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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the midst of worldwide, national, state, local, and even family or personal “tragedies”, people sometimes ask about God, “Where is He?” People might say, “If there is an all‑powerful, loving God, then why did He permit” whatever people are witnessing or experiencing. People might say, “Where is He” in the midst of that? And, failing to find and see Him according to their own expectations, people might wrongly be less inclined to trust Him, or people might wrongly conclude that there is no all-powerful, loving God at all.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He Who has been born king of the Jews?” Apparently back east, probably in Babylon and by way of their predecessor Daniel, they had become familiar with the prophecy spoken through Balaam about a star that would come out of Jacob, a scepter that would rise out of Israel (Numbers 24:17). Apparently they connected that ancient prophecy with the miraculous star they saw, and so they came to worship Him. The wise men were looking for a king, so naturally they came to a capital city, where there also was a Temple, where God Himself was supposed to dwell, but they did not find the new King there. King Herod inquired of the chief priests and scribes of the people where the Christ was to be born, and, from a later prophecy that the wise men apparently did not have, they told Herod that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem of Judea (Micah 5:2).
Herod ascertained from the wise men what time the star appeared (the time of its “epiphany”), and he sent them to Bethlehem. The wise men went on their way there, and the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy, and, going into the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshipped Him, and then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The wise men who asked “Where is He?” could put aside what their five senses might have told them and what their reason might have thought about the poor young woman and poor Child and, despite all appearances to the contrary, in full faith they could say “There He is”, not only the One born King of the Jews but One far more than that.
King Herod arguably should have known where the King would be born, as ordinary people seemed to have known (John 7:41-42). Darkness covered the earth, and thick darkness the peoples (Isaiah 60:1-6). Despite His word in His people’s midst, sin and its consequences alienated them from their creator, then and now. We are no different by nature. God does not make us evil, but we made ourselves that way. By nature, we are without fear of God and trust in God; we are inclined toward evil (Augsburg Confession II:1), and we all too often follow those evil inclinations in all sorts of ways. The original sin we all inherit and the actual sins we all commit warrant death here in time and torment in hell for eternity. But, the Lord arises upon us, and His glory is seen upon us. We struggle to put aside what our five senses might tell us and what our reason might think about what we witness and experience. But, God calls and enables us to turn in sorrow from our sins, to trust Him to forgive our sins, and to want to do better than to keep on sinning. Like the wise men, we are miraculously guided to Him, and despite all appearances to the contrary, we see Him with the eyes of faith, and so we can say “There He is”, where He promises to be and where He Himself has led us.
The “appearing” (or “epiphany”) of the star is the “appearing” (or “epiphany”) of the King Who is far more than a King. Jesus later refers to Himself as the “bright Morning Star”, as well as the root and descendant of David (Revelation 22:16), long-promised to be David’s successor as shepherd (confer 2 Samuel 5:2; 1 Chronicles 11:2). Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-18), certainly better than King Herod, and even better than King David. The prophecy about Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem paraphrased or summarized by the chief priests and scribes also says that His coming forth is from old, from ancient days (Micah 5:2), and that He shall shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty and name of the Lord God, and they shall dwell secure, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth, and He shall be their peace. The child Jesus the wise men worshiped was eternal God. The grown-up Jesus crucified on the cross made peace between God and people, including you and me. For His sake, when we repent, God forgives our sin—our sinful nature and our actual sin, all our sin, whatever it may be. God forgives our sin where He is, where He promises to be, where He Himself has led us, to His Word in all of its forms.
Where is He with His forgiveness? He is in His Word read and preached. He is in His Word combined with water in Holy Baptism. He is in His Word of Holy Absolution spoken to individuals who privately confess to their pastor the sins that particularly trouble them. He is in His Word combined with the bread and wine of the Sacrament of the Altar, where His Body and Blood give forgiveness of sins and so also life and salvation. Where is He with His forgiveness? Despite what our five senses might tell us and what our reason might think, He is in all these places, where He promises to be, where He Himself has led us. In all these ways those whom He has given (Ephesians 4:11)—by calling, ordaining, and installing them as ministers according to the gift of God’s grace (Ephesians 3:1-12), they—shepherd the church of God entrusted to their care (Acts 20:28), feeding and caring for His lambs and sheep (John 21:15-17).
Those lambs and sheep—you and I—with repentance and faith live each day in God’s forgiveness of sins. We serve in the various vocations that He gives us, as God to those in need. Where is He in the midst of the worldwide, national, state, local, and even family or personal “tragedies” that He permits? Despite all appearances to the contrary, God is in the first responders and the long-term rebuilders, He is in the doctors and nurses and physical therapists, and He is in our family and friends and neighbors who show us His unconditional love with their words and deeds. Like the wise men at the “epiphany” of the star, you and I at these “epiphanies” of our Lord and Savior rejoice exceedingly with great joy. Despite all appearances to the contrary, with the eyes of faith we see Him, we fall down and worship Him, and we offer Him gifts from what He has entrusted to our care (confer Psalm 72:10-11, 15). For, He is here.
Hymn-writer Philipp Nicolai earned multiple degrees from the University of Wittenberg several decades after Luther’s death. As a faithful pastor, he found himself in one doctrinal controversy after another, and, in one of his parishes, he also had to deal with the plague, which over several months took the lives of some 14-hundred people; his window looked out to the cemetery where at times thirty interments took place a day. (Pollack, 555-556; Precht , 716‑717.) In the midst of such afflictions Nicolai did not have to ask about God “Where is He?”, for Nicolai knew. In his hymn text and tune that together are known as “the queen of chorales”, we earlier sang, as we now conclude (Lutheran Service Book 395:2):
Come, heav’nly Bridegroom, Light divine, / And deep within our hearts now shine:
There light a flame undying!
In Your one body let us be / As living branches of a tree, / Your life our lives supplying. Now, though daily / Earth’s deep sadness / May perplex us / And distress us,
Yet with heav’nly joy You bless us.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +