Sermon for 2/26/17: Quinquagesima

Sorry for the delay. Life intervened.

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Mercy on the Road to Jerusalem

Luke 18:31-43

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

Last week, we came to know that, when it comes to the Kingdom of God, only the deaf will be able to hear. This week, the blind man sees what the Twelve cannot see. He sees that everything depends on the mercy of God. He sees that, whatever the Lord does—even the things that seem absurd to us, even the most painful things, even the things that feel so unmerciful—all things work together for good to those who love Him and hold to His mercy. And so the blind man sits by the road begging for Jesus, the Son of David, to have mercy on him.

His plea is the Church’s plea. His prayer is our prayer. So we join the blind man when we cry out at the beginning of the Divine Service, “Lord, have mercy!” We are headed to the grave and feel the weight of sin and death. Yet it’s not just our prayer. The saints of old and, indeed, the whole heavenly host, also sing the same prayer. After all, the Lord’s mercy brought the world and all life into existence. The Lord’s mercy sustains us amidst joys and sorrows. The Lord’s mercy gives us hope for the fullness of heaven. The Lord’s mercy is not simply His kindness, His favor, His goodwill and affection, for the Lord in mercy wills to have us live in Him with an intimacy that is exceeded only by the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity. In a word, the Lord’s mercy is communion—Him living within us, making His home in us, living His life through us, and, in turn, His creation made from the dust of His earth lives and dwells in Him.

So what is the blind man begging for? He wants to see—but not that he might have earthly sight. He wants to see and know that this Lord Jesus is truly the Father’s well-beloved Son who has come into the world to restore that intimacy and communion with God that was broken and severed by Adam. The blind man doesn’t just want to see so he can look at disease and suffering and death. The blind man wants to see Jesus. So he doesn’t first say, “Lord, let me see. Lord, heal me.” That might be our selfish prayer. But instead, the blind man cries out, “Lord, have mercy.” Restore to me the joy of Your salvation. Restore me to communion with You and Your Father.

For the blind man, that communion with God begins with Jesus opening his eyes. How can Our Lord restore our relationship with Him if He does not also restore us according to His original design? How can He restore our souls if He does not also renew our bodies? And how can He re-establish our participation in His holiness if He does not also release us from our bondage to sin and death? So He gives the blind man back His sight as a sign of what will be. He also heals the lame, cleanses lepers, gives hearing to the deaf, raises the dead, and preaches the Gospel to the poor—and all as a sign that His mercy reverses the evil and chaos that Satan planted.

That reversal doesn’t take place, however, with a few miracles. Where the curse is overturned and death undone; where the full restoration begins; where the prayers of heaven and earth are answered; where the Lord’s mercy is fully seen—this happens when the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners, when He is mocked and spit upon, when He is scourged and killed by them, and then rises on the third day. That Passion of the Christ is the fullness and gift of the Lord’s mercy. And the body and blood of that sacrificed and resurrected Jesus, given from the altar, is the restoration of the communion which our Father created us to have with Him.

So it is necessary for the Son of Man to go up to Jerusalem—but not to put a dramatic finishing touch on His life, nor merely to give an example of self-sacrifice and unselfish love. It is necessary to accomplish the Lord’s mercy with such finality that the devil and all hell cannot undo it. Our Lord Jesus does not shrink away. He set His face toward Jerusalem. And we go with Him, our eyes opened to see our Savior as He delivers true mercy to 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 2/19/17: Sexagesima

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Ears to Hear

Luke 8:4-15

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

            “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” What an odd thing to say. After all, most people have ears, and most people who have ears are able to hear. But “ears to hear” aren’t made of cartilage and skin. “Ears to hear” only hear when they have been stopped to the babbling of the world. In the Kingdom of God, only the deaf can hear. In the Kingdom of God, only the blind can see. In the Kingdom of God, only the fool will believe.

            God hides Himself in parables. Simple words conceal God’s message from men too proud to see that He doesn’t work the way they work. But that is precisely the point: God is not like us. This is baffling to the worldly wise. He sows His seed in foolish, impossible places, with no thought of gain or loss, only conscious that the seed is good and men are in need. He sows on the trodden path, the rocky patch, the thorny ground, into the deaf ear, the blind eye, and the hard heart. He sows where no drunken farmer in his darkest hour ever sowed. 

            Most is lost. Most is trampled, snatched, withered, or choked. Most is wasted. This Sower is more inefficient than the government! But still the Sower sows. It’s His seed to sow as He sees fit. He never counts the cost. He does not sow for profit. He does not sow for fame, honor, or prestige. He sows because men are in need. He sows because He is love. He sows in ways that men think foolish, for He provides, gives, and loves for free.

            The seed finds the earth—miserable, scorched, dry, rocky ground though it be. Miraculously some grows! Some transforms that trodden, rocky, thorny place into soil rich enough to bear a crop a hundredfold! It grew to life in dark corners where men had given up and moved on. It bestowed wisdom in the midst of foolishness. Always it bears a crop—just not where men think it ought. For this Kingdom is not ruled in the ways of men. It is a Kingdom of grace, bestowed without thought to cost or fear of failure, motivated by perfect love. The Seed, the Holy Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, never returns to the Father void. He completes the good work that He was sent to do: He saves the world. He forgives sins. He loves men. He sows. And what He sows is the power of God for salvation. And though it seems wasted, what He sows changes lives. He never leaves things just as He found them. It is the Word, the creative force of God Himself.

            This same Word called forth a Messiah into Mary’s womb through her ear. This same Word called forth a water of renewal and regeneration in John’s timid washing of the Christ. All who are joined to Him in those burial waters are His sons in whom He is well-pleased. Their sins wash off of them and onto Him, and He raises them up again to life. This same Word calls forth His true body and blood out of ordinary bread and wine. His people eat and drink and proclaim His death until He comes again. This same Word calls forth a holy nation from sinful people. You worship one Lord, and you know that, whatever the future brings, this is not your home.

            You are the hundredfold harvest of grace. He transformed you by His Word, watered you with His Blood, sheltered you in His love so that you grow and live. By the power of His unfailing Word, you are His own, His beloved, His precious, spotless Bride. He has placed His Word into you. And by that Word you live. Soon He will return to bring the harvest home, to complete what He has begun in you. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 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 2/12/17: Septuagesima

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The King and His Kingdom

Matthew 20:1-16

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

I’ve said this before, but the Kingdom of heaven is always like a person. It is not like the Roman Empire, the city states of Greece, or even the United States. It is not at all like the kingdoms of men. It is not like any group or organization. The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner. It is like a man, a person. That is because it is the Man, Jesus Christ.

The Man Jesus, body and soul, is the King and the Kingdom. He is no mere man, for He is also God. He does not rule in the ways of men. He neither commits violence nor threatens violence. Nor is He King by popular acclaim or vote. He has not seized the throne in any way. He just is. He has the right to rule anyway He chooses. But He chooses to rule through generosity, like a landowner who overpays, who gives away the Kingdom to greedy souls that hate Him and seek His destruction, to those who betray and forget Him. He bears the heat of the day, the burdens of all humanity, on His outstretched arms. He is thirsty, hungry, and dying so that men would be spared the eternal damnation they had earned. He defeats the devil and breaks you out of Hell. He declares you innocent and adopts you as His.

It is hard for us to imagine because we know what we are like, and we are not like that. Our kingdoms are not of grace. Our wisdom states: “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” Our wisdom states, “You get what you pay for.” Mothers always remind their children, “Life is not fair.” Yeah, that helps! So much for the wisdom of men.

The Truth is that Life is not fair—but not in the way that your mother meant it. He who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life is not fair. He is driven by a Justice that exceeds man’s limitations and imagination. He is not fair in His punishments or chastisements. Instead, He is merciful and kind. He bears the burdens for men in Himself. For even though it isn’t fair, even though we should pay for our sins and die the death we’ve deserved, He has done it for us, in our place, as our perfect and holy Substitute. It isn’t fair. But it is generous and wonderful. The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of grace and reversals. The last are first. Those without right to demand, those without resources or hope, eat and drink without money or cost. You who were dead are made alive.

We’d like to end there, but the parable keeps going. After all, the Kingdom of heaven exists in this world, and this world is hostile. The grace of God is always rejected by sinful men. Fallen men want to tell God how to dole out His goods. The landowner’s final verdict is a sad one: “Take what is yours and go your way.” What belongs to us by nature? Death. What is our way when we act according to our nature? Hell. Repent. For we have dared to complain that the generosity and grace of God is not good enough, not generous enough. We have dared to challenge the purity of God’s motives. We have blamed Him for wars and famines and disease and heartache in our world. We have complained against Him as though we deserved more. We’ve hid our light under a bushel. God forbid we should be so vain as to reject the gifts of God as not enough!

The hour is now. Salvation is upon us. For a time you will suffer. Your heart will grow weary. You will be attacked by temptations of doubt and fear. But nothing will overcome you. The Lord Jesus has claimed you. He works in own way and time but always for your good. It is already the eleventh hour. Soon you shall be relieved at last of the world, the devil, and your old sinful nature. For Jesus Christ did not die in vain. He does not lie. He has not forgotten you. He loves you and forgives you. Easter is coming. The dead, even you, will rise again. The Kingdom of God belongs to 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 2/5/17: Transfiguration of Our Lord

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Light in the Darkness

Matthew 17:1-9

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

Being a disciple of Jesus is not necessarily pleasant. It’s not because He makes it hard. And it’s not because Jesus designed it so that only the strongest or the most dedicated make it to the heavenly goal. Being a disciple of Jesus is not pleasant because it means that you must live amid the various assaults of the devil who finds ready accomplices with the world and our sinful, unbelieving desires. These assaults are numerous, and they are different for each of you: a persistent sin or addiction; pride and self-serving ambition; disease; mental torment; spiritual anguish. But in whatever way the devil assaults or entices you, whatever method he employs specifically and personally against you, his goal is always the same—to mislead you into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. And when he accomplishes that, then the devil has achieved his goal. Because he has been excommunicated from God, he wants to break your communion in God.

Yet from the beginning, you were created in God's image and according to His likeness so that you might live not for yourself, but in Him, so your life in Christ might continually grow and mature. Imagine a relationship that never ends; a love that constantly deepens and intensifies; and intimacy that becomes more and more intimate. And imagine living so closely with someone that he or she not only knows what you're thinking, not only dotes on your every desire, but also betters and improves you, and gives you the undying desire to live only and completely and self-sacrificially for him. That is what Our Lord God had in mind when He created you, and that is what He still has in mind for you in spite of your unshakeable refusal to trust Him, to leave everything in His hands, and to live for Him by doing unquestionably for others.

To restore this goal, and to restore in you the joy of His salvation, the Father sent His Son into the world to live in your flesh. He came to destroy death and the devil. Resisting a temptation or two would not do that. The Son of Man would have to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be  killed, and be raised again on the third day.

When Peter first heard Jesus announce this, the devil took hold of him so that Peter rebuked his Lord and Savior. “This shall not happen to You.” And Jesus responded, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Sinners are well acquainted with the things of men: living in constant fear of death; fear of being cheated and used; fear of failure. Sinners live as if life is what you make of it. And ultimately, we live as if we matter most, as if heaven can wait. But the things of God we do not instinctively know, nor do we readily seek them. He must reveal them to us. And He does that, not so we are wowed and amazed, but so that we might yearn for them—so that we might seek the Life He is, the Life He gives, the Life He so earnestly desires to live in us while we live in Him.

Certainly, we can see the things of God in the simple miracles of life. And we've heard from the Scriptures many descriptions of the heavenly life—the life of this ongoing, undying, unquenchable relationship and communion in God. But the Lord has actually given a glimpse of the fullness of heavenly glory: when He hid Moses in a cleft of the rock and let Moses see the backside of His glory; when Elisha saw Elijah ascend up to heaven in a fiery chariot; and when Jesus led Peter, James, and John on a high mountain and was transfigured before them, His face shining like the sun, His clothes as white as the light.

But what good does that do us? They beheld His glory face to face, but we see Our Lord Jesus dimly, hidden in the Blessed Sacrament and apparent only in the voice of the pastor. But what the three disciples saw was a promise: the promise that the Lord's transfiguration was merely a glimpse of what would always be, the promise that, by hearing the beloved Son of God, we might one day live within the transfiguration that never fades. So we do not dismiss this Gospel as just another Jesus story. In faith, we hear of our Lord's transfiguration, and we are given both courage and hope—the courage to live the Christian life, and the hope that fully expects to see Our Lord Jesus as they did.

For now, we walk through temptation and suffering, through heartache and grief, to death and the grave. Yet we do not lose heart. For we have Peter's word that soon, and very soon, we will not only see but also live fully and forever within the transfigured body of Our Lord. Now we have a glimpse of it at every Holy Supper. But the day is coming when we will no longer imagine, but will truly experience that relationship, that union and that intimacy in God that He first created us for, and that He sent His Son to restore in us. For Our Lord has made this promise: “Surely, I am coming soon.” And we await that day saying, “Even so, come, Lord 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 1/29/17: Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany

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Human Fear

Matthew 8:23-27

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

Sinners that we are, we take comfort and even rejoice when those we see as the best among us succumb to temptation, when their insecurities and fears are revealed, when their weakness is evident. When pastors stumble; when Hollywood’s biggest star falls on the red carpet; when our boss finally gets it from his boss; when the rich and famous go through hard times—we find that comforting. “You see? They’re human too. They’re just like us.” And perhaps that’s what you’re tempted to say when today’s Gospel exposes the fear within the disciples. They cry out, “Lord, save us; we’re perishing!”—and we want to say, “See, they really are human. They’re just like us.”

But really, we shouldn’t want them to be like us—at least, not when we are at our weakest, our most afraid, our most insecure, our least believing. Why would we wish that on anyone? And while we can identify with their fear, why should it comfort us to see that these holy men are really no different from us? To be sure, when the Lord helps them, we come to believe that the Lord will also help us. But why do we rejoice in the weakness, downfall, or the shame of any man or woman?

When the disciples tremble and shudder in fear, that is not true humanity. After all, we were created not to cower, but to trust; not to quake, but to be confident; not to tremble in fear, but to stand firm in faith. We were made by Our Father to be so secure in His love that we would not even know what insecurity is. Yet we are insecure. We do fear. We easily doubt and have second thoughts. We are quick to give in to the temptation to take matters into our own hands.

Taking matters into their own hands, the disciples come to Jesus and shake Him awake and announce their certain doom. But they do not realize that the Man they are shaking, He is the true human, for He alone rests in peace and is confident that the Lord’s mercy will see them through, whatever they face. They don’t realize that the Man with them in the boat is God Himself: the God who turned water to wine; the God who healed the leper and the centurion’s son; the God before whom kings prostrated themselves; the God through whom all things were made. Surely they know this; otherwise they wouldn’t wake Him and yell at Him to do something. In their heads, they know better. In their hearts, they hope for better. But as they sit frantically in the boat, these disciples are run by their fears. And in this, they are most definitely not being human.

And neither are we when we let our fears run us. But we do let our fears reign over us. We lash out at each other. We hold grudges. We let our passions run wild. We live for the moment. Our fears lead us to run over whoever is in our way without extending the kindness we so often demand. And our fears keep us awake at night so that we don’t rest in the peace of the Lord who is with us always.

But there is another way. There is the way of faith in the face of fears; the way of confidence in the Lord’s undying mercy; the way of the hope which allows the child of God to confesses that, whatever trials and struggles and temptations we face, our Lord will not abandon us. This is the way of Holy Baptism, where the same water which caused the disciples to fear actually calms the storm of sin within us. This is the way of Holy Absolution, where we return to those waters every day to drown the Old Adam with his fear and weakness and doubt. This is the way of the Lord’s Supper, where He is present with us, where He strengthens us to go back out into the world and face those trials and temptations, knowing He faces them with us.

Let us never forget that Our Lord is merciful. Let us never forget that He is always quick to rescue and save us. Let us never forget that He has already delivered us from every evil: past, present, and yet to come. And with this faith, let us not fear, no matter what the days ahead may bring. Rather, let us be bold in Our Lord Jesus Christ, who will never fail to calm the storm: the storm that rages outside, and the storm that rages within 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.