Sermon for 4/2/25: Midweek Lent 4 (Salutary Gift series)

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The Power of Holy Communion
John 6:35-44

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

I am a big fan of bread. As a diabetic, I’m supposed to avoid it like a teenage girl runs from a stalker in a horror film. But you give me a the smell of a fresh baked loaf of bread, a Manhattan-style sesame seed bagel with a light cream cheese spread, a slice of a warm and crusty baguette with butter…excuse me while I wipe off the drool. But this is not even great bread. It’s nearly paper-thin bread with almost no taste. And what about the wine? I’m no wine connoisseur, but the fairly inexpensive and almost sickly-sweet wine we use isn’t going to win any awards. But even if we used the best wine available, we only take a sip of it.

As we heard last week, the Sacrament of the Altar delivers to us the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. It also unites us with God and our fellow believers—indeed, it unites us with all the believers of all times and places, along with the angels and archangels. So how can bread and wine do such great things? What makes this meal so special? What makes it so powerful? The answer is straightforward, and we could probably have one of the shortest sermons in our congregation’s history just by quoting Luther’s answer to this question: “Certainly not just eating and drinking do these things, but the words written here: ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’ These words, along with the bodily eating and drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament. Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: ‘forgiveness of sins.’” Amen, right? Or, if I wanted to quote Jesus: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

When the Words of Institution are spoken—when the pastor, speaking with the authority of Jesus, repeats the words Jesus spoke when He introduced this Sacrament to the disciples—the physical body and blood of Jesus are present in and under the bread and wine. It is the power of the Word of God that make simple bread and wine into a powerful meal of forgiveness and life. Speaking through Isaiah the prophet, God said to His people, “…As the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” The Word of God is powerful. Everything that was created was made through the power of the Word. Jesus spoke, and the son of the centurion was healed. Jesus said to His dead friend, “Lazarus, come forth!” and Lazarus emerged from his grave. And when Jesus says, “This is My body,” “This is my blood,” we take Him at His word. We believe that the bread and the wine take on the body and blood of Jesus. We believe that He is truly, physically present in and under the bread and wine. Jesus speaks, and we hear and believe.

Or do we believe it? We have become a culture, like Thomas after Jesus rose from the dead, that seeks proof for things God calls on us believe. “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” Unless I see empirical evidence, Jesus, I’m not sure I can believe this. It all seems farfetched, you see, and I believe what I can observe with my eyes. The atheist would consider blind faith to be gullibility and ignorance. Even many who claim to believe in Jesus call Him a liar by claiming He is only spiritually present in the Lord’s Supper, that the bread and wine merely represent His body and blood.

Do you believe? Do you take Jesus at His word? Do you believe the Word does what God says it will do? It is of vital, even eternal importance, your answer to that question. If you believe God’s Word is true, then it remains true even when it says something we don’t like. If you believe God’s Word is true, then it remains true when it says things we cannot understand; it remains true when it says something we cannot prove; it remains true when it says something contrary to our culture, our conscience, and the facts of nature as we perceive them through our God-given senses. Scripture tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” You must pick a side: Do you believe God and His changeless Word? Or do you believe the world and its failing promises?

“Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: ‘forgiveness of sins.’” That is what we teach, believe, confess; that is what we hold to as we praise and give honor to God, as we bask in the wonder that He would stoop so low as to come to us in this sin-devastated world. When you come to this altar, you are standing before the very throne of a holy God. There should be some trepidation and respectful fear, but there should never be terror. You have no reason to be terrified, for the almighty God, our Father, has called you His beloved child. He is eager to forgive, eager to save, eager to have you know of His love: love He sent to us in His Son, Jesus. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
         

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.

 

Sermon for 3/30/25: Fourth Sunday in Lent C

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Family
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The family depicted in the Gospel is not a perfect family. The younger son runs away, but not before demanding from his father all the property that would be his when the father dies. And the older son stays on the ranch, but he is not at all pleased with the situation. He feels like a slave. He’s mad at his brother for running off, and he might even be a little angry with himself for not thinking of it first. Those are only the symptoms. The real problem is that the sons are having problems with forgiveness.

The younger son has sinned against God and against his father. He feels shame. He can’t forgive himself. He has wasted the money his father gave him on extravagant living. He’s going hungry. He has to find a job. He’s gone from raising livestock on his father’s ranch to feeding pigs. There is really no other job in a land ravaged by famine. Don’t forget that this is a nice orthodox Jewish boy. He’s barely supposed to know what a pig looks like, much less spend any significant time with them. He’s shamed himself. He’s shamed his family. How can he go back home? He finally comes to the conclusion that maybe his father will hire him on as a servant. He remembers that the servants are well-treated and have plenty to eat. He won’t dare ask for forgiveness; what he’s done goes far beyond what can be forgiven. But maybe his father will have mercy on him and let him work for his living.

But when he returns home, he finds his father running to him, and his father gives him the forgiveness he could not bring himself to ask for. His father not only welcomes him home, but gives him the best robe, a pair of sandals, and a ring. And on top of all that, he has the servants kill the fatted calf, gives everyone the rest of the day off, and has a big party to welcome home the son that was lost, but now is found. The end. Roll the credits. What a spectacular ending!

But what about the older son? He’s still out in the fields, slaving away for his father. He hears the sound of a party at home, and he wants to know what’s going on. When he finds out that his brother has come home, that the party is for that delinquent, he refuses to join. He refuses to speak of the younger son as his brother. He certainly won’t forgive that boy for what he’s done.

Neither son really understands forgiveness. The younger son feels that nobody can forgive him for what he’s done. The older son doesn’t think he should have to forgive, and he doesn’t understand how his father can forgive. Why should he forgive his brother? The older son has never done anything wrong! He’s been loyal to his father, even though he feels like he’s been a slave all these years. He is the one who deserves a party, not his brother. Why should he be the one to make things right again?

The only one in the family who understands forgiveness is the father. When his younger son comes home, Dad runs out to meet him. He has compassion. He throws his arms around him, never mind that he smells of pig. This is his son, not some stranger. The father completely forgives his younger son, and the son begins to understand. In the face of his father’s grace, he can repent; he has already been completely forgiven. And then the father pleads with the older son to forgive, to show the same complete mercy the father has shown. The father has not closed the door on either son.

We are members of a family, and the danger of being brothers and sisters in Christ is that we act like brothers and sisters. By refusing to forgive, we close doors on our relationships. Most broken homes exist because someone cannot speak forgiveness. Sometimes one feels he can’t be forgiven. In the same way, if we don’t forgive others, we not only lock them out; we lock ourselves out, too. We see this, both in our homes and in our churches. The divorce rate is higher than ever. Too often we hear and live stories of brothers and sisters who don’t speak for years. And in our churches, we see more and more feuds every year. Pastors are forced out of churches by angry congregations. Angry or ignored church members trickle out of membership rolls, to reappear on other churches, or worse yet, to disappear from church altogether. Church meetings become shouting matches between factions that can’t agree; and these shouting matches are never resolved. Sunday morning becomes a war—a war within ourselves and a war with those around us. The worse part of this is that we don’t understand that we sin against God first and foremost. We don’t forgive those who trespass against us; why should God forgive us? The psalmist writes, “While I held my tongue, my bones withered away, because of my groaning all day long.”

But before anyone can condemn you, God forgives you. Our God is a forgiving God. Our Lord hung upon the cross to bear all your sins, so that when the Father looks upon you, He sees only the blameless Son. The Son instituted Sacraments in which you receive forgiveness. In Baptism you have been washed clean from the sin that you were born into, and the Lord received you into His family. In the Lord’s Supper, you eat the body and blood of Jesus, which is given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins. This is the great family banquet which is shared by the whole family of Christians of every time and place. And Jesus also shows you how to forgive each other. Forgiveness is a complete change. He told Peter that forgiveness isn’t something you limit to 7 times, but something to give freely, 70 times 7, as many times as a person truly repents and asks to be forgiven. That’s a radical concept, as radical as dying on a cross to forgive sins.

In the face of your Father’s complete forgiveness, you can truly repent and you are truly forgiven. And through His forgiveness, you can forgive each other, as well. That’s family: the family of brothers and sisters in Christ. In the name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

Sermon for 3/26/25: Midweek Lent 3 (Salutary Gift series)

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The Benefits of Holy Communion
1 Corinthians 10:14–22

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

When we think of the benefits of the Sacrament of the Altar, of course good Lutherans will think of Luther’s words in the Small Catechism: “These words, ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,’ show us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words.” These have been pounded into our heads—I know I speak of them constantly when I preach and teach regarding the Lord’s Supper. And that’s appropriate, because those are rich blessings of eternal significance. But tonight we concentrate on another blessing.

The Lord’s Supper is a fellowship with Christ and with one another. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” The word Paul uses here is koinonia, which is usually translated as “fellowship” or “communion.” St. Paul is teaching that, in the Lord’s Supper, they have union and fellowship with the body and blood of Christ. The same word is used in the book of Acts, where the early Christians “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” This tells us quite plainly what it was the early Christians were doing: they were celebrating the Lord’s Supper.

What a blessed gift! Through the means of bread and wine combined with the Word, Christians come into contact with the very Son of God Himself. You have union with Christ in a way that we do not have anywhere else in this world. Christ, the Holy One of God, shares His holiness with those who commune. This is an especially good thing because, in and of ourselves, we are not holy. With repentant hearts, we confess that we are unholy and unclean sinners. By our fellowship with Adam and his unholy nature, we ourselves are made unholy. Our unclean thoughts, words, and actions make us unacceptable in God’s sight.

Jesus identifies the source of this when He says, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” It should cause us great joy to hear that we unholy people can share in Christ’s holiness through participation in His holy things—namely, His body and blood in the Supper. He invites us to enjoy a blest Communion with Him.

But there is another dimension to this idea of fellowship, another union that takes place in the Lord’s Supper. Yes, it is first and foremost a union of the believer with Christ. But this brings another union: that of Christian to Christian. The Lord’s Supper is never merely a “me and Jesus” thing. Though we receive the benefits of the Lord’s Supper individually, it is never a private matter. When you receive this salutary gift, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, you also are bound and united to those with whom you commune. St. Paul says as much in the next part of his letter to the Corinthians: “For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.” We who are many become one body in the Lord’s Supper.

Since you are united with Christ, and through Him with each other, it matters that you be united in your confession of faith and be reconciled with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Division at the Lord’s Table is not pleasing to our Lord, which is why we practice Closed Communion. Jesus said, “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” So if you claim to be reconciled with Christ, yet continue to hold onto your grudges and anger toward your fellow Christian brothers and sisters, are you not lying to the Lord? It is necessary that those who commune together are also united in faith and doctrine, and that they have no enemies at the Lord’s Table. Christians should be willing to let go of their grievances with their brothers and sisters, or they run the risk of forfeiting their own forgiveness from Christ, as we learn in the parable of the unforgiving servant.

And finally, there is another aspect to the blest Communion with Christ and with one another that our Lord grants in the Lord’s Supper that we have yet to speak about. Have you ever paid close attention to the words of the Communion liturgy? “Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, ever more praising You. . . ” These words remind us that we are “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” when we are gathered at the Lord’s altar. Your departed loved ones who have fallen asleep in Jesus are part of the “company of heaven.” They are among those who have joined the Church Triumphant and are with Christ. In the Lord’s Supper, you have fellowship not only with Christ and with one another, but also with these unseen saints, as the hymn confesses: “Oh, blest Communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.” What comfort there is in knowing that we have union with our Lord Jesus Christ and with the whole company of heaven!

In this “blest Communion” of Christ’s body and blood, our Lord answers a need that all Christians share: the need to have fellowship with God and with one another. Nowhere does this happen in such a way as it does at the Lord’s altar, where Christians are joined to Christ through His body and blood, and where we who are many are made one body with Christ. May we never despise this blest Communion, but rejoice in it! In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.

Sermon for 3/19/25: Midweek Lent 2 (Salutary Gift series)

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The Words of Institution
Luke 10:25-37

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

When I teach the Catechism, I tell my students that the Words of Institution are where they find out if they’re Roman Catholic, a generic Protestant, or a Lutheran. It all has to do with how we receive the words Jesus speaks to create this Sacrament. Do you believe that Jesus is present in the Lord’s Supper, but that the bread and wine are gone? Then you are Roman. Do you believe that Jesus is only spiritually present in the Lord’s Supper? Then you are a Protestant. But if you take Jesus at His Word—if you believe that Jesus is truly, physically present in and under the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper—then you are a Lutheran. And that really does matter, because it is a matter of faith. Do you take Jesus at His Word? Or must this fit into your reason and strength? And if you don’t believe Him in this, where can you believe Him?

Bruised, beaten, and helpless, the man who had fallen among thieves lay on the roadside. He was half dead, needing rescue and healing. If help had not come soon, he would surely have perished. A priest and a Levite walk by on the other side of the road. They ignore the plight of the helpless, dying man. But then comes this Samaritan: a foreigner of mixed race and religion, despised by the Jews. When he sees the poor, wounded man, Luke says that he had compassion. He was moved in the gut, the same way Jesus was moved at the sight of people who were suffering. The Samaritan wastes no time in helping the injured man, immediately binding up the man’s wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He places him on his own animal and takes him to an inn. The Good Samaritan doesn’t stop there. He places the man into the care of the innkeeper, gives him some money for expenses, and promises to repay the innkeeper upon his return.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, if this was just a lesson in morality, a story to remind Christians what they should do for others, then that would not leave us much in the way of comfort, would it? After all, we do not live this way, and we should love our neighbor this way. But more than that, with this parable Jesus paints a beautiful portrait of your salvation. He shows you just how desperate your condition was on account of sin, and He shows the gift of healing He has come to bring. The other man in the parable provides a picture of all the fallen sons of Adam. Wounded by sin, beaten by the devil’s attacks, robbed of our good standing with God, we, too, were “dead in the trespasses and sins.”

Like this man, we were helpless and destitute. Left to ourselves, we would have most certainly perished eternally. Eternal death and damnation are a just reward for our sins. Who could help us? Could the Law? Could Moses raise us up from spiritual death to life? The parable would seem to suggest that this is not so. The priest and the Levite represent Moses and the Law of Sinai, which do not heal but only kill. The Law is good; the commandments are pure. But they cannot help or heal the wounded and beaten sinner.

So along comes this foreigner from heaven called Christ. Like the Samaritan, He is hated by the world. “He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” But He came anyway. The Son of God saw your wretched state and had compassion. He did what the Law could not do: He has bound up the wounds of sinners. He has carried your sins and griefs and sorrows to the cross. And with His stripes—by His wounds, by His death at the hands of sinful men—you are healed.

The healing medicine of Christ’s forgiveness was first applied to you in your Baptism. As you were buried and raised with Christ, your Savior began His good work of healing and restoration in you. For like the man fallen among thieves, “…You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

But the cancer of your sin continues to rear its ugly head. You need ongoing treatments. And this is why your loving Savior has brought you into the inn of His Church and placed you into the care of His called shepherds. In this way, He continues to do for you what He began in your Baptism. He continues to apply the healing medicine of His forgiveness, life, and salvation to your souls. And He does this in a unique and special way in the Lord’s Supper. In this salutary gift, the same Christ who healed every disease among men, the same Christ who bound up the brokenhearted, the same Christ by whose stripes we are healed—He comes and does for you what He did for so many wounded souls in the Gospel. You come to the Lord’s Table, wounded by your sins, helpless and in need of mercy and healing. Jesus sees your miserable condition and has compassion. He comes to weak and weary sinners and gives to you the healing medicine of His crucified and risen body and blood. Like the Samaritan in the parable, Christ binds up your wounds and pours on you the oil and wine of His good Spirit, to comfort wounded consciences.

This healing medicine of Christ’s body and blood is truly the medicine of immortality. Whoever receives this medicine, trusting in its power and benefits, truly has eternal life. Whatever illnesses and ailments you now endure, these will no longer annoy in the life to come. The healing that Christ has begun here will be brought to completion at the day of the resurrection.

So what about you? Do you need consolation? Do you have a wounded conscience? Have you lived as if God did not matter and as if you mattered most of all? Are you plagued by sin and the temptations of the devil? Then this medicine of our Lord’s body and blood is for you. It is for your healing and sanctification. Jesus tells you this in His own Word, and you can believe Him.

We give thanks to God during this Lenten season that, through this salutary gift, Christ’s healing hand reaches out to us and heals us. “Take and eat!” “Drink of it all of you!” “This is my body.” “This is my blood.” “For you.” “Do this!”  These are the words of your Great Physician, your Good Samaritan, Jesus Christ. Listen to Him! Heed His words! Receive the medicine He has for you. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
         

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.

Sermon for 3/16/25: Second Sunday in Lent C

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A Fox, Vipers, and the Lamb

Luke 13:31-35

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. We remember that, at the Transfiguration, the subject of the discussion among Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, was His coming departure: the things He would suffer and do to accomplish the redemption of the world. At this point, Jesus was in a region ruled by King Herod. And as the Lordtraveled from village to village, He continued to teach and preach =concerning the Kingdom of God that was in their midst.

“At that very hour, some Pharisees came and said to Him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’” As we heard last week, Satan ceased his temptations, waiting for an opportune time. But in the meantime, the devil had others to do his bidding. And the Pharisees were all too willing to do the devil’s dirty work.Were these Pharisees really concerned about our Lord’s welfare? Or were they just trying to move Jesus toward Jerusalem, where it would be easier for them to kill Him? Perhaps there was some danger from Herod. After all, Herod had carried out the brutal execution of John the Baptist. But these Pharisees were engaged in gross hypocrisy. At the same time they were warning Jesus about Herod, Mark tells us they were plotting with supporters of Herod to do away with Jesus. They were no friends of Jesus. They were using such threats to serve their own evil purposes. They despised Him. They wanted Him to go to Jerusalem. 

Our Lord’s answer made no reference to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, though He certainly knew it for what it was. But He expressed His contempt for Herod and any danger which that sly old fox might present. He had come by his evil ways honestly, for Herod’s father had slain the innocents in Bethlehem, trying to get at the child Jesus. The Savior had faced all of this before, and He was not about to be deterred from what He had come to do. 

Jesus wanted Herod to know, and the Pharisees, too, that He would continue His work, and that there was time frame in which it would all be done. And then, on the “third day,” which is surely no coincidence, He would bring His entire work to completion. It would be finished. The death and resurrection to which He was headed would not be accomplished to satisfy Herod’s whim, but as Jesus and the heavenly Father had determined in eternity. And so, He must continue His journey to Jerusalem, for it was there that the faithful prophets of God met their end.

And then the Lord spoke of the city He loved: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” It was a cry of great love, but also one of excruciating emotional pain. Jerusalem, the city of peace, as its name indicates, killed the very men sent by God to preach that peace. Jesus desired her salvation. He had sought to love and protect her like a mother hen gathers her chicks beneath the protection of her wings, sheltering them from the hawk that is circling above. Even so, this people belonged to Him. He wanted them to be His own. But they did not want Him! Are there more tragic words than these? Jerusalem rejected Him, the One who came to save them. And now, the result of their rejection was pronounced. Their house would be left desolate; their city destroyed. Only those who would acknowledge Jesus as Lord, who would call Him “blessed,” would see Him again as Savior. The rest were doomed to destruction.

As we see the Savior on His way to Jerusalem, we are witnesses to His boundless love. His love is shown in the self-sacrificing way in which He is determined to go there, knowing full well what must happen to Him there. His love is even directed toward those who would reject Him and bring upon themselves their eternal destruction. 

Nothing from this story is different today, really. Satan still mounts his opposition, and he still has plenty of willing servants to do his bidding, even some within the Church. There is still opposition to the saving work of Jesus, those who insist that His journey to Jerusalem was useless. And still Jesus comes; He stretches out the arms of His Church, with the promise of peace and eternal life to all who will believe it.

The question is, do we believe it? Or are we part of the opposition? Do we know that peace to be ours? Or are we plagued with the doubt? What is the answer? Where do we find it? The answer is in repentance; it is in the acknowledgment that we have all too often been the opponents and the doubters. But repentance also opens the door to peace and to the life of the resurrection Jesus would have us live. And as the seal of His promise, He offers you His body and blood, a sacrifice though which He obtained that peace in the forgiveness of sins. Be fed, and be an opponent no longer. Be nourished, and doubt no more. Receive these gifts of life and salvation. Have the peace that will never end. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

Sermon for 3/12/25: Midweek Lent 1 (Salutary Gift series)

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The Nature of Holy Communion

Exodus 16:1-21

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Lord delivered His people Israel from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. It was a time of great rejoicing as the Lord delivered His children from Pharaoh, bringing them across the sea on dry ground and washing away Pharaoh’s army. It was a day of victory, a day of release for the captives. God had shown strength with His arm and given the sons of Jacob a new beginning as His chosen people. 

It would not take long, though, before that new beginning was spoiled, just as it didn’t take long for Noah and his family to spoil the new beginning after the flood. The people began to wonder how they would survive out in the wilderness. Like newborn babes, hungry for nourishment, the newly redeemed Israelites soon began to notice their hunger pangs. But instead of inquiring of the Lord, instead of trusting in Him to provide for them, they began to grumble against Moses and Aaron. “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 

The people were hungry. They were in a wilderness, without food or water. They thought that they had it better back in Egypt as slaves. But the Lord was merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in love. He promised to rain down bread from heaven for them so that they could eat and be satisfied. The Lord heard their grumbling, and though they deserved to die, He responded with love: “At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the LORD your God." And that is exactly what happened. God was faithful to His promise. In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp; in the morning, the dew settled. And when the dew had gone up, there was a fine substance on the ground. Moses told them, “This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.” 

This was bread from heaven. God provided it to ease their physical hunger. He fed His newborn children so that they would not go hungry in the wilderness and die. But it didn’t sustain them forever. They still died eventually. It offered no lasting benefits. And there was a reason for that: this miraculous feeding was meant to teach them something about what God would do in the future.This was a sign, the full significance of which would not be revealed until the coming of Jesus. St. John records for us our Lord’s own interpretation of these events: “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

So this miraculous feeding of the Israelites pointed to the coming of the Christ and the gifts of salvation that He would bring. In the fullness of time, God would rain down bread from heaven once again for His people. He would give them His Son, who is Himself “the bread of God…who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Christ is the new and greater manna, for He does not come merely to satisfy your physical hunger. He comes to satisfy those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” He alone can satisfy the hunger of your souls. Whoever eats of this bread—whoever eats of Jesus Christ—will live forever, for His flesh and His blood nourish and strengthen the soul unto eternal life. 

“Lord, give us this bread always,” begged the disciples. And so He does. Every time you gather around His gifts of Word and Supper, Christ feeds you with heavenly manna, just as He fed the Israelites in the wilderness. He feeds you with holy food, as we just sang: 

We eat this bread and drink this cup,

Your precious Word believing

That Your true body and Your blood

Our lips are here receiving.

As you feast on His body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins, the Lord gives you the spiritual nourishment that your souls need for the journey. Jesus knows that you need such nourishment. He knows that the journey through the wilderness of this world is long and difficult. He sees your daily battle with your sinful flesh. He knows your physical ailments. He knows you grumble at the gifts He gives, just as the children of Israel did long ago. There is a part of you—a sinful part—that thinks that what God has done for you is not good enough. There is a part of you that longs to return to your spiritual Egypt, to the captivity of your sins. But He is merciful. He is slow to anger. He abounds in loving faithfulness. He does not want you to faint or grow weary. And so He comes, week after week, inviting battle-weary sinners to commune at His Table, until you finally reach the heavenly Promised Land. 

Now is not the time to grumble, to long for the days of your captivity as Israel once did. Now is not the time to complain that God means to harm you. Now is not the time to worry that you might not appreciate this salutary gift if it is offered too frequently. Now is the time to receive in faith the gifts our Lord wants to give. Luther tells us in his Large Catechism: “…By Baptism we are first born anew. But…there still remains the old vicious nature of flesh and blood in mankind. There are so many hindrances and temptations of the devil and of the world that we often become weary and faint, and sometimes we also stumble. Therefore, the Sacrament is given as a daily pasture and sustenance, that faith may refresh and strengthen itself so that it will not fall back in such a battle, but become ever stronger and stronger.”

This is manna from heaven, life-giving bread, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. That is your spiritual sustenance as you wander through the wilderness of this world. That is the Lord’s salutary gift to you—a gift that is undeserved, to be sure, but one that comes from your loving and faithful Lord. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

Sermon for 3/5/25: Ash Wednesday (Salutary Gift series)

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Heavenly Treasure
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

         

Jesus told His hearers in the Sermon on the Mount, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” That’s why we are here this evening: to receive heavenly treasures from our Lord Jesus Christ—to hear His Word; to receive the forgiveness of our sins; to receive life and salvation in His body and blood. And we need these treasures precisely because they are the gifts our Old Adam fears most. “Poor miserable sinners” that we are, we seek earthly treasures: money and possessions, the acclaim of our bosses and teachers—really anything other than those things that draw us near to our loving God. We turn away from the gifts that edify and nourish our souls.

That is what sin really is: a turning away from God and His gifts, relying on what we can get or do for ourselves. This means that repentance is turning away from ourselves, our self-centeredness, our wants and desires and what we think is best, and receiving in their place our Father’s gifts again. God gives and we receive.

That’s how it has been since the beginning. God made everything. He created a perfect world for His children. But they turned away from His gifts: gifts of life, of good and abundant food, of each other in marriage, of being in His image, of a right relationship with Him. They turned away from all that to the allure of getting something for themselves. And the result of turning away from God and His gifts was death.

But God would not leave it at that. Death would not have the final word. Our Father’s answer to them, His response to their turning away, was that He gave again. While the residue of the forbidden fruit was still on their breath, while they were still ashamed because of their nakedness, He gave to Adam and Eve the promise of a Savior, a Seed of the woman to crush the head of the satanic serpent. 

With all this in mind, consider the Holy Gospel we heard tonight. Consider how it speaks of taking the gifts of God and turning them into something they were never intended to be. Righteousness is a gift of God. Prayer is a gift of God. Helping others is living out the forgiveness we have received by sharing it with others. So what happened? The Pharisees, like all sinners, took these gifts and perverted them into opportunities for themselves: the chance to be seen, to be praised, to get the admiration of others. They turned the life of faith into a three-ring circus. Repentance was needed. 

So what about us today? Do we fall into the same trap? Do we turn away from the gifts of God to something else? We want to say no; we want to deny it with all the indignation we possess. But the truth? The truth is that we do. We turn away from God’s gift of Absolution: instead of repenting and confessing, we try to justify ourselves, to explain and excuse our actions, to blame others for our sin. We turn away from the gift of God’s Word: we believe what the world says, instead of clinging to what God said is true; we judge things by what seems right to me rather than by what God said. We turn away from the gift of Baptism: instead of clinging to our identity as children of God, we measure our value by the numbers in our bank accounts, by our positions on the corporate and social ladders, by what our grades are, by what the world thinks is important.

And we turn away from the gift of our Lord’s Body and Blood. Sometimes we claim that Jesus made a mistake in using bread and wine as the elements, seeing how gluten makes some people ill, seeing how addicts can be harmed by the intake of any alcohol. Sometimes we claim that it can be offered too frequently, because taking it more often might make it seem less special somehow. And sometimes, we forget that the body and blood of Jesus is our family meal, meant to bring us together in the fellowship of this Table. We refuse to live as the Communion of saints, a family.

So tonight the cry goes out once again: Repent. “Be reconciled to God.” Turn away from the decaying wealth of this world to welcome His gifts. Receive Christ again, for the Father “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Christ was made sin for you. He became your turning away. He cried from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” Instead of turning away from us as we deserve, the Father turned away from His sinless Son. In place of forsakenness, we are given Christ’s righteousness, a true heavenly treasure.

That is our focus as we journey to our Lord’s cross again this year. Tonight—starting tonight—turn back. Turn back to Christ. Turn back to His gifts. Receive the love, the forgiveness, the life, the hope, the strength, the comfort, the promises, and the joy you need. Receive Him, for He is here: present in His Word, present in His body and blood, for you. He is your Treasure that endures forever. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
         

          The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.

Sermon for 3/2/25: Transfiguration of Our Lord (c)

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Jesus Alone

Luke 9:28-36

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen

 

 

Peter, James, and John would have been pleased to stay on the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses and Elijah. But they wanted nothing to do with the place called Calvary. Calvary was where the blood of the Son of God was to be shed; where the Lamb, provided by the Father for sacrifice, bore our sins to death; where God was revealed and seen not in glory, but in His humble, bloody, dying mercy. To their shame, they wanted none of that. And yet, Moses and Elijah came to the Mount of Transfiguration in the only way that men do: by means of death. There is no other way. In this, we are all the same: all will die. Even those still living at the return of our Lord will have either died in Holy Baptism and go on to eternal life, or they will die eternal death.

Peter did learn. It was hard. He wept bitter tears of shame and of sorrow. The muscles built up on the Sea of Galilee, the brawn and the street smarts, the plans and schemes and ways with men—they all fell away to nothing when faced with God’s glory. Peter was afraid. His strength failed again when faced with our Lord’s willingness to suffer and die for men who hated Him. In the face of that great love, Peter could see just how far he had fallen, how awful were the things he had done, how disgusting were the things he had said and thought, how terrible were the lies he had told, how false and shameful was his bravado. The eyes of the Lord fell on Him. The cock crowed, and Peter wept.

For whom does the cock crow? It crows for Peter, yes, but it also crows for you. Betrayers and cowards, self-serving, conniving, depraved—we are all heirs in this way of Peter, of James and John, of David and Adam. Look in the mirror and ask yourself how cheaply you will sell your soul. Will you at least have the decency of Peter to be afraid? Do you really think you can fool God as you have fooled men? Do you dare to challenge God and risk His wrath and anger? Is it not enough to weary men; will you weary God as well? Why should God put up with you? Aren’t you more self-willed, unpredictable, even disobedient, than any dog that ever lived? Weep bitter tears. Turn from yourself, and turn to Christ.

And then, arise and do not be afraid. Why should God put up with you? He will do so because He is good, because His mercy endures forever. He will do so because He promised to be your God and to love you; and, unlike men, God does not lie. Arise, and see Jesus only! Your own transfiguration is coming. Be focused not upon yourself but upon His unfailing love and promise. He went to that horrendous death like a Lamb to the slaughter, without complaint. But He did not go against His will. He went in perfect love, in complete obedience, with nothing more than the desire to make you His. He knew this was the cost. He knew what it took to bring Peter and James and John, Moses and Elijah, David and Nathan, even you, to Himself, and to His Father in heaven. He was always willing to pay that price. He did not hesitate. He endured all of hell’s fury to wipe away Peter’s tears and your tears. It is worth it to Him. You are worth it to Him. And He regrets none of it. His life for you is pure and undefiled. Hell cannot stop Him. Death cannot hold Him, and it will not hold you.

He has made you His once again. His atoning death, His justifying resurrection, and His life-giving ascension was His exodus from this world. It is also your exodus. He leads you out of death’s shadow and slavery and into the promised land enjoyed now by Moses and Elijah, by Peter, James, and John, and, indeed, by all the saints of God.

So, arise, and do not be afraid. Our God is more patient with you than you are with your pets, or your children, or even with yourself. His love is not stopped by your guilt. His Law does not return to power simply because you have sinned. He has provided the Lamb for the sacrifice. There is nothing more to pay, no sins left to be atoned for, nothing so bad or painful that it cannot be overcome. And He has placed His name on you. He is well-pleased with you. And he provides this day for your nourishment and strength, for your courage and your loyalty: His body and His blood. Do not be afraid. Eat and drink. Rejoice and rest. He knows what He is doing. He is loving you in Christ, and that love will never stop. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.  

Sermon for 2/16/25: Sixth Sunday After the Epiphany

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Blessing and Woe

Luke 6:17-26

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

 

There is simply no getting around it. Jesus declares the poor and hungry, the weeping and reviled, to be blessed; and woe to the wealthy and satisfied, the happy and popular. In other words, things are not as they appear. Those who are successful in the world are not necessarily blessed by God; those who seem to suffer all misfortune may, indeed, possess His eternal favor.

Wealth surely has its share of temptations. To gain riches, one might resort to all sorts of sinful practices: ignoring spouse and children, worshiping the job, taking credit for the work of others, just to name a few. The road to wealth is littered with all kinds of ways that make it necessary to ignore the Lord’s commandments. And once wealth is achieved, things seldom get better. Those who have riches are likely to put their trust in them, rejecting the grace of God. Or they may spend so much time with their luxuries that they have no time for the Lord and His Word. And those who fall prey to the temptations of riches will certainly face God’s wrath.

The Lord has said repeatedly that His message of sin and grace will be rejected by the world. So it was for the prophets and the apostles and the early Church; so it is for us now. One who enjoys immense popularity with the world has likely gained that popularity by being less than faithful to Christ and His Word; the one who is rejected is far more likely to be the faithful one!

But you and I know that it’s not quite that easy. Some are poor because, frankly, they are just too lazy to hold down a job or because they have done some incredibly foolish things that have cost them their livelihood. Likewise, some who are hungry may well have destroyed their chance at success by poor work habits or even criminal behavior. Some mourn and are sad because they have completely ruined their lives by their choice to indulge in all sorts of sinful behavior. Some people are unpopular because the are rude, irritating, or obnoxious.

Only Jesus has has been perfect in all that He does, of course. He alone has been perfectly poor and hungry, mournful and hated. St. Paul writes: “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that, though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.” Taking on human flesh was not enough humiliation. He stepped even lower in that. He was born into poverty. He became even more poverty-stricken when He exchanged His perfect righteousness for our sin at the cross, suffering the judgment of God there for us.

Luke tells us: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days. And when they ended He was hungry.” Not only did Jesus go hungry, but He did so in the midst of constant temptation by the devil. And throughout those forty days, Jesus remained perfectly sinless so that He might remain the perfect sacrificial Lamb.

John tells us that Jesus wept at the death of His beloved friend, Lazarus, for He knew the wages of sin. Likewise, He wept over Jerusalem, because she had rejected God’s Word and persecuted and even killed the Word’s prophetic messengers. He grieved the sinfulness of man and mourned death, so much that He willingly died in our place.

And was Jesus reviled? Listen to the crowds: “Crucify Him!” “His blood be on us and on our children.” He was so hated that the crowd demanded the release of an insurrectionist while the holy Son of God was put to death. At the cross He was rejected by men for our sin, forsaken by the Father in heaven. Perfect in His love, He prayed that the Father would forgive them all.

Hear this good news of woes and blessings: The Savior takes away from you, and the Savior gives. The Savior takes away your sin and suffers its woes on the cross. He becomes the perfect Sacrifice whose blood is shed for your forgiveness. But even as the Savior takes away your sin and woe, He credits you with His holiness. He shares His merit with you so that you would be holy and blameless in the eyes of God. That is why St. Paul wrote to the Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” If Christ dwells in you with the forgiveness of sins, then He brings with Him all of the blessings He has earned for you.

And you can be sure that Christ is with you. When you were baptized, you were joined to His death and resurrection. By His Word that is preached and taught, the Word made flesh dwells with you. And at His Supper, He delivers His holy body and blood for you to eat and drink for the remission of your sins. Christ dwells with you, and so every blessing of His is yours.

If you will seek perfection by being poor enough, or sad enough, or enough of anything, you will face only woe. But blessed are you, for your Savior, Jesus, has been perfectly obedient in your place; He covers you completely with His saving merits. Blessed are you, for you are forgiven all your sins: in the name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen. 

Sermon for 2/9/25: Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany (c)

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Sinners in the Presence of God
Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sometime about 750 years before Jesus was born, a man named Isaiah received a revelation from the Lord God Almighty. God brought this man into the heavenly Temple and right to the very throne of heaven itself. And so, Isaiah stands before the Maker of heaven and earth—or, as we confess in the Athanasian Creed, “the Uncreated, the Incomprehensible, the Eternal.” No sinner can look directly into the face of God and survive; Isaiah knew it. Even Moses was not allowed to see the face of God. And yet, there stood Isaiah in God’s divine presence.

It is not an easy or comfortable feeling, to realize that you are a sinner in the presence of God. This isn’t some random NFL official who can seemingly be paid off with a bribe or a town that tickets speeding drivers and is satisfied with a fine. God is the righteous, incorruptible Judge, and we have no defense before Him. The Judge has just one sentence to pass for sinners: death.

Isaiah was one of God’s chosen people when the Lord brought him into the heavenly Temple. Still, Isaiah remained a sinner, and he knew it. “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Isaiah had nothing to offer God to stay the arm of judgment and wrath—no good work, no sacrifice, nothing. His continued existence in the very Presence of God was due solely to the mercy and grace of God in Christ Jesus.

You have come here this day to the House of God, to this sanctuary which is consecrated to the Lord. You have come here to be in the very Presence of the Lord God. But you are no less a sinner, no less unclean than Isaiah. You dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Do you realize what you have done by appearing here and seeking to be in His Presence? Do you understand what you have said when you added your “amen” to the Invocation? You have called upon the name declared unto you on the day of your Baptism: the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And in doing so, you have left yourself open to His righteous judgment.

Here today, in the Presence of God, you made confession of your sin. You have nothing to offer God to stay the hand of condemnation and wrath—no good work, no sacrifice, nothing. You can only plead “guilty.” Your continued existence here and now in the very Presence of God is due solely to the mercy and grace of God in Christ Jesus.

This guilty plea has a strange and unexpected result. After Isaiah confessed his sin, one of the Lord’s angels, one of the messengers, flew to Isaiah, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched Isaiah’s mouth with it and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.”

It worked the same way this morning. After you confessed your sin, one of the Lord’s messengers, one of Christ’s under-shepherds, announced to you, “Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Instead of requiring a live coal be touched to you, the Word of God is sufficient to remove the iniquity of your sin. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross is enough. Instead of the righteous sentence of death, we are shown mercy and are given a full pardon.

Now, with all our sins removed as far as the east is from the west, with all our transgressions forgotten by the God Who knows all things, we are ready to enter into His Presence, where we are permitted to sing the Sanctus: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of power and might; Heaven and earth are full of Your glory.” Then, for those who are prepared, one of God’s messengers takes the very Body and Blood of Christ. He places it in your mouth and says, “Take and eat: the Body of Christ, given for you.” “Take and drink: the Blood of Christ, shed for you.” It has touched your lips. Just as it was when the water applied to you with the Word in Holy Baptism, just as it is with the holy word of Absolution, so it is with the Lord’s Supper: your iniquity is taken away; your sin is purged.

It’s no coincidence that we find Isaiah in the middle of a worship service. You see, that’s what heaven is all about. Every image we have of heaven in Scripture is of the hosts of heaven gathered around the divine Presence to worship God. Whether it’s Isaiah in his book, the angels as they appear to the shepherds in Luke, or John in his Revelation, the hosts of heaven are in the midst of worship, praising God for what He is and what He has done and continues to do for His people. Whether we sing “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth,” or “Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain,” or “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth,” as we did this morning, we are joining in the hymns of heaven in praise to God. When we gather at the altar to receive the body and blood of our Savior, we gather “with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven.” We have gathered here in the name of the Triune God, invoking His holy name, and even as Jesus promised, where two or three are gathered in His name, He is in our very midst! We stand here in His presence to receive His gifts. We stand in the presence of God in this place, and, by His grace, we live.

Like Isaiah, you have been chosen by God. He has called you by name, and He has forgiven you by the power of His name. You need not fear to be in the presence of the righteous God, for your sins have been forgiven, and you have been freed to do the work for which God has chosen you. He will continue to grant you peace in His presence from now unto eternity. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.