The Pastor's Windshield for Christmas 2023

The Virgin Mary tends to be in the spotlight at Christmas – and for good reason. After all, she is the mother of our Lord Jesus! Christmas songs ask questions like “Mary, did you know?” and ponder how much she realized about what her Son and His future would be like. But what about Joseph? It’s a shame that he is sometimes the forgotten father figure of Christmas, but there’s much that we can learn from Joseph’s faithfulness as well.

The Gospels make it clear that Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father, but His guardian. Joseph was likely a few years older than Mary. It is reasonably assumed that Joseph died sometime after the family’s Passover pilgrimage when Jesus was twelve (Luke 2:41-52) and before Jesus’ ministry began when He was around thirty. When Jesus preached His first “sermon” at Nazareth (based on Isaiah 61), His neighbors still assumed that He was merely Joseph’s son (Luke 4:22). 

Admittedly, we have only a small amount of detail about Joseph. The Christmas narratives rightly place most of the focus on the coming of Jesus Himself. None of Joseph’s words are recorded for us. However, we can still draw some helpful conclusions about Joseph from his actions.

Joseph was a good man. Unlike his royal ancestors in the house of David, Joseph does not have any negative marks against his reputation. This does not mean that Joseph was without sin. He still needed the salvation provided by Jesus. Yet Joseph was also a faithful husband, a reliable tradesman, and an upright example for his children. Jesus was submissive to His earthly parents (Luke 2:51) and while under their care, “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). Joseph taught Jesus his trade (Mark 6:3), and he and Mary went on to have a large family (Mark 6:30). 

Joseph was quietly humble. I bet you can think of men in your family who exhibit a type of quiet strength. They don’t say a lot, but when they do speak, they mean what they say, and you listen. Joseph seems like the kind of man who kept his composure, yet he wasn’t afraid to take action for the good of his family.

Joseph was obedient to the Lord. On four occasions, the Lord’s angels instructed him through dreams, telling him to take Mary as his wife and to name her son, Jesus (Matt. 1:20-21); telling him to take his family and flee to Egypt (Matt 2:13); telling him to return home to Israel (Matt. 2:19); and telling him to beware of Herod’s son in Judea (Matt. 2:22). In all these cases, Joseph obeyed without question.

Joseph was faithful. When considering how to respond to Mary’s apparent infidelity, Joseph wanted to be faithful to God’s law prohibiting a man from marrying an adulterous woman, yet Joseph also wanted to deal kindly and quietly with Mary (Matt. 2:19). Joseph later saw that Jesus’ circumcision and Mary’s purification were carried out on schedule (Luke 2:21-24). Once their situation had settled down, they made annual pilgrimages from Nazareth to Jerusalem for the Passover (Luke 2:41). Joseph seemingly instilled the custom of regular Sabbath worship in his family (Luke 4:16). 

Joseph was a protective husband and father.  Joseph protected Mary from potentially being stoned to death for adultery. He guided Mary to Bethlehem for the census while she was “great with child” (Luke 2:5). And later, Joseph shepherded his family safely to Egypt and eventually back home to Nazareth while taking care to steer clear of two ruthless kings. 

Fathers set a tone for their families, and both during the action-packed years around the first Christmas and during the normalcy of the years that followed, Joseph certainly did this for his family. 

May the Lord bless all Christian fathers with the courage, humility, and faithfulness of Joseph! And may God bless us all with steadfast faith in Joseph’s adopted Son, our Savior Jesus.

Grace & Peace,

                        Pastor Kory Janneke

The Pastor's Windshield for Thanksgiving 2023

Here come the holidays! As Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, and the New Year approach, I know that there are many preparations, purchases, and plans on people’s minds. With so much to think about, it’s easy to miss the purpose of Thanksgiving (giving thanks to God!), much less the meaning of Christmas (the wonder of Christ’s incarnation!).

Each November we may hear or say little things like “Count your blessings” – and the Thanksgiving holiday certainly is one good occasion to recognize God’s gifts, but isn’t every day a time to give thanks and be mindful of our Lord’s blessings?

Perhaps you’re familiar with Martin Luther’s morning and evening prayers. They offer us simple ways of entrusting both our days and nights into God’s gracious care. The prayers both begin by saying, “I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son …” Simply incorporating prayers like these into our morning and evening routines can be a starting place in practicing Christ-centered thanksgiving each day.

A particular Scripture passage which I associate with thanksgiving is Psalm 116. (You might recognize some of its words from the Offertory song in one of our orders of worship, Divine Service Setting One.) The Psalmist asks, “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me?” (Ps. 116:12) In other words, “What does God want from me?” God has given you and me so much – our physical lives and everything to support them, new life in Christ Jesus, the Gospel, the Sacraments, the blessings of our church and loved ones and neighbors, and far, far more. Taking all those benefits into account, what does God want from me? What do I owe Him?

Here, we might tend toward Law-focused answers: “He wants me to be a good Christian.”  “He wants me to be a better person.”  “He wants me to be more loving.” While God does want us to grow in faith and love, the Psalm offer a different response.

After asking what he should give the Lord in return for all His benefits, the Psalmist then answers, “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord” (Ps. 116:13). Notice that this response is rooted in the Gospel! What shall I render to the Lord? I will take His gift, lift it up, and receive it! 

What God wants from you and me – more than anything – is simply for us to trust and receive and celebrate His salvation!

“The cup of salvation” for the Old Testament believers was an element of the Passover meal which celebrated God’s salvation from their enslavement in Egypt. The salvation which Christ won for us came by means of His drinking the “cup” of God’s suffering and wrath in our place (Matt. 26:39). Now, your Savior provides “the cup of salvation” for you at His altar. As you take and drink the body and blood of Jesus, you get to lift up His cup of salvation and gratefully receive Christ’s gifts for your forgiveness and assurance. 

The Psalmist also goes on to say, “I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!” (Ps. 116:17-19)

What does God want from me? According the Psalm, the “sacrifice” He seeks is thanksgiving. Yes, we also make sacrifices out of the time and resources the Lord has given us, but first, He would have us give thanks, remembering that every good thing comes from above. And what about paying our “vows”? Martin Luther reminds us, “We can return nothing to God except the vows of praise and confession, for we have all things from Him and he needs nothing of our goods.”

We “call on the name of the Lord” when we pray to and praise Him, both individually and “in the presence of all His people.” As Christians, we gather in our local congregations on the Lord’s Day and unite our voices in prayer and thanksgiving, just as the Old Testament people of God gathered in the Jerusalem temple and in their local synagogues. But we also call on Him in our homes, at our Thanksgiving dinners, and every day and night!

Gratefully receiving God’s gifts of salvation and responding to Him in prayer and thanksgiving – these are the things that He most wants from us. 

As we journey through the coming holidays, may the Lord help us to not overlook simple “sacrifices of thanksgiving” for His forgiveness, life, and salvation and for all His benefits to you and me!

Grace & Peace,

                        Pastor Kory Janneke

The Pastor's Windshield for October 2023

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; 
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
(Psalm 95:1-3, 6-7a)

The Psalmist invites us to come before the Lord, our Maker, in worship. Public worship is one of the most basic elements of practicing biblical faith, both for God’s people in Old Testament times and for us living in the New Testament. However, it can be easy for us to take the content of worship services for granted or perhaps never even learn what certain things mean and why they matter.

Think about the following questions: Why do we do what we do in a worship service? What does God’s Word teach us about the “essentials” of Christian worship? What is meant by the title often used in our Lutheran circles, “Divine Service”? Why do Lutheran worship services look and sound different from some other Christian congregations? There are many important questions like these regarding Christian worship in general and our Lutheran theology in particular. To discuss these questions and explore the meaning and practice of worship in greater detail, we’ll be focusing on Christian worship as our new Sunday Bible study, beginning on Sun, October 22 at 9:00am.

In our study, we’ll take a closer look at the overall purpose of public worship, the individual elements of the service, the flow of the Church Year, the schedule of Scripture readings (known as the “Lectionary”), and Christian hymns. We’ll also learn more about the types of services in our Lutheran Service Book hymnal along with some of its additional features. The study will also be tailored to your questions and the aspects of worship that you have questions about. 

A hymn which is new in the Lutheran Service Book is #602, “The Gifts Christ Freely Gives.” I think it does a great job of portraying what is happening when we gather each Sunday: we’re receiving Christ’s gracious gifts! Yes, we’re glorifying and praising Him, but that is only one dimension of the service. Notice how the hymn traces Christ’s gifts through the flow of the service, from our Baptism (and baptismal remembrance with the Invocation), to Confession and Absolution, to God’s Word read and proclaimed for us, to the reception of Christ’s body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar.

1 The gifts Christ freely gives
    He gives to you and me
To be His Church, His bride,
    His chosen, saved and free!
Saints blest with these rich gifts
    Are children who proclaim
That they were won by Christ
    And cling to His strong name.

2 The gifts flow from the font
    Where He calls us His own;
New life He gives that makes
    Us His and His alone.
Here He forgives our sins
    With water and His Word;
The triune God Himself
    Gives pow’r to call Him Lord.

3 The gifts of grace and peace
    From absolution flow;
The pastor’s words are Christ’s
    For us to trust and know.
Forgiveness that we need
    Is granted to us there;
The Lord of mercy sends
    Us forth in His blest care.

4 The gifts are there each day
    The holy Word is read;
God’s children listen, hear,
    Receive, and they are fed.
Christ fills them with Himself,
    Blest words that give them life,
Restoring and refreshing
    Them for this world’s strife.

5 The gifts are in the feast,
    Gifts far more than we see;
Beneath the bread and wine
    Is food from Calvary.
The body and the blood
    Remove our ev’ry sin;
We leave His presence in
    His peace, renewed again.

6 All glory to the One
    Who lavishes such love;
The triune God in love
    Assures our life above.
His means of grace for us
    Are gifts He loves to give;
All thanks and praise for His
    Great love by which we live!

Text: Richard C. Resch, 1947
Text: © 2001 Richard C. Resch. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110018755

Again, as the Psalm invites us, come and worship the Lord. Come and receive His gifts, both in weekly worship and Bible study. Come and gather with His saints. Come before Him in thanksgiving. Come and receive His forgiveness and refreshment.

Grace & Peace,

                        Pastor Kory Janneke