Sermon for 5/29/22: The Ascension of Our Lord (observed)

CLICK HERE for sermon audio.

No video this week. My apologies.

Not Alone

Acts 1:1-11

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

 As Jesus was received into the clouds, it was clear to the disciples that they had seen Him for the last time on this side of eternity. This was the end of His appearing among them, speaking to them, keeping company with them. They were left alone, and it was apparent from the way they were gazing up into the heavens that they knew He was gone from their sight for good. Scripture rarely gives us psychological insight into those who inhabit its pages, but surely they must have felt an almost indescribable loneliness. And haven’t we all had moments like that?—moments when we felt alone, bereft of comfort, with no understanding company to reassure us. Moments like that can come upon us at unexpected times and places. Who among His disciples gathered there that day expected Jesus to suddenly be taken from them?

Their loneliness, however, was compounded by a question that must have risen in their minds, once they had taken their eyes off the clouds: “What do we do now?” It was bad enough to be left alone, but to be left alone without any real sense of purpose had to be a startling experience. Jesus had spoken many times about the things of the kingdom of God, but what their task was in relationship to that kingdom was not clear to them. So what now?

It was true, of course, that Jesus had promised them that they would, in His words, “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” But what did that mean? Then, just as suddenly, eleven became thirteen as “two men stood by them in white robes,” asking them why they were looking into heaven, as though the disciples could bring Jesus back into their midst again. And the implication of their words was this: “Do what He told you to do. Don’t leave Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father to be fulfilled. Just wait.” Waiting is hard, though, isn’t it?

There is an almost inescapable sense among Christians in our day that we must do something if the Kingdom of God is to be established among us. And that is what is so hard about waiting: waiting is so terribly passive! We wait for the action of another, and our own actions do nothing to end the waiting. In fact, our actions may get in the way. We can become so intent on “building the Kingdom” that we fervently devote ourselves to our own human devices at the expense of those means by which the Holy Spirit actually builds the Kingdom. The faithful proclamation of the Word of the Lord, the water poured, and the bread and wine distributed: these are the means by which the Holy Spirit moves. We can be so eager to prod the Kingdom into being through our worldly ways, convincing ourselves that success and faithfulness must be the same thing.

So, what do we do as we wait for the Holy Spirit to do His thing? In other words, how do we overcome the loneliness of feeling left alone and waiting for something to happen? We gather as those who believe and trust in this mighty Lord who subjected Himself to suffering and death, and who ascended to the right hand of the Father, to His power and glory. Through Him, forgiveness of sins is offered and given—forgiveness that bridges the gap between the Father and our lives. Through this we are comforted and assured, in spite of appearances, that we are not really alone, even when we feel so alone.

And so we are to wait…but not as people who are alone. In His own mysterious way, our Lord’s absence actually became the mode of His presence everywhere and for all time. Wherever His people are present, He is present in their midst: present in the Word proclaimed; present in the water of Baptism administered; present in the bread and wine, the body and blood, distributed and received. He is present in these powerful means: present in and through you and me and the whole Church on earth.

At times we feel so terribly alone, for this world presses in on us at every turn. At times we feel as though we have been left like orphans in a world that beats at us with messages and opportunities that are considerably different than the message and opportunity the Holy Spirit would have us seize upon. In that very moment, two men in white robes stand by us in spirit, saying: “Why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.” And we, like those disciples, “worship Him with great joy, continually being in the temple, blessing God.” Here, in this temple, we hear Him say to us: “Behold, I am with you to the end of the age.” And we realize that what has been given us to do is to continue all that Jesus had begun to do and teach.

Alone is never really alone when we are accompanied by the ascended Lord. He is both a marvelous Comforter walking beside us in the midst of the turmoil of this life, and the One who bids us be His voice, His hands, His heart, into the world around us. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Sermon for 5/22/22: Sixth Sunday of Easter

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Testing God

Numbers 21:4-9

 

ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

 

For over 400 years, the people of Israel had lived in Egypt, much of that time in a bitter slavery. But that was over. In a unique and remarkable way, God revealed His presence to them in the pillar of cloud that led them by day and the pillar of fire to light up their night. And all along the way, the Lord provided for them. He fed them with manna. He protected them against the many perils of their journey. Still, their courage failed them frequently. They became disheartened and put God to the test. Why this change of heart toward God? Why did they begin to question God’s wisdom, mistrust His guidance, and discourage one another? Why did they become despondent and test God?

Why do we do the same? We, too, are God’s people. By the grace of God, we are making our journey from this earthly home, which seems so often like a kind of bondage, to our eternal home. God is gracious to us for the sake of Jesus. He daily and richly forgives all our sins; He guides and protects us and provides for us. In many perils, even some we don’t recognize as perils, He graciously preserves us. Through His holy Word and blessed Sacraments, He preserves and strengthens our faith. As we weekly gather here where His Word is proclaimed and taught to us, we also pray for grace and for guidance. As the Small Catechism says, “For all this…we thank and praise, serve and obey Him.”

But at the same time, there is no day in our journey to heaven in which we are not confronted with the danger of testing God. There is no experience in life—no joy or sorrow, no success or failure—that does not lead us to put God to the test. The devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh frequently entice us to test God. However disguised and clever the sin of testing God may be, however timid or bold it may be, however learned and courageous it may even appear to be, its consequences bring only ruin. The result described in our text is as certain as it is sudden.

“The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.” This response of God reminds us of the words of the apostle Paul: “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked.” It clearly shows that God is jealous and protective of His honor, and that this unusual way of dealing with the sin of testing Him is to be a warning, even to the end of days. But God, who warns us in His Word against testing Him, also graciously provides the necessary tools against testing Him. We can and should use these tools daily.

The people of Israel said to Moses: “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you.” The children of Israel repented of their sins. True repentance is a tool in our struggle against testing God. When we sincerely repent of the sin of testing God and seek His mercy and forgiveness—which He gladly and freely gives—there is also the implication that we intend to amend our sinful lives, to carefully watch over our hearts in regard to this sin. Repentance is responding to the pleading of the Holy Spirit in the Word of God. It must not simply be put off.

Again, our text says: “And Moses prayed for his people.” Moses did this at the urging of those people that he pray to the Lord to remove the serpents. As He anticipated their need, God had told Moses to make a fiery serpent and lift it up on a pole, and promised healing and life to all that were bitten if they would but look at the uplifted serpent. Prayer is another tool in our struggle against the sin of testing God. In our prayers, we ask God for help and strength. In times of severe affliction or trouble, we ask Him for a special measure of His grace. And we also pray for others, knowing that others, too, are in danger of testing God.

Just as Moses’ proclamation to Israel was to look to the serpent on the pole and receive healing, so too we are to look up in faith to the Christ lifted up on the cross. Faith is the only way to lay hold of the blessings of our Lord’s work of salvation: forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Faith grabs hold of these promises as a blessed possession. Faith in God’s mercy was what Israel needed then; it is what we need now so that we may have the peace and the strength to resist the sin of testing God.

In our present age, the mockery of things holy and righteous, the ridicule of the grace of God in Jesus Christ, reaches new heights almost daily, it seems. And it is fearfully easy to succumb to the feeling that God is abandoning His world, and us, as well. Resisting the sin of testing God is, therefore, increasingly more difficult. The only answer, the only hope that we have, is to look to Jesus, to behold again what He has done to redeem us from sin and death, to know that the only way to resist the sin of testing God is to acknowledge that sin. Our only hope is to receive again the forgiveness Jesus has provided through His cross and His glorious resurrection. Thanks be to God for this priceless gift! Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.

HYMN: The World Is Full of Torments

As I said, I’ve drafted two texts for the Easter Vigil project while I’ve been on vacation. I head back to Faith and the kids tomorrow, so I’ll get the second one posted before I go. 

I’ve worried about what I’m going to do with the Job 19 text in the Vigil for a while. I mean, one doesn’t just rewrite “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.” Some texts are just too iconic to mess with. So I didn’t try. I went for a nail-on-the-head paraphrase of Job 19. I’ll leave it to my readers to determine if they think I’ve succeeded. As always, feedback is love.

The World Is Full of Torments

1. The world is full of torments.
My allies seek my shame.
The hand of God has touched me;
My flesh sticks to my frame.
Have mercy! Oh, have mercy!
From sorrow do I flee.
Like God, their words pursue me;
Why do they follow me?

2. Pay heed to my confession.
With confidence I cry:
He lives, my great Redeemer!
And even when I die,
I know that I shall see Him.
Yes, I myself shall see!
On earth He will be standing.
How yearns my heart in me!

HYMN: The Evil Seek the Downfall

At the urging of my wife—and because I really needed it and needed to do it—I’ve taken some vacation time and have returned to my childhood home to spend time with my mom. Between my father’s death in February and my father-in-law’s death this past August, it had been about a year since I’d taken a real vacation. So Faith sent me off on my own, and I’ve enjoyed my time back in Western New York so far, hanging out with Mom, spending time with friends, and enjoying not having to think very hard for a few days.

I’ve also been somewhat productive. I won’t be posting a sermon this week, but I’ve drafted another two hymn texts for the Easter Vigil project. I’m not quite ready to debut the second one, but the first is one I’ve been working on since the Southern Illinois District Convention in February, where I wrote the first verse. Life happened, and so the progress stopped for a while. Then I wrote the second verse during the Southern Illinois District Pastors Conference (funny how that works!), and I thought maybe it would work better as a short stand-alone hymn text instead of part of the Vigil project  Then I decided that it needed more than just the two verses (even if I divided the two verses into four verses), and I reverted back to the original idea, a hymn based on the Daniel 3 text in the Easter Vigil. If you look at verses 1 and 10, you can probably see what made me think they might stand along as a text, especially considering the virulent protests for the right to murder infants in the womb after the leak of the Supreme Court document which could undo Roe v. Wade. And with events like the supermarket shooting in Buffalo yesterday, we see evil manifested clearly in the acts of sinful mankind. 

Because this is a project I’m working on with another writer, I haven’t done anything about tunes yet. That’s something that can be worked on when the texts are all completed. Anyway, here it is. Feedback is love.

The Evil Seek the Downfall

1. The evil seek the downfall 

Of all who will not kneel 

Before the golden idols

Of silicon and steel.

Man’s sin-perverted reason 

Confuses wrong from right. 

God’s children must be faithful 

To walk within the light. 

2. The king produced an idol,

An image formed of gold.

He ordered his officials

This idol to behold.

The king said, ”O my peoples,

Bow down at my command

And praise the golden image

Commissioned by my hand.”

3. The people knelt in worship.

But three did not pay heed.

Three Jews refused the order

The king himself decreed.

Chaldeans then came forward.

“O king,” they said with zeal, 

“These Jews refused to listen.

These men refused to kneel.”

4. The king called out with fury,

“Young men, now answer me.

You saw my god, all golden;

Did you not bend the knee?

What other god could save you?”

The king commanded, stern:

“Now kneel before my idol,

Or you will surely burn.”

5. “O king,” the young men answered,

“Our God is strong to save. 

The flames will not consume us.

We shall not face the grave.

Our God will guard and keep us;

His might He shall reveal. 

We will not bow to idols.

O king, we will not kneel.”

6. The king became indignant. 

The men he ordered tied. 

The soldiers stoked the furnace

And threw the men inside.

Those soldiers died in torment,

By heat and flame were doomed;

The Jews, instead of burning,

By grace were not consumed. 

7. The king was thus astonished.

“Did we condemn just three?

Behold the great inferno:

Now four men do I see.

The flames have failed to harm them. 

What is this awesome sign? 

My people, see this wonder:

The fourth man looks divine!

8. “Come forth, young men, I pray you,

Who serve the Lord Most High.”

The governors, the prefects

And council gathered by.

They saw, unburnt, the clothing.

They smelled no smoke or flame.

The hair, not singed, bore witness

Unto the young men’s claim.

9. “My people, hear my order. 

Pay heed to my decree:

The Jews in flesh gave service

To God most faithfully.

The Lord has sent His angel

To spare them from the rod.

 Give honor to their master; 

Blest be their mighty God.”

10. The day is surely coming 

When truth will be a crime. 

The Gospel, still a scandal, 

Remains our light sublime.

God grant that we be faithful 

To face the fiery test,

To stand in bold confession 

When faith is sore oppressed.

Sermon for 5/8/22: Fourth Sunday of Easter

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

No video recording. My apologies.

 
Freed for Submission
I Peter 2:11-20

 

ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

 

One of Martin Luther’s earliest and most influential works is called The Freedom of the Christian. In that work, Luther laid out the Biblical case for the Christian life as one that is lived in the joy and freedom of the Gospel, but which at the same time carries certain holy responsibilities. At the very beginning of that work, he says: “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” These two statements—and Luther acknowledged this—would seem to contradict each other. However, through a careful reading of Holy Scripture, they are found to be true. As St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.” And this was based on that great truth that, though Jesus Christ was Lord of all, He came as the Servant of all, to redeem this world from sin. In our Epistle reading, Peter is making the same case. We are free Christian people, but our freedom also binds us to an obligation of love for God and for our neighbor.

To be sure, it is a different freedom than we usually think of. For Americans, the word freedom has always had a unique charm about it, something for which we have long been willing to sacrifice much. Christian freedom, however, has to do with another important truth: according to the words of Holy Scripture, Christians are actually “strangers and pilgrims” on this earth, meaning that we are free from certain things to which the children of this world are still bound. We are free from the bondage of the Law, because Christ perfectly kept the Law for us. Salvation is in Christ, whose obedience to the Father’s will is placed into our account. And then, through faith in Him and what He has done, we are accounted as righteous before God.

We are also free from any bondage to sin, for the blood of Christ has cleansed us from sin! Yes, sin remains because we remain bound to these mortal bodies as long as life here lasts. But we live always in the forgiveness of sins. Sin’s condemning power was fully absorbed by Jesus at His cross. And now, for that reason, there is no longer any condemnation for all whose faith is in Jesus Christ and all that He has done to save us.

We are free from bondage to death, for Christ has overcome death. That is what our Lord’s resurrection was all about. How comforting that is. At some time or another, we must all stand at the graveside of a loved one. How final that can seem. To the eyes of our flesh, it appears there that death has won the victory. But eyes of faith see in that grave the tomb of Jesus and the knowledge that His grave did not hold Him. He defeated death. Our graves will not hold us, for on the day of our Lord’s return, He will call us out of those graves to enjoy unending life with Him.

And we are free from the bondage of the devil, for Christ has crushed his power. And that is vitally important to know, isn’t it? As we look around us in this world, we see that the devil’s influence is still significant. Though he has been defeated by the death and resurrection of Jesus, and though he will be finally consigned to the hell which has been prepared for him and all who serve him, it is evident that he is still very much a factor in this world. But you and I need not fear this. We are free from his bondage, and we will remain free so long as our faith is fed and nourished by God’s Word and Sacraments. We are free from bondage to these things.

But while we have been set free so that we may avoid the things that are evil, we are also set free to do the things that are good. Peter lays this out very nicely for us in his Epistle. Our freedom in Christ enables us to avoid those dangerous fleshly lusts that wage war against our souls. Peter puts it this way: “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”

And now we are free to do all those positive things Peter describes as good and glorifying to God. We can freely and truly fear God and stand in awe and wonder at both His grace and His power. We can freely, and with good conscience, be subject to all governing authorities and all proper earthly ordinances, knowing that God desires to govern His world in these ways. We can freely honor all people as fellow creatures of God, whose lives are invested with a value and dignity only God can give. We can freely love our fellow believers as the wonderful gifts of God they truly are. We can freely serve those who are placed over us in the various walks of this life, even those whose ways with us may leave something to be desired. We can freely and even joyfully endure affliction, even when such afflictions are endured unjustly.

So, then, out of gratitude to God, let us serve God and man, avoiding evil and doing good. This is for the glory of God, the welfare of our neighbor, and even our own good, as we await that day when the glory of the Lord will finally be eternally revealed in the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.  

Sermon for 5/1/22: Third Sunday of Easter

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Sheep, Shepherds, and the Good Shepherd

Ezekiel 34:11-16

 

 

ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

 

The words “leader” and “leadership” have become buzz words in the language of the Church. You can read plenty of books about church leadership, but they sound more like instructions for operating a business than providing pastoral care to the people of God. Scripture uses the actual word “leader” only a handful of times, and almost never to refer to those who are called to spiritual office in the Church.

In this text from Ezekiel, it is clear that God wanted His people to be served by something more than mere leaders. He showed this when He called both kings and prophets “shepherds.” And through His prophet, the Lord told His people in captivity in Babylon that their shepherds had failed them. These bad shepherds cared more about themselves than the sheep. Therefore, the Lord said He would replace them. He Himself would become their Shepherd and take the place of those wicked shepherds.

When the Lord said He wanted His people to be shepherded, He was comparing them to sheep—and it is not a flattering comparison, because sheep are stupid. It is said that a mother sheep sometimes will not recognize her own offspring. Can you mothers imagine not recognizing your children? Sheep can be kept in a pen even when the gate is open; lay a pipe or rod on the ground across the opening, the sheep will usually not pass it. Sheep rescued from a burning barn have been known to try to run back into the flames.

Do you sometimes feel like a sheep? Please pardon the directness of the language here, but sin makes people stupid. As the prophet Jeremiah said, “Even the stork in the heavens knows her appointed times; and the turtledove, the swift and the swallow observe the time of their coming. But my people do not know the judgment of the Lord.” Ignorance is not bliss. Sin makes us stupid, like sheep. Left to ourselves, we stumble around defenseless and lost, in need of help and hope that we can never generate. No wonder the Lord was angry at those shepherds who did not care for the flock. And their biggest failure? They did not feed the sheep.

As this text makes clear, feeding the sheep is the chief duty of the shepherd. You can gather the straggling sheep and bandage the wounded, but if you don’t feed them, those things will not make a difference. And so the Lord declared that He would be the Shepherd of His people. Everything the others did that was wrong, He would do right. He would take care of His sheep, gathering them and binding up their wounds and, yes, He would feed them. He would be their Shepherd, and they would want for nothing.

In light of today’s Gospel, we understand that Ezekiel’s words are a prophecy of the coming of Jesus. Jesus is God, but He did not hesitate to become our Good Shepherd. He did the dirty work involved in being a shepherd. The Good Shepherd “lays down His life for the sheep,” Jesus said. On the cross He was protecting us from the peril of our sins by taking those sins upon Himself and dying to pay for them. And then this Good Shepherd rose from death, and He lives to keep on protecting and guiding us. And now He lives to feed His Church, His flock, on His Word.

How great is His love for us! Not only did He do the work of salvation; not only has He sent His Word into the world, even by inspiring the prophets and apostles to write it down; but He has also given to His Church those men who now preach that Word for Him. He has given His Church pastors, under-shepherds of the Good Shepherd. St. Paul told the pastors in Ephesus, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the Church of God, which He obtained with His own blood.” Pastors feed the flock on the Word of Christ. That is the essence of their work; all that they do involves feeding the sheep.

And what about the sheep? If you read on in this 34^th chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet issues warnings. One was about the sheep carelessly trampling the food. Thus, the Lord warns us about false teaching in the Church; He wants us to retain the standard of healthy words that come from Him. The Lord also warned the sheep not to trample one another or push each other aside from the food. How do we treat each other? It’s a fair question to ask. Is anyone disregarded in this church? Do we have unloved sheep who are pushed to the side by others? It is amazing how insensitive we can become without realizing it, without even meaning to do it.

But these reminders simply bring us back to the fact that we are sheep, and sheep are stupid. That is what sin does to us. We need Jesus, the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep, and then took it up again. We need Him to pay for our sin— which He has done—and to see to our safety forever. No other Shepherd will do! And the good news is that the Lord does not forsake us; He is pleased to be our Shepherd. And He is the Shepherd who is just right for us. He is the Shepherd we can live with, and the Shepherd we can die with. For sheep like us, none other but the Good Shepherd will do. ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.