Sermon for 3/30/22: Midweek Lent IV (St Mark Passion series)

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Confession and Denial
Mark 14:53-72

 

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

 

          When Jesus reveals Himself as the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, there are only two possible responses. One can either deny the truth, or one can confess the truth. When the Father reveals who Jesus is at His Baptism and the Transfiguration, saying, “This is my beloved Son,” one can either refuse to believe what God says, or one can confess, “I believe.” The Greek word for confession, homologeo, literally means “the same word:” in other words, it means to repeat what was originally said. So to confess the Christian faith means to say about God what He has revealed to you about Himself. And to confess your sins means to say about yourself what God has revealed about you.

          Confession only pertains to the truth. One cannot confess an un-truth; by its very nature, an un-truth is no longer confession. Think about what St. John writes. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. …If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” Notice that John uses the word “say.” When we claim we have no sin, we are not making a confession, because we are denying what God has told us about ourselves. God has made the diagnosis: we are corrupted throughout by sin. We can either deny reality, or we can confess, “We are by nature sinful and unclean.” In fact, when we make this confession during the Divine Service, it is not because we have come to that conclusion after spending two months of profound introspection and navel-gazing; God has revealed the Old Adam within us, and we can only agree with His verdict: “I [am] a poor miserable sinner…”

          The same thing is true when we confess the Creed. Look at where the Creed appears in the Divine Service: either after the Gospel text or after the sermon. Because we have now heard the Word of God, we reply together with what we have heard in that Word as a summary of the Bible’s teaching. It becomes an “amen” to God’s Word—“I hear what You’re saying, God, and I believe it.” We follow the example of Peter, who listened to what Jesus taught and then confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

          But to confess Jesus as Lord involves more than just saying some words. To confess that “Jesus is Lord” is to confess that He rules over the universe, which means He rules over us—over our entire lives. It means that you follow Him. And so, when Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, and Jesus then predicts His own suffering and death, Jesus tells the disciples, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” That’s why Peter’s denial is so devastating. If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, then let your life repeat the confession of your mouth. If you are not prepared to forsake your father and mother; if you are not prepared to give up all your possessions; if you are not prepared to suffer and die with your Lord Jesus—then you are not worthy to be called a Christian, not worthy of the kingdom of heaven. You can see what is at stake; this has real life implications.

          And that’s why the Rite of Holy Baptism progresses the way it does. First the pastor asks, “Do you reject the devil? Do you reject all his works? Do you reject all his ways?” And then we confess our faith in the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. First we reject the lordship of Satan, and then we confess that Jesus is Lord. Why? Because He “has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil…” For what purpose did He do this? “…That I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness…” In this way we become attached to this One we confess as the Son of God. The water combined with the Word of God marks us with the name of God which we confess. Marked by His name, we belong to Him.

          In doing so, we confess what Jesus first revealed about Himself. The high priest asked Jesus, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Declaring Himself to be the Christ would mean being accused of blasphemy, a crime worthy of death. Denying that He was the Christ would be a lie. And so Jesus confessed of Himself, “I am.” In doing so, He confesses that He is God. He confesses that He is Lord. He confesses that He has come to fulfill the promises God made to His Old Testament people to send a Savior: the Seed promised to Adam and Eve who would win forgiveness of their sins by the power of His innocent suffering and death and His glorious resurrection. And hearing this Word, we confess it back to Him in thanksgiving for all He has done for 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 3/27/22: Fourth Sunday in Lent

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A Reason for Hope

Galatians 4:21-31

 

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

 

 More than just Christians, many people in this world believe in some sort of “supreme being” and some kind of afterlife, and they hope they will one day experience this for themselves. But when you question them, you often find that their hope is rather vague. They hope God will accept them, but they are less certain why He should do so. Often they base their hope of eternity on the positive things they have done and the negative things they have avoided. They assume that these acts will allow them to find acceptance with a perfect God. You and I, too, hope to be saved. But how? This is the single most important question that can ever engage our attention. How shall we spend that never-ending day of eternity? Are we to rely on our good works? Or is our confidence to be found in something else?

The spiritual condition of the Galatians, which at first had been a matter of great joy and gladness to Paul, had been seriously disturbed by certain unnamed men and their false teaching. Contrary to what Paul had taught them, these “Judaizers,” as they came to be called, insisted that certain works of the Old Testament Law, like circumcision, were still necessary for salvation. Paul’s reason for writing this Epistle was to destroy the influence of these false teachers and, at the same time, to defend the authority of the Gospel he preached, an authority given to him by Christ Himself. To do this, St. Paul draws on a well-known story from the Old Testament, the story of Abraham and his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was the son of Hagar, who was a bondwoman, a slave. Because that was his state in life, Ishmael could never expect to be the heir and receive the rights and privileges that belong to a free-born son. Hagar represented the Law, and Hagar’s children are children of the Law—children in bondage.

The Law creates its own kind of bondage. The Law demands and drives, but has no power to create the willingness to perform its demands. The Law is stern, uncompromising, inflexible. It knows neither tenderness nor pity. It simply says, “Thou shalt,” and “Thou shalt not,” and that settles it. And its condemnation is scathing. Quoting the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, St. Paul says: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the Law, to do them.” To be sure, to the faithful children of God, the Law serves as a guide, showing those things that are pleasing in God’s eyes. But to those in bondage to sin and death, the Law only lays bare their total corruption and pronounces its fearful punishment.

How different things are with the free-born children of God! Paul says: “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.” As Isaac was born according to the promise of God, so, too, are all the heirs of Jesus Christ, those who are not in bondage but in freedom. It is God’s grace which has freed us from the curse of the Law and has made us acceptable in His sight. We stand in that long line from Abraham and Isaac through all the Biblical saints. We rejoice in the full atonement for sin made by Christ our Lord, and in that spotless baptismal righteousness which is His gift to us. Grace, then, and grace alone, makes us the free children of God. As Paul wrote: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” The Law cannot condemn us, Paul says, because “...Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to all who believe.” Jesus has met all the requirements of the Law for us, and we are free from the curse and bondage of the Law.

We know that the promised heavenly inheritance is ours. And yet, sometimes we are tempted to ask that disturbing question, “Is this inheritance really mine? Isn’t there something I must do to make sure it is mine?” For sinners such as we are, who so richly deserves God’s wrath and eternal punishment, to have the promise of a heavenly inheritance is truly an overwhelming a thought. But we need never doubt it. As St. Peter reminds us: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Doubt is gone, and in its place comes a profound gratitude to God because of His promise of so glorious an inheritance. Eternal gratitude and praise are due Him for His mercy in bringing us to a true and faithful knowledge of our salvation. We no longer need deceive ourselves by trusting in the works of the Law; we build our certain hope of heavenly inheritance entirely on the merits of Christ. And this is what gives rise to those rousing words that begin the next chapter of this Epistle, just following our text: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Is it works or grace? The answer is clear: Grace alone, boundless and free, poured out richly in our Savior, Jesus Christ, frees us and saves us and makes secure for all eternity. 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 3/23/22: Midweek Lent III (St Mark Passion series)

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Power in Weakness
Mark 14:43-52

 

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

  

          One of the most important things God reveals to us about Himself comes from Isaiah 55: “‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” Look at how God interacts with His people throughout Scripture, and you know this to be true. We think God should do something in a certain way, but He does it in another way. In our own lives, we think God should be at work the way we want Him to work; what He actually does is something completely different.

As we look the Passion account in Mark, we see how God is at work; how strange it looks in our sight. We see people who are powerful in the eyes of the world, and we see people whom the world views as weak and helpless. This text shows this in striking contrast. You see Judas Iscariot, the money man for the disciples, leading a crowd of soldiers wielding weapons. He has a plan to hand Jesus over to the religious authorities, and that plan works to perfection. Judas betrays his Rabbi with a kiss, and the soldiers move in and arrest Jesus.

In sharp contrast, we see the supposedly stouthearted, loyal disciples. Peter tries to play the power game. The best he can do is mutilate the ear of the servant of the high priest—a servant named Malchus, the Apostle John tells us. How feeble must his blow have been: Peter is trying to save Jesus with the sword, and the most he can do is slice off Malchus’s ear—hardly the critical blow he must have meant to strike. And with Peter’s failure, the disciples run off in fear. So much for their insistence that they would stand with Jesus no matter what would come. The power play has ended; it seems Judas has won. It seems Satan has won.

          And in the middle of all this, there stands Jesus. It seems He’s doing nothing. He knew exactly what was coming. He told the disciples what was about to happen: “The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. …See, My betrayer is at hand.” Judas does the dirty deed, and Jesus lets it happen. Mark portrays Jesus as silent and passive. Again, in the power game, it seems as if Jesus has lost.

          But the ways of God are not out ways; He carries out His work in ways we cannot even begin to imagine. Jesus does speak in our text; He explains to His seemingly powerful enemies exactly what is happening. They think they are in control, that their weapons and superior numbers give them the advantage over Him. “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? …But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” Scripture promised that the day would come when God would come to deliver His people Israel from their sins and bring them back to Himself. Scripture promised that God would come as King.

And now, right before their very eyes, in the seeming weakness of Jesus, the promises of Scripture were being fulfilled. God will save Israel—not as the leader of a mighty army, but as the Sacrifice, the blood Price for sin. God will use the seeming weakness despised by the world to save His people. God will bring His kingdom—but, again, not a mighty kingdom to conquer. This was the King whose first throne was a manger in Bethlehem; this King rode into His holy city on a donkey and was hailed with the waving of palm branches; this King was soon to be crowned with thorns, worshipped with snap of the scourge, enthroned and victorious on the cross at Golgotha. The King is crucified. But as we’ve heard before, God’s ways are not our ways.

          So what truly is power? What is strength as God views it? What are God’s ways? And what does it mean for our lives today? Hear what God said to St. Paul about the way God works: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” In answer, St. Paul wrote, “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” What is it that makes you strong? It begins in weakness. It begins in repentance and faith. It begins by confessing that you are “a poor, miserable sinner” in need or forgiveness. It begins in placing your trust in the One who became helpless in the eyes of the world, becoming sin for you. In Christ, God sees your weakness, and He forgives your sins. He lifts you up when you are burdened under the heavy load of guilt. He restores you, filling you up with life and salvation in the body and blood of Jesus. It is not flashy. It is not strong, not as the world measures strength. But it is God’s way.

          God’s plan comes to fruition in the seeming weakness of Jesus. We fix our eyes on Him as the seemingly powerful betrayer and powerful soldiers take Him away. But when we look upon Him as the Father sees Him, we see that the weakness of Christ is the power of God for the salvation of the world. We learn to trust that our lives as children of God grow and mature as we confess our weakness. For God’s ways are higher than our ways; His power is “made perfect in weakness.” 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 3/20/22: Third Sunday in Lent

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Keep Your Eyes on Jesus
Exodus 8:16-24

 

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

 

In the Gospel, we heard our Lord Jesus say, “If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” But He also warned of the danger of letting down one’s guard and permitting those demons to return. Wherever Jesus goes, the devil runs away; he must. Even the cross on which the Son of God died was turned from horror into the very means by which Jesus throws down the devil and all His power! In Holy Baptism the Lord has thrown the devil out of you. Of course, the devil will stop at nothing to try to drag you away from Christ. But no matter what Satan throws at us, he is sent packing by the remembrance of our baptism, by Holy Absolution, whenever the Gospel is preached, and when the body and blood of Jesus is faithfully received. The devil cannot stand these things!

But what if the trouble in our lives comes from the Lord? As we heard, it was the finger of God that brought flies in Egypt. The devil didn’t do this; the Lord did! When Israel later complained against God in the wilderness, He sent serpents against them. We need to hear this and repent of any notion that God doesn’t bring bad things when that serves His purposes.

Still, there is a difference between the plagues the devil brings and the plagues God brings. When the devil attacks you, his purpose is to cause you to lose faith in Christ. He wants you to despair of God’s mercy, to fall back into the kingdom of darkness. But when the Lord causes suffering—even when the suffering is severe, even when it tests you to the limits of your patience—that suffering is for your good. It is given to turn you away from your sin, to teach you to trust only in your heavenly Father. When the Lord sent the flies, that plague was used by God to further harden Pharaoh’s heart, and, ultimately, to rescue His people from slavery in Egypt. When God sent the serpents against Israel, He worked to bring His people to repentance and faith in Him.

Think about how salvation is brought through suffering: the suffering of the Son of God. When Jesus suffered and died on the cross, the devil thought it would turn Jesus aside from trusting His Father. The Father, on the other hand, used the suffering of His Son to rescue sinners, and to triumph over sin, death, the devil, and hell! Just as the plagues signaled the salvation of God’s people from Egypt, so the death of Jesus is uniquely the power of salvation for all people. The devil uses his plagues to try and tear us away from Jesus. The Lord’s plagues are given to save us.

So, how do you tell which is which? How do you know, when you are plagued by some trouble or suffering, whether it’s from the devil or from the Lord? How do you distinguish between the two? How do you figure out whether your suffering has its source in the work of Satan by God’s permission, as was the case with Job, or by the Lord Himself directly? The answer is this: Keep your eyes on Jesus! Was our Lord’s suffering from the devil or from the Father? In the end, does it really matter? Do you really need to know? Jesus suffered and took away our sins. With our eyes on Jesus, we need not even be concerned about the source of our suffering. With our eyes on Jesus, we have God’s promise that, whatever suffering we have, it cannot separate us from His love for us in Jesus Christ. With our eyes on Jesus, we have the promise of God that He will deliver us out of whatever is plaguing us and give us everlasting life.

How do you keep your eyes on Him? Luther says in the Large Catechism, “When our sins and conscience oppress us, we strengthen ourselves and take comfort and say, ‘Nevertheless, I am baptized. And if I am baptized, it is promised to me that I shall be saved and have eternal life, both in soul and body.’” You are baptized! Live in that gift from God. Hear the good news of Holy Absolution: your sins don’t count against you any longer; they have been completely washed away. Hear the preaching of the Gospel: Christ suffered and died and finished the work of salvation for you! And to prove it, He rose from the dead three days after. Eat and drink Christ’s holy body and blood, the same body and blood that suffered for your sins, now given as your promise from the Lord Himself that your suffering will pass and you will have joy and blessedness with the Lord forever. It doesn’t matter if your troubles are from the devil or from the Lord; God will use them for your good. As St. Paul writes, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” So keep your eyes on Jesus! When your eyes are on Jesus, there is nothing but the promise of God to deliver you out of your troubles and give you eternal life!

Those who are in Christ are safe from the plagues of the devil. Whatever the Lord sends will be for your good and for your salvation. Yes, plagues will come. Pain, heartaches, troubles, suffering, miseries, difficulties of every shape and size: they will all hit you. When they do, fix your eyes on Jesus! He is the One who saves you from every enemy, every trouble, every affliction, and brings you at last to your heavenly home! 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 3/16/22: Midweek Lent II (St Mark Passion series)

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Light in the Darkness
Mark 14:32-42

 

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

 

          When Jesus and His disciples sang their psalms and made their way into the night on that Passover Thursday, it would have been dark; and once they found their way into the garden known as Gethsemane, as they traveled through the olive trees and the shadows they cast, the darkness would have been more intense. But Gethsemane was familiar to them, and the light from the stars and maybe from the moon would have been sufficient for them to find their way. But the lack of sunlight was not the only form of darkness to descend on the garden that night. It was a dark night, full of dark characters and dark deeds. Gethsemane was shrouded in a heavy pall of darkness.

          The disciples were bewildered. This was nothing new. As we heard last week, the disciples often completely missed the point of what Jesus was saying and what was going on around them. Even in the light of day, when Jesus was standing right in front of them, spelling out what He wanted them to know, the disciples seemed to linger in the dark. They have their moments, but for the most part, they thoroughly miss the point. In Gethsemane, the darkness was extreme. They didn’t grasp the scope of the events going on around them—the impending betrayal by their brother, the arrest, the agony that was taking hold of Jesus. Oblivious, they yielded to the darkness of the night, to their full bellies, to their wine-dimmed thoughts. They fell asleep, entirely too comfortable in the dark.

          The darkness surrounding Jesus was much worse. Of course the betrayal by Judas would be a blow, as would be the desertion of the other disciples as they fled for their lives. But the heaviest darkness around Him was the weight of sin. Jesus was about to enter the great Passion. He was about to fulfill what St. Paul described to the Corinthians: “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us…” Jesus was about to come face-to-face with the reality of that sin. He would be mocked. He would face false accusations. He would suffer the death of the cross. But more than the physical suffering, He would be separated from the Father; He would be forsaken by His Father for the sake of the people He had come to save. He would be condemned by the Father, bearing all of the wrath of the righteous God against the sin of the world. It was not only the agony of the humanity of Jesus that was on display; the full deity of Jesus made His agony all the greater. This was the real trial, far beyond anything He faced before the Sanhedrin or Herod or Pilate. He pleaded with His Father for some other way. This was the night of great darkness; after He prayed to His Father, everything else was settled. He would go to the cross. He would die as the Sin-bearer. He would rest in the tomb. He would descend into Hell. He would obey the Father’s will.

          The disciples understood none of this. They saw Jesus praying, but they didn’t see with understanding. Instead of looking on with faith, the disciples—even the inner three—were still trying to put Jesus into the box of their expectations of who the Messiah would be and what He would do. These expectations blinded them to what God revealed through the darkness of Gethsemane. They could not see the weight of sin bearing down on their Teacher and Lord. Jesus, submitting Himself to the will of the Father, was triumphant in His obedience. But the disciples would face trials, and they would fail miserably. Blinded by what they wanted to see, they could not see the truth God was placing before them.

          We have the same sort of mistaken expectations of Jesus. We don’t trust the ideals of Judaism or their false messianic dreams. But we rely on human ingenuity, technology, and reasoning. We desire empirically verifiable scientific truth. We seek justice by our own definitions. These things have their place. But when we trust them to help us comprehend the reality of the world around us, they blind us to the truth God places before us. They keep us from seeing the spiritual truths that can only be seen with the eyes of faith. They keep us from seeing the dangers of the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. Seeing with the eyes of faith sheds true light on all these things. Because we still bear the Old Adam which loves darkness better than light, we will not see perfectly. But as we allow ourselves to be guided by God’s Word, we will see more than we do when we rely on human wisdom and understanding.

          The disciples missed the full importance of Gethsemane. Hiding in fear, they missed Good Friday as well. Only after the resurrection and ascension would they see with the eyes of faith. You don’t have to wait. The Holy Spirit is here, now, with His gifts. You can see the reality of our Lord’s agony and rejoice to know what He endured in obedience to His Father out of love for you. You can see His sacrifice and the life it brings. You can see how the light of God’s Word shines on every aspect of life. God’s Word impacts us all. Don’t miss it. Don’t let your reason blind you to what God reveals to you. Trust what He shows you, even if you don’t see it with full clarity just yet. You will see what you need to see, not what the Old Adam wants you to see. You will see your Savior, your Sin-bearer, your 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 3/13/22: Second Sunday in Lent

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Is God the Enemy?

Genesis 32:22-32

 

 

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

 

 

Jacob and his entourage had reached the Jabbok, a stream that flows into the Jordan from the east about midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. After sending his family and flocks across the Jabbok under the cover of darkness, Jacob remained on the other side to spend the night alone. He knew not what to expect the next day, and, as we all do, he feared the unexpected. He hadn’t seen his brother in many years. Did Esau still carry a grudge toward Jacob? As he began to pour out his heart in prayer to God, he suddenly became aware that someone had grabbed hold of him and was wrestling him to the ground. The mysterious struggle continued for hours, until the first streaks of dawn appeared in the eastern sky.

Though some elements of this wrestling match are difficult to understand, some basic truths are immediately clear. Jacob was struggling with God in earnest prayer. This struggle involved a spiritual striving with God for His blessing, but it also involved a physical struggle. And if you have ever really struggled with God in prayer, then you know that such prayer demands a physical cost.

Jacob’s Opponent, referred to as “the Man,” later identifies Himself as God. But why should God appear to one of His children as an opponent, as an enemy, fighting against him? Surely He did not mean to crush the life out of Jacob. If God had been of a mind to crush him, the wrestling match would have been over as quickly as it began. In the heat of the struggle, Jacob may well have been tempted to think of God as an enemy. But God had promised to bless him, and Jacob knew that God cannot lie.

The struggle continued until Jacob’s divine Opponent, by merely touching Jacob’s hip, threw the entire hip socket out of joint. And now Jacob couldn’t continue the painful struggle any longer. So he threw his arms around his Opponent and held on to Him. His Opponent said: “Let me go, for the day has broken.” And He was then delighted to hear Jacob answer: “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” God didn’t want Jacob to be timid with Him, and He does not want us to be timid toward Him. He takes great delight in pouring out His blessings on us when we have struggled with Him in humble, believing prayer. Jacob clung in faith to God and to His promises. And he received the blessing he desired.

“What is your name?” the Lord asked him, not because He had forgotten, but to remind Jacob of what his name meant. The name Jacob means “heel grabber,” referring to the fact that, as he came forth from his mother Rebekah’s womb, he had hold of his brother Esau’s heel. And from that moment on, Jacob was one who willingly took advantage of a rival. But that old name no longer fit this man. Jacob had learned and repented the error of his ways. And so, God gave him a new name. “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Jacob’s new name describes the new nature and character the Holy Spirit had patiently created in him. No longer would he rely on his own cleverness to overcome anyone who opposed him. The “heel grabber” had become the persistent fighter who clung to God’s promises and won God’s blessings legitimately. Jacob had learned to lean on God.

Still, God apparently felt that Jacob needed a reminder of his victory as a warning against relapsing into his old “Jacob” nature. And so, as Jacob left the scene of the wrestling match, he was limping. And here is a reminder to all of God’s children: in and of ourselves, we have no strength, no power with God or with men. We are all spiritually among the walking wounded. Our only strength, like Jacob’s, lies in holding firmly to what God has promised. With God’s promises ringing in his ears, Jacob was ready to meet Esau, ready for whatever that new day might bring.

God still appears to His people at times as though He were an enemy. Each of us has known dark hours when we were unable to see God’s mercy, when He seemed angry and begrudging of His gifts. We have known fear and doubt; we have known sorrow and grief, when it seemed that we had little left to live for and nothing to hope. The Canaanite women in today’s Gospel reading might have thought Jesus to be an unfeeling Redeemer. He may have come to suffer and die for sin, but it seemed He had not come to help her and her daughter. But she was persistent; she would not let go of Jesus until He blessed her.

I urge you, my brothers and sisters in Christ: watch and pray; never give up your faith in God; never doubt His love for you in Christ, even when He seems to turn away and leave your prayers unanswered. Like Jacob, boldly cling to Him and say, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Persistently, shamelessly press your needs and desires upon God, your Father. Place your trust in His Word and promises. He bids you pray with persistence and certainty for everything you need. May God, by His Holy Spirit, help you to take Him at His Word and wrestle with Him until He gives you every temporal and eternal blessing. 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 3/9/22: Midweek Lent I (St Mark Passion series)

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Stumbling and Saved
Mark 14:26-31

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

 

          The disciples—and especially Peter—show an incredible stubbornness and foolishness. Over and over again, the disciples do not understand what Jesus is saying or doing. Mere moments after confessing that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Peter all but calls Jesus an idiot for telling the disciples that the Son of Man must suffer and die. When they’re on the boat in the midst of the sea and the storm hits, the disciples accuse Jesus of not caring that they’re all about to die. When they’re on the mountain and Jesus is transfigured before Peter, James, and John, Peter doesn’t really care what God is trying to show him; he only thinks they should stay on the mountaintop and never come down. That way, he—and maybe James and John, since they’re present, too—can share in the glory of Jesus and the exalted position of the Old Testament prophets.

          And then, finally, when they reach the Mount of Olives, Jesus tells the disciples plainly, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” And the disciples lose their minds. Peter, always the self-assured ringleader, proclaims his fidelity: “Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.” And the other disciples, not to be outdone, quickly agreed that they would remain faithful. They’ve forgotten how many times they have already failed to believe. They don’t know what it will mean for them if they display loyalty to Jesus when the soldiers come for Him. And they’ve forgotten that Jesus has not come merely to be a teacher to twelve foolish men; He has come to die so that He could save them and all people.

“How could they be so dense?” we might be tempted to think. How could they fail to understand what Jesus means? Of course Jesus must die; no one else can pay the price for the sins of the whole world. How can Peter not see that he’s been faithless and selfish in his interactions with Jesus? Even when he first met Jesus, Peter himself said, “I am a sinful man.” How can the disciples think they would be willing to stand with Jesus when they don’t understand that they will have to suffer with Him?

We see with all the certainty of hindsight. But if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit we exhibit the same foolishness. How often do we fail our Lord? How often do we see the suffering around us and question the goodness of our Father’s will? How often do we receive blessings from the Lord and believe that we somehow have earned or deserve what we have received? And then, how often we stand with Peter and claim to be better than the person across the aisle, more faithful, more constant in our worship and obedience and devotion? Like the disciples, we have put our trust in our own reason and strength. We are proud of our faith, as if our faith is something we give to God and not the other way around. “Even if everyone else in this congregation fails you, Lord, I will not fail you.”

          The disciples don’t know what’s going on; and, although He has already told them, they don’t know where Jesus is going. In their lack of understanding, they can only see themselves. We may have the advantage of their witness, but even our hindsight doesn’t keep us from thinking only of ourselves. Like the disciples, we are in the dark: not seeing, not understanding. We struggle against the will of our heavenly Father in every aspect of our lives.

          Only one Man sees and understands; only one Man is perfectly obedient to the will of the Father, and that is Jesus, the Son of God. He understands that it is not Pilate, nor Herod, nor the High Priest, nor the religious leaders of the day, nor the soldiers, nor the crowd who is leading Him to the cross. Hear again the words Jesus speaks: “…It is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” This is God speaking through the prophet Zechariah. The Father Himself is responsible. He has chosen Jesus as the Sacrifice appointed to pay the price for the sins of sinful man. As much as we deserve to suffer for our sins, the Father reserves the greatest blow for His Son. Only Jesus understands. Only Jesus is faithful. Only Jesus pays the debt with His own lifeblood.

          Thanks be to God that receiving His forgiveness does not depend on our understanding, on our worthiness, on our obedience. Our forgiveness depends upon His grace, on Jesus giving us His worthiness and obedience. He alone has borne the full weight of the cross and has died for you. He alone has drawn you into His Church, His family. Do not be discouraged or disheartened by your disobedience, by your lack of understanding, by your sin. For Jesus, and He alone, has saved 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 3/6/22: First Sunday in Lent

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Receiving Grace by Faith
II Corinthians 6:1-10

 

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

 

St. Paul pleads with us earnestly: “Do not receive the grace of God in vain.” If we are to rightly understand the Apostle’s plea, it is necessary that we be certain of what the grace of God is. To state it simply, grace is the undeserved favor and love of God that He pours out on sinners, for the sake of the saving life, death, and resurrection of His Son. After Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atomic bomb, there was little left but rubble. When God looks at sinners, that is what He sees: nothing but rubble. In things pertaining to God, the human soul is totally blind; it cannot find its way to God. Even when God points out the true way, we refuse to go that way. Our sin-destroyed will is so set against God’s will that we go our own way: the way of sin and death.

But now, behold the miracle! God saw the ruin of our sin and yet, despite the ruin, He loved us! Out of undeserved love, God decreed that He would save us and undo the destruction we had made. He determined that He would send His only-begotten Son in human flesh to rebuild and restore this ruined world. Through sin, the world was ruined. Through the sinless Jesus, it was to be restored. Through sin, death came into this world. By the death of Jesus, death was overcome; life—eternal life—was restored. This is the grace of God!

But there is more. After giving His Son as the Ransom for us all, God’s great love compels Him to provide ways of making this truth known. That is why, after His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples to proclaim this grace to the world. For this same purpose, God has given to the Church the Office of the Holy Ministry. As the Augsburg Confession, that statement of our common faith, puts it: “To obtain such faith God instituted the office of preaching, giving the Gospel and the Sacraments. Through these, as through means, He gives the Holy Spirit who produces faith, where and when He wills, in those who hear the Gospel. It teaches that we have a gracious God, not through our merit, but through the merit of Christ, when we so believe.” The love of God would have the whole world filled with the Gospel so that there would not be one person who has not heard that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. This is the grace of God!

It is because this grace is so wonderful that the Apostle pleads with us, seriously and earnestly: “Do not receive the grace of God in vain.” And this naturally leads to another question: Who are those who receive this grace in vain?

There is no simple answer to this question. Some receive the grace of God in vain when they hear the Word of grace and simply reject it out of hand. They have been offered the grace and forgiveness found in the blood of the Lamb, but they refuse the offer. Some who receive the grace of God in vain are those who hear the Word of grace and think that mere outward hearing is enough. As long as they attend church services and then outwardly conduct themselves in a respectable way, they feel they have met the necessary obligations. Some who receive the grace of God in vain are those who are spiritually dead not only from the beginning, but remain that way permanently. It is almost unbelievable, but some attend the services of the church for years, and yet, when asked about the way of salvation, they give the same answer as the most committed unbeliever. They cannot see, even from a purely intellectual perspective, that Holy Scripture teaches salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and not by any work or action of man. And there are some who know they are sinners in need of Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners, but they will not believe it. And there are still others who receive the grace of God with joy, but when trouble or persecution arises, they cast off the Gospel like an old coat. Then, when the pleasures and successes of life return, they no longer see a need for the grace of God. Why does the Apostle plead with us so seriously to not receive the grace of God in vain? Because the rejection of God’s grace is a desperately tragic matter!

It is no small thing to spurn divine love. It is no small matter to reject the moving and leading of the Holy Spirit, who pleads with sinners to receive salvation by faith. That is why St. Paul says: “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” None of us has a guarantee that we will see another day beyond this one. We have no promise that we will even have a tomorrow for that work to take place.

Hear these words and take them to heart: God has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, our Savior. If you have not believed this, believe it now! And if, by the mercy of God, this is your faith and confession, then praise and thank God for it! Pray that He will continue to grant you His Holy Spirit, as He most certainly will, that you may remain faithful to the Lord until that day when He takes you from this realm of grace to His everlasting glory. 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 3/2/22: Ash Wednesday (St Mark Passion series)

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Anointed for Death
Mark 14:1-9

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is written in the 14^th chapter of the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark. We consider these verses: After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death. ² But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people.” ³ And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. ⁴ But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? ⁵ For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. ⁷ For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. ⁸ She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. ⁹ Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” Thus far our text.

 

           This unknown woman in the Gospel broke an alabaster flask and poured perfumed ointment over the head of Jesus on the day before Maundy Thursday. This oil imported from India would have been hard to acquire and dreadfully expensive; the grumbling disciples complained that this could have been sold for three hundred denarii—nearly a year’s wages, and approximately five times what Judas received for betraying Jesus—and the profits given to those in need. What was she doing? What was she thinking?

          This anointing not meant to show that Jesus was the Messiah, the King promised throughout the Old Testament; that anointing had another word in the Greek. As Jesus says in verse 8: “She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.” Unlike the disciples, this woman had heard and understood what Jesus was saying when He predicted His own death: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.” She heard the Word and believed, and she acted accordingly. She understood that Jesus would die like a common criminal, not like the King He was—and common criminals were not anointed before their burial, according to the custom of the Jews. More than that, she understood that He would not be there to be anointed later on, after the Sabbath, because He would rise from the dead as He promised. And so Jesus praises her faith, proclaiming, “Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” And so it is tonight.

          Today we enter upon the season of Lent. We have begun our journey with our Lord to His cross at Golgotha, the Place of a Skull. We have begun our focus on the Passion of our Lord, upon our sin and need for repentance, upon His suffering and death to pay the price for our sin. So what is it that enables us to experience His humility and ours—the ashes of Ash Wednesday and the sackcloth of Good Friday? After all, unlike the woman in the Gospel, we do not see our Lord in His flesh. We are not eyewitnesses to His crucifixion, nor do we behold with our eyes His resurrected body.

But like this woman, we hear the Word of the Lord. We hear the promise that He will suffer at the hands of sinners and then die, bearing the sins of the whole world upon that cross. We hear the eyewitness testimony of the disciples, proclaiming the suffering, death, and resurrection of Our Lord. We hear our Lord proclaiming us dead to sin and alive to eternal life in baptismal waters. We hear these words and promises…and like the woman, we believe.

We believe the Word of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have all experienced the death of loved ones; as we looked upon them, we could see suffering and death. But we hear Jesus promise that sin in not the final word, that suffering is not the final word, that death is not the final word, that the grave is not the final word. He has promised that resurrection is the final word, and that word is sure and certain. We know that those who have gone before us, who cling by faith to the Word and promises of God, rest from their labors, awaiting that Day when that last word, resurrection, will become the eternal reality. And we know with all the certainty of faith that the resurrection will be our eternal reality, as well.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, this Word of Jesus can be trusted with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. We can trust this Word in the same way as this unknown woman with an alabaster jar of expensive ointment trusted it. This is the Word of the One who is the King of Israel, the promised Messiah, the Son of God and Son of Man, the One who has come to be the Salvation of us all. We have heard His Word and promises, and He has perfectly fulfilled them.

          So come. Come forward with the expensive oil of faith which He himself has given you. Come forward and rejoice that you have been drowned and have died in the waters of Holy Baptism. Come forward to receive the body and blood of our Lord, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. These gifts will prepare you for your own death and burial. Come, for in these gifts, He has come to give you eternal life. 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.