Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.”

‘Tis the season of Epiphany. ‘Epiphany’ literally means, ‘bright light.’ Epiphany begins every year on the 6th of January by recalling that time when the that star in the sky led the Magi from the east to the child in Bethlehem who was born King of the Jews. The light that that star shed was the light that God created by His Word on the 1st day of creation. He packaged that light He created on the 1st day in the stars He created on the 4th day.

Of all of the billions of stars in the sky, each one placed into its exact spot by the Word of God, no star has ever served a more glorious and holy purpose than that star that led the Magi to Jesus. For the light that it radiated shone upon the One who spoke it into existence in the beginning. The light that come into existence in the beginning and packaged in that star, shone upon the light that is eternal, without beginning and without end. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” (more…)

Click play to listen to the audio version of this sermon.

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven maybe compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son and sent his servants to call those who were invited…” The parable that Jesus weaves concerns the way those who are invited to the wedding feast response to His invitation. It is a parable full of surprises, three in particular that we’ll highlight this morning.

I. The 1st Surprise - We Are Invited As with every parable that Jesus tells, we do well to hear it as though it were directed to ourselves first and foremost. Even though it has its proper historical situation and audience, every parable, just like every word that comes from the mouth of God is meant for our ears to hear. “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear,” means, this Word is for you.

The Word from Jesus lips that must reach deeply into your ears then, is that the King has prepared a wedding feast for His Son and He has sent His servants out to call you to come. And that is the first surprise of this parable that we dare not miss.

The King wants you and me to come a banquet that He has prepared. He has sent His servants with an invitation to you, personally and individually, inviting you to come. One of those servants that He sent out was the prophet Isaiah. Along with the invitation, Isaiah gives a brief summary of the menu. This is a “feast of rich food, and of well aged wine…” Talk about health food. If you come to this banquet all teary eyed or mournful because of your sins, this food “will wipe away the tears from all faces.” As you swallow up this food, it “swallows up death forever.” (more…)