Sunday, November 11, 2018

Sermon for 11/11/18: Twenty-Fourth Sunday After Trinity

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Bold Faith

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


We are bold in making big promises. But all too often we hedge on the little things. In the Confirmation vows we don’t so much as flinch as we promise to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from the confession of this Church. But really…what would you be willing to give up for the sake of the Word? What would you give up so that you could hear the Gospel every Sunday? Yes, we are ready to suffer death; inconvenience is another matter. We imagine ourselves ready to be burned at the stake or shot for the sake of Jesus. But would you commit with your whole being? Would you sacrifice yourself—your ego and ambitions, your income and honor? Would you suffer the loss of everything your flesh clings to? After all, we need 200 channels on our TV. We need the hunting trophy. We need the stuff. But do we live as if we need the Church? We are ready to confess our faith before kings, but not in front of our friends. We are curved in on ourselves, weak with greed, lust, and ambition. Our priorities are right on paper, just not in our hearts. Repent. Cling to the Word of God.
Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, was heartbroken. His young daughter lay at the point of death. He said to Jesus: “Lay your hand on her and she will live.” He did so, and she lived. But what of us? What of our dying children, our broken families, our failing friendships and crumbling neighborhoods? What of our hurting souls? Will Jesus lay His Hand upon us? Or are we left with nothing more than the shadow of the Word in flesh? Has the Word made flesh become a ghost? Is the Jesus who walked the earth, who felt the nails bite into His hands, now nothing more substantial than a silent thought in our brains? No. He is flesh still. He is Man forever. He has forever united Himself to us in flesh.
The Hand that Jesus laid upon Jairus’s daughter to call her again to life is encased in bread this morning by the power of His Word. He lays His hand upon your tongue to bring you over from death to life, to rouse your sleepy faith, to forgive your sins, and make you well. He touches you, His Body to yours. He places Himself—the body that bore your iniquities and sits at the right hand of the Father—into your heart so that your hungry soul would be satisfied, so that you would be healed and whole.
In the same way, the woman who had suffered while searching for relief from the 12-year flow of blood thought to herself: “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” She came behind Him and touched His clothes and was healed. We also approach God from behind. In our sins, we cannot bear His holiness. So we touch the garment of bread in which our Lord hides His glory. He is our salvation. In that touching, that eating and drinking, the years of dying and the uncleanness are removed. We now belong. His Blood and His death have been substituted on our behalf.
Our Lord has bled and died in our place. Now, we don’t have to. After all, death is not natural. God did not create us to die. By grace, we won’t—not ever—for one who believes in Him, who trusts in the merits of His suffering, death, and resurrection, who rests in the mercy of the Almighty, who confesses Jesus as Lord, will never die. Believers don’t die. They fall asleep. Their souls rest with their Savior while their bodies wait in the grave for the resurrection and reunion to come.
Here is power for life. We live by grace. We lay all things upon the hem of His garment. And He calls us by name—and gives us His own name—so we have the life He came to give. His bleeding, His dying, His rising, His praying: these are the things that give us life in His name 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.

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