Manuscript for the 2nd Sunday after Christmas

P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

 

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS LSB 204

C 1 To God on high be glory

    And peace to all the earth;

    Goodwill from God in heaven

    Proclaimed at Jesus’ birth!

    We praise and bless You, Father;

    Your holy name, we sing—

    Our thanks for Your great glory,

    Lord God, our heav’nly King.

 

2 To You, O sole-begotten,

    The Father’s Son, we pray;

    O Lamb of God, our Savior,

    You take our sins away.

    Have mercy on us, Jesus;

    Receive our heartfelt cry,

    Where You in pow’r are seated

    At God’s right hand on high—

 

3 For You alone are holy;

    You only are the Lord.

    Forever and forever,

    Be worshiped and adored;

    You with the Holy Spirit

    Alone are Lord Most High,

    In God the Father’s glory.

    “Amen!” our glad reply.

 

COLLECT OF THE DAY

P Almighty God, You have poured into our hearts the true Light of Your incarnate Word. Grant that this Light may shine forth in our lives; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 C Amen.

 

 

OLD TESTAMENT READING Genesis 46:1–7

¹So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. ²And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here am I.” ³Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. ⁴I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”

⁵Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, ⁷his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

 

A This is the Word of the Lord.

 

 

EPISTLE 1 Peter 4:12–19

¹²Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. ¹⁵But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. ¹⁶Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. ¹⁷For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

¹⁹Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

 

A This is the Word of the Lord.

 

 

HOLY GOSPEL

P The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the second chapter.

 

¹³When [the wise men] had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” ¹⁴And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt ¹⁵and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

¹⁶Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. ¹⁷Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

¹⁸“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

¹⁹But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” ²¹And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. ²³And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

 

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.

 

Apostles’ Creed

 

370 WHAT CHILD IS THIS

1 What child is this, who, laid to rest,
    On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
    While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the king,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
    Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
    The babe, the son of Mary!

2 Why lies He in such mean estate
    Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear; for sinners here
    The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you;
    Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
    The babe, the son of Mary!

3 So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh;
    Come, peasant, king, to own Him.
The King of kings salvation brings;
    Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise the song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby;
    Joy, joy, for Christ is born,
    The babe, the son of Mary!

Text: Public domain

SERMON

An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Matthew 2:13-15)

Today is the 9^th day of Christmas. We are still in the warm glow of the season, retelling and remembering fondly the good news of great joy, that is the birth of our Lord Jesus. But within this good news story of great joy and glory, there are some very dark and dreadful scenes.

King Herod was a tyrant. He was paranoid about the rise of rivals to his throne. He was, in a word, a sinner. And because of his sins, many people suffered. The babies of Bethlehem were killed mercilessly, purposelessly. As we follow the young life of the Christ child, we hear how he and his mother, and step-dad Joseph also suffered great harm because of Herod’s insane cruelty. They had to run for their lives.

The Christmas message is centered on the incarnation of our Lord Jesus. The Son of God was incarnate, in-fleshed. He who is eternal God, took on human flesh and was born a human child. When a human child is born into this sinful world, any human child, even the Divine One, it’s unavoidable that he will have to suffer, because sin produces suffering. Throughout the life of Jesus, we hear how He suffers abusive treatment from sinners, starting already when he was only a babe in his mother’s arms. Jesus knows what it is like when there are  those who trespass against us.

The Son of God came into this world to save sinners. He came to take our sins away. He came to take our abuses away.

Maybe you have been abused, sinned against in some way or other. Maybe you’ve been hurt by someone, by their actions or their words. It’s enough to cause you to get angry.

Maybe you’ve been neglected by someone, abandoned by them, because they didn’t care about you, didn’t love you as they should have. It’s enough to cause you sadness.

Because of Jesus and what He’s done for us, it doesn’t have to end there, in the horribleness of sins and trespasses. Don’t let your bad experiences end in the anger and resentment or sadness and despair about the abuse you’ve suffered. Take your sins to Jesus. Also, take your abuse to Jesus.

When you sin, you will, of course, admit it. And confess it to the Lord. Every day, confess your sins and trespasses to the Lord. So also, confess the problems you’ve got because of those who have trespassed against you.

You expect the Lord to forgive you your trespasses. He says as much. So also, expect the Lord to do something about the feelings you have about the abuse you’ve suffered at the hands of sinners.

In Peter’s epistle he tells you, “Don’t be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”  Isn’t it almost comical that when someone does us harm in word or deed, our first reaction is surprise. “Whoa”, we say, “I didn’t see that coming. They are acting like sinners. I’m shocked and appalled.”

It really wasn’t that strange of a message the angel had to tell Joseph in his dreams. The evil king is going to try to kill Jesus. Joseph didn’t need to be surprised. He didn’t say, “What!?! Herod’s going to try to kill us? No, not King Herod.” Joseph was living in a world full of sinners. He was the head of a household that was dwelling in sinful world. He had to deal with sin and abuse.

When you are encountered by sin, either yours or someone else’s, don’t be surprised. Be saddened, yes. Anger at the sin, is not a sinful emotion. Hate the sin. Love the sinner. But then don’t dwell in that hate or sadness. Remember Jesus. Call on him by the name, Immanuel, which means “God with us”. He is with us in this life. He is with us in this world of sin.

When Matthew records all that the baby Jesus and his family had to go through in those first couple of years, he writes that it was all to fulfill what was written by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

When you hear the Old Testament reading for today, it kinda sounds like this “Out of Egypt” thing is about something else. Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, went down into Egypt, with the promise that God would deliver him out of there. Israel in the Old Testament was like a son to God. Out of Egypt God called his son, Israel. Then, much later, God calls His Son Jesus out of Egypt, and delivers him back to Galilee where he would grow up and live out his short life.

For Matthew, this isn’t two separate things, but one thing. Matthew’s Gospel is the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord. The Lord born at Christmas and announced by the angels: “to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” It is the same Lord who was with Israel through their sojourn in Egypt and helped them escape from the hands of the tyrant Pharaoh. And that same Lord for them, is the same Lord for us.

God speaks of His Son Jesus, “Out of Egypt I have called my Son.” When the children of Israel suffered their injustices by the cruel taskmasters in Egypt, the Lord was with them and delivered them. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, took the same path into and out of Egypt. His people suffered in their Egypt sojourn, the Lord suffers, same as His people do.

You have a Lord who has suffered, and now if you suffer, he’s Immanuel. He’s there with you.

Again from Peter’s epistle: “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:13).

Don’t live with regrets and guilt. Don’t dwell on resentment and anger, anguish and sorrow. Live with Jesus Christ, the Lord. Rejoice and be glad in Him. Amen.

 

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

O Lord God, Father in heaven, in sending your Son Jesus Christ, You loved us and showed us Your kind attitude of mercy and grace toward us sinners. We thank You for this unimaginable gift and for the promise that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life.

We ask you to bestow on us the fullness of Your grace, that we may know your true and perfect will for us. Strengthen our faith that we may have the power to be your sons and daughters and heirs of the eternal kingdom. Grant us your Holy Spirit that we may be guided by the light of Jesus Christ in all wisdom, counsel and understanding that our lives may be cleansed from all sin and that we may walk in the newness of life, obeying your commandments, serving You and our neighbors.

We continually ask you O God, to bless your Church, your holy people. Provide your church with what is needed for the teaching and preaching of your word of law and gospel. Help us to see the opportunities to show love and mercy to those around us. Grant us health and safety that we may gather together to hear your word, praise and worship you, and share with our brothers and sisters the faith we have.

We call upon you to have your Kingdom come. Extend your gracious reign over all lands and nations. Prosper the work of our church’s missionaries, that those they come to may hear and believe your Gospel. Break and hinder the plans and works of those enemies of your kingdom who try to deny and stop your Holy Word. Strengthen the weak. Turn the erring. Defend the persecuted.

Bless the homes in which your people dwell. Let your Gospel and the peace that surpasses all understanding be with us and our families. Inspire parents to teach their children the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.

 

LORD’S PRAYER

C Our Father who art in heaven,

     hallowed be Thy name,

     Thy kingdom come,

     Thy will be done on earth

          as it is in heaven;

     give us this day our daily bread;

     and forgive us our trespasses

          as we forgive those

          who trespass against us;

     and lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom

     and the power and the glory

     forever and ever. Amen.

 

 

BENEDICTION

P The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.

C Amen.

 

390 LET US ALL WITH GLADSOME VOICE

1 Let us all with gladsome voice
    Praise the God of heaven,
Who, to bid our hearts rejoice,
    His own Son hath given.

2 To this vale of tears He comes,
    Here to serve in sadness,
That with Him in heav’n’s fair homes
    We may reign in gladness.

3 We are rich, for He was poor;
    Is not this a wonder?
Therefore praise God evermore
    Here on earth and yonder.

4 Christ, our Lord and Savior dear,
    Be Thou ever near us.
Grant us now a glad new year.
    Amen, Jesus, hear us.

Text: Public domain

 

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Divine Service, Setting Four from Lutheran Service Book

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2020 Concordia Publishing House.