Sermon Archive December 28th, 2008

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=3 height=130 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="12ba6e903.jpg"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="11fcbc320.jpg" border=0 width="700" height="50" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>OFC:  713-526-5731      5315 MAIN STREET, HOUSTON TEXAS 77004      FAX: 713-524-1709</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Lutheran Church Houston, Te"><U><B>HOME</B></U></A><B>  ~   </B><A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Worship Schedule"><U><B>WORSHIP</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Map Directions"><U><B>LOCATION</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id362.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="URL Calendar Home Link"><U><B>CALENDAR</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="mailto:info@stmatthewhouston.org?subject=Website Inquiry" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@stmatthewhouston.org?subject"><U><B>EMAIL US</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id452.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Site Map"><U><B>SITE MAP</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=155 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="123030970.jpg" border=0 width="48" height="151" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="id464.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome"><U>Welcome</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id465.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lutheran Beliefs"><U>Lutheran Beliefs</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id466.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="How to Join"><U>How to Join</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id467.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Local Missions"><U>Local Missions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id468.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Global Missions"><U>Global Missions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id508.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Parish Education"><U>Parish Education</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=280 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> Sermon Archive December 28th, 2008</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="568" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#990000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#FFCC99" FRAME="VOID" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER BGCOLOR=#FFCC99 HEIGHT= 18 WIDTH="134"><div> <A HREF="id563.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Sermon Archives"><U><IMG SRC="157a270e0.png" border=0 width="39" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#990000 WIDTH="421"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="421" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <B>“Winter Wonder-Land”</B></div> <div> Isaiah 61:10-62:3</div> <div>  First Sunday after Christmas: December 28, 2008</div> <div> Pastor Mark Wiesenborn</div> <div> St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Houston, Texas</div> <div>       </div> <div> <I>Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.</I>  Our text for this morning's message is taken from the Old Testament reading, where the prophet Isaiah comes to the people of God when they are feeling especially overwhelmed and hopeless, sharing words of encouragement:</div> <div>      “<I><B>For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>          and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>     </B></I><I><B><U>so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise</U></B></I></div> <div> <I><B>          </B></I><I><B><U>to sprout up</U></B></I><I><B> before all the nations</B></I>.”</div> <bR> <div>      Dear friends in Christ, the famous Christmas song “<B>Winter Wonderland</B>” [<I>composer Felix Bernard; lyricist was Richard B. Smith</I>] was first published in 1934. Probably the most popular versions of this classic Christmas song were recorded by the Andrews Sisters and Perry Como. The lyrics have undoubtedly contributed to the <I><B>magical vision of snow at Christmas</B></I> together with the tradition of building snowmen, and therefore <U>turning </U><B><U>fantasy</U></B><U> into </U><B><U>reality</U></B><U> by creating a real Winter Wonderland</U>.  Please bear with me for a moment as I share some of the lyrics:</div> <bR> <div>      “Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,</div> <div>           In the lane, snow is glistening</div> <div>      <I><B>A beautiful sight; we're happy tonight.</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>          Walking in a winter wonderland</B></I>.”</div> <bR> <div>      “In the meadow we can build a snowman,</div> <div>           Then pretend that he is Parson Brown (<I>or Pastor Mark!</I>)</div> <div>      He'll say: <B>Are you married?</B> We'll say: No man,</div> <div>           But you can do the job when you're in town.”</div> <bR> <div>      “Later on, we'll conspire,</div> <div>           As we dream by the fire</div> <div>      <I><B>To face unafraid, the plans that we've made</B></I>,</div> <div>           <I><B>Walking in a winter wonderland</B></I>.”</div> <bR> <div>      This is my fifth Christmas as your Pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, and every one of them has been very special to me - but the one that is most memorable was my <I><B>first Christmas</B></I> here in 2004.  As we were preparing to sing “<B>Silent Night, Holy Night</B>” at the end of our 6:30 pm Family Worship service, Andy Komarchuk (<I>who was one of the Elders on duty that night</I>) came up beside me and whispered that <U>it had just started to snow</U>!  As I recall, this event also took the local weather forecasters by surprise.  The Houston Chronicle published a photograph of <U>snowmen that local residents had actually built on the Galveston beachfront</U>; the city of Victoria further south of us received the greatest snowfall, reporting thirteen inches!</div> <bR> <div>      This year it seems we missed having a <B>White Christmas</B> in Houston by exactly two weeks. On December 10 snow began falling as we gathered for worship here at St. Matthew, but this time it was for our second Advent Midweek Worship service - as we <I><B>“prepared room” in our hearts</B></I> to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and King.</div> <bR> <div>      An important part of our preparing for Christ's RETURN on what Isaiah calls “<B>the day of the Lord</B>”; “<B>the day of reckoning</B>”; “<B>the day of vengeance</B>”; and “<B>the day of salvation</B>” is <U>keeping watch and being ready all year long</U>!  This is why every few years we take a break during the twenty-something Sundays after Pentecost to have several special mid-summer <I><B>Advent</B></I> and <I><B>Christmas-themed</B></I> worship services, as we did in back on August 17 and 24 (during hurricane season!).</div> <bR> <div>      Some people might consider that to be an inappropriately early start, with four months of shopping to go before the officially-established date for Christmas.  But the truth is that <U>no one knows the exact date on which Jesus was born</U>.  One of the reasons for selecting December 25 is that the Christian Church wanted to replace a pagan Roman festival (honoring their sun god) with a Holy Day.  In other words, <B>Jesus became the reason for an entirely new and different celebration of the season</B> - because His incarnation as the Son of God <I><B>fundamentally changes our relationship with the Lord of Heaven and Earth!</B></I></div> <bR> <div>      And as a result of that decision to celebrate Christmas during the <B>winter solstice</B>, our musical traditions have grown to include Christian carols like “<B>In the Bleak Midwinter</B>” [<I>Christina Rosetti</I>] and “<B>Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming</B>” [<I>Theodore Baker</I>] - as well as secular carols like “<B>Jingle Bells</B>” and “<B>Winter Wonderland</B>”!</div> <bR> <div>      For those who insist on a more credible basis for establishing Jesus' birth date some scientists have tried to identify the bright Star that led Magi from the east to Jerusalem, and from there to Bethlehem [<I>Matthew 2</I>]. Not long ago, an Australian astronomer named <B>David Reneke</B> pushed a star-mapping program back 2,000 years and confirmed that a planetary conjunction took place on June 17 in the year 2 B.C. Hence, he has proposed a “<I><B>Christmas in June</B></I>” scenario.</div> <bR> <div>      For three centuries after Christ's ascension believers did not celebrate His entrance into the world,<B> </B>but focused instead on His death and resurrection. Over the years, highly-respected theologians have speculated that Jesus <U>could have</U> been born in <B>January</B> (<I>Hippolytus of Rome</I>); or in <B>March</B> (Cyprian of Carthage); or in <B>May</B> (<I>Clement of Alexandria</I>).</div> <bR> <div>      If this is troubling to any of you, let me emphasize a few points:</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800008000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Nowhere in Scripture are we told exactly when Jesus was born. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800008000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">We are not commanded to observe His birth. Indeed, it does not appear the early Church did so.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800008000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">But, we are also not commanded to refrain from observing His birth.</div> <bR> <div>      So, whether Jesus was actually born on December 25 or some other date, we celebrate that <I><B>Jesus </B></I><I><B><U>was</U></B></I><I><B> born</B></I> - <B>for had He not been born, He could not have died for our sins</B>. <U>That might be reason to celebrate His birth every day of the year</U>, including December 25 - and also on the anniversary of your own birth as well as the anniversary of your Baptism!</div> <bR> <div>      Now let me get back to today's passage from Isaiah - where you will recall, he is speaking to the people of God when WE are feeling especially overwhelmed and hopeless, and sharing words of encouragement.  Is Isaiah attempting to turn <I><B>reality</B></I> into <I><B>fantasy</B></I> by describing things that we could not possibly hope might happen?  How can the birth of our Savior become for us an object of <B>Wonder</B> this winter?</div> <div> Let's take a stroll in the <B>Winter </B><B><U>Wonder</U></B><B>-Land</B> of Scripture for a few clues!</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800008000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">From Psalm 17: “A psalm of David. Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer. <B>Show the </B><B><U>wonder</U></B><B> of your great love</B>, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” [<I>Psalm 17:1, 6-8</I>]</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800008000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">From Isaiah chapter 29: “The Lord says: `These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but <U>their hearts are far from me</U>. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore <B>once more I will astound these people with </B><B><U>wonder upon wonder</U></B>; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.'” [<I>Isaiah 29:13-14</I>]</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800008000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">From the Gospel of Mark: “As soon as all the people saw Jesus, <B>they were overwhelmed with </B><B><U>wonder</U></B> and ran to greet him.” [<I>Mark 9:15</I>]</div> <bR> <div>      I have said before that <I><B>the true message of Christmas</B></I> is often hidden just below the surface, even in the words of a secular carol like “<B>Winter Wonderland</B>” - and today, we find some of these parallels in what Isaiah has foretold to us:On Christmas Eve, “<B>a beautiful sight; we're happy tonight</B>…”</div> <bR> <div>      Isaiah says:</div> <div>           <I><B>I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>               my soul shall exult in my God,</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>          for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation!</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800008000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Concerning your relationship with Christ, “<B>He'll say: Are you married?</B>”</div> <bR> <div>      Isaiah says:</div> <div>           <I><B>He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>               as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>          and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800008000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> And finally, “<B>to face unafraid, the plans that we've made</B>…”</div> <bR> <div>      Isaiah says:</div> <div> <I><B>          The nations shall see your righteousness,</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>               and all the kings your glory,</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>          and you shall be called by a new name</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>               that the mouth of the Lord will give.</B></I></div> <bR> <div>      And so, dear friends, as we worship in a Texas Winter <I><B>Wonder</B></I>-land, may we this Christmas remember one last message from Isaiah that points us to Jesus Christ:</div> <div> “<B>Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as </B><B><U>white as snow</U></B><B>; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool</B>.” [<I>Isaiah 1:18</I>]</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <B>OLD TESTAMENT READING</B> - Isaiah 61:10-62:3 [ESV]</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >10</FONT> <I><B>I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>     my soul shall exult in my God</B></I>,</div> <div> for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;</div> <div>      he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,</div> <div> as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,</div> <div>      and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >11</FONT> <I><B>For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>     and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>     to sprout up before all the nations</B></I>.</div> <bR> <div> 62:1<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" > For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,</FONT></div> <div>      and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,</div> <div> until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,</div> <div>      and her salvation as a burning torch.</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >2</FONT> <I><B>The nations shall see your righteousness,</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>     and all the kings your glory,</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>and you shall be called by a new name</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>     that the mouth of the Lord will give.</B></I></div> <div> 3<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" > You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,</FONT></div> <div>      and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=155 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="122e30960.jpg" border=0 width="48" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="id499.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Meet Our Leaders"><U>Meet Our Leaders</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id114.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tour Our Church"><U>Tour Our Church</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id493.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Read Our History"><U>Read Our History</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id626.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Arts and Music"><U>Arts and Music</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id136.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Special Events"><U>Special Events</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id515.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photo Gallery"><U>Photo Gallery</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=70 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="id423.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Search"><U><B>BIBLE SEARCH</B></U></A><B>  </B><B>~  </B><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LCMS Links"><U><B>LUTHERAN</B></U></A><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LCMS Links"><U><B> LINKS</B></U></A><B>  </B><B>~  </B><A HREF="id100.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Online Devotionals"><U><B>DEVOTIONALS</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id563.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Sermon Archives"><U><B>SERMON ARCHIVES</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> © 2008  St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Houston, TX - All Rights Reserved</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>