St. Nicholas, Bishop
Dear friends in Christ. Today one of the more popular saints is remembered—St. Nicholas. Even in our synod the commemoration of St. Nicholas has a long history, being included in our altar books and calendars when they were first published in 1856. Although little is known about him historically, by the 6th century there was a church of St. Nicholas in Constantinople.
Research has affirmed that a 4th century bishop in the coastal city of Myra in what is today Turkey had a bishop named Nicholas. Legends have spread about Nicholas. According to these legends, when he was young, his wealthy parents died. Nicholas then used his large inheritance to do acts of Christian charity. The many stories of Nicholas usually have him helping the poor. In one, he frees three unjustly imprisoned officers. In another, he saves three innocent boys from death. One of the best-known legends has a citizen of Nicholas’ hometown losing all his money and fearing that his daughters would never marry without a dowry. When Nicholas heard of this, he tossed a small bag of gold through the man’s window late one night. Soon afterwards, the man’s daughter was married to her beloved. The same happened with the second daughter. One daughter yet remained and the man was anxious to find out who the gift giver was so he waited up late. When a bag of gold came flying through the window, he jumped out to find Nicholas sneaking away. The man thanked Nicholas profusely and told everyone about his generosity. Stories of his secret gifts to children on 06 December, his feast day, came to be connected with Christmas. In America, the name St. Nicholas was corrupted into “Santa Claus”; and Santa’s suit, for example, is red because red is the color worn by bishops, like Nicholas.
It’s not surprising that in light of the story of Nicholas throwing small bags of gold through the man’s window so his daughters could marry, that the church selected today’s Gospel: be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. This is also the theme of Advent: watching for our Lord’s return, this time in glory on the Last Day. What was that poor man doing as he waited up to see who was throwing money through the window? Whatever it was, he was awake to see Nicholas doing it. But the much more important question for us, is what are we doing as we await Jesus’ return; or are we even looking for and awaiting Jesus’ return?
Ever since the very first people came to faith in Christ, His dear Christians have been waiting. But some tired during the wait and fell away from faith. That’s why we have Advent’s call to continue to prepare in our own hearts and lives the way of the Lord lest we tire of the wait and fall away.
But that then raises the question: since the Lord does not bring us into heaven as soon as we become Christians but leaves us here to wait for His return, what should our lives be like now? That’s where our text from St. Paul comes in today. As we examine our text, we will see that our lives are to be marked by thanksgiving; our lives will be lives marked by trial and comfort; and we ourselves will comfort others in their trials.
1. Our text: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. By God’s grace, because He revealed Himself to us by His Holy Spirit in the Word, we know who He is: the Holy Triune God. Not only do we know Him as the one true, just and holy God—for if we just knew Him that way, we would have to fear His wrath over our sin—but we also know Him as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know the Father and the Son. We know Him as the God of our salvation. We know Him in Christ Jesus. We know Him as the God with whom our whole salvation in Jesus is connected. Because God the Father sent God the Son to be our Savior, to undo the devil’s work, to pay the price for our sin, to reconcile us to Him, we are now, through faith and adoption, God’s own dear children. In Christ Jesus, the holy Triune God entered into a relationship with us. Now we can go to Him in prayer, as children go to their loving father; now we know that He loves and cares for us as a dear Father. Our lives of waiting for Jesus’ return are lives now lived as God’s dear children, and He our dear Father. What joy and peace we can and do have in any and all circumstances! The one true, holy and almighty God is, in Christ Jesus our dear, loving heavenly Father.
In Spirit worked faith, we know Him as the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. His essence is mercy; He is the source of all mercy that we experience. We ourselves know and have experienced what David writes in the Psalm 103.13): As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. What we earn and deserve for our sins is nothing but His punishment, both here and eternally, but He is merciful; He doesn’t give us what we deserve, instead in mercy He dealt with our sins once and for all in the Person of His Son, Jesus. Now we are at peace with God. Our sins no longer rise up and accuse and condemn us to hell. The Lord shows mercy to all, having the sun rise and the rain fall on the just and the unjust; He wants all people to be saved and come to know Him as God and Savior.
This is the God we know and worship. This is the God who loves us as His own dear children. Thus our lives on earth as Christians, as those awaiting Jesus’ return in glory will be lives marked by thanksgiving: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. This praise of the true God is grounded in the firm knowledge of who we are, namely sinners, and who God is, our merciful Father and the Savior of sinners. As we live our lives now as Christians, between the times of Jesus coming, we live in daily repentance: sorrow over our sin but joy in the Lord who is merciful to us sinners, even forgiving our sins and reconciling us to Him. Recognizing ourselves as sinners and God as merciful and forgiving, will raise in us a life and attitude of praising Him. This praise of God our Savior will be the dominant note in our lives. As long as we keep recognizing who we are and who God is, as long as praise keeps rising to Him from our hearts for His mercy to us, we will be ready and alert for Christ’s coming, more alert than the poor man was waiting for Nicholas to see who was coming to bring him the gold.
2. Not only is the true God the Father of mercies, that is, not only is He full of compassion toward us, but He can also act on His compassion and be effective because He is also the God of all comfort. But what does it imply that He comforts us? It implies that we need it; it implies that we suffer. So our lives now as we await Jesus’ return are lives both of trial and of comfort.
It is a false teaching that says that Christians will not suffer; that if things are right between you and God, you will not go through trial; that God will only give you every earthly blessing. Instead, Scripture (Ac 14.22) is very clear: We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. Peter (I Peter1.6) also writes: now for a little while…you have been grieved by various trials.
For why shouldn’t we expect trials as we await Jesus’ return, especially as we stand up for and confess Christ and His Word? On top of that, we are sinners living in a sinful world. We suffer trials because of what we by our sin get ourselves into; we suffer because of the sins of other people. Being a Christian does not put a bubble of protection around us from trials and suffering. In fact, it very often will put us exactly in the lion’s den. But in the midst of our trials and sufferings, we still give the Lord thanks and praise! In faith we know that He is the Father mercies—and whatever He does allow to come upon us is all in accord with His good and gracious will toward us, is His fatherly acting toward us.
B. Although we are in the midst of problems, praise of God still marks our lives of awaiting Jesus’ return. That praise flows from our hearts because even in the midst of trial, the Lord is standing beside us, comforting us! Our text: The God of all comfort…comforts us in all our tribulation. First comes the tribulation, the suffering, then comes the comfort. Since we are sinners in a sinful world, enduring all sorts of trials and tribulations, that then means that also we are also continually during our lives receiving comfort from the Lord. Our text: As you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.
As much trouble we have, that much, and more, comfort do we receive from the Lord. His isn’t the false comfort of the world: Cheer up things will get better! Just believe in yourself! Or any of the other myriad of clichés people usually throw out. Instead, the Lord’s comfort is a real, a true comfort that gets to the bottom of the matter. The comfort that God gives us in our trials is the comfort of the Gospel. He gives us that comfort in His holy Word and Sacrament. In His Word and Sacrament, He not only tells us of Jesus’ work, He actually gives us the forgiveness and reconciliation He brought about. He not only talks about peace, but in the Sacrament and Word gives us that peace as by His Holy Spirit He creates and strengthens faith to receive that forgiveness and reconciliation. In that faith we see God as our gracious heavenly Father doing and working all things for our spiritual good. We know that He is our gracious God and Father who claimed us as His own in holy baptism. In trial, when everything else is seemingly taken away from us, we then, in the power of the Holy Spirit, look to and receive anew and afresh the promises of God.
In fact, those promises very often look exactly like that—just words, just promises, but in Spirit-worked faith we know and are convinced of God’s grace and favor to us in Christ. In that faith, we then look to Christ’s suffering on the cross as that which engulfs our suffering and conquers it. We see that He suffered and endured what we should and by this reconciled us to God; that because of His suffering, all God’s promises to us are in Him yes and amen! In the midst of trial, we look to Christ and His suffering and death for our sins and there the mercy and love of God for us; there we see that our sin has been paid for. We look to Jesus’ resurrection and there see that our sin is forgiven, that we are reconciled to God. We look to Jesus’ ascension and there see that heaven is open to us and that as dear children of God and heirs with Christ we are headed there.
C. In the midst of various trials, by the power of the Holy Spirit we learn to rely on the Lord’s promises in unwavering faith. That’s the goal, the ultimate aim of our trials—to receive the comfort the Lord gives from His Word of grace. But it doesn’t stop there. Strengthened by the Lord, passing through the trial, we then also spend our time awaiting Jesus’ return comforting others as they go through similar trials we did. The blessing we gained, we then pass on to others. God works through us to bring His Word of comfort to others, just as through others He brought His comforting Word to us! The…God of all comfort…comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort which we ourselves are comforted by God. Our lives waiting for Jesus are lives in which we don’t just worry about our own salvation, but we look out for the care and well being of our neighbor—like Nicholas did. We talk to each about the Lord and His work and word and promise. We are all in this together—awaiting Jesus’ return—and so we strive to comfort and encourage each other as we keeping reminding and pointing others, as they also do with us, to the word and work of Christ for our salvation. The suffering God allows us and the comfort He richly pours out upon us, is not just a private experience but is meant to benefit and bless each other.
Our lives as Christians, then, are lives of thanksgiving to God for Who and What He is. Even as our lives are marked with trial, the God of all Comfort comforts us so that we may comfort others. In this way we stay awake and alert, ever looking for our Lord’s return. INJ Amen.