St. Peter Sermons, Etc.

He Taught As Having Authority

2012-01-30T10:09:00.000-06:00

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

It may be said that teachers shape the future. What a teacher saysand does in the classroom forms and informs a significant part ofwhat the students will become. From a very early age, a child istaught to believe what his teacher says, because she is the one old,wise, and learned, the one entrusted with teaching him the way thingsare.

People teach all sorts of “stuff”. Take a look at schoolcurriculum, and you will find vast mountains of information that mustbe processed, digested, and regurgitated into and out of thestudents. Math, science, history, reading, English, art, music, PE –all categories of knowledge and information that a child must graspto become a well-rounded, well-prepared adult in society. And theknow-how and authority to teach all this is granted by a $100,000piece of paper from some college, and a license from the state.

In Jesus' day, the Jews taught many things. They, too, had a greatmass of information and tradition to impart to future generations,and great influence over the lives of the people through the controland interpretation of this material. The Sadducees and Phariseesdivided themselves over the understanding of tradition and how muchof the rabbis' teaching was authoritative. The Sadducees held a muchmore limited view of tradition than the Pharisees. However, in thisstew of tradition and oral interpretation and constant adding to theLaw, no one could really claim to teach with any authority, sincewhatever you said probably could be contradicted by some opinion ofsome source somewhere.

Not many people, ancient or modern, truly teach. For teaching is morethan simply the imparting of knowledge from one to another. Sure,education involves the memorization of facts and figures, but a trueteacher imparts the wisdom to discern what those mean, and how toconnect and build with them. The word “education” comes from aLatin word meaning “to lead out”. Socrates believed that theproper method of education was through questioning and response. Hebelieved that all knowledge is innate, but hidden.

However, none of this is true of Jesus' teaching. His teaching is notsimply impartation of facts, nor the leading out of old, buried,knowledge. The teaching of Jesus is an act of revelation. He Himselfis the Truth, and so His teaching serves to display that Truth. Hereveals God through His own incarnation.

Even the Jews, with their noses andhearts buried in the traditions of their fathers, recognized thedifference in Jesus' teaching. “And they were all amazed,so that they questioned among themselves, saying, 'What is this? Anew teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits,and they obey him.'” WhenJesus teaches, what He teaches is true and trustworthy.

The Jews simply expounded tradition without any sort of authority.Most of Jewish tradition is based only loosely on the actual texts ofthe Scriptures, and more on what the rabbis said about theScriptures. There was no divine or prophetic authority to what theytaught, because they were not teaching the Word of God. At best, theysimply read out the words of the prophets without any spiritualimpact. The Word of the Lord became a way to enslave themselves inthe tangles of Law and tradition, and a crutch to prop up theirsupposed authority over the people of Israel. What God wanted was notso important as what the priests wanted.

Likewise, today all sorts ofproclamations come without any sort of authority. For an example ofthis, just think back to this week's State of the Union address.Politicians routinely make proclamations that sound great, but havequestionable basis in fact and very little authority to ever befulfilled.

In the same manner, the financial sector makes predictions about thestate of your money. Whether it is commodities futures or thedirection of the stock market or the rate of job growth, all peoplecan do is offer educated guesses. There is no real authority, even inthose vested with the right to make such predictions.

Even worse is the matter of proclamations regarding social issues.The court may declare that there is a “right” to same-sexmarriage, but such an entity does not, in fact, exist. The court maydeclare a “right” to have an abortion, but, again, such a rightdoes not exist. Various institutions may call any arrangement ofpersons a family, but that does not make it so. Just because someonein an office makes a statement does not make whatever he or she saystrue. Even those vested with the authority of government do not havethe authority to change reality, any more than they could declare anend to gravity.

It is the height of idolatry tobelieve that any human being or entity can speak with authority notexpressly granted to them. For Jesus says, “All authorityin heaven and on earth has been given to me.”(Matthew 28:17). To God belongs all authority over heaven and earth,and He shares His glory and privilege with no one. Therefore, whenJesus preaches, teaches, or commands with authority, listen to Him.Repent of your sinful idolatry and believe the Word of Truth.

Out of the mess of all the unsound teaching and unfoundedproclamation of this world comes the voice of Jesus. He is the Wordof God Incarnate. He is the Word made flesh, dwelling among us, fullof truth because He is the Truth.

Therefore, Jesus has the freedom and the authority to speak. Whereasthe Jews were bound by tradition and today's proclamations depend onoutside authority, Jesus speaks on the authority given to Him by HisFather. He has authority because He is the Word of the Lord. Hespeaks with authority to you because His life and death give Him thatauthority.

When Jesus says your sins are forgiven, they are, because He is theforgiveness for your sins. When He says that your guilt is takenaway, it is, because His blood has washed it away. Jesus has theauthority over life and death, and by it He secures your life inHimself. He hands Himself over to die according to the authority ofthe Father. He does everything with authority because He is the Lordof Hosts come to save His people from their sins.

The Jews marveled at the teaching of Jesus because it was a newthing. Unlike the teaching of men, Jesus taught with authority. WhenHe spoke, His word came to pass. He commanded the demons to come outof the man, and they obeyed. He taught with authority, and Hisproclamation created faith in the hearts of the hearers. Heproclaimed the fulfillment of the Scriptures, and they were fulfilledin Him. He proclaimed that the salvation of mankind was perfected,and it was so.

Jesus has the authority to declare you righteous, and His word makesit so. His death gave Him the authority to march down into hell,storm the gates, and lead the captives free, to defeat Satan and hisforces forever, triumphing over sin and death. His resurrection givesHim the authority to give you His life, the authority to declare thatyour sins are forgiven, your guilt is taken away, your life is securein Him. His resurrection gives Him the authority to say, “Take, eat– this is My body; take, drink – this is My blood, shed for youfor the forgiveness of your sins.” Jesus speaks with authority,unlike any other, and He speaks you righteous.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Challenge of Contraception for Those Who Respect Life

2012-01-23T10:20:00.001-06:00

As we observe a week of prayer and reflection on the sanctity of human life, I thought it fitting that something be said about the value of the life-creating act itself. The Lord has given us the gift of sex and of fertility, and He has blessed us with the command to "be fruitful and multiply". There are some grievous problems with interfering with this command. Following is a summary of an article I came across, with a link to the full text from the blog of the One More Soul organization.

Contraception poses a challenge to those who respect life. It may not be immediately obvious that there is any connection between contraception and abortion, but on further examination, a relationship between the two becomes apparent. Ignoring the issue of contraception leads to a lost opportunity to respect life to the fullest degree. There are at least three connections between contraception and abortion to consider:
1. Many contraceptives can directly cause early abortions.
2. Contraceptive use creates a perceived need for abortion as a “back-up.”
3. Contraceptive use causes a devaluation of human life.

The fundamental problem with the use of contraception is that it is a form of idolatry - a failure to "fear, love, and trust in God above all things." If your heavenly Father has promised to give you all good gifts, will He not also give you whatsoever He sees that you need? Furthermore, contraception sets up the "ME" as god, divorcing the gifts from the Giver, and telling God that "I" know better how to use His creation than He does.

For the rest of the above-quoted article, please visit the One More Soul blog.

"Power Belongs to God"

2012-01-23T09:33:00.000-06:00

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

“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes mysalvation.” With these wordsthe Psalm today opens. Words of waiting, of expectation, of hope. Youwait in hope for the fulfillment of what has been promised to youfrom times past. Great hope abounds for the gifts to come when theOne who promised them returns.

And so it is as the people of God in times of old waited for thecoming of the promised Messiah. The Lord God had promised to send tothem one who would be Immanuel, God with us, the one anointed to saveHis people from their sins. They waited.

The children of Israel waited, just as children now wait eagerly forthe return of their father, even from a short trip. They wait to findout what Father has brought home. Will it be a new doll, or a toytruck, or some tasty treat for supper? Will it be good news, or someunexpected blessing? Children await eagerly the coming of theirfather, because they have confidence that he will give them all goodthings, whatever he knows that they need.

Waiting is difficult, but it ismade easier by the knowledge that the thing so longed for is of suchgreat joy and worth. For this reason, the people of old waited forthe Messiah. They waited for the One who would save them from theirsins, the One who would reunite them with their Father in heaven, theOne in whom is salvation for all mankind. So likewise, the Churchcontemplates the mystery of the redemption accomplished on the cross,of which we now await the fulfillment.

The Gospel of which we await the fulfillment is the Gospel of life,the message of love and grace for all mankind. This Gospel frees youfrom sin and frees you to wait for the Lord to give you His goodgifts.

Therefore, David reminds himself,and you, “Trust in Him at all times, O people.”Trust in Him, the Lord God, because He is coming soon, and He willgive you all good gifts. “God is a refuge for us.”He delights in giving His gifts to His children, even more perfectlyand wonderfully than any human father could give to his childrenaccording to the flesh.

Because God delights in giving His gifts, and because He is abundantin blessing toward His children, He invites you whom He has chosenas His own to come before Him and to ask Him as dear children asktheir dear father, that you might trust Him to supply your every needof body and soul. The One who is faithful in great things will yetmore be faithful in small things, and He will keep your life. Simplytrust in your Father to provide for you.

But therein lies the problem for you. Your dear Father invites you totrust in Him for all good things, but you do not. You look around andsee nothing, and so you think that He has nothing to give, or that noone is there to give good things to you. Therefore, you yearn andstrive to get them for yourself. Rather than trust in the One who ispowerful to give good things, you settle for the scraps and garbageyou can find yourself.

For, in turning from the God whogives good gifts, you turned toward the powers of this world and thestrength of your flesh. You trust in the wisdom of your own mind tochoose the right path, even when you have no idea where you aregoing. You trust in other foolish and sinful men to show you the way,even though they are leading you toward destruction, but no one cansee it. You put your trust in princes and rulers, in gold and silver.You “exchanged the truth about God for a lie andworshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator”(Romans 1:25).

Therefore, in holding to these lies, you planted yourself on the pathto death. For the message of this world is not of the joy and wonderof creation and life, but of the sorrow of death and destruction.

The prince of this age would have you believe that you hold thepowers of life and death in your hands. After all, you simply need alittle bit of latex or a pill or a little copper, and you can choosefor yourself when the miracle of life will come to pass. Cleaving toyour wife and becoming one flesh can happen on your terms, and thatunion need not be perfected by its producing fruit until you decidethat flower should bloom. For the sake of convenience, for the sakeof expediency, for the sake of selfishness and lust, you can chooseto set aside the command and promise of God and defraud yourself ofthe blessings God gives. That “be fruitful and multiply stuff” isold-fashioned and out-dated.

And if that creation of life slips from your hand, you can take itback almost as easily, says the serpent. Just take this pill, andthat “mistake” will simply slip away. Just come in, lie down, andthat “problem” will get sucked down the tube in a few minutes.Why let yourself be inconvenienced for the sake of this little bundleof tissue? You have all kinds of stuff to deal with already. You havetoo many problems and not enough money. You have too much work andnot enough time. You should only have a child that will be wanted,right?

Since you have grown up, and maybeeven have grown old, the power of life and death is still firmly inyour hands, says the prince of lies. When your life becomesintolerable, when you lose your dignity and your right to do foryourself as you think you ought, you have the right to decide when toclose the book. The good death is the death with comfort and honor.Why deprive others of precious time and resources? Why use up thedwindling resources of our society on those who do not contributemeaningfully, or at least economically? The greatest good for themost people is simply to end the sub-optimal lives of those whosuffer.

The lies of the devil infect every level of your being, and wouldhave you believe that you hold the keys of life and death. But thisis the way that leads only to death. Repent.

“Repent and believe in the Gospel!”Ringing through the hills of Galilee comes this message from thelong-awaited Messiah, the Lamb of God, the One by seers foretold.Jesus Christ comes to His people to redeem them, and He proclaims thecoming of the kingdom of God into the flesh. Where Christ is, thereis the kingdom of God. Where Christ is, there is the salvation of ourGod. He comes, just as the Father has sent Him, to bring you all goodgifts.

He calls you to repent. With David,“pour out your heart before Him.”Confess your sins, and He who is merciful and just will forgive allyour sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Turn from yourevil ways and turn to the way that leads to life. Heed the call ofthe Gospel. Repent and believe.

The Holy Spirit has called you by the Word of God. He has shatteredyour heart of stone and silenced the lies of the devil. He has calledyou to faith, that you may confess your sins and receive the graciousforgiveness of your Father. The Word of Life is spoken to you, thatyou may turn and life. Repent and believe; confess and have faith.Know and be certain that, just as surely as Jesus Christ gave Himselfover into death on the cross, your sins are forgiven.

There is no sin which is notforgiven. No matter whether it is the slightest of oversights, or themost grievous murder, the Lord of Life is strong to save. He whocreated all things has chosen to give His Son to die in your place,that all your sins might be forgiven. You can sing with David, “Heonly is my rock and salvation.”Whether it be preventing a life that could have been, or taking alife just begun, or ending a life not yet finished – these are allsins for which Jesus died. No sin is so great that the blood of Jesuscannot cleanse you from it. Believe the Gospel – your sins areforgiven you.

John Paul II wrote,

TheChurch, faithfully contemplating the mystery of the Redemption,acknowledges this value with ever new wonder. She feels called toproclaim to the people of all times this "Gospel", thesource of invincible hope and true joy for every period of history.TheGospel of God's love for man, the Gospel of the dignity of the personand the Gospel of life are a single and indivisible Gospel.(EvangeliumVitae,<http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_jp02ev.htm>)

Withall boldness and confidence, you can come before your heavenly Fatherand ask Him for all good gifts. You can come before Him, pour outyour heart in repentance, and He will fill you with His forgiveness,life, and salvation. “Powerbelongs to God”– power to create life, power to forgive sins, power to give youall that you need to support this body and life.

The God who is powerful to save is your Father who isgracious to give. Come before Him with all boldness and confidence,and ask that He give you His gifts. He is faithful; He will do it.Fear, love, and trust in Him above all things. The God who said, “Letthere be light,” is able to uphold you at all times, is able tokeep you safe in His love, is able to equip you for every good work.

As we remember those whose lives have been ended byneedless violence, let us proclaim the power of God and the salvationof God. The God of life is strong to save, and He will not fail togive all good gifts. Carry about in your bodies the death of Jesus,that the life of Jesus may be manifest in you. Sing the praise of Himwho died, that all might have life in His name. Repent, believe theGospel, and rejoice in His salvation.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

"The Lord Was Calling"

2012-01-16T12:59:00.003-06:00

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

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to ourfathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to usby his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2).The Word of the Lord has gone out into every generation of man, inmany and various ways, but remarkably always through the mouth ofmen. Today you have heard about one such man, a boy really, and howthe Lord called him to be His messenger to the people of Israel.

The Old Testament lesson begins byrecording that “the young man Samuel was ministering tothe Lord under Eli.” Samuel,from his conception, was devoted to the Lord. His name means “heardof God”, because God heard the cries of his mother Hannah andgranted to her a son. Therefore, she gave him to the Lord to ministerin the tabernacle. Samuel from a young age was brought up in theLord's house, and he honored the Lord, even though he did not yetknow Him. For this, the same is said about Samuel as would be saidabout our Lord: “Samuel continued to grow both in statureand in favor with the Lord and also with man.”(1Sam. 2:26)

And yet, for spending his childhoodin the house of the Lord, Samuel did not yet know the Lord. How canone grow up in a household, and yet not know the Householder? TheScripture records that “the Word of the Lord was rare inthose days.” At various timesin Israel's history, the Lord sent many prophets into the land toproclaim His Word. In the time of the judges, prophecy was notuncommon. Prophets were called from many places.

However, at the time of Samuel, the Word of the Lord was in shortsupply. In the absence of the Word, laziness and wickedness abounded,even in the house of the Lord. Chapter two of 1 Samuel records thewickedness of the sons of Eli, and how he refused to rebuke them. TheWord of the Lord was rare because there was no one to who the Lordcould give visions. His worship was profaned, and the altar of Godwas turned into a barbeque for the priests. The sons of Eli did notrespect the sacrifices, but took the choicest portions forthemselves.

Therefore, since the Word of theLord was not honored, “there was no frequent vision.”The gift of prophesy and the giving of the Word were withheld fromthe people of Israel because of the hardness of their hearts and thewickedness of the priests. As threatened throughout the Scriptures,when the Word of the Lord is ignored and His gifts despised, the Lordretreats from His people and withholds His blessings. The Word of theLord was rare and visions were scarce because the Lord had rejectedEli on account of his laziness and hardness of heart for failing tohonor the Lord's sacrifices and failing to train up his sons toworship the Lord properly.

Now, Eli's “eyesighthad begun to grow dim so that he could not see”.He could not see because his eyes had grown dim. Likewise, his eye offaith had grown dim because he had forsaken the Word of the Lord andhad not kept all that had been commanded to him to observe accordingto the Law of Moses. When the eye of faith is closed to the things ofGod, blindness sets in. Gross darkness and the shadow of death becomethe vision that stands before the unbelieving eye. Eli existed notonly in the blindness of eye but in the blindness of unbelief andidolatry. His eyesight slid away as he slid from his God-givenoffice.

This follows the example shown byAdam and Eve in the Garden. They were created being able to see andembrace and enjoy all the good gifts which the Lord had given themthroughout creation. However, the lie the serpent sold them was thatthe fruit would make them able to see good and evil. However, ratherthan enhancing their sight, that forbidden fruit destroyed them,making them only able to see evil, and blinding them from seeing goodin themselves or anything or anyone else. The eye of faith is dimmedand blinded by sin, and when the Word of the Lord is not heeded, thatblindness only deepens.

However, “the lamp ofGod had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple ofthe Lord, where the ark of God was.”The eye of faith may have been blinded in Eli, the Word of the Lordmay have been withheld from the people of Israel, but the Lord hadnot abandoned His people altogether. That faintly burning wick stillsmoldered, and the Lord would not blow it out. The young Samuel wasnot hardened by unbelief and idolatry, and so the Lord chose him tobe His prophet, to proclaim the Word of the Lord to the people ofIsrael.

The Word of the Lord has gone outinto every land, among every nation. Despite all appearances to thecontrary, the Lord never leaves nor forsakes His people in any timeor place. Even in the midst of deep darkness, the Light of the Worldcannot be extinguished. “The light shines in thedarkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”In every time and place, there will be a remnant, a Diaspora, ascattered seed, from which sprouts the holy Church. The Word of theLord grows when and where He wills, as the Spirit blows. But even inthe midst of deep darkness, the lamp of God has not gone out.

“Then the Lord called Samuel.”In the midst of the darkness, the Lord called one to be Hislight-bearer. He called Samuel to receive and to speak His Word, thathe might illumine the darkness. Out of the darkness, the Lord called,and Samuel responded in faith: “Here I am!”

However, Samuel responded in the wrong direction. Not knowing that itwas the Lord calling him, he ran to Eli. Eli's response: I did notcall you – go away. Eli did not, and could not yet discern that theLord would be calling Samuel. So he sent the boy away.

The Lord did not give up, buteventually even worked through the dimness of Eli's faith. Heinstructed Samuel to respond, “Speak, Lord, for yourservant hears.” When the Lordcalls, He will not be ignored. Jonah tried, and he ended up in thebelly of a whale. Moses tried to get out of the Lord's call, and theLord hemmed Him in. Here, however, Samuel responds in humblesubmission to the call of faith.

The Lord whom he did not know called Samuel to faith. By the Word ofthe Lord, Samuel came to know what had been hidden from him. By theWord of the Lord, Samuel would go on to lead the people of Israelthrough good times and bad. He would be the instrument of God for theanointing of kings. He would be the mouth of the Lord for theproclamation of the promise of salvation for all generations. TheLord spoke to His people of old by the prophet.

But now, in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. Whileyou did not yet know Him, while you were yet in darkness and theshadow of death because of the sin of your fathers and the hardnessof your heart, the Lord called to you with His Word and Spirit. Hecalls you by the Gospel, that He might make you His own. He calls youto bear His light and life within you, that the lamp of God might notgo out of this place. He calls you to receive His gifts, that youmight sing the praises of Him who died for you.

Now, in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. He hasspoken to us the Word of forgiveness. He has spoken to us the Wordwho was nailed to the cross. He has spoken to us the Word who is thelight and light and salvation of all mankind. He has spoken to youthe Word which says, “Your sins are forgiven.” He has called youout of darkness and into His light. He has removed the scales fromyour eyes and lightened your darkness.

Now, in these last days, theblindness of sin is removed from you, so that you may see and receivethe wondrous gifts of God, and so that you may see the manifold worksthat He has prepared for you to do in Christ Jesus. He has openedyour eyes, that you may see and believe, and believing you may havelife in His Name. With open eyes, therefore, you may walk upon thepath into which He has called you, and you may “teachthem diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sitin your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down,and when you rise.”(Deuteronomy 6:7)

Lord, Your words are waters living

When my thirsting spirit pleads.

Lord, Your words are bread life-giving;

On Your words my spirit feeds.

Lord, Your words will be my light-bear

Through death's cold and dreary night;

Yes, they are my sword prevailing

And my cup of joy unfailing! (LSB 589.3)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Voice of the Lord

2012-01-09T12:56:00.001-06:00

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

What is the power of a voice? Something so fragile, that it can bebroken by hormones, by sickness, by injury. Something that can beshut up, stopped, silenced without hardly a thought. A voice seemslike such a weak and frail thing, and yet a voice can hold greatpower.

Think of your mother's voice. What do you think of when you think ofa mother's voice. With her voice and her words, a mother has thepower to soothe just about any hurt. Some of the worst experiences ofchildhood can be healed by Mommy's words, “It will be okay, dear.”A mother's voice can encourage and lift up even the weakest child togreat heights. With the encouragement of a mother, men have beenspurred on to accomplish great and mighty things. A mother can lovewith her words and voice like none other can.

On the other hand, think of what a malevolent voice can do. An enemycan use his voice and his words to insult and disparage you. He canmake the gift of speech into the tool of the devil to hurt you, tomock you, to belittle you. Scorn and hate and lies come through thevoice. A voice can tear down and destroy. Self-fulfilling prophesiesafflict so many. Tell a child that he is slow, fat, ugly, worthless,unloved – abuse his mind in this way long enough, and he willbelieve it. Words can condemn when uttered in judgment.

In our psalm today, Davidproclaims, “The voice of the Lord is powerful.”Indeed it is! You heard in the Old Testament lesson just how powerfulthe voice of the Lord is – that He speaks, and creation leaps intobeing. “God said, 'Let there be light,' and there waslight.” The Father utters HisWord, that is, He sends forth the Son, and the Word is carried uponHis breath, namely His Spirit. As the Son is begotten and the Spiritproceeds, so they accomplish the purpose for which the Father sendsthem, which is to create and give life. When the Lord speaks, HisWord does what He says, always.

Furthermore, what the Lord creates by the power of His Word, He callsgood. His voice utters forth upon His creation and says that it isvery good. What God has called good, let no man call bad. The Lordcreates all things for His good purposes, and He suffers you to usethem accordingly.

The voice of the Lord did not cease to resound when He rested on theSabbath. David declares that the voice of the Lord still goes out,and His Word orders and governs all of creation. His voice shakes thefoundations of the earth. His Word shapes the days and times. HisSpirit gives life according to His great plan. The Word of the Lordknits together babies in the womb, and at His Word the deer givebirth. Just as at His speaking the universe was born, so likewiseevery child born since. When the Lord speaks, things happen, and whatHe does is always good.

But not so with you. Out of the mouth of man come all manner of lies,hatred, slander, deceit, and wickedness. Your evil heart has stoppedyour ears from hearing the life-giving Word of the Lord. His voice,which called you into being, falls upon deaf ears. You disregard whatHe speaks to you. You mock, profane, and abuse what He has calledgood. You call good and right what He has not given to you and whatHe has forbidden you. The Spirit has put good words into your mouth,but you swallow them. Instead, your lips speak reviling and mockery.You fail to speak a good word to those in need. You speak ill ofthose who have not injured you. You fail to speak peace to those inturmoil. For all this, the voice of the Lord speaks condemnation toyou.

The voice of the Lord declares that He desires to seek and to savethe lost. He desires not the death of His saints, but that all cometo the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins. However, inthis case, the Lord cannot simply speak the justification of sinnersinto being. The Word must be enacted.

Therefore, according to the Father's purpose and pleasure, the Wordbecame flesh. The all-powerful Word of the Lord became a man, born ofthe Virgin Mary, and took on human flesh and blood “for us men andfor our salvation.” The Word of the Lord spoken into the ear ofMary accomplished this great mystery, and the Word of the Lord wasbrought forth from the womb of Mary according to the will of HisFather.

This selfsame Word of God, our Savior Jesus Christ, was baptized inthe Jordan River by John the Baptist. The Word of the Lord enteredthe waters, which served as a washing away of sins for the masses ofhumanity. Here, the Great Exchange begins. From the waters, Jesustakes up all that is bound up in the sinful heart of man. The sin,death, and condemnation that are washed off the children of God aretaken into the person of Jesus Christ. Your sin is removed by Histaking it up. In its place, He imparts His holiness, blessedness, andrighteousness to and through that blessed flood. By His Baptism inthe Jordan, our Lord hallowed all waters to be a sacred flood for thesalvation of mankind, for your salvation.

This Word made flesh then rose up out of the waters of the Jordan andwas lifted high upon the cross. He was sacrificed so that by theshedding of His blood, the Word might prove to be true, that the Lordhas redeemed His people. The Word of forgiveness hung on the cross,so that the word of forgiveness might ring forth through all theworld. He has died, that you might no longer die. He has risen, thatyou too might rise to newness of life. He has given His Word andSpirit, that you might dwell in them richly.

From the cross, our Lord Christproclaimed, “It is finished!”,and He gave up His Spirit. He accomplished your salvation by theshedding of His blood, and He delivers it to you by giving you theHoly Spirit, the Comforter, to dwell with you and to declare to youthe Gifts of God. His Word is your constant companion, as the Spiritspeaks Him into your heart and mind and places Him on your lips tospeak to others words of blessing and peace.

With that same voice that declared salvation accomplished, the Lorddeclares you to be righteous for Jesus' sake. The powerful, creativevoice of God sounds forth into the darkness and calls you into being,calls you to be His dear child and to live with Him in paradise.

At the foundation of the world,“The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of thewaters.” The Spirit broodsover the waters as a hen sits on her eggs, to warm and quicken andgive life. The Spirit hovers over the waters to create life accordingto the Word of the Lord. In the beginning, the Spirit hovered overthe depths of the void, waiting to proceed forth from the mouth ofthe Lord to create.

Likewise, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters of the Jordan asJesus entered them. He came down and alighted upon Jesus, marking Himas the beloved Son, as the Father declares Him to be. He alightedupon the waters sanctified by Christ, to make them a rich,life-giving bath for all who receive them. What once was a symbol ofdeath and destruction is now a sign of life and rebirth.

So also, the Spirit of God hovers over the waters of this font. Healighted upon those waters as they were poured over you, and Heimparted the life of Christ to you through them. He calls you up outof the flood and gives you the Gifts of God – forgiveness, life,and salvation. He enters the waters and engraves upon you the Name ofGod, proclaiming in that watery voice that you are the beloved Son,with you the Father is well-pleased.

The voice of the Lord is indeed powerful. His Word speaks creationinto being. His Word orders the stars of the sky and the babies inthe womb. His Word bespeaks you righteous and calls you His own. TheSpirit of the Lord calls you by the Word of the Lord and makes you achild of God. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God drawsyou to Himself, forgives your sins, and establishes you in His holyChurch. The Word of the Lord makes ordinary water into a life-givingflood, makes bread and wine into food for your soul. His Word makesit so. God's Word does what He says.

These truths on Jordan's banks were shown

By mighty word and wonder.

The Father's voice from heav'n came down,

Which we do well to ponder:

“This man is My beloved Son,

In whom My heart has pleasure,

Him you must hear, and Him alone,

And trust in fullest measure

The word that He has spoken.” (LSB 406.3)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Beginning with Bloodshed

2012-01-03T12:53:00.001-06:00

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

Today is the beginning of a new year. With all the hopes and dreams and possibilities this day brings, no doubt you would like to put away the past year, with all the news of bloodshed, disaster, and violence. Some good news would be nice. A positive message to start the year off right. Something to give hope and joy. Not a message about bloodshed.

But bloodshed is how the Church starts the new year. In today's Gospel lesson, Luke records two things – that the Christ-child was circumcised, and that He was given the name Jesus. According to the Law of Moses, the Son of Man was brought to the temple and had done what was prescribed. On this day the shedding of His blood for you began. And so, it is only right that this new year begin with bloodshed.

Why circumcision?

For the ancient people of God, circumcision was a theological matter, and not a medical or social thing. It had nothing to do with hygiene, but everything to do with the command and promise of God. The Lord instituted circumcision for Abraham and his descendants, as a sign in the flesh of His covenant with His people, that the Lord would be their God, and they would forever be His people.

In this flesh, in a seemingly lowly and foolish member, God chose to execute His covenant with Abraham, because by this flesh of a man are all generations begotten. Therefore, the circumcision in the flesh points to the root of sin – actual sin which is inherited from our first father, Adam. As Luther writes, the circumcision of that which makes a man at once condemns the passing on of inborn sin, and yet preserves the human race and begets the whole Christian Church according to the flesh.

According to this command, having received this sign in their flesh by the shedding of blood, the children of Abraham were to walk according to all that the Lord gave in command and promise. However, despite the circumcision of their flesh, the children of Abraham retained the sin of mankind in their hearts. They often walked astray and followed after the lusts and desires of their own hearts and flesh, rather than following the Word of the Lord which was spoken to their father for all generations.

So, according to this same command, the Son of Mary was brought to the temple on His eighth day, and He was marked with the same bloody sign of the covenant. However, unlike all of the sons of Abraham before Him, this Son received circumcision not as a sign of a promise made, but of a promise kept. His shedding of blood, begun on this day in the temple, accomplished the promise that the Lord would send a savior into the world, the promised son of Abraham who would save His people from their sins.

Having done what the Law demanded, the Christ-child continued to live according to the covenant executed in His flesh, not only in flesh, but in spirit. He walked according to the Law of His Father. He kept the Law of Moses perfectly, fulfilling it entirely. In this, He showed Himself to be the true Son of God. He became the “end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4). The Christ did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it, that its curse might be removed by the shedding of His blood, which began with this bloody sign performed in the temple.

At the same time, as He was circumcised in His flesh, the Child was given the name Jesus. Today, you give a child a name that is meant to be cute or creative or traditional or family-related. Then, it was the custom that the first-born receive a variant of his father’s name. But this Child received a name that was above all those superficial concerns and motives.

His name was to be called Jesus. This is the name that was given to Mary and Joseph by the angel Gabriel when the Child who would be born of Mary was conceived. Just as Jesus was conceived miraculously, without any say-so from Mary or Joseph, so also His name was given. His Father in heaven ordained that His name be Jesus, “for He shall save His people from their sins.”

The name Jesus means “The LORD saves”. The angel explained this to Joseph when he commended Mary to Joseph. So, you see, Jesus does according to who He is. He is the Lord come into the flesh “for us men and for our salvation” as we will shortly confess. He is the salvation of the world, even as a tiny, eight-day-old baby. The salvation of the world, the God who saves, is not just some abstraction, but flesh and blood, cradled in the arms of Mary and Joseph, struck by Moses’ knife.

By His perfect submission to the Law, by His full keeping of it, Jesus does what you could never do. He saves you from your sins. He redeems you, and all humanity, from the pit of destruction, from the wrath of God. He gives His perfect obedience to you, and He bears the suffering, pain, and death of your failure to keep the Law.

So, therefore, the circumcision of Jesus is also your circumcision. Where formerly the shedding of blood to mark the covenant between God and man occurred in the loins of the males, now it resides in the body of Jesus Christ. You no longer need circumcision in the flesh. You need the circumcision of the heart. That is, you need Jesus. His circumcision, His perfection, His fulfillment of the Law for you.

In Galatians, St. Paul describes your adoption as sons of God in Jesus. He writes, “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” (Gal. 3:26) The blood of Jesus does what no amount of your blood, what no blood of any man born of the flesh could do. He unites God and man together. He bridges the divide and seals your adoption as children of God in His flesh and blood. “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:29). It is not the circumcision made with hands, but the cutting off of your old sinful heart that effects the covenant and the promise in the blood of Jesus poured out for you.

Therefore, through your baptism into Christ Jesus, His circumcision counts for you, whether male or female, young or old, and that bloody sign gives you all the rights of a son of God. It gives you access to the Father, to cry out “Our Father, who art in heaven!” It gives you the promise that He will never leave you nor forsake you.

So, you see, the name of Jesus explains His entire life, including His circumcision. This bloody sign executed on the eighth day begins the new creation through the shedding of blood. This bloody sign shows you how your salvation is accomplished: by blood, by suffering, and by death. This bloody sign makes Jesus’ name true - He is the LORD who saves His people from their sins.

Just as in circumcision His foreskin was cut off, in Jesus crucifixion your sin and death were cut off from you, so that you might receive the true circumcision of the heart. By this you know that you have new life.

In place of the old covenant of circumcision, Jesus gives a new covenant and promise. He takes bread and says, “This is My Body.” He takes wine and says, “This cup is the new covenant in My Blood which is shed for you for the remission of sins.” At this altar, you receive Jesus, the whole Jesus, the true Body and Blood of the One who is your life and salvation. And in this meal, the LORD comes to save His child - He comes to save you. He comes to give you everything that is His, everything that He has earned by the shedding of His blood. You are heirs of forgiveness, life, and salvation through the blood of Jesus.

Therefore, it is a good thing that the new year begins with bloodshed. We begin this year with the blood of Jesus on our tongues. And we go forth with the name of Jesus on our foreheads, on our hearts, and on our lips. Be covered in His precious blood, and ever show forth the Lord’s death until He comes again.

Sing praise to the God of Israel!

Sing praise for His visitation!

Redeeming His people from their sin,

Accomplishing their salvation,

Upraising a mighty horn within

The house of His servant David! (LSB 936.1).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

"Let the Favor of the Lord our God Be Upon Us"

2012-01-03T12:36:00.001-06:00

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

In the Psalm we just sang, Mosesleads us to pray, “Satisfy us in the morning with Yoursteadfast love.” Indeed, youshould pray this each night, but it is especially fitting as wegather to usher in the new year by receiving the Lord's gifts. Fortonight we sit in darkness and wait.

Just as the sun has set on this day, and a new day will rise with thedawn tomorrow, so also the time is far spent on this year, andtomorrow will bring the rising of a new year, with all that brings.But tonight, we wait – whether eagerly or apprehensively – forthe coming of the new day and the mercies of the Lord to be pouredout anew.

Tonight the old year passes, and tomorrow the new begins. As scoresaround the world keep vigil, you will leave the past behind like ashadow fading in the dawn. The thrills and triumphs of this year willstand in your memories, but their bloom will fade and theirbrilliance dim. The monuments of your achievements will crumble evenas they are newly set. The mind's eye will try to focus upon the goodand leave out the bad, sometimes with more success than others. Thegrass withers and the flower fades.

On the other hand, the passing ofthe old year also means saying goodbye to the failures of thesemonths. Did you make New Year's resolutions this time last year? Howdid they turn out? Most people do not manage to give up that badhabit, lose those few pounds, or put much more in the bank. Sincethis time last year, twelve months have passed, full of missedopportunities to share God's grace. You have not loved your neighboras yourself. You have said harsh words, or failed to speak words ofcomfort. Your actions have deserved punishment and anger, and youhave not asked forgiveness or made amends. You have become moreisolated from those who would love you, who would comfort and helpyou.

But all that is passing away. The future is upon you. Look forwardinto the darkness of the new year, and many exciting things are instore. Babies will be born. Young men and women will enter into HolyMatrimony. Youths will be confirmed. There will be crops to beplanted and harvested, deer to be hunted, produce to be canned. Youwill travel hither and yon for business and pleasure. You will spendmany hours in activities that bring you satisfaction, or simply inrelaxation with loved ones. You will make a trove of new andwonderful memories.

Apprehension also marks the beginning of this new year. The crops maynot do well. Weather may dampen a joyous season or occasion. Moneymay be tight, jobs few and far between. That situation that you didnot deal with in the past year may come to a head. Confrontation mayarise over problems of which you only have hints. The country willcontinue its slide into debt and chaos, as will the rest of theworld. The candidate you dislike may be elected to office.

In the midst of all this, on the great wave of change, your onlyrecourse is to cry out, “Lord, have mercy!” Pray that the Lord inHis mercy would keep you steadfast through this coming year, and foras many more as He sees fit. Pray that in His Mercy, He would forgiveall the failings of the past and guide the directions of the future.Pray that His mercy not extend simply to the small extent in yourfrail mind, but overwhelm you with His grace and favor. Pray that Hewill satisfy you with His steadfast love, not just now, not just alittle, but always and super-abundantly.

Following Moses, we pray, “Makeus glad for as many days as You have afflicted us.”How often you feel tempted to ascribe to the Lord the afflictions youface. And sometimes, you are right. The Scriptures say that “theLord disciplines the one He loves”(Hebrews 12:6). The Lord allows ill tidings to befall those whobelieve for the sake of molding and strengthening your faith. He willnot let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but will alwayssustain you in the midst of trials. St. Paul says about the Christianlife, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken;struck down, but not destroyed” (2Corinthians 4:8-9).

However, afflictions come as a result of sin. The Lord does not needto send calamity; He simply lets you have the fruits of your sinfullife. Suffering is the fruit of sin, because sin begets death. Onemay not say that X sin caused Y problem, generally, but sin alwayscauses death. The idols your heart makes give you the worthlessnessthey are capable of generating.

Therefore, Moses prays fordeliverance from the wrath due for sin. Likewise, you pray often,“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”For the Lord to have mercy means that He not visit upon you His wrathand anger, even though it be well-deserved on account of your sin.You must pray fervently for divine mercy, that you be spared fromcalamity, from sudden and evil death, from all manner of evil.

However, all is not darkness anddoom. For, with Moses, we pray, “Let Your work be shownto Your servants, and Your glorious power to their children.”The works of the Lord are indeed shown to His servants, and His powerdisplayed to all generations. The Lord has heard the prayers of Hispeople, and He has relented from the alien work of His wrath. For theIncarnation of our Lord has led Him to the cross, where the Son ofGod bore in His body the full measure of the punishment due for sins,that you might escape from the wrath to be revealed.

Furthermore, the glorious power ofthe Lord has been displayed for all people in that He deigns to havemercy upon His chosen people. He has visited His people and redeemedthem. The glory of the Lord is displayed on the cross, where JesusChrist, the Blessed One, was sacrificed for the sake of sinners. Theglory of the Lord is shown chiefly in that He forgives sins. His workhas been shown to all generations of the children of man, because theChurch has stood for all time, and shall continue until the end oftime.

The glory of God is displayed through the Church in the Gifts whichChrist gives. He displays Himself in the water as it is poured overyour heads. He announces His works through the mouth of the pastorwho preaches the Gospel and absolves you of your sins. He shows forthHis death in His Holy Supper, where Christ Himself feeds you with Hisown Body and Blood, wherein you receive the fruits of His wondrousworks, the blessings of His glorious power.

Therefore, “Let thefavor of the Lord our God be upon us.”Let His Spirit rest upon you, His children, that you may continue inHis grace and favor. For where His gifts are, there He is. His favoris upon you, because His Name is upon you. Because His Name is uponyou, you are His, and all that is His is yours.

And so, you can safely pray,“Establish the work of our hands upon us.”Left to yourself, this would be a terrible threat, one you wouldnever dare to voice. But, in the grace and favor of the Lord, He willestablish upon you His work done through human hands, even throughyour hands. He will strengthen you to do His will, “Forwe are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, whichGod prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”(Ephesians 2:10) The Lord has created you to do His will, and He willsee that it is done, however imperfect the instrument or impure yourmotives. His kingdom comes and His Name is hallowed among those whohear His Word and live according to it. He establishes upon you thework of His hands. O Lord, “Accept what is Thine own, And pardonwhat is ours” (LSB 921.2).

Therefore, we pray, “ Satisfyus in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice andbe glad all our days.” Astomorrow dawns with all the joys and possibilities of the new year,rejoice and be satisfied with the steadfast love of the Lord, “forHe is good, and His steadfast love endures forever.”(Psalm 136:1)

Guide us waking, O Lord,

and guard us sleeping,

That awake we may watch with Christ,

and asleep we may rest in peace (LSB 258).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

"He Undertakes A Great Exchange"

2011-12-27T09:40:00.000-06:00

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

“All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”Today, in your hearing, this Scripture is fulfilled. Today Christ isborn. Today the Light of the World is become flesh. Today the God ofheaven is made man and is born of a virgin. The Light has pierced thedarkness and the darkness is destroyed. The Creator has becomecreaturely, has become a man. God becomes man, and all flesh shallsee the salvation of our God.

For the children of man have sat in darkness for untold ages. Sincethe Fall, man has been engulfed in deep darkness and the shadow ofdeath. Formerly, you were alienated from the Lord and His grace. Youforsook His gifts, and sat in darkness and bondage. You chose to dowhat is best for yourself in your own eyes, and isolated yourselffrom others, even those who would attempt to love you. Even your lovefor others has been tainted by the poison of sin, which turns loveinto misuse.

Therefore, you were left to sin in great darkness, in the shadow ofdeath. You mourned and wept, and further caused grief by your ownsins and trespasses. You existed as ships, not passing in the night,but colliding in the fog of death and deceit. You were helpless,dead, and in impenetrable darkness.

But then, in the fullness of time, after myriad ages of darkness, theLight has dawned! The Word has become flesh and dwelt among us. TheLord has come to His people and redeemed them! He comes among sinfulman, takes up flesh and blood of man, and sanctifies us.

“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has notovercome it.” Finally, theLord has rent the heavens and come down. He has shined the light ofHis grace, life, and truth into your dark, benighted sphere. He hassanctified all mankind by taking on flesh and blood and dwellingamong us. He has come, not as a strange, alien, other-worldly being,but as a man, the son of a woman, having body and blood, mind andsoul.

As we just sang, “He undertakes a great exchange, Puts on our humanframe, And in return gives us His realm, His glory, and His name”(LSB 389.4). God has become man, not by the lowering of the Godheadinto humanity, but by the taking up of humanity into the Godhead.Hail the Incarnate Deity! The Lord God of Hosts is a man. He hastaken up all that is yours, so that He might purify and perfect it,so that you might be made pure and holy and perfect.

The Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ is the first step in Hisearthly journey toward Calvary. His birth in the flesh in that stablein Bethlehem was the guarantee, the token and pledge given to you andto all creation that He would redeem His people and restore allcreation. He came not to be served, but to serve, and to give Hislife as a ransom for many. He was born a baby in order that He mightbecome a man, in order that He might die for all men.

In exchange, He gives to you all that is His. He gives you Hisforgiveness, life, and salvation. He gives you His Body and Blood assure tokens of His grace and favor. He gives you His name, engravedupon your forehead and your heart. He gives you the keys to thekingdom of heaven, access to the throne of the Father. He makes youwho were not a people to be a people, chosen and beloved of the Lord.His Incarnation is the seal and pledge of this. In that moment,salvation is as good as accomplished, because nothing can stop Himfrom setting His face toward that place and that cross.

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, hegave the right to become children of God.”His guarantee is fulfilled by His cross. The Lord cannot lie; Hepledged Himself to your salvation, and He is faithful, He has doneit. Upon the cross, our Lord cried out “It is finished!”Your forgiveness has been won, your peace has been restored, your joyhas been perfected.

And yet, you still now sit in theedge of the light. Another Advent season has passed, and anotherChristmas morning has dawned. We rejoice that Christ has come, He hasdied, and He is risen. But we realize that He has not yet come again.And so we continue to pray, “Even so, Lord Jesus, quicklycome!” Salvation isaccomplished, but is not yet delivered fully. The light has dawned,but the Sun of Righteousness is yet to rise permanently.

But take heart, for we have seen His glory. All flesh has seen ittogether. Veiled in flesh, we have seen the Godhead. Immanuel hasbeen born. God is with us, because God is man. The glory of the Lordis risen to the throne of heaven, where He lives and reigns for you,until the day when He shall call His angels to bear you home. Theglory of the Lord shines round about you, now and always, because theglory of the Lord is given to you. The Lord dwells within you, fullof grace and truth. And so we pray, “By Thine all-sufficient meritRaise us to Thy glorious throne!” (LSB 338.2).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

2011-12-27T09:38:00.000-06:00

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

“Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!”Thus sang the multitude of the heavenly host who appeared to theshepherds on the occasion of our Lord's birth. “Behold,the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”Thus said John the Baptist when our Lord came to him at the JordanRiver. These exclamations are indeed fitting for the glory andsplendor of the Lord of Hosts, who comes in glory.

God is indeed seated in glory upon the throne of heaven, encircled bythe angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. It is He whois and who was and who is to come, the First and the Last. He isworthy of our praise, worship, glory, and thanksgiving, for He hasdone marvelous things. After all, it is the Lord of Hosts who createdheaven and earth and all that is in them. It is He who created youand me, and every living thing. It is He who keeps the heavenlybodies in their proper motions, and keeps the earth spinning aright.

But you despise that fact. You would rather not acknowledge God asLord. Left alone, you hardly would acknowledge God as God at all.Rather, you want to be your own author and perfector. You want to runyour own life. You would much prefer to do things your own chosenways, which probably would not often intersect with the choices ofothers, but probably often clash. You might remember the old song,“Anything you can do, I can do better.” That is how you, asnatural man, live your lives – always trying to best the other guy,and trying your darnedest to thumb your nose at God. It is not hardto find people nowadays who do not deny God, but simply do not care.After all, I can do it myself. The Lord of Hosts is in competitionwith a crop of stubborn three-year-olds.

Andbecause of your stubborn stiff-necked-ness, you run yourselves into amaelstrom of problems. Sex without love begets babies withoutparents. Work without purpose begets money without plans. Stuffwithout use begets hoarding without thought. Relations withoutfoundation beget pain without gain. Death without life begets lifewithout hope. KyrieEleison!

Butin the midst of the swirling clouds of doom and despair, what isthere? “Behold,the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”Into the midst of a people wracked with fear and pain and death, thespotless Lamb of God, Christ Jesus your Savior breaks. Into yoursorry, wretched existence in a world of sorry, wretched people “theonly-begotten Son, Jesus Christ” enters and redeems you.

Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, comes from heaven and takes on yourhuman flesh and blood. He lays aside the glory of his Godhead andtakes up the Cross. In His broken flesh upon the Cross, though, theglory of God is revealed to all. The Son of God is crucified forsinful men. The perfect Lamb of God is sacrificed for imperfectsheep. In His death, Christ Jesus destroys death and the power ofSatan. All the hurt, the grief, the despair, the captivity is undonein that moment. The gates of hell are shattered, and the ransomedsouls are freed to eternal life. Your sins are forgiven.

So therefore we sing “Glory to God on high; and on earth peace,goodwill toward men” God has glorified His Son through theall-availing sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. He has given peace onearth and shown His goodwill toward men. His peace is secured by theCross, and guaranteed by Christ's glorious resurrection. His peace ispoured across your lips and drunk down your throat.

Our song is not forever “Lord, have mercy!” No! Our song is “OLord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sin ofthe world, have mercy upon us.” We confess that we are by naturesinful and unclean, but we believe that “Thou shalt come... to saveThy people and bless Thine heritage.” But we do not simply wish andwant for the salvation of mankind. It has been accomplished inChrist, and is secured forevermore. His flesh given to us puts thatsalvation on your tongues. His blood poured out for you quenches thehellfire within and gives life to once-dead man.

For all this, you are called to hallow the Name of God. And how doyou hallow God's name? By proclaiming His wondrous Word of Life andliving according to it. “Help us to do this, dear Father inheaven!” And in your lives, lived according to the Word of God, youmake the angels' song your own, and you sing “We praise Thee, webless Thee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Theefor Thy great glory!” For His glory has been revealed to us in thatHe has mercy on us.

For Thou only art holy;

Thou only art the Lord.

Thou only, O Christ with the Holy Ghost,

Art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

"Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates"

2011-12-27T09:34:00.000-06:00

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

“The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world andthose who dwell therein.” TheLord is the author and Creator of all things. He is above allcreation, and yet He fills every bit of the cosmos with His Word andSpirit. By His Word the universe was made, and His gracious handsustains all that is and all that shall ever be. From the tiniestsubatomic particle to the largest star, the Lord has formed each andevery one according to His design.

Who can declare the things of God? Who can do what He has done, oreven speak of all the wonders of His works? No one. The Scripturesproclaim that the glory of the Lord is beyond description, beyondcompare. The Lord is God, and there is none other. Confess, and donot deny, but confess the glory of the Lord, in all His overwhelmingsplendor and majesty.

And yet, the Spirit of the Lordsays, “You who bring good tidings, get up into the highmountain”. Go up onto theheights and declare the indescribable. Shout aloud the glory of God.“Say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!'”Herald the coming of the Lord who comes to save His people. Lift upyour voice to the King of Glory.

However, the Lord is forced to ask,“who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord?”Who is qualified to ascend to the holy mountain, to the place of God?Is it the strongest? The smartest? The one with the best voice? Therichest? The most pious? “He who has clean hands and apure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and doesnot swear deceitfully.”

But who does this describe? No onehere. Every man “lifts up his soul to what is false.”Each of you has beating in his chest an idol-factory, churning outsomething, anything other than the worship of God. You lay hands onwhat the Lord has made and make it your god. You forsake the Creatorfor the creatures, and give up glory for guilt. Sure, you may notpick up a piece of wood, carve an image, and cover it with gold. Butyou are quite skilled at picking up the bits and pieces of life andassembling them into your very own build-a-god.

Do you want a god to make you wealthy? Then add this bit. Do you wanta god to keep your children in line? Then add this attachment. Do youwant a god to make you feel fulfilled? Paint this face on it. Maybeyour god is cornmeal yellow or treasury green or republican red.Maybe your god has arms and legs, or maybe your god has tines anddiscs.

Will these things save you? No. The Prophet calls such godsfalsehood, vanity, and emptiness. The idols formed by the hearts andhands of men are as empty and void as the universe before creation.It is the depth of depravity to pick up the scraps of your life andstick them together to make something, and then think it can save youfrom life's problems. Therefore, there is no one to ascend to thehill of the Lord, no one to get up into the high mountain, no one todeclare the glory of the Lord.

And yet, God says, “Getup into the high mountain”,anyway. He tells those whose hearts have forsaken Him, “Sayto the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!'”Go up to the hill of the Lord, because the One worthy has alreadyascended to the place of God.

The one who has ascended to thehill of the Lord is none other than the Son of Man. It is He, withclean hands and a pure heart, who ascends, not to Mount Zion, but toCalvary. He has ascended to the heights of the mountain, so that Hisclean hands might be pierced and bloodied. That His pure heart mightbe burdened with the sins of mankind. That His tongue might declarethat salvation is accomplished for all mankind. Behold your God! SeeHim on the mountain-top, high and lifted up. See Him, the Lamb of Godwho takes away the sin of the world.

But first, behold your God as He comes into the flesh. See your Kingof Glory lying in a manger. See your Lord of Hosts nursing at thebreast of Mary. This is not a god constructed, but a God conceived.This is God with you, God for you, God in your flesh.

Therefore, as David says, “Liftup your heads!” Look not atthe dust and filth of your former sins and trespasses. Rather, lookup, and see the King of Glory who comes to meet you. Get up into thehigh mountain. “Youwho bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift itup,be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!'”Ascend now, not to Calvary, but to Zion. For the Lamb of God has goneto Calvary to make you worthy to ascend to Zion. His Word-bound waterhas washed your hands and your heart. His Body and Blood have touchedyour lips and made them clean. He has opened your mouth and lifted upyour head, that you may call out glad tidings. Lift up your voicewith strength.

“Whois this King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory!”Lift up your heads and see. Lift up your hearts and hands and voices,and rejoice. Let the mountains and the hills break forth intosinging. Let the high places and the valleys resound with praises.Look to Bethlehem, and behold your God! “Beholdthe Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Howblest the land, the city blest,

WhereChrist the ruler is confessed!

Opeaceful hearts and happy homes

Towhom this King in triumph comes!

Thecloudless sun of joy is He

Whocomes to set His people free.

ToGod the Spirit raise

Yourhappy shouts of praise. (LSB 340.3)

Inthe Name of Jesus. Amen.

"How Can This Be?"

2011-12-19T09:05:00.000-06:00

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

Sometimes there are things that make you stop, cock your head, andsay “Huh?” Maybe it is a situation that you do not understand.What is going on is beyond your ken, and so you stand, mystified andsilent. Or perhaps it is that something so glaringly ridiculoushappens that you are caught in your tracks. You look, furrow yourbrow, and wonder what in the world brought this on. We have allexperienced these “Huh?” moments.

Today's Gospel lesson is perhaps one of the biggest “Huh?”moments in all of history. But before Mary, there was one such momenteven longer ago. In the Garden, Eve was tempted to ask, “How canthis be?” As she was left alone in the midst of the Garden, shecame face-to-face with the tree whose fruit was the only thingforbidden to man. The serpent whispers in her ear, “How can thisbe?” How can it be that the Lord God would put this here, thenforbid you eating it, upon pain of death? The Lord wants to give usall good things, so why would He keep this beautiful gift from us?How can it be that simply eating a piece of fruit will kill me?

This temptation has no less forcefor you today than for Eve then. In every time and every place, thereare those who cry into society, “If it feels right, it must begood.” Never mind the laws of nature. Forget about the customs ofdecorum and etiquette. Who cares about that old, stuffy, Law talk.That's so depressing. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrowwe die” (Isaiah 22:13). Itmakes little difference whether the matter at hand is slight orsevere. For some of you, this leads to gluttony. For others, lust.For others, just plain laziness.

Eve fell into the temptation to question how the command of the Lordcould be, and so she was condemned by the depravity of her heart. Bythe strict judgment of the Lord, she, Adam, and all creation werebound up in the imaginations of their hearts. All humanity isconsigned to death and destruction for the doubt which the serpentwhispered into Eve's ear.

As that snake's hiss entered her ear and she was overshadowed by thepowers of darkness and the shadow of death, she became the seed-bedof death for all generations. That womb, formerly so blessed tobecome the birthplace of all mankind, became the factory of death.The virgin soil out of which all humanity proceeds was defiled by thepoison of sin, and so through it all men are infected with death.

Now, even so many ages later, the children of Eve still ask the samequestion. You still roil in the same doubt as that same serpenthisses in your ear: “How can it be?” You hear the Word of theLord, and yet it mostly falls on barren ground. You cock your head tothe side, and marvel blankly. The faith once handed over makes nosense, and so you push it aside. Maybe you will come back to it laterwhen you have time to untangle the knots. Maybe you will wait untilsomeone smarter, someone with more time on his hands, figures it outand can explain it to you.

After all, on its face martyrdom is illogical. What is there sopowerful in conviction that it would be worth dying to defend? DoesGod really move the sun backwards and shut the mouths of lions? IsGod really going to condemn you for what some stupid woman did fivethousand years ago? Is what you want really that bad?

A virgin shall conceive and bear ason, and that son will be God. “How can this be?”God does not come that way. What kind of god is born as a baby? Inthe eyes of the world, blinded by the overshadowing of sin, this isutter foolishness.

Three millennia removed from Eve,another virgin again asked the question, “How can thisbe?” when faced with aninscrutable mystery. This time, the angel Gabriel came to her andannounced that she would be the virgin foretold by Isaiah theprophet. The Lord again deigned to find favor with a woman, and chosea virgin mild to bear the Son of Man. Mary would conceive a child andbear a son, and He would be the Son of God. “How can thisbe, since I do not know a man?”

Indeed, how can it be that God becomes man? God is God, and man isman, and ne'er the twain shall meet, according to the eye of reason.But this impossibility is precisely what Gabriel proclaims willhappen. The Lord has found favor with His servant, and He will dwellwithin her. As the angel speaks these words into the virgin's ear,she is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and the eternal God takes upresidence in her flesh and blood. In this miraculous moment, the wombis sanctified by the healing presence of God. What had been thefoundry of death now becomes the hall of life. The soil is virginonce more, and it shall bring forth glorious fruit.

The Holy Spirit overshadows Mary, and she is with child. The Spiritcomes not in judgment, to wither and burn and destroy, but inblessing, to sanctify and give life to all mankind. The hissing ofthe serpent is silenced by the annunciation of the Lord's Word. TheSon of God takes on human flesh and blood, not by the will of man butby the will of the Father, according to His wisdom and power. Thewomb of Mary becomes the vault of heaven as the Lord of Hosts isenthroned there. The humble virgin in that instant becomes Mary, theMother of God. “Then stepped forth the Lord of all From His pureand kingly hall” (LSB 332.4).

Reason, tainted with fear, asks,“How can this be?” The voice of faith answers, “Nothing will be impossiblewith God.” Nothing isimpossible for the One who made the heavens and the earth. Not eventhat God should become incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the VirginMary and be made man. Not even that the Son of God who proceeds forthfrom the womb of Mary should be hung on the accursed tree and besacrificed for the sins of all mankind. It is not impossible that theLord of Glory should even choose to save you from your sins. Nothingis impossible with God. Many things are a mystery, but nothing isimpossible.

The angel speaks to you what hesaid to Mary: “Fear not, for the Lord has found favorwith you.” You are highlyfavored, because the Son of God has come into the flesh for you. Youare highly favored, because today the lifeblood of the Lamb will bepoured down your throat. You are highly favored, because the Lord hastaken up your flesh and made you holy by joining you to Himself andpurging you of your sins and iniquities.

Therefore, rejoice this happy morn!Fear not, but humbly rejoice that the Lord has found such favor withyou. Sing out with the Blessed Virgin: “Behold, I am theservant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”Let the Word of God dwell among you with all His riches. Let Him beenthroned within your heart, that He may sanctify you with Hispresence. Let your flesh be joined to His, that you may be joined toHim in heaven. His Word bespeaks you righteous; let it be to youaccording to His Word.

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;

with my mouth I will make known

your faithfulness to all generations.

Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,

your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!

(Psalm 89:1, 5)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

"O Come, O Come Emmanuel"

2011-12-19T09:02:00.000-06:00

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

The human race spends untold millions of dollars and man-hours on thebusiness of preservation. This church's mailbox is regularly litteredwith offers from tuckpointing companies offering their services. Thehome-improvement industry is a massive force in the American economy.Even more behemoth is the market for anti-aging creams, pills,potions, and products. We are a culture saturated and infatuatedwith preservation.

Preservation is a natural instinct, it may be argued. For the good ofthe individual and the of the species, we are driven toward acts ofself-preservation and toward things that will ensure the continuationof the human race. Two things drive a great deal of the decisions theaverage person makes: food and procreation.

Almost everyone wants to live longer and better. Sit and watchtelevision on an average weeknight, and you will be bombarded withadvertisements for a seemingly endless parade of healthcare products.Pills to cure what ails you. Creams to hide your wrinkles andblemishes. Exercise products and diet gimmicks to tighten things up.There is a supplement to fix just about any dysfunction you mightthink your body might have.

But none of this lasts. You have tokeep taking the pills or rubbing on the cream. The roof only holds upfor a decade or so. The gutters you cleaned this year will need to becleaned again next year. The snow will pile back up where you justshoveled, until the grass comes back and needs to be mowed. “Thegrass withers, the flower fades.”

The Prophet cries, “Allflesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.”Self-preservation is an illusion. Nothing you can do can stop themarch of time, the force of entropy, the destruction of this world.Everything will fade and wither. Fads will come and go. Your moneywill continue its steady march out of your pockets.

The Lord's judgment against sin makes it so. Nothing in all creationcan stand against the Spirit of the Lord when He blows in hotjudgment. Just as the wind turns the green meadow into barrenwasteland overnight, so He withers and burns all who stand againstHim. No fancy potions will save you here. To think that you can standon your own is nothing short of idolatry. The Lord is God, there isno other, and none can stand when He appears. All flesh is grass, andall mankind shall fade away.

As Luther wrote, “In the verymidst of life Snares of death surround us; Who shall help us in thestrife Lest the foe confound us? Thou only, Lord, Thou only!” (LSB755.1). The Psalmist writes, “Forever, O Lord, Your Wordis firmly fixed in the heavens.”(Ps. 119:89) Heaven and earth may pass away, all humanity may falland be destroyed, but “the Word of our God standsforever.”

But you more often than not would prefer that the Word of the Lordnot stand so immovably fixed. It makes life difficult. You are notfree to do whatever you please while the Law stares you down. Youmust face the Law and its accusations, and you must confess that youhave failed, and yet it still stands.

How often would you like the Word to apply to someone else? If onlysome of those people had been here to hear that sermon. If only morepeople would hear God's Word and pay attention. If only those peoplewould be more nice and godly and Christian and like us. After all,God's Word says that you are a pretty good person, and those peopleare sinners and heathens.

Or perhaps you would simply rather ignore or push aside theuncomfortable parts. Let's not think about the part about beingpersecuted for righteousness' sake. Or the part about trials andtribulations to come. Or the part about having no other gods. Orkeeping the Sabbath. Or keeping your word. Or any of the other partsthat you decided you do not like. If only the Word of the Lord wouldstand firm somewhere else.

Repent. The Word of the Lord remains forever, and it will not changeto suit you. The only thing that changes is the particular assortmentof warts and wounds that your sin places on the reflection the Lawshows you.

“The Word of our God stands forever”,and shall never change. This promise is for you and for your childrenafter you. And the Word that stands “is the Good Newsthat was preached to you” (1Peter 1:25). The cross stands forever, as a testament to the Word ofGod who hung upon it. The sacrifice that Christ made for you standsforever. His blood washes away your sins, and they are gone forever.He lives, and you shall live with Him forever.

The Word of the Lord remainsforever, and this is a great comfort to you. When He calls out,“Comfort, comfort My people!”,that comfort is for you. Jesus is for you. The forgiveness of sins isfor you. He comforts you by being your God. He comforts you by beingGod for you, God with you.

The Word of the Lord remains forever, and this means pardon and peacefor you and for all generations. The Word that He speaks to you isthat your iniquity is pardoned. Your sins are forgiven, obliteratedas darkness by the light. The Word stands as a lamp in a dark place,destroying the power of sin, death, and the devil over you.

The Word of the Lord remainsforever, and this means that you shall remain in Him forever. HisWord stands: “You are My beloved son; with you I amwell-pleased.” The Word thatHe spoke to create you still stands. The Word that He has spoken tocall you as His own is still true. He has chosen you from among allthe peoples on earth, and you are His. The Word stands, and nothingin all creation can separate you from that love and promise.

“The Word of our God stands forever.”His Word stands forever as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His Wordis your refuge and strength. His Word establishes you, and will leadyou home into your Father's house. His Word will never leave you norforsake you.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,

Who ord'rest all things mightily;

To us the path of knowledge show,

And teach us in her ways to go. (LSB 357.3)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Not the Christ

2011-12-12T08:53:00.000-06:00

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

Who are you? That is the question posed by the Jews to John theBaptist on the bank of the Jordan as he preached a baptism ofrepentance. Who are you, that you say these incredible things, thatyou condemn the establishment, that you ignore the way things aresupposed to happen around here? Tell us, what makes you think you'reso special?

After all, no one upsets the apple-cart just for the fun of it. Johnmust have a reason. Perhaps he is the Christ. Perhaps he is Elijah,or Isaiah, or one of the prophets. Perhaps he is just plain crazy.Who is he, that he would choose to live in the desert, shouting atpeople about their sins, and living on locusts and honey?

So the Jews send envoys to John. Who are you? What should we put onthe form so that we can report back to our superiors? Can we see someidentification, some credentials? The answer – No. No, you may notinquire as to John's background. No, he is not the Christ, norElijah, nor one of the prophets. You can condemn John as a kook. Youcan whisper about him from the back row. You can denounce him toHerod and get him thrown in prison. But you cannot shut him into somepre-defined box.

Who is he? “He said, 'Iam the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straightthe way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.'”He is a voice, crying out, preparing the way of the Lord. He is afinger pointing to the Lamb of God. He is the voice of the prophets,heralding the coming of the Kingdom of God into the flesh.

What does a witness do? A witnesstestifies to what he has seen and heard, to what he knows. TheEvangelist declares, “He was not the light, but came tobear witness about the light.”John was not the light, but a witness that the Light of the World wascoming, and a beacon that the Kingdom of God was at hand. Heproclaimed what he saw and what he knew.

A witness does not point to himself. John was no self-help guru,proclaiming his wisdom and charm to entice the masses. He was not aslick snake-oil salesman, prying open the pocketbooks of theunsuspecting with promises of a cure-all. There was no cult ofpersonality around John – he would not have allowed it anyhow. Johnwas rude, obnoxious, and uncouth. And yet he was tremendouslypopular. All Judea came out to see him, to hear his preaching, and agreat many of them confessed their sins and were baptized by John.But he was not the main attraction.

Likewise, the Ministry functions inthe same way today. It is not about me, or any other pastor in anyother pulpit. You are not here to see me or to hear the eloquentwords I craft. If you like me, great. If you don't, fine. TheMinistry is about bearing witness to the One who is the big deal.Vestments, ceremonies, rites and rituals – all that is to point toJesus, the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world. EveryChristian pastor must join in St. John's confession: “Hemust increase, but I must decrease”(John 3:30).

But the world seeks an impressivefigure. You want someone flashy and slick. You want someone who sayssweet things and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Your earsitch for words that lift up and affirm you, whatever yourmalfunction. You get tired of waiting and looking for the Christ, andyou would rather have the new, shiny gimmick that promises to giveyou twelve steps to achieving the best life ever, or having thenicest family, or the most domesticated husband, or whatever youthink you want. Sure, you can find these sorts of preachers, but theyare not witnesses. They are charlatans, selling themselves to emptyyour pockets and your souls. Repent, and follow the finger of thetrue witness. “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away thesin of the world!”

The Jews ask John, “Areyou the Christ?” The answeris no. But that is not the end. The good news is that John is not theChrist, but there is a Christ! The voice crying in the wilderness iscrying out that the Christ is here. The finger points to the ComingMessiah. The Holy Spirit has pointed Him out to John, and John pointsHim out to you.

Look not to the witness, but to the one to whom he points. Look,behold the Lamb of God who bears the sins of the world. Look toChrist, the One foretold by prophets of old. Look to the Son of God,who is born of a virgin mother. Look to Him who hangs on the cross,stricken, smitten, and afflicted, and yet bearing the sins of Hispeople to the end. John proclaimed His coming, but none can mistakeHim. The glory of the Lord is revealed in the One to whom John bearswitness. The Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world has once beenslain, but now is raised, and He sits on the throne of heavenforevermore.

You are not the Christ, no more than John was. But, you are aChristian. You have Christ within you, Christ before you, Christ uponyou. You bear the image of Christ, and you waft the aroma of Christ.The holy Name of God was engraved upon you by the waters of the font.The death and life of Christ has been poured down your throat timeand again. You have His gifts in abundance, in body and soul. Youhave His life, because He has made it your life and light andsalvation. You are not the Christ, but you are His, and He is yours.

See, the Lamb, so long expected,

Comes with pardon down from heav'n.

Let us haste, with tears of sorrow,

One and all, to be forgiv'n; (LSB 345.3)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

"Prepare the Royal Highway"

2011-12-12T08:52:00.000-06:00

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

“Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ,alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to thecovenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”Harsh words from St. Paul to summarize the human condition in formertimes. You were separated from Jesus Christ, having no hope, withoutGod, alone and isolated by your sins and trespasses.

Sin separates you from God. It always has, ever since the serpentfirst tempted Eve. It must be so, because God is holy and just andrighteous, and you are not. Sin makes communion between God and manimpossible. Whereas before Adam and Eve walked with God in the coolof the Garden and talked with Him openly, now they, and all theirchildren, have been cast out of paradise, out of the presence of God.The way back to God is barred by the flaming sword of the eternalLaw, brandishing the wrath of God unto death for any that dareapproach.

Sin mars the image of God with which mankind was created. Instead oflooking upon the face of God as upon the face of your own father, youwere consigned to sit in darkness, obscured by the shadow of death.The fact that you bear in your body the image of the only true andimmortal God is hardly obvious, made more invisible by your ownsinful, selfish actions and inactions. Instead of enjoying thepleasures of creation, instead of basking in the pure love of yourheavenly Father, you are consigned to a meagre existence eked out bythe sweat of your brow.

Sin puts up a wall of hostility between you and God. Sin, death, andthe devil work hand-in-hand to keep you from seeing the grace of God,and even harder to keep you from experiencing it. The Law works uponyour heart, and it works death in your members because of therebellious nature of your sinful flesh. Although the Law is writtenon your heart, you run from it and its accusations. You blame God formaking you feel badly about yourself, and so you turn your face fromHim, as if you could hurt Him by your rejection. You, by yourrejection of God and His Law, put up a wall that seals you off fromHis gifts.

On account of all this, the glory of the Lord is lost to you, sinfulman. Just as the glory departed from the Temple in the time of theprophets, so His glory has departed from the hollows of humanity. Hehas departed into the wilderness, beyond the reach of corrupted andweak human hearts and minds. Only His judgment and wrath are to beknown in His absence.

However, do not despair! Out of thedarkness comes “a voice of one crying in the wilderness:'prepare the way of the Lord!'”Prepare the way! If mankind will not receive the Lord, creation will.The mountains and hills will bow down, and the low places will riseto greet Him. The royal highway will rise out of the desert, and theroad will become wide and straight before the King of Glory. He willcome into His own, that His glory might be revealed.

Indeed, “the glory ofthe Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together!”All flesh shall indeed see the glory of the Lord, because He comes inthe flesh of man. St. John proclaims the coming of the glory of theLord: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and webeheld His glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father, full ofgrace and truth.” (John1:14). Not in an ark covered in gold, not in a temple of wood andstone, but in the flesh and blood of a baby born of a virgin, of aman riding on a donkey, of one condemned by men, abandoned by God,and hung upon the accursed tree.

Indeed the glory of the Lord is revealed, and all flesh has seen it.The glory of the Lord was revealed from Calvary, and the earth itselfquaked and groaned. The rocks split, and the Temple was rent. Theglory of the Lord was revealed as the blood of the Son of God wasshed for you. That blessed flood, flowing from His pierced side hascovered all your sins and trespasses in abundance. That flood ofwater and blood has broken down the wall of hostility andimprisonment that formerly separated you from the Lord and His gifts.

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and hasbroken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishingthe law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might createin himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, andmight reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, therebykilling the hostility.”(Ephesians 2:14-16) In the flesh of the Son of God, the divisionbetween God and man has been abolished. Communion has been restored.The glory of the Lord has returned to His temple. “Andall flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hasspoken.”

The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
the LORD sitsenthroned as king forever.
May the LORD give strength to hispeople!
May the LORD bless his people with peace!(Psalm29:10-11)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Keeping Promises

2011-12-05T09:00:00.001-06:00

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

We all make and receive promises on a regular basis. Some arerelatively innocuous, like “I promise to take out the trash aftersupper.” Some are more serious – “With this ring, I thee wed.”Some promises seem of little consequence – “Yes, I will get youthat for Christmas.” Others are a matter of life and death –“First, do no harm.” However great or small, trivial or grave,promises are made to be kept, and so we expect people to keep theirword.

Likewise, the people of God expectGod to keep His Word. He has promised certain things, and has donethem in the past. Therefore, He ought to keep His promises to us now.Upon this premise, the Psalmist cries out, “Lord, Youwere favorable to Your land, You restored the fortunes of Jacob...Restore us again, O God of our salvation!”(Psalm 85:1, 4) The Lord had governed His people for generations,preserving them in the midst of trials and leading them with Hismighty hand. He had given a son to Abraham and had preserved Jacobagainst the tricks of his uncle and the wrath of his brother.Therefore, if the Lord did all that for the patriarchs, should He notdo it for His people in need now?

In every generation since the Fall, the state of things has lookedawful. The world is filled with sinful men doing shameful things. TheWord of God falls by the wayside while each steps on the back of theother to claw his way to the top. The whole of creation groans underthe effects of sin and death. And so, it is tempting to wonder aboutthe state of the Lord's promises. He was gracious to our fathers andgot them through; is He going to do it again in our day?

And so some of those among the faithful begin to count the Lord asslow, as slack in His Word. You wonder if He really hears the prayersof His people. You wonder what good can come of these dark and latterdays. You wonder who will save us from this valley of the shadow ofdeath. A thousand years go by, and yet here we sit, no better than amillennium ago.

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some countslowness” (2 Peter 3:9). TheLord is faithful and true – He will do what He says. The Lordcannot lie and He cannot but keep His promises. However, that doesnot mean that He must keep His promises according to your timetableor your plans. Indeed, His plans often look radically different thanwhat the mind of men invents.

Consider the messenger promised bythe prophet Isaiah: “A voice cries: 'In the wildernessprepare the way of the Lord'”.And who does the Lord send? Is it a clean-cut, high-glosstelevangelist-type? No, the Lord sends John the Baptist. A powerfulvoice crying in the wilderness, Repent before the coming kingdom ofGod. A shaggy cave-dweller, clothed in camel hair and living on bugsand honey. This is the forerunner to the Messiah?! A man who would beunwelcome in the Temple courtyards. A man who sets ill at ease allwho come to him. A man who shouts insults at the religious leadersand their corrupt establishment. This is the fulfillment of Isaiah'swords?

Sometimes it seems like God has failed to keep His Word. The Lorddesires not the death of His saints, and yet loved ones die. Hepromises to be with you always, and yet His salvation seems so faroff. So you fall into doubt. You question whether His Word is true,whether the Lord will do what He says.

But what right do you have toquestion God's faithfulness? After all, you do not deserve the giftsHe promises to give. You did not earn the mercy you await. You do notkeep your promises, and yet you expect Him to keep His. How manytimes have you said that you would do something, and failed to do it?How often have you held others to a higher standard than yourself?How often have you fudged the line, or just plain broken yourpromises about something when you promised to remain faithful? Youhave not kept your heart purely devoted to the Lord God. You have nottrusted in His fatherly goodness and mercy. You have not remainedwholly committed to your spouse, forsaking all others. You have notused wisely the gifts that God has given you, and you constantlycrave what He has not given. And yet you expect Him to keep hispromises.

Today, you heard “Thebeginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”The Gospel begins with the preaching of the voice in the wilderness,preparing the way of the Lord. The voice of the messenger of God,proclaiming the Word of God into a world that does not want to hear,that does not want to repent. The prophet of the Most High preaching“a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”.This is the beginning of the Gospel foryou.

The Gospel begins for you with Baptism for the forgiveness of yoursins. In this water, the Lord washes away your sins and worksrepentance in you, that repentance of which your heart is incapableand the world cannot teach. In this water, the Lord drowns your old,evil nature and begins anew, re-creating you in His image once again.In this water, the beginning of your life in Christ is found.

TheLord here keeps His promise that He made through Isaiah. Here Hecomforts the people whom He creates through this water. Here Hespeaks tenderly to you, telling you that your iniquity is pardoned,that your warfare is ended, that you will receive a double portion ofHis grace. Here He sunders His creation from the ranks of the deviland gains for Himself a holy people, a faithful bride, a Church. HereHe keeps His promise by bathing you in the new covenant in His bloodshed on the cross for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. Thiseverlasting covenant shall not end until all the Word of the Lord hasbeen fulfilled and there is no longer any need for promises.

Indeed, the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promises. After all, Heis patient toward you. He forces no one to believe, but speakstenderly to His children, calling you to faith “in accentspersuasive and tender” (LSB 510.2). He does not wish that anyshould perish, and so He is patient, allowing His Word to go forthinto every land, among every people. He is patient, waiting for youto repent, to confess your sins and receive His gracious forgiveness.

He is faithful. He has accomplished the salvation of mankind, and Hehas accomplished your salvation. He has promised Himself to you, tobe your God and Father, to forgive your sins, no matter the cost, nomatter the kind. He has promised that He will do what He knows isbest for you.

Youstill must wait on Him, however. He will act according to His perfectplan. But, “sinceyou are waiting... be at peace.”Be at peace and secure in the knowledge of salvation by theforgiveness of your sins. Rest in the comfort of the Lord's pardon.Bathe in the water of regeneration by daily contrition andrepentance. “Sayto the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!'”By your faithful example, lead people to where the Lord is to befound, where He speaks His peace and comforts His people. Here, inthe flood of new birth. Here, at the Table of His Supper. Here, theLord enacts His New Covenant for you, for the forgiveness of yoursins. Here, the Lord keeps His promises, to comfort you, restore you,keep you as His own. Indeed, the Lord is not slow to keep His Word.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

"Comfort, Comfort Ye My People"

2011-12-01T09:10:00.001-06:00

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

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you oncewalked” (Ephesians 2:1). SoSt. Paul gives this gloomy assessment of the state of man without thegrace of God. Dead and buried. Gone from the world. Locked indarkness and the shadow of hell. You were worse than dead – inbondage to sin, death, and the devil. And so you would have remainedforever.

But then dawned the Light of Life.The Lord called out, “Comfort, comfort My people!”The Word of the Lord went forth from heaven and scattered thedarkness, giving light and life to all mankind. The Son of David cameinto His own, and He won for us salvation. He shined the light ofGod's love into our dark hearts and brought us out of death intolife. The restoration of man is accomplished!

How often, though, do you feel buried again? And how much of thatcoffin surrounding you is of your own constructing? At this time ofyear, it is easy to feel as though you are about to be buried withthe trappings and trimmings of the season. The shopping ads hawkingtrinkets and treasures. The lists of “perfect gifts” to purchase.The get-togethers and parties competing for an appearance. The bigdinners and rich foods straining against your self-control and yourwaistline.

Other things can cause thisfeeling. Juggling the responsibilities of work and family. Alwaysanother truck to be loaded up. Always another chore to be done.Always another problem to be fixed. And yet, the children clamor foryour attention. Your wife would like to see more than your shoes orthe back of you on the way out the door. Friends and relatives wantyou to travel hither and yon to share holiday experiences.

You even construct your own coffin when you become buried in thoughtsand memories of the past. Opportunities missed, tempers flared,unkind words and unloving actions – all these come back to hauntyou at the most inopportune times. How often are you plagued withregret or guilt for the things that might have been? For the wordsyou might have said? For the forgiveness you might have offered? Pastanger and grudges serve only to bury the joy of the Lord.

How easy it is, no matter the time or season, to become buried underthe mountain of self. Self-aggrandizement, self-praise,self-inflation, self-deprecation, self-centredness. All these labelsmask what the thing really is – the idolatry that flows out of asinful heart. Your flesh would have you think that you and yourwishes and desires are the greatest thing ever, the highest good.Whether that drives you into mad ambition, stepping on the backs ofothers, or whether that drives you to self-deprecation in an attemptto make yourself look more sanctified in the eyes of others; theresult is the same. You become the prime operator in your life andthe primary purpose. And so you bury yourself in the cloak ofself-fulfillment.

But the Lord does not leave you this way. For the Lord's messengercries out, “Your warfare is ended, your iniquity is pardoned, youhave received from the Lord's hand double for all your sins!” Thecomfort of the Lord is spoken to you. He has forgiven your sins. Hehas freed you from the coffin of your sin and death. He has sent HisSavior to you to end your warfare and redeem your life from the pit.

“God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with whichHe loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alivetogether with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raisedus up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places inChrist Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-6).You formerly were exiled from your homeland by being consigned to thegrave. But God sent His Son to end your warfare by giving Himself asthe price for your iniquity, that you may have the forgiveness ofyour sins. He has received the punishment due for your sins, so thatyou might receive the double portion of the Lord's mercy. He has beencrucified so that you might be comforted.

The Son of Man was sent to preach repentance of sins in the presenceof the kingdom of heaven. He comes to preach comfort and peace toyou, by the forgiveness of your sins and the restoration of your bodyand soul. He was sent to speak tenderly to you, to call you out ofdarkness and into the light. He was sent to comfort you with the callout of the grave, out of exile, and into the kingdom of heaven.

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

you have loosed my sackcloth

and clothed me with gladness,

that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent,

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever!

Psalm 30:11-12

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

"Blessed Is He"

2011-11-28T10:14:00.001-06:00

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

“Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down... that thenations might tremble at Your presence!”(Isaiah 64:1, 2). Oh, that the Lord would indeed come! The wholeearth groans in travail as it awaits the coming of the Lord of Hosts.Would that He come quickly, come now, and come to us! O Lord, we needyou now more than ever!

Sometimes it seems like this is the extent of the world's prayers towhatever god might hear. When things are off track, when people aredepressed, when money is short, there is a god for that. Everyonewants a savior, whether you want to put it that way or not. Just lookaround you today.

For the lack of, or suppression of, talk about God and religion inAmerican politics and culture, there sure is a great deal of desireand talk about the need for a savior. But from what do you want to besaved? College students and recent graduates want to be saved fromtheir student debt. Those in troubled marriages want to be savedeither from divorce or from the stupid choices they made. The poorwant to be saved from homelessness and starvation. The sick want tobe saved from sickness and death. The rich want to be saved fromtaxes. Christians want to be saved from Islam. Muslims want to besaved from Christianity.

Everyone wants to be saved fromwhat ails you, but more often than not, you want to be savedaccording to your plans and ideas for what the world should be. Youridea of perfection is different that what your neighbor thinks. Theprotestors on Wall Street want totally different outcomes than thefarmers of Iowa. The Jews want a radically different Messiah than theSamaritans. But who is the Savior to whom Isaiah cries? Alas, “thereis no one who calls upon Your name, who rouses himself to take holdof You” (Is. 64:7).

The Savior indeed shall come. Heshall rend the heavens and come down, and He will save His peoplefrom their bondage and oppression. But He will come according to Hisplan and purpose. The Lord who created the heavens and the earth, whostretched out the skies like a tent and placed the mountains and theseas, He is God – and you are not. You, like all mankind mustconfess with the prophet, “But now, O LORD, you are ourFather; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the workof your hand” (Is. 64:8).

The Lord God has promised to give His gifts to all, even to all evilpeople. He even does so without direction from you. Consider theworks of His hands in creation. He makes water. He makes light. Hemakes motion. He makes warmth. He makes your eyes, ears, and all yourmembers, your reason and all your senses. All that you are and havecomes from and by His gracious will and command. You are the clay andHe is the potter. You do nothing apart from His will. He has made youwhat you are, and His providence upholds you in your way.

According to His fatherly, divinegoodness and mercy, the Lord has created the markets, goodgovernment, the United States of America, and everything else thatmakes up our society. He knows how best to govern, even though Heacts through sinful and foolish men and women. The sky is notfalling, because His hand holds it up. As the poet Robert Burns said,“Thebest laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley,” but the plans ofthe Lord never fail. The Word of the Lord stands forever.

Therefore,repent. Repent of your seeking after a false savior. Repent of yourdesiring to be saved by the works of men. Repent of yourhand-wringing and fear-mongering. Repent, and let the true saviorcome and save you from the true enemy.

Instead,cry out with the throng of Jerusalem: “Blessedis the coming kingdom of our father David!”The Lord has listened to the cries of His people! The Father hashonored the prayers of His children! The Messiah comes to save us!Hosanna – Save now! He has rent the heavens and come down. He hasmade known His mighty deeds to the children of Israel.

TheKing of Glory has come down to dwell among man, and He comes today toenter His courts with praise. See your King coming to you. But howdoes He come? He comes in low estate, humble and riding on a donkey.The King of creation does not come as a man of war, thundering in ona mighty steed, with a train of chariots and warriors ready tovanquish His foes. The King shall come, but He comes first as a babyboy, born in a stable in Bethlehem. He comes as the flesh and bloodof a virgin, the King of Kings enthroned upon the breast of Mary.

Thisis not the King the people of God expect. Indeed, He is theincarnation of the kingdom of father David. He is the One who comesin the name of the Lord. He is the one who will save them. But Hewill save them not from the Romans or from poverty or from taxationor from politicians. He will save them from their sins. He will saveyou from your sins as well. The King who comes amid fanfare andadulation is the sheep who will be sacrificed upon the cross.

“See,we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be deliveredover to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn himto death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock himand spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days hewill rise.”(Mk. 10:33-34) It is for this reason, and no other, that the Son ofDavid has come into the city of His fathers. The Messiah comes not tooverthrow, but to be handed over. He comes not to vanquish therulers, but to be killed. The King comes not to the place of thethrone, but to the Place of the Skull.

TheKing comes into His own so that He might give Himself to His people.He shall rend the heavens and come down so that He might be liftedup. His birth will be unremarkable, but His death will beunmistakeable. He empties Himself of His glory in birth, that Hemight be glorified in death and resurrection. He gives Himself thatyou might be saved from your sins, from the bondage of sin, death,and the devil. He comes to you, so that you might become worthy toapproach the Father in heaven. He will be killed, and you will live.He will rise, and you shall rise with Him. He shall again rend theheavens and come down, and you shall then enter with Him into thehouse of His Father.

Untilthen, “youare not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of ourLord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in theday of our Lord Jesus Christ”
(1Corinthians 1:7-8). The Lord has rent the heavens and come down, andHe has given to you His gifts. He continues to give His gifts,whether you see them or not.

Now,in this season, we look forward to His nativity, when He shall beborn of a virgin and enter our human sphere. We eagerly await thecelebration of His blessed Incarnation, and ponder the wonder andmystery that God has been made man. The Lord shall rend the heavensand come down, and He shall take up humanity into the Godhead. Theflesh of David shall occupy the throne of heaven.

TheOne who comes in the name of the Lord shall come, and He shall saveyou from your ills and woes. He shall shed His blood over you andwash you with the flood from His pierced side. He shall fill you withthanksgiving for His death on your behalf as He pours Himself acrossyour lips for the forgiveness of your sins. He shall work repentanceand faith in you, that you may receive Him as He comes. He shall fillyou with His Spirit and His gifts, that you never lack for anything.

Thesavior of the nations will come and rend the heavens and unbar thegates of heaven. He will show you the way to the Father's house,where He has prepared for you a place. He will come and lift you upfrom this vale of tears, from this valley of sorrow. In the midst ofyour darkness, the light shall shine and the morning shall dawn. TheLight that is the life of men shall be your life, and no darknessshall overcome it. God is become flesh, and we shall behold Hisglory, full of grace and truth.

TheKing shall come when morning dawns,

Andlight and beauty brings.

Hail,Christ the Lord! Your people pray:

Comequickly, King of Kings!

Inthe Name of Jesus. Amen.

"The Lord Swore to Give"

2011-11-28T10:11:00.001-06:00

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

“The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall blessus.” So we sang in the Psalmearlier. Indeed, the earth has yielded its increase. Harvest hastaken place, the fruits of the labor have been stored away, and planshave been made for the profits. Things are good, and now it is timefor a winter of rest, while you plan for next year. God shall blessus.

On the face of it, things seem rosy and cheery. Even the pagansaround us stop and celebrate Thanksgiving, even if only bypresidential proclamation. The people of our nation give thanks, evenif they have no idea to whom they offer their thanks. American civilreligion sees its holy day of obligation fulfilled. All is quiet onthe home front, except perhaps on the football field.

However, to whom is thanks due? What good is a day of nationalthanksgiving if no one knows to whom we render it? Even Christiansare tempted to fall into the trap of sappy, Hallmark-cardsentimentality around this time of year. Things are great, and so Godis happy with us. We like God, and so He likes us. He blesses us,while those other naughty people starve and go to hell. We givethanks for big turkeys, smooth gravy, and the caffeine that willpower us through all the Black Friday insanity. At least for thisweek, God is an American, a capitalist, and a faceless, benevolentforce.

For what are you thankful? Howabout for toilet paper, or for that matter a flush toilet? Let's talkabout things to be thankful for, if we are going to be honest in ourthanksgiving. Paying taxes, because it means you have earned moneythis year. The lower harvest this year, because it is still betterthan the nothing so many farmers reaped. A deer hitting your car,because it means that you have a running car and that our landcontinues to grow and be fruitful. Presidential campaigns, becausethey mean that we live in a republic where free elections happen andeven people you think are stupid can be represented in government.Are you thankful for these things?

In the verse that follows our OldTestament reading, Moses issues a warning to the people of Israel:“Takecare lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping hiscommandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command youtoday.”This is how to be thankful – do what the Lord commands. For thethankfulness that flows out of your own heart is faulty, lacking,incomplete. You cannot sing “Now thank we all our God” beforeconfessing “I am a poor miserable sinner.” You have laid yoursacrifices of praise at the altar of another, whether it is your ownmachinations, the handout of your government, or one of the otheridols who lay claim to your sinful heart. Repent, and remember theone who called you out of this bondage.

TheLord your God has brought you into this land. He laid the iron on theground and the copper in the hills. He makes the livestock breed andthe crops sprout. He makes the sun shine and the rain fall. He hasbrought you out of the land of slavery, out of the house of bondage.He has been lifted up upon the cross on your account. How do youremember His wondrous works on your behalf? “Youshall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in hisways and by fearing him.”

Rememberthe Sabbath Day by letting God work His grace in you. Bow before thecross of Christ, where the Lamb of God was slain for the forgivenessof your sins. Stand not before the tomb devoid of our Lord, but kneelbefore the altar set by Him and covered with His Body and Blood. Hearthe proclamation from His lips: “It is finished!” Your sins areno more, the record of your debts is erased. Eat His Bread and drinkHis Cup, and proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Let theAbsolution ring forth, resounding in your ears and residing in yourhearts. Give thanks with a heart that is grateful because it has beencleansed by the Holy Spirit poured into you. Show forth the Lord'sdeath, which you carry about in your bodies, that all may see andglorify God with you.

Mosessays, do what the Lord commands, and therein you remember Hiswondrous deeds. Fear, love and trust in Him above all things.Remember with your heart and soul and mind and spirit that it is Hewho has given you all things, and who daily and richly provides foryou out of His fatherly, divine goodness and mercy. Call upon Him inall trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks to Him. Let your praisesascend, not into the nebulous cloud of Americanity, but to the LordGod of Israel, the Holy One who has redeemed your life from the pit.As surely as He has given you lips to speak, He has promised to hearthe prayers of His children and to answer according to His bounty andwisdom.

Whatis the best way to demonstrate gratitude? To use the gifts that havebeen given. So use God's gifts to you. Enjoy your turkey and fixin'son Thursday. If you dare, shop wisely on Friday. Come soon and oftento the Lord's Table to receive Him with His grace and mercy for you.Proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Love and serve yourneighbor in need, even as He has loved and served you in your need,and He provides for you this and every day. Hear His Word and recountHis glorious deeds for the children of man. “Godshall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear Him!”

Openour eyes to see Your love's intent,

Toknow with minds and hearts its depth and height;

Maythankfulness be days in service spent,

Reflectionof Christ's life and love and light (LSB 788.6).

Inthe Name of Jesus. Amen.

Sheep or Goat?

2011-11-21T08:14:00.001-06:00

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

When the Son of Man comes on the Last Day, He will come in all Hisglory, accompanied by the angels. He will come suddenly andunexpectedly, like a thief in the night. However, He will not comesecretly. His coming will be no more hidden than lightning across thesky. Every eye shall see Him, and even the dead shall awake fromtheir slumber. He will come on the clouds, surrounded by the heavenlyhost, and will take up His seat upon the throne of God to presideover the final judgment.

From the throne of glory, the Son of Man will judge the heavens andthe earth, the living and the dead. He will separate one fromanother, as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. Make no mistake –this is not a parable. While the image of the sheep and the goats isa metaphor for the righteous and unrighteous, the sorting to takeplace is no metaphor, analogy, or allegory. The Son of Man willwithout doubt sort the righteous and unrighteous persons and sendthem to their eternal destinations.

And why should you expect any different? After all, this is simplythe final act of the Good Shepherd. Just as He has guarded the doorto the sheep-fold and has kept watch over His flock, so now, at thelast, He will welcome those who belong to His fold, and consign tohell those who would not enter by the door.

However, notice that this sortingtakes place not on the basis of works, but on the basis of identity.The sheep are sent one way, and the goats another, and only aftertheir separation is each group addressed. And notice how the Son ofMan identifies them. Those on His right He calls “youblessed of My Father”, whilethose on His left He calls simply “cursed”.

The separation between the sheep and the goats has to do with theirrelationship to the Cross. At the gate stands the Lamb who was slainnow come to call His own to Himself. There is no getting around Himwithout facing the cross. But some try.

After all, living under the cross is difficult. The Christian life isfull of hardships, trials, disappointment, and pain. The Christianlife is lived in the midst of death. However, the sheep seek not toescape this life-and-death tension, but rather hold fast to the Lordover life and death. On the other hand, the goats run from death.They fear death, and so they look the other way. They try to skirtthe fence and sneak through the door. But no such luck.

The sheep and the goats are sorted,and the Son of Man turns to those on His right and commends them forfeeding, giving to drink, clothing, healing, and visiting Him intimes of need. Their response: “When did we see You...?”After all, no Christian has ever met someone on the street with aflashing halo and entourage of angels, and decided to buy Him lunch.Notice that there is no argument as to whether they did these things,only whether they did them to Jesus.

The answer: “Truly, Isay to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,you did it to me.” Christiansdo not notice Jesus as the recipients of their works because they arenot looking for Him. Quite simply, you do these good works to Jesuswhen you do what Christians do. Whether it is to the lowliest beggaror the highest King, you do works of love and service to yourneighbor because that is what you have been created, called, andequipped to do in Christ.

The baptized Christian is set free from sin, death, and the power ofthe devil, and is set free to do the good works of love and servicethat the Law requires. Because the love of God and the grace ofChrist dwells richly in you, you cannot not do these things.

Furthermore, even though you may not see the face of Jesus Himselfwhile you serve others, you nevertheless see Him. Our Lord wears manymasks, including the mask of those in need. Wherever there issuffering, there our Lord is to be found. The cross overshadows allthings and all people. Because He has died for all, all are His, andwe bear His image. Therefore, all men are your lords. The Christianis free from death and hell, but is the perfectly dutiful servant toall in the Gospel. But this is no burden because it is not you whoserve, but Christ who lives in you. Therefore, your works willtestify to the grace that you have received.

On the other hand, when sentence is pronounced to those on the left,they protest. Lord, when did we see you in need and not help you?Constantly looking over their shoulders, they never saw the Lordcoming, so they failed to act. In place of the true God who gaveHimself that they might be free to serve, they set up an idol out oftheir own legalistic hearts. The question becomes “what is enough?”If no one notices, do you need to help someone in need? If it doesnot count, do you need to love your neighbor? If you get nothingback, do you need to give to the one lacking? After all, it is notlike Jesus will come down the street and see what you do.

Unlike those blessed of the Father,these have become cursed all by themselves. They want to be judged bytheir works, and not on the basis of Christ, and so they get theirway. The Son of Man makes it clear that they have failed. They haveneither believed in God nor loved their neighbor. They have not done“enough”. They chose this road, and so they are forced down toits end. “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Departfrom me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil andhis angels.”

Hell is not prepared for men. God makes it clear that He desires noone to depart into the eternal fire. It is prepared for the devil andhis angels, on account of their evil choices and acts. Men only enterthe eternal punishment because they run and hide from the cross. Whenyou avoid the cross, this is where you will end up. Those who serveGod are called blessed by the Father, because they have remained inHis love, but those who go into judgment are called cursed inthemselves, for they have thrown off the yoke of the cross.

So, are you a sheep or a goat? Will you go to the right or the left?Do not look to your works or your own person to find the answer. Ifyou look in the mirror, which is the Law, you will see a goat,because you will never be good enough or have done enough. Rather,look to Jesus Christ. Look to the cross where He gave His life foryou. Look to the wounds wherein He hides you. Look to His tomb, intowhich you were buried with Him, and from which He delivers you. Hewill tell you where you belong, because He has placed you there.

Do not look inside, or to the signs of this world and life, butrather look to the concrete, tangible places where Christ our Lordgives Himself. There you will find Him, and in Him you will find youridentity.

Look to your Baptism. In this blessed flood, Jesus has washed youclean. He poured the waters of rebirth and renewal over you andengraved His Name upon you. He declared you to be the beloved Son, inwhom the Father is well-pleased. Let this blessed flood continue towell up within you, unto everlasting life.

Look to His Word spoken in Holy Absolution. Jesus' Word, spokenthrough the mouth of a man, bespeaks you forgiven and righteous. Hemeans what He says. Your sins are forgiven, because He has declaredit so, and shall continue to do so, as often as you confess yoursins. Let this Word always ring in your ears, drowning out the liesof the devil.

Look to the Lord's Supper. In and under the bread and wine, Jesusgives His very Body and Blood for you, for the forgiveness of yoursins. No matter how often you sin, no matter how great or how smallyour sins, they are forgiven as surely as those elements touch yourtongue. He feeds you and gives you to drink. Let your hunger driveyou continually to the Lord's Table, where He offers Himself as yourdaily bread and your overflowing cup.

Jesus says, “I amthe good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as theFather knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for thesheep.” (John 10:14-15) Heknows you, because you are His own. He died for you, that you mightbe His own and live under Him in His kingdom in everlastingrighteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

Because you know Him, you cannotnot see Him. His cross looms large over your life. You live eachmoment in the shadow of the cross. Because you are shaped and moldedby the cross of Christ, you see the world through that lens. Throughthe lens of the cross, you see others. While the world looks for Godand sees Him nowhere, you need not look for Him, but you see Himeverywhere, in everyone. “Then the King will say to thoseon his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit thekingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'”

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

God Gathers the Increase

2011-11-14T09:12:00.001-06:00

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

Restrain, O Lord, the human pride

That seeks to thrust Your truth aside

Or with some man-made thoughts or things

Would dim the words Your Spirit sings (LSB 585:5).

The kingdom of heaven is like a man preparing to go on a journey to adistant land. He calls three of his servants and gives them money –five, two, and one talent, each according to his ability. Then hegoes off for a long sojourn. Finally, the master returns, and hecalls the servants to present an account of what had been entrustedto them. Those with five and two both return them having doubledtheir money. However, the servant with one has nothing to show forhis stewardship, because he simply hid it in a hole and did nothingwith that which was entrusted to him. Therefore, the master welcomesthe first two servants into bliss, but takes the talent away from thelast, and has him thrown into the outer darkness.

One detail worth noting is the marked inequality of distribution inthe parable. One servant receives five talents, the next two, and thenext one, each according to his ability. There is no sense ofegalitarianism here, no fair and equal distribution of wealth. Themaster hands out money willy-nilly, as he pleases, to each accordingto his ability. It makes no difference to the master, as long as themoney is given out to be used. The quantity does not really matter,either of the talent or of the return on the investment. The mastersimply wants his money used.

So he gives out sizeable chunks ofmoney and goes away on business. Then he comes back for the day ofreckoning. The third servant, looking to make excuses, says, “Master,I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, andgathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I wentand hid your talent in the ground.”

By his words, this servant indicates that he does not truly know hismaster. After all, up to this point, the master has made no demands.He simply gave, and then left the servants to use what was entrustedto them. This is a frightening thing. To be handed a huge sum ofsomeone else's money, with the only instruction being to use it.Could you handle that much freedom? How many of you agonize whensomeone gives you a gift card, struggling to determine what the bestand most prudent way to use that gift might be? What would you do ifsomeone gave you a million dollars right now? Would you blow it onfrivolous pleasures? Would you hide it under your mattress? Would youcarefully seek out the investments that would give you the bestreturn? Would you share it with those most in need, regardless of thecost or the potential for return?

So the day of reckoning comes. Themaster comes home and calls his servants in for a settling of theaccounts. He wants to see what has happened with his property in hisabsence. The servant with five talents returns with double, and sothe servant with two. To each of them, the master says, “Welldone, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over alittle; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

They have each used their master'strust wisely, and gained much in return. Therefore, they will enterinto the joy of their master, into the rest of the saints. However,it is not their doing, as little as it is their money. Even in theway of this world, sometimes the best investors lose. A bubblebursts. A harvest fails. A company goes bankrupt. Things happen, andpeople lose. On the flip side, sometimes investors win. The marketrallies. Harvest goes well. Patience pays off. Sometimes things aregood, sometimes they are bad, and often the ups and downs are beyondyour control.

What is given to you is to deal prudently with the master's property.Put it out there in faith, and He will gather the harvest. Proclaimthe Word, and let it return to Him with fruit. Shine the light offaith, and let come what may out of the darkness. The increase of thekingdom of God comes as little by your actions and intentions as thefruit of the earth.

However, the third servant had no faith, but only fear. He did notknow the heart of his master, because he feared to fail. Rather thanput his master's property to good use, he buried the talent, only tobring it out at the master's call, rendering back only what wasentrusted, without anything to show for it. He had done exactly whathe feared most – he had squandered the master's trust. Sure, themoney was still there, every cent, but it had reaped no benefit. Tohim were given the gifts of heaven, the treasures of the kingdom, andhe had done nothing with them. He was right to fear the wrath of hisLord, because the Lord takes no pity on those who squander His gifts.He comes with swift vengeance against those entrusted with His giftswho bury them and refuse to put them out and let them work for Him.

What does the Lord expect fromthose to whom He has entrusted His gifts? “Proclaim theLord's death until He comes.”Show forth the treasure given to you. And what is this treasure? Noneother than the death of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God given for yoursins, for the sins of the whole world. This treasure was buried intothe heart of the earth, but He broke forth and rose in glory, showingforth the power of God for the salvation of mankind. He has pouredHis grace into your hearts and minds by His Holy Spirit, and hascalled you to be the light of the world, filled with the Light.

Jesus Christ is the treasure. Inthe new covenant in His Body and Blood, this treasure is given toyou, that you may proclaim His death until He comes again. Theproperty of the Lord is His Gifts – His Word and Sacraments –given for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. You show forth thisgift until He comes. You are called to put this out, that God maygain the increase. Shine the light of the Gospel into the corners ofyour life. Give witness to the hope that is within you. Let yourfaith be evident to those who see you. Be reckless with the gifts ofGod, and He will gather the fruits. The Word of God never returnsvoid, but always produces fruit when and where He wills. Do not fearthe harsh master, but serve the gracious Lord who grants to you Hisgood gifts and Spirit. He has granted to you to enter into His joy,to enter into communion with Him in His Body and Blood. He has calledyou not just His faithful servant, but His beloved son. “Asoften as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim theLord's death until He comes.”Well done, good and faithful servant.

Stay with us, Lord, and keep us true;

Preserve our faith our whole life through –

Your Word alone our heart's defense,

The Church's glorious confidence (LSB 585:6).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Endurance of the Saints

2011-11-07T08:58:00.000-06:00

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

OurConfession approves honors to the saints. For here a threefold honoris to be approved. The first is thanksgiving. For we ought to givethanks to God because He has shown examples of mercy; because He hasshown that He wishes to save men; because He has given teachers orother gifts to the Church. And these gifts, as they are the greatest,should be amplified, and the saints themselves should be praised, whohave faithfully used these gifts, just as Christ praises faithfulbusiness-men, (Matt.25:21,23).The second service is the strengthening of our faith; when we see thedenial forgiven Peter, we also are encouraged to believe the morethat grace truly superabounds over sin, (Rom.5:20).The third honor is the imitation, first, of faith, then of the othervirtues, which every one should imitate according to his calling.

Apologyof the Augsburg Confession,Art. XXI:4-6

On thisday, we honor the memory of the blessed saints who have gone beforeus in the faith. So, it is only fitting that we should consider inwhat manner we ought to remember them.

Firstly, wegive thanks for the lives of the martyrs and confessors, becausethrough them the light of the Gospel has shined through the ages. Bytheir witness, we learn that God desires to save all mankind, evenall evil people. For we do not venerate the saints because of theirexceptional holiness, but because of their witness to thetransforming power of the grace of God. A great many of those we callsaints led less-than-holy lives, but were called by the Gospelthrough the work of the Spirit, and were regenerated into faithfulwitnesses and confessors of the faith once delivered. We give thankswhen we hear of these transformations, because it gives us hope thatGod can and will deliver sinful people like us, since He has done sobefore.

Secondly,we honor the memory of the saints because through them we are builtup in faith by the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness ofsins. As the Apologymentions, St. Peter, though he had vowed otherwise, denied the Lordthree times and forsook the Rock upon which he was founded. Yet, uponhis confession of sins, our Lord absolved Him, and St. Peter became apowerful confessor and martyr, and upon his confession of faith isthe Church built. If Peter could fall so radically, and yet berestored and reconciled to our Lord, how great is the hope for allthose whom the Lord loves!

Thirdly, wehonor the memory of the saints because they give us bountifulexamples of how to live in faith. Though imperfectly, those who havegone before us show us the road that leads to eternal life throughtheir lives of faithfulness and service to the Lord. Whether it isthe courage to stand firm before executioners, like Perpetua andFelicitas; whether it is the tenacity to hold firm to the apostolicdoctrine, like Athanasius; whether it is the grace to live a life ofservice to the neighbor, like Mother Teresa; the blessed saintsfurnish us with examples and instruction to live according to ourcallings as Christians.

Therefore,give thanks to God for all the saints who have gone before us,whether famous or forgotten in the eyes of the world!

But whatdoes it mean to be a saint? Do you have to be as brave as the martyrsin the Colosseum, or as selfless as Mother Teresa? No, you become asaint by dying.

Considerthe description of the saints Jesus gives in Matthew: poor in spirit,mourning, meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, merciful,pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted for righteousness, reviled andpersecuted and slandered. Nowhere in there does it say famous,extraordinary, theologically perfect, doer of spectacular works.

Thesaints are those who keep the commandments. St. John describes thepath to sainthood in this way, “Hereis a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep thecommandments of God and their faith in Jesus”(Revelation 14:12). The saints are those who keep the commandmentsand anchor their faith in Jesus.

Of course,St. John, in his visions, saw the multitude of saints arrayed aroundthe throne of heaven. Those saints had been washed in the blood ofthe Lamb and are made perfect already. However, you here on earthhave not yet attained to that perfection. There are still spots andstains on your robe. The old sinful creature within is constantlytrying to munch holes through that white garment.

The oldevil foe does not want you to anchor your faith in Jesus, nor keepthe commandments. He does not want you to imitate the saints of old.He keeps the Church on earth militant, forcing you to stand guard, tolabor and toil, to bleed and die. Yes, he will take your life. Butthe trick is on him, for death cannot swallow life. You, having beenburied with Christ into His death, also rise with Him in newness oflife.

That doesnot mean that the road is easy. Make no mistake: you fight againstthe powers of sin, death, and the devil. You struggle against thecosmic powers of darkness in the heavenly realms, as St. Paul says.You must heed the call issued by St. John to stand firm in faith.

However,you would often rather not. Life is hard, and the Christian life iseven harder than most. Who wants to be subjected to persecution,slander, and hatred? It is easy to fight back against those whostrike out at you. It is easy to become angry because the road ishard and the way is long. No one else is poor, meek, humble,mourning, merciful. Simply lay down the sword and take the cup of theemperor. Simply put down the Bible and embrace the message ofco-existence. Simply give up all that offensive talk aboutrighteousness and holiness and the Law of God, and talk about thelittle bit of goodness that makes everyone neat in his/her/their ownway.

Repent.“Blessedare the dead that die inthe Lord.”Blessed are the saints who have fought the fight of faith, and nowrest from their labors. Blessed are the baptized, who have died thedeath to sin and who now live in Christ. Blessed are those who are inChrist. Blessed be Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who once was slainbut now is raised, who sits on the throne!

For thebattle has been won. The old evil foe cannot harm the saints, becausethey are covered in Christ. They are blessed because they have washedtheir robes in the blood of the Lamb. They have drowned in the fontand been raised up again. They have drunk the cup of the Lord's ownBlood, and have feasted upon His holy Body. The cross of Christ marksthem as the redeemed, beloved, and sanctified.

The saintshave not made themselves holy by their faith, their lives, or theirdeaths. The saints of God are one in every place, because they are inChrist. You are in Christ, because He has marked you as His own,because He has washed you with the water and the Spirit, because Hehas fed you with His own Body and Blood, and has filled you withHimself in Spirit and in truth. Blessed are you, because your sinsare forgiven.

“Blessedare the dead that die in the Lord from now on... Blessed indeed, thatthey may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.”The saints who labored in faith while here on earth now rest fromtheir labors. We rejoice for them, that they enjoy this eternal rest.Meanwhile, we pine for that day when we will join the multitude ofthe heavenly hosts. In the meantime, give thanks that heaven comes toearth and you receive a foretaste of the feast to come in the HolySupper. Join with angels and archangels and with all the company ofheaven in the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom. Receiveunder bread and wine Him whom the hosts adore face-to-face. Givethanks to God for the blessed memory of those who have departed infaith, and pray for the grace to imitate their lives of faith.

No,your loved ones who have gone before in the faith are not watchingyou from above. No, they are not with you in spirit. No, they are notleading you in your life. But they are not gone. Rejoice and beexceedingly glad that they are counted worthy to receive the crown oflife and to stand before the throne of God in heaven. There, they seethe face of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin ofthe world. There, they join their voices to the throng, “cryingout with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on thethrone, and to the Lamb!'”Indeed, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, now and always!

Oh, whatglory, far exceeding

All thateye has yet perceived!

Holiesthearts for ages pleading

Never thatfull joy conceived.

God hadpromised,

Christprepares it;

There onhigh our welcome waits.

Ev'ryhumble spirit shares it,

Christ haspassed the eternal gates (LSB 671:2).

In the Nameof Jesus. Amen.

What is Truth?

2011-10-31T08:11:00.000-05:00

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

Jesus proclaims, “Andyou will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”Great. This is good news for any human ears. Freedom through truthappeals to just about everybody. We like to believe in truth. Afterall, truth is what keeps our world in order.

You and I are hard-wired to believe in truth. It is much moredifficult to understand the idea of a lie than the truth. From thetime of birth, children are automatically programmed to believe whatthey hear. This is why advertising on children's television is sosuccessful. Tell a child that he needs this robot, and he willbelieve it. How many parents have been manipulated into buyingridiculous things for Christmas and birthdays, because the people onTV convinced their children that whatever it was was vitallynecessary to their continued health and well-being?

Perhaps this is why the discovery that Santa Claus is not real is sotraumatic for many children. When your parents tell you somethingover and over again, you believe it to be so. You have no evidence tothe contrary, and everything that your parents tell you is true, justbecause your parents would not lie to you. So when you come to theage where that shattering news is broken upon you, it suddenly hitsyou that your parents are capable of, and have been, executing agrand deceit upon you. If all this about Santa really is not true,then what else that they have been telling you all along is alsountrue?

Now, the matter of Santa Claus is arather minor ordeal in the scheme of things, but so many childrenexperience far worse betrayals by parents and loved ones. When thevery people who gave you your flesh and blood turn away from you, orturn against you, the anchor of existence seems to slip. Whether itis Daddy habitually forsaking Little League because of work, or Momforgetting to pick you up from school, or whether it is the moreserious betrayal of abuse, neglect, or abandonment, these rip off themask of truth and expose the deceit that lies in the heart of each ofus, and that rip leaves the victimized child scarred, often nearlyincapable of trusting again for a long time.

Likewise, when the truth is brought out of hiding after having beenobscured for a long period of time, it is distressing, evenanger-provoking. This is perhaps what fueled so much of MartinLuther's vitriol against the Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church.For centuries, the Church had been hiding from the world the truth ofthe Scriptures and the joy of the Gospel. The forgiveness of sins hadbecome a commodity, to be bought and sold on the open market to payfor new bishoprics and basilicas. The Christian life had beendenigrated from a life of joy in Christ to the drudgery of penanceand earning pennies of merit. The popes and councils hadintentionally obscured the truth by a cloud of falsehood.

Early in Luther's career, after he rediscovered the Gospel in theScriptures, Luther thought that an appeal to the magnanimity of thepope would put an end to the abuses of the indulgence-hawkers. Afterall, the Vicar of Christ, the Supreme Head of Christendom, would havenothing to do with this abomination. Then came the shock and ire ofLuther's discovery that indeed, the pope had been complicit in suchabominations, and the Gospel had been traded away with his blessing.It shook Luther to the core to find out that he had been lied to.

However, throughout all the ages,there has been the angel flying in mid-heavens which John saw, withthe eternal Gospel to proclaim. Luther discovered this, and it isstill there today, being proclaimed over your heads and in yourhearing. But what is your reaction? Will you hear and believe? Willyou “fear God and give Him glory”,as is His due?

The angel flies overhead,proclaiming the eternal Gospel, but you would rather hide from it.You would rather continue to be the kid who believes the nonsense onthe TV commercials. You would rather believe in the politicalcandidates and armchair sociologists who point fingers at each otherand scream that the sky is falling. You would rather hear from thesages of this age than the messenger of the Lord. The truth has beenrevealed to you “from faith to faith”,but you would rather stick your head in the sand and not deal withwhat that means for you.

What is truth? This world is fond of repeating Pilate's question. Andso often nowadays the answer is, there is no truth. The world wouldhave you believe that truth is what you make of it. Each of you isfree to make up your own existence and meaning and morality. What istrue for you may not, and probably ought not be true for yourneighbor.

Or, on the other hand, you may fall in with the high priest,considering what is expedient to be better than what is true andright. Whatever creates the most happiness for the most people mustbe alright. The ends justify the means. True is what the majority sayit is. Let's take a vote and see how we would like it to be.

In all this, one theme continues. You want to hide from the angelwith the eternal Gospel because you do not want to believe that youneed what is offered. You do not want to hear the Word of God becauseit tells you that you are a poor, miserable sinner. The Law does morethan hurt and cause unhappiness. The Law kills. The sword of theSpirit pierces through your best armor and strikes right to yourheart of stone. That sword, in all its holiness and righteousness,destroys you, and you cannot hide from it. You cannot pacify it,either by ignoring it or by attempting to stroke it and soften itsedges. The Law is holy, and it kills all who are not.

However, thanks be to God for the message of the angel inmid-heavens, the eternal Gospel. In the midst of your darkness, inthe throes of your death to sin by the power of the Law, that Gospelcomes to you. From age to age, in every land and every tongue, toGospel remains, ringing out into the ears and hearts of sinful men.That eternal Gospel is the cross of Christ, whereupon He handed overHis life as a ransom for many, for you. That eternal Gospel is thegrace of God, who has passed over your sins, according to His divineforbearance and mercy.

Jesus says, “If you abide in My word, you are truly Mydisciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set youfree.” You know the truth, because the messengers of God haveproclaimed it to you from age to age, from day to day. From the pagesof Holy Writ, from the mouth of the immortal angel, from the tongueof feeble preachers, the eternal Gospel has shone forth into yourdarkness.

What is the truth? The truth is the eternal message of salvation, aspreached by St. Paul, “For all have sinned and fall short of theglory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through theredemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as apropitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” (Romans3:23-25a) You, O sinful man, have been justified by the grace ofJesus Christ, which you apprehend through faith by the power of theHoly Spirit. Therefore, the sword is removed from your heart andplaced into your hand.

“If the son sets you free, then you are free indeed.”The Son has set you free from the bondage of sin and its deception.You are free from the pain of the Law. You are free to wield the Wordof God as a weapon, to divide the light from the darkness, the truthfrom the lies, the good from the evil.

Therefore, “Fear Godand give Him glory... and worship Him who made heaven and earth.”Take up the song of the martyrs now in faith, and march with thosewho do battle on earth. And all the while look forward eagerly towhen the angel proclaiming the eternal Gospel will herald your ascentinto the multitude of the saints and martyrs surrounding the throneof God.

See the angel ranks rejoicing

As they see the poor repent;

See our God reveal His glory

In His Word and Sacrament;

See the souls once bound by Satan?

They are freed, their chains are rent.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah!*

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

*Hymnstanza v. 2 of “See the Angel in the Heavens” by Pr. Mark A.Preus. Used by permission.http://revivelutheranhymns.blogspot.com/2009/10/happy-reformation-day.html

How Shall We Live?

2011-10-24T12:50:00.001-05:00

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

Again, the Pharisees come to Jesus in an attempt to trick Him withsome cleverly devised question. Again, He refuses to play into theirhands. This time, however, rather than simply remaining irritatinglyout of their grasp, Jesus pokes back at the so-called religiousexperts. They ask a question, and He answers. He asks a question, andthey fail to answer it.

With His question, “Whoseson is the Christ?”, Jesusexpounds upon His answer to the Pharisees' question, “Whatis the greatest commandment?”As Luther sees it, this text poses, and answers the same questionwithin two different spheres. How shall we live, both “here intime, and there in eternity”?

The Pharisees seek to know the heart of the Law, and so they ask whatthe greatest commandment is. One could speculate at length abouttheir motives, but it is probably not far off that they hoped forsome answer with which they could quibble over some point oftechnicality or jurisprudence or rabbinical interpretation. Theywanted to be affirmed in their rigid legalism by being told by Jesusthat they were doing the right thing. After all, they were thelaw-keepers, not only symbolically for the people, but literally intheir own hearts.

But Jesus will not indulge them intheir self-congratulations and ego-stroking. Without hesitation, Herepeats the command He had given to their fathers in Deuteronomy:“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart andwith all your soul and with all your mind.”Period. That is the first, greatest, and last commandment.

With this statement, the Pharisees' manipulation of the Law blows upin their faces. For they know that they have not loved the Lord withtheir whole being. Neither have you. There is no arguing about thespirit versus the letter of the Law. No wiggle room or negotiation.The Law demands that you must love the Lord your God with every fiberof your being. Which you have not done. The Pharisees spent theirlives calculating ways to make this doable, coming up with librariesof traditions and volumes of statutes. They had rules for the rules,in search of a method to, in the end, avoid the fact that they werenot loving God.

Perhaps you simply would prefer to avoid the matter altogether. Thepopular message of this day and age is more akin to the old slogan“I'm ok, you're ok, we're all ok.” If I am nice to you, and youare nice to me, and we all just get along, we will all come outalright in the end. Eventually, the mess will come out in the wash.

Or perhaps you think, after a fashion, that you are actually keepingthe Law. You can repeat these words over and over until they are likewater running down a stream. You tell yourself that you know allabout what it means to love God. You hate the things of this worldand the corruption of today's society. You boycott bad things andgive money to good causes. You show up to church and throw a fewbucks in the plate. You are not outwardly vile and despicable, andyou try to be a good person, so you give God a nod every so often andcall it good.

But then comes the second half ofthe Law: “And the second is like it: you shall love yourneighbor as yourself.” Andhere you are stuck, just as the Pharisees. For whatever pretenses youmay possess about your relationship to God, you cannot fake yourrelationship to your neighbor, either before God or before theneighbor you are supposed to be loving. On this hangs the Law and theProphets. This is the answer as to how to live here in time, in thisworld.

In order to live in this world, youmust love your neighbor as yourself. This is a command, but is asmuch simply a statement of fact. To live in society, you must loveyour neighbor as much as yourself. You must be willing to sacrificesome of your self-interests and your rights so that your neighbor mayenjoy equal rights and privileges. You must be willing to help thepoor, so that when you become poor and needy, someone will help you.You must care for the widows and orphans, for you once were orphaned,and you shall be someday widowed and alone. Live peaceably with all,that they may live peaceably with you.

Do you want to live in this world? Then love the Lord your God, andlove your neighbor. For in loving your neighbor, you serve God. Goddoes not need your service. The creator of the universe seeks nothingthat you could give Him. However, your fellow man does need you. Thepoor need to be fed and clothed and sheltered. The defenseless needprotection and support. The lonely need a visit. The sick needhealing. The dirty and undesirable need to be washed and welcomed andloved. For in this wise some have entertained angels unawares, as theapostle says.

Jesus is a master of the argument from the lesser to the greater.Just as we saw this last week with regards to Caesar, so Heillustrates it again with regard to the neighbor. Faith does notconsist in good works. Your love for the neighbor will not save you.However, if you are faithful in a little, you may be shown faithfulin a lot. Good works are the proof that faith is living and active.Loving the Lord your God with your whole self will necessarily leadyou to love and serve your neighbor as yourself. Do this, and youshall live.

However, this may answer how to live among men here in time, there isstill the matter of how to live before God in heaven for eternity.The Law will not get you there. No amount of good works, howeverwell-done or well-intentioned, will get you to heaven.

In order to get live before thethrone of God, you must answer Jesus' question correctly: “Whoseson is the Christ?” He is theSon of David. So then, how can David call Him Lord? David's son isDavid's Lord. The Son of David is the Son of God, begotten of HisFather before all worlds, and Son of Man, born of the Virgin Mary.This is really the key to keeping the greatest commandment. To lovethe Lord, you must know who your Lord is. To know the Lord is to knowHis Son, Jesus Christ. To live eternally, you must know this Lord,and none other.

But you, dead in your sins andtrespasses, cannot possibly even know your neighbor aright, much lessyour Lord. This is why Jesus came. For God, who said, "Letlight shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to givethe light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of JesusChrist. (2 Cor. 4:6) While youwere dead in your sins, Christ broke into your poor, miserable worldand died for you. He shed His blood that you might have life, andhave it abundantly. He broke through the clouds of sin and darknessand shined the light of His grace into your heart, obliterating thedarkness and death that formerly held you captive.

This is the Lord whom you are to love and serve with your wholebeing. The Lord you serve is not some unknown god, contemplated inthe mind and patterned after your own choosing, but He has a face anda body and blood, and He has shown these to you and gives them toyou. The Lord whom you love has first loved you, and He has given Hisonly-begotten Son, that you may live in righteousness, innocence, andblessedness. No more “Do this, and you shall live.” This is done,so that you will live.

This is indeed amazing tidings. However, you are not speechless, nordo you go away empty or dismayed. You join your voice with St. Jamesand all the apostles and patriarchs, with the angels and archangels,and with all the saints who have gone before us to give thanks andsing praise to the Lamb of God, the Son of David.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

What Shall I Render?

2011-10-19T08:50:00.000-05:00

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

After Jesus has told a series of parables lambasting the Jewishleadership for leading the people astray, they seek to entrap Him andget Him out of their way. Therefore, strange bedfellows come togetherfor a common cause. Ordinarily, the Pharisees and the Herodians wouldnever associate. After all, the Pharisees desperately wanted tomaintain Jewish independence so that they could retain theirprerogatives over the people and the Temple. They wished nothing morethan the retreat and demise of their Roman overlords. On the otherhand, the Herodians were extreme political partisans of the house ofHerod Antipas. They were staunch supporters of Rome, mostly in thehopes of furthering Herod's goal of ruling Israel as king.

However, necessity creates odd bedfellows, and this occasion is nodifferent. Both of these parties wanted Jesus silenced, so they cametogether to this end. They would ask Him about paying taxes toCaesar. If Jesus said yes, then the people would see their greathopes of political overthrow dashed and the Pharisees could point toJesus as unpatriotic. If He said no, then the Herodians coulddenounce Him to Pilate as an enemy of the Emperor and a seditionist.

Thankfully, our Lord is smarterthan any who would deceive Him, and He deftly avoided their trap.Should we pay the tax? “Render unto Caesar what isCaesar's, and render unto God what is God's.”Jesus makes clear the order of things in this world, and also showsthe falsehood of the priorities both of the Jews and the Herodians.For if you will not render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, then youcannot render unto God what is God's. However, if you give to God Hisdue, then you will render what is due to Caesar.

For what is due to Caesar? When questioned about the tax, Jesus asksthem for the coin used to pay it. When they show Him, He points outthat Caesar's image is on it. Therefore, render unto Caesar what ishis. What is his? The things of this world are under the rule ofCaesar. God has established government upon this earth for therestraint of evil and the promotion of civil order and peace.

St. Paul tells us the origin and purpose of government. The rulers ofthis world serve at the pleasure of the King of the universe. Heordains them, and He deposes them. He grants to Caesar his authorityto wield the sword of temporal justice. More than a simple socialconstruct or a societal contract, government is established by God asHis agent in this life.

Therefore, to the government youowe your allegiance and loyalty, not because those who fill suchoffice are worthy, but because God has established them in theiroffices. Insofar as they promote peace and good order, and they workto restrain gross sin, they are agents of God. Do your duty to yourunworthy masters, that you may be held blameless in the sight of theworld, and so heap coals on the heads of those who oppress you. Obeythe laws of the land, even when made by crooked lawmakers. Pay taxes,even to evil tax-collectors. “So far as it depends onyou, live peaceably with all.”(Romans 12:18).

This is a God-pleasing service. But you fail to render to Caesar whatis his due. You begrudge your leaders the respect and honor due tothem according to their office. You “despise and anger” those inauthority by your disobedience and your insolence. Rather than maketheir work light, you heap burdens upon them by your sin andstubbornness. You chafe under the yoke of authority and kick againstthe goads of the Law. You refuse to help your neighbor, and thencomplain when the government takes from you to give to him.

And so, because you will not obey your masters, you are shownincapable of rendering to God what is His due. If you fail in alittle, you will fail in a lot. For your faith in God should move younot to despise and anger your leaders, but to love and serve, honorand obey them. If you had proper fear and love for God, you wouldobey the laws of the land, respect your leaders, and gladly do goodto all.

However, you fail to surrenderyourself to God, and this is shown by your opposition to those He hassent to you. Jesus says, “Render unto Caesar what isCaesar's, and unto God what is God's”,but you will do neither.

What is due to Caesar? The coin bearing Caesar's image. The coinbears the image of him who made it, and to whom it is due. Likewise,what is due to God? That which bears His image, and was made by Him,namely, man. What is due to God is you. You were created in the imageof God. You bear His likeness and His Spirit. You belong to God,because He made you and set you apart.

However, that image within you has been corrupted and infected bysin, death, and the power of the devil. That poison coursing throughyou holds you back from yielding yourself to God, from loving Himwith your whole being, from worshipping Him in Spirit and truth. Thecoin has been marred, and so the tax sits unremitted.

But thanks be to God that He has not left you in this wretched state.Although you cannot render unto God His due, He in His mercy renderedHis Son unto you. You cannot give to God, but He gives to you. Jesusis the perfect icon of God, the pure image of His Father made inflesh from the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the face of Jesus Christ, yousee the face of God, but you also see the perfect of face of mankind,created anew in God's self-giving. You could not pay the debt you oweto God, so He chose to pay it Himself by sending His Son in yourstead.

You could not die to pay the price for your sins, so the Father gaveJesus to you to be your salvation. He gave His life and blood toquench the flames of condemnation and wash away the account of yoursins. In your poverty, the Lord gives to you richly.

And in the grace of God, Jesus renders to the Father on your behalf.He offered Himself upon the cross to be the propitiation for yoursin, so that the debt you owed is expunged, the record cancelled, theaccount wiped clean. Your sins are forgiven. You are made clean. Inyou now dwells the perfected image of God, no matter how weak thevessel.

And so, what now is due to God? What is left is to say “Amen.”The rendering unto God is to repeat His words back to Him in faith,to say, yes, Lord, I believe! As the Psalmist sings:

What shall I render to the Lord

for all his benefits to me?

I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the Lord,

I will pay my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all his people (116:12-14).

Render unto God what is His – yourself. He has claimed you as Hisown. He has put His name upon you. He has redeemed you by Christ thecrucified. He has molded you in His image. Let yourself receive Himand His gifts, and offer your praise and thanksgiving for His graceand mercy.

For when you render unto God, you will therein render rightly untoCaesar. By the grace of God, you fear and love Him above all things,and so be free to pay your taxes, follow the laws of the land, andhonor your leaders. The debt owed to God has been paid with the coinof Christ's Body and Blood, and so the coin of Caesar can be renderedto him.

For the children of God, renderingunto Caesar what is his due is a light thing, even when his demandsare harsh. For your treasure is in heaven, where moth and rust do notdestroy, and tax man does not debit. And because your treasure inheaven is secure, you are free to be generous with your earthlytreasure. Fulfill your obligations to the state. Pray for yourleaders. Live peaceably with all people. Shine forth into the worldthe image of the invisible God who has made Himself known in the faceof Jesus Christ, and who makes Himself known through your witness inword and deed. And the peace of God will dwell richly in and amongyou.

Thou art King of Glory, Christ;

Son of God, yet born of Mary.

For us sinners sacrificed,

As to death a Tributary,

First to break the bars of death,

Thou hast opened heav'n to faith (LSB 940:4).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Why Are You Here?

2011-10-12T09:10:00.000-05:00

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

The kingdom of heaven may becompared to a king who gave a wedding feast for His Son. The kingdomis not the feast; the kingdom isthe king. For where the king is, there also the kingdom. And so, thisking gives a wedding feast, and he sends out servants to invite theguests. The invited guests say no. The king still has a feast togive, so he sends out another round of personally deliveredinvitations, and this time the invited guests go off to their fieldsand their businesses, and some shame and kill the messengers. Enragedat their insolence, the king sent his troops and they destroyed thewicked invitees and their city.

Those invited were thus deemed not worthy, so the king instructed hismessengers to go out into the roads and gather anyone they found, thegood and the bad. In this way, the hall of the wedding banquet wasfilled with guests.

Butthen the king came into the hall and saw a man there not in suitableattire. How did you get in here dressed like that? But the man wasspeechless before the king. So the king commanded his servants, andthey threw the man out, into hell. “Formany are called, but few are chosen.”

Two warnings ring forth from this parable, both grave threats, butperhaps one more than the other. Firstly, if you reject the king'sinvitation, you will be destroyed. This is easy to understand. Don'tbe stupid; don't reject the king. Secondly, even if you accept theinvitation, if you will not wear the wedding garment, you will go tohell. This ought to give you pause.

What does this mean, that you must wear the wedding garment? Afterall, you got into the feast, right? You received the invitation, andyou accepted the gracious call of the king. You have been called bythe Holy Spirit to faith. You have been baptized. You should be goodto go.

But this guy gets into the banquet hall without the wedding garment.Obviously, he heard the call and answered the invitation. But hedecided not to wear the required garment that made him acceptable inthe presence of the king. He did not do enough to be right with God.Do what the Law says, and you will prove yourself worthy of theking's invitation. If you are not doing good works, then your Baptismmis-fired somewhere along the way.

False. Your Baptism is true and valid and certain because the Lordwho swore that oath to you, who called you into that water, whodrowned you and raised you, He is true and certain. Yes, it is true –Baptism bestows and creates faith and faith in turn spawns good worksfor the sake of your neighbor. However, good works do not makeBaptism work. The Word of the Lord does that.

Good works are truly pleasing to God, but they do not make Him loveyou. If they did, it would not be love. You do not say to yourchildren that you brought them into the world as a freebie, but theymust earn the privilege of staying in your family. Your spouse doesnot merit the right to come to the dinner table every night. No, theLord God loves you because He chooses you, and nothing you can do orfail to do can earn or disqualify that.

The king threw out the man without a wedding garment. He had heededthe invitation, but chose to come not by the king's bidding, but onhis own terms. You are a guest in the king's hall, just like everyoneelse. A guest – not the host. The king makes the rules, not you.His invitation gets you in, but on his terms, not yours. He has madeyou worthy, but you disqualify yourself by wrapping yourself in yourown works and self-confidence and self-righteousness.

Good works do indeed flow out of the heart of faith. The love of Godhas been poured out into your heart and mind, transforming you forservice to the Lord and to others. The curse of the Law has beenlifted, and so too its bondage. Therefore, you will naturally loveand serve those to whom God calls you. However, these works will notmake you worthy to stand in the kingdom of heaven. Your works arefilthy rags in the hall of the king. They are worm-eaten and torn,stained and stinking. All your good works are corrupted by the sinthat poisons your motives.

Why did you come here today? Very likely, you came to perform a goodwork. The Third Commandment demands that you honor the Sabbath andgladly hear and learn God's Word. So you are here. Maybe there was atouch of guilt. You have not been as faithful as you ought. You havesinned in your inward dealings or outward actions. Some of you arehere because you want something from God. Like Santa Claus, youfigure that if you are a good Christian and show up when commanded,you will get what you want when you ask. Maybe it is something thatseems very noble and pious, but you are still negotiating with God.Some of you are probably here because you do not know what else to dowith your Sunday morning. You have the habit of turning up here atthis time, and that's the way it's always been. This is your church,and your parents' church before you, and maybe your grandparents'church before them, and somebody better be dying to keep you from it.

You came to do a good work. You came to offer up your presence in thehouse of God as some sort of great gift, as though God needs yourrear in His pew. But then you corrupt it with your sinfulinclinations. The hymns are not to your liking, so you tune them out.The readings are long, and the sermon drones on. So you get boredlistening to the Word of the Lord. You daydream about less-than-piousthings while parked in the House of God. Some good works.

Your good works fail. They must fail, and they will. Repent. But donot despair! For when you recognize this, you are become worthy tosit at the feast of salvation. The stronger your faith, the weakeryou will feel. You have been called to the feast on God's terms, andnot your own, for precisely this reason. The faith given to you inyour Baptism lives on its knees. There, in humility, you receive thegifts that the Lord has to bestow upon you. That brokenness you feelwhen your works fail, when your sin haunts you – that serves todrive you to confession, and confession leads to absolution. The Lawbreaks you of any notion of your own goodness, and instead drives youto the One who is good – the Lamb of God. Confession drives towardthe absolution, because your sins are forgiven.

It does not matter how you got here, or why you came today. Whatmatters is that you are here, in the House of God, in the banquethall of the king. He called you here, from whatever ditch He foundyou. He called you to faith, and gave you the washing of regenerationand the robes of righteousness. He put His name upon you and swore anoath to forgive your sins. God wants you here, and He made you worthyto be here. He died on a cross so that you could come to His banquet.He gives His own Body and Blood to be the banquet meal. The HolyCross is the portal by which you enter the feast, and the sign whichmarks you worthy to remain.

The king sends out His messengers, calling all whom they find. Hecalls the good and the bad, the pretty and the ugly, the desirableand the wretched. He calls you. And He calls you good. He calls youworthy to receive the words of eternal life. He calls you to Histable, where He spreads before you a feast of rich foods, of choicemeats, of well-aged wine. He spreads before you a banquet table inthe presence of your enemies. He anoints you with His blood, and yourcup overflows. Surely, goodness and mercy will follow you all thedays of your life. And that is why you are here.

O God, let us hear when our Shepherd shall call

In accents persuasive and tender,

That while there is time we make haste, one and all,

And find Him, our mighty defender.

Have mercy upon us, O Jesus! (LSB 510:2)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Things Are Not As They Seem

2011-10-03T08:48:00.000-05:00

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

Sometimes things are not as they seem. Every so often, you probablyrun into a situation where something seems off, seems different thanwhat you see. Maybe it is the look in a person's eye that tells youthere is more to the story. Perhaps it is the vague wording of apress release. Something just is not what it seems.

Oftentimes that happens in our spiritual lives as well, both for goodand for bad. Today's readings give two examples of this.

The prophet Isaiah records the “Song of the Vinedresser”, wherethe Lord describes the great care He expended in establishing Hisvineyard, and the hope He had that it would produce abundant, richfruit. The Vinedresser took great cares to select the perfect pieceof land so that conditions would be just right. He picked rock andtilled the soil. He cleared the weeds and built walls and fences. Heeven built a watchtower and a winepress. When the land was ready, Heplanted choice vines and tended them lovingly. He gave them all thecare and nutrients they needed. What more could He have done that Hefailed to do? All that was left was to wait to enjoy the fruits ofHis labor.

What should have come from these vines so lovingly planted andtended? Good fruit should have come from them. But what did theyproduce? Stink-fruit. Terrible fruit, not good for anything. Bitterfruit not fit for vinegar, much less choice wine. Now, what is thedifference between good fruit and stink-fruit?

There is not much outward difference between good and bad grapes, atleast on the vine. Both look fine, seem alright, grow from what lookslike healthy vines. Generally, what makes the difference is the caregiven to the vines. If you nurture the vines, they will give goodfruit; if you neglect them, they produce stink-fruit. You get outwhat you put in.

Except that did not happen. The Lord lavished His grace upon Hispeople without reservation. He created them in His own image. Hecalled them out of the bondage of idolatry. He led them into a landflowing with milk and honey. He brought them out of the house ofbondage, out of the land of slavery. He preserved them through theiryears of pilgrimage. He defended them against attacks foreign anddomestic. He dwelt among them to give them His grace and favor by theforgiveness of their sins.

And what happened? They grumbled against Him in the wilderness. Theydoubted His power to bring them into the Promised Land. They demandeda king, so that they could be like the pagan nations. They forsookthe worship of the Lord for the false gods of the nations. Theyturned to foreign powers rather than trusting in the God of theirfathers. They were planted in rich soil, and failed to produce thefruits of faith.

Instead of justice, there was bloodshed. Instead of righteousness,there was screaming and wailing. The good vines produced not justbad, but poisonous fruit. The fruits of their own actions, despitethe richest blessings, would be their downfall. For the Lord decreedthat they would be destroyed, torn down, and deserted. The walls andfortress would be ruined. The weeds and thorns would overtake thevines. The wild animals would come and devour the fruit. The peopleof Israel would be destroyed by the powers they thought could savethem. They would be plundered by their protectors and taken captiveby their oppressors. Their rejection would lead to their destruction.

Similarly, things are not as they ought to be in the Gospel lesson.Again, we hear of a master who takes great care to plant a richvineyard. This time, he rents it out to tenants and goes away to afar land. When it comes time to collect the rent, he sends servantsto the tenants, and they beat and abuse the servants, finally killingsome of them. In desperation, the master decides to send his son,thinking that they will respect his right to collect the rent. Butthey decide to kill him and attempt to usurp the inheritance thatwould have been his. For this, finally, the master comes, kills thewicked tenants, and gives the vineyard to someone else.

The chief priests and teachers of the Law maintained the appearancesof godliness in the sight of the nation. They followed the letter ofthe Law and the traditions of the rabbis. They were more holy thanany others. But yet they cared nothing for the people. The needs ofthe poor and widowed were ignored. Justice depended on might andmoney. What was expedient was more important that what was right.Those in charge of the Lord's House had turned it into a marketplaceand a den of robbers. When the Lord sent His servants to settleaccounts, His people stoned the prophets, shut their ears, andhardened their hearts. Finally, He sent His Son, and they treated Himshamefully, mocked His preaching, and delivered Him over to becrucified.

Therefore, the Lord devoted todestruction those who opposed Him. As the Scripture foretold, thesethings must happen, but woe to those by whom they came to pass. TheLord took from the chief priests and the elders and gave the keys ofHis kingdom to others. “Have you never read in theScriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become thecornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in oureyes'?” (Mt. 21:42)

That rejected stone is thecornerstone of our faith. The stumbling block is our foundation. TheLaw has been preached into your ears and into your hearts. You haveknown the Law from the beginning, because it is written upon yourhearts. And yet you reject those who preach it. You would rather reapall the benefits of the fruit produced around you, but not pay therent due for it. You reject the cornerstone in favor of setting yourown lines, and then throw up your hands when the crooked walls ofyour house come crashing down into the sand foundation. But thatcornerstone will not just go away.

For “the stone whichthe builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”The stone the builders rejected, the son the tenants killed, the soilthe vines divorced – He is none other than Christ our Lord. Butrather than come in judgment, Jesus came to do exactly what happened.He came to die. The Son of God came to sinful man to be put to deathfor our sins and transgressions. The tenants of the Father's landdesigned to kill the Son and steal the inheritance that is His, butyou cannot steal what is freely given.

For the Son of Man came not to serve, but to be served and to giveHis life as the ransom for many. He came to earth to die. He came togive Himself for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. Though He wasrejected, despised, and crucified, He delights in giving Hisinheritance to you anyway. He died that you might have life, and Herose again that you might believe and know. Things are not as theyseem, because death cannot comprehend life and darkness cannot coverlight. Yet, out of death comes life, and the light shines in thedarkness.

This indeed is a stumbling block to sinful minds and hearts. God isnot always as He seems. He is not some divine Santa Claus, anxious togive you whatever your little heart desires. But neither is He somevengeful, wrathful tyrant, eager to devour you and strike you down tohell. When all seems lost and despair reigns, in He breaks with Hisgrace and mercy, and He binds you up and heals you in body and soul.When the night is dark and the light is gone, the still small voicewhispers, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the consummation ofthe age.” The God who said, “Let there be light” has shone thelight of His grace into the darkest of hearts.

The one who falls on this stumbling block will be broken. You havebeen broken. You have been broken of your sinful pride andself-confidence. You have been thrown down from your fortress ofself-reliance and conceit. You have been shattered in theimaginations of your heart. But you are not lost. You are broken andcontrite, and you believe in the forgiveness of sins. You have beenbroken, but you have been bound up and made whole again by the graceof God in the blood of Jesus Christ. You have been broken, but youare alive in Christ.

Things are not as they seem. Thevineyard that appears wild and abandoned produces beautiful fruit.The son who is killed by the tenants offers His life for them. Thestumbling block becomes the source of life. The God who judgesdecrees the guilty to be innocent. You who are broken are yet whole.You who were dead are now alive. The lowly bread and wine are thevery Body and Lifeblood of Jesus, given and shed for you, for theforgiveness of your sins. Things are not what they seem, and yet,“this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in oursight!”

For why? The Lord our God is good:
His mercy is forever sure.

His truth at all times firmly stood

And shall from age to age endure (LSB 791:4).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

"By What Authority?"

2011-09-26T13:57:00.000-05:00

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

Authority is a topic of great concern to many people. Just themention of the word conjures up many and various images and conceptsin the mind. Authority is important, but is also easily abused andoften mis-handled.

On one hand, we want people to speak and act with authority. When apublic figure or a researcher makes a statement, it is assumed,generally, that he has the authority to make the statement, and theexpertise and data to substantiate it. Based on an authoritativestatement from the experts, we make a decision. When the Congresspasses legislation or the president gives an order, they do it on thebasis of the authority vested in them by the people of the UnitedStates of America.

On the other hand, much of the political rhetoric these days centersaround who has the authority to do what. Does the president have theconstitutional authority to force his policies? Does the SupremeCourt have the authority to hand down this or that ruling? Does thefederal government have the authority to force its will on thestates? A base of authority is what separates irrational, wildguessing from reasoned, informed decisions.

The question “by what authority?” is not a new one, by any means.The Jews come to Jesus with this question when He upsets the tablesof the money-changers and drives out the merchants from the Temple.Pontius Pilate will attempt to assert his authority over Jesus whenthe Jews bring Him in to be crucified, and Jesus will put him in hisplace.

The question of authority is also commonly asked in the Church. Inevery human organization, someone must be “in charge”. So who isthat in the Church? By what right does the pastor say the things hesays and do the things he does? Under whose direction do thingshappen around here?

So, let us consider by what authority the pastor pronounces HolyAbsolution. By all outward appearances, this flesh-and-blood humanstanding here has no more standing that any of you to forgive sinsand pronounce the Absolution of God. How can a sinner forgive thesins of another sinner? What is it that I have to say to you that youcannot do for yourself? After all, you have the Word of God – read,mark, learn, and inwardly digest it for yourself! The Word of God isof no private interpretation, nor is it the property of anyparticular exclusive class or group.

However, the Absolution is no ordinary word. “I forgive you allyour sins” is not the same as “good morning”. When the Lordspeaks, it is a performative act. God's Word does what He says. Hesays, “I forgive you”, and you are indeed forgiven. And, wonderof wonders, the Lord chooses to speak through the human mouth of Hiscalled and ordained servant to pronounce that Word to you. The LordJesus gives His apostles and pastors the authority to speak for Him,on the basis of His Word. As the Scriptures declare, when the calledand ordained servant of the Word announces the grace of God to you,you can be certain that it is as true in heaven as if Christ Himselfhad spoken to you.

So who is “in charge” aroundhere? Many other church bodies answer that question in a variety ofways. Some say the Pope is the final authority over matters in thechurch. Others say the local council of presbyters. Still others saythat the congregation's voters' assembly is the last word. We believethat while human beings administer the temporal affairs of thecongregation, the Lord of the Church governs His Church. The Word ofthe Lord speaks, and we listen. The Lord has given His Church, sothat through His instruments, we might receive His Gifts. For theChurch is not simply a social club, but the place where the LordHimself is present to give Himself to you. According to the AugsburgConfession, the official confession of our faith, “The Church isthe congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught andthe Sacraments are rightly administered.” (AC VII). The ministry ofthe Gospel was instituted so that, through means, the Holy Spiritmight work faith and the forgiveness of sins be given.

All these kinds of questions of authority, whether valid or not,often serve to reveal the pride that lurks within sinful hearts. Youlike to question the authority of those who act, just as the leadersof the Jews did, because you wish you had the authority given tothose God has called on your behalf. You do not want someone to havethe authority to forgive your sins, because you would prefer not toconfess them in the first place.

For the leaders of the Jews, this pride led to a gross case ofbreaking the Eighth Commandment. When they could not corner Jesusabout the source of His authority, they lied in order to avoidconfessing their sin. They could not say that John's authority camefrom heaven, for what right would they have had to challenge him,then? They could not say that it came from men, because they knewthat to be a lie. Therefore, they lied and said they did not know.The leaders bore false testimony and gave false witness because itsuited their political needs and covered their butts.

Furthermore, the leaders of the Jews transgressed the EighthCommandment by usurping the authority to judge. Who is to judge theLord of Hosts? In the case of the chief priests and the elders, theyhad decided that the traditions of the rabbis prevailed over the Wordof the Lord. They craved power and authority and status, and werewilling to lie to the Lord's face in order to preserve it.

Guard against the crafts and assaults of the devil in questions ofauthority. Pride causes conceit, for those in authority and for thoseunder authority. Those in the places of leadership are tempted tolead according to their own will and judgment, rather than the willof God and the Word of God. Those under authority are tempted to riseup against those who govern them and throw off the yoke God has laidupon them. You who lead would like to put down all who question you.You who follow would like to challenge those who lead at every turn.

However, Jesus answers the question of authority posed by the elderswithout actually answering their question. By refusing to submit tothe questioning of the elders, Jesus asserts that He has authorityover them, just has He has authority over all mankind, since allauthority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him.

Jesus has authority from above, since He is from above. He is the mancome down from heaven, the very Son of God. He need not submit to thequestioning of any human mind and mouth because the Lord of Hostsanswers to no one.

However, the Lord chooses not to answer the challenges to Hisauthority through a show of might, but through the greatest show ofweakness. The Lord God of heaven and earth emptied Himself of theform of God and took up the form of a servant. The master of theuniverse submitted to human authorities and the laws of nature. Jesusasserted His authority by giving Himself over to be crucified and todie. Then, on the third day, He demonstrated His final and completeauthority over life and death by rising from the dead, therebydefeating sin, death, and the devil.

Therefore, because Jesus is thefinal authority over all things, the means of grace which He givesare also authoritative. His Word is reliable and certain. What Hesays, is. When the God who made the heavens and the earth by the Wordof His mouth speaks, it is true and certain. What is written in HisScriptures is authoritative because the God who spoke it is theauthority.

Likewise, the forgiveness declared in the name of Jesus isauthoritative. When the called minister of God forgives your sins,“this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christour dear Lord dealt with us Himself.” (SC V). It is not simply awish, or even just a declarative statement. The Absolution proclaimedin Jesus' name does what it says. By a word, your sins are indeedforgiven.

The Holy Sacraments, given by command and according to the promise ofour Lord, really and truly deliver what they promise – theforgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Christ our Lord Himself istruly present in the waters of the font and in the bread and wine onyour lips. By His Holy Spirit, He grants you the faith to receive thegift of grace and mercy which flows through these human means. In theWords of Institution, Jesus Himself comes and gives Himself to you inbody and soul, that you may be filled with Him and cleansed by theforgiveness of your sins.

Jesus' authority is still living and active in His Church today, andshall be as long as the Church on earth exists. When His ministerspreach the Word, you hear the voice of Christ, the living voice ofthe Gospel. When His ministers baptize, absolve, and give the Supper,you witness and receive the forgiveness granted by His authorityaccording to His command. The Church stands and falls by the Word ofthe Lord.

Christ's Church rejoices in theauthority of Jesus, because in it we hear His Word and are absolved.According to His Word we live, in His Word we die, and His Wordremains forever. As Ezekiel said to the people of old, get yourself anew heart. Hear the Word of the Lord and believe it, for Christ'ssake. Speak the Word of truth which builds up the body of Christ. Donot place yourself in the judgment seat, but submit to those God hasplaced over you, and think the best of all around you. The Word ofChrist dwells richly in you, forgiving your sins, and moving you toput the best construction on all things and to love those who loveyou and those who hate you. On the authority of Christ, think thebest of all people, because He has forgiven them, just as He hasforgiven you.

What God ordains is always good:

He never will deceive me;

He leads me in His righteous way,

And never will He leave me.

I take content

What He has sent;

His hand that sends me sadness

Will turn my tears to gladness (LSB 760:2).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

"I Choose to Give"

2011-09-19T09:21:00.003-05:00

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

It is no strange thing that you should be scandalized when someonegets something he did not earn. Something about that just does notfeel right. You worked hard for your money, and so you have moreright to the comforts it can buy than the guy who never worked a dayin his life. Those who simply inherit the fortunes of others may beblessed, but they are lazy, at least in the eyes of many in thisworld. No work, no eat – that is the pattern of this life, or atleast it should be, by all accounts.

And yet there are many who live not by the sweat of their own brows,but by the hand of the government and the tax dollars of theirneighbors. Our land teems with those who do better on the dole thanif they actually worked for a living, given their meagre backgroundand skills. We often feel a sense of disgust toward those who gamethe system, taking from the hardworking and giving to the lazy, whilethe rich look on with derision at this middle- and lower-classbickering over pennies.

Sometimes, we are even tempted to think this way with regard to ourcharitable duties. When considering which causes to support, thecommon question is who needs it most, or who will do the most goodwith it? Christian love causes us to give for the needs of others,but we want to know that those who receive our gifts will be reallydeserving and appreciative of them. This world doesn't run on freelunches, after all. And no one can tell me where to spend my money.It's mine, after all.

But what of God, and what is His? The Scriptures proclaim that thewhole universe is the Lord's, and as sovereign ruler, He is entitledto do as He will with it. There is nothing in all of creation thatwas made without the express will and command of God. All things thatare exist in His hand, and were He to stretch out His mighty hand,the world would cease to be in the blink of an eye. But He delightsin giving to us the gifts of creation and in seeing the joy we derivefrom all that He has made. The Lord does not need your praise andadoration, but He sure enjoys it. As a father begets children withouttheir assistance, so our Lord has created us without our say-so orapproval.

However, you and I want our works to count for something. As hard asyou might try, as many spiritual hoops as you might jump, your workhas no worth or value in terms of your standing before God.

Sure, you labor long and hard. Many of you here today have beenchildren of God practically your whole lives. You have put in longhours doing the work of the Lord. Whether it is providing the flowersfor the altar or setting up for Communion, whether it is mowing thelawn or shoveling the sidewalks, whether it is mopping the basementor vacuuming the sanctuary – you have put in your time for theLord's house. And thank you. For without all this effort, theministry of this congregation would not happen.

Even in less visible ways, you have borne the heat of the day underthe Lord's direction. Your days and burdens have not all been easyand light. Playing the organ week after week, coming to church evenwhen the children seem impossible to control, trusting in the Lordwhen tragedy strikes, believing in the grace of God in the face ofdeath – these are the heavy lifting of the kingdom. More than thephysical labor, these spiritual trials are what make the sweat pourand the heart and soul ache.

Of course, you would not begrudge those who are late-comers to thekingdom. Those who came into the Church later in life, by whateverroad trod, are still here. It is a wonderful thing to see new facesin the pew and to have those formerly estranged become brothers andsisters in the faith. We even give thanks for those who are saved ontheir deathbeds and leave this world in peace and joy out of themidst of suffering and agony.

But just stop and consider what the Lord of the vineyard does. Afterthe late-hired have worked only an hour, He gives them the same as Heagreed to give the first-hired, who have borne the burden and shedthe sweat all day long. Those deathbed converts and newcomers to theparty get the same reward as you who have toiled away in the faithall these many years.

That irritates the old Adam within you. You, who have suffered thecrafts and assaults of the devil. You, who have sweated under theweight of responsibility and integrity. You, who have sacrificed andsaved for the sake of others. You want to have some recognition forall that you have done. Surely your work is worth more than thatJohnny-come-lately who slipped into heaven by the last-second “amen”.Surely your contribution to the kingdom is worth more than those poorguys who just warm the pew on Sunday mornings, but never “actually”contribute anything meaningful.

The only reason that some of the workers were first and some werelast was chronology. The ones called earlier were first, and the onescalled later were last. Our text says nothing about the quality oftheir work, only the quantity. The master chose to call them in thatorder, and nothing about them distinguished one from another – onlytime spent.

But the words of the master proclaim the crux of the whole matter:“Do you begrudge my generosity?” Truly, God does what Hewants with what is His. And what does He want? The Lord's greatestdesire is to be generous to those whom He chooses.

Thanks be to God that He does what He wants instead of treating us aswe deserve! For even your best and brightest work is worthless beforeHim. St. Paul counted all earthly gain as loss and rubbish incomparison to the gifts of God. The works of the human heart arecorrupted with sin, so that even the best works you offer yourneighbor are still as filthy rags in the sight of God. You do notlabor purely for the love of your neighbor, but rather to makeyourself feel better or look good. You do not humble yourself as youought, but you puff yourself up and you resent those placed inauthority over you. For all this, as St. Paul declares, the wages ofsin is death. This is the payment you deserve for your works in God'svineyard.

But, above all else, God is generous. His ways are not your ways, andHis thoughts are not your thoughts. He does not reckon according toyour standards, for good or for bad. Rather than keep an account ofright and wrong, of good and bad deeds, the Lord will, and does,freely pardon all sins. He gives the reward even to those who deserveit least. He pays the last of the workers the same as the first.

In Jesus Christ, our Lord shows His complete and utter generosity. Hewho created all things gave up Himself so that He might redeem allcreation and reconcile mankind to Himself. The Lord, who needsnothing and who possesses all things, gave us His grace and mercy bythe death of His Son upon the cross. He did not spare any expense,but paid the price to ransom you, “a lost and condemned person …from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not withgold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with Hisinnocent suffering and death.” (SC II:2)

In Christ, here and now, even in this place, God does what He wantswith what is His. For He has claimed you as His own, marked you withHis holy Name, and washed you clean in the holy flood. He hasforgiven your sins and pronounced you worthy to receive the crown oflife. He has, and will again today, fed you with His very Body andBlood under bread and wine for the forgiveness of your sins, that youmay be His own and live under Him in His kingdom forever. The Lorddoes what He wills with what is His, which includes you. And what Hewills for you is to give you His grace, mercy, and peace.

And the Lord is not stingy with His grace. He does not pick andchoose to whom He will give. Nor does He only forgive some things butnot others. He forgives all who believe, even you. He forgives allsins, even the worst of yours. He feeds you His holy Supper, whereyou receive not just a simple bite of bread and sip of wine, but thewhole Lord Jesus Christ, given and shed for you, for the forgivenessof your sins.

Keep your eyes off the gifts given to others. Do not cast the evileye on the generosity our Lord shows to those late called to thefeast. Rather, keep your eye on the prize. Fix your eyes on Jesus,“the author and perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy setbefore Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down atthe right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2). Do notkeep a record of works, but work for the good of your neighbor,always living in the lavish grace which God has bestowed upon you.

Since Christ has full atonement made

And brought to us salvation,

Each Christian therefore may be glad

And build on this foundation.

Your grace alone, dear Lord, I plead,

Your death is now my life indeed,

For You have paid my ransom (LSB 555:6).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Put on Christ - Platte/Sebastian Wedding

2011-09-19T09:20:00.000-05:00

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

Today,you gathered here today have, as they say, “cleaned up good.” Youshowered and washed, shaved and scrubbed. You primped and plucked.You had your hair cut and your nails done. You dressed yourself inbeautiful finery, and decorated yourself with make-up and jewelry.All this in an effort to be the best you can be for each other. Whowould not want to present himself at the best and brightest and mostwonderful for his bride?

Butwhat about the inside? Is the inside as clean and polished andbeautiful as the outside? Left to your own devices, the answer wouldbe no. In the verses preceding our epistle lesson, the apostle givesan account of what the heart of man is like. St. Paul instructs,

Putto death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality,impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too oncewalked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them allaway: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from yourmouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off theold self with its practices.

Allthese things are what is common to man. These things are easy to do.They come naturally, and sometimes you find yourself doing themwithout trying, maybe without even noticing. These are the thingsthat come about because of the poison of sin which infects andcorrupts you to your core. This you inherited from Adam, and this iswhat drags you toward the grave.

Indeed,these things are what the devil will use to attack you and yourmarriage, from within and without. He does not want you to live inpeace and joy as husband and wife. He does not want you to fill yourhome with the Word of God and the knowledge of salvation. He willtempt you to let a lustful eye wander. He will fan the flames of yourtemper and set fire to the kindling of your petty annoyances. He willcause you to desire the place of your husband and he will tempt youto give it up to her. He will make it easy to tune out the Word ofthe Lord and to wander away from the grace of God in the forgivenessof your sins.

Buttake heart! All is not lost. For you have put on Christ. While youwere yet sinners, Christ died for you. He who knew no sin became sinfor you, that you might receive His righteousness. The cross ofChrist secured your redemption and your salvation.

OurLord Christ has bathed you in the holy font. In those blessed waters,the Lord cleansed you with His Word and washed you clean with Hisblood. He drowned your old, sinful, stony heart, and He has broughtyou up out of the flood into the new life which is His alone to give.He has cleansed you and clothed you with the white robe of Hisrighteousness and holiness. Jesus Christ has made you clean, pure,and holy, because He is pure and holy. You have been baptized intoChrist, and therefore all that is His is now yours. He has sanctifiedyou and presented you to Himself as His pure, spotless, acceptablebride.

Therefore,live in the grace with which God has adorned you. “Andabove all these put on love, which binds everything together inperfect harmony.”Put on love, as Christ has bound each of you to Himself. He has madeyou His own, cleansed and purified you, and put His name upon you. Hehas chosen you and called you His beloved. Put on love as you take upHis name.

Inthis same love, our Lord Christ binds you together, body and soul,two into one. You who were formerly two, now are becoming one inspirit and in flesh. From this night on, you no longer live toyourself, but you live for each other, even as you live in Christ. Itis the grace of Christ that has called you together, and He will bindyou to Himself and to one another in the bonds of love.

Asyou are bound together in Christ Jesus, you will forgive each otherand pass over a multitude of wrongs for the sake of love. As God hasforgiven your sins, so you will forgive each other, not keeping arecord of wrongs, but loving and serving joyfully. What sins God hasremoved, let you not remember. Put on love, which covers a multitudeof sins.

Today,you are cleaned up and made beautiful for one another, not only onthe outside, but on the inside. All the filth and death of the oldAdam has been washed away, and Jesus Christ has made you holy andperfect and has equipped you to love and serve each other in joy andpeace. Your sins are forgiven, and your grace is complete.

Rememberwhat happens today. Treasure in your heart the blessings that Godbestows on you this day, and recall them in good times and in bad.Remember the vows that you are about to take, and rejoice that evenin the worst circumstances God has and will continue to give you thegrace and the strength to keep them, til death do you part.

Youare clothed in Christ. You are washed in His blood. You are boundtogether in Him and by His grace. You are made beautiful for yourBridegroom, now and forever. “Andlet the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you werecalled in one body. And be thankful.”

Inthe Name of Jesus. Amen.

+ Leslie A Miller +

2011-09-19T09:18:00.001-05:00

“Sir,We Wish to See Jesus”

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

In the Gospel lesson just read,Jesus and His disciples were in Jerusalem worshiping at the Passoverfeast, when some Greeks came to the disciples and asked, “Sir,we wish to see Jesus.” What aquestion of faith. For this is what shapes our whole lives in faith –the desire to see Jesus.

You and I wish to see Jesus also, as did Les. Many people spend theirwhole lives in search of Jesus, whether they know it or not. This iseven evidenced by the popular question asked by Protestant sidewalkevangelists: “Have you found Jesus?” But where do we find God?Many people have many different answers to that.

For some, God is to be found in nature, or in the things of thisworld. The beautiful sunrise and sunset, the rolling tides of theocean, the constant turning of the seasons – these are allmarvelous things. Since time immemorial, mankind has been looking tothese things as signs of the divine. Today, there are those who seekto find “nature and nature's God”, and think that salvation liestherein.

For all of us, the naturalinclination of our hearts is to look to the gods of our own creation.To be sure, some go at this overtly, creating statues and falsereligions. But the rest of us have our own private idol-factories inthe depths of our hearts. Whether it be money or power or fame orfamily or health or wisdom, we all seek after the things of thisworld in a foolish and feeble attempt to find God.

Some even seek to find a Jesus more to their liking. Whether it isthe stern, rigid Jesus who condemns all the world's ills and hatesthe heathens, or the soft, effeminate Jesus who loves everybody andjust wants us all to get along, these are both caricatures of thereal Jesus. Jesus is not found in the way you or I wish to find Him,but is found in the ways He chooses to reveal Himself.

As St. Paul says, Jews seek the Christ through signs, and Greeks seekafter wisdom and knowledge. Some seek God in miracles and paranormal,supernatural occurrences. Others seek God in knowing andunderstanding the mysteries of God and creation. But both of theseare folly, and to both paths, the cross of Christ is a stumblingblock, a scandal.

If you wish to see Jesus, you must look to His cross. There, in thefolly of God, you will find Jesus, and in Him you will come to knowGod. But the world looks upon the cross and the Gospel asfoolishness, even though you who are being saved know it as the powerof God for your salvation. The foolishness of God is the salvation ofmankind.

Forgiveness of sins is not found anywhere but in the blood of JesusChrist. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness ofsins, and only the holy, innocent blood of Jesus could provideforgiveness for all mankind. In His blood shed for you on the cross,you are washed clean and made pure and holy.

Eternal life is found in death. That message is foolishness to theears of those who are perishing, but it is the glorious message ofthe cross. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died. Therefore, you willlive. Death begets life. Because Jesus died, death has beendestroyed, since death could not hold the Author of Life. Because youare in Christ, you too shall live, even though you die.

The riches and generosity of God are found only in the cross. In theutter poverty of death, Jesus Christ emptied Himself of the glory ofGod and took up your sins, and the sins of all mankind. In emptyingHimself, He gave His glory and life to those who believe in Him, whoare called by His name. The richness of God is shown in that He paidthe debt owed for our sins, and did not count it against us. Heshowed forth the glory of God from the cross, because God isglorified chiefly in showing mercy and grace. By His grace, your sinsare forgiven, and your life is hidden in Christ.

Therefore, seeing Jesus, you mustfollow Him. He said, “If anyone serves Me, he must followMe, and where I am, there My servant will be also.”The servants follow the Master. The children follow the Father. Thesheep follow the Shepherd. We follow Christ crucified and risen.

We follow Him through the flood. In the waters of the Jordan, ourLord entered the flood for us, that we might be united to Him in HolyBaptism. There, we die with Him and are buried with Him, in orderthat we might also rise with Him to newness of life.

We follow Him under the weight and shadow of the cross. Through manydangers, toils, and snares we follow where our Captain treads. In thevalley of the shadow of death, we need fear no evil, for He is withus, as we are in Him. In the midst of the changes and chances oflife, we follow on His path, because His light leads the way.

We follow Jesus Christ through thegrave. Although we enter the grave and are buried into the earth, weknow that we shall not remain there forever. Our Lord was placed intothe tomb and sealed into the earth, but was raised again on the thirdday and has ascended into heaven. Death is but a portal to the courtsof the Lord. We die, just as our Lord, and our bodies are placed intothe ground, but we shall be united in the body again when the Lordcalls us at the last. And until then, the saints of God rest in thebosom of Abraham, in the house of God.

In the midst of the sting of death,we have the gracious promise of Jesus: “where I am, thereMy servant will be also.”Where Christ is, there also His saints. In the water, at the altar,through the grave, in the courts of the Lord. Where Christ is, therealso His saint Leslie, and all those beloved faithful who have gonebefore us in the Lord. We grieve because Les is no longer here amongus, but we have hope because we know that the angels have borne himhome, because where Christ is, there are His servants.

Death hurts. The Gospel seems somany words and such foolishness and stupidity. The pain of losing aloved one aches deeply and long. But this foolishness is the truth –God has chosen to save us by the foolishness of the cross. The Lordwill give you wisdom to believe. The Lord will give you strength topress on in faith. In weakness, even in death, the strength of Godprevails for His children. “For the foolishness of God iswiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Despised and scorned, they sojourned here;

But now, how glorious they appear!

Those martyrs stand,

A priestly band,

God's throne forever near.

On earth they wept through bitter years;

Now God has wiped away their tears,

Transformed their strife

To heav'nly life,

And freed them from their fears.

They now enjoy the Sabbath rest,

The heav'nly banquet of the blest;

The Lamb, their Lord,

At festive board

Himself is host and guest (LSB 676:2).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

How Often Will He Forgive?

2011-09-12T10:19:00.000-05:00

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

Today, as we gather in the house of the Lord, we remember the eventsof September 11, 2001. It has been ten years, although to some itseems that time has stood still. Those directly and personallyaffected still reel from the aftermath of that day. Indeed, ourentire nation, and the world, has been forever changed in so manyways.

That Tuesday morning introduced into the heart of America the fear ofterrorism on our own soil. Many sat in disbelief at the idea thatsuch an attack could happen in our land, the greatest nation onearth. There were many who became deathly afraid of flying afterward,and to this day, some will not take to the sky because of 9/11.Others fear to be in crowds, or in tall buildings, lest terroristsstrike again in the same way. People are visibly uncomfortablesitting next to one who is perceived to look like a Muslim on anairplane or other public transit.

The horrendous tragedy of so many lives lost in one morning is almostbeyond comprehension. Watching loved ones flinging themselveshundreds of feet to the ground rather than burn to death is a sightthat will never be erased from countless minds. The memories sharedby rescuers of people found trapped in the wreckage will haunt themto their graves. A whole class of boys and girls will grow up notknowing their moms or dads because those parents went to work andnever came home that Tuesday. Even today, people are dying because ofthe clouds of unknown substances that floated over Manhattan and DCfor weeks.

Even those of us in far-off locales, removed from the immediatedevastation, still feel the effects and bear the burdens brought by9/11. All you have to do is attempt to walk through an airport. Goneare the days of “flying the friendly skies”. Every mode of publictransit has security measures now. Communications of every kind aresubject to potential government scrutiny. People who had never evenheard of Afghanistan and the Taliban now roll those terms off thetongue like apple pie and baseball. The average American issuspicious of his neighbor, especially if he has an unusual accent.

Of course, one question that seems to echo through the halls andairwaves of America in the face of all this is, “Where was God?”Indeed, where was God on that day? If God is good, and God is themaster of the universe, why did such a horrible tragedy happen?

Psalm 103 says, “TheLord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. Hemade known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. TheLord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding insteadfast love.” The Lordworks righteousness; the Lord is merciful and gracious. In the faceof seemingly overwhelming loss and tragedy, these are hard words tohear, and even harder to believe. After all, where is God'srighteousness and justice in these things?

The Scriptures point to where Godis in all things. He is in His ordering of creation. The Lord ofHosts is not absent from His creation. He has not forgotten aboutthis world, nor has He abandoned us to the whims of some lower,malevolent demigod who wishes to make us his plaything. The Lord Godof heaven and earth is here, in every particle of creation, in everycorner of the universe. St. Augustine wrote, “So, then, if you fillheaven and earth, does that mean that heaven and earth contain you? …The vessels which are full of you do not lend you stability, becauseeven if they break you will not be spilt. And when you pour yourselfout over us, you do not lie there spilt but raise us up; you are notscattered, but gather us together.” (Confessions1.3.3). The Lord fills the whole universe, and He creates andsustains all things.

The Lord is also found in the leading of His people. He led Abrahamand his household through the desert into the Promised Land. He ledthe children of Israel out of the house of Egypt, out of the land ofslavery. By His leading, the Israelites passed through the Red Sea ondry ground, and throughout the days of their wandering in the desert,their feet did not swell nor their garments wear out. Under theleadership of the Lord, the people of Israel defeated their enemiesand gained the land promised to their fathers from of old. The handof the Lord guided and sustained the apostles and the Churchthroughout the ages. He still leads His children through the darknessof this world in the light of the Gospel. And not one of His littleones has been lost out of His hand.

Finally, and primarily, the Lord is found in the forgiveness of oursins. The thing that distinguishes the Lord God from all the falsegods of the world is the forgiveness of sins. For our Lord is notknown simply as a divine monarch who rules over a creation which isentirely foreign, alien, and inferior. Our God came to this world andwas made man so that He might die for you, for the forgiveness ofyour sins. The true God is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ,and the will of God and the nature of God is revealed upon the cross,where the sinless Son of God became sin for us, that we might becomethe righteousness of God.

In the midst of tragedy and loss that seem as thought they mightswallow us up, here is God. He comes not as a mighty warrior-king,riding on a war-horse, but He comes as a sacrificial lamb, who shedsHis blood and lays down His life so that we might have life. Thoughwe deserve no such grace and mercy, yet our God gives us Himself,that we might be full of His life. In the midst of life, snares ofdeath surround us; yet in the midst of death, we are filled withlife.

Becausethe Lord has made Himself known to you in the forgiveness of yoursins, He likewise calls you to forgive your brother, that you may allcome together into the kingdom of heaven. But, like so many things,the human tendency is to want a numerical limit on how much you mustforgive. Peter asks, in today's Gospel lesson, “Lord,how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?”This really is two questions, one with an easier answer than theother.

How often will your brother sin against you? To put it simply –much and greatly. Your brother will sin against you every day, inmany and various ways. Sometimes small, sometimes large. Infectedwith the sin of Adam, your brother will look out for himself beforeyou, and shove you aside in his race to the top.

It will be small things that your brother slights against you. Youwill suffer his lack of focus on the road. You will experience theresult of him being cheap and stingy. You will be the brunt, evenunknowingly, of his wagging tongue.

And it will be great sins that your brother commits. He will attemptto take your life, whether by his overt action, or by his failing toact when you need him most. He will seek to relieve you of yourfairly earned possessions and reputation. He will drive a wedgebetween you and the wife to whom God has joined you. He will do hisbest to lead your children astray into great shame and vice. He willmurder you and thousands of unsuspecting people with you.

It is easy to spot your brother's sin against you, but it is yetanother matter entirely to follow through with Peter's question, “howoften will I forgive him?” The simple answer is that, left to yourown devices, you won't. It is not a question of how many times youwill forgive the one who sins against you, but whether you will do itat all.

Theheart of stone in you, the old Adam does not want to forgive. Itseems easier to become bitter and resentful. You are inclined to lookback over and over on the events of the past and remember them toyour bitter end. In your bitterness, you will come to hate yourbrother because of his actions against you. Whether it is Muslims forknocking down buildings or poachers for invading your fields or yourbrother who swindled your parents, or whatever it is – you willhang onto that and use it as fuel for the fire of hatred and angeragainst those who wrong you. And because that fire rages deep andburns long, the old Adam in you is loathe to forgive. It is easier tohold up those sins like a red flag every time your brother stumblesand falls.

Butwhat does the Lord say about this? Jesus answers Peter, “Ido not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”Indeed, the Lord sets no numerical limit on the forgiveness you mustgrant to your brother, because He sets no limit on the forgiveness Hegrants to you. Instead, Jesus teaches you to pray, “Forgiveus our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”Since you have been forgiven everything, you also will forgive allwrongs against you.

Davidproclaims in our psalm, “Hedoes not deal with us according to our sins.”What glorious news this is for all of us! Christ Jesus has alreadydied for your sins. Two thousand years ago, the promise given to ourforefathers became reality. The Son of God was made man and wascrucified for all the sins of all mankind. By the blood of Christ,your trespasses are covered. Your debts are erased. The twentythousand talents becomes zero. By His death on the cross, Jesus hastaken away your sins, and they are forever removed, as far as theeast is from the west. What once was, is no more. You are no longerthe dead, despised, condemned sinner, but you are the forgiven,redeemed, beloved child of God.

Likewise,just as Christ died for you, so He also died for your brother, evenfor those whom you hate. He loves your brother even more than youhate him, and He desires that all your brethren be forgiven of theirsins and united to Him in His holy Church. Christ has died for allthe ungodly, that all people might receive the forgiveness of theirsins by the work of the Holy Spirit. He has died to defeat death, andhas risen to proclaim life. As the prophet says, “Thesun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.”(Malachi 4:2). That sun shall rise upon all the earth, and therighteousness of God will set right all wrongs and heal all wounds.And the forgiveness of sins will shine on all people.

Therefore,we join together in David's song: “Blessthe Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits!”Bless the Lord at all times, even in the midst of tragedy and greatloss. Bless Him, and do not forget all the great blessings He hasbestowed upon you. The Lord has forgiven your iniquity and cleansedyou from all unrighteousness. He redeems your life from the pit, evenfrom the pit of your own digging. And He crowns you with steadfastlove. His joy is ever to show love and mercy, to you and to allcreation. Bless the Lord, and sing out the glory of His Name.

Lord, cleanse the depths within our souls

And bid resentment cease;

Then, bound to all in bonds of love,

Our lives will spread Your peace (LSB 843:4).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Greatest in the Kingdom

2011-09-06T09:50:00.000-05:00

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

In today's Gospel lesson, the disciples come to Jesus with a rathermisguided, but all-too-common question. Their question is one that weall like to ask from time to time “Who is the greatest?” You andI all want to be the best, the brightest, the most successful, thegreatest. Even if you cannot be the grade-A, certified best ateverything, you still want to be the greatest at fill-in-the-blank.

Because of this compulsion, we have seen an explosion of self-esteemboosters, ranging from the cute and relatively benign to the justplain ridiculous. Go to a department store just before Mother's Day,and you will see the shelves littered with clothing and trinketsemblazoned with “#1 Mom”. Kids will squabble endlessly to win thetitle of “best friend”. Of course, these things are relativelyharmless, but it doesn't stop there.

Go to a kids' sporting competition, and everyone gets a prize. Manycontests nowadays are judged on an objective scale, rather than onecontestant against another, because it is considered poor form forchildren to compare themselves to one another. We have a generationof young adults who have never been called second-best, because thatmight be injurious to their self-esteem, despite the fact that comingin second generally motivates you to do better next time. Many comingof age today have trouble keeping a job because they don't understandthe competitive dynamics of the job market and the workplace. “Efor Effort” sometimes is just not good enough. But yet we all wantto hear that message: “You are the greatest!”

In that vein, the disciples askJesus, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”To a human mind, it seems a legitimate question. Someone has to befirst, and someone has to be last, right? So is it the most pioussaint who is the greatest in the Kingdom? Surely we can look to thepatriarchs and prophets, and consider them among the greatest in theKingdom of heaven. Or consider the lives of the saints of old. St.Polycarp was burned at the stake at the age of eighty. St. Franciswandered all over Italy, barefoot and begging. St. Catherine of Sienasubsisted by eating only the Lord's Supper for most of her adultlife. Are these great examples of the Christian life the greatest inthe Kingdom?

Or perhaps the greatest in the Kingdom are the ones who have won themost souls for Christ, so to speak? After all, Joel Osteen can fill afootball stadium week after week, claiming to proclaim a Gospel.Preachers like Robert Schuller and D. James Kennedy reached millionsthroughout their careers, thanks to television and radio. Dr.Kennedy's preaching can still be heard on TV in some places. It couldbe said that Billy Graham and his Campus Crusade changed the face ofAmerica and American Christianity. Are these the greatest in theKingdom?

The answer that Jesus gives is aresounding “NO!” These things do not qualify you as the brightestand best in God's eyes. They do not win you a trophy or browniepoints. Rather, Jesus says, “Whoeverhumbles himself like this child is thegreatestin the kingdom of heaven.”If you wish to be great in the kingdom of heaven, you must be humbledlike a little child. Okay – but what does that mean?

Achild is utterly dependent. From the very beginning of life, a childis carried about by others. For the first nine months, every child iscarried about to and fro in his mother's womb. No creature chooses tobe created, but is given life by God alone. Even after that child isdelivered from the womb, he is still subject to the whims of theadults in his life. Mom and Dad carry him here, there, and everywhereas they go about their lives. From crib to couch to car seat, he goeswhere they go. Even when he learns to walk, he must still go where heis told.

Thisstate of dependency also makes a child immensely vulnerable anddefenseless. From the moment of conception, forces operate upon achild's life to wrest that life from her. Subject to the will of hermother, she may be aborted or forced to endure the mistreatment ofdrugs or alcohol or other toxins. Even the child carried by a healthyand caring mother is subject to the so-called natural forces thatwork to keep a child from birth. Once she enters the world, she maynot fare much better. In many parts of the world, children are nearlyas likely to die as to see their first birthday. Even in our country,terrible acts of abuse and neglect are perpetrated against childrenevery day.

Byvirtue of being dependent and defenseless, a child is in a positionof humility. This is not the natural posture of any human being, butit is a forced state, due to being at the mercy of others. Each childmust depend on the kindness of others for his needs of body and soul.However, children are not naturally humble. Watch a small child, andyou will soon learn this. Children can be incredibly stubborn,selfish, and ungrateful. They will often do exactly the opposite ofwhat they are instructed. Sharing is a skill that takes a long timeto learn. Gratitude takes a lifetime to inculcate, and some seemnever to learn it. But children are forced into these virtues bytheir circumstances.

Therefore,when Jesus instructs the disciples to become like a child, He isinstructing them to be humbled. Our Lord commands all of us behumbled. Despite the inclinations of your sinful heart, you must behumble before your God. He is God, and you are not. He gave you life;you did not choose it for yourself. You are not your own lord, northe master of your own destiny. The Lord is not seeking some outwardposturing of humility. No one makes of himself a martyr. Sacrificingfor the sake of others, however noble, will get you into heaven nofaster than being the brightest and best. You are a poor miserablesinner, broken and dead in your sins and trespasses. You can do noother. That is your natural state. This is what we confessed at thebeginning of this Divine Service, and this is what each of us mustconfess each and every morning. You must repent of your false pride,your fake humility, and your desire to be the greatest in thekingdom. Repent and admit your dependence on God.

For,as St. John says, “ifwe confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive oursins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”You are dependent upon the God of heaven and earth for your life andbeing, and this is a good thing, because He has the power and thewill to give you all you need.

TheFather of all goodness and life desires to give you life abundantly.He created the heavens and the earth, and filled them with life, sothat you might be His child and live in His love and grace. Hedelights in showing mercy to you and in giving you all that you needto support this body and life. Depend on Him, because He has promisedthat He will never leave you nor forsake you, because He has createdyou and has claimed you as His own dear child.

TheSon of God desires to give you life everlasting in His Kingdom. Jesusso much desired the salvation of you and all mankind that He camedown to heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the VirginMary and was made man. He suffered, died, and was buried, and on thethird day He rose again from the grave. He ascended into heaven andsits and the right hand of the Father. All this Jesus undertook inorder to save you from your sins. Depend on Him, because He has shedHis blood to accomplish what you could not – the atonement for yoursins and the salvation of your soul and body. By His stripes you arehealed, and through His blood you will enter the kingdom of heaven.

TheHoly Spirit desires to give you life in Christ, here in time andthere in eternity. While you were yet dead in your sins, the Spiritentered into you and breathed the breath of life into your cold,sinful heart. In the waters of the font, He marked you as oneredeemed by Christ the crucified. Each morning, He renews thatbaptismal covenant and forgives your sins. He works faith in yourheart, and love and service in your members. Depend on Him, becauseHe has brought you to faith in Jesus, and continues to keep you inthe one true faith unto life everlasting.

Youare the dear children of the Lord, created, redeemed, and sanctifiedby His love, and He does not desire that one of His little onesshould perish. God our Father rejoices over each of His children,both young and old. He rejoices to see each child created and givenbirth, and even more does He rejoice to see children enter into Hiskingdom through the watery gates of Baptism.

BecauseHe does not desire to see His children perish, our heavenly Fatherinstructs His people to gently lead one another in the way of life.We are called to speak the truth in love, humbly correcting ourbrethren when they err. To love your brother is to help him see hissin, that he may repent and be restored to the fellowship of thesaints. The point of correction is not to despise the one whostumbles, or exalt the one who finds fault, but to bring all thefaithful into one accord in the Body of Christ. Just as two feetcannot carry one body in different directions, neither can thefaithful go in separate ways. We are called to love each other andbear each other up in the true way.

Thechildren of God are completely and utterly dependent upon Him, andthat is a wondrous thing. You have the promise of your Father that Hewill hear and answer your petitions and prayers. Jesus promises us,“Forwhere two or three are gathered in My name, there I am among them.”The Lord is here among us, now in this Divine Service, and always,binding our hearts together into one holy communion of faith andlove.

TheLord is here among us, forgiving our sins and cleansing us from allunrighteousness. He is here to restore us to fellowship with ourFather and with one another. The Lord is here to hear our prayers andpetitions. He is pleased to do good for those who love Him, who arecalled by His Spirit and His Name.

TheLord is here to give Himself for you. He gave Himself for you uponthe cross, and today He gives Himself for you upon this altar. In HisBody and Blood, He cleanses you and makes you holy and pure. In HisHoly Communion, He lifts you up and makes you great in the kingdom ofheaven. You are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven because He hascalled you to faith and poured out His grace upon you. He has madeyou the cherished and precious children of God. And there is nothinggreater in all of creation than to be be a child of God.

Mysoul magnifies the Lord,

andmy spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

Hehas shown strength with His arm;

Hehas scattered the proud

inthe imagination of their hearts.

Hehas cast down the mighty from their thrones

andhas exalted the lowly (LSB 248-9).

Inthe Name of Jesus. Amen.

Taking Up Your Cross

2011-08-29T13:46:00.000-05:00

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

“If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” This is Jesus' exhortation in today's Gospel lesson. To follow Jesus, you must deny yourself and take up your cross and take off after Him. Easy enough to say, but what does this mean? How do you deny yourself, and what is the cross that you must shoulder?

The Sixth Commandment gives one example of what it means to deny yourself and take up the cross. The wedding vows taken by the bridegroom contain these words: “Will you have this woman to be your wedded wife... Will you nourish and cherish her as Christ loved His body, the Church, giving Himself up for her?” (LSB 276). To take this woman to be your wedded wife means taking up a cross. It requires you to nourish and cherish her, just as Christ loved His body, even to the point of giving Himself up for her.

To enter into marriage is to deny yourself. When you assent to those vows and slip on those rings, you are no longer free to do as you please. You no longer are your own person – as if you were to begin with! Gone is the freedom to enter into intimate relationships with other people – spiritually, emotionally, or physically. Gone is the freedom to roam the streets and haunt the bars until all hours of the night. Gone is the freedom to come and go as you please, without any thought toward the pleasure of anyone else. You are not your own man, but your body is your wife's, and hers is yours.

To deny yourself means that you must crucify the desires of the flesh and give way to life in the Spirit. You may not look with lust upon anyone but your wife or husband. You may not lie with as your wife someone who is not your wife. A man may not take a husband, nor a woman give herself to a wife. The Lord has given you to that person whom He has seen fit, and to none other. If He has not deigned to give you to a mate, you may not take one for yourself.

Furthermore, your resources are not your own, but are devoted to nourishing and cherishing your wife and children. Christ our Lord handed over all He had, even His very life, to claim and sanctify His bride, and your marriage requires no less of you. The Law demands that you live a pure and decent life in all you do, and especially with your spouse.

Lest you despair, marriage is not simply a trudge toward death, bound to a fleshy anchor. The Lord blesses and sanctifies marriage as a holy estate, and through it He gives many good gifts. In matrimony, He does a new thing, creating one out of two, and from those two-become-one He may be pleased to bring forth children as the fruit of their union. The Lord unites man and wife in marriage for mutual joy and consolation, for it is not good for man to be alone. In marriage, sin is restrained, and the gift of sex as God created can be enjoyed in all its goodness. Finally, and primarily, the Lord sanctifies and preserves marriage because in this union He gives us a fleshly image of the relationship between Jesus Christ and us, His Bride, the Church.

However, this blessing comes with responsibility. In taking a wife, you are promising to love, honor, keep, and be faithful to her. You shall love no other. You shall honor her above all, forsaking all else. You shall keep her in health and care for her in sickness. You shall be faithful to her as long as you both shall live. She is yours, and you are hers. You are no longer your own, and you belong to none other. If you hang onto your old self-interest and ambition, your marriage will fail. This cross will take all your strength to carry.

Jesus says, “let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” To follow Jesus requires great sacrifice, even more than to be married. To follow Jesus requires that you completely and utterly give up your self-interest and your selfish ambition. You must despair of any merit or worthiness in yourself. You must repent of the idolatrous leanings of your sinful heart.

To follow Jesus, you must submit to your Head and master. He is the bridegroom and you are the bride. He is the leader, and you must go where He leads. He knows best and you do not. He is right, and you are wrong. He has the words of eternal life and the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and you have only death and a ticket to hell.

To follow Jesus, you must get over yourself and live through Him for others. He does not need your service and your stuff, but He has placed you amongst those who do. Your wife needs your love and your affection. Your husband needs your respect and your care. Your children need your leadership and your counsel. The poor need your treasure and your time. The sick and distressed need your visits and your prayers and your letters. The house of God needs your hands and your sweat and your support.

But you want to do your own thing. You want to pretend that you know best. You want to think that you are an island unto yourself. What you have is your own, to do with as you please. Your wife can deal with whatever you toss her way. Your children are grown and don't need you. Who cares what you do with your money, as long as the bills get paid eventually?

Love has become a throw-away word. To love someone is to use him, her, or them to make yourself feel good. When the warm-fuzzies fade, it is time to move onto the next person, place, or thing. Rather than loving and cherishing those to whom Christ has joined you, you use them to stroke your ego and serve your needs. Service to the needy becomes simply a tax deduction or a chance to get your name in the paper. You would much rather shirk all that responsibility, and instead find your happiness out on the lake or in the deer stand or wherever you feel like it.

However, Jesus has not simply given the command, and then left you to wallow in despair because of your sins. “Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Even when you fail to love your spouse perfectly, Jesus has loved you beyond compare.

Jesus knew even before coming to this earth that He must suffer and die to redeem His bride. He came anyway, and He gave Himself up in order to win for Himself a pure, spotless bride. Even though you were once in sin and given over to death, He has shed His blood to take away your trespasses and to make you pure and holy and acceptable to God in heaven.

Jesus, the great Bridegroom, loves you so much that He gave Himself up to death, even death upon a cross, in order that He might save you from eternal death. He took up the punishment for sin that was not His so that He might give you the life that is His.

And He will never leave you nor forsake you. Although the love between you and your spouse will falter and fail, Jesus' love will never waver. He has bound Himself to you by water and blood. He has taken all the rubbish that belongs to you – sin, death, and destruction – and has given you all the wondrous things that are His alone to give – forgiveness, life, and salvation. He has sealed you with His holy Name and marked you as His own. He has made you who you are in Him, and has called you His bride. And He will be faithful unto the consummation of the ages.

So take up your cross and follow Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, your burden is light, for His yoke is easy. Fear and love God with your whole heart. Lead a sexually pure and decent life. Love and honor each other as husband and wife. These things are easy, because your Lord has already done them for you. What is left for you is to follow your Bridegroom to the wedding feast. He has made you perfect in all love and faithfulness. And He will keep you in the one true faith by His Word and Spirit. For the love of Christ dwells richly in you, even as the Holy Spirit is working in you to perfect you in purity and faithfulness toward God and toward one another.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Circle of Life

2011-08-22T12:54:00.000-05:00

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

What is the movement of life? In which direction are we moving? These are questions that people have sought to answer since society began. Fallen man, not knowing the mind of God, wonders whence things have come, and where they are headed. Therefore, we come up with explanations that sound good to our own minds.

One popular conception of the cosmos is that it is circular, or at least cyclical. One can find this view in philosphies of the East and the West. In some schools of Hindu thought, the universe is thought of as being infinite, both in time and space. However, the universe runs in cycles. As it is said, once every thousand years a bird flies over Mount Everest, brushing it with a silk scarf. When Everest has been worn down by this, the universe will reset, and a new age will come to be, and so things have been and will cycle on forever.

Another version of this is more popular with Western scientific minds. Some hold that the so-called Big Bang started everything off, and that all matter is hurtling out into space in all directions. However, it will someday get to the end of the line and start sliding backward. This backward motion will eventually result in the Big Crunch, where all matter and energy will crunch back together, and then, theoretically, another Big Bang will happen, and it will all start over again.

A great many more people believe in the near-endless cycle of reincarnation that enslaves us all. You are born into a station in life, whether as a plant or a king, and living as good a life as you can will get you moved one step up the ladder when you die and come back next time around. Moving up and down the ladder, you will step by step head for the end, which is nothing, or everything, depending on who you ask.

Today's epistle lesson presents a different image of how the cosmos works. St. Paul tells us, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” From and through and to God everything is and moves. The universe comes from God, exists through His care, and it all points to Him.

Aristotle, 700-some years before St. Paul, proposed an understanding of the universe as a circle, but not an infinite one. According to the philosopher, the universe has a fixed beginning and ending – God. God is the unmoved mover, the one who puts everything in motion, and yet is not Himself moved. Therefore, Aristotle says, God is also the End of everything, because He is the true reality, since He is the only thing that does not change.

A thousand years later, teachers of the Church came to understand Aristotle's model according the the teachings of Scripture. St. Paul's ascription is one of the texts that bridges this divide. Obviously, God is the beginning of all things, since He is the creator of the universe. Likewise, He is the end of all things, because all of creation exists to give glory to God.

From God are all things. He is the creator of all things, while Himself being uncreated and infinite. The first words of Scripture declare, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1). God is the fount and source of all goodness and life. Moses records that the Word of the Lord came forth from His mouth, and that Word created all things according to the will of the Lord. He spoke, and everything that is came to be. Out of the mouth of the Lord came the Word of creation. No substance existed before He created it. No will formed the cosmos except His. No act was needed except His speaking. He spoke, and it was.

Likewise, the Lord still speaks, and His will still comes to be. His are the words of eternal life, as St. Peter ascribes. He bespeaks you righteous, and you are so. He gives His Name, and it is affixed upon His desired object. The Word of the Lord goes forth from His mouth, and it never returns void.

Nevertheless, St. Paul asks, “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Or who has given a gift to Him, that he might be repaid?” We ought not presume to peer into the darkness of the mind of God, beyond what He has revealed in His Word. To peer into the mind of God is idolatry, and invites death, as the Scriptures warn, “No one may see God and live.” He is so far beyond our faculties of comprehension that we must simply let God be God.

And yet, you are not content with that. No human being is; in fact, this is the first sin. You want to know the unknowable. You want the mind of God. You want to know everything. You want to be like God. And sometimes you think you do know everything. Or at least you know enough. What does God have to say to you that you don't already know? You are smart enough to come to your own conclusions and to find your way on your own. If you just work hard enough, plan smart enough, and keep your nose clean, you'll do alright.

Then, when things go wrong, you still want to exalt yourself over God. Why did this have to happen? Where was God in all this? Why do good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people? You want to question God and His will and purpose, as if you know better how things should be. The Scriptures over and over warn that the ways of God are beyond your knowing, and yet you keep trying, as if somehow God might let the mask slip and show you what no one else has found.

Even if you realize that you cannot know the mind of God, you still want to lay claim to the gifts of God as if they were your own. Your land, your animals, your family, your church, your money, your whatever. You put your name on these things and thing that somehow you are entitled to them, and that if you have them now you are entitled to keep them.

However, just as from Him are all things, so also through Him are all things. St. John proclaims, “All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.” (1:3). Through the Word of the Lord, that is, through Jesus Christ, you were made. Your heavenly Father spoke the Word, and by the word of Christ, you came to be. By that selfsame Word of the Lord you have been remade, again through and by Christ.

For through our Lord Jesus Christ comes the new creation, the Church of God. Through Him comes the forgiveness of sins for you and me and for all mankind. Through Him was death vanquished once and for all upon the cross. Through Him did life once more arise and the light of God shine upon this dark world. Through Him, you who were once dead in your sins and trespasses became alive in Christ and sons and daughters of the living God. You who were once not a people have been made into a holy people and a chosen race through Christ our Lord.

From the Lord are all things, and from Him come all good gifts, but through Christ, in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, do you come to know the Giver of all these things, and through Him do you learn to glorify God for all His benefits to you. Through Christ all that is the possession of God – namely, forgiveness, life, and salvation – come to you and abide with you because of the grace that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Finally, from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. Just as all things flow from the Lord, because He is the author and creator of all, so also do all things flow back to Him, because we are all created in His image and for His glory.

St. Paul says in Colossians, “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (1:18-20). Through Jesus the Church came to be, and in Him we all remain, because He is our Head and our Bridegroom. You have been baptized into Him, and abide in Him, and shall evermore remain united to Him in faith.

Just as the Psalmist proclaimed that “the heavens declare the glory of God”, so also you, with all creation, serve to proclaim the wondrous works of God (19:1). He has redeemed and sanctified you, and He has opened your lips and given you the words of eternal life, that you might bear witness to Him and His glorious work of creation and salvation in Jesus Christ. He is the object of your thanks and praise because He has done marvelous things toward you, His children. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3-4). Thanks be to God!

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host:

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Amen. (LSB 805)

The Outcasts of Israel

2011-08-17T09:28:00.000-05:00

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

We are conditioned not to like outsiders or strangers. It is instinctually uncomfortable to encounter someone you don't know, and even more so to actually interact and get to know the person. Each of us has his circle of friends and acquaintances, and we don't like that bubble being invaded. We train children to avoid unknown people, using phrases like “stranger danger!” to ward off the wayward inclination to talk to someone new. For vulnerable children, this may be good advice, but when do we outgrow such a maxim?

Acceptance of outsiders is the basic theme of the movie from a few years ago “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. In the film, a girl from a large, very traditional Greek family falls in love with a non-Greek man, and many comic episodes ensue in the quest to mesh their worlds. At one point in the movie, the girl's father goes on a rant about his daughter's intended: Is he a good boy? Is he from a good family? Does he have a good job? Does he love his mother? I don't know! He's not Greek! Why couldn't she find a nice Greek boy?!

It can be difficult to adjust to new people. When you meet someone new, you don't know his background, his beliefs, his perspective, his history. You don't share common experiences. You don't share common understanding or language. Things are awkward.

In Genesis 12, the Lord called Abraham out of his homeland and promised to make him the father of many nations. The Lord said, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Through the covenant with Abraham, all the world would be blessed. This is because the covenant with Abraham entails the birth of the Messiah, the savior of the world. From Abraham would come the people of God, the nation of Israel, and also the Messiah, the Holy one of Israel, who would save His people from their sins. In Him, all the nations of the earth would be blessed, because He who called them all into being would call them all together as His own.

However, this news was all-too-often taken hostage by the foolish pride of the Israelites. The Lord said, “this promise is for you and for your children”, and so it could not be for anyone else. Israel exalted herself over the nations, because she was the favored of the Lord. Who can bring a charge against God's elect? We are children of Abraham! The promise is for us, and not for you. Soon, wrapped in their cocoon of superiority and proud self-serving piety, the Israelites thought that they deserved all the blessings of the Lord.

However, the Lord says plainly in Deuteronomy 7 that it is “not because you were the greatest” that Israel was chosen, but because God loved her, despite being the least among the nations. In Hosea, the Lord calls her Not My People, but yet promises to make her His people. He chose the people of Israel to be His treasured possession because He love them, not because they deserved it more than anyone else. Because of His great love for them, the Lord made the children of Israel His precious children. The nations around them became as dogs, barking up the wrong idolatrous trees and desperately in need of even the scraps from the children's table.

In our Gospel lesson, a Canaanite woman comes to Jesus, who was out of His territory anyhow, and asked Him to heal her daughter, who was sorely oppressed by a demon. Jesus says to her, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” Jesus came to Israel because they were the chosen people of God. However, they rejected Him and His preaching. They preferred their own brand of legalism and proud tradition. But heaven forbid that He should save the Gentiles, either! The Messiah was promised to Israel, after all – not to those dirty heathen nations outside the bounds of the twelve tribes. What was given to the children should not be thrown into the dirt and cast to the dogs. Children deserve good gifts, but dogs can fend for themselves.

The Lord declares in Isaiah, “I will gather yet others to Him besides those already gathered.” He promises that the people of God will come from all walks of life, from those of every stripe, including you. He has stretched out His hand and gathered you to Himself. He has made you His own.

But yet you fail to believe. Your heart, corrupted by sin, does not want to believe the Word of the Lord or come to Him in faith. You would just as soon run the other way and try to make it on your own, under your own steam. But you don't want others to have the gifts, either. You would be just as happy to sit by and let the grace of God sit in your lap as share it with anyone, or to let it penetrate your sin-infected heart.

Whose job is it to provide for the poor and needy? Is it the government's job? Or is it your job? Well, setting aside the fact that that is a false question in a government of and by the people, it is your job as a Christian to care for your neighbor. The Fifth Commandment compels you to look after the bodily welfare of those around you. Jesus instructs you to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, and pray for those who suffer. It is not someone else's job to do all these things – it is your job to see that they are done. The government exists to ensure that we live peaceably with one another and to punish evildoers. It does not exist to absolve you of the obligation to care for your neighbor.

Likewise, the Church does not exist to absolve you of your responsibility to give witness to the Gospel to those around you. The Office of the Ministry is given to the Church that the Gifts of God may be given to His people, but the Gospel is a gift given to all believers, and must be shared. Alas, you have failed at this also. You have failed to provide a witness to the hope that is within you. You have failed to give in support of those whom the Lord has sent into the fields to do His work. Your prayers and support of those in the Office of the Ministry have faltered. You have delegated this responsibility to someone else, whoever that is.

The children of Israel became dogs by their pride and unfaithfulness to the covenant given to their fathers. Likewise, you have been unfaithful to the gifts given to you. Repent and receive the Gifts of God.

However, the Canaanite woman does not let Jesus dismiss her so easily. She says, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” As Isaiah promised, those who believe the Word of God, even among the outcasts and undesirables, are gathered to Him. Sinners are received by a sinless God. Unworthy children are adopted and sanctified by a loving Father.

Jesus Christ died for all people, even you. He died for the sins of all mankind, each and every one of us. He died for the elite and the untouchable. He died for the most trivial slight and for the most grievous transgression. Jesus died because your death would not have been enough. He accomplished the salvation of your soul when you could not. His blood cleanses you from all your sins. His resurrection brings you from death into life. No one is beyond His forgiveness and love. No sin is too great for Him to forgive. The free grace of God is given freely to all who believe – to Jew and Greek, slave and free, upstanding and barely standing, young and old.

St. John tells us “... for God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten son” for us. The Father of all nations sent His Son to die for you and for me, that He might call us out of our darkness and into His glorious light. He has called His people together from the ends of the earth into one great people. He promises that you who are called by the Gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit are forgiven of all your sins and delivered from the hand of the enemy.

The Lord declares, “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord... these I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer.” You were all once foreigners and strangers to God, but He has called you by the Gospel and enlightened you with His gifts. He has washed you with the water of rebirth and has fed you with His Body and Blood. He has chosen to give salvation to you, and to all people on earth. “Salvation unto us has come by God's free grace and favor” (LSB 555:1). It has come to you and your house, and it has come to the greatest and the least in the world.

The Lord chooses to give His gifts freely, to all whom He loves, and He gathers the sons and the foreigners and the aliens and the sojourners all together under one covenant of grace. He gathers His people from every walk of life into one people of God. We may not see this here on earth, but it is as true as St. John's vision: “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'”

Rejoice, O pilgrim throng!

Rejoice, give thanks, and sing;

Your festal banner wave on high,

The cross of Christ your king.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice, give thanks, and sing! (LSB 813:1)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

A Firm Foundation

2011-08-08T13:07:00.000-05:00

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

“How firm a foundation, O saints of the Lord, / Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!” (LSB 728:1) So we sang, and so we have heard repeatedly from our lessons in the past weeks and today. The Lord provides solid ground for us to walk. He levels the pathway for His saints. He gives His light to shine upon our way and illuminate our footsteps. And yet, like Peter, still we doubt, and we sink.

The wager between the Lord and the devil was that, given the resources, the devil could make Job curse God and renounce His faith. Of course, the devil lost that bet, but in the course Job indulged in no small pity party, even to the point where he cried out that he wished he had never been born. He had trouble standing upon the foundation of the Word of God in the midst of trials.

However, the Lord came to Him, and because Job remained faithful, He restored Job's fortune even more than he had before. But the Lord does not let Job have the last word. He asks Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world?” Where was Job when the Lord spoke and light came into being? Where was Job when the Spirit of God hovered over the void? Of course, the answer is nowhere. At those junctions in history, Job was not there, because it is the Lord God who created the heavens and the earth, and no other.

The Lord God of Hosts, is lord over the whole of heavens and earth. To Him belong all power, majesty, glory, honor, might, and riches. To Him, and through Him, and from Him are all things. Not one thing was made without Him. Nothing happens except by the express permission of the Lord.

All things are in His control. The seas and all that dwell in them are His. He makes the winds to blow and the waves break. He makes the whales sing and the fish leap. The Lord brings storm and rain, and He brings sun and calm. He makes the seasons turn and the sun follow the snow. He established the universe and all therein. The Lord God has created all things according to His perfect plan and decree, and He still daily and richly preserves and protects them, just as He would have them be. No one can make something out of nothing, and no one can snatch one of His beloved children out of His hand. It is He who kills and makes alive, who wounds and heals.

“Fear not! I am with you, O be not dismayed, / For I am your God and will still give you aid.” (728:2). The Lord God of Hosts is not some ambivalent bystander watching the ant-sized people scurrying about from thousands of feet above it all. Rather, He comes to His people in their distress and comforts them. On the water, Jesus spoke to His disciples and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” The Lord your God is here, and He has come to give you comfort and aid in your time of distress.

The Lord is God, and all will progress according to His plan. The world and all the events therein are under His direction and control, and not one thing happens without Him. The stock market, the crops and livestock, the state of affairs in Washington – all these things are under His direction. Therefore, do not be afraid. Take heart, for He is here with you, leading, guiding, and protecting you. He will never leave you nor forsake you.

The Lord exhorts you to believe in Him, and trust Him for your strength and defense throughout the changes and chances of this life. Let Him be God, and realize that you are not. Pray “Thy will be done” and believe that His will shall be done. Leave all things to God's direction.

The problem, though, is that you fail at this. You want to worry and fret. You want to hang onto your problems like an anchor. All the stresses and strains of this life weigh you down because you make them your own, even though you cannot do anything about them. You want to be God and to do God's job for Him, even without the omniscience that allows Him to keep it all spinning. You want what you want to happen, regardless of what is really best.

Besides that, you doubt God's power to order and preserve your life and the life of all His creation. Notwithstanding the fact that life has been happening without your help for millennia, you doubt that God really knows what is going on around you, or that He will do what is best for you and for this world, regardless of what you think that is. You want to be in control. You want everyone to listen to your ideas of what the president should do, what the government should do, what the pastor should do, what everyone else should do, so that, ostensibly, what you want will come to pass. Never mind about that bit about “not my will, but Thine be done.”

However, the Lord will still deliver you out of all your troubles. “The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose / I will not, I will not desert to his foes.” (728:3). Peter sank because his faith faltered and he doubted. But Jesus reached, took hold of him, and pulled Peter to safety. He rescued Peter out of all his peril and danger. Likewise, the Lord has taken hold of you and lifted you up out of the mess of your own sin and despair. He performed a miracle much greater than walking on water when He came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man. He did more than take your hand when He took your sin upon Himself and it was nailed to the cross along with Him. He died so that dying you might live. He was lowered into the grave so that you might rise in newness of life. He was raised so that you might never go down to the pit of destruction.

Jesus Christ your savior lifts you up by sinking you into the blessed flood of Holy Baptism. He pulled up Peter to keep him from drowning, but He plunged you into the waters and drowned the old evil man within you. Only then did He pull you up, out of the deluge and into new life in Him. He joins you to His death on the cross, so that you will not face death alone. Your future is secure, because your present rests in Him. You need not fear. You need not be dismayed. The Lord of Hosts is with you, and He is your savior. He is the eternal Father, strong to save, whose arm calms the restless wave. He is the sinless Son of Man who delivers you from all your sin and death.

You will probably never walk on water. You will never see 5,000 men fed from one boy's lunch. You will never see someone raised from the dead. However, you have seen the miracle of life as God has sundered children from the number of the unbelieving and joined them to Himself. You have witnessed the miracle wherein a man and a woman come before this altar and leave as one, joined in Holy Matrimony as a living image of our Lord Christ and His Church.

You have experienced for yourself the miracle of life as our Lord has poured into you time and again His very lifeblood with the forgiveness of your sins. You have been kept safe and secure in the hand of God, out of which no one can steal you. Joined to the cross of Christ, you will never sink beyond what God can pull you out. “Take heart; it is Jesus. Do not be afraid.”

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Best Things in Life...

2011-08-01T13:41:00.000-05:00

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

They say that the best things in life are free. The Beatles proclaimed to the world, “Can't buy me love.” A wife's kiss, a son's hug, a daughter's grin – things like these have no price-tag. You cannot buy the sun or the rain. Good health is priceless. Indeed, many of the best things in life are beyond the ken of the marketplace. They may take work, but they cannot be bought.

In today's Old Testament lesson, the Lord exhorts you to come and receive great blessings at no cost to you. Come, buy and eat and drink, without price or cost! Come and receive all those things which are necessary for your daily life. You who thirst, come and drink deeply, and be satisfied. You who are hungry, come and eat your fill of rich food. Eat and drink and be satisfied by the bounty that the Lord provides. And keep your money, because the Lord has spread His table before you as a gift and a blessing. He asks no price, no admission cost. He only invites you to come and partake of the wonders He has in store for you.

The Lord God, your heavenly Father has promised to give you all good gifts. He is the author and source of life, and He creates and sustains all things by His loving command. The Lord has created your life, and He knows well all that you need to live and thrive and grow throughout the days He has fixed for you. As your dear Father, He will graciously give you all that you need to support this body and life, purely because He loves you. There is nothing that you could want that He cannot give, and nothing you need that He will not supply. His bounty satisfies your poverty. His riches far outstrip any need or lack that you have or feel.

The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, is your God and Father, and He has promised that He will bless you and keep you throughout all the days of your life. One thing He demands of you – that you come to Him to receive these good gifts.

The prophet asks, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread?” People feel many motivations to work. Some work out of a sense of duty to self or to others. Some work out of a desire for money. Others work for power or prestige or praise. No doubt, you want to feel some sort of fulfillment or reap some kind of return for your work.

The world says to you, “he who dies with the most toys wins.” But most people miss a key point in this statement. You may amass the most toys, but you still will die. You may have the fanciest, shiniest tractors. You may own half the acreage in the county. You may have the most well-kept house or most pleasant family. But, sooner or later, all these things will pass away. You cannot take any of these things with you. To think otherwise is foolishness. To assign a value beyond their station is idolatry.

Solomon, in the midst of all his glory and splendor, said, “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil.” (Ecclesiastes 2:24). The toil of a person's hands is but the means that the Lord has chosen to give you the daily bread He deigns to give. The value to your labor is not that it earns you some merit before God, but that it helps care for your neighbor. You may think that your work will earn you whatever you want, but that is folly. Solomon realized that amassing a vast storehouse of wealth and possessions does no good, because you will die, and then who knows what will become of it?

But you have mistaken the amassing of stuff for the joy of a job well done. You have traded the blessings of charity for the strife of greed. You have been rich in your petitions to God, but poor in your work for your neighbor's good. You have laid up into storehouses rather than feeding the hungry. Your closet remains well-appointed while the poor go naked. Your neighbor is lonely, the widows and orphans among you are deserted, and you fail to comfort and help them. You would rather cling to the gifts than honor the Giver. You will not be the instrument of good to others, but demand that they do good to you. It is not the government's job to care for those in need – it is your job, one at which you have failed.

But take heart – all is not lost! Listen to what the Lord commands: “Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good.” In spite of all your failings and your idolizing, the Lord God calls you once again to His table, where He lays out for you the richest food and best drink there is to be had. He bids you come to this altar and feast upon the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. This body and blood were shed for you upon the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. The Lord who gave His life into death has risen from the dead, and here comes to you to give you His life in your very body. He is no apparition, no ghost, no myth. The Lord Jesus Christ is living and active, and He is here today, in His Word of life and in His Supper. Here He feeds you with the food and drink that satisfy the hungry heart and the thirsting soul. Come to the table and receive the food of heaven, offered to you without price. Receive what money cannot buy for you, the forgiveness of your sins.

Many good things in this world are free, but the forgiveness of your sins is not. It cost the very life and death of the Son of God. However, the Lord does not begrudge you this. Rather, He offers to you the fruits of Christ's sacrifice freely, as a gift to you. Your salvation was not free, but it comes without cost to you. The bread of life is given purely out of divine, fatherly goodness, without any merit or worthiness in you. The forgiveness of your sins is won by Jesus, and He delivers it to you here at this table. He has called you here in faith, and He bids you eat and drink deeply and fully, and be filled with His everlasting life.

“And I will make with you an everlasting covenant,” the Lord says. He makes with you an everlasting covenant through faith. Your Father has put His name upon you and calls you His own. He pours the Blood of Christ over your lips for the forgiveness of sins. And He will continue to keep you with Him and with all the saints in the one true faith. All this He will do because He, the Holy One of Israel, has glorified you by making you His own.

In keeping His everlasting covenant, the Lord God will never leave you nor forsake you. Nothing in all of creation can separate you from the love of God. No blessing is too great for your heavenly Father to give to you according to your need. He who did not spare His only Son, but delivered Him up to death, will certainly keep your life and preserve you from all evil.

So continue to pray each day and often, “give us this day our daily bread.” Ask God for the things necessary for the coming day. Ask Him to bless your labors, that you may be a blessing to others. And He will give you all good things, according to His loving care. He will make you a blessing to those whom you help. He will use you as His instrument in this world to care for His children in need. The Lord does not need your labor, but your neighbor does. Receive from God in your poverty and give to others in your blessedness. He will give you all that you need, even if it comes in surprising ways, by unexpected means. And He will continue to glorify you through the forgiveness of your sins.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Because the Lord Loves You

2011-07-25T10:11:00.000-05:00

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

To adopt a child is an act of kindness nearly without parallel. The love that motivates a would-be mother and father to accept a child not their own into their home and call him their own can only come from our loving heavenly Father. A special, unreproducable bond exists between flesh-and-blood family, but there is something wonderful that binds together parents who choose to receive and a child who is given to them by means of adoption. The adoption of children gives us a beautiful picture of what the unconditional love of God is like.

Unconditional love is a wonderful thing. We hear it mentioned often in religious circles. Unconditional love, in Hebrew hesed and in Greek agape, is the love with which only God can love. It is the type of love with which St. Paul exhorts us to love one another in the Holy Spirit. It is the love of Christ for His people. And yet, it is beyond our grasp.

We can talk all we want about unconditional love, but when you get right down to it, it makes no sense to us. You are incapable of loving anyone or anything unconditionally. Despite the vows you take, you are unable to love your spouse with your whole heart. Your children get less than everything. Even the Lord your God does not get your full loyalty. We love as far as it makes sense to us. In today's culture, that often is not very far at all. When you stop feeling the love, you can put her away and find that loving feeling with someone new. When he decides to move on to a younger model, you can stop loving him and turn on him with the fury of a woman scorned. Just turn on the news or open the papers to find examples of love in today's world.

But the love of God is not like that. His love makes no sense. Without any merit or worthiness in you, He loves you with His whole heart. And His love is what makes you who you are: a beloved child of God, adopted in Jesus Christ.

What does this mean, that you are an adopted child of God? It means that before the foundation of the world, before the ages began, your heavenly Father loved you and planned to show His love for you in Christ Jesus. It means that every cell in your body, every breath in your lungs, every hair on your head is known to Him. Every move you make, every step you take is in His hands, because He created you and breathed life into you.

The Lord God, the creator of heaven and earth, has chosen you to be His own child and to live under Him in His kingdom in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and purity. He has called you His own, and has joined you together with all His children. As Moses declared to the children of Israel, “The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” You are a treasured possession, chosen specifically by God, from among all the people on earth. You are beloved by God because He chose you, and you are valuable and precious because you are beloved and chosen.

The Lord chose you, not because of anything special about you, but because He decided to, according to His great love. He chose to make Israel His beloved and treasured people, not because they deserved it or earned it in any way. Israel has never been anything special in the great scheme of world history. No great empire. No world-shifting kings. No continent-spanning settlements. In fact, the Lord said that He chose them in spite of their being the smallest among all the peoples of the earth. The Lord loves those whom He chooses, regardless of, and in spite of their personal or collective attributes.

Likewise, you are God's chosen people. Despite your personal makeup, God loves you and has called you His own. You wake up each morning and remember that the sign of the holy Cross marks your forehead and your heart, forever identifying you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified and as one adopted by the Father of all the living.

And you are chosen by God as of the first quality. You are not the fat kid left until last in the kickball team line-up. You are not the runt of the litter. You are not damaged goods in the eyes of God. You are His treasured possession, because He has chosen you over all others. And because He has chosen you as His own, He has given you all that is His to give. The majesty, glory, and grace of God are all imparted to you by Jesus. As far as God is concerned, He reckons you as valuable as the pearl of great price or the treasure hidden in the field.

But as great as all that sounds, it doesn't make sense. All the evidence suggests that God should shun you, rather than treasure you. You are not the most wonderful thing in the world. Rather just the opposite. The Scriptures declare you to be nothing more than a poor, miserable sinner. You were born with the taint of sin coursing through your veins. You came into this world an enemy of God and spiritually dead in your trespasses.

Your heavenly Father created you as His child, and you rebelled against Him. You have not honored or obeyed Him, just as you have failed to love, honor, and obey your earthly parents. You have disrespected and scorned the Lord's authority in your life, just as you have disdained those whom He has placed in authority over your bodily life. You have angered those who care for you, and have made their work a burden. You have not lived peaceably in submission, so it ought not go well with you and you ought not live long in the land.

Whatever sources of pride you may have in this world, they mean nothing to the one who created the heavens and the earth. The Lord does not need your offerings. He is not impressed with your abilities or your earnings. The balance of your bank accounts or the success of your farm or the abundance of your offspring do not balance your accounts in heaven.

In fact, your love of God does not even match His love for you. When He came to you and adopted you as His own, you were the recalcitrant, bull-headed child who runs away night after night. You were the child who throws fits when his father tells him no. The last thing on the mind of any unregenerate person is honoring father and mother.

Irrespective of all that, God chose you and me anyway. He sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to die for you and rise for you. He chose to send Jesus to death, even death on the cross, so that He might forgive your sins and claim you as His own. While you were yet sinners, Christ died for you. He washed you clean in the waters of new birth and marked you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified, and thereby attached His name to you and called you His beloved son. He chose you to be His treasured possession, and keeps you safe and secure in His loving hand.

God did whatever was necessary to make you His own. In His great love for you, He did not spare His only-begotten Son, but delivered Jesus up to death so that He could secure your life in Christ, and rescue you from eternal death. Just as He chose the people of Israel from the loins of Abraham, and He did everything necessary to secure them in His grace, so He chose you from among all the people on earth, and shed His blood so that He could put His name upon you and adopt you as His own precious child. He did this all purely out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in you.

The adoption of a child into a new family is a wonderful act of kindness and love. The love a parent gives to a child is a great image of the love God has for us. Thankfully, our heavenly Father loves us more steadfastly than we can even imagine possible.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Out In the Weeds

2011-07-18T09:33:00.000-05:00

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

Today we hear another parable from Jesus about the kingdom of heaven. This time, it is compared to a field in which the master has sown good seed, and yet the enemy comes after him and sows weed seed over the top of the wheat. The servants are concerned about what to do, but the master instructs them to wait until the harvest to separate them, so as not to harm the growing wheat. Then, at harvest, the weeds will be burned, while the wheat is gathered and stored safely away.

In the context of Matthew 13, we know that the seed sown is the Word of God. Now, since it is from God, we know that the Word is good. In last week's lesson, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed that the Word of the Lord comes from His mouth from heaven to earth, and it accomplishes the purpose for which He sent it. The Word of God does what it says. When He says, “Live,” you come to life. When He says, “Rain,” it rains.

From today's parable we learn that the Word sown over the soil will bring forth “sons of the kingdom”, as Jesus says. These sons are planted by the Son of Man. They are His precious possession, and He has planted them exactly as they should be. The faithful people of God are created by God precisely according to His purpose. You are just what He desires, because He created you. Jesus has planted you where you are, and He has sent the Holy Spirit to call you to faith and to water and tend you. He loves you tenderly, and desires only that you bring forth good fruit according to your calling in life.

The Holy Spirit has indeed called you to faith in Christ, and continually strengthens and nourishes you with the rich grace of God. Rooted in Him, you will bring forth fruit worthy of your calling as a child of God. Some will produce thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold. But all Christians will bear fruit in the Gospel.

However, that task oftentimes proves rather difficult. If the world were populated only with Christians, and if all Christians were perfect in their faith, you would have no problem bearing fruit a hundredfold for God. But the enemy of God, the devil has come along and messed that up. On top of the good seed sown by the Son of Man, he has sown weeds. Growing up among you are those who are not of the Son of Man, but of the devil. In every gather of men, there will be some who do not believe as they ought.

Any farmer or gardener knows that, no matter how good your seed or how hard you work, weeds will always come up alongside the good plants. Sure, you can try to pull them out as they sprout. You can spray for them. But there will always be weeds. And you have to be careful not to damage the desirable plants in your quest to rout the weeds.

Likewise, Jesus tells us, you will keep mixed company in this life. There will always be those around you who will not believe in the Gospel. Some will be people you know. Some you will not know. Some will be evident. Some will not. Of course, their fruit will bear witness to their character. But you can't go around cutting people down because they don't go to church.

You will live in this mixed bed and be surrounded by weeds. Sometimes they will be thicker than others. Sometimes you will find yourself closer to the wheat. But do not be deceived – you are not weeds. By the grace of God, you are wheat, planted by the hand of Christ to bear fruit for Him. Do not let yourself be carried away by the wanderings of the weeds around you. Do not let yourself be choked out by what surrounds you.

Though the weeds come up quickly and sometimes alluringly, they are hollow and shallow. The cares of this life strike at them, and they fall. The gods of this age desert them, and they wither. The sun of hardship and tribulation shines upon them, and they melt. They have no support, because they have no lasting root.

Not so with you! You have been planted in good soil. You have been called to faith in the Holy One of Israel. You are the good seed, which will yield good fruit. You will yield good fruit because you are planted in the soil of the cross. From this life-giving, rich, abundant seed-bed you spring forth in sprout and bud, and you will grow up in faith to produce manifold fruit of faith. Jesus Christ has died on the cross to forgive your sins, and the sins of the whole world. He has secured salvation for all who believe. The instrument of death for our Lord becomes the seed-bed which provides you with your life in Christ. Planted and rooted in the cross, the very blood of Christ becomes the food that sustains you in your growth in faith.

The water and the blood that flowed from our Lord's side have become the nourishment that cause your growth in the new life of faith. His grace won for you becomes the catalyst for bringing forth the fruits of faith in abundance. Being rooted in the cross and watered with the blood of Christ, you cannot help but bring forth good fruits. The blood of the martyrs and saints serves further to fertilize and enrich your faith, as you receive their encouragement and examples of holy living.

Though the rain falls on the just and the unjust, the weeds lack the deep, secure roots which reach to the cross, and therefore they look healthy, but are hollow, empty stalks. They lack the rich blessings of faith that come from being rooted in Christ. They may look nice, but they will never bear the fruit that you will, because they lack the fountain and source of life.

Therefore, when the Lord of the Harvest comes at the appointed time, the angels will take you from this field into the house of the Master. There you will rest safe from the enemy. When at last you reach the storehouse of the Master, no thief will break in and steal, no moth or rust will destroy, and no evil will plague you.

At that time, the weeds will be gathered and burned. The judgment will come, and all evildoers will be cast out into the lake of fire, as the Scriptures declare. But you and all believers in Christ will be gathered into the courts of our Heavenly Father. There you will remain for life everlasting. You will shine like the sun, because you are filled with the Spirit of God, and you will reflect the glory of the Son of Man. You will shine with the glory of the Lord which you will share eternally because your life is hidden in Christ.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.