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Bishop and Christian*

January, 2010

From the Pastor

As we enter a new calendar year, we have already been in the Church calendar for a month or so.  Which, as we noted last month, helps us to think along the lines of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for us, rather than allowing this world’s concerns to form our thinking.  The first day of 2010 (as with the first day of every year) reminds us of another new beginning: Jesus’ entry into the covenant of circumcision that God had established with Abraham.  But, because Jesus is both God and Man, He does not only enter the covenant as just one more Israelite, but as the Israelite, the fulfiller of the covenant promises to Abraham.  Because Jesus was circumcised, because He full-filled the covenant, and because in our baptism we are clothed with Christ, we no longer need to be circumcised to enter into God’s covenant with all people.  Just as He died once for all, so He was circumcised once for all.  With that circumcision, He already hinted at what was to come with the shedding of His infant blood.  Because He was “cut,” we who are in Him will never be “cut off” from God’s covenant.  (That was part of the meaning for the circumcised people of God in the Old Testament: if their males were not circumcised, they would be cut off from the people of God.)  But the Church celebrates January 1 for another reason: the eighth day after birth was also the day of naming for Jewish babies.  So Jesus was given the Name which the angel had told Mary, Yahshua: “Yah(weh) saves;” because He would save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21; cf. Luke 1:31). 

It is good that this is the feast with which we begin 2010 and every year, because Jesus’ Naming and fulfillment of the Law is at the heart of why He took on our flesh and walked on this earth.  Because we have been baptized into Him, into His death and resurrection, we, too, know that when we die, we will rise again.  Jesus has already traveled this way, and we have nothing to fear from death anymore.  St. Paul writes about this to the congregation(s) of Colossae: “In [Christ] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.  In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.  And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.  This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:9-15, ESV). 

It is fitting, then, to begin this new year with the following words from a New Year’s Day sermon preached by C.F.W. Walther, the first president of the Missouri Synod:

“Should the Christian stand all day long at the grave of all joys which he enjoyed in past years?  Through Holy Baptism a great stream of joy has been conducted in his heart, which does not drain away, but streams forward with his life untils its waves carry him into the sea of a blessed eternity.  Should the Christian be reminded all day long that the flowers of his youth fall more and more?  He stands planted by God in the water of his Baptism as a palm tree which becomes greener and greener whose leaves never wither.  Yes, his Baptism makes death for him like a short winter’s nap, out of which an eternal spring—an eternal youth—follows.  For Baptism is a bath that washed me not only once when I received it—washed me pure with Christ’s blood—but it continuously washes me clean even daily for as long as I hold it in faith.  …  Now then, all of you who believe in God’s Word, let your watchword for entering the new year be this: ‘I am baptized!’  Although the world may laugh at this comfort, the enthusiasts vex its confidence… nevertheless, abandon any other dearly held pledges and speak only through the entire year to come, in all terrors of conscience and necessity through sin and death: ‘I am baptized!  I am baptized!  Hallelujah!’  And you shall prevail!  In every time of need, you will find comfort in your Baptism; on account of it Satan will flee from your faith and confession; and in death you will see heaven opened and will finally come into the joy of your Lord to celebrate a great year of jubilee, a year of praise, with all the angels forever and ever.  Amen!” (Treasury of Daily Prayer, 1077-1078 [Writing for January 1]).

Pr. Winterstein

*St. Augustine (354-430 AD), Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, said, “For you I am a bishop [overseer]; with you I am a Christian.”

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“Now and Then”

John 2:1-12

 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

            It’s a Saturday in June.  You’re sitting in a church, ten rows back on the right side, and you hear the bride say, “I do.”  And the groom says, “I do.”  And the pastor says, “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” and “you may kiss your bride.”  You’re hearing and watching, but your mind is somewhere else.  You’re thinking about how they must feel, and that takes you back to how you felt on your wedding day.  You hear the vows they make to each other and that takes you back to the vows you made.  You reach over and take your husband’s hand, and you both smile because you’re both thinking about the same day.  You’re both thinking about everything that’s happened between that day and this day, and you wonder, “How in the world did we ever get from there to here.”  Or maybe you’re sitting in a church on that Saturday in June, and you’re listening to the bride, and the groom, and the pastor, and thinking about how you felt and the vows you made on your wedding day.  But you’re not sitting next to your spouse.  Between that day and this day something happened; maybe your wife died or vows were broken; maybe you broke your vows.  And you wonder, “How in the world did I ever get from there to here.”  Events like weddings can do that to you.  They can dig up memories that you’d forgotten you buried there.  They dig them up and bring them to you and shove them in your face, and say, “Remember this?”  And you do.  And you wonder, “How in the world did I ever get here?”

            Well, Jesus went to a wedding.  He and His mother and His disciples were invited.  You can imagine the scene; you’ve been to a wedding reception.  There’s Jesus and there are His disciples, and there’s His mother.  There are the bride and the groom.  And they’re all laughing, and eating and drinking, and rejoicing.  They’re celebrating everything that is happening between the bridegroom and his bride.  Out of the corner of your eye, you see Mary whisper something in Jesus’ ear.  She says, “They don’t have any wine.”  And Jesus says, “Woman, what does that have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come.  Do you know what you’re really asking?  Do you realize that if I do this sign today, that I will step onto a road that can only end in one place?  It can only end in Jerusalem; it can only end on the cross.  Do you know what you’re asking?”  And Mary says to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”  And in the eternal will of the Father, to whom the Son willingly submits, Jesus says to the servants, “Fill those stone jars with water.”  The jars for the Jews’ ritual purification.  There are six of them, and they each hold 20 or 30 gallons.  “Fill them.”  So the servants fill them, all the way to the top.  Jesus doesn’t touch the jars; He doesn’t say, “Let there be wine.”  He just says, “Draw some of it out and take it to the head waiter.”  The guy in charge of the wedding celebration; the guy in charge of making sure everything runs smoothly; that they don’t run out of wine; that the celebration doesn’t end before it’s supposed to.  “Take some to him.”  He’s probably running around frantically, because he knows it’s his fault.  He didn’t distribute the wine correctly, or he didn’t dilute it enough.  “Take some to him.”  So they do, and he tastes it, and he’s shocked.  He doesn’t know where it came from.  So he calls the bridegroom and says, “Every man, every man, serves the good wine first.  And then, after seven days of celebration, when the taste buds are a little numb, the senses a little dull, when they can’t tell the difference anymore—then you serve the cheap wine.  But you have kept back the good wine until now.”  You have kept back the good wine until now. 

Neither the head waiter nor the bridegroom know where the wine came from.  But the servants do.  They know what Jesus said to them.  Jesus did this sign.  Jesus enters in to this wedding, and nothing is the same.  He does this sign to show publicly His glory.  John says, “We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only.”  When God becomes flesh and comes into the presence of His creation, nothing can be the same again.  Jesus is fulfilling, in miniature, every promise, every prophecy in the Old Testament.  Because when the Messiah comes, everyone who belongs to Israel will sit under his own vine, and drink his own wine (e.g., Isaiah 62:8-9; 65:21).  He won’t give it to the Assyrians, as they did in 722 BC; He won’t give it to the Babylonians, as they did in 586 BC; he won’t give it to the Romans, as they are now.  When the Messiah comes, His people will come to Him and buy wine and milk without money and without price (Isaiah 55:1).  When the Messiah comes, there will be a feast spread on the Mountain of Yahweh, a feast of well-aged wine (Isaiah 25:6).  This is the new creation, where there will be no lack.  Where Jesus is present, there is an abundance of good things.  But when Jesus does this sign, it is the beginning of the way that will lead to His hour.  He said to His mother, “My hour has not yet come.”  But now He has begun the way to the hour of His suffering, the hour of His death.  That is the hour of His glory, when the Father will glorify the Son and the Son will glorify the Father; and when Jesus is lifted up on the cross, He will draw all people to Himself.  Now, in this hour, Jesus begins the future. 

Until now, you’ve been drinking the wine of your past.  Until now, you’ve been drinking the wine of this world.  You’ve been drinking the wine of bitterness, of wrongs that have been done you.  Until now, you’ve been drinking the wine of anger or apathy; of shame or self-hatred.  Until now, you’ve been drinking the wine of secret sins that eat away at you every time something reminds you of them, digs them up and shoves them in your face.  And you wonder, “How in the world did I get from my baptism to this?”  That wine gives fleeting happiness and false joy.  Everyone knows that eventually you wake up and regret it.  If you keep drinking that wine, it will intoxicate; it will numb and deaden your senses, until you can’t taste the good wine.  It’s like drinking a lot of cheap wine and then tasting an 80-year old vintage.  You’re not going to be able to tell the difference; it all tastes the same to me.  But Jesus enters into these moments, these events; everyday, recognizable events like sitting in a church on a Sunday in January.  You’ve come here with all your past behind you, and Jesus knows it.  He knows your past, but He’s not taking you back there.  He has come here to bring His future to your present, and nothing can ever be the same again.  In His resurrection, He entered the new creation, and the future is now for Jesus.  We wait for the day when the Bridegroom will come and bring us into that future new creation.  But it is not only future.  Jesus has wine that He longs to give you now.  He breaks into everyday moments and recognizable events, and He gives us hints, and tastes of that feast to come.  But His wine doesn’t intoxicate, it doesn’t dull your taste buds or numb your senses.  The wine Jesus has for you sobers, and invigorates, and awakens; it gives you joy that will last forever.  This is His hour: the hour when the Father glorifies the Son and the Son glorifies the Father, and because He is lifted up on the cross, He draws all people to Himself.  This is the hour when all the dead hear the voice of the Son of God and live.  This is the hour when we worship the Father in the Spirit and the Truth.  This is the hour when the Son begins your future, again.  In His presence there is fullness of joy forever (Psalm 16:11).  He has put more joy in our hearts than when their grain and wine abound (Psalm 4:7).  Like 180 gallons of wine at the end of a feast, you can never exhaust His mercy; you can never use up His forgiveness.  Now, today, He brings you into the banqueting hall, the “house of wine,” and His banner over you is love (Song of Solomon 2:4).  You may wonder how in the world you got here, but Jesus is here and He is how, in the world, you get from here to that banquet in the new creation.  Today we rejoice; today we celebrate everything that happens between a Bridegroom and His Bride: as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God rejoices over you.  Today, as you sit here, on a Sunday in January.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, ESV).  Amen.

                      — Pr. Timothy Winterstein, 1/15/10

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“The Son Comes Down”

Luke 3:15-22

 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

            The eternal Son of God comes down into His creation, down into flesh, down into a Virgin’s womb, down into the tiny space of an infant who cannot speak or walk or feed Himself.  He comes down among sinners, who struggle with disease, and loneliness, and depression; sinners who struggle with burdens that are far too big for their small shoulders; sinners who have gone down so far into this world and into themselves that they can’t find their way out again; sinners who confess and cry out for an end to their sin and the sin of others against them.  Into the middle of that He comes down, down into the water in which sinners are baptized, water black with death.  Who would have thought that He was any different from any of the other hundreds being baptized in the Jordan?  But as He is standing in the water praying, He is set apart, identified as the One who needs no repentance.  He, who will baptize with the Holy Spirit, is Himself anointed with the Spirit.  And the Father speaks: “You are My Son, the Beloved; with You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).  Out of all these people, including John, He alone is the Beloved Son of the Father, the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ.  And this is the beginning of His public appearing, His epiphany, to the world.  He is identified there in the Jordan by the Father and the Holy Spirit as the eternal Son, and He begins right there His work as the Messiah for whom all creation had waited. 

Then Jesus comes up from the water and it is the beginning of the end for death.  It is the beginning of the end for your death, because you are there in that water: Jesus was baptized when “all the people were baptized” (Luke 3:21).  Jesus stood not only among the sinners of His time; He stands among all sinners of all times.  Jesus comes up from the water bearing the weight of the whole world, carrying sinners on His shoulders, and He begins there to do what He always does: intercede with the Father for us.  The Father immediately opens heaven to show that He always hears the Son and that they, with the Holy Spirit, have one will for the salvation of all.  Adam, by his sin, had “shut [heaven] against himself and his” descendents, just as the gates of Paradise were closed off by the angel with the flaming sword (see Gregory of Nazianzus, Treasury of Daily Prayer, 1093 [Writing for January 6]).  But Jesus, by His righteousness, opened heaven once again, opened a new Paradise for the children of Adam.  Jesus reunites in Himself heaven and earth, God and Man. 

But His baptism in the Jordan by John was not the end, as we have said, but only the beginning.  It was the beginning of the way that would lead to another baptism, of which Jesus speaks in Luke 12: “I have a baptism to be baptized [with], and how greatly I am distressed until it should be completed!” (12:50)  He did not need either the baptism of repentance in the Jordan or the baptism of blood on the cross, but He took both of them as His own.  He took your sin and mine, for which we need to repent and for which we deserve condemnation; He took our flesh, tainted and diseased; He took our death, and He was willingly baptized with all of it.  Jesus came down into the world and He took everything that has gone wrong in this creation and He is making it right in Himself.  This is perhaps the hardest thing to believe, because we see none of it.  We do not yet see death reverse its course.  We do not yet see the end of sin in this world.  We do not yet see that new creation which Jesus proclaims by His very presence in this creation.  We go on struggling under a sky that looks as if it had never opened.  We do not audibly hear the Father’s voice or see the Spirit in bodily form.  Look around, look within, and all you can see is the black water of sins that you thought were dead and gone; sins you long to repent and see them flow downstream.  Paul says that in our baptism, our old self was crucified with Christ so that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin (Romans 6:6).  And that is true; we are slaves not to sin, but to Christ.  And yet, that old self, that body of sin—it clings and claws, scrapes and scratches, bites and bellows to avoid being pulled under in the mighty flood of baptism.  The only thing to do is to bring it all again to Jesus, who stands here in the water with you.  Confess that you would often rather revel in that body of sin, than kill it off completely.  Confess that you have let it live and breathe in you, as if your baptism was a one-and-done event, as if you didn’t need Jesus to continue to deliver His new life to you.  Your baptism is not done; it is not ended or completed.  It remains as a refuge for you as long as you remain in this life.  God does not have anything more to give you than what He gives you in your baptism, because in your baptism you were baptized into Christ, very literally.  Everything that is Christ’s is now yours.  His life, including His baptism, is yours; His death, the baptism of His blood, is yours; His resurrection, the beginning of the deathless life, is yours.  Because His baptism ended in resurrection, so will yours.  To you, a baptized, believing child of God, He gives all the blessings of the Holy Spirit: faith, forgiveness, salvation, peace, joy, and boldness; by His Spirit, He holds on to you because you cannot keep your own head above the water.  To you, who have been given eyes to see, He identifies His Beloved Son: here, in the Word and the Body and the Blood.  He is here as an objective fact to sustain your baptismal life, especially when your physical life is doing its best to blind and deafen you.  No matter at what stage of life you are, your Lord will never break a bruised reed or quench a faintly burning wick (Isaiah 42:3).   There is no flood of despair, no fire that burns in this life, that can separate you from the God who has created and redeemed you.  He has called you by name and given you a new Name: His own, which He shares with the Father and the Spirit.  You wear His Name!  In the face of every temptation, every doubt, every frustration, cling to the promise; shout it in the face of the devil: I am baptized into Christ!  And then, when these heavens are finally opened and Jesus comes to remake His creation—when we will finally see it all as it is—He will gather His sons and daughters—you, son, and you, daughter—from every corner of the earth, everyone who is called by His Name.  And what the Father said to the Son in the Jordan, what He said to each of us at our baptism into His Son, we will hear Him say face to face: You are precious in My eyes, and honored, and I love you; “You are My Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, ESV).  Amen.

                      — Pr. Timothy Winterstein, 1/8/10

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“A Universal Christmas”

Matthew 2:1-12

  In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

            Every year around Christmastime, if you read around a little bit, you can hear rumblings of discontent from people who feel left out of the celebration.  It may be those who celebrate some other holiday, or it may be those who celebrate no holy days at all because they believe in nothing holy outside themselves.  These atheists vocally assert that Christmas began to be celebrated on December 25 because the pagans who preceded them already had a festival of light on that day.  The Christians stole it and “Christianized” it and now hardly anyone remembers Christmas’ true origins in the semidarkness of paganism.  (You will also occasionally hear Christians who agree with this assessment, and so do not celebrate December 25.)  Even besides the fact that the Romans may have instituted their “feast of the unconquered sun” on December 25 only after Christians were already using it; even besides the strange fact that atheists want to claim paganism, since pagans worshiped all sorts of gods; and even besides the fact that the early Christians were remarkably successful in their theft of the pagan holiday, it seems that the link between Christ and paganism goes deeper than even the pagans and their atheist cousins might want to admit.  But first, we should note that December 25 was not the original “Mass of Christ;” January 6, the Epiphany of Our Lord, was observed far earlier as the celebration both of Christ’s birth and His baptism.  But the dates for both Christmas and Epiphany were chosen not because the early Christians knew when Christ was born, or because they wanted to co-opt some pagan festival, but because they believed He had died on either March 25 or April 6—understanding that, for them, it was logical to assume that a person died on the day he was conceived—so, add 9 months, and you have December 25 or January 6.  What we have, then, in the Church year, is a tying together of Jesus’ conception, birth, and death; He enters flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit; He enters the world from the womb of a virgin, and He conquers death by His death.[1] 

            After the Western Church began to celebrate Jesus’ birth on December 25, Epiphany began to be focused on the Magi from the East, which brings us back to the pagans.  Because that’s what they were.  They definitely weren’t atheists, but they were either priests of a Persian religion called Zoroastrianism, or astrologers, whom people probably assumed had some sort of supernatural power.  A good guess is that when the Jews, including Daniel, were exiled in Babylon, they left behind copies of the Scriptures and these men studied them.  Perhaps they connected the star they saw with the “star [that] shall come out of Jacob” and the “scepter [that] shall rise out of Israel” in Numbers 24, meaning that a new ruler would be connected with a star.  Whatever made them do it, they followed that star.  However, at some point it disappeared, so they went, quite naturally, to Jerusalem looking for the new King.  After leaving the jealous and paranoid King Herod, “See!  The star, which they saw in the east, preceded them, until it came and stopped over where the Child was” (Matthew 2:9).  The sign for the shepherds was the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger; the sign for these Magi was the star over the house where Jesus was with His mother Mary (2:11).  But both the shepherds and the Magi, the Jews and the Gentiles, found what they were looking for where the Child was.  No one should feel left out: Christmas is not just for Christians!  It is for the dirty and the lonely; those who are rich with the wealth of this world and those who have nothing.  It is for kings and peasants, presidents and citizens, pastors and people.  It is for pagans and polytheists, pornographers and pedophiles, the arrogant and the prideful, the paranoid and the vengeful, the greedy and the gossiper.  It—He—is for you, and however you got here, this is the place where the Child is: the Child who grew into a Man and showed by signs and wonders—a Baptism, turning water into wine, healing and casting out demons, and proclaiming the everlasting year of the Lord’s favor for all people—by those, He showed that He is the Savior of every tribe, and people, and language, and nation; who was crucified for being the Man He is, and whom the Father raised from the dead to vindicate Him before the eyes of all people.  Here, in this House of Prayer for All Nations, the Child lies wrapped in the cloths of the Divine Service, which shines with the glory of His Word and Supper.  Seek Him here.  Worship Him here, because this same God-Man will come again in His flesh to judge all nations—atheist, pagan, Jew, and Christian alike—and those whose Holy Spirit-wrought faith causes them to fall on their faces and worship Him like the Magi will also rejoice with exceedingly great joy when He comes again (Matthew 2:10).

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, ESV).  Amen.

                      — Pr. Timothy Winterstein, 1/1/10

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“Hymn”

Let us pray: “As daylight turns to night, we see the fading light, our evening hymn outpouring, Father of might unknown, Thee, His incarnate Son, and Holy Ghost adoring” (LSB 888, st. 2).  Amen.  “What child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?” (LSB 370, st. 1).  “This is He whom seers in old time chanted of with one accord, whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word” (LSB 384, st. 3).  “Why lies He in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding?  Good Christian, fear; for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.  Nails, spear shall pierce Him through, the cross be borne for me, for you; Hail, hail the Word made flesh, the babe, the son of Mary!” (LSB 370, st. 2).  “All you, beneath your heavy load, by care and guilt bent low, who toil along a dreary way with painful steps and slow: Look up, for golden is the hour, come swiftly on the wing, the Prince was born to bring you peace; of Him the angels sing” (LSB 366, st. 3).  “He undertakes a great exchange, puts on our human frame, and in return gives us His realm, His glory, and His name” (LSB 389, st. 4).  “The infant Priest was holy born for us unholy and forlorn; from fleshly temple forth came He, anointed from eternity. … The holy Lamb undaunted came to God’s own altar lit with flame; while weeping angels hid their eyes, this Priest became a sacrifice.  But death would not the victor be of Him who hung upon the tree” (LSB 624, sts. 1, 3, 4).  “Since all He comes to ransom, by all be He adored, the infant born in Bethl’em, the Savior and the Lord” (LSB 383, st. 4).  “O ye heights of heav’n, adore Him; angel hosts, His praises sing.  Pow’rs, dominions, bow before Him and extol our God and King.  Let no tongue on earth be silent, ev’ry voice in concert ring” (LSB 384, st. 4).  “God with us is now residing, yonder shines the Infant Light.  Come and worship, come and worship; worship Christ, the newborn King” (LSB 367, st. 2, refrain).                         

“Saints before the altar bending, watching long in hope and fear, suddenly the Lord, descending, in His temple shall appear” (LSB 367, st. 4).  “All idols then shall perish and Satan’s lying cease, and Christ shall raise His scepter, decreeing endless peace” (LSB 383, st. 5).  “Come, Thou precious Ransom, come, only hope for sinful mortals!” (LSB 350, st. 1).  “Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight” (LSB 357, st. 6).  “Sin’s dreadful doom upon us lies; grim death looms fierce before our eyes.  O come, lead us with mighty hand from exile to our promised land” (LSB 355, st. 6).  “O come, Desire of nations, bind in one the hearts of all mankind; bid Thou our sad divisions cease, and be Thyself our King of Peace” (LSB 357, st. 7). “Bruise for me the serpent’s head that, set free from doubt and dread, I may cling to you in faith, safely kept through life and death” (LSB 352, st. 5).  “May Thy body, Lord, born of Mary, that our sins and sorrows did carry, and Thy blood for us plead in all trial, fear and need: O Lord, have mercy!” (LSB 617, st. 1).  “Hear!  The Conqueror has spoken: ‘Now the foe, sin and woe, death and hell are broken!’  God is man, man to deliver, and the Son now is one with our blood forever. … Softly from His lowly manger Jesus calls one and all, ‘You are safe from danger.  Children from the sins that grieve you, you are freed; all you need I will surely give you’” (LSB 360, sts. 2, 5).  “Sound the trumpet!  Tell the message: Christ, the Savior king, is come!” (LSB 511, refrain).  Amen. 

 – Pr. Timothy Winterstein, 12/15/09