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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 269

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

II. THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

269

Justifying Christmas
Pa rt i c i pa n t ’ s

Quotations marked AE are from Luther’s Works, American Edition
(56 vols; St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House and Philadelphia:
Fortress Press, 1955–86).

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Quotations marked WA are from the Weimar Ausgabe (“edition”)
of Luther’s Works. Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe. 65 vols.
Weimar: Hermann Böhlau, 1883–1993.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible® (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights
reserved.

This work may be reproduced by a churches and schools for their own
use in the study of the Scriptures. Commercial reproduction, or reproduction for sale, of any portion of this work or of the work as a whole,
without the written permission of the copyright holder, is prohibited.

3. Righteousness is one of the main themes that unites the
book of Isaiah into a literary unity. Reed Lessing introduces the importance of this theme for our passage:

2. When you look around at the situation in our community
and church, nation and world today, do you wonder, like
Isaiah, how long God will let this go on?

As chapters 40–55 end, then, an apparent contradiction arises between Israel’s unrighteous behavior
(chapters 1–39) and Yahweh’s promise of a righteous
standing regardless of personal righteousness or
worthiness. Israel is called to be righteous, but fails,
for only Yahweh is righteous. Yet, Yahweh promises
salvation to the unrighteous. Should Israel, then,
continue to sin so that grace may abound (cf. Rom 6:1)?
The answer comes in Isaiah 56–66.4

Justifying Christmas
Pa rt i c i pa n t ’ s

Isaiah 64:1
We cannot finish even the first line of our text before encountering points that require some clarification and
discussion and reflection. There are two issues that arise
when we try to get Isaiah to speak English:

The thought of the section coheres nicely if the following
progression is seen:
• In 63:19, Isaiah laments that the people have become like one over whom God had never ruled.

The Text: Is. 64:1-9 5
Read these verses together.

Introduction to the Bible Study Series

Introduction to Session 1: Is. 64:1–9

“Justifying Christmas”: that’s the title that has been chosen
for this Bible study series. What thoughts and expectations
come to mind when you hear it? Most of us probably begin
running through a mental list of the various apologetic
questions and challenges we Christians face every year as
the celebration of our Savior’s birth approaches — “How
can you justify spending so much money on gifts when so
many people have nothing?” “How can you justify incorporating Santa Claus into your family traditions?” “How
can you justify celebrating Jesus’ birth during an originally
pagan festival?” And the list goes on and on.

Isaiah is the prophet quoted most frequently in the New
Testament,2 so many of us are familiar with certain passages
from his writings. What do you remember of the career of
this eighth century B.C. prophet? Horace Hummel provides
the following one-sentence summary of Isaiah’s career:

That, however, is not what this Bible study will be about.
“Justifying Christmas” will not help us learn new and clever
ways to justify what we do every December; rather, it will
help us see how the Scriptures connected with the birth
of Jesus proclaim the good news of justification by grace
through faith. In other words, we’ll be studying how Christmas justifies us as part of God’s gracious work in Christ
Jesus to justify sinners. And if that’s what the Advent and
Christmas Scriptures are proclaiming, then we will better see how everything we do at this time of year — our
readings and songs, our worship gatherings and family
gatherings, our customs and traditions — is or should be
a celebration of how “God, to whom man can find no way,
has in Christ (the hidden center of the Old Testament and
the manifested center of the New) creatively opened up the
way which man may and must go.”1
1

Martin Franzmann, Seven Theses on Reformation Hermeneutics: A Report of

Isaiah lived through, witnessed, and commented on
one of the major turning points in Israel’s history—
from the halcyon days of empire and independence
under Uzziah through the fall of Samaria and the
semi-escape of Judah only by accepting colonial
status under the relentless pressure of the Assyrian
colossus.3

1. Advent is not about remembering Christmases past
(and so trying to feel good about Christmas again) or
looking forward to the end of the world (and trying not to
feel bad about that); it is both discipline and celebration
for the here and now in light of all that God has done
and all that He will do. In the same way, the doctrine
of justification is not simply a matter of knowing how
sins get forgiven or how we “get saved”; it also involves
our understanding of who God is and how He works —
and whether or not we can trust Him. Have there been
moments in your life when you pleaded with God, “If only
You would/would have …”? What was going on in your
life at those times? What did you want God to do?

1. It is very difficult to determine the historical setting of
Isaiah 64.
2. Although Isaiah’s vision is far-reaching in both time and
space, his book is intended to be read as a unified whole.

the Commission on Theology and Church Relations (St. Louis: The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod, 1969), 4. Franzmann added an explanatory footnote to
his summary statement of “radical gospel,” which reads, “To avoid any possible
misunderstanding, it may be noted that ‘may’ signifies ‘is permitted and enabled by
God’ and ‘must’ indicates that there is no second way.”
2
John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1–39, New International
Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), 3.

Horace D. Hummel, The Word Becoming Flesh: An Introduction to the Origin,
Purpose, and Meaning of the Old Testament (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing
House, 1979), 191.

Justifying Christmas — Participant’s Guide |

• “rend the heavens”
• “Oh that you would”

Discussion Questions

With respect to Isaiah 64 in particular, three brief introductory points should be made here:

Isaiah 64:5a
Isaiah turns to the past and reminds God Himself of the way
He has acted: awesomely, unexpectedly, fearsomely, faithfully. From the beginning of time — from the earliest, mistiest
memories of mankind — not a single witness can claim to
have heard with his ear or seen with his eye a god besides the
God Isaiah is praying to. Isaiah brings this happy reminiscence to its summary in verse 5a: “You meet him who joyfully
works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways.”

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Session 1: Is. 64:1-9

R. Reed Lessing, Isaiah 56–66, Concordia Commentary (St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 2014), 14.

• In 64:1–2, Isaiah pleads with God, who alone can
save in such a desperate situation, to intervene with
force, making Himself known once again.
• In 64:3–5a, Isaiah supports his plea by recalling
that God has acted in the past in such dramatic,
unexpected ways, that He alone has acted in a way
to show that He is God, that this is, in fact, the way
God acts toward those who are right with Him and
walk in His ways.
• In 64:5b–7, Isaiah must admit that the people have
no right to expect God to act as He always does
toward the righteous, for they have all sinned and
do not now put their trust in Him.
“You meet him who joyfully works righteousness.”
Before turning to the second half of verse 5, we need to
consider more carefully what it means for the Lord to
“meet” someone.
3. We often speak of Advent as our season of waiting.
How do you think you should spend this season of
waiting in light of the words of Isaiah? What are ways
that you can “do righteousness”? What specific things
do you do that you would regard as “remembering God
in His ways”?

The commentaries can explain the reasons for the differences between the Hebrew
and English versification for our text. In short, English Bibles almost all include
63:19b as part of 64:1. It is important to note this difference if the Hebrew text and/
or commentaries based on it are being consulted and used for the class.

4 | Justifying Christmas — Participant’s Guide

2019 Convention Workbook