Category: Sermon Page

Advent 3 Rejoice in the Lord Always! 

Text: Philippians 4:4–7 Other Lessons: Zephaniah 3:14–20; Psalm 85; Luke 7:18–28 (29–35) 
Sermon Theme: Where can we find true joy? 
Sermon Goal: That we extol the true joy that comes from Christ and is found in his presence, distinguishing it from the false and fading joy that masks our sorrow and loneliness. Based on a sermon in Concordia Pulpit Resources by Rev. Dr. Geoffrey R. Boyle, 

Sermon: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (v 4). “Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!” (Zeph 3:14). “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”   It’s easy to have joy this time of year for most of us. Just wear the right ugly sweater, drink a proper portion of eggnog, and decorate the house with ornaments, lights, and a Christmas tree, while pop-Christmas songs play in the background. Go to the parties, watch A Christmas Story, exchange presents. Everyone can do it. Everyone does. But for many, there’s no real joy in it. And some are actually at their breaking point—will this be the last Christmas they put on a smile and fake it? Lord, have mercy!

It’s hard to rejoice this time of year for many. Some have lost a husband or wife. For others, it’s a son or daughter no longer willing or welcome to come home. Then there’s the loneliness, barrenness, and hopelessness rampant in our broken world. Whether they’ve been taken from us or not yet given, it’s difficult to “rejoice and exult with all your heart.” So we fake it. It’s just easier that way. We try to blend in so that no one asks. And the truth is that we really do want to rejoice! We want our hearts to sing. We want joy and gladness and the peace that surpasses all understanding. But when we look at our life—our job, our family, even our own mind and heart—we find little joy and little song. Where Can We Find True Joy? How can we, too, rejoice and sing and shout aloud? How can these Scriptures today be for us? The prophet Zephaniah locates this joy in the Lord’s promises to his people: “I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes” (Zeph 3:18–20). This is the Lord’s promise. He will do it. He will gather us. He will take away our reproach. He will deal with our enemies. He will save us and gather us and change our shame into praise and renown in all the earth. This gives us hope and sets us on the path toward joy. But when will this be? When will he gather those of us who mourn for the festival? When will we no longer suffer reproach? When will our oppressors be put to shame—and the lame and outcast be gathered together? When will he bring us in, gather us together, and restore our fortunes before our eyes? That was John the Baptizer’s question too. “Are you the one? Or shall we look for another?” The answer that’s given comforts everyone—John, us, and all who would hear this proclamation!) John the Baptist leads us to Jesus. Is Jesus the one who will bring God’s promises to me?   In that hour [Jesus] healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered [John’s disciples], ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me’ ” (Lk 7:21–23). Jesus answered John’s question of who he is and when these things will be by fulfilling the promises before their very eyes. Jesus is the Coming One. There is no other. Where he is, there the promises are fulfilled and joy can be found! And as he came in the midst of his people, he came to comfort them in their fear and sorrow and shame and sickness. He came to undo all that saps the joy from us. He came to take away their sin and ours. Where Jesus is, there is our joy. If you’re wondering where you might find joy—especially this time of year—then don’t look in the tinsel or wrapping paper, mulled wine or eggnog. Look to where Christ is. That’s the reason Zephaniah tells us to sing aloud and shout, rejoice and exult. “The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst” (Zeph 3:15). Paul also locates all of his joy in the presence of Christ. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again [he says], rejoice. . . . The Lord is at hand” (vv 4–5). And when Jesus sent the men to John, declaring all that they had seen and heard, joy sprang into John’s prison cell. It filled his and their worried hearts, and ours too! Wherever Christ and his work can be heard, where the promises of healing and restoration ring out, there you’ll find a peace that surpasses all understanding. So it goes for you—you who mourn, who suffer, who feign joy because you can’t find any within: Rejoice and be glad, shout and sing aloud! The Lord is in your midst too! He’s here among us—here in the church, here in the preaching, here in the bread and wine, here in and among the baptized. Here he comes to take away the judgment against you, to cast out your fear, and to strengthen your weak hands and timid hearts. He comes with the promises fulfilled, the forgiveness of sin, and he gives you “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, [and which] will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (v 7). He’s here. “The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil” (Zeph 3:15). So rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, rejoice! Not a feigned or momentary joy, but eternal joy here and now in Christ, who is with you and for you and today is in your midst. Amen.

Pastor Tim Weiser

Old Testament Reading: Malachia 3:1-7b

Epistle Reading; Philippians 1:2-11

Holy Gospel: Luke 3:1-14 (15-20)

Guest Pastor: Mark Bangert

ADVENT 1, DECEMBER 1, 2024

Blameless Hearts Text: 1 Thessalonians 3:9–13

Other Lessons: Jeremiah 33:14–16; Psalm 25:1–10; Luke 19:28–40; Luke 21:25–36

Sermon Theme: God makes our hearts blameless—in holiness and love.

Sermon Goal: That we rely on Jesus to make our hearts blameless through his cross, increasing in love while awaiting his coming again with all his holy ones. Based on a sermon outline by Rev. Dr. Joel C. Elowsky, as printed in Concordia Pulpit Resources.                                                                                                 

Sermon: what does it mean to be blameless? Back in the eighties there was a song by Howard Jones called “No One Is to Blame.” That enigmatic song about what you can and can’t do in life claimed that, overall, no one is to blame. But that thinking seems to encapsulate what often happens in life when things go wrong: No one ever is to blame. We have no-fault insurance, no-fault divorce. Things go wrong. It’s no one’s fault. That’s just the way it is. No one ever is to blame.

Well, we know that’s not the way it is—but it could be. There’s plenty of blame to go around, but God Makes Our Hearts Blameless—in Holiness and Love.

By nature we cannot be holy or blameless. It seems that no one wants to take responsibility for anything these days. Things don’t get done, people have little incentive to be honest, and no one cares. “It’s not my fault.”                      

It’s like the little boy who is asked, “Who broke this vase?” We know what the reply is going to be: “Not me!” But, there are actually other people who care too much, racked by guilt because they’re sure they are to blame for whatever happened. Maybe you’re one of them. This can be just as unhealthy as denying any blame.

This kind of blame game can be especially cruel to those who are at a disadvantage and have no one to stick up for them. What’s the blame game going to look like when Jesus returns as judge with all his holy ones, as Paul mentions in today’s Epistle (vv 12–13)?

His prayer for the Thessalonians is that God would establish their hearts as blameless in holiness when they are presented for judgment on the Last Day. Easier said than done.      How could the Thessalonians ever aspire to be blameless in holiness on that Last Day?

See Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10–12.                            These are not very positive assessments of our capabilities! They pretty much put both blamelessness and holiness out of our reach. So how can Paul ever hope to present the Thessalonians to God as “blameless in holiness”?

More to the point, how can you ever hope to present yourself before the judgment seat of Christ as “blameless in holiness”? God makes us holy and blameless in his sight through his Son. He already knows what’s been going on in your life, even when you try to hide it.           You can run, but you can’t hide. God comes looking for you. That can be bad news or good news.      

Bad news: There is punishment for sin.

Good news: There is also redemption through God’s Son, who was truly blameless and always remained so, even unto death (Is 53:5–6).

“By His dying He has destroyed death, and by His rising again He has restored to us everlasting life” (Proper Preface for Easter, LSB Altar Book, p 152). He has made us holy and blameless like himself as we join him in his death by being drowned in the waters of Baptism. The filth of sin is washed away, and we now appear before him holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life (Lk 1:75).

There now is no reason to run, no reason to hide, because “the Lord has laid on [Jesus] the iniquity of us all” (Is 53:6). “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). Our hearts are blameless in holiness before our God and Father. But there’s even more.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to live a life that is holy and blameless. Because we have died to sin in our baptisms and are raised to a whole new way of living, we are not only declared holy and blameless, but we can actually live in holiness.

We can live guilt free through the power of the Holy Spirit as the Lord increases our love for one another and for all.To live a life that is truly holy and blameless, we first need to understand the truth of what the apostle John meant when he wrote, “We love because he first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19).

“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). This is what enables us to “increase and abound in love for one another and for all” (v 12), when we realize just how much grace has been extended to us.  No one in our world today is ever to blame for anything. Christians understand how wrong such an idea like that is. The cross is proof that there is more than enough blame to go around. But all that blame ended up resting on the shoulders of one man, “the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim 2:5–6). The ransom that he paid is what establishes “your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (v 13). May we increase and abound in that kind of love for one another and for all. In Jesus’ name. Amen