Sermon for 10/26/19: Festival of the Reformation

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Abiding in the Word

John 8:31-36

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

           

Not long before Jesus spoke the words of our Gospel, He encountered a woman who was being stoned because of adultery. The Jews were not interested in repentance and forgiveness. They were interested in separating the good sheep from those they judged as bad—those who behaved properly from those who did not. Our Lutheran heritage stems from a similar problem, because the Pope and his minions were not interested in speaking God’s Word of forgiveness; they wanted to sell worthless pieces of paper instead of giving the forgiveness Christ died to give freely to His people. And some people thought it was worth it to pay for forgiveness rather than to repent of their sin and attempt to live a life of baptismal faith.

This is the problem of sin: not that we do bad things, but that we do not live as if we believe in the one true God. Is any one of us any different than those Jews who wanted to stone the adulteress? Is any one of us any different than those who wanted to purchase and even sell God’s favor and gifts?

  Today, we find ourselves in a struggle to maintain our distinctive identity as Lutherans, as people who believe and teach Law and Gospel, as people who hold to the inerrant Scriptures as our rule of faith. This ministry is no more popular today than it was in Luther’s time or even in the days our Lord preached and taught among His disciples. We have found that out over the past few years as the world ignores, ridicules, and despises the truth of Scripture and the faith we hold. Abortion providers brazenly dispose of God’s gift of life, treating the murder of the unborn as a money-making scheme. Political candidates gain worldly favor as they promise to punish Christians and congregations who attempt to live their faith in opposition to sin. Even some so-called Christian congregations abandon the truth of God’s Word to curry the world’s favor.

No matter what is yet to come, our Lord remains faithful to us, all the way to the cross. In this world of uncertainty, ambiguity, and even hostility, this congregation exists to bring the Good News of salvation and eternal life through the suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Son of God to sinners—even those who may at first and for a time reject it in favor of something more pleasing to them. So we abide; we remain in His Word as His disciples. And He remains in us.

We face an uncertain future as a congregation and dual parish. Truly we trust in God to provide, but we don’t know what that gracious provision will look like. It’s true that our financial situation is not pretty. It’s true that our culture is hell-bent on a spiritual diversity that frowns on anyone who speaks the Word of God with authority, who calls sin what it is. It would be so easy to fill our pews and our plates. All we have to do is sell out the Gospel; all we have to do is sell our souls.

So what does the future hold? Will we have to sell our property? Should we seek out yet another congregation to join with us so that the Word will continue on in this place? Will our pastor face imprisonment for preaching against sin? Will we have to close our doors? All of these are possible. But as we abide in the truth of the Word, our Lord sets us free from sin, death, and hell. We are counted among the faithful remnant. The Holy Spirit keeps us with Jesus in His Church, feeding us the forgiveness of sins in the body and blood of Christ. So even if your pastor is arrested; if we lose our tax exempt status; even if these doors close; “take they our life, goods, fame, child, and wife, though these all be gone, our victory has been won; the Kingdom ours remaineth!” The Lord will continue to provide for your spiritual care. You are His disciples, baptized in His name. 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 10/13/19: Seventeenth Sunday After Trinity

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A Place in the Kingdom

Luke 14:1-11

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

While the kingdom of heaven is a magnificent gift, it does not come easily—not because the Lord does not freely give it, but because we believe it is something we have a right to, something we have earned and deserved. So we must pray, “Thy kingdom come,” because we are inclined to forget that He has so graciously given us entrance to the kingdom in the waters of Holy Baptism. We must remember that, even now in the Divine Service, we miraculously stand within the Lord’s kingdom.

But it’s also important to remember that the tribulations we endure on the way are all part of the life of citizens of the kingdom. There is no smooth route. There is no short cut. “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution,” as St. Paul writes. But Jesus also tells us, “He who endures to the end shall be saved.” We should never think that our life together in Christ will be free of struggle, suffering, or hard work. When we were baptized, we not only received a great Friend; we also lined ourselves up against a determined enemy. Certainly, we were delivered from death and the devil. But we also renounced the devil…and he will not take that sitting down. We promised to strive against our fears and sinful desires, but the devil and the world will do all they can to help us break that promise. As long as we have breath, we “strive to enter through the narrow gate.” Your heart’s desire should be nowhere else than in the Lord’s kingdom, gathered with the saints and martyrs, with the holy angels and blessed dead, eating the bread of eternal life and drinking the chalice of everlasting salvation.

You have no right to be here. But you belong here—not because you impressed the Lord, but because the transforming image of Jesus Christ was placed upon you in Holy Baptism. So you stand here today in the presence of the Holy Trinity, only because He is merciful, compassionate, willing to overlook your past. He desires you even though you don’t always desire Him. Our Lord’s mercy is so great, so wonderful, so large, that He uses your pastor—an unworthy servant and fellow sinner—to invite you to sit at table with Him. Our Lord summons you to eat bread in the kingdom of God. But if you forget what got you here—if you believe that your striving to live a godly life is what allows you to stand before God—then you are no different than those people who scheme to get the best seats at a banquet.

But our heavenly Father already notices you. In His mercy, He notices your willingness to submit yourself entirely to Him. He notices your desire to live against your sinful desires. He notices you as you strive to do what is good and right in His sight. But most of all, He notices the mark of the holy cross on your forehead and heart. He rejoices to see the transforming image of His Son.

Therefore, have no fear that you’ll go unnoticed, or that the Father will forget you. Do not give into your desire to raise yourself up at the expense of your neighbor. Do not compare yourself with anyone else to see how you measure up. Do not strive as if you are in competition with others. Instead, know and understand and believe that our Father, out of His boundless mercy, gives you a place at His table in the marriage feast of the Lamb which has no end. Do not strive for the highest place; come forward in humility, honoring your fellow saints who have been baptized and who stand with you before the Lord in His kingdom. In doing so, “you walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” It doesn’t matter where you sit; there is no bad place in the kingdom or at this table. 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 10/6/19: Sixteenth Sunday After Trinity

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Death Meets Life

Luke 7:11-17

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

One problem with hearing about the miracles of Jesus is that they make us envious. And when we are envious, the devil urges us to ask, “When am I going to get mine? When is Jesus going to do for me, just like He did for them?” And then we see Jesus as a wonder-worker, a miracle-man, a super-hero—instead of seeing and trusting Him to be our Lord and God and Savior. Jesus truly is our Savior. But that doesn’t mean that He’s always going to swoop in and clean up our messes, or undo our disasters, or make better our tragedies, or heal our diseases, or prevent our death. Our Jesus has a much bigger view of our life. He sees the big picture. He looks far beyond our latest catastrophe.

So Jesus doesn’t raise the dead man merely because He happened to be passing by Nain, happened to see the funeral procession, and happened to cross paths with that poor mother. Jesus raises the dead man to show us that nothing—not our worst fears, not the destruction of our homes, not the devastation of our life—not even death will stop Him from having the final say. And so, “When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Why is she not to weep? Is it not natural to grieve when loved ones die, when tragedy hits home? And why does Jesus not weep? If He is moved with compassion, shouldn’t He show it instead of standing there stoically and commanding a grieving mother to stop crying?

But remember—Our Lord sees the big picture. While He sees this woman and her dead son; while her suffering moves Him to compassion and mercy, what He also sees is death standing in the way of life. Think of it: entering the city of Nain is the Lord of Life. Coming out of the city at the same time is a death march. With the Lord of Life is a large crowd. And a large crowd from the city is marching the dead man to his grave. Which procession will give way? Does Life yield to death? Or is death overcome by Life?

Our Lord will face this scene twice more. The first time is when death and the devil come to claim Him from the cross to lead Him down to the grave and hell. And the second is when He who is Life comes to claim and release His own from the satanic clutches and the snares of death. Who will give way? Jesus or the devil? Which one will have to yield? Life or death? And who will overcome: the Lord of Life and all the living, or the dirt and fallen angels that He made and that must obey Him?

Our Lord Jesus looks at the dead man coming out of Nain and sees the big picture. He sees death challenging Him. Our Lord Jesus is life, and He knows that death must always yield to Life. And so Life Himself comes and touches the open coffin. The death march stops. Then Life says, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” The young man who had been dead comes to life.

As we see the images of death on our televisions; as we hear the tragedies that come every day; as we witness the holocaust of the mass murder of the unborn; as we nurse the dying and bury our dead; and as we feel death slowly creeping up in our own bones, let us not hear today’s Gospel and envy the mother who got her son back. Instead, let us remember that, in the midst of earthly death, Life has us surrounded. Death must yield to Life. And it is the Lord of Life whom we cling to, cry out to, and praise—even as we receive into our mouths His glorified and resurrected body and blood which “transforms our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” For death must give way to Life. So come and receive Life in His very body and blood. 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.