Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent
THE JESUS SUIT
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus
Christ! Amen. In the Epistle of the Day from Romans 13, God’s apostle Paul uses
clothing imagery to speak about your preparation for the Last Day, when Christ
shall return. “The night is far gone; the day is at hand,” Paul says. “Let us
cast off—that is, let is disrobe ourselves or undress ourselves from—the works
of darkness and put on—clothe ourselves and dress ourselves in—the armor of
light… Put on—clothe yourself and robe yourself in—the Lord Jesus Christ, and
make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Dear Christian friends,
Perhaps you get the chance, every once in a while, to visit with fellow
Lutherans who are members of sister congregations somewhere in our Missouri
Synod. Lutherans will inevitably tell you about their pastor and sometimes they
complain.
· Some complaints are humorous and picayune and actually say more about
the people who are complaining: Pastor Parrothead wears sandals too often;
Pastor Longwind chooses hymns with too many verses.
· Other complaints are more serious: Pastor Busyboy does not seem to have
time to visit the sick or the homebound in his flock; Pastor Wandereye seems to
be visiting the organist or the church secretary too often.
· I have even heard some Christians complain about problems that I
believe are very good problems to have. For example, one of my fellow pastors a
considerable distance east of here is apparently guilty of preaching too
frequently about the benefits of confession and absolution. Imagine that! Some
Christians find it abrasive to hear repeatedly that God’s forgiveness in Christ
is for you personally and individually; that forgiveness is so powerful, so
life-encompassing that you do not need any longer to limp along under your load
of guilt or fear or damnable self-righteousness. If you ever have a pastor who
seems to speak too frequently about confession and forgiveness, fall upon your
knees and you thank your God for the sweet and undeserved gift He has given to
you.
Some of you probably do not need any help deciding how you could complain about
your pastor, but one or two of you might still be open to suggestions. I would
love to be accused of preaching too much about Baptism. I would love for God’s
Christians to have Baptism come to mind when they think about the one thing
they hear most from this pulpit.
· No, Baptism is not in every single sermon, but that is really my fault
and I must try to improve on that. The absence of Baptism in any given sermon
is really more about my sin and blindness than anything else.
· Yes, some people would say that Jesus should come to mind when you
think about things you hear most from this pulpit, but Baptism is really just
Jesus in liquid form.
· No, the word “baptism” does not occur in every single Bible passage
that you hear or read, but the lack of the letters B-A-P-T-I-S-M does not mean
that the gift and miracle of Baptism is not present there in the passage.
(Think about it: just because you might not mention the word “milk” at the
breakfast table, that does not mean the milk is not right there in front of you
next to the box of Cheerios. In the same way, you should consider it entirely
possible that any given Bible verse will teach you about the benefits of your
Baptism, even if you cannot see the word “baptism” expressly spelled out.)
· Yes, I know that such things as faith, confession and absolution, Holy
Communion, preaching, and the work of the Holy Spirit are also important to
hear from the pulpit, but when you hear about such things, you are really just
hearing about the on-going miracle and benefit of the Baptism your God has
given to you.
Baptism is really the only thing that God’s apostle Paul wanted to talk about,
especially in his letter to the Romans. Many people know and have even
memorized those well-known and essential Words of Romans chapter 6:
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into
death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of
the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3-4).
· Romans begins with a discussion of Baptism, specifically your need and
my need and the entire world’s need for this miracle and gift, “for you have no
excuse, O man… [for] you condemn yourself” (Romans 2:1).
· Romans crescendos with death-and-resurrection description of your
Baptism, by which you were “baptized into [Christ’s] death” in order that you
might be given a full and good place in His resurrection.
· Even here in today’s Epistle, at the tail end of the letter to the
Romans, many chapters and verses after the word “baptism” was last used, Paul
is still preaching Baptism’s miracle and benefit for your life. (Yes, I know
the word is not expressly used here, but let’s just say that the milk is still
on the breakfast table.) Never one to stop talking about a good thing, Paul
calls to you today: “The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us
cast off—that is, let is disrobe ourselves or undress ourselves from—the works
of darkness and put on—clothe ourselves and wrap ourselves and dress ourselves
in—the armor of light… Put on—clothe yourself and robe yourself in—the Lord
Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
Today’s Epistle about Baptism has very great importance for you and for the way
you think about your daily life.
· First, Paul’s images of dressing and undressing, robbing and disrobing,
make a strong connection to other Bible passages where Baptism is expressly
spelled out for you. Specifically, Galatians chapter 3: “For as many of you as
were baptized into Christ have put on—clothed yourselves in [NIV]—Christ”
(Galatians 3:27).
· Second, Paul emphasizes to you that your Lord Jesus Christ is not
merely someone who died on a cross for you long ago and He is not merely the
Savior you carry around in your heart. Your Lord Jesus Christ is a miraculous
second skin that was applied for you in Baptism. Jesus is your daily suit of
clothing, your “armor of light” as Paul says here today and the “whole armor of
God” (Ephesians 6:11) as he says in another place.
· When you think of armor, you generally think of protection from outside
dangers and attacks. That is a good way for you to think of your Baptism: Jesus
is the shell that protects you from “the flaming darks of the evil one”
(Ephesians 6:16). But your “armor of light,” that is, the Jesus Suit of your
Baptism, does more than protect you from dangers on the outside. Your Jesus
Suit will also guard and protect you from your sinfulness within—a sinfulness
that neither you nor I will ever master or overcome, no matter how Christian we
might try to be. (This is the third way today’s Epistle will help you.) “Put on
the Lord Jesus Christ” says Paul, “and make no provision for the flesh, to
gratify its desires.” (Epexegetically translated, “Put on the Lord Jesus
Christ; in other words, make no provision for the flesh to gratify its
desires.”) Wrap yourself so tightly in God’s miracle of Baptism that your
sinful nature and your selfish
desires continually suffocate and die beneath your Jesus Suit. Keep your
Baptism so tightly zipped up to the chin that the desires of your flesh will
not act destructively toward your neighbor, whom you are given to love (as Paul
explains in the Bible verses immediately preceding today’s Epistle, Romans
13:8-10). Realize that sin is not merely an act of error or a mistake that you
make. Sin is a living force within you—a force that seeks to destroy both you
and those around you and a force that only Jesus can overpower and defeat for
you. Baptism blocks and imprisons and starves your sin!
· Finally, Paul wants you to know in today’s Epistle that might be a
sense your Baptism is more important for you today than it was yesterday. Why
is Baptism most essential for you, not merely yesterday but also today? Because
“you know the time,” Paul says. “The hour has come for you to wake from sleep.
For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far
gone; the day is at hand.” With these Words, Paul warns you about thinking of
Baptism as merely an aspect of your history—as if Baptism were only an act that
happened to you long ago. You must think of your Baptism, not as your history,
but as your present and your future. You must think of Baptism this way because
you are not getting any less sinful. If anything, you are getting worse with
age. (Yes, I am speaking also about myself.)
“Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” Jesus’ return for
the judgment of the living and the dead is closer to today than it was
yesterday. We must be ready and there is only one way to be ready: “Put on the
Lord Jesus Christ—clothe yourself and robe yourself in the Lord Jesus
Christ—and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” If I may
be guilty of preaching too frequently about Baptism, perhaps you can bear with
me, dear saints. I preach Baptism because Baptism is the message of the
Scriptures, because I love you dearly, and because (as my grandma used to say)
I really do not want you to be caught with your pants down.
The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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