Pastor Timothy Patoka 1 Sunday After The Epiphany, The Baptism Of Our Lord: January 13, 2019 Jesus Alone Is The Christ Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 st
1) Jesus Is Equipped For Eternal Judging 2) Treasure Your Baptismal Blessings How you start something is a big deal because it sets the tone of what will follow. When a business opens a new location, they put a lot of effort into the grand opening so that when people come, they are impressed with what they see and are excited to come back. When you watch the summer Olympics, the host country puts a lot of time into the opening ceremony. That’s on purpose. They want to wow the world with their culture and impress upon the attendees that the Olympics are going to be great. If you’ve ever given a presentation or taught something, then you’ve learned firsthand how important your introduction is. Because if you lose their attention within the first 5 minutes, it’s going to be a big challenge to get it back. This morning we are celebrating the 1st Sunday after the Epiphany when we witness the official start of Jesus’ public ministry as the Christ. And what a memorable beginning it was! We have John the Baptist explaining to the people why he couldn’t be the Christ and the Triune God’s threefold appearance at his baptism. But there’s more going on here than the official start of Jesus’ public ministry as the Christ. There is also the comfort we have as we look back to the blessings we received in baptism so that we may treasure them anew. And this all happens because Jesus alone is the Christ. 1) Jesus Is Equipped For Eternal Judging When we call Jesus the Christ, we are using a specific title for him. The word Christ is a Greek word that means “the anointed one.” According to the Bible, to be the Christ meant to be the Promised Savior of the world. There were some people who were wondering if John the Baptist might be the Christ. After all he was doing things related to the Christ. He was preparing the people for Christ’s coming by telling them to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. Yet John could not be the Christ because the Christ had far greater power than John did. The Christ was equipped to judge all people for eternity. John the Baptist tells us so with these words. “His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor. He will gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 1
Pastor Timothy Patoka 1 Sunday After The Epiphany, The Baptism Of Our Lord: January 13, 2019 3:17) Back in olden days, it was hard work to extract the edible wheat seed from the wheat plant. After harvesting the plants, you would put them all on the threshing and trample them to break up the wanted wheat seeds from all the unwanted chaff. But now everything is mixed together on the threshing floor. You need to separate the wheat from the chaff. This is where the winnowing fork comes into use. The farmer would take this pitchfork-like tool, scoop up a load of wheat/chaff mixture, and throw it in the air. The wheat, because it is heavier, falls right back down to the ground. The chaff, because it’s so much lighter, takes it time falling down and can be gathered away. The farmer would repeat this process until all that was left on the threshing floor was the wheat. Then he would gather the wheat and store it in his barn. But as for the chaff, there’s no use for it. So he burns it up. st
John the Baptist uses this winnowing fork illustration to describe for us that the Christ’s ultimate work is to judge all people, to eternally separate those who believe in God’s Word and its promises from those who do not. Those who believe in God will be gathered to God in heaven for all time. Those who do not will be sentenced to eternal punishment in hell’s unquenchable fires. But to do such judging and to have it be accurate, the Christ needs to know what is in people’s hearts. John couldn’t do that. That’s why John told the people that he wasn’t the Christ, because he couldn’t be the Christ. Only Jesus could be the Christ because only he is equipped to know what’s in people’s hearts so as to use that figurative winnowing fork appropriately. Like the people of John’s time, we too can use a reminder that the Christ is equipped to eternally judge all people. Many times when we look at Jesus, we forget about that judging or put in the back of our minds because we want to focus on something else about him. We view the Christ as a source of love who is kind and gentle to all people. Sometimes we go too far and include sinful lifestyles which our God does not find acceptable, lifestyles that we may be living in. We view the Christ as a guide of how we are to live and can foolishly base our confidence of Christ’s eternal judgment on what we have done for God. We view the Christ as a doctor who helps us when we’re feeling down and sad. But when life is good and things are going our way, Christ has no place in our lives. While it is true that the Christ is loving and perfect and our helper, all those descriptions lead into that eternal judging he is equipped to do. But when we focus on those other things, we fall in danger of forgetting about Christ’s winnowing fork and how he will use it to separate the believing wheat from the unbelieving chaff. 2
Pastor Timothy Patoka 1 Sunday After The Epiphany, The Baptism Of Our Lord: January 13, 2019 But we don’t need to be anxious when we think about Christ’s eternal judgment. And that’s because of those other descriptions of who the Christ is. It is because of his love for all people that Jesus shares with us that he alone is the Christ who has taken away all our sins. It is because of his perfect life that we can be sure that Jesus alone is the Christ and no one else can be. It is because of his healing help as our soul’s doctor that we can confidently go to him when we feel down, afraid, and helpless to be lifted up by his gracious forgiveness. st
And because of all those things, we can confidently look forward to this eternal judging that the Christ will do. When he takes his winnowing fork and separates the believing wheat from the unbelieving chaff, we can be sure where we will land. Although by nature we are no better than chaff and deserve to burn in hell’s unquenchable fires, that will not be our eternal end. For it is through faith in Jesus as the Christ that we will be judged not guilty for our sins, we will be gathered with the rest of the wheat, and can look forward to that eternal happily ever after in heaven itself. Yes the Christ is equipped to judge with that winnowing fork of his. But you have nothing to be afraid of because you believe that this Jesus alone is the Christ, the Promised Savior who has taken away all your sins. 2) Treasure Your Baptismal Blessings After John explains to the people what the Christ was going to do, we come to Jesus and his baptism. This was a baptism unlike any that John had previously given. Not only because there were no sins for which Jesus needed forgiveness, but also because of what happened during his baptism. As Luke tells us, “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. While he was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with you.’” (Luke 3:21-22) You have the Triune God on full display. You have Jesus as God the Son. You have the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove landing on Jesus and publicly anointing him as the Christ. And you have God the Father, speaking from heaven so that all could hear that not only was Jesus God’s Son, but that God was well pleased with him. What a way for Jesus to begin his public ministry! But there’s more to Jesus’ baptism than the official start of his public ministry. We are also reminded of the treasured blessings we received in our baptism. When a person is baptized, they receive the Holy Spirit and his gift of faith. Baptism is not a ceremonial washing that has a figurative meaning. It’s a
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Pastor Timothy Patoka 1 Sunday After The Epiphany, The Baptism Of Our Lord: January 13, 2019 one-time action that brings God’s light of life to countless infants, children, and adults. As Luther explains in the Small Catechism, st
How can water do such great things? It is certainly not the water that does such things, but God’s Word which is in and with the water and faith which trusts this Word used with this water. For without God’s Word the water is just plain water and not Baptism. But with this Word it is Baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Where is this written? Saint Paul says in Titus, chapter 3[:5-7], “[God] saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs in keeping with the hope of eternal life.” When water and the Word of God are used together in the sacrament of Baptism, there is the Holy Spirit creating faith in a sinner’s heart, saving faith that trusts in Jesus alone as the Christ who has won us salvation. We began our worship service this morning with the Gathering Rite on Holy Baptism. I pray that you found it uplifting to treasure what blessings you received in baptism. That when you were baptized and so received the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith, you also received Christ’s righteousness which covers overs all your sins. Even though we deserve to be burned along with the chaff, Christ’s righteousness prevents that from happening. Rather we are gathered together with the wheat who hear from God the Father the same thing he said to Jesus at his baptism. “You are my [child], whom I love. I am well pleased with [you].” (Luke 3:22b) Whether it happened years ago or decades ago, these are the baptismal blessings you received: the Holy Spirit’s gift of saving faith, the righteousness of Christ to cover over your sinful self, and the loving commendation from God the Father who is pleased to call you his child. And I would like to encourage you to treasure your baptismal blessings. If you are going through a rough time right now and are fretting about tomorrow, look back to your baptismal blessings. Rejoice in the fact that God has called you his child from that moment of water and Word and you. God made you his long before you did anything for him. And you continue to be his in this struggle of life. When you consider the eternal judging that Jesus the Christ is going to do, look back to your baptismal blessings. It is through the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith that you are categorized among the wheat, that Jesus will judge you not guilty for the sins you have done. And just as you can be sure that your eternal future is taken
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Pastor Timothy Patoka 1 Sunday After The Epiphany, The Baptism Of Our Lord: January 13, 2019 care of, you can be sure that this same God will be with you in the future days, weeks, and years. st
But perhaps some of you aren’t going through a rough patch right now. Rather for you life is pretty good and you don’t have much to complain about. If so, that’s great! But even you too can treasure your baptismal blessings. Rejoice that your good times will only continue to roll on and increase because Jesus the Christ will separate you with the wheat and gather you to his joys in heaven. Remain rooted in your baptismal blessings by renewing yourself in what you have received through Baptism’s waters. It’s easy to take things for granted when life is treating us good. We get comfortable and put up our feet, we get distracted from what brought us to such good times and become fixated on things that ultimately don’t matter. But don’t let that happen to you. Remain committed to God and what he offers to you through his Word. Learn from last year’s mistakes so that this year may be better. If you’re beginning a new semester of school, now is the time to set those good habits before the busyness of life dictates what will be done. And for everyone, treasure your baptismal blessings so that you may always see how richly blessed you are. How you start something is a big deal because it sets the tone for what is to follow. When Jesus started his public ministry to show the world that he alone is the Christ, it began with his baptism. As John the Baptist explained to the crowds, it is Jesus alone who is equipped to be the Christ. He is the one who has the winnowing fork to separate the believing wheat from the unbelieving chaff. Even though we are all chaff by nature and deserve to burn in hell’s unquenchable fires, it is because of Jesus’ love for sinners, his perfect life, and his healing touch that we have been forgiven and will be gathered together with the wheat bound for heaven. Although Jesus’ baptism was very different from ours, we see why we continue to treasure our baptismal blessings. For when water and Word were applied to ourselves, we received the Triune God’s threefold blessings: the Holy Spirit’s gift of saving faith, the Son’s righteousness to cover over our sinfulness, and the Father’s commendation that we are his dearly loved children. And no matter how long ago our baptism may have been, we can still treasure what we received then and continue to have today because of one timeless truth – that Jesus alone is the Christ. Amen.
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