A Famine Not of Bread

"The Nativity of Christ" by Vladimir Borovikowsky Click here to listen to this sermon. “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! At first hearing, it seems as though Mary must have gotten it all wrong. I mean, isn’t Christmas a time for celebration? And here, Luke tells us that “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” The contrast is striking. While every year the Christmas retail season starts earlier and earlier and the hype gets more and more intense, the first Christmas was not an intense affair at all. If anything, it seems to be quite calm and quiet in comparison to today’s festivities. Now, of course, you can’t blame people for trying to make a dollar. And we have probably all fed the beast of the commercialization of Christmas to one extent or another. But we’ve not come here to fight the “war against Christmas” or the b...

Click here to list to this sermon. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall crush your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! It is fitting, I suppose, that we speak tonight from the shadow of a tree. It is Christmas Eve, after all, and we Lutherans love our Christmas trees. In fact, it was a Lutheran pastor, Rev. H. C. Schwann, who is credited with putting up the first Christmas tree in an American church in 1851. What a beautiful tree we have here! Bright white lights! Shiny silver and royal blue ornaments! A dazzling star! But the fruit on this tree, though a delight to the eye, is obviously not good for food, nor does it promise to make one wise, like the forbidden fruit of the tree in Eden.  The Lord spoke the words of our text from the shadow of that tree on one of the worst days ever—the day that Adam and Eve fell into sin. God had ...

Cl ick here f or a n audio version of this sermon.   The text for today is our Gospel, Matthew 2:1-12, which has already been read. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas!  Actually, to be more specific: Merry Christmas of the Gentiles!  Those of you who follow the Church year perhaps noticed that yesterday was the twelfth and final day of Christmas.  Today begins Epiphany, the season in which the Child who was born in Bethlehem is manifested to the world as God.  Epiphany has been called the “Christmas of the Gentiles,” because the story of the magi has been associated with it.  The magi were the first Gentile worshipers of the Messiah.  Until then, the only ones to worship Jesus were Israelites: a bunch of shepherds from the fields near Bethlehem, and Simeon and Anna in the temple courts in Jerusalem.  But the magi were Persians, (from the region of modern day Iraq and Iran).  They...

The text for today, the Circumcision and Name of Our Lord, is our Gospel, Luke 2:21:  “ And at the end of eight days, when He was circumcised, He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Those of you growing up with brothers or sisters can probably relate to this scene.   It’s one of the days following Christmas.   As you shower, get dressed, and then eat breakfast, you plan out your entire day.   It’s going to be a great day!   You’re going to spend all your time playing with that favorite gift.      But when you go to play with it, it’s gone!   Immediately, you know where to start looking.   You’ve seen that look in your brother’s eyes.   You know he’s been coveting it ever since you first unwrapped it.   Barging through his bedroom door, you catch him red-handed.   “G...