Remembering Baptisms

 

BAPTISM OF OUR LORD

Do you know what happened on April 14, 1957? That was the day I was baptized! Do you remember your baptism? I don’t remember mine either. I know the date because it’s on the paper stating when and where I was baptized.

You may not know when or where you were baptized, but there are people who were there, and some of them remember. Your parents, godparents and pastor were there. Maybe your grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles and some friends.

Today, we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. We don’t know exactly when or where Jesus was baptized. We do know that he was baptized in the Jordan River in Israel by John the Baptist.

There were other people, but we don’t know their names. We do know that God the Father and God the Holy Spirit were also there when Jesus was baptized.

Did you know that God the Father and God the Holy Spirit were present at your baptism? God the Son – Jesus – was also there. That’s why when a pastor baptizes people, he baptizes them “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

We say that phrase a lot in our worship service. We say it at the beginning of our Divine Service. And after we confess our sins, the pastor says, “… As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

It’s good to remember our baptism because it reminds us that Jesus died and rose for us for the forgiveness of sins and to make us His brothers and sisters, children of God our Father. And so, let us pray to God our Father.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless all children, and give their fathers and mothers the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Baptisms and Biographies

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is entitled Baptisms and Biographies. My focus is our Gospel (Mark 1:9-11). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Baptisms and biographies may seem to be incongruent, but when we read about Jesus’ Baptism within Mark, we understand that the Evangelist was writing a biography for his time. Hence, baptisms and biographies are analogous because for many of us, the former marks a significant milestone in one’s life as it did in our Lord’s. This morning, I address Our Lord’s Baptism, Christian Baptism and Your Biography.

First, Our Lord’s Baptism.[1] In three verses, Mark does not explain why Jesus walked 28 miles over nine hours from his hometown of Nazareth of Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. Given that He will baptize with the Holy Spirit, it seems surprising that he assumed the role of a lowly penitent and went into the water. We can surmise that he did so because he recognized John’s ministry as the prelude to his own.

Jesus submitted to a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins not because he was a sinner, but because of his solidarity with sinful humanity, a solidarity that would eventually lead to the cross. Like Moses, Jesus acted as the ideal intercessor, not standing apart from sinners but in solidarity with them (Ex 32:31-32). His baptism anticipated his passion. His immersion into water symbolized his death. He spoke of his death as a baptism (10:38); and while he acknowledged God’s just judgment on sin, he offered to God the response of perfect repentance on behalf of all people.

Jesus’ emergence from the water was met with the descent of the Holy Spirit from above. The heavens were abruptly and violently torn asunder overcoming humanity’s sin, which created an insurmountable barrier distancing man from God. We read in Isaiah, “The Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (59:1-2). God would only come down only after his people had been cleansed of impurity. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people’” (Ex 19:10-11). So, the Spirit’s descent upon Jesus foreshadowed its descent upon the Church at Pentecost, after sin had been removed by the grace and blood of the Cross.

Note that the Spirit did not simply descend upon Jesus, and perch on his shoulder, but descended into him. According to one scholar, the descent “is an actual going into Jesus, … a possession of him.”[2] This possession of Jesus by the Holy Spirit is so obvious to Mark. Given that both Jews and Greeks believed that the descent of gods into human affairs appeared in the form of doves, Mark encompassed both cultures which populated the Church.[3] In verse 11, Mark wrote that the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness. Mark also wrote that Jesus’ family, who did not quite understand him, thought that Jesus was out of his mind (3:21). To a greater degree the scribes falsely accused Jesus as possessed not by the Holy Spirit but by fan Beelzebul (3:22). There are several other episodes (1:41-43; 6:48; 11:13-14).

With the anointing of the Spirit, Jesus’ baptism became a turning point in his life for here he formally inaugurated his mission as Messiah. By sharing in Israel’s baptism of repentance by John, he committed himself fully to the Father’s call: to be the obedient servant who would be innocent yet “counted among the wicked” because he bore the sins of many (Isa 41:1; 53:11-12).

There is no doubt that the voice Jesus heard was his Father’s, and here we see the Trinity at work. His Father’s words of affirmation – “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” – are full of scriptural echoes. The Psalmist wrote, “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you’” (2:7). Isaiah spoke of such a servant when he prophesied, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations” (42:1).

As readers of Mark, we are privileged to know about this secret exchange among the Three Divine Persons of the Trinity. And with that, I now turn from Our Lord’s Baptism to Christian Baptism.

How does the Baptism of Our Lord differ from Christian Baptism? Nowhere in the New Testament does any writer invoke Jesus’ Baptism as a precedent for or as an explanation for Christian Baptism.[4]

The Baptism of Jesus and his first coming to us brought with it the rule and reign of God, but only as a foretaste of the feast to come. We await the full end-time feast in a way that Simeon and Anna waited – as believers of the old covenant. All things that the Old Testament believers experienced took place as examples for us. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Cor 10:11).

As we await the fullness of the heavenly feast, we still live in this old age, and so, we prepare for it by confessing our sins and repenting of them. Baptism with water is necessary for this preparation. This is why Peter said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

The Church refused to separate this baptism from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Even after the Holy Spirit was poured out onto Gentiles in Cornelius’ house, Peter asked, “‘Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (10:47-48). In short, baptism with water and the Holy Spirit are marks of the final age.

Christian Baptism is a means of identification for us as it was for Jesus. As he identified with his people in their sinfulness, in our Baptism, we identify with Jesus in all that he has brought for the benefit of humanity. He is the personification of Israel, humanity and God himself. May I remind you that you who “were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal 3:27).

Just as Christ received the Spirit in his Baptism, we too receive that same Spirit in ours. As Christ was declared to be the Son of God, we too are united to him through Christian Baptism as sons and daughters of God. Paul is quite explicit about this in Romans 8. Perhaps for your devotional reading today, you can choose those first 15 verses.

Those of us who are in Christ are heirs according to St. Paul. To the Romans, he wrote “If children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (8:17). To the Galatians, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (3:29) And as we heard last Sunday, we “were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Eph 1:13-14).

And so, heirs of God, let’s move from Baptism to Biography. We understand that a biography is the written history of someone’s life. If you are asked to submit a biography for the company or community newsletter, you will be asked to keep it short. If you are writing a paper on Abraham Lincoln or Ronald Reagan, your research will take you to Illinois or California, and will be substantially longer with a perspective others have not yet taken.

Now, allow me to ask and answer a fundamental question: Was Mark a biography? Yes and no. Mark told the story of Jesus, but in a different style from other biographies of his time. His style and content of the story aroused a feeling, and so, Mark’s is not a biography like other biographies, but a development of the actions, sayings, and suffering of a human being on his way through this anxious world of human beings and demons.^[5]

Mark has the capacity to shock and subvert comfortable literary expectations. While there is no doubt that Jesus is the hero of this story, Mark portrays him as an unrecognized, rejected, humiliated, disappointed individual, who was deserted by his closest allies and eventually victimized by a hostile environment. This is not the stuff of an ancient biography.

We must view Mark as a biography based on other ancient biographies, and must examine its Jewish content, though written in Greek, which reflected the rhetorical and biographical conventions of his time.^[6] In other words, ancient biographies, like modern ones, center on a particular person and seek to present an adequate and accurate characterization of that person, including information about other persons and groups of people. In the case of Lincoln or Reagan, it may include their wives and children, cabinet members, mentors and political allies or opponents. Biographies also reveal the subject’s character and personality. The message of ancient biographies was not simply to provide the reader with information, but offered a message: “go and do likewise” or “go and do otherwise.”

In evaluating Mark as a biography, we must have a firm handle on its chronological and social setting. Whatever its date, Mark was written after the beginning of the Roman Empire and during the rise of Roman biographical tradition, following in the footsteps of the Greek biographical tradition. Unlike Greek biographers, Roman ones added a greater concern for the family traditions, the need for the demonstration of public honor, and, sometimes in the latter two-thirds of the first century, a focus on the hero’s patient suffering and death under a tyrant.^[7]

Although Mark was a biographer, he was more of an editor than a writer, bringing together what was already known about Jesus. He had a working relationship with Peter and Paul.^[8] In Acts, we read, “When he (Peter) realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.” And later, “Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.^[9] In chapter 15, Mark is mentioned once again as a companion of Barnabas on his journey to Cyprus.^[10]

This shows that Mark’s account was not a distant evaluation by a scholarly admirer of Jesus, but the personal experience of one who shared closely in the stirring and profoundly disturbing events of Jesus’ public ministry and his confrontation with the Jerusalem establishment. It reflected those experiences as they were passed on in the day-to-day teaching ministry of a living community of His followers.^[11]

Why all this talk about the biography of Jesus? How does it relate to his Baptism? How does it relate to us? Well, ten years ago, when I began to prepare for pastoral ministry in the Lutheran Church, I was required to write an extensive autobiography detailing my life experiences in the secular and sacred worlds, as a professional fundraiser and a pastoral minister. This first-person biography included relationships with family members and faith communities. I mentioned not only my highlights, but also my setbacks. And throughout, I could see the Holy Spirit weaving together all the moments of my life into an artistic tapestry.

By now, you know that I am always encouraging people to pray more deeply and extensively. One method of prayer that some find helpful is to journal or write an account of what has occurred when praying over a particular Scripture passage. This can result in a biography.

Perhaps this year, you can take time to journal and write your own biography. How is your life interwoven not only with family and friends, but also with Christ and his adopted brothers and sisters? What are the obvious and obscure moments the Holy Spirit has been active in your life?

As we began this year, maybe you made a resolution to pray daily? Maybe you struggle with that resolution. Maybe prayerfully writing your biography in the form of a daily spiritual journal is a way to see how God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is active in your life. Start from a point in your life – today or your childhood – and reflect on the activity of the Holy Spirit entering you as it did Jesus on the day of His Baptism and the day of yours. What are the highlights of your spiritual journey? Where have you experienced setbacks? My friends, today, prayerfully consider the path God sets before you, and when you do may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.

 

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[1] Mary Healy, The Gospel of Mark. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic (2008), 34-37.

[2] James W. Voelz, Mark 1:1-8:26. St, Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House (2013), 126.

[3] Voelz, 126-131.

[4] Voelz, 138ff.

[5] R.T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Grand Rapids, MI, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (2002), 6. See fn 14.

[6] Ben Witherington III, The Gospel of Mark: A Social-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (2001), 4.

[7] Witherington, 5

[8] Witherington, 25.

[9] Acts 12:12, 25. See also 13:5, 13

[10] Acts 15:36-41

[11] France, 9.

Lost and Saved

 

Do your parents use an app on their phones or one their dashboard to help them when they travel? We rely on these devices to help us get to some place and back home again.

Before we had mobile phones, we used paper maps. Before paper maps people found their way by asking for directions or navigating by the stars. When we travel, we don’t always get to where we want to be. Sometimes we get lost. Have you ever been lost?

One afternoon, when my wife and I lived in California, we were looking for a restaurant and followed the directions on my phone. We drove out into the country on a paved road, then a gravel road and eventually onto a dirt road before we realized that we were driving through a cow pasture! We were lost!!!

In our Gospel today (Lk 2:40-52), Joseph and Mary were concerned as they were travelling home from Jerusalem. They weren’t lost, but their son, Jesus was lost.

When we or someone we know gets lost, we worry and become afraid. Joseph and Mary were worried sick that they might never again see their son. So, when they found Jesus, and told him how worried they were, he asked, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you not know that I would be here?”

Jesus obeyed them and ended up going home with his parents. It’s a good lesson for us to be obedient to our parents for they love us very much. Our Heavenly Father also loves us and sent His Son to find us because we get lost when we leave Him. So, today, thank God for sending His Son who loves us and saves us, and thank God for giving you loving parents.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless all children, and give their fathers and mothers the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Door to the Year

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is entitled Door to the Year. My focus is our Gospel (Lk 2:40-52). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

January, from ianua, Latin for door, since January is the door to the year, and from Janus, Roman god of beginnings and transitions, depicted with two faces, looking to the future and past. January is a time to reflect and treasure all things in your heart.

January’s first Gospel offers an opportunity to look to the past and future, an opportunity to treasure things in our hearts and a reminder to seize the moment. Hence, we look at the past – Luke and our Lutheran tradition, the future – our legacy, and the present – our lives today.

First, Luke and our Lutheran tradition. Luke included the only boyhood story of Jesus to complete his infancy narrative. This was the second of three trips Jesus made to Jerusalem’s Temple.

In the first trip, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to fulfill the Law. Two Old Testament saints, Simeon and Anna, greeted them. Simeon caused confusion and anxiety with his somber words to Mary, “This child is why many people in Israel will be condemned and others will be saved. He will be a sign that will expose the thoughts of those who reject him. And a sword will pierce your heart.”

The other feature of that first story is that wisdom came from the parents observing the Law.

In the second story we heard today, Jesus again accompanied his family to Jerusalem’s Temple. This time Jesus himself caused confusion and anxiety when he was lost. His somber words to Mary compounded the situation when he said, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” … Talk about a sword piercing your heart!

This time wisdom came from Jesus as a teacher of the Law. He could not remain with his family because it was necessary to be with his Father.

The third journey to Jerusalem was with Jesus’ new family, his disciples. Again, he went there to celebrate the Passover. His journey began in chapter 9 where we read, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face towards Jerusalem.” During this journey, Jesus celebrated the Passover, was lost – that is, dead and buried – and was found after three days. This loss also caused confusion and anxiety.

And again, wisdom came from Jesus who explained to his new family members who were searching for and found him that it was necessary to be with his Father.

Our Lutheran tradition cited our Gospel in The Formula of Concord regarding the Person of Christ. It focused on the majesty Christ possessed, and yet dispensed with, in the state of his humiliation. I quote, “’For this reason he grew in stature, wisdom, and grace before God and other people.’ Therefore, he did not reveal his majesty at all times but only when it pleased him, until he completely laid aside the form of a servant – but not his human nature – after his resurrection.”

Centuries later, Francis Pieper wrote that Scripture clearly taught that Christ is God and Man, knew himself to be God and Man, and had a divine consciousness.

I quote: “The very first recorded utterance of Jesus when He was twelve years old, clearly reveals Him as being conscious of His divine estate: ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ And his subjection to His earthly parents shows that He was conscious at the same time of His human estate.”

From Luke and our Lutheran tradition to our future, our legacy. … A lesson I learned in fundraising was to show people how to leave a legacy that outlives them. Whether you love art, education, medicine or religion, you can leave a legacy. You need not be a Carnegie, Ford, Mellon or Rockefeller. You can leave as much or as little as your estate can afford.

People leave legacies based on what they love, and people remember them for what they love. Who will remember you? Guaranteed your parents, spouse and children will remember you. Periodically, your siblings, grandchildren, nieces and nephews will think of you. Realistically, no one else will remember you fondly unless you leave a legacy of love.

Jesus’ disciples remembered him because his love led him to the cross and grave. The loving Father raised him from the dead and they imparted the Holy Spirit on the first Christians. That Holy Spirit is with us today as we remember Jesus and how he loved. Our legacy will be remembered in how we love. Whether or not our love leads to martyrdom or old age is not our choosing, but we should pray – as I do each time I open a sermon – that we love deeply as Jesus loved.

We love deeply as Jesus loved because we believe what he taught. We believe in his wisdom and that led us to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. If we love deeply as Jesus loved, people will know our legacy. More importantly, the Trinity will know.

If you want to leave a legacy of love, know this: Satan will do his best to foil you. Satan exploits your weakness. … Now, let us move from our legacy to our lives today. From the future to the present.

With sympathy to football widows, we are in the playoff season, and January 5^th is the birthday of the only NFL coach ever to win four Superbowls. Here is how Steeler Running Back Rocky Bleier remembered Chuck Noll, who passed away in 2014.

Bleier said, “I remember in 1974 … we went out to Kansas City to play the Chiefs. They had the main players from their recent Super Bowl team, including Lenny Dawson. We ran the ball well, we sacked Dawson three times, and we beat them. On Monday we’re going over the game film, and I was expecting Chuck to congratulate us on a great game. But not Chuck. Chuck said the reason we won this game was because of the lack of good habits formed by one person.

Chuck had a theory that we all eventually subscribed to: Habits are created every day in practice, and they carry over to the game—whether it’s 102 degrees on the field or 30, whether it’s raining or snowing, whether you have a 300-pound defensive tackle in front of you … or no one at all. In the third and fourth quarter, you don’t think; you react.

Chuck said, “The reason we won this game, gentlemen, is because of the lack of habits formed by Kansas City’s left guard. The reason why we had the sacks and forced passes and why they had no running game was because of the habits formed by the left guard.”

I was dumbfounded. For a man to lead a team, the players have to accept and buy into what he’s teaching. I thought, this man has that whole game broken down to one player. He must know everything. I bought in.”

I bought in. Are you buying in? Did you buy in to Jesus and his teaching? I believe you did. I also believe Satan exploits your weaknesses and poor habits.

Folks, if a coach can detect and exploit the poor habits a player forms, think how easily Satan exploits your weaknesses and poor habits.

Friends, you are sinners saved by Christ, but Satan can exploit saved sinners. That is why you must form good habits.

We are no better Christians than those Paul addressed in Corinth when he wrote of the need to forgive so “that we may not be exploited by Satan for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” They formed good habits.

We are no better Christians than those Peter addressed when he wrote, “Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour. Resist him, and be strong in your faith.” They formed good habits.

We are no better Christians than those James addressed when he wrote, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. … Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.” They formed good habits.

Beginning today, buy in to what Jesus taught. Treasure in your heart what he taught and how he lived and died for you. And as we begin 2021, form good habits.

Pray daily. Read scripture. Meditate. Read the Small Catechism. Listen to the Lutheran Hour and Daily Devotions podcasts. Attend Sunday School. Ask friends to point out your weaknesses so Satan cannot exploit you easily. Leave a legacy. Love.

Your legacy will not be that you read Scripture and prayed daily. But the grace of God leads you to the Word and to prayer. The grace of God changes you, and because you know God loves you – and you love God – you form good habits that make it difficult for Satan to exploit you.

When you allow God’s grace to enter your heart; when you treasure in your heart Jesus’ teaching; when you open yourself to God’s Word and Sacrament, you do not win Superbowls, you win the crown of life.

It is January, a time to reflect on the past to see how God’s grace has been poured forth into your heart and has washed away your sins through the blood of Christ on the Cross. It is time to look to the future – eternal life with Christ. It is time to start living for Christ and his Kingdom today. Beginning today, resolve to treasure deeply God’s love in your heart, and when you do may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.

 

Holding Baby

 

CHRISTMAS SUNDAY

Do you like looking at and holding tiny babies? Everyone does. Mothers and fathers, grandparents and godparents, aunts, uncles and siblings – everyone – loves holding a baby.

When each of our four grandchildren were born, we couldn’t wait for our turn to hold them. When it was my turn to hold each one, I felt different.

When you hold a tiny baby, you feel different. You have this tiny baby in your arms, and you’re very careful with the baby, but you feel different. You feel love in your heart. Is that how you feel? That’s how I felt.

In our Gospel today, Mary and Joseph take their baby, Jesus, to the Temple. When they get there, they meet two people. They meet an older man named Simeon and an older lady name Anna.

Do you know what Simeon and Anna did when they saw and held Baby Jesus? They praised God. They. Praised. God.

Whenever you hold a baby, make sure you praise God because God is the One responsible for giving that baby life and bringing him or her into the world.

When I held my grandchildren, I praised God, said a blessing and made the Sign of the Cross on their foreheads. Before two of them turned a year old, I baptized them. That was a thrill for me.

And when you come up with your parents who take Holy Communion, because you’re too young still, I make the Sign of the Cross on your foreheads and say this blessing: “May God, who has begun His good work in you through Holy Baptism bring you quickly to His Holy Table. Amen.” … Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless all children, and give their fathers and mothers the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Nunc Dimittis

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My focus is the Nunc Dimittis in Luke: “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Christmas offers an opportunity to reflect upon important parts of life – family and faith. On those, I hang today’s sermon. Three Bs – baby, body and beauty. The baby Jesus beheld by Simeon; the body of Christ we receive; and the beauty we behold.

First, the Baby Jesus beheld by Simeon. … Grandparents and parents frame pictures of their grandchildren and children. Similarly, in our Gospel, Luke framed pictures of Baby Jesus. Luke framed Jesus around the faithfulness of his parents who fulfilled the commands of the Torah as they brought him to the temple. As He entered, two Old Testament saints, waiting in the temple for the Messiah to arrive, greeted him.

Joseph and Mary fulfilled the Torah by bringing Jesus to his true home. Being poor or of humble state, they sacrificed two pigeons because they could not afford a lamb; however, no lamb was necessary, because at 40 days, Jesus himself was the lamb brought to the temple.

Although Luke did not indicate Simeon’s age, he portrayed him like the other Old Testament saints in the infancy narrative – Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph. Like them, Simeon, a righteous member of Israel, received and announced the consolation of Israel.

There are two parts to Simeon’s words. He began by intoning a canticle that sounded like the Old Testament, but was filled with New Testament themes announcing the presence of God’s salvation in Jesus. The Holy Spirit inspired his song about the messiah for whom he was waiting.

His canticle echoed Zechariah’s Benedictus, but he directed it at Baby Jesus and not Baby John. His song was a beautiful example of the immediate response to the inauguration of God’s consolation and redemption in the Christ Child. Simeon is now set free to depart in peace according to the Lord’s word for Jesus freed him – as he did others – through his presence in the world.

God opened Simeon’s eyes to the salvation cloaked in the 40-day-old Jesus, still wrapped in infant’s clothing. His opened eyes referred not to physical vision, but an understanding of Jesus’ work. Throughout his gospel, Luke wove the metaphor of closed and opened eyes for the motifs of minds closed or opened to the preaching of a crucified and resurrected Jesus.

Luke used the eyes as the means of illumination, and ended his gospel by telling us that his disciples walked in the light straight into the Book of Acts. Conversely, he ended Acts with Paul reciting Isaiah’s prophecy. “This people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed.”

Simeon’s eyes were opened to salvation, a salvation that is a light of revelation to all nations, but as he blessed the parents, he sounded a somber note when he said to Mary, “This child is why many people in Israel will be condemned and others will be saved. He will be a sign that will expose the thoughts of those who reject him. And a sword will pierce your heart.”

Simeon’s words coupled to the angels’ message to shepherds – “a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger” – are dual signs of humility and poverty. That perfect image of humility and poverty, an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, foreshadowed Jesus’ crucifixion, the ultimate manifestation of humility and poverty. The world rejected Christ because he did not meet human expectations.

Jesus echoed Simeon’s words to the scribes and Pharisees in his final parable. “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.’ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Jesus’ word passed through Israel like a sword, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy that said, “He made my mouth like a sharp sword,” and he compelled people to reveal their secret thoughts.

Every participant in Jesus’ life, including his mother, experienced sharp pain because of his teaching and death. Simeon’s announcement shocked readers who did not expect Jesus to lead people to conflict and upheaval and reveal their hearts.

Because of sin, people were – and are – scandalized and crushed by Jesus’ words and death, but through his death, his Father displayed the ultimate sign of revelation, the Resurrection.

Luke summarized the Law and Gospel in a brief song sung by Simeon. You now know why Simeon sung his canticle. Now, we explore why we sing it. We move from the baby Jesus beheld by Simeon to the Body of Christ we receive.

In some Lutheran congregations, it is customary that after people receive the Body of Christ, they sing Simeon’s Canticle. Have you ever wondered why Christians sing Simeon’s Canticle, also known as the Nunc Dimittis? Nunc Dimittis comes from the Latin of the Vulgate Bible, which reads: “Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum, in pace.” Because Simeon’s canticle implies fulfillment, peace and rest, the church viewed it as appropriate for the ending of the day. Since the 4^th century, the church used it in evening worship services – Compline, Vespers and Evensong.

Thomas Jefferson used the canticle in official correspondence. Novelists and poets T. H. White, T. S. Eliot, Joseph Brodsky, Ezra Pound and John LeCarre employed it in their works.

Within the context of our liturgy, it appears we take Simeon’s words out of context. After all, what does his experience have to do with ours? How can Holy Communion compare to Simeon's unique honor of holding the infant Jesus in his arms during the child's first visit to the temple?

Of course, we would love to have been in the temple and shared in the experience with Simeon. We would give anything to have been the first – along with the shepherds – to see the infant Jesus, or to be with the Magi as they offered him their gifts. However, as Luther insightfully taught, we do not find Christ in those places.

Through the events of his incarnation, birth, crucifixion and resurrection, our Lord accomplished our salvation; but the benefits of his saving work – forgiveness, life and salvation – are distributed to us through Word and Sacrament, his means of grace. We cannot go back to stand with Simeon, but the good news is that we do not have to. Christ is present here.

So, when, following the reception of the Lord's Supper, one sings Simeon's canticle, nothing could be more appropriate. Our eyes saw his salvation, and better yet, we tasted and saw that the Lord is good. So, what could be better than holding the infant Jesus in our arms? How about eating and drinking his body and blood given for the forgiveness of our sins? This truly is heaven on earth, because here we have Jesus and all his benefits.

We have Jesus and all his benefits because we believe and receive. That is the beauty of pure Christianity as expressed in the Lutheran tradition. We believe what we receive – Word and Sacrament. That in itself is pure beauty. Hence, my third point, the beauty we behold.

We define beauty as the combined qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. What pleases us? The literature of Shakespeare or Luther, sculptures of Michelangelo or Rodin, glasswork of Chiluly or the Cathedral of Chartres, music of Beethoven or Chopin, mom’s apple pie or dad’s grilled steak. The list is endless.

Then, there is nature. We are pleased to gaze at stars in the midnight blue or puffy clouds, to smell freshly cut grass or ocean’s breeze, to hear children playing or words of forgiveness, and to taste the fruit of the vine. In the words of Poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”

As I said earlier, the beauty of Christmas is that it shifts our senses to the important parts of life – family and faith. Unfortunately, for some, Christmas is the fourth quarter of the calendar year – a period to calculate whether retail business can survive another year. For others, it is just another day. My brother, a self-employed handy man, told me on Christmas Day some guy called him to repair his washer. For many, Christmas is just a busy season to shop, bake and party – void of the reason Christians observe Advent, the Incarnation and Epiphany.

For me, Christmas is a marvelous time to meditate on God’s beauty; and an essential function of beauty is to give humanity a healthy shock! Whether beauty appears in talent, nature or an act of love – an infant cradled to its mother’s bosom or a dying man slumped in the arms of a Mother Teresa – it shocks us back to what is important in life and creates an ineffable moment we experience but cannot sometimes name. That is why we recall the Spirit-filled moment of a Simeon. In the moment and presence of true beauty, he responded, as we would love to respond.

The beauty of the first Christmas – the beauty of the first encounter with God incarnate – is enough of a healthy shock for a lifetime, and it leaves the shocked struggling for utterance. God entered our world as a human being, and in our world, God has places where he can hide and reveal himself.

In the beauty of art and nature and human relationships, God hides and reveals himself. In the people God put in your life, God hides and reveals himself. Where love and mercy are withheld, God hides. Where love and mercy are communicated, God appears.

In the Baby Jesus and in the Body of Christ, love and mercy are communicated. In the means of grace, given to you through Word and Sacrament, love and mercy are communicated.

When you communicate love and mercy to the people God put in your life, He is present. In that moment, when relationships are reconciled, like Simeon, you too can cry your own Nunc Dimittis to God for the beauty of His presence has set you free.

And so, I close with a request, and humbly ask you to consider it. … God gave you this Christmas to realize the blessing of forgiveness that comes to us through his means of grace. The Baby Jesus, the Body of Christ and a beautiful moment reflect God’s love, God’s mercy.

God gave you Christmas so that your eyes may be opened and you may be set free from any sin that binds you. If you have the benefit of family for Christmas, take a moment and embrace each person in your arms, and if there is an opportunity to offer forgiveness, please do. I guarantee you that when you offer another family member love and mercy, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, will keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.