Matt 4:15-17 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany Jan 22, 2017

Last week, we talked about standing as a posture of praise. We stand for the reading of the Gospel. We stand for the confession of the creed. We stand for a doxological stanza, that is, a stanza of a hymn directed specifically to the three persons of the Trinity. The sermon was a stand up sermon. It had a really upbeat message.

Today’s is sort of a continuation, but it takes into account the sad situation that this good news addresses. It’s not going to be a stand up sermon, that is, a sermon whose tone says, “We should be standing for this.” Yet, it is still filled with good news. It’s good news for those who have all but given up.

Not just once, but twice, in today’s reading, we hear about Zebulun and Naphtali. Now, that must mean they are important. But if you were to poll an ordinary person on the street, I’m not sure their reaction would be much different from most of ours. Who is that?

I’ll tell you. If you looked at the back of the bulletin before the service, you would have already seen a small map that has them outlined on there. Zebulun and Naphtali. Isaiah says this area was brought into contempt.

It seems more like obscurity. Who remembers their name? Part of the reason their names are not too well known is because they got wiped out in the 8th century by the Assyrians, the ancient ancestors of modern day Iraq. The Assyrians would play fruit basket upset. You know what that is. You dump a basket of fruit and put it all back in, and nothing is where it was before.

That’s what they did with conquered countries. People would be moved out of their country and other people would be moved in. No one ever got back home. This is why you hear about the ten lost tribes of Israel. They were scattered. In their place were moved a lot of Gentiles and pagans.

So Zebulun and Naphtali, in the region of Galilee, were brought into contempt because they were not pure Jewish country. They were not like the lower region, Judah and Benjamin, where their descendants were still able to trace their lines. No, the area of Galilee was considered the land of the Gentiles—and Samaria was a different story. Their distance from Jerusalem the site of the Temple, where God said He would come to His people, the location of truth, that distance didn’t help either.

That’s what happened to these people in the north, these Galileans. So, for years, a whole region, that went by the name of Galilee, had been practically living in darkness, deep spiritual darkness. The truth had been shrouded, and the light had practically gone out.

The point about both of these readings is that a light has dawned on them, but—staying with this just a bit longer—what had it been like for those before that day came? For centuries, the country slipped into greater and greater darkness.

It sounds like our own world, our own nation. They have opportunity, but our world is getting darker. When it comes to spiritual matters, they don’t lose hope--because they never had it. Worse, they think there is none to be found. Not that they don’t look. They stumble around like blind men, but don’t know where real hope is to be found.

And just a little bit more. This is what it was like for us before we were called. It may not have been a long time for most of us. Most of us became Christian at very young ages, some within weeks or even days of our birth, but during that time, we were in darkness.

Jesus says it clearly in Jn 3:18. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Condemned already, because that is our natural state.

And then the light dawned. For most of us, it happened when we were baptized. A great light has shined, a light has dawned. We had seen a great light. Our souls, living in death, as spiritual miscarriages, were brought to life.

That is the way that area would have been described. The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned. The truth and God’s blessings had been brought to them. They were even blessed above Judah and Jerusalem. Jesus had come to them, to Galilee of the Gentiles.

And then He announced the very best thing they could ever hear, “The gracious reign of God has come among you.” He is there. The creator has come to His creation. The devil himself, must give way, because this is also His creator that has come. This is His ruler. He must answer to Jesus. And we see that happening. He healed those oppressed by demons. Jesus preaches and teaches in the synagogues and in the cities. The afflicted find hope. They find relief from their afflictions.

Creation itself, bit by bit, person by person, sees what it is like that the Creator has come to restore His creation.

At first, the news and His coming, His advent was wonderful. Jesus spoke the same hope-filled message John the Baptist had spoken.

You do know this is exactly what John the Baptist had been preaching, don’t you? The exact same message. “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. God’s gracious rule is here on earth

now.” The people flocked to hear John and now they are hearing it and even seeing it from Jesus.

“Thy Kingdom come.” That’s the way we have been taught to pray it. We pray for exactly what John and Jesus were preaching. And it does. The Lord establishes His kingdom. He makes it come. “The kingdom of God comes indeed without our prayers, but we pray in this petition that it would come among us also.”

But He does it in ways that are not visible to us. And that’s a problem—at least that’s a problem for us sinners. It became a problem for them too. At first, it was fresh and exciting, but then it started to become old. And that can be where it is for us.

The flash and the pizzazz and the sexiness of the whole thing starts to wear thin. This loss of appeal is not in our readings, so I probably shouldn’t go there, but we can see it in our own lives. Jesus has come. He established His kingdom, His kingdom comes in our own lives, but it may not be what we feel. Instead, the sin in this world crowds back in and seems to have the major say. Our lives may even feel like desperation.

We cry out, “So what does this mean that the kingdom of heaven is at hand? What does it mean that God’s kingdom comes? What does it get me? A great light may have dawned, but most of the time it still feels like darkness.”

Do you say that? Or would you say, “It’s not darkness, but it’s not a brilliant light either. It just seems kind of hazy? At first, it was so wonderful, but then it got old. When it first came, it was so amazing. I loved coming to church. It was so easy, but now it feels more like a chore.

If it’s that way for you and I know it is one or the other because none of us live in this brilliant light 24-7, then perhaps I should draw your attention to our psalm that we used for an introit.

The desperation of this psalm is not apparent in the part we used for our introit, but it is there and better yet, the answer to it is there. You can’t tell it, but this is the one that Jesus prayed when

He was hanging on the cross. This is Ps 22 the one that starts, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” You can see it on the back in a special font.

Could you imagine a cry that could be any more filled with despair? This is ultimate suffering. Jesus was suffering hell when He prayed this. Literally hell, because that’s what we deserved. If we say we deserve eternal punishment, but we are spared, it’s because Jesus took it on. And this is when it was happening. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

But Jesus wouldn’t stop there. He would keep on praying. He didn’t need to have His psalter, His Psalm prayer book or scroll with Him. He knew the psalms by heart. He was a rabbi, a teacher. They were expected to know the psalms. And like the righteous man of Psalm 1, He would meditate on them day and night.

But no one praying those psalms would find it as true as it was for Him. A person might pray this psalm and feel like that is their case, they might feel like God has abandoned them, but it was never true until when Jesus prayed it. But as Jesus went on praying the psalm, He came to happier thoughts. And He was coming to happier thoughts and happier moments.

As He hung on the cross, He prayed to and about His Father, “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord, and He rules over the nations.” As His blood gushed out of His wounds and then slowed down to an ooze, He prayed this prayer. He anticipated what He was accomplishing there. He was in the process of conquering sin and death.

“All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before Him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.” Even the one who could not keep himself alive. The ones who seem the most desperate, the most helpless, they shall eat and worship. They will know the goodness of God, His gracious mercy. They shall taste and see that the Lord is good. They shall eat the sacrifice of God.

Here is the answer. It was already anticipated in the antiphon. “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

Remember, this is Jesus speaking. He is talking about being among us, praising His Father, because He makes His Father available to us. “They shall proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn, that He has done it.” He has done it. “It is finished,” He announced from the cross. He has done it. He has conquered our mortal enemies. Here in the midst of the congregation, that righteousness is proclaimed.

You might be saying, “Where is the answer? I didn’t hear anything new. Is this supposed to make the light shine brightly again or at least kind of break up the darkness? Just going to church.” Yes.

What causes the darkness? What causes the light to shine more dimly? Sin. Your sin. And that sin is unbelief, a turning away of your eyes from Jesus on the cross.

The devil does that to you. That’s his tactic. He’ll direct us to things we think are good for our faith. He’ll direct us to more upbeat things. He’ll say, “Turn away from that dreary cross. I

have things that will make you feel better.” But they don’t. They make us dissatisfied with God’s simple message of the cross.

Or he’ll take your life or something in your life and say, “Oh, this is so much for you,” and then focus your attention on what you can do or think you should do or something you’ve done or didn’t do. Either way, his goal is the same: Get your eyes off the cross.

I’m going to say something daring. Do what Jesus did. He would pray the psalms. He would do as the righteous man of Psalm 1 and He would meditate on the law day and night.

Here’s the daring part. Swap out where it says, “his law” and put in “the catechism.” Meditate on the catechism. The catechism is not a man-made document. In fact, when Psalm 1 says “law,” these are the thoughts of God, the Law and the Gospel, exactly like what we have in the catechism. If the catechism is God’s Word—and it is—the Lord will speak to you in it through His Holy Spirit. He will create the hunger you desire and although it may never seem like a brilliant light 24-7, He will make you eager to be where His Word is being proclaimed and delivered, where He heals our infirmities, just as Jesus had done when He walked on this earth. AMEN

In peace, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For the people of God, that they might rejoice to repent, knowing that the kingdom of heaven is as near as Christ who visits them in His Means of Grace, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For the Church, that Christians may not be divided either by false teaching or foolish quarrels, but that they might live united in the wisdom of Christ as baptized children of their heavenly Father, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For the holy ministry, that the Lord would raise up pastors who will faithfully follow Him to be fishers of men, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For all people, that the Lord would deliver many from gloom and multiply His kingdom of grace, delivering people from their walk in darkness and bringing them to the light of salvation in Christ, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For all nations, that the Lord would increase wisdom among rulers and magistrates, so that His people might live in peace, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For children in the womb, that the Lord who remembers those forsaken by father and mother might protect and preserve them, grant to His people a steadfast courage to speak on behalf those generations yet unborn, and bring to naught all those who would sacrifice these little ones on an altar of human wisdom or convenience, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For those who live in the darkness of loneliness and depression, that the Lord would attend to them in the shadows they are given to endure, strengthen their faith so that they know they are not forsaken, provide help and companionship, and deliver them to joyful light according to His will, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For [_____________ and] all who are afflicted by disease, pain and evil, that the Christ who healed every disease and affliction among the people of Galilee might deliver them according to His will, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For those who receive the Sacrament of the Altar, that the Lord who made Himself known by becoming flesh to save might make Himself known with His body and blood for the forgiveness of their sins, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

We give thanks to You, Almighty God, for Your people whom You have delivered from this world and who now gaze upon Your beauty in glory as they await the day of the resurrection. Until that day when we are added to their number, grant us strength and courage by Your grace to trust Your promises and await Your Son’s glorious appearing; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Questions from the Sermon1. What were the names of the two tribes in whose area Jesus would live?

2. What was the other name, the New Testament one, for that area?

3. Which petition is like Jesus’ and John’s message?

4. What Psalm is the basis for today’s Introit?

5. What is the devil’s tactic to destroy us?

Questions from the Sermon1. What were the names of the two tribes in whose area Jesus would live?

2. What was the other name, the New Testament one, for that area?

3. Which petition is like Jesus’ and John’s message?

4. What Psalm is the basis for today’s Introit?

5. What is the devil’s tactic to destroy us?

Questions from the Sermon1. What were the names of the two tribes in whose area Jesus would live?

2. What was the other name, the New Testament one, for that area?

3. Which petition is like Jesus’ and John’s message?

4. What Psalm is the basis for today’s Introit?

5. What is the devil’s tactic to destroy us?

Answers to questions from the Sermon1. Zebulun and Naphtali

2. Galilee

3. 2nd petition “Thy kingdom come”

4. Ps 22

5. Get your eyes off of the cross

Answers to questions from the Sermon1. Zebulun and Naphtali

2. Galilee

3. 2nd petition “Thy kingdom come”

4. Ps 22

5. Get your eyes off of the cross

Answers to questions from the Sermon1. Zebulun and Naphtali

2. Galilee

3. 2nd petition “Thy kingdom come”

4. Ps 22

5. Get your eyes off of the cross

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Ps 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?    Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

Psalm 1:1-2 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 1:2b …and on the catechism he meditates day and night.

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. [Type a quote from the document or

the summary of an interesting point. You can position the text box anywhere in the document. Use the Drawing Tools tab to change the formatting of the pull quote text box.]

Stand up

Zebulun and Naphtali

Galilee

Darkness

Light has dawned

Jesus’ and John’s message

Getting old

Psalm 22

The answer

Devil’s tactic

Meditation on God’s Word