“The Baby Leaped For Joy!”

(Luke 1:39-45)

The Visitation

Pastor Espinosa

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen. We are anxious in a very good way to celebrate the birth of our Savior! Do you remember my dear friends when as a child you counted down the days? I can remember sitting by the Christmas tree and deriving so much excitement from just peering at the lights and the ornaments…and to see presents underneath, well, that was almost too much to take in! Christmas is almost here and we can’t wait!

But here in our Gospel this morning, there is a special song for us to consider before Christmas on the occasion of what the Church calls “The Visitation,” when Mary traveled for about four (4) days to visit her cousin Elisabeth. In this scene there is a kind of Christmas before Christmas. That is, we mustn’t forget dear Christians that before the birth of our Savior, there was for Him just like there was for you, a conception -- the vehicle used by God to initiate the incarnation insofar as it touches our lives in this world -- God taking upon Himself human nature; true God becoming also at the same time, true man nine months before His birth. True God became your brother, a true  human like you and was therefore able to be your human representative and human substitute to save you from your sin and to save you from death. As the great Athanasius wrote, “This He did out of sheer love for us, so that in His death all might die, and the law of death thereby be abolished because, when He had fulfilled in His body that for which it was appointed, [the law of death] was thereafter voided of its power for men…[and I especially love this part]…Thus He would make death to disappear from them as utterly as straw from fire (On the Incarnation, 34).”

We see that Jesus is God even at conception! Pieper wrote, “Not only as a man (Matt. 16:13-17; 26:63f.), not only as a boy (Luke 2:49), not only as the child in the manger (Luke 2:11), but already as the child in His mother’s womb He is [The Lord], the Lord God, called that by Elisabeth (Luke 1:43). He was then already received into the Person of the Son of God (Volume II, 79-80). The Augsburg Confession summarizes exactly what the Word of God is presenting us through the conception of Jesus: “Also they teach that the Word, that is, the Son of God, did assume the human nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary (Trigl. 44, Art. III, 1).”

So much for our doctrinal review for this Sunday, but there is much more to this text. We have to consider that this great miracle of Christ’s coming is presented in connection to the most humble of circumstances and characters in the narrative of The Visitation. Why is this important? Because sometimes we are tempted that on account of our humility, our weakness, our inability, our insecurity, that God can seem very far away. Not so. God comes to the humble; and God comes to the weak. Consider first of all Mary.

Mary was very young, just a little older than my youngest daughter Katherine. Consider how well you would do at age 15 if the angel Gabriel came to announce to you that you would be as an ark or tabernacle, a carrier of the Living God in order for the world to receive Him and be saved by Him! Mary is quite simply an example of faith to us all, but it took a little bit to get there: “At first Mary was disturbed (vs. 29), then she expressed incredulity (vs. 34), but, finally, in vs. 38 she expressed submission according to what the Lord said (Buls, Exegetical Notes: Gospel Texts Series C, 10).”

I hope that these facts are an incredible source of encouragement to you dear Christian. When you are going through a hardship, and the Word of the Lord is first given to you, what is your initial reaction? Is it always instantaneous faith and obedience? Is it automatic joy and eagerness? No, and the Lord knows that you are only a poor sinner which is why He needed to be conceived to begin with. Often we are disturbed when the Word comes and to say that we are “challenged” by it is an understatement. But even then the journey does not soon become easy. We may move like Mary from being disturbed to being incredulous -- not quite believing and still having doubts -- but the greatest saints described in the Bible are described as wrestling with doubts. We say like Mary did, “How will this be?” (Lk 1:34)

But pause here. Do these traits thus far describe in your opinion the ideal candidate for God to use for His high purposes? There is a part of us that wants to say, “No way!” But consider again…the process did not end there for Mary. In Elisabeth’s chanted song she calls Mary “blessed” that means “blessed by God out of grace (Just, Luke 1:1-9:50, 73).” This is the reason for you’re being blessed dear Christian. The original word at Lk 1:42 – eulogeo – describes the benefits received from God who speaks those blessings into being. God speaks His love and mercy upon you in Jesus and now you are “blessed”!

So like Mary we know what it is like to be disturbed and to be incredulous…skeptical, doubtful, questioning…”How will this be?” we ask God! We can only see our sin and how unworthy we are! But by God’s grace, He speaks to us in love and we’re blessed! He gives us His very Word and faith is created within us as a gift. Now we know why Rm 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ! What is that Word? It is a Word of welcome, a Word of forgiveness, a Word of restoration, a Word that breathes new life into us...a Word that does not hold your weakness and sin against you, but a Word which covers all the bad; it is a Word that makes you new. He speaks to us so that He blesses us and we become blessed ones! That is what you are heading into Christmas! Thank God!

But if we remove the Word from our lives, then our faith can easily die, but if the Word remains our lives, then our faith remains! It is that simple. And with that Word given to Mary, her state of being disturbed and her state of incredulity was replaced by a state of faith, so Ambrose wrote:

“You see that Mary did not doubt but believed and therefore obtained the fruit of faith, “Blessed…are you who have believed.” But you also are blessed who have heard and believed. For a soul that has believed has both conceived and bears the Word of God and declares his works (Ancient Christian Commentary, New Testament Volume III, 22-23).”

Mary bore Jesus within her according to the flesh, but since you too have received the Word of God, you bear Jesus within yourself according to faith…yes, even you with all of your disturbances and incredulity, God has chosen to give you faith through His Word! And even if your faith is extremely weak this Christmas, rejoice, because the power of faith does not come from itself, but from the strength of the One faith holds on to! You are strong not for the strength or for the weakness of your faith, but on account of the One your faith holds onto and won’t let go of! Jesus! He is the One who transfers our disturbances of soul and our incredulities of mind into the strength of faith. Thanks be to God for this example of Mary!

But there is another example to you and me in our gospel to help us in our pre-Christmas struggles. Let us now consider Elisabeth. She was an older woman who had been barren. Barrenness – to be unable to conceive – was a great shame for a woman in this time and culture. To be barren in the Hebrew mindset was in a way to be cursed. It was a terrible burden. It was like being dead inside.

But Mary was eager to visit Elisabeth because the angel Gabriel had revealed to Mary that besides the miracle that she herself was experiencing by the conception of Jesus in her womb by the Holy Spirit, that another miracle had taken place. The Scriptures record Gabriel as having said, “And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God (Luke 1:36-37).”

Therefore with great haste and excitement Mary went to see her cousin Elisabeth. For Mary, the four-day journey must have flown by. She could not wait to witness the confirmation of God’s Word with her own eyes! But perhaps just as exciting was what Elisabeth herself had been experiencing. She thought that she had been dead inside, and then the Lord brought life where there was once death. Ephrem the Syrian said, “Our Lord prepared his herald in a dead womb, to show that he came after a dead Adam. He vivified Elizabeth’s womb first, and then vivified the soil of Adam through his body (Ancient Christian Commentary, New Testament Volume III, 21).”

That is, John the Baptist had come into the world to announce, to preach, and to herald to people in the darkness of sin and in the shadow of death, that the Light of the World Jesus Christ had come! Elisabeth had in her -- in other words -- a great light inside of her who would prepare the way of the Lord…she had in her womb the greatest prophet who ever lived who would point to Jesus in the flesh!

But not only did this once barren woman carry a prophet in her womb, but in this instance of coming in contact with Mary and the Lord Jesus in Mary’s womb, Elisabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit (v 41), and she chanted with a great voice (v 42) a prophecy-song that confessed that the Lord-God was in Mary’s womb (v 43)! This is astounding! Jesus was no more than a week old…[repeat] no more than a week old! The child conceived in the womb is no glob of embryonic tissue, but a living being…just as this less-than-a-week old Jesus was already known as God in the flesh by Elisabeth!

And this is how the Lord prepares you dear Christian for Christmas. Though in your soul you may know barrenness and deadness inside on account of sin, God sends His Word through what is announced, preached, and heralded to you. As a result, your barrenness is replaced by the light of the Gospel and you recognize the Christ, the Light of the World through the light that has been given to you by God. You are no longer barren; you are no longer dead inside, because the Lord has given you the recognition that Jesus is Lord who has come to save. This is how we are helped through the example of Elisabeth.

And this leads me to the final example of all of us here today in this narrative of The Visitation…not only is Mary a picture of you once disturbed and incredulous, but now given faith; not only is Elisabeth a picture of you once barren and dead inside on account of sin, but now filled with the Spirit and recognizing the Lord who comes to you; but the baby John the Baptist is also a picture of you.

He is only 6 months old in the womb, not yet born, completely weak, dependent, helpless, and absolutely the picture of total inability right? Not quite! This baby was leaping! Talk about the proper response for being on the verge of Christmas. I mentioned at the opening of this sermon the excitement. We can see it in our children’s smiles…and if those smiles get amped up, they will translate into what is described in our text as “exultation.” To exult is to express joy that causes you to be lifted up! If not simply in soul, but also in body! In Acts 3:8 when the lame man is healed, he goes forth “leaping” (same word) into the temple!

“The fleshly presence of Messiah, the agent of creation, causes great things to take place within God’s creation. Already now the new creation is beginning, and a baby still in the womb hails the new creation’s inception. In John’s leap are foreshadowed the miracles of Jesus, who will cause all creation to leap at his presence: ‘Blind are seeing again, lame are walking around, lepers are being cleansed, and the deaf are hearing, dead are being raised, poor are proclaimed the Good News’ (Luke 7:22) [Just, Luke 1:1-9:50, 75].”

Elisabeth was not the only one filled with the Holy Spirit, so was unborn, baby John (Luke 1:15) and it happened because the baby – yes, the little unborn baby – knew that he was in the presence of Jesus. He was leaping for joy and prophesying through his leaping that Jesus had come into the world; that sinners would be saved; that life was conquering death; that light was invading darkness; that hope was being given to the likes of you and to the likes of me…John the little unborn baby knew – he already knew – that the Jesus he was in the presence of was going to cause all of us to leap!

We leap, though so weak and so fragile like the unborn baby John…we nevertheless leap for joy…we leap because we are forgiven; we leap because we shall live past death; we leap because we shall leap when our tombs are overcome by the trumpet and the voice of the King of Kings…we leap even now because on this Sunday before Christmas, the Word of God has once again prepared our hearts…we leap, because we are ready for Christ to come…and we leap because even as we await for Him to come again, we know we are already in His presence and it is a presence not of judgment and condemnation, but of forgiveness and grace. We leap because in His presence He makes us the very children of God. We leap because we are ready for Christmas!

“Thanksgiving for Returning”

(Malachi 2:17-3:1-7)

Pastor Espinosa

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. The sermon is entitled, “Thanksgiving for returning,” but God’s words to us, “return to Me,” don’t occur until the very end of our reading. There are many other words leading up to that and we need them, because without the context we can’t know what this Advent gift of “returning” is all about. In fact it’s the words leading up to “returning” – another way of saying “repentance” – that Malachi by inspiration of the Holy Spirit masterfully uses to explain and break down what “returning” to God is all about.

This portion of God’s Word is absolutely invaluable. Never underestimate the value of the Old Testament and for that matter the Minor Prophets that don’t get the press that the more popular books of the Bible get. We are blessed to be able to receive God’s Word from Malachi this evening. His name means “my messenger” and in our text tonight he has plenty to say about messengers...we need to know about them, esp. the main One to know about returning to God.

First of all, Malachi 2:17 describes what was going on in the hearts of God’s people at the time. They were discontent and murmuring; they were losing – or had already lost – their faith. They were tired of waiting for things to get better. Malachi tells us what they were saying (and yes, their discontentment had gotten really serious). They said: “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” and “Where is the God of justice?” They said these things because as far as what they could observe with their eyes, unbelieving people living for themselves and their own pleasure were prospering, but as for the faithful, they were suffering.

People dedicated to idolatry, greed, immorality, evil, lust, and power, these people were advancing in life. These people were getting stronger, but those who stood for the truth, for love, forgiveness, and true faith in God, these people often wound up with the short-end of the stick and so again, they murmured, they complained. And what happens when all we do is complain? We complain and complain, our skepticism and pessimism starts to take over our minds, our hearts, our thoughts, our words, and before we know it, our faith is gone!

I often remind my son Bryan, “Athletes will play like they practice.” The athlete who trains hard will play hard; the athlete who exudes intensity and precision in practice, will do so in the games. In drama, you must conduct “dress rehearsals”...you are aiming to do just as you will do for the “real” performance. If we call ourselves Christians, we don’t wait for church on Sunday mornings to “act like Christians,” we seek to live in the faith 24/7, when we feel like it and when we don’t, when it seems easier and when it seems very hard. So in those “moments” if we allow ourselves to spew frustration, anger, judgment, hardness...our “practice” might just turn into what we are. We already know that sinning -- whether it flows through our eyes, our mouths, our hands, etc. -- comes from within, it comes from our hearts. We live in accord with what we are. Yes, Christians are sinners, but they do not claim allegiance to it. They do not follow it. They do not permit it to become their master so that they play, “follow the leader” with sin. As sinners we do sin, but we also despair of it, and more than anything – when it comes to sin – we want it to be washed away; we want it outta here!

Well the people of God in Malachi had harbored in their hearts so long and so hard their pessimism, their frustration: nothing was seeming to get any better! Look at how our problems only seem to get worse! What of our observations today? Is our national debt less? Less??? Are you kidding me? It continues to climb! Are we closer to solving the threat of terrorism? Are the threats increasing or decreasing? And what about immorality? Is it finally trending down? Are you kidding me? Not only is it not in a downtrend, but it is more and more approved of! So some ask in the face of these things: where is God? Maybe, He approves...maybe, He doesn’t care...maybe Deists and Agnostics have a case. Why am I being so stupid as to wait for the Lord’s coming? Maybe the skeptics and atheists are right, maybe I am a fool to hold to the Christian faith!

Malachi’s time – about 430 years before Christ – mirrors our time and centuries after Malachi, St. Peter warned about the scoffers (they never go away; and indeed by virtue of our sinful nature, we have one whose taken up residence within each of us): 2^nd Peter 3:3-4: “knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.  ‎⁴They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’”

And dear Christians, the moment this mindset settles in the heart, then watch out, because that is the moment when we start to permit ourselves to serve sin. You know the saying, “when the cat is away, the mouse comes out to play,”...that’s when we permit ourselves to believe that God isn’t coming – or more to the point, that God isn’t here – so who cares how we live? What difference does it make? I’ll just do whatever I feel like doing. Disaster!

Malachi teaches and prophecies about two comings of the Lord: the first coming that we will soon celebrate this Christmas; and the second coming when this same Jesus will come in glory to judge the living and the dead. Think about it: how many years did the Old Testament people of God wait for Messiah to come? If you were living in Abraham’s time, then you had to wait for 2000 years! But He came! Some skeptics will continue to complain, “But why so long?” Easy answer: “Because God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1^st Timothy 1:4) God is patient, so that more and more people would come to saving faith instead of perishing without saving faith! Malachi records God’s Word! The Father declared, “Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me.” (1:1a). This is a prophecy regarding John the Baptist who came to prepare the way for the Lord (just like the prophecy describes). And the wise ones, the faithful ones never gave up their faith; they never stopped waiting and they never stopped living for God! They never stopped resisting their flesh that said, “Stop waiting already and follow sin!” Instead – over and over again – they turned away from sin and RETURNED to God!

On the heels of the first messenger was the main and saving messenger: the Lord Jesus Christ. Malachi began to prophecy of Jesus: “And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple...” Augustine says that His temple was His body (ACC OT XIV 299)...this is a reference to the Incarnation, God taking on flesh; but perhaps it is good to be reminded that just as Malachi was writing to the whole Church, that Malachi is saying that when the Messenger Messiah Jesus comes He will come for His body the Church...for you and for me...His Temple, His Church, His People, The Royal Priesthood, His Living Stones that Make up THE building of God! You are His Temple...He came for you!

But He will come again. Again, Malachi describes both comings and when He comes again in glory (in His second coming that we are waiting for today), He will come to judge all people. How will we endure? How will we poor sinners stand? We will stand by virtue of His causing us to RETURN to Him through HIS work in our lives...His work in your life by grace through faith in Him! This saving and ongoing work of Jesus is what causes you to RETURN to God so that He will in mercy – even on the last day – return to you in grace, in love and mercy! But how do we know His work in our lives that makes us RETURN to God? We know through His cleansing work in us today. Through Holy Baptism and Holy Communion the Lord – the saving Messenger of God – works in us so that faith is not overrun by complaining. Instead, as He works in us, He effects a very different experience: we learn to become more aware of sin; and we become more familiar with the pain it causes, so that we hate it, confess it, and turn from it...all the while it is the work of Jesus that is taking place. This work causes us to daily RETURN to Him!

This work of God for repentance in you and me is presented in a magnificent way in Malachi: “For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. ³He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.” Luther: “Christ is not merely the Purifier but also the purifying Agent. He is not only the Blacksmith but also the Fire; not only the Creator but also the Soap.” (AE 18:410) As you know, fire purifies metals, and fullers’ soap makes white. This soap contains alkali “which eats deep into the tissues. And this fire burns, [it] consumes what the sinner so dearly loves.” (Laetsch, The Minor Prophets, 535) This is a severe process, the fuller, washer and cleaner kneads, massages the clothes by treading and trampling them. (Ibid., 534)

We need this work of Jesus upon us. It makes us become aware of our sin and our need for Him to wash us. David at Psalm 51:2 says simply: “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” and He prays to God to “purge me...wash me” (v 7). We need this. Otherwise, we will only complain and our faith will be lost and we will reject God, never RETURNING to Him. You are the “sons of Levi” Christians, you are the ones daily refined and washed by your Savior! As a result – having already been cleansed of your sin through the blood of Jesus which washes you; and His Gospel which refines you – you bring offerings to God in righteousness. You are holy priests made holy in Jesus. His life is your life; His righteousness is your righteousness! As St. Peter says, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1^st Peter 2:5)

“The Hebrew...for ‘refiner’ and ‘purifier’ describes His work as going on continually throughout the believer’s life. This is necessary, since the believer’s flesh ceaselessly battles against the new spiritual life. Daily the Refiner purges away the dross and takes away all tin. Even if this tin may seem like precious silver to the believer, it remains tin. No matter how highly polished, it is worthless dross, and as such is removed by the Purifier, the Searcher of hearts. Though painful it is a necessary, a blessed work, for which the believer will in time and eternity thank his Refiner, made of God unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30).” (Laetsch, The Minor Prophets, 535-536)

And on account of His cleaning and refining work, given to us through Word and Sacrament, and experienced in us through RETURNING to God and turning from sin, we are made ready for His coming! This RETURNING delights to take God more seriously than anything in our lives. We are not like those who do not return to God and who “do not fear [Him]”. (v 5) The source of all sin is the lack of the fear of the Lord. (Kretzmann, Popular Commentary, Old Testament Vol. II, 723) Disregarding God, losing all fear of the One who judges every man makes us susceptible to any sin taking us over.

But what truly motivates us to hold to the Lord? It is not any threat from God that would cause us to melt in despair, but His love for us. Malachi records the Lord’s words to you this night Christian: “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” Because the Lord does not change – as we know Him in Jesus – His love for you does not change, His mercy for you does not change. God’s grace is not a fickle attribute of God. It is solid, stable, 100% reliable, totally guaranteed. Why? Because the Lord – as we know Him in Jesus – does not change. And “His grace makes it possible that [our] sorrow will become a godly sorrow working repentance unto salvation...” (Laetsch, 537)

This is what it means to RETURN to the Lord. We know He does not change, His mercy is new to us every morning and in this light, it is our true desire to turn from the complaining of unbelief that kills faith; instead we RETURN to the Lord. Turning from sin that only destroys, no matter the world’s deception and lack of patience, and we gladly RETURN to the Lord. This is how the Lord keeps us ready. RETURNING to Him day in and day out as He refines us, and as He washes us.

The church father Cyprian wrote: “And while God is provoked with frequent and continual offenses, he softens his indignation, and in his patience waits for the day of retribution, once for all determined. And although he has revenge in his power, he prefers to keep patience for a long while. [He bears], that is to say, mercifully, and puts off, so that, if it might be possible, the long-protracted mischief may at some time be changed, and humanity, involved in the contagion of errors and crimes, may even though late be converted to God, as he himself warns and says, ‘I do not will the death of him that dies, so much as that he may return and live.’ [Ezek 18:32] And again, ‘Return unto me,’ says the Lord.” (ACC OT XIV 304) And by His Word and by His grace, we do. We have RETURNED again. You have RETURNED and have thanksgiving for RETURNING!

“Bear Fruit In Keeping With Repentance” (Luke 3:8)

Pastor Espinosa

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. The Advent season is a season of preparation; even the worldly versions of this “Holiday Season” recognize the need for preparation. The preparations take on many forms: the shopping that must be done; the greetings whether digital, in card form, or in person should not be forgotten; big projects at work must be completed before Christmas and the new year; the parties have to be planned and attended (not only to have fun with friends, but in some cases to rub shoulders with the right people so as to take care of clientele...yes, even ambition and the “brass ring” is served during this season); the lights need to go up (esp. if you want to avoid the title of “neighborhood slouch” or “ba-hum-bug”-man); the trees trimmed, the stockings hung, and then there are other more qualitatively important types of preparations.

Some of us make it a point to receive more counseling (be it professional, support group, or self-help) for the fact that this season that is supposed to be the most cheerful is often the most difficult as we miss loved ones or when we see what is lacking in our lives in comparison to the glitter and glitz that make us terribly self-conscious about what we don’t have. And again, the more qualitatively important preparations that include -- for the wise -- the simple and true realization that this is the season for prayer and watchfulness, because how much easier it is to get dissipated and do something foolish, harmful to ourselves, our families, and/or our neighbor or neighbors. There is nothing like the combination of stress + drink + impulsiveness to turn the season into disaster or self-destruction. We need to prepare ourselves so as to be protected from the pit-falls of a season in which the world engages not in the sacred, but in the sinful.

So yes, there are many, many preparations. These are part of the festive nature of the season; part of its beauty, but they are also part of proper preparation’s dissolution and compromise if all of the preparations are only of a certain type or kind, and not in accord with THE preparation of this season which rightfully prepares for Christmas. We are called by God to properly prepare by living in repentance and -- to ensure that we are truly doing so -- to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. This is Godly preparation, true spiritual preparation; real preparation; faithful and faith-oriented preparation. This is Christian preparation; in-Christ preparation, and this is the preparation we truly need in getting ready for the coming of the Lord. Without this preparation, all of the other types resemble a hamster going round and round on one of those wheels in a cage: you’ll exert all kinds of energy, but get absolutely nowhere.

OK so we all need the true preparation called repentance and its fruits, but what are these? What exactly are we talking about? “Repentance” is one of those words that we hear about on pretty regular basis in Church or a word we encounter when we read the Bible, but are we really clear as to its meaning?

The word is from the original word “metanoia” that means “change of mind.” Repentance is a change in the way you think; it is a change in your commitment or think of it in terms of a real change in how you live. It is also God’s work. It is not something we effect, but something God effects through the power of the Holy Spirit working through God’s Word (that’s why John the Baptist was preaching: so that God would turn hearts and minds around 180 degrees). According to Psalm 51:5 we were sinful from the time we were conceived. And this spiritual disease means we are helpless to turn ourselves around in repentance. We need God to do this. We need HIM to turn us around in repentance. That is why we seek the Word of Christ and it is why we are in Church this morning.

When this turning...this proper preparation – takes place called “repentance” then we experience two basic things within our hearts: contrition and faith. We truly sorrow – experience deep concern for our souls – because of offending the most important One in our lives, the One who gave us life. Have you ever felt guilty for hurting someone? Then magnify that exponentially...this is the guilt and sorrow we feel for having offended the Lord. And then the other thing we know in our hearts which must follow this deep sorrow (if we experience true repentance) is faith: faith that God in Jesus forgives you. Not partially – as though you’re on probation – but totally and completely. Why? Because of God’s amazing grace; on account of His love and mercy in and through Jesus who bore your sorrows and who bore your sins. When the heart grasps this, heaven opens to us, we are born again, we have renewed hope; we are right with God and we are taken from sorrow and sadness to joy and gladness. This is repentance.

But John the Baptist in our Luke 3 Gospel text this morning was concerned that even though he was preaching the Word of God, that some stubborn hearts were resisting the Word of God; resisting God from turning their hearts in repentance. So John calls these “brood of vipers,” yes, a very harsh thing to say, but John was calling the situation for what it truly was: these who were resisting the Holy Spirit were behaving like the devil (THE snake, THE viper), rebelling against God and fighting against Him. So foolish, so insane, and yet, it is what the spirit of darkness does when Satan tries to convince some to love destruction instead of life.

So when such a concern exists – indeed the most serious of all concerns for another as to whether or not a person has true repentance – then what should follow? We need some firm foundation for spiritual recognition and discernment. And talk about opening up a can of worms at this juncture. What I’m now describing sounds like “judging” the spiritual condition of another. If that is what it sounds like, then you’re perceptive. Of course we have to be careful here. First of all, what we are not doing is condemning anyone. That is not our call. That is God’s call. But the very possibility of condemnation should make us very concerned about the spiritual condition of the people around us. This should drive us to love them and to share the gospel so that they would indeed know repentance; and the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Jesus assured to those who repent. But when Jesus says in Matthew 7:1 “do not judge” He means don’t take on God’s role. We do not say who goes to heaven or who goes to hell. God does, so in this sense don’t judge, don’t ever judge, this is not for you and it is not for me. However, this does not mean that we are not to judge the signs of danger and concern. God through St. Paul teaches at 1^st Corinthians 5 that within the church, we are to judge those things that could devastate and harm our brother or sister. St. Paul writes: “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?” A rhetorical question answered with: “Yes, it is for us to judge within.”

And that is what John the Baptist was doing. The people were gathered in a very churchly-context with crowds coming to be baptized (Luke 3:7). In this context, John was judging in the only way one can. He could not look into anyone’s heart, but he pointed out that which can always be judged: the fruit. Where there is repentance – sorrow for sin and joy in Jesus – there is always fruit that God produces in the life of the one with faith. It is inevitable. As the sun radiates rays of light; so the believing heart radiates good in their real life; as an apple tree produces apples, so the believing heart produces works of faith. This is axiomatic. It is absolutely true. It is what must be. There are no alternatives. So John warns those who are behaving as if they are resisting the Word, “bear fruits.” Let’s see the evidence of repentance so as to have assurance that you are saved from sin and death! Let’s see the evidence! Let’s see the signs so that you know repentance has taken place by the powerful working of God. Let’s be sure we are being properly prepared for the coming of Christ! For our own good!

From the Apology of our Lutheran Confessions (Ap XII, Triglotta 259): “In order, therefore, to deliver pious consciences from [much confusion], we have ascribed to repentance [or conversion] these two parts, namely, contrition and faith. If any one desires to add a third, namely, fruits worthy of repentance, i.e., a change of the entire life and character for the better [good works which shall and must follow conversion], we will not make any opposition.”

We go on to believe, teach, and confess (Ap VI, Triglotta 291): “We say that good fruits, good works in every kind of life, ought to follow repentance, i.e., conversion or regeneration [the renewal of the Holy Ghost in the heart]. Neither can there be true conversion or true contrition where mortifications of the flesh and good fruits do not follow [if we do not externally render good works and Christian patience]. True terrors, true griefs of mind, do not allow the body to indulge in sensual pleasures, and true faith is not ungrateful to God, neither does it despise God’s commandments. In a word, there is no inner repentance unless it also produces outwardly mortifications of the flesh. We say that this is the meaning of John when he says, Matt. 3, 8: “Bring forth, therefore, fruits for repentance.” Likewise of Paul when he says, Rom. 6, 19: “Yield your members servants to righteousness;” just as he likewise says elsewhere, Rom. 12:1: “Present your bodies a living sacrifice,” etc. And when Christ says, Matt. 4:17: “Repent,” He certainly speaks of the entire repentance, of the entire newness of life and its fruits;”

“Likewise Chrysostom says: ‘In the heart, contrition; in the mouth, confession; in the work, entire humility.”...Good works ought to follow repentance; it ought to be repentance, not simulation, but a change of the entire life for the better.” (Ibid., 305)

This real change of heart and life are the “fruits” that follow repentance. These things are the work of God in your life, both the repentance and the fruits, but these fruits are not ambiguous or mystical, they are very practical, so our confession continues (Ap VI, Triglotta 305-306): “But we have already frequently testified that repentance ought to produce good fruits; and what the good fruits are the [Ten] Commandments teach, namely, [truly and from the heart most highly to esteem, fear, and love God, joyfully to call upon Him in need], prayer, thanksgiving, the confession of the Gospel [hearing the Word], to teach the Gospel, to obey parents and magistrates, to be faithful to one’s calling, not to kill, not to retain hatred, but to be forgiving [to be agreeable and kind to one’s neighbor], to give to the needy, so far as we can according to our means, not to commit fornication or adultery, but to restrain and bridle and chastise the flesh, not for a compensation of eternal punishment, but so as not to obey the devil, or offend the Holy Ghost; likewise, to speak the truth. These fruits have God’s injunction, and ought to be brought forth for the sake of God’s glory and command; and they have their rewards also.”

You see John was trying to help those who were resisting God’s work of repentance and fruit-bearing. Why is this such a big deal? Because where there is no repentance, then it must be that the only Savior from sin and death has been rejected. Talk about a reason to be concerned and this is why John warned the crowds to prepare for the coming wrath. (Luke 3:7) With Jesus Christ, God’s wrath is taken away from us; but without Jesus Christ, God’s wrath remains on us.

Fascinatingly the early church treated the need to see the fruits of repentance – our true preparation – as something very serious indeed. “Hippolytus’ Apostolic Tradition from around A.D. 215 offers an [early] witness to...prebaptismal examination... ‘And when those who are to receive baptism are chosen, let their life be examined: have they lived good lives when they were catechumens? Have they honoured the widows? Have they visited the sick? Have they done every kind of good work? And when those who brought them bear witness to each: “He has”, let them hear the gospel.’ A ‘hearer of the gospel’ was a technical term for a catechumen who, after three years of instruction, was enrolled in the final stage of catechesis before Baptism.” (Just, Concordia Commentary, Luke 1:1-9:50, 151 f.n.) This was how important the early Christians considered the fruits of repentance!

One Lutheran expositor points out: “[Repentance] is invisible; hence we judge its presence by the [fruits], which are visible [fruits]. We dare judge in no other way. We often encounter a superficial repentance; it brings forth fruit that is different from that which is demanded by the Baptist, namely a passing regret, a few tears, perhaps, and a transient emotion, a few sighs, an excuse or two, a wish to be different, a resolve to change by one’s own efforts, a brief outward betterment, and the like. The Baptist demands a repentance which is true conversion that is wrought by God himself through the very preaching of the Baptist, and is thus easily and clearly attested in the resultant life.” (Lenski, 188-189)

That is to say this proclamation is not designed to try to make you try harder. If that is your impression, then we go forth wrongly. No, this for you’re the Word of God to do its work: to convict us of how far we have fallen short of God’s standard; to cut us to the heart and to know – as part of the best preparation for this season – that we have sinned against God and have therefore hurt others and have hurt ourselves. And this – when God is working in us – causes great alarm...not just a few sighs or a few tears, but terror in our hearts knowing something is wrong (that we are wrong)...great alarm about our condition...and this – the most important part of repentance – to know that in great mercy...pity for the one in misery – God sent His Son for you. He did not hesitate in the greatest love you’ve ever known to do something about your condition. So Jesus came and lived for you – counting His holy life for you – so that your sinful life is now covered by His perfection; He came to die for you – to take your sin, all about your life that has offended God and others upon Himself – so that by His blood and through His stripes you are healed. He came to rise for you, to conquer the grave that awaits sinners who die, but on account of their Savior Jesus, turns the grave into a failed prison: His life for you means that your life cannot be confined by death. Death cannot hold you, the life of Jesus shines to brightly in you; you are a child of God and life prevails.

This is your preparation for Christmas Christian: repentance and bearing the fruits. Repent! Experience the work of God in your life through His Word and Sacrament! Bear fruits! Experience the work of God in your life through His Word and Sacrament! You have come to the feast this day, the feast of new life that leaves behind the old life. Don’t be ashamed, it is fruit...it is God’s sign in your life that you belong to Him; and that you are prepared for Jesus! Thanks be to God!