First Lutheran Church of Little Rock

Text: Isaiah 7:10–17
Theme: This present sign
Other Lessons: Psalm 24; Romans 1:1–7; Matthew 1:18–25

A. In the Name of the Father…Amen.
B. The Old Testament lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.
C. Grace, peace, and mercy be yours from God our heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
D. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
→ O Lord, give us grace to walk before You all the days of this our
pilgrimage with a good conscience and pure mind, that when You shall appear
to reward every man according to his deeds, we may rejoice and not be
ashamed before You at Your coming. Grant this for the sake of Jesus Christ,
our Lord and Savior. Amen.
Introduction

A. Louis IX, who ruled France in the thirteenth century, was once
reportedly asked why he signed his name “Louis of Poissy” and not “Louis
IX, King of France” (which would have been the traditional way for a king
to sign letters and documents).
1. He responded by pointing out that Poissy was the location of his
Baptism.
2. Then he is said to have explained, “I think more of the place where I
was baptized than of Reims Cathedral where I was crowned.
3. It is a greater thing to be a child of God than to be the ruler of a
kingdom.
4. This last I shall lose at death, but the other will be my passport to an
everlasting glory.”
5. This saying was etched in stone in front of the baptismal font at the
former St. Louis Catholic Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
6. It reflects the Christian conviction that Baptism is the most important
day in the life of a follower of Jesus.
7. It identifies a Christian as a child of God who will live eternally with
Christ.
8. This identity manifests itself daily—not only in the signing of one’s
name, but also in the sacrificial and selfless life of service to others.
B. There is no question: the sign King Ahaz refused to ask, the virgin
birth, was among the greatest signs given to mankind (Isaiah 7:14).
1. But in our Baptism, God has given us the sign that everything the
virgin-born Christ accomplished by his life, death, and resurrection is
personally and eternally ours.
C. “ ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call
his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Matthew 1:23).
1. Yes, God is present with us.
1. With a few exceptions, the people of God have often experienced life in
a way that makes them think God is absent.
A. That’s an astounding claim, given the common experience among God’s
people of his apparent absence.
1. Most of us, at some point or another, have wondered whether God is
really with us.
2. We face great difficulties, and we wonder if God cares.
3. We encounter things we can’t explain or understand, and we wonder if God
really exists.
4. We cry out to God on our knees but hear nothing in response other than
our own sighs.
5. We slog through this life, never experiencing much of a spiritual high
or low, and we begin to question if God is with us.
6. With a few exceptions, the people of God have often experienced life in
a way that makes them think God is absent.
2. Ahaz only continued a millennia-old theme of God’s people doubting his
presence.
A. You’re not alone when you wonder.
1. You’re not the first to question God’s presence.
2. It’s safe to say that very few have never questioned God’s presence.
3. In fact, those who question God’s presence are actually only continuing
a several thousand year old theme of God’s people doubting his presence.
B. Before the fall into sin, God walked and talked with his human
creatures.
1. His presence was obvious.
2. Adam and Eve did not doubt that he was there.
3. They doubted his reliability, all thanks to the serpent.
4. But that’s a different problem altogether.
5. His presence was obvious.
C. After the fall, however, God’s people have often doubted his presence
among them.
1. The episode with the golden calf is a good case in point.
2. In , God told Moses to meet him on top of Mount Sinai so that he could
give him his Law.
3. Moses was going to be gone for a while.
4. In the meantime, the people got antsy.
5. They began to question God’s presence.
6. By the time we get to Exodus 32, they’ve concluded that God does not
exist.
A. Or at least, that he is no longer with them.
1. Never mind the ten plagues that God brought on Egypt to deliver them.
2. Never mind the parting of the Red Sea by which God rescued them.
3. Never mind the manna and quail that God provided in the wilderness so
that the people wouldn’t starve.
4. “What have you done for me lately?” the people asked.
5. When God did not respond, they decided he was no longer there.
D. That’s what happened in our reading today from Isaiah 7.
1. King Ahaz doubted God was with him.
2. He had a reason to doubt:
A. foreign armies were mounting around him.
3. But God had promised to be with his people forever.
A. God had promised to protect and preserve them.
4. But Ahaz and the people of God looked around at the present
circumstances and were not convinced.
E. That’s when Isaiah entered the scene.
1. God sent Isaiah to give a message to Ahaz.
2. His message was simple:
A. God is with you, Ahaz, whether you believe it or not.
B. He promised he would be with you.
C. Believe him. If you have doubts, simply ask him for a sign—anything you
want—and he will show you that he is with you.
3. Can you imagine that?
A. An invitation from God to ask him for a sign?
4. But Ahaz wouldn’t do it.
A. Why not? Because he didn’t want to trouble the Lord with such a request
B. No, it was because he had already lost his faith.
C. He had already put his faith in a “golden calf”:
1. this time it was an alliance with a foreign army.
3. Despite his and our doubts, Isaiah spoke God’s Word that promised his
presence.
A. That’s when Isaiah spoke those words that Matthew would quote seven
hundred years later.
1. You don’t trust God enough to ask for a sign?
A. “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall
conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (verse 14).
B. God Promises to Be Graciously Present in His Creation through Jesus.
4. God’s presence in Christ is a hidden presence.
A. Isaiah’s response to Ahaz’s lack of faith was to promise a peculiar sign
of God’s presence.
1. He promised a child who would be born to a maiden.
2. This is hardly the kind of sign that one would expect from the Almighty.
3. But this would be no ordinary child.
4. He was to be called Immanuel:
A. “God with us.”
B. Moreover, God would be with his people to save them from their sins.
B. Immanuel is Jesus. Jesus is Immanuel.
1. The child who was also the eternal Son of God.
2. He is God’s sign.
3. He is God’s proof.
4. He is God’s guarantee that he is with us.
5. That is what makes Christmas such a big deal.
6. That’s why we’ve been getting ready to celebrate Christmas since the day
after Thanksgiving.
7. On December 25, we celebrate the fact that God is with us:
A. that he is with us to save us.
C. But God’s people of every age question whether God is with us or not.
1. We have our own golden calf episodes.
2. God doesn’t behave in ways that we think he should, and our faith slides
into disbelief.
3. We don’t see God solving our problems or healing our diseases or fixing
our families or answering our questions when we want, and we are tempted to
conclude that he is not with us.
4. God’s presence in Christ is still often hidden from us.
D. That’s why God gives us another sign.
1. That sign is Baptism.
2. The Lutheran Confessions speak of Baptism (and the Lord’s Supper) as
signs of God’s gracious disposition toward us.
3. The Augsburg Confession describes the sacraments as:
A. “signs and testimonies of God’s will toward us” that “awaken and confirm
faith” in us (Augsburg Confession 13, paragraphs 1–2).
4. The Apology draws on the Early Church when it says:
A. “It has been well said by Augustine that a Sacrament is a visible Word,
because the rite is received by the eyes and is, as it were, a picture of
the Word, illustrating the same thing as the Word” (Ap to the Augsburg
Confession 13. paragraph 5).
E. When we think of Baptism as a sign of God’s grace toward us as we ought
to, we begin to see the importance Baptism has for every day of our lives.
1. Just as Louis IX thought so long ago.
5. God’s presence in the world today is made known through his people as
they love and serve one another.
A. Baptism is not only a sign of God’s gracious will toward us.
1. It is also a sign to the world.
2. Baptism signals to outsiders what we are as Christians (Augsburg
Confession 13, paragraph 1), but it is our baptismal living that makes
them stop to notice.
3. As Paul writes in Romans 6, our Baptism means newness of life.
4. This life manifests itself in sacrificial service to others:
A. both to fellow believers in the Church
B. and to those in need outside the Church.
5. When the everyday lives of God’s people are shaped by their Baptism into
Christ, the watching world sees the hidden presence of God.
6. God’s presence in the world today is made known through his people as
they love and serve one another.

Conclusion

A. It’s exactly one week until Christmas, and we all have an awful lot yet
to do to get ready for it.
1. As you hurry through all that remaining business, remember that in
Christ, God is present with us.
2. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.
3. And just as important, he is God with you.
4. You know that because of your Baptism.
5. You were baptized into Christ.
B. Running, scurrying, hurrying on this errand and that, to this mall and
that store, as you welcome guests and make your social rounds, remember
your Baptism:
1. in the way you treat clerks and other shoppers,
2. in the way you treat visiting loved ones who may be hard to love,
3. in the way you think about the gifts you select for others.
4. Remember your Baptism as a sign that the babe in the manger is not only
the Savior of the world.
5. He is also your Savior from your sin, and now he is your strength for
faithful living in his name. Amen.
C. Let us pray:
→ LSB 361:4 O Little Town of Bethlehem
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Immanuel!
Text: Public domain
D. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
E. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

Text: Isaiah 35:1–10

Theme: Vengeance and Joy
Other Lessons: Psalm 146; James 5:7–11; Matthew 11:2–15

A. In the Name of the Father…Amen.
B. The Old Testament lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.
C. Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
D. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
1. O Lord, help us not to put our trust in people, but in You alone.
Forgive us for mistreating others and for looking down on people different
from ourselves. Thank You for keeping all of Your promises through Christ.
Amen.
Introduction

A. It says something that national parks and other recreation areas require
backpackers to get a wilderness permit before setting out.
1. When you head into the wilderness, you’re not only going off the grid,
but you’re leaving behind the safety—to say nothing of the conveniences—of
subdivision and suburbia or city or small town.
2. For example, it also says quite a lot when this is the last sign you
read as you leave the trailhead:
A. “Most recent mountain lion sighting . . . yesterday.”
B. And the sign proceeds to give you instructions like, “Hold small
children on your shoulders to protect them and to look as tall and menacing
as possible” and
C. “Carry stones to throw if you see a lion.”
B. The wilderness is a dangerous place.
1. Especially if you run out of water or darkness falls or you simply get
lost.
2. Even a seasoned hiker can suddenly feel helpless.
3. Suddenly your self-reliance evaporates and you realize you need someone
to bail you out, to rescue you.
4. Our text today uses “wilderness” as:
A. a metaphor,
B. an illustration, for many things you and I experience that are anything
but illustrations, metaphors, picture language
C. things we live with that are very, very real.
D. Tragic things.
E. Painful things.
F. Dangerous things.
G. But the point of the text is that in a very real way, Christ’s coming
delivers us from all those things.
H. As the prophet Isaiah puts it, God Will Come with Vengeance to Bring
Life to the Wilderness.
I. Life in the wilderness is dangerous.
A. Wilderness well illustrates what truly is the difficult reality of life
in a fallen world.
1. Isaiah pictures burning sand, a haunt of jackals, lions, and ravenous
beasts.
2. God’s Old Testament people had experienced these challenges very
literally as they traveled through the wilderness.
A. Commentary on verses 1–2:
1. “Wilderness” (midbar) calls to mind many things for the people of God in
the Old Testament.
A. It is a place of danger (Exodus 14:3) populated by deadly animals
(Deuteronomy 8:15),
B. where water is scarce (Exodus 15:22) and crops do not grow.
C. It is easy to get lost in the wilderness (Psalm 107:4–5).
D. But the wilderness is also where God’s people learn to trust
(Deuteronomy 8:1–3).
2. In the wilderness:
A. God carried them (Deuteronomy 1:31),
B. fed them (Exodus 16:1–36),
C. and gave them water (Exodus 17:1–7; Numbers 20:1–11).
3. In the wilderness, God seeks people, guards and cares for them, and
lifts them up (Deuteronomy 32:10–14).
B. This dangerous and desolate place (the wilderness) will be glad and
rejoice.
1. Notice that here Isaiah does not say the people of God will rejoice in
the wilderness, but that the wilderness itself will rejoice.
2. All creation will praise its Creator.
3. These verses reminds us that God is “the author of all joy,” for only
God could make desert places rejoice (John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah:
Chapters 1–39 [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986], 622).

C. Our own “wildernesses” of different kinds we also know very literally.
1. Some are our personal guilt or shame.
2. But many dangers we encounter simply because the whole world is sinful.
3. Some of these are physical (cancer, aches and pains)
4. others are relational, (son against mother, father against daughter,
etc.)
5. still others are mental or emotional (depression, anxiety, dementia,
Alzheimer’s)
6. These are all serious dangers that come with traveling through this
wilderness, our sinful world.
7. You know what your own struggles are, what your wilderness feels like.
8. Or perhaps it’s difficult even for you to name them yourself.
9. In any case, our sufferings in this fallen world, in this wilderness,
are real, and we need deliverance, we long for rescue.
II. God promises to come into the wilderness with life-restoring vengeance.
A. Christ’s coming will make all things right again.
1. Visualize what Isaiah wants us to see
2. Verses 1–2, 5–7
(1) The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall
rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
(2) it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The
glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God.
(5) Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf
unstopped;
(6) then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute
sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the
desert;
(7) the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs
of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall
become reeds and rushes.
3. The wilderness itself will flow and flower.
A. The sufferers of personal “wildernesses” will rejoice in health and
vitality.
4. These promises were fulfilled in part during Jesus’ life and ministry.
A. Jesus points this out to John’s messengers in today’s Gospel (Matthew
11:4–5) when he says:
(4) And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:
(5) the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed
and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news
preached to them.
5. But they will be fully realized when Jesus returns in glory on the Last
Day.
A. At that time, he will restore all of creation—including life, health,
and joy to each of us.
B. The heart of Isaiah’s promise, however, is this: “Those who have an
anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with
vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you’ ” (verse
4).
1. Notice, first, God will come with vengeance.
A. He will exercise vengeance on his enemies:
1. sin,
2. death,
3. and the devil (and those who remain in league with them).
4. For them, the promise of vengeance is obviously not good news.
2. But we are no longer God’s enemies!
A. Christ Jesus coming and going to the cross has reconciled us to God.
B. We have been baptized into his death.
C. We believe in Jesus—which is why you came to worship this week!
D. God’s vengeance against his enemies is good news for God’s people
because it means relief and rescue.
3. Because Christ’s death has reconciled us to God, he is with us in all
our wildernesses.
A. Physical pains–God is with you.
B. Relational problems–God is with you.
C. Emotional issues–God is with you.
D. Mental distress–God is with you.
C. It may seem a little odd to think of God’s vengeance as we prepare to
celebrate Christmas. After all, the image of a babe in the manger hardly
elicits fear or trembling. But this baby is no ordinary baby.
1. Not only would he reign over sin, death, and the devil in his life and
ministry.
2. Even more, he would reign over these enemies in his resurrection from
the dead and in his session at the right hand of the Father.
3. For now, his reign is hidden to us
Hebrews 2:8
(8) putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting
everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At
present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
4. But when he returns, his reign will be visible for all to see as he
restores his beloved creation for the rejoicing of his redeemed people.
III. Our celebration of Christmas invites us to rejoice in advance of
Jesus’ return.
A. Isaiah frames our text with this invitation to rejoice in the coming of
the Messiah.
1. He begins with the wilderness itself rejoicing (verses 1–2) and ends
with the people of God gathering together in “everlasting joy” (verse 10).
2. This is much more than the shallow and super­ficial feelings that
characterize many Christmas music playlists.
3. Instead, Christian joy is the natural response of the people of God who
are beginning to enjoy the fruits of a creation that will be restored to
paradise.
B. Picture how different this coming joy will be from the world in which we
live now!
1. Unlike today, there will be no more “sighing” and no more “sorrow”
(verse 10).
2. There will be:
A. no more weak hands or feeble knees (verse 3),
B. no more blindness, deafness, lameness, or muteness (verses 5–6).
C. no more thirst and no ravenous beasts to devour us (verses 7, 9).
3. Instead, the people of God will gather in the city of God in joy and
gladness forever.
C. At its best, Christmas provides a hint, a glimpse of this joyful
condition, but these are always only partial and temporary.
1. We can (and we should) give thanks for these moments of rejoicing,
especially during this holy season.
2. But these glimpses are ultimately only a dim pre­view of the fullness of
rejoicing that will arrive and remain with the return of Jesus.
IV. Together as a congregation, and individually in our respective
vocations, we proclaim this promise to encourage those who remain weak and
feeble.
A. Verse 4
“Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you’ “.
1. Yes, Isaiah says to us, “Say it!”
2. Those who are:
A. anxious,
B. weak,
C. suffering
D. tell them that in Christ, God has come and will come again in vengeance
. . . to bring life to their wildernesses, to save them!
B. All Christians of every station are called to proclaim God’s saving
promises.
1. Luther called this the “mutual conversation and consolation of brethren”
(Smalcald Article, Article III, paragraph IV).
2. This takes place outside of worship, in our daily lives, as ordinary
Christians speak the promises of Christ to one another.
3. These promises encourage the people of God.
A. The joy of those whose rejoicing has begun is contagious.
Conclusion

A. Imagine for a moment what it looks like to share this joy with others.
B. It’s a delight to share joyful news with others.
1. Every couple who’s shared the news of a healthy birth can relate.
2. Every teenager who’s just overperformed on a final exam here at the end
of the semester and raised their grade to an A knows the feeling. Every
recent graduate who got the job and the honor of calling their parents to
tell them their investment paid off has experienced the thrill.
C. But of all those who get to share good news, it may be the surgeon who
is most privileged.
1. Imagine this situation:
A. The wife of a fifty-three-year-old man waits on pins and needles for the
emergency heart surgery to end.
B. The last time she saw her husband of twenty-eight years was as he lay on
the floor of their dining room after collapsing without warning.
C. The surgery lasts much longer than she expected.
D. Finally, after what seems to be eternity, she looks up to see the
surgeon walking toward her.
E. He invites her into a private room.
F. She searches his face for clues and braces for the worst.
G. Removing his mask, he tells her that the surgery was a success and they
were able to save her husband’s life.
H. They expect a full recovery.
I. She collapses into his arms with joy and thanksgiving and relief.
D. It was the bleak and depressing outlook that makes the good news so
joyful.
1. The surgeon shares in the woman’s joy by sharing with her the good news
of life . . . just as God gives us opportunity:
2. “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those
who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come
with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you’ ”
(Isaiah 35:3–4).
E. All of us have the honor and privilege of speaking joyful words of hope
to those who struggle in their own personal wilderness:
1. Christ will come with vengeance to make right that wilderness.
2. He will come and save you. Amen.
F. Let us pray:
Take our trembling hands, Lord Jesus, and lead us to the comforts of Zion.
Amen.
G. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
H. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

Text: Matthew 1:18–25

Theme: A message in the midst of fear of the unknown (Joseph)

A. In the Name of the Father…Amen.
B. Matthew 1:18-25 serves as our sermon text for this evening, which was
read a few moments ago.
C. Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
D. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
LSB 900:1-3 Jesus! Name of Wondrous Love
1
Jesus! Name of wondrous love,
Name all other names above,
Unto which must ev’ry knee
Bow in deep humility.

2
Jesus! Name decreed of old,
To the maiden mother told,
Kneeling in her lowly cell,
By the angel Gabriel.

3
Jesus! Name of priceless worth
To the fallen of the earth
For the promise that it gave,
“Jesus shall His people save.”
Amen.
Introduction

A. Fear of the unknown.
1. In the spring of 2020, our world was upended by an unseen enemy.
2. Our lives were changed by a virus we little understood and couldn’t see.
3. We had no cure, and many faced it with a sense of terror and dread.
4. Sickness increased.
5. Hospitals overflowed.
6. Medical personnel strained to hold up under staggering loads of care.
7. Shortages abounded.
8. Deaths mounted.
9. The world seemed under siege.
10. Months passed.
11. A year passed.
12. What would come next?
13. Does it ever end, or do we just wait for the next variant?
14. Fear of the unknown.
B. But this was not the first time in recent history such a cataclysmic
event turned our world upside down.
1. Most of us still recall 9/11.
2. Many of us stood that day transfixed before our TV sets watching the
unthinkable happen.
3. Terrorists took a most useful and friendly machine, the airplane, and
turned it into a deadly missile of mass destruction.
4. Nearly three thousand people perished as two towering skyscrapers
collapsed in burning heaps of rubble and death.
5. Security immediately tightened everywhere.
6. And a war on terror commenced around the world.
7. But these enemies could not always be seen or easily found or identified.
8. When would the next event occur?
9. Would a terrorist attack come to my neighborhood?
10. Fear of the unknown.

3. Joseph faces fear of the unknown in Mary’s unexpected pregnancy and
whether or not to marry her.
A. Joseph lived with his own fear of the unknown.
1. In our current culture, it may seem minor, but for him the dilemma was
serious.
2. He was betrothed to a lovely young woman named Mary, legally married in
a union that was yet to be consummated.
3. It would be about a year before the final celebration, but their
marriage was real and binding.
4. Joseph surely dreamed of a wonderful life with his new wife and possibly
even a large family supported by a thriving carpentry business.
B. But all these dreams seemed in serious question when Mary was suddenly
“found to be with child” (verse 18).
1. She was pregnant, and Joseph knew he wasn’t the father.
2. Obviously, someone else was.
3. But what should he do?
4. A future with Mary was now fraught with complications socially.
5. He could continue with the marriage, but it was not so simple anymore.
6. The Old Testament law called for an adulterous woman to be stoned if her
guilt was confirmed (Deuteronomy 22:23–24).
7. This was unthinkable for the woman he loved.
8. So he couldn’t go there.
9. An option within the law allowed another solution:
A. “Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put [Mary] to shame, resolved
to divorce her quietly” (verse 19).
B. A quiet divorce.
C. The shame could be avoided, as well as the punishment for
unfaithfulness.
D. He loved her and did not wish any of this hardship upon her.
C. As Joseph deliberated all this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in
a dream.
1. A special divine messenger from heaven.
2. And a needed one too.
3. As the first words from the angel reveal, Joseph’s struggle involved
more than just hesitation and concern:
A. “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife” (verse
20).
B. Joseph was struggling with fear.
C. The word in the original language (phobeo) can carry the idea of
panicked flight, even terror.
D. And it was a terror, fear, of the unknown.
E. Fear of going through with the marriage despite the unknown of Mary’s
pregnancy.
F. And the unknown of the consequences of breaking the holy law of God.
G. If word ever got out that Mary was pregnant before the actual ceremony
and celebration, the whole community would know.
H. She would be branded with an A for adulteress.
I. Joseph’s friends and neighbors would probably expect, maybe even
pressure him, to divorce Mary and possibly even carry through on the rest
of the law’s provisions and punishments.
J. And what about his reputation as a responsible businessman of Nazareth?
K. He couldn’t know how this would all play out.
L. Undoubtedly he even had more painful personal questions he wished could
be answered.
M. Why had she done it?
N. Who was the father?
O. How would she make it alone—well, with a child to raise?
P. Would he ever be able to trust someone again?
D. One can imagine such things keeping Joseph up at night.
1. A heavy burden so filled with worry and fear when he should have been:
A. Excited about the future,
B. eagerly planning and preparing the home he and Mary could have had
together.
2. God comes along and answers that fear with the promise of the birth of
Jesus, Immanuel.
A. Fear is a true enemy of hope.
1. It robs us of the assurance:
A. that God is in control,
B. that God has a plan,
C. that even the darkness of the present might yet become the light of a
better day.
2. God’s solution to Joseph’s fear, however, was not just the assurance
that all things might work out in the end.
3. He must have been surprised by the amazing promise he heard from the
angel:
A. “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that
which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and
you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins”
(verses 20–21).
B. Mary was not just pregnant; the child in her womb was conceived by the
Holy Spirit.
1. God was his Father!
2. And the name Joseph was instructed to give this new child may have
seemed ordinary in one way—it was a relatively common male name for
Hebrews—yet, on the other hand, this name was forward looking of something
incredible and world-changing.
3. Joseph was to name this child Jesus, which means “Yahweh saves,” for as
the angel declared, “He will save his people from their sins.”
4. Here Joseph was concerned about:
A. his immediate personal circumstances,
B. his reputation,
C. Mary’s welfare,
D. his own questions . . .
E. and God was planning something much grander.
F. He was planning to deliver mankind from sin itself, and thus from death,
even hell.
G. What fear could be worse than a fear of death itself?
H. If hope could survive death, it could survive anything.
C. And even this was not the end of the message from heaven.
1. There was another name.
A. “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his
name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (verses 22–23).
B. Just as the prophet Isaiah had declared.
C. In the darkness of fear, we often feel alone and isolated, even
forgotten.
D. Yet this baby in Mary’s womb would be God’s very tangible and visible
presence among his people.
E. Joseph was not alone in his concerns.
F. He was not left to work this out by himself.
G. God was with him.
H. God would strengthen him and guide him and protect him each step of the
way.
D. As the story unfolds in the Gospels, we know that many more challenges
faced Joseph.
1. Traveling with Mary so close to her due date must have given some
concern.
2. Then struggling to find a place to stay in busy Bethlehem.
3. The night of the birth without a midwife or any others to assist.
4. In all this, God was with him.
5. And the story’s twists and turns would not end.
6. Joseph would have to flee with the mother and child to Egypt, for an
enraged Herod sought to kill the child to remove a possible contender for
his own fragile rule.
7. Again, an angel from heaven, a divine messenger, brought a timely
warning, as well as needed guidance and direction (Matthew 2:13).
E. So much change in Joseph’s life.
1. So many unknowns in the future.
2. How could he possibly entertain any real hope for tomorrow when he
hardly knew what tomorrow would bring?
3. But God was with him, Immanuel.
4. And the one over which he watched as a new foster father would be the
true promise for all mankind:
A. the one who by his future death on a cross would be the deliverer from
sin,
B. from death,
C. from the very power of evil itself that animated murderous and dangerous
men like Herod.
D. Joseph had everything even when at times it felt as if he had so little.
1. As we face our fears of the unknown, God answers with the same message
of hope in the Savior, God with us.
A. Late into the pandemic, our world tried to reemerge and find its
footing.
1. It’s still trying. The economy has wobbled as inflation has taken a
heavy toll.
2. Violence and terror have continued to leak into our cities.
3. Our communities have become polarized in hateful rage.
4. It’s hard not to worry about what tomorrow might bring, whether we’re up
to the challenges just around the corner.
5. The world around us changes faster than we can comprehend and adjust.
6. The world beneath our feet shifts and shakes.
7. We worry for our children and their future in this torn up and broken
world.
8. We worry for our own futures as we age.
9. Fear grips with the clamp of an icy cold hand of terror and pins our
hopes to the ground.
B. And then we hear that word again.
1. Right from God’s own messenger.
2. Straight from the very throne room of heaven itself.
3. The angel now turns to us and says:
4. The one born of Mary is “Yahweh saves.”
5. This one delivered you from your sins and your certain death.
6. You do not have to fear.
7. This one born of Mary is “Immanuel,” God with us.
8. He is with you too.
9. You do not have to fear.
10. And so, you can hope again.
11. Hope not just:
A. for this fleeting moment,
B. for today,
C. but for tomorrow,
D. for next year,
E. for all eternity.
F. Your hope is grounded in God’s promised presence sent to save us and be
there for us.
C. As Paul declares to the Romans (Rom 8:31–39), no one can stand against
us if God is for us.
1. No one can frustrate or stop God’s plans.
A. Not Herod.
B. Not the worst tyrants of our time.
C. Not the terrorists.
D. Not any enemy.
E. No one can bring a charge against us.
F. Not even Satan, the accuser of the brethren. And he has been working
overtime lately on all of us!
G. God has declared us right with God through Christ.
H. No one can condemn us, for this Jesus intercedes for us at the right
hand of God.
I. And no one can separate us from the love of Christ.
J. Not tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or
danger or sword.
K. For in all these things we are more than conquerors through the one who
loves us.
L. No one can tear us from God’s presence.
M. Not life, not death, not angels or demons or rulers.
N. Not things terrorizing us in the moment, or fears of what is to come.
O. Nothing in all of the created order.
P. Nothing.
Q. For the one born of Mary is the deliverer from sin, Immanuel, God with
us.
D. And with that, we have hope.

Conclusion

A. The Angel’s Message of Hope to Joseph in the Midst of His Fear Gives Us
Hope as We Fear Our Unknowns.
1. A hope that cannot be disappointed.
2. A hope grounded in God’s assuring promise.
3. A hope that survives time itself.
4. An eternal hope. Amen.
B. Let us pray:
LSB 900:4-6 Jesus! Name of Wondrous Love
4
Jesus! Name of mercy mild,
Given to the holy Child
When the cup of human woe
First He tasted here below.

5
Jesus! Only name that’s giv’n
Under all the mighty heav’n
Whereby those to sin enslaved
Burst their fetters and are saved.

6
Jesus! Name of wondrous love,
Human name of God above;
Pleading only this, we flee
Helpless, O our God, to Thee. Amen.
Text: Public domain
C. The peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
D. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

Text: Isaiah 11:1–10
Theme: The kingdom of peace
Other Lessons: Psalm 72:1–7; Romans 15:4–13; Matthew 3:1–12

A. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

B. The Old Testament lesson serves as our sermon text for today.

C. Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

D. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
Our God is the Lion, the Lion of Judah
He’s roaring with power and fighting our battles
And every knee will bow before You
Our God is the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain
For the sin of the world, His blood breaks the chains
And every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb
Oh every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb. Amen.
Introduction

A. For many of you, our text from Isaiah 11 conjures up a very clear image.
1. You can just see a wolf and lamb playing with each other,
2. a lion grazing contentedly,
3. a baby laughing near the hole of a cobra.
4. Such a strange, enchanting picture of nature at peace may have been in
your children’s Bible or hung in your childhood bedroom.
5. But how many nurseries are adorned with an artist’s rendering of how
“the lion will lie down with the lamb”?
B. Because of the association with those romantic illustrations from our
youth, the Old Testament Reading today may come across more like that of a
fable or fairy tale, a sweet but ultimately mythical description of the way
life really is or ever will be.
1. But far from it!
2. In beautiful, vivid, memorable picture language, God is giving us here a
very real promise about both Jesus’ coming and the salvation he brings.
C. In Christ, the Kingdom of Peace Isaiah Pictured Is Here and Now.
I. Isaiah sees Jesus coming as the King of peace.
A. As with so much of Isaiah’s poetry, the key is context.
1. If we understand the surrounding verses, we’ll better understand what
Isaiah is pointing to when he tells of vegetarian lions and domesticated
bears.
2. In the very first verse, Isaiah says that “there shall come forth a
shoot from the stump of Jesse” (verse 1).
3. What is this but a prophecy of Jesus’ line of descent and birth?
4. When Jesus was born, the line of Jesse, King David’s father, had been
reduced to a stump.
5. The Davidic monarchy had been routed and kept down by the empires of
Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.
6. Yet, “Lo, how a rose e’er blooming From tender stem hath sprung! Of
Jesse’s lineage coming As prophets long have sung” (LSB 359:1).
B. About this same Jesus, the Spirit of the Lord rests. Isaiah writes:
1. “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge
and the fear of the Lord” (verse 2).
2. Jesus, the Son of David, went forth “full of the Spirit” and manifested
himself before all Israel.
3. At his Baptism, the Spirit of God descended on him like a dove and came
to rest on him.
C. On Jesus rests the Spirit of wisdom and understanding.
1. During his humble ministry, he demonstrated a wisdom which had been
hidden from the beginning of the world;
2. he spoke and gave insight into heavenly things which only he knows (John
8:14).
D. On Jesus rests the Spirit of counsel and might.
1. By his suffering and death, David’s Son, the King of Israel, loosed the
bonds which held people captive and overcame the enemies of the human race:
A. sin,
B. death,
C. and the devil.
E. On Jesus rests the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
1. He was obedient to his Father’s will, even unto death, to lead the lost
children of the world back to God.
A. Now through the Spirit, the Lord plants:
B. the knowledge of God,
C. true love and true fear of God,
D. into the hearts of men.
F. His work completed, the Son of David now sits on the throne of his
Father.
1. “And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by
what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with
righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek
of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and
with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall
be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins” (verses
3–5).
A. Christ bears the scepter of peace, not judging by what his eyes see or
deciding disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness judging the
poor, deciding with equity in the interests of the meek.
B. To us troubled sinners, Christ gives us justice.
C. He makes poor, miserable sinners like us right with God by covering our
sin and presenting them blameless to God the Father.
G. At the same time, the godless, those who reject the scepter of this
king, who reject his peace and grace, are put to shame.
1. They behold him glorified but receive the punishment due their rejection
of him.
2. Again as Isaiah puts it:
A. “He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the
breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked” (verse 4).
H. This, in short, is what the first five verses are all about.
1. Some 750 years before the fact, Isaiah foretells the coming of Jesus,
the King of peace.
2. What Isaiah now goes on to describe is the kingdom of peace—the domain
that Jesus will rule.
II. Isaiah sees Jesus ruling over the kingdom of peace.

A. We read at the end of the passage that the root of Jesus will stand as a
signal for the peoples (verse10).
1. The nations shall inquire of him, and his resting place will be
glorious.
2. And here is the wonderful surprise for us:
A. This holy time has already come!
B. Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Mary, has come.
C. His name and his cross have been set up as a signal on the earth.
D. It is visible everywhere.
E. Those near and far have salvation and peace preached to them.
F. The nations, sinners from all over the earth, acknowledge it.
G. They confess that in no other is salvation to be found, that no other
name under heaven is given among men by which they must be saved.
H. They come and kneel before the crucified Christ.
B. We all know that not all believe in this Christ.
1. This same Christ is also a sign that is spoken against, as Simeon
foretold in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:34).
2. Christ has been appointed for the fall of many.
3. But many also come—from all peoples and lands.
4. There are always new flocks who stream to
A. the signal on the mountain,
B. to the manger in Bethlehem,
C. to the cross at Golgotha,
D. new flocks who find peace and rest for their souls.
5. They inquire after the one who has redeemed them.
6. And as the waters cover the sea, so numerous are they who acknowledge
the Lord and serve him.
C. Watch what this means for the community that trusts in Jesus.
1. “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with
the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their
young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned
child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain” (verses 6–9).
2. In the kingdom of Christ, there is no malice.
3. Those who acknowledge the Lord renounce the works of the devil.
4. And although we sinners still sin, there remains an ever-flowing
fountain of mercy.
5. Day to day, we receive from Christ grace upon grace, as well as peace
and strength for all good works.
D. This then is what Isaiah means when he says the wolf shall dwell with
the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and so on.
1. The prophet is painting a picture of paradise.
2. Wolves, lions, and bears dwelling alongside lambs, calves, and young
goats.
3. The wild animals not feeding on flesh and blood but instead going into
pasture and eating straw like the oxen, no longer feral and ferocious but
tame.
III. This kingdom of peace that Isaiah sees we live in even now!
A. This is not a fairy tale or one of Aesop’s fables.
1. Nor is it primarily a description of what life will finally be like in
heaven.
2. No, this is the kingdom of grace in which we live now!
3. This is what the Church that Christ built, even now being assembled from
out of all the nations, looks like now!
4. These scenes from the natural world are a metaphor, an allegory, for the
peace that the Christian Church enjoys this very moment:
A. a peace in sharp contrast to the world’s lack of peace,
B. its continual conflict and war,
C. everyone looks to take advantage of his neighbor,
D. the sons of men do not know the way of peace,
E. people are quick to shed innocent blood,
F. and yes, there is poison on their lips.
B. Lions eating straw and wolves lying down with lambs?!
1. The Gospel makes possible even greater things than that!
2. The wild beasts are a picture of how human beings really are—just as
given to sin by nature as a wolf is to eating meat.
3. But a lion deciding to go vegan is nothing compared to God taking a
sinful human being, releasing him from the guilt of all his or her sin, and
giving them a heart that no longer wants to sin but wants to do only the
will of God!
C. As new creatures in Christ, united with the One who alone is holy by
nature but who shares his holiness with us, this is exactly what has
happened to us.
1. God has created in us new hearts so that, while sin still clings, we
truly want to please God and serve our neighbors.
2. This is completely unnatural from the perspective of our old sinful
selves!
3. The disciples who out of fear abandoned Jesus in his hour of need did
what came naturally.
4. But transformed by the power of the resurrection and by the risen Jesus’
own word to them, “Peace be with you,” they went on to suffer persecution
and imprisonment and even martyrdom for the sake of his name.
5. You and I likewise have been transformed by the Holy Spirit’s
intervening in our lives and making us into the kind of people we would
never possibly be without him.
D. To be sure, even the Church, the Bride of Christ, still has her spots
and wrinkles.
1. But she washes herself daily in the blood of the Lamb and is made a new
creature.
2. We who have been:
A. won by the Gospel,
B. who believe in Christ and serve Christ,
C. where we deny our worldly lusts,
D. we lay aside our wild nature and habits
E. in all this, we daily strive to put down our inborn wrath and bitterness
and jealousy.
F. Only with the help of the Spirit, we are careful to maintain unity in
the bond of peace.
G. Instead of doing harm to one another, we do good to one another whether
it’s convenient or not.
H. For here there is no more Jew or Greek, slave or free, man or woman
(Galatians 3:28).
I. We are all one in Christ.
1. Today, we have guests from Community of Faith Lutheran Church, with
Pastor Randall Lewis, their pastor. Welcome!
2. We are all ONE IN CHRIST!!
Conclusion

A. The well-established convention of expressing historical dates as BC or
AD is gradually being discarded in favor of BCE and CE.
1. In an attempt to be sensitive to non-Christians but is a blatant effort
to cause further division and strife, more and more textbooks, instead of
BC, which stands for “Before Christ,” are using “BCE,” which stands for
“Before the Common Era.”
2. And instead of AD, which is short for a Latin phrase (Anno Domini) that
means “in the year of the Lord,” various publications are now using the
initials “CE,” which stands for “Common Era.”
3. It’s a bit like replacing “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holidays.”
4. And it’s just as laughable, because while saying BCE and CE does manage
to avoid referring to Christ or suggesting that Jesus is the Lord, the
numbering system remains the same!
5. The birth of Jesus is still the anchor date.
6. After all, with what event does the so-called “Common Era” begin?
7. The birth of Jesus Christ, of course!
8. The current year is 2022 CE, but 2,022 years since when?
9. The birth of Jesus Christ, of course!
10. Scholars may change the letters, but the substance remains; the world’s
own calendars continue to bear witness to the fact that what Isaiah
prophesied (whether in 750 BC or 750 BCE) has come to pass: the “signal for
the peoples” has come (Isaiah 11:10).
B. This peace the Lord speaks of through Isaiah will be perfected in the
world to come.
1. At that time, Christ’s kingdom and reign will become true glory and
honor.
2. But the kingdom of peace has come already and is now, just as surely as
the King of peace has come already and now lives and reigns to all
eternity.
3. God grant that we recognize anew and afresh the great blessings he has
already bestowed on us in his kingdom!
4. Come, Lord Jesus! Amen.
C. Let us pray:
So open up the gates, make way before the King of kings
Our God who calls the saved is here to set the captives free. Amen.
D. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
E. In the Name of the Father…Amen.