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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