Sermon for 10/27/24: Reformation (observed)

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“Be Still…”

Psalm 46

 

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

 

A famous composer once said that the rests are the most important parts of any piece of music. The rests in music are those places where there is no music—or, at least, no music you can hear. What could the composer have meant? After all, music is sound, right? But there’s some logic to this assertion. The placement of those rests, those bits of musical silence, determines how a piece of music will ultimately sound. To place those rests anywhere else would, in fact, create a completely different piece, even if everything else remained exactly the same. And so, silence, the absence of musical sound, becomes equally important to, if not even more important than, the sound itself.

Through His Psalmist, the Lord admonishes us: “Be still and know that I am God.” This morning we remember Martin Luther and the Reformation he led. Psalm 46 has always been identified with the Reformation and Luther because his great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” draws its inspiration from the opening verses of the Psalm: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” But the Psalm also says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” These words seem to be uncharacteristic for what we know of Luther. The Reformation was not a quiet time; it was a time of frenzied activity, a time of violence and death and destruction. Luther himself was anything but quiet. He was bold; he was brash; he was, frankly, crass. He probably would have been cancelled today, because much of what he thought, spoke, and wrote was filled with what our culture would consider abuse. While he was deeply and pastorally concerned for the flock of God, he cared little about the feelings of the theologians who perverted the truth of God and the secular rulers who took advantage of the poverty and powerlessness of their subjects.

Even so, I believe these closing verses of Psalm 46, the admonition to stillness before God, are more descriptive of Luther and the nature of the Reformation than anything else. All the things that fill the histories of the Reformation—the frenzy, the activity, the writing, the theological confrontations—these things are not as characteristic of what happened in those days than the fact that Luther and his followers faithfully heeded these words of the Lord: “Be still, and know that I am God.” “How so?” you might ask.

Above all, Luther was a man of prayer. Philip Melancthon, his co-worker in the Reformation, tells us that Luther would spend literally hours a day in prayer, that his prayer was like a child in conversation with his father who loves and cares for him. This man of great spiritual power and towering intellect knew that all he might do would come to nothing without listening to the Word of the Lord and prayerfully seeking His blessing.

One of the reasons why the Church in our day seems so helpless is that we don’t live this way. We are guilty of telling God first what we think should be done, and then seeking His blessing on what we have already decided to do. My vicarage bishop, God bless his soul, once suggested that we should have a ten year moratorium, a complete stop, on new programs from the Synod, that those ten years would be better spent on our knees in prayer. The suggestion was not well received by his hearers.

But it raises an important question: What do we think about prayer? We often look at prayer as a sort of last resort, something to do when everything else has failed. We have been programmed to think of prayer as “inactivity,” of doing nothing, a way to flee obligation, a means of avoiding our spiritual responsibilities. Especially in our nation, we have a bad habit of thinking that the first responsibility of a Christian is to take action rather than listen to the Word of the Lord.

I cannot speak for you, but for me, prayer is some of the hardest work I do. It is spiritually taxing because Satan, “the old evil foe,” as Luther called him, doesn’t want me doing it and does all he can to stop me. I am sure he does the same to you. Prayer is the single most important thing we as Christians can do. Prayer is not fleeing our spiritual obligations nor avoiding responsibility for them; prayer confronts those responsibilities head on. I’ve heard people—even Christians—say that prayer is worth Nothing in times of tragedy and disaster, even mocking those who pray. Anyone who thinks that prayer spares him from real-world responsibility either does not really pray or is not paying attention. To pray is to confront head-on the tasks God would give us to do. It is to enter the battle, face to face, with the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. “Be still,” the Lord says, “and know that I am God.” “Be quiet and listen to me, and I will make you ready to do battle for the Kingdom of God.”

Part of being still is remembering that we are first known by God. Indeed, He has known us from eternity; He was determined to make us His own by way of Baptism and the Holy Spirit, forgiving our sins and saving us for eternal life. He has called us by the Gospel to faith in Him, to know Him now and eternally as the One who has redeemed us from sin and death.

And so, to “be still” is to know that God can always be trusted, that we need never put our confidence in anything but His grace and mercy. It is to know that His love for us in Christ is a love that will have no end. It is to know that we have a God who will never leave us nor forsake us. As the Psalmist put it: “The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

So think of those words we just sang:

                The Word they still shall let remain
                    nor any thanks have for it;
                He’s by our side upon the plain
                    with His good gifts and Spirit.
                And take they our life,
                    Goods, fame, child, and wife,
                Though these all be gone,
                    Our victory has been won;
                    The Kingdom ours remaineth.

No matter the opposition we face—whether it’s people who hate the Gospel and deny the one true God, or the government as it infringes on our freedom to live and worship as we desire, or even the devil himself—we know that “the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.” Thanks be to God, for the victory over sin, death, and the power of the devil has been won in our Lord Jesus 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 10/06/24: LWML Sunday

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“The Servant of the Lord”
Luke 1:26-38

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

What has God called you to do? We Lutherans talk about a very big word: vocation. In the narrow sense, a vocation is what pastors and missionaries have: a direct Call from God to serve in His Church. In that sense, you might think it’s easy for pastors to say what God has called us to do; after all, we serve God directly as His Called and Ordained ministers of the Gospel.

But the word vocation has a wider meaning, and it applies to all of us. The Small Catechism helps us to understand this. As you confess your sins, the Catechism tells you to “consider your place in life…” It tells you to ask yourself, “Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, or worker?” Each of these is a vocation, a task to which God calls you. Think about what you do in the course of your days. Are you a farmer or rancher? Are you a nurse? Do you coach a team or perform in a choir? Do you have a neighbor who needs your help or needs to hear the Gospel? Do you volunteer your time and talents? Are any of you ladies perhaps a part of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League? What else do you do? All of these things and more are vocations, and God has called you to them. By your faithful service in those various tasks, you give glory to God and you love and serve your neighbor.

We heard Last Sunday how God uses the holy angels as messengers, among other things. This week we see Gabriel in his vocation as messenger. This is no chubby-cheeked cherub, no mild mannered, soft-spoken guardian in a sweater vest. This is a divine messenger, a being who reflects the holiness and righteousness of God. Some accounts list Gabriel among the archangels. A mere human standing before such a being would certainly have reason to be terrified—much like when a police officer or a pastor shows up at your door unannounced, only more terrifying, because at least the police officer and the pastor are common occurrences.

But that’s not what Mary finds so troubling—and that is exceptional enough. But what about that news? “Mary, I know you’re a virgin and all, but you’re gonna have a baby. Oh, and your pregnancy has happened by the power of the Holy Spirit.” How overwhelming it must have been for Mary to hear that she would be part of the fulfillment of the most important prophecies ever. You may recall that Isaiah prophesied to King Ahaz, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” You may also recall the promise God made to the satanic serpent in the Garden of Eden: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” This Son, this Seed of a woman, this Child—promised to Adam and Eve, to Abraham the Patriarch, to King David, to King Ahaz, and to all those who clung by faith to that promise—this Child shall be the One to defeat Satan forever. And Mary—sweet, innocent, virginal Mary—was chosen by God to be the mother of God. This is to be her vocation.

That’s what Mary finds so troubling. Gabriel wasn’t kidding when He said, “The Lord is with you.” The Lord through whom all things were made would reside in her womb. The Word made flesh to dwell among sinful humanity would grow inside her until He would be born in Bethlehem. It would not be easy for Mary. She would be the object of scorn. Joseph, her betrothed, would seek to divorce her. And that’s before the Child was born. When Jesus was a mere eight days old, old Simeon prophesied that “a sword” would pierce her heart. Later, Mary would run through the streets of Jerusalem with Joseph, trying to find the Child who had wandered away from her to be where He knew He had to be: in His Father’s house. Finally she would stand at the foot of the cross on which her Son would hang, weeping as she watched Him die His innocent death, suffering, bearing the sins of mankind as He had said He must do. She may not have known all the details at first, but she knew this would be a rough life. Nevertheless she answered Gabriel, “Let it be to me according to your Word.” And Mary would be okay. After all, the Lord is with her.

And the same is true for you: The Lord is with you. You may not have the same struggles as Mary—certainly none of you are pregnant with the promised Messiah—but everyone has their own difficulties. No matter your vocation—father or son, mother or daughter, boss or worker, teacher or student, pastor or layperson, and all the rest of the things you do every day—the Lord has called you to serve Him in these various tasks of your life, and each vocation carries its own troubles, especially when you try to live according to your faith.

But one thing you can be sure of is this: the Lord is with you. This is not some imaginary presence. He is with you physically, in the flesh, just as present with you now as He was in Mary’s womb. “The Word became flesh.” He has never stopped being flesh, and He has never stopped being present with you. He placed His name upon you in the waters of Holy Baptism. He speaks His Word into your ear—the same Word by which all things were created. He feeds you with His own flesh and blood, hidden in and under the bread and wine. He is present with you, just as He has promised. Find Him in the font. Find Him on the altar. Find Him where His Word is preached in truth and purity. Don’t worry that you can’t see Him; you have His promise, and His Word does not fail. So do not be afraid. Whatever it is that you face in your life, whatever the challenge before you, know this: the Lord is with you. He will not make you face any of your trials or tasks alone. God grant you faith and courage so that you may say, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your Word.” 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 9/29/24: Feast of St. Michael and All Angels

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Holy Angels and Little Ones
Matthew 18:1-11

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

          Every year on September 29, the One Holy Christian and Apostolic Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels. Today we remember with joy these created beings who protect us at the Lord's command. 

        When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce that she would be the mother of the promised Messiah, Mary sang of the Lord, “He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly.” God rightly humbles those who would puff themselves up with their own words and deeds, as He did to the people of Babel who attempted to raise themselves up to be equal with God; and He lifts up those who have been brought low in sin, who kneel before the Lord to confess to Him that they are poor, miserable sinners.

          It seems as though the disciples of the Lord have always had the bad habit of exalting themselves. Whether it’s James and John asking to sit at the Lord’s right hand, or the whole collection of the disciples rebuking those who brought children to Jesus for His blessing, or when they all inquire as to who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, they’re all quite interested in lifting themselves up and pushing others down. And we who consider ourselves to be faithful don’t seem to mind that very much. We take pride in our doctrinal faithfulness—and this is a particularly dangerous temptation for the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod—as if our faithful adherence to the Word of God alone puts us in an exalted position in the kingdom of God.

And that brings us to the holy angels, the holy beings created by God to serve Him and His people. The high and mighty of the Church can see no need for angels. Surely only the weak need to rely on these invisible beings. Angels, they say, are for children. Angels, they say, are for those who are childish in their spiritual development, those who childishly believe that some higher being lovingly shapes our destinies.

God grant us such a childlike faith and humility, so that we acknowledge our weakness before God and thus pray in faith, “Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me.” Viewing angels as something only necessary for children or for weak people misunderstands what the word “angel” means. Angels aren’t merely heavenly commandos; the words in Hebrew and Greek from which we get the word “angel” both mean “messenger.” These heavenly soldiers come armed mightily with “the sword of the Spirit, which is Word of God.” Angels are mouthpieces who repeat what the Lord says back to Him in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving. They speak against the devil in defiance, for the protection of the children of God. Angels speak the Word of God. The Word is their weapon…and it is a most effective weapon. Consider our appointed Epistle. St. Michael and the angelic band fight with Satan, and they cast him down. Their weapon is nothing else than the Word of God. John tells us, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their witness.” Satan fights by using words of deception, always his most effective weapon against the faithful. Saint Michael and the angels, on the other hand, fight by speaking the Word of God.

The Lord continues to send messengers today. They do not have golden wings or halos. They do not resemble the cute little cherubs you see in the Hallmark store. In fact, they look a lot like you do. They stand at the altar and in the pulpit, wearing collars that mark them as slaves of Christ, as blood-soaked dogs who protect the sheep from the wolves. They wear black to demonstrate that they, like their hearers, are sinners who have been humbled before the Lord. And they cover that black with a robe of white that demonstrates the righteousness of Christ upon them through the waters of Holy Baptism…the very same righteousness that rests upon their hearers. Pastors do not lift themselves up. Instead, with the angel who talks to John in Revelation, they say to their congregations, “I am your fellow servant… Worship God!” And like the heavenly messengers, these pastors come among us armed only with the blood of the Lamb and the Word of God—but these weapons bear the power of God to overcome Satan as effectively as they do for Saint Michael and the holy angels.

Those whom the Word converts become as little children.  They are humbled, and, in turn, humble themselves as children. But those with childlike faith are exalted to the highest place in the Kingdom of God. Everyone in God’s kingdom relies on and takes to heart that angelic Word, whether it is spoken by invisible messengers named Michael and Gabriel or by the visible messengers who preach the Word from this pulpit and feed the flock with the body and blood of the Lamb. And when that Word of God brings even one lost sinner to repentance, St. Michael and all the holy angels of heaven rejoice. God grant that we welcome His messengers, receiving the Word with repentance and faith, so that the angels would rejoice over us. 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 9/22/24: Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 20b)

No sermon audio. The recorder malfunctioned. Sorry. It's a shame too, as the delivery was much better in the second service.

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Finding the Real Jesus
Mark 9:30-37

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

          Sinful man does not readily receive the things of God. He does not comprehend the message of a Lord who suffers, bleeds, and dies like a common criminal, hanging naked from a wooden stake in the ground outside the city walls. To the sinner, such a God is weakness, and the notion that such a death has lasting meaning is pure idiocy. To the sinner, the Gospel itself is utter foolishness. “My god is great,” says the sinful heart. “My god is the one who is all powerful and yet would never punish me for anything. He is love when I want him to be love; he is hate when I want him to be hate.” The god of sinful humanity is our own belly. Mankind creates a god in our own image—a god we see when we look in the mirror—to suit our own needs.

Because our flesh still clings to our sin, Christians also try to put Jesus in a box that suits our own desires. We confess Him as Lord and Redeemer, and then we relegate Him to a moral example. We allow Him ro be the Savior who forgives sin, but we ignore Him when He declares, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” He is either the righteous and merciless Judge who is eager to condemn, or He is our buddy who is more concerned with good intentions than the impurity of our hearts and deeds.

In our heart of hearts, we want the Jesus who will triumph over those who hate us and give us our every whim. He is the God to whom we render thanks and praise in times of joy, but whom we question and even curse in our pain and sorrow. We come to Him in prayer, but we neglect to include that most vital part: “Not my will, O Lord, but Your will be done.” We live in defiance of His commandments and then attempt to make ourselves look better by pointing out the sins of others. We allow Jesus to be either Lord or Savior, but we will not allow Him to be both.

Sinners do not readily receive the things of God. We do not hear the Word and see that it is reasonable and therefore deserving of consideration. The sinful heart is so blackened and marred by sin that only God himself can change it. Not even the disciples were able to receive the news of God’s Kingdom. They heard the heart and core of the Gospel—Christ’s death and resurrection—and they were afraid to ask what it meant. Does it not seem a little strange that Jesus speaks of His impending betrayal, death, and resurrection, and His disciples have no idea what he is talking about? How could they not comprehend what must come to pass for the Son of Man? Surely they, of all people, could put two and two together! They surely were familiar with the words of Jeremiah from our Old Testament reading of the lamb being led to the slaughter—and they most certainly could have connected that with John the Baptist pointing to Jesus and saying, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

No, like the rest of the Jews, the disciples desired the Jesus who would defeat their Roman oppressors. Even Peter, James, and John did not comprehend what must happen, and they had the privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration in the presence of Moses and Elijah. They could only imagine with horror a betrayal of Jesus into the hands of men. Along with Peter, they all swore they would never let such things occur. They did not want to deal with what Jesus was telling them; they did not even want to ask.

Our text for this day is not a mundane repetition of what everyone already knew. Jesus speaks of His betrayal, which came at the hand of Judas, and His crucifixion at the hand of the Romans, and His disciples were scandalized beyond belief! God tests the faith of his people. Part of that testing is withholding knowledge of certain things. He withheld from the disciples a clear comprehension of His betrayal and death to test them. He withholds no such knowledge from us, for we have been taught the Scriptures and the meaning of His death. And yet, we need to hear that message continually, because it is not what we read in the imagination of our hearts.

The Lord tests the faith of his people in many and various ways, but in so doing, He draws them to Himself, under the shadow of His wings. His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. You will receive tests from the Lord during your earthly pilgrimage. And there will be times that you question what He is doing. “Why are things turning out for me this way?” “Why didn’t I get the scholarship I expected?” “Why is my health the way it is?” “Why doesn’t my worship and prayer life make me feel a certain way?” “Why doesn’t my witness to other always make believers out of them?” In such times of uncertainty and trial, you must look to what God has promised and not dwell upon what He has not promised. He has already promised you that He works all things for your benefit and for your eternal good. He promises that He will always be there to comfort you in distress and be your oasis in the wilderness of this sinful world. But He only does these things in the ways He has promised: through the cleansing waters of Baptism, in the word of Absolution, and in His body and blood in the bread and wine of the Supper.

Seek the Lord where He has promised to be. This won’t any easier for you than it was for the disciples, but His promises are the same, and He does not falter in keeping them. Receive His gifts and be continually fed by them, for your Lord is there to give you rest from the burden of your sin and to strengthen you in His love and mercy. 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 8/18/24: Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 15b)

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Sober Singing
Ephesians 5:15-21

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

 

 

St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit…” It seems in most places that there are two or three churches for every bar or club. Even so, I suspect that the taverns have more people on a Saturday evening than there are in the churches on Sunday morning. People generally prefer to consume distilled spirits over receiving the Holy Spirit. Looking for comfort, strength, courage, or whatever else in the bottom of a bottle may be a fruitless search, but it’s still a more popular alternative because it doesn’t require you to do or say or believe anything. This is why people prefer to get drunk on Saturday evening over attending the Divine Service on Sunday morning. As many of our Lord’s disciples said as they were walking away, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

Of course, it doesn’t help when churches are led by preachers whose doctrine changes like the wind. As soon as the social justice warriors change the standards of human conduct, many pastors are quick to fall in line. It used to be shameful for a woman to preach; today it is thought to be shameful to refuse women preachers. Living together outside of marriage used to be hidden, shamefully talked about in whispers if spoken of at all; today it’s considered by many to be hateful for a pastor to speak against cohabitation, much less attempt to discipline a couple for it. Whatever the fashionable and favorite sin of the moment, the world acts as if it is hateful and evil to agree with God when He condemns that sin.

Those who abandon divine truth to be popular with the world make their appeal to the love of Jesus. “Jesus is love,” they say, “and so anything done in the name of love must be good.” But the world does not know what love really is; “love” has become just another word for excusing sin. When the Church bows to the world, it abandons truth. When there is no Law to condemn us in our sin, the world sees no need for a message of the forgiveness. Jesus Himself has becomes irrelevant in the eyes of the world, no matter how often His name is invoked.

But where the church has kept the treasure her Lord has given her; where God’s law is preached without compromise, condemning us for our sins; where Christ’s suffering and death for us is proclaimed to real sinners guilty of real sins; where the sacraments of Christ are administered as our Lord instituted them; it is there that God blesses us with the riches of heaven. He joins us and speaks to us where we live; He draws us into communion with Himself. Heaven and earth, God and sinners, are reconciled, and we find our little bit of heaven right here on earth.

When Christians gather together as the church, we make melody in our hearts to the Lord. We sing to God. We worship Him. We give thanks to Him. But we also sing to one another, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” We sing together our faith, our confession. We say to each other what we believe. Confessing the faith marks us as Christians. The apostle reminds us that we share the faith with one another by means of music. We confess our faith in our God in the same way. The thanksgiving we offer to God is offered in the name of the Lord Jesus because it is in His name—the name placed on us in the waters of Holy Baptism—that we are children of God. 

That brings us back to Paul’s command not to be drunk. He presents a clear contrast between getting drunk, where we lose control, and being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is our Teacher. He is our Comforter, our Counselor, and our Advocate. He is not the Spirit of unbridled emotional exuberance; He is the Spirit of truth. He teaches us the truth. He tells us that we are to love God with our heart, soul, and mind. We don’t learn the will of God for us by losing our minds or losing control; we learn the will of God for us through being transformed by God. Spiritual enlightenment is a wonderful work of God for us. It takes place within the minds of His people as the Holy Spirit opens the Word to us. We don’t choose between getting high on alcohol and getting high on religion; we choose between living in conformity with the evil in our world and living as Christians; we choose, as we heard last week, between imitating God by walking in His ways and imitating the world and its prince, the devil.

We go to church because we cannot live the Christian life without the Christian faith. We need the Gospel. Our faith depends on it. We need to confess our sins to God, for our sins have captured our affections and we cannot set ourselves free. We need to hear the Gospel; we need to hear that we are forgiven by the blood of Jesus and we are set free. Just as surely as Christ’s body and blood are given us to eat and to drink, God forgives us all our sins for the sake of Christ. Our sinful hearts will deny this. The world will scoff at it. The devil will rail against it and slander those who preach it and confess it. But it is our greatest joy; it is what opens our lips to sing God’s praise. And when we confess this truth together, when we sing it together, God binds us together and builds us up as Christ’s church, with a joy no alcohol or narcotic can match. 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 8/11/24: Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 14b)

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Imitating God
Ephesians 4:17-5:2

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

There always seems to be a dispute about whether or not behavior is influenced by what we see on the television, video games, and movie screens, and by what we hear over the airwaves. Of course, there are statistics that support both sides of the issue, as statistics can always be made to say what someone wants them to say. Perhaps you remember that Mark Twain said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” But whatever the stats say, common sense tells us that behavior can be influenced by what is seen and heard. And even more persuasive than common sense is the Biblical argument St. Paul makes in this text. He tells us that we are to be imitators of God. How could that be if there was not something from God, something seen and heard, that we are to imitate?

It has been said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. If that is true in positive things, like imitating God, why would it not also be true in negative things? If God wishes His children to imitate Him in His ways, would it not also be the case that His great enemy, Satan, would try to get us to imitate him? The truth is, imitation is something we do all the time. We are likely not even aware how often we imitate what others do or say.

Of course, it should go without saying that we are not to be imitators of Satan. But there are such imitators in the world, many of them in places where we would least expect them. On one occasion, Jesus said to the Jews: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires...” Obviously this is something we should avoid. But we should not even be thoughtless imitators of men. Yes, there have been great men and women of faith, and Scripture encourages us to remember them and imitate their faith. But like us, they were sinners. They needed the same Savior you and I need. They may be good models for imitation, but only in certain ways. We should imitate St. Peter, for example, in sharing our faith; we should not imitate him in taking the sword to our neighbor’s ears. Where we can and should imitate the saints who have gone before is in the faithful confession they made by the power of the Spirit to the Savior of the world.

If we are to be imitators of God, then we must have a clear picture of Him. To give us that clear picture of God, St. Paul might have laid out a series of divine characteristics we should follow. Instead he chose one divine attribute which includes all the others: love. The clearest picture of God is received by seeing His love. And this encouragement to imitate God is surrounded by His love. We heard St. Paul say, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” And then, two verses later, our reading says: “Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us...” To know God, and then to imitate Him, means that we first see His love for us perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ. As St. John wrote in his first Epistle: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.” This is the love of God in Jesus Christ that has reconciled the whole world to Himself. In Jesus Christ, God loves us poor sinners. And this is the God of love we are now to imitate. If we believe that God has so loved us as to give His very best for us—His own dear Son—we must love Him in return. Imitating God, then, is not something we are forced or compelled to do. It is not even something we choose to do. The power of that divine love itself persuades us. It is never a matter of fear or intimidation, but a free and willing return of love to Him who has loved us.

Of course we should be concerned by the troubles of our neighbor and extend the hand of love to him. But it is of even greater importance that we are concerned about the needs of his eternal soul. As Jesus wept over the unbelief and rejection from His own people, so we, too, should pray over those among us and around us who remain in unbelief and rejection of Jesus Christ. From a loving heart, we ought to speak of their soul‘s salvation and the love of God for them. Sometimes we have to love someone so much that we must tell them that they are dead in sin. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” In this, too, we are to be imitators of God. 

And, of course, when our Lord gathers His disciples together to feed them with His own body and blood right before He goes to the cross, once again we should imitate our God. Jesus tells us to do this—to take and eat, to take and drink—for the forgiveness of our sins. In receiving this holy Bread of life into our mouths, as He urges and even commands us to do for our good, He strengthens us as we seek to imitate Him in mercy and charity.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Paul is encouraging us here to imitate God in all of His goodness and love—not because our efforts to do so contribute anything to our salvation, but because the blessings of that salvation are already ours by His grace. May God grant that we would be faithful imitators of His love and mercy, that the lives and souls of those whom we encounter every day might also find in Jesus Christ their hope for life and salvation, now and 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 7/14/24: Eighth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 10b)

I have to admit that the beheading of John the Baptist is not the easiest text for me to preach. I've posted about John before, how I am almost jealous of him for knowing from his earliest days what his role was to be. But this is a difficult text for me because John's persecution and death remind me of my brother pastors who have been removed from their Calls by congregations who, as Paul would say, have itching ears, sending away their faithful preachers because they don't like their faithful preaching. But it was the text I needed to preach today. Please continue to pray for your pastor and for all the ordained men without congregations who desire to serve.

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Losing Your Head
Mark 6:14-29

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

         

Today we encounter three people who are losing their heads. One of them, John the Baptist, had spent his life preparing the way for Christ. He had preached the message of repentance, a message which is never popular. He was finally imprisoned for preaching that message to what the world would consider the wrong people. Those wrong people were Herod and his mistress, Herodias. Herod had set aside his own wife and separated Herodias from her husband, his own half-brother, Philip. It was bad enough that Herodias had married her own uncle in Philip. But then both Herodias and Herod left their legal spouses to come together. There was no way John could overlook such sinfulness, not even for someone in a position of great authority—not even for the sake of his own freedom or even his very life.

          Rather than heeding John’s message of repentance, Herod had John arrested at the request of Herodias. But she wanted John dead for daring to speak against her. She had lost her head. Despite his sinfulness in this relationship, Herod apparently had enough of a conscience to deter him. Besides, he found John to be amusing. So he was content to keep John imprisoned.

          Herodias had already lost her head regarding John and his message. But she needed Herod to lose his, as well. Herodias needed him to let go of the scruples which kept him from killing John. And when her own asking would not do, she devised a plan. She sent her daughter out to dance for Herod and his company. Influenced by his libido and desiring to impress his guests, Herod offered to give the girl whatever she wanted. At the urging of Herodias, the daughter asked for John’s head on a platter.

What his wife’s pleading could not do, his step-daughter’s dancing finally achieved. Herod lost his head, too. Herod knew that he’d made a promise he shouldn’t keep, but he didn’t want to back down in front of his powerful guests. He caved. He ordered that John should be beheaded. So finally John lost his head, too.

Herod refused to heed the Word of God which John preached to him. Herodias refused to heed the Word of God, so much so that she wanted the messenger killed. We can look with disdain at Herod and Herodias, but we’re just as guilty. You see, it’s easy to heed the Word when it comes to matters of which we approve. “You shall not murder.” Of course it’s wrong to murder a man. We all know that. But what about a fetus? What about embryonic stem cells? What about that guy who cuts you off in traffic when you’re already having a bad day? “You shall not commit adultery.” Fair enough, Lord. But what if she’s gorgeous? After all, Lord, You’re the one who gave me these hormones that affect me this way, so if You didn’t want me to be attracted to her, You shouldn’t have made her so attractive. And what if I’m not married; it wouldn’t apply to me, would it? “Remember the Sabbath day.” I guess I can come to church every Sunday. Well, most of them, anyway. But surely You didn’t mean for us to believe everything You teach in the Bible; after all, a lot of that is so out of place with how things are in society today. Do You really expect me to agree that my druid cousin and Pentecostal aunt can’t receive the Lord’s Supper in the Lutheran Church? Are You telling me that babies need forgiveness as much as everyone else? And surely You don’t mean for us to hold to the Word if it means persecution or even death, right?

The Word of God causes people to lose their heads. Some, like Herod, hear the Word of God and find it a mere amusement; others, like Herodias, seek to destroy those who bring that faithful Word to them because they don’t like the message. No one likes to have their sins pointed out to them, and some even react with violence. But even in the midst of his imprisonment, John didn’t step down, knowing that a whim could—and eventually did—send him to his death. God strengthened him for this service.

He does the same for you. We live in a sinful world, and we are sinful people. It is never easy to live according to the Word of God. That’s what makes it so easy for non-believers to think of us as hypocrites; it’s easy not to be a hypocrite when you don’t believe in anything. Our Lord knows how hard it is to remain faithful, especially when we face trials and persecutions. Who could understand that better than Jesus? He was put to death for preaching that He was the promised Messiah and the Son of God. But He rose again as well, so that you would have forgiveness for your failure to live according to His Word. When you confess your sins, God is faithful to forgive your sin.

Our Lord understands all too well. He knows that you may be called upon to suffer, and maybe even die, for your faith. After all, they treated Him that way. He prayed that the cup of suffering could be removed from Him, though He drank it to its bitter dregs on your behalf. And knowing that you may be asked to suffer for the sake of His holy name, Christ gives you a cup to drink as well, a cup filled with His precious blood which, along with His holy body, forgives you all your sins and strengthens you for this life and even unto life everlasting.

John the Baptist lost his head. Some would think of this as a bad thing; and to be sure, none of us desires to be beheaded or to face any other kind of gruesome death or persecution for the sake of Christ. But we thank God for John the Baptist and for the death which he died, because John died in faith. More than that, we thank God for Jesus and for the death that He died, because He died for you. God grant that you, too, may be faithful even in the face of death; for the crown of life awaits 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 6/30/24: Sixth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 8b)

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Faith in the Midst of Suffering

Mark 5:21-43

 

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

 

 

Both Jairus and the woman who tried to get close to Jesus were in need. They were desperate. There was nothing they or anyone else could do for them. So they put themselves at the mercy of Jesus. They put their situation completely in His hands. They put their faith in Him. The faith of Jairus leads him to seek Jesus out of fatherly love for his daughter. There was nothing he could do for his precious child, so he put all his faith in Jesus. There was no way he could do anything to prevent his daughter from dying. So he left the matter completely in the hands of his God. And notice what leaving it completely in the Lord’s hands looks like: Jairus goes to God as He has made Himself known to us—namely, in Immanuel, God with us in human flesh, our Lord Jesus.

How could Jairus have possibly known that this Man, this Person who seems just like himself, could bring his dying daughter back to health? Well, the word that had gotten around that Jesus had performed many miracles and that He was a great teacher. But there’s a difference between hearing about miraculous things happening to others and believing they could happen for you. As hard as such a thing could be to imagine, the man went to Jesus with exactly that request.

What Jairus did is what we must do. We are in need. We are desperate. Illnesses and injuries ravage our lives, and we very much want deliverance from those things. But these are only symptoms of a greater disease. Whether you are struggling with severe illness or are in good health or you are anywhere between, you are wasting away in the disease that infects us all: original sin. And for this disease there is no human cure.

But there are no crowds thronging around Jesus anymore when we look to Him. He is all alone; everyone—even each one of us—has deserted him. When we look to Him in our need and our desperate state, we look to Him as He hung all alone on the cross. It’s what He has done that provides for us what we need. In the Collect of the Day we prayed, “Heavenly Father, during His earthly ministry Your Son Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead. By the healing medicine of the Word and Sacraments pour into our hearts such love toward You that we may live eternally.” That takes us back to our Introit from Psalm 121: “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” This is where we find our hope in the midst of hardship, our joy in the midst of suffering. This is where both Jairus and the woman who touched our Lord’s garment received their hope and joy.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead. Here we are two thousand years later, facing the very same illnesses, unable to keep ourselves from death. That’s why our Lord worked for an even greater healing, even greater than temporarily raising the little girl from the dead. Jesus walked alone to the cross, and He was nailed to it. And nailed with Him to the cross was all the sins and illnesses, all the guilt and shame of humanity. It’s why the sinless Son of God died Himself. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” That’s what Jairus and the woman ended up coming to see in Jesus: the One who had given healing they had sought was the One who delivered them of all their sin. It’s why, as the language of our Collect says, He comes to us by the healing medicine of the Word and Sacraments and pours into our hearts such love toward Him that we may live eternally. Faith is hard. It is not easy to fully trust Him to do for you what you truly need.

The prayer we prayed in the Collect of the Day is a prayer of faith, asking our Father to give us what we need in the healing medicine of the Word and Sacraments and pour into our hearts such love toward Him that we may live eternally. We may want to be delivered from the pain we’re experiencing. We may want to be removed from the trials we are going through. What will your prayer be? Will it be the prayer of seeking what you want, or will it be what the prayer seeking you truly need? Will it be the prayer of your sinful nature, or will it be the prayer of faith? Will you trust your Lord enough to pray, “Thy will be done,” and then trust that His will is infinitely better than yours, even if His answer is not the answer you would choose? The patriarch Job prayed, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Can we pray that way?

Our Lord delivered these, His daughters, from earthly death for a time. That kind of power and love is truly amazing. But it gets even better, for this power and love points to the greater things Jesus did for them and for us. Our gracious Lord delivered them from their sins. He went to death Himself so that these daughters would be raised from death, so that Jairus would be raised from the dead, so that you would be raised from the dead—not merely for a time, but for all eternity. In the healing medicine of our Lord’s Word and gifts, He displays and exercises for you His great power and love: power over sin and death and love which gives you life in body and soul both now and 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 6/9/24: Third Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 5b)

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The Stronger Man
Mark 3:20-35

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

 

It was early in our Lord’s public ministry. He had been traveling from place to place, proclaiming the Gospel, and miraculous signs accompanied His teaching. The news about Him had gone before Him, and He had become quite popular. But with popularity came criticism. The religious powers sent their representatives to keep an eye on Jesus. They wanted to know if He was going to be a problem. It didn’t take long for them to figure out that Jesus wasn’t their ally. Last week we heard that the Pharisees held counsel with the Herodians, seeking to destroy Him.

Today it’s the scribes who opposed Jesus. They claimed, “He is possessed by Beelzebul;” “by the prince of demons He casts out the demons.” The miracles of Jesus are so public, so well known, that His enemies cannot deny them. Instead, they try to discredit these wonders. They accuse Jesus of working His miracles in league with demons. They claim that Jesus is able to cast out demons because He Himself is demon possessed. But their accusations make no sense. Demons are surely evil, but they are not stupid. Why would they fight against themselves? Jesus said as much: “If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.”

Jesus went on to teach about what it takes to defeat Satan. “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.” Satan is, indeed, very strong. Only the One who is stronger than Satan can plunder Satan’s household and rescue those held captive by him and his demons. That One is Jesus.

The plundering of Satan’s stronghold is important to each of us. As we hear in the rite of Holy Baptism: “The Word of God teaches that we are all conceived and born sinful and are under the power of the devil until Christ claims us as His own. We would be lost forever unless delivered from sin, death, and everlasting condemnation.” Sinners by nature belong to Satan. But the rite goes on: “But the Father of all mercy and grace has sent His Son Jesus Christ, who atoned for the sin of the whole world that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus Himself is the stronger One who binds Satan and delivers us from sin, death, and everlasting condemnation.

But how were we already under God’s condemnation even at conception? This morning we heard about Adam and Eve, about the results of their fall into sin. In tempting Eve to doubt God’s Word, Satan made sin look pleasurable. And then after the sin, he had laid on the burden of guilt. Adam and Eve now saw God differently. Before, God had been their beloved Creator. Now, He was the terrifying Judge. Adam and Eve had not merely cursed themselves with their sin; they had cursed all of creation.

Nevertheless, even as God announced the result of sin on the serpent, He also announced the hope of salvation. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” With these words, God promised a Savior: a strong Man who would bind Satan and free us from our captivity. This promise of the head-crushing Seed was passed on from generation to generation: from Adam and Eve to Seth, down through the generations for thousands of years. And when the time was exactly right, God kept His promise by taking on human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, who gave birth to the God-Man, Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the One who bruised the serpent’s head, a prophecy our Savior fulfilled on the cross. It seemed that Satan had the victory. When Jesus died, it appeared that the tempter had defeated the promised Seed. But then Jesus rose from the dead, proving that He won the victory, that He has crushed Satan forever. Jesus is the stronger Man who binds Satan in order to set us free. Jesus now plunders Satan’s stronghold in order to carry off those who belonged to God the first place, His own creatures. These sinners—you and me and all people of all times and places—He once again claims us as His own.

Sadly, there are slaves in the house of Satan who do not want to leave. They reject our Lord’s gift of eternal freedom. When Jesus binds Satan and offers to carry them to safety and freedom, they turn away from Him. For reasons that we cannot understand, they reject the work of the Holy Spirit. They reject the forgiveness that Jesus won for them. Some people wonder, “How can a loving God send people to hell?” But that’s the wrong question. The question should be, “Why would anyone reject God’s gift of eternal life? Why would anyone choose eternity in hell rather than eternity with a God who loves them?” The Bible does not tell us why some people reject God’s love, why some people reject God’s forgiveness, why some people choose eternal death when the Holy Spirit wants to give them eternal life.

But that condemnation is not for you. When Jesus suffered and died on the cross, He bound Satan for you. Now He plunders Satan’s stronghold in order to free you, to release all those who were enslaved to sin. He sends the Holy Spirit to work faith and to give you the forgiveness of sins. With the forgiveness of sins comes salvation and eternal life. You are redeemed! You belong to God in Christ. Our Lord Jesus has conquered Satan, and He freely shares His victory with 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.