Do Not Be Conformed to This World: Romans 12:1-5

Romans 12:1-5: "1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another."

The Collect for today, the First Sunday after Epiphany, states,

"O Lord, we beseech Thee mercifully to receive the prayers of Thy people, who call upon Thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen."

This Collect carries the theme of the reading wonderfully. The Blessed Apostle St. Paul in the Epistle reading for the First Sunday after Epiphany, which is also this morning's reading, captures the spirit of the Lord's wholehearted consecration of Himself to His Father from today's Gospel reading of the Boy Jesus in the Temple from St. Luke 2. This reading is all about conforming one's self to the will of the Father. It is all about obedience. And the Blessed Apostle, St. Paul, explains to the Church at Rome, that that obedience applies to us as well.

Our Lord Jesus was to be about His Father's business in the Temple. He was to be obedient to the Father's will. We too, are to be about our Father's will. Well, this obviously begs the question, "What is the Father's will?" We learn from Dr. Martin Luther's Small Catechism, on the Lord's Prayer, the third petition, that the Father's will is done

"When God breaks and hinders every evil counsel and will which would not let us hallow the name of God nor let His kingdom come, such as the will of the devil, the world, and our flesh; but strengthens and preserves us steadfast in His Word and in faith unto our end. This is His good and gracious will." *

This means that God's will is to destroy the devil, the world, and all sinfulness. This is done by what we learn from the first two petitions of the Lord's prayer, having His Name being hallowed, and having His kingdom come. God's name is hallowed, when His word is taught in its truth and purity, and we lead holy lives according to it. In other words, when we are obedient to our Father in heaven, by listening to His holy Word, and doing it, that is, His commandments. The kingdom of God comes to us when He gives us His Holy Spirit. His Holy Spirit gives us the grace to believe His holy Word, or to say it another way, the Holy Spirit creates and sustains faith in us. The Holy Spirit does this by the blessed Sacraments, through those means of grace, which impart to us faith and life.

And even though we pray for these things, God gives them to us without our prayer. This is why He has given us the Church, and within the Church, He has established parishes, with ministers, to dole out those gifts, so that we might have faith and life.

So just like our dear Lord Jesus as a boy in the Temple, who is to be about His Father's business, so too, are we to be about our Father's business, that is receiving, and rejoicing over the gifts that He gives us, both bodily gifts and spiritual gifts. This is what it means to "not be conformed to this world." For this world, wants nothing to do with the Father's will. There are even those in the Church, who bemoan and wail about having to go to church to worship, or they moan about having worship their way. They would trade the worship of our Lord, for the worship of themselves. Even the amount of worship gets slap in the face from this world. Heaven forbid that a worship service last more than an hour! And even more so, if one advocates worshipping on more than just on Sunday (except for Advent and Lent, then people will begrudgingly relent to Wednesday night services, since they only last a few weeks).

The Early Church, and the Church of the Middle Ages, worshipped daily, at least morning and evening, and in some places several times a day. Our lives as Christians should be filled with worship, that is, with the hearing of God's Word, and the receiving of His gifts. It must be this way, because the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh do not want us to hallow God's Name, or let His kingdom come, and they will do whatever it takes to destroy the faith and life that God planted into us through the means of grace. This is why, we as Christians, must come to the Lord's House, to His Temple, and "present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." For in is in His house, the place where He hands out His Word and gifts, where we find not only rest for our souls, from the battle that we face daily because of the devil, the world, and our flesh, but it is also the place where God strengthens us in His Word and Spirit, so that those unholy three, have no power over us.

So, rejoice today that our dear Father in heaven, has sent His Son into our flesh, and on account of Him, sends the Holy Spirit to us, that we might have forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation through the means of His grace, so that we might be obedient to Him, and trust and rely on Him for all of our wants and needs.

God's peace be with you!

Deacon Dulas


* Translation from Doctor Martin Luther Small Catechism and An Explanation of Christian Doctrine based on Doctor Luther's Small Catechism, Edited by Markku Sarela, Published by The Confessional Lutheran Church of Finland, 1999.

You Are My Beloved Son: St. Luke 3:21-22

St. Luke 3:21-22: "21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, 'You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.'"

The Feast of Epiphany anciently possesed three historical events in the life of Jesus. They were: 1) The visit of the Maji; 2) The Baptism of Jesus; 3)The miracle of water into wine at the wedding in Cana. All three of these were a part of the Epiphany feast. Today these three historical events in the life of Jesus are divided up for us. The visit of the Magi, takes its place on the Feast itself. The Baptism of Jesus is celebrated on Epiphany's octave, January 13. And the wedding in Cana is the Second Sunday after Epiphany. The Church in her grand wisdom, over time also included for the First Sunday after Epiphany the narrative of the Boy Jesus in the Temple. And so in Christmas and Epiphany we get the details of our dear Lord's early life, and the beginning of His ministry to us.

Today's reading tells us, briefly, of the baptism of our dear Lord Jesus. Two things can be pointed out about this pericope.

One, the appearance of the One True God, The Father, The Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Father appears as a voice from heaven, declaring to all who will hear, that our dear Lord Jesus is His beloved Son. And that He is a Son in whom He is well-pleased. The Son whom the Father refers too, is obviously our Lord Jesus, whose baptism purifies the waters of the Jordan River, and thereby purifies all water for baptism. The Holy Ghost appears in bodily form like a dove. Therefore, all three persons of the One, Holy and True Trinity are present for the Baptism of our Lord.

The Second thing that can be pointed out is the application to us. The Baptism of our Lord is a picture of our own baptism. Our dear Lord Jesus in sanctifying the waters of the Jordan, and thereby sanctifying all water for baptism, removed sin and death and the power of the devil from the waters of baptism. So that when you are baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost by the minister of God, your sins, both the original ones you inherited from Adam, and all those which you added thereto, by your own disobedience and willfulness, are drowned and washed away in the waters of your baptism. Therefore, as the Blessed St. Paul says to the Church at Rome, you arise as a new man, without sin. And the Almighty Father, who is now your Father in heaven, proclaims from heaven, that you are His beloved Son, in whom He is well-pleased.

On account of Christ's work, you are given the place of Christ, as a free gift. That means your sins are taken away. And because your sins are taken away you also are given eternal life and salvation. For whereever there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. Therefore, whenever we remember our baptism, we drown the Old Adam within us once again, and every time we remember our baptism and drown our Old Adam anew, we again arise as a new man before God pure and holy. This is the process which we call "repentance." It involves confessing our sins, either to God or Minister, and receiving absolution, that is the declaration of the forgiveness of your sins.

Therefore today, confess your sins, and rejoice in your baptism, and live as a new man who has been redeemed by God. If you have not been baptized, seek out a minister of God to see what is required for you and your family to be baptized.

May God's peace be with you!

Deacon Dulas