Be A Domino for Jesus! John 1: 29-42

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text is the Gospel lesson, John 1:29-42.

This morning, I want to give you an image to keep in mind as we consider the Gospel reading. I want you to have in mind donimoes. No, not the pizza. Dominoes – you know, bones, tiles, dominoes – the kind you use to play Mexican train, 42, or straight dominoes, made from wood, plastic, or even pressed cardboard. Dominoes. The little tiles with dots. But now, I want you to have a specific image  - not just any dominoes…dominoes standing up at attention, on their short end, in a long row, precisely spaced about an inch apart, winding their way across the floor, around furniture, stretching way out for a long time.

Now you’ve probably done that before. You stand them up and wind them around, maybe even getting fancy, doing tricks, having lines split into two or even three branches, all the while being oh-so-careful to not bump one and undo all your hard work. Finally, with the last domino in place, you then go back to the beginning and push the first over and you watch and listen. Click, click, click – you know the sound – click, click, click, picking up the pace as they soon become a steady clickclickclick as domino after domino tips into another and falls. If you’ve done it right, the entire train of dominos tips and clicks and falls into place – an impressive sight, an impressive feat. Each single domino is important in this process. One out of place, one not spaced correctly, and the pattern comes to a stop. But, while each domino is important, each domino is just a small part of something that is much larger than the one, individual domino.

Now, there’s a thought: being a small part of something very large, that moves from beginning to end. That’s not a bad way, a bad textual way to think of this morning’s reading and, by God’s unexpected mercy and grace, that we may also think that way of ourselves as we, too, have a very small part of something very large.

That’s the way John’s Gospel is. It starts so big – the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, He was in the beginning with God… - the scope eternal, constant, complete. Then, it gets even bigger. The greatest, biggest event since the world began: the Word became flesh. Not only was the Word there in the beginning, but the Word became a man. He who was in the beginning began anew.

That’s what the first 18 verses are all about, something very, very, very large. Then in v. 19, the process begins. It’s made of very small, seemingly insignificant pieces. John the Baptizer – not the Christ, not the Messiah, not Elijah, just a voice, just the voice crying in the wilderness, but he’s nothing, really…just a voice. And, then, v. 19, the next day, John calls out Behold – God’s Lamb who is taking away the sin of the world. Click.

Then v. 35, the next day, John bumps into two small pieces, two of his own disciples - one who is named Andrew – “Look, God’s Lamb!” Click. Click. They go to where Jesus is staying, and they stay with Him, and they become part of something that is growing larger. In v. 41, Andrew bumps into someone he knows, his brother Peter, “We have found the Messiah.” Click. In v. 43, right after our text, “And the next day, Jesus finds and calls Philip. Click. And then there is Nathanael. Click. And then on the third day, there is a wedding in Cana where Jesus does His first sign, demonstrating His Messianic power, and then there’s another sign, and another sign, all pointing ahead to the greatest sign of all: the sign of the cross where God’s Lamb dies for the sins of the world, as it is written. God’s Lamb takes up His life again. Even though there are many other signs, which are not recorded, the Holy Spirit saw fit that these signs were recorded so that the sound would continue: Click, click, click.

As these pieces bump into each other, what are they actually doing? Simple – each one, in turn, believes that the event has happened. And they simply say what it means. They explain the meaning of Jesus. The one who was with God in the beginning has come to make a new beginning. He became flesh; He is here; this is what it means for you: He is God’s Lamb. God chose Him – Messiahed Him, Christed Him, Anointed Him – to be the Lamb. Now, yes, today we have to explain what that means. We aren’t a lamb-and-sheep based culture. For sophisticated urbanite Gentiles like ourselves, our idea is that lambs and sheep are cute, cuddly fuzzy critters to have as pets. Ask any 4-H kid, they will tell you: lambs are there to bleed, to surrender life, to die.  The Lamb is there to bleed, surrender, and die.

Why do lambs have to die? Because the world is a place filled with darkness. And people are born into that darkness. People don’t know where to go. They can’t find their way back to God. Sin, sin – of course – is the problem. It separates people from God and – look around! - us from one another. For all that sin someone must die to make it right. Someone must die to take the punishment. Someone must be sacrificed. That’s how it is with God. He hates sin. He cares about right and wrong.

But there is such good news in John’s words. Jesus is God’s Lamb for you. You and I do not have to die as sacrifice for our own sins - not at all. God made a new beginning. He sends the world His Son, His Lamb, who loved us enough to be that for us, instead of us, in place of us. Because that’s how it is with God who loves the whole world.

There is such good news in John’s words. It’s good because it’s real! The event is real, and the meaning is real. The Word became flesh! Not an idea, not whim, not a concept, not a proposal. He became a Man. That morning, He walked by John the Baptizer, and John pointed to that Man walking. The event was real. Nothing can change it. That’s why it is such good news. And He really hanged there. And that was real. And He died a real death – our death! - and nothing can change that. And, on the third day, there He wasn’t: the tomb was empty. He was raised to resurrection life and He offers that life to all who believe. This is good news because it is real. Good enough to bring cleansing and forgiveness to any sin. Even for those times when we believe we are big and not small; those times when we refused to tell the story and the meaning when we had the chance. Even for that, Jesus is God’s Lamb.

You know, the longer that line of dominoes is, the more impressive it is. Click, click, click, bumping into each other, passing the momentum from one to the next to the next. It starts in the beginning. It started with Andrew. The sound has been echoing for about 2000 years. You can hear it in your life. Your parents, your pastor, your friend, your spouse, your child told you about Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away your sins. And so here you are, dearly loved, but a very small parts of something very large.

I was thinking about it…  Here’s a great name for an outreach program: Be a domino for Christ. Or, perhaps a little more aggressive and provocative: Knock someone down for Jesus. Or, maybe not. I toyed with the idea of, at this point, having everyone stand up and get in a line that winds around the room and out the door. The question would be who would be our Andrew – who would start it? Perhaps Judy, after all she is our Outreach Committee chair. Or, Mai or Clara Bell, two of our most senior members. But, then, who would be the last one, leading out the door? Maybe Homer or me, so we can’t squash anyone. No…

Well, we won’t do that. But today, we can believe and rejoice that God has taught us the meaning of Jesus, God’s Lamb. We can rejoice that our Lord has placed us into community, into congregation, where we can bump into one another and remind one another that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away your sins. And, we will not take ourselves too seriously, because in this world, it is too easy to think ourselves greater than we ought. Instead, we will see ourselves as very small parts of the very big story of Christ and His bride, the church.

To help you both remember this, and to encourage you to be bold and risk bumping into someone – click – with the story – click – of Christ – click – the Lamb of God – click – who takes away the sins of the world – click – today, take a domino. On one side is a cross, to remind you what the Lamb has done for you. On the other side it simply reads “John 1:34”. I thought about writing the word “Click,” but decided this works better. Keep it for encouragement; use it to share the story. Oh - John 1:34 reads, “I have seen and have born witness that this is the Son of God.” May it be so. Click. Amen.

Jesus' Baptism is Your Baptism - Matthew 3:13-17

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

A few moments ago, we read from the Small Catechism about the benefits of Baptism: “It works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this.” Lest anyone think Luther was merely playing in a water fountain, he cites the word of Christ: Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” In the gift of Baptism, water and word are combined by the power of the Holy Spirit to kill the old Adam, the old Eve, the sinful nature that is within each of us, and bring a new, spirit-filled child of God, to life. Baptism drowns; Baptism births new life; Baptism buries; Baptism raises.

Yet, “Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.” John’s was a baptism for repentance, calling sinners to the waters of the Jordan River to turn their lives, in faith, towards the Coming One. The kingdom is coming, John preached. His job is to prepare; the One Greater is coming and coming soon. John had been thundering out against the chief priests and teachers of the law, calling them a brood of vipers, declaring that the ax is at the root of the tree, that the winnowing fork is sharpened and ready, that the fires are stoked to burn up the waste. John baptized sinners who were reptant because of his message, but there stood Jesus, wanting to be baptized. The sinless Son of God, the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of the world, is asking to be baptized? It doesn’t seem to make sense? Even John gets this – he argues that he should be baptized by Jesus, not the other way around; John realizes he’s not worthy of untying Jesus shoes, yet Jesus comes to him to be baptized?

It is to fulfill all righteousness. Isn’t that an interesting phrase? If you were to chase that phrase through the Scriptures, you would discover that righteousness is not something that is demanded or commanded by God of His people. It is in fact that exact opposite: righteousness is a declaration, something given by God to His people. In the Old Testament, and especially in the Psalms, righteousness is the saving deeds of God that HE does on behalf of His people. The Germans have a wonderful word for this – heilsgeschichte – that loosely means the story of salvation. Over and over the story of salvation is grounded in the righteousness and saving acts of God. These are so closely related that it’s as if Jesus is saying, “Do this, John, to fulfill my Father’s plan of salvation.”

Jesus must submit to John’s baptism, not for himself, but to save the very people John has baptized, that the Church has baptized, that have been baptized in this font. In that Jordan river moment, you see a picture of how Christ will save His people from their sins: He stands among us, with us, and for us. He takes our place, and in receiving the sinner’s baptism from John, it’s as if all of the world’s sins that have been washed away from us are washed onto Him. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us. This baptismal picture is a foretaste of what is to come. Jesus doesn’t stop standing among us, with us and for us when he leaves the river. He continues in our place all the way to the cross. Ultimately, that is where all righteousness is completed and fulfilled, where and when the innocent Lamb of God is offered as the once-for all, one-for-all sacrifice in the place of many. That is why it is fitting for Jesus to come to the Jordan and be baptized to – literally and spiritually – stand in the place of many.

Still dripping from the baptismal washing, Jesus climbs out of the water. Immediately, “Behold, the heavens were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him.” We speak of once-in-a-lifetime event; usually those are milestone firsts – a first kiss, a first step, a first child’s birth. This isn’t as much a first, but an end-times event: the heavens are opened, the Spirit descends as a dove. It’s as if the Father is answering any questions even before they are answered: “Who is this guy, and what’s all the fuss from John about baptizing him?” Jesus, who is the perfect Servant of God, having now received the Spirit of God, will perform the work of bringing righteousness to the nations, ministering to the crushed reeds and smoldering wicks – the repentant, contrite and faithful - remaining in Israel.

A second call, “Behold,” this time alerting us to the Father’s voice: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” The voice of the Father identifies Jesus as His Son. I think this is a bit of a Divine play on words here. Not only is Jesus God’s Son by virtue of the Virgin Birth conceived in Mary by the power of the Spirit, but He is also the entire summation of all of God’s people reduced into one. In other words, Jesus, the Son, embodies all of God’s people. Christ, the sinless Son of God, stands in the place of God’s son, Israel – and the Church – that needs saving. The One who has come to be baptized in the place of sinners does so as God’s sinless Son by right, so that He can save God’s “son” that is lost in sin. Jesus is truly the Son of God who fulfills all righteousness for His Father’s people.

Matthew used the word, behold, two times. Behold means to look at something, to see something, and to do so with great attention for detail. So, let’s do that very thing: let us behold what this means for us. Close your eyes for a moment: Behold! See Jesus, standing in the river with water cascading down his face. Behold! Look closely – look at features, face, hands, body. Zoom out just a bit. Behold! Do you see the Spirit descending, the dove alighting? Behold! See the heavens parting? Now, zoom back in at the face. Do you see Jesus? Now, I want you to let His face morph and change so that you see your own face. See your own face standing in the Jordan. Behold! Christ stands there for you! Behold! Christ stands in your place! Behold! Christ takes your sins onto and into Himself and, in your baptism, His holiness and righteousness is washed onto you. Behold! You are made holy. The transformation is so complete that – Behold! – as you look upwards, even with water dripping in your eyes, the heavens are opened for you. Behold, the Spirit of God comes upon you and delivers all of the blessings of God upon you, the baptized, creating, strengthening and enabling faith to believe these gifts of God. Behold! The Father speaks, this time to you, “You are my beloved, my Son, my Daughter, and with you I am well pleased.” Hold that picture, for just a moment.

Behold…  Now, open your eyes.

There is one unfortunate thing about your baptism: the water has long left your head. There is no tangible evidence that remains. For most of us, there isn’t even a memory. Yet, Baptism remains. It never needs to be re-done, renewed, or remodeled. The cleansing, saving water of Holy Baptism never evaporates. The sign of the cross, made on your forehead and over your heart, stands as a sign of Christ’s eternal victory. The water, once poured over your head, continues to give life. The Triune name of God, spoken over you, does not fade into history. Any time, every time, you doubt; any time, every time, you are repentant; any time, every time you feel the devil’s hot breath and hear his lying words; any time, every time you wonder, “Is Christ for me?” return to your Baptism. With the sign of the cross, with the words of absolution, with bread and wine, with the Word preached and read, Christ returns you to your Baptism.

Behold: the word of your heavenly Father: You are His beloved. With you, He is well pleased.

Forgiveness for Moms and Dads - Luke 2:40-52

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text is the Gospel lesson. Luke 2:40-52.

As a parent, this text infuriates me. I would have been livid had I been Joseph. For a child to so completely disrespect his parents, to not follow obediently and trave with them – at least be in the same group! – is unconscionable. He shows complete disregard, not only for Mary and Joseph’s parental authority, but for their parental responsibility, their fears, and their concerns. Overall, it seems that Jesus simply doesn’t care about Mary and Joseph one whit.

As a parent, I empathize with Mary and Joseph deeply. You parents, you grandparents, you probably do as well because you’ve had that experience of having a child disappear while you were at the grocery store or the mall or at the ballpark. Your son, your daughter – he or she was right next to you just a second ago, but when you turn around it’s as if – poof – they disappeared. The frantic search, as concern quickly accelerates to angst and then fear; the terrible “what if” thoughts; the scurrying down aisles, under clothes racks, below the bleachers, to finally find them stretched out beneath a rack filled with coats, simply needing a nap, them waddling towards you with two boxes of their favorite cereal under their arms, or down the toy aisle staring at the latest and greatest thing they saw at their friend’s house, or playing quietly with a couple other friends, totally oblivious to your frantic and panicked search. Thankfully, most of the time, these panicked searches end up well, but with a bag of mixed feelings: joy the lost child is found, frustration the child left in the first place, and shame that you missed the fact that your child disappeared without your knowledge.

Because you’ve experienced this, you can understand and imagine Mary and Joseph’s frustration, fear, and concern. Luke wants us to see this story through their eyes. He wants us to know their grief and pain, their frantic efforts to find their son. At the evening camp, after a day’s journey – fifteen to twenty miles – from Jerusalem, they discovered Jesus wasn’t there. A quick search among their traveling companions identified Jesus was not among them. Then, the frantic return to the city, swollen in population for Passover, growing and blossoming hour by hour, stretching into a three-day search for their son, their twelve-year old son, their only son.

I wonder if their return to the Temple was motivated by spiritual, as much as physical and emotional, need? You know how it is – in times of great crisis, turning to the house of God for prayer, solitude and – perhaps – answers? A sense that they’ve tried everything else, so perhaps this was the final option? Or was it less spiritual, and simply checking the last place they remembered seeing Jesus?  

And, then, I can imagine – as can you – their mixed bag of emotions when they discover Jesus there, in the Temple, surrounded by the great teachers of the Law. It was apparently an incredible give-and-take between the boy and the men: Jesus both listening to them and asking questions, but also answering and demonstrating great understanding. Mary and Joseph, astonished at what was before them, both seeing and hearing this dialogue; frustrated at their son’s seeming lack of respect and concern; relief to find him safe.

And I have to wonder if she remembered the day she and Joseph brought Jesus to Temple for His circumcision, that strange day that the old man, Simeon, held the baby in his arms, sang the Nunc Dimittis – Lord, let your servant depart in peace – and then he looked at Mary and said:

This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Did she wonder if this moment was the first of more to come?

Was there understanding that in her Son, God deigned to dwell among man, not in a Tabernacle, or even in the Temple, but in human flesh? Did she have any inclination that the day would come when those same teachers  of the law would turn against Jesus, instead of sitting and engaging with Jesus in teaching and learning they engaged instead in plotting to kill Him? Could she have any idea that He would, in 30 years, make His own journey to Jerusalem for Passover? Was there any inkling in her mind that then He would be left behind again – this time not by parents but by everyone – including His Heavenly Father? Did she understand that there would be another three day period where she would be separated from her son who lay, dead and buried, behind a sealed stone and where she would finally find Him, but mistake Him for the gardener?

No…standing there in Temple, watching her 12 year old son with pride and curiosity, with frustration and anxiety, she didn’t have any idea of what lay ahead for Jesus and what was necessary for Him to fulfill His name and be Savior. What she knew is that it was time to go home, back to sleepy little Nazareth, and for Jesus to go with her. He did, Luke noting that He continued to grow in wisdom and in stature with God and man. She had found her Son, where He was most at home – in His Father’s house. But it was time to leave the Temple behind for another year.

I started this sermon by putting us parents in the shoes of Mary and Joseph. Whether you count your child’s lifespan still as weeks and months, or by the decade, you have had those moments and experiences of anger and frustration – some were righteously felt, but if we’re honest, others not so much. Parenting is one of God’s great gifts and children are a blessing. It is the primary relationship of all mankind, one where grace and mercy is freely practiced and love and compassion are exercised. And the devil cannot abide this. So, the devil loves to take the gift and fill us with frustration and hurt so that we call it a burden, and he loves to take the blessing and fill it with harsh words and broken hearts so that we call it a curse.  Love and compassion are surrendered to getting even and showing who’s boss and grace and mercy are given over to self-justification and self-righteousness. And then, when we realize our mistakes and our sins against our kids,  the devil takes that all and wraps it up with a horrible, thorny bow and delivers it to us again as shame and guilt, that Christian parents would never think such things, or feel such things toward their children. He leaves us parents in our own despair, seeing only our failures and our homes as anything but places where the Spirit of God dwells.

Parents – moms and dads of all ages – hear this Word of God. Christ comes for you. He, who descends to earth as a human boy, who in holiness perfectly submitted to earthly and sinful parents, is your Savior. For all of those parental melt-downs, and fatherly conniption fits, and motherly tantrums, Jesus is yours. In repentance, surrender them to Him. Don’t let Satan continue to weigh you down with those moments. In faith, know, believe, trust and rely that you, too, are forgiven by Christ. In humility, confess your failing to your kids and ask them for their forgiveness, too, without excuses or condition (you know, the “I’m sorry I yelled, but if you would have cleaned up your room…”) and pledge to do better next time. When you do that, you give your child the wonderful opportunity to share the Word of God with you, the Word that says, “I forgive you, Mom; I forgive you, Dad.” You might have to teach them to use those words; that’s OK, and it’s worth teaching. Because there, in the family, united with Christ in Baptism and grounded in the Word, there is Christ.

Amen.