them, still preserving his people in order to preserve his promise: The Savior would come through Israel, a son of Abraham and a son of David.  See how the Lord begets the Christ through returned exiles.
     You and I have not known the level of persecution these Israelites did.  The Lord, however, does chastise us for the very same purpose that he chastised the Israelites.  If you should suffer loss or face oppression, God has not abandoned you.  He is working on you.  Suffering, loss, and oppression are hard and they hurt, but they do not undermine God's promises or undercut God's love.  The Lord has us endure these hardships to get us to recognize what we thought was reliable is only temporary and, therefore, not entirely reliable.  Even if our blessings are precious, like our reputation or our relatives—no matter how great a blessing they are—they cannot save us.  Do not put your trust in them.
     If the Lord removes his blessings or if he makes his cross on you weigh especially hard, he is purifying you to remove from you anything that clouds a pure faith.  Some things, like your sin, you forsake because sin produces death.  But other things the Lord takes away because they are not the source of your life.
     The Lord's ultimate goal in sending Israel into exile or submitting them to persecution was to preserve them so that he could preserve his promise of bringing the Savior into the world through them.  Likewise, the Lord's motive for letting you suffer hardships is to make you flee to your Savior so that he will preserve you in the faith.  He does not want you to merely say that Jesus is your only hope, strength, and consolation; sometimes he wants to prove to you that he is all that matters.  But when he does this, he is still your loving Savior.  Whether you are enduring your sufferings publicly or anonymously, they are not hidden to the Lord.  The Lord knows you, your struggles, and your crosses.  You are not anonymous to the Lord.  You are as important to him as people like Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, and so on.
     See how the Lord begets the Christ through returned exiles.  When those exiles returned to the Promised Land, they resumed the worship that the Lord had given them.  That meant rebuilding the temple of the Lord.  Zerubbabel was the leader who was in charge of its construction.  The day of its dedication was met with mixed reviews.  Many rejoiced that the Lord's temple had been rebuilt.  Some, who remembered Solomon's magnificent structure, mourned because the new temple was not nearly as grand as the old one was.  But this is what the Lord said to them through the prophet Haggai: “‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory?  How do you see it now?  Is it not as nothing in your eyes?  Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord.   …Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. ...The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts.  And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’” (Haggai 2:3-4,9)
     Though the temple was a humble structure, the Lord Christ would one day come to it.  God in the flesh would walk there and teach there.  Through these frail men who saw far more sufffering than glory, the Lord begat the Christ, and the Lord Jesus Christ would come to the temple they built and he would bring peace, forgiveness, and salvation.  Just as Zerubbabel's temple was humble and even seemed to be nothing compared to Solomon's temple, Zerubbabel's temple became more glorious because the Christ came into it.
     Likewise, you are Christ's temple; for, Christ dwells in you.  Your appearance is humble, and your glory will remain hidden until Jesus comes again.  Until then, you, like most of God's people, live anonymous lives.  They quietly serve God by serving their neighbors—and often do not get recognized for it.  They struggle against temptation and endure frustration, pain, and loss—and no one sees the cross they bear.  To most people, you are as memorable and meaningful as the list of names Matthew records.  But to Jesus Christ, you are as memorable and meaningful as the list of names Matthew records.  Just as you confess Jesus' name now, so he will remember and confess your name before his Father and before all the world on the Last Day.  To Christ, you are neither unknown nor unimportant.  To Christ, your name is not just some faceless person or some anonymous name; you are his redeemed, and your name is one he has written into the Book of Life.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.