Sermon for 3/29/23: Midweek Lent 5 (Lord's Supper series)

This continues our sermon series for the season of Lent: our series on the Lord's Supper. It is never a bad thing to return to the Catechism so that we may continue to grow in faith toward God and appreciation for His gifts to us.   

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the sermon video.

Worthy Reception of Holy Communion
Matthew 22:1-14

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

Can you imagine a wedding without some sort of a reception? The two seem to go together like a hand in a glove. This was as true in ancient times as it is today. Jewish weddings always included a festive celebration. These celebrations would go on for several days, and there was no lack of eating and drinking. Marital imagery runs deep in the Scriptures. Over and over again, the relationship between God and His people is depicted in marital terms. God is the Husband and His people are His Bride. Consider these words of the Lord, spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”

It comes as no surprise, therefore, that when the people of Israel turned to other gods, it was as though they had committed adultery against God. It was spiritual infidelity. In many places, the Lord likens their attachment to idols to the lust of an adulterer. As the Lord says through Hosea, “Though you, Israel, play the harlot, let not Judah offend.” This helps us to understand what God means when He says: “I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God…” His jealousy is the jealousy of a husband who expects his Bride to forsake all others and remain united to Him alone. And it gives us a picture of just how serious of a sin it is to break the covenant that God has established between Him and His people.

Marital imagery is not limited to the Old Testament. We see this in the New Testament as well. Jesus is the Bridegroom, and the Church is His Bride. Marriage itself is to be a reflection of Christ’s relationship with the Church. Husbands should love their wives “as Christ loved the Church,” and wives are to “be [subject] to their own husbands in everything,” as the Church submits to Christ. Not only is God’s relationship with His people described in marital terms; salvation itself is likened to a wedding feast. “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.” This reminds us that God has prepared a grand banquet for those who believe and are baptized into Christ. To “come to the wedding feast” is to participate in the end-times salvation God has prepared for you at great cost to Himself. The price for this great banquet of salvation was the blood of His dear Son, who was offered up into death for sinners on Calvary.

As the betrothed Bride of Christ, we look forward with longing eyes to that day when Christ will come again to gather us to Himself. God’s Word teaches us to look forward to that day when we will sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when we will see the Lord face to face. Every wedding has its wedding feast, and it is no different with the marriage of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, to His holy Bride, the Church.

And the best part about this wedding feast is that it will have no end! In the wedding hall of heaven, there will be no end to the joy that is ours in Christ Jesus. But you should not think of this wedding banquet to be something far off in the distant future. You should not think of this nuptial feast only in terms of a “not yet.” Already now, in the salutary gift of the Lord’s Supper, Christ gives you a foretaste of that eternal wedding feast to come. Already now, as Christians gather at the Lord’s Table, you receive the body and blood of your crucified and risen husband, Jesus Christ.

You prove yourself to be the eager bride of Christ when you approach the altar with an eager heart—not reluctantly, not as an obligation, but recognizing that God has great gifts and power for you in this Feast. The words of His Testament are truly words of life immortal: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” In faith, you open wide the door of your heart to receive and adore Him. And truly He is with you always, to the very close of the age. In this Holy Supper, prepared by the Lord Himself, you participate in “the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, which has no end,” as the Communion liturgy confesses. Since our Lord and husband, Jesus Christ, graciously invites you to this wedding feast, make no excuse, for such excuses are not pleasing to the Lord, nor are they fitting for those who are members of Christ’s body.

Let there instead be joy and thanksgiving, for the Bridegroom has given His body and shed His precious blood for you, His Bride. In your Baptism, you have received the proper wedding garment of faith, the blood-washed robe of Christ’s righteousness which makes you a fit partaker of this joyous feast. You have been cleansed by the “washing of water with the word.” In Christ, you stand before the Father holy and blameless, “without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.” The host of this feast has Himself made you His worthy guest. As you receive this marriage feast, God grant you a glad heart in the presence of your heavenly Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.  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 3/26/23: Fifth Sunday in Lent

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“The Lord Will Provide”
Genesis 22:1-14

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

There are times when life doesn’t seem to make much sense, when there seems to be no order in things, no apparent purpose to what’s happening. It’s tempting to think there’s no point to anything. And if there is no point to it all, what does that say about God? Does He really know what He’s doing? Does He really care?

Abraham’s life could easily have seemed to be a cruel joke. Years before, God told Abraham to leave his homeland and travel far away to the land of Canaan. God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation—in fact, all nations would be blessed through the Messiah who would be one of his descendants. The elderly, childless Abraham obeyed God and left home with his elderly wife Sarah and his servants for this strange land, trusting that the Lord was able to keep His promises to him.

Twenty five years later, miraculously, Sarah did have her first and only child, a son named Isaac. After much waiting, God kept His promise to Abraham, even though it seemed impossible. How overjoyed Abraham must have been! How this must have bolstered his faith in the Lord! This son was the fulfillment of God’s promise. This son was just the beginning of a great nation of Abraham’s descendants to come. Through this son of the promise, God had shown Himself to be trustworthy and true.

But a few more years later, God came to Abraham another time and said this: “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering…” Really? God makes Abraham wait 25 years for this promised son, and now He tells Abraham to kill him? That makes no sense! What kind of God is this?

Isaac himself is trying to make sense out of this confusing situation. Isaac had certainly worshiped and made sacrifices with his father before. But one thing was different this time. Isaac asked,  “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Maybe he thought his dad had just forgotten. Perhaps he sensed something terribly different about his father’s mood. We just don’t know. As it turns out, quite surprisingly, this passage doesn’t say anything in all its length about either Isaac or his father’s feelings through this whole situation.

And that very fact shows us that we shouldn’t be directing our attention to the incredible turmoil which Abraham must have experienced, especially as Isaac was laid on the altar. Rather more important is the great example of trust in the Lord which Abraham displayed. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, it is written that Abraham got up the next morning to prepare. There was no hesitation, just trust. When Isaac asked, “Where is the lamb?” Abraham did not know what the future held. But whatever was about to happen, he was sure God knew what He was doing. Abraham spoke reassuringly to Isaac, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” Trust. Abraham bound his son and laid him on the altar on the wood. Trust. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. Trust.

This is what it means to have faith in God. It’s not just that you believe in Him when everything is going well. It’s not that you trust your feelings. It’s trusting in God despite your feelings. It’s having confidence in Him, even when it seems to you that He cares nothing for you. It’s looking to Him for all good things, even when only bad things seem to be coming. It’s relying on Him even when everything in life seems to be turned against you. That’s what Abraham did: he clung to God’s promises regarding his son. And that is also what we are to do: cling to God’s promises regarding Christ, our Father’s Son, and never letting go.

This whole account points us to Christ and what He would do for us on what many claim is the very same mountain. Abraham was stopped from carrying out the sacrifice of Isaac; the time to sacrifice the Son would not come until Good Friday. Consider what is being foreshadowed here. Isaac was the beloved only son of Abraham, conceived in a miraculous way. So also God the Father gave His only begotten and beloved Son, miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Blessed Virgin, to deliver us from the power of sin and Satan and the grave. After God stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son, he looked up and saw a male sheep, a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. Abraham offered it in place of his son. Even so, Jesus was offered up Himself in your place so that you would be set free from the judgment of death. He purposely caught Himself in the thorny thicket of your sin so that you might have everlasting life. In Christ the words of Abraham are fulfilled for you: “God Himself will provide the Lamb.” Abraham named that place, “The Lord will Provide.” For on that holy mountain, God provided for your salvation in His only Son.

Even as Isaac cried out, “Where is the lamb?” there will be troubling or sorrowful times when you also may cry out, “Where is God?” And God answers in His own gracious way and in His good time. He is present with you in mysterious and wonderful ways. He will never forsake you, even when everything has been turned upside down in your life. To you who believe and are baptized, the Lord says, “Fear not; for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”

When little in your life seems to make much sense, look to Christ, the crucified. Look to His words and promises, for He gives meaning and purpose and even joy to living in an otherwise senseless world. The Lord will provide. Trust in Him. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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

Sermon for 3/22/23: Midweek Lent 4 (Lord's Supper series)

This continues our sermon series for the season of Lent: our series on the Lord's Supper. It is never a bad thing to return to the Catechism so that we may continue to grow in faith toward God and appreciation for His gifts to us.  

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the sermon video.

The Power of Holy Communion
John 6:35-44

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

I am a big fan of bread. As a diabetic, I’m supposed to avoid it like a teenage girl runs from a stalker in a horror film. But you give me a the smell of a fresh baked loaf of bread, a Manhattan-style sesame seed bagel with a light cream cheese spread, a slice of a crusty baguette with butter…excuse me while I wipe off the drool. But the bread we use for Communion is not great bread—it’s nearly paper thin with almost no taste. And what about the wine? I’m no connoisseur, but the fairly inexpensive and almost sickly-sweet wine we use isn’t going to win any awards. But even if we used the best wine available, we only take a sip of it.

As we heard last week, the Sacrament of the Altar delivers to us the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. It also unites us with God and our fellow believers—indeed, it unites us with all the believers of all times and places, along with the angels and archangels. So how can bread and wine do such great things? What makes this meal so special? What makes it so powerful? The answer is straightforward, and we could probably have one of the shortest sermons in our congregation’s history just by quoting Luther’s answer to this question: “Certainly not just eating and drinking do these things, but the words written here: ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’ These words, along with the bodily eating and drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament. Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: ‘forgiveness of sins.’” Amen, right? Or, if I wanted to quote Jesus: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

When the Words of Institution are spoken—when the pastor, speaking with the authority of Jesus, repeats the words Jesus spoke when He introduced this Sacrament to the disciples—the physical body and blood of Jesus are present in and under the bread and wine. It is the power of the Word of God that make simple bread and wine into a powerful meal of forgiveness and life. Speaking through Isaiah the prophet, God said to His people, “…As the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” The Word of God is powerful. Everything that was created was made through the power of the Word. Jesus spoke, and the son of the centurion was healed. Jesus said to His dead friend, “Lazarus, come forth!” and Lazarus emerged from his grave. And when Jesus says, “This is My body,” “This is my blood,” we take Him at His word. We believe that the body and blood of Jesus are truly, physically present in and under the bread and the wine. Jesus speaks, and we hear and believe.

Or do we? We have become a culture, like Thomas after Jesus rose from the dead, that seeks proof for things God calls on us believe. “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” Unless I see empirical evidence, Jesus, I’m not sure I can believe this. It all seems farfetched, you see, and I believe what I can observe with my eyes. The atheist looks at faith and calls it gullibility and ignorance. Even many who claim to believe in Jesus call Him a liar by claiming He is only spiritually present in the Lord’s Supper, that the bread and wine merely represent His body and blood.

Do you believe? Do you take Jesus at His word? Do you believe the Word does what God says it will do? It is of vital, even eternal importance, your answer to that question. If you believe God’s Word is true, then it remains true even when it says something we don’t like. If you believe God’s Word is true, then it remains true when it says things we cannot understand; it remains true when it says something we cannot prove; it remains true when it says something contrary to our culture, our conscience, and the facts of nature as we perceive them through our God-given senses. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” Scripture tells us. You must pick a side. Do you believe God? Or do you believe the world?

“Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: ‘forgiveness of sins.’” That is what we teach, believe, confess; that is what we hold to as we praise and give honor to God, as we bask in the wonder that He would stoop so low as to come to us in this sin-devastated world. When you come to this altar, you are standing before the very throne of a holy God. There should be some trepidation and respectful fear, but there should never be terror. You have no reason to be terrified, for the almighty Father has called you His beloved child. He is eager to forgive, eager to save, and eager to have you know of His love…love He sent down in 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 3/19/23: Fourth Sunday in Lent

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Faith in Times of Need

Exodus 16:2-21

 

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

While we Lutherans talk a lot about faith, we often do not define it very well. There is this idea that faith is a private thing that goes on inside you. We act and sometimes speak as though faith is a personal opinion. We pretend that someone can be a Christian when their lives give no evidence of faith. We like to act as though we can be faithful without our unbelieving friends discovering that we believe. All of these silly notions are false, dangerous, and unworthy of a Christian.

To teach us this lesson of faith, we see in the Old Testament reading the children of Israel confronted by the reality of God and His good will toward them. They had certain promises. All they really needed to do was believe. Having been through a remarkable time in human history, they found themselves free on the other side of the Red Sea, obviously blessed by God. They witnessed the love of God for them and His mighty power to do anything that they might need. How did they respond? They grumbled.

God is good. He didn’t destroy them in anger; instead He blessed them miraculously and richly. He brought birds in abundance in the evening that they might have meat, and in the morning He delivered manna, bread from heaven. Manna came with a set of directions. “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My Law or not.” Sadly, they failed. They were commanded to gather only for the day and to keep nothing overnight, but some of them did. God caused it to rot and breed worms. Keeping it overnight was not just a failure to obey; it was failure of trust in God to feed them adequately day by day. Four verses after our reading ends, some of the people ignored the directive to keep the Sabbath day’s manna. They went out to find food on the Sabbath, but they found none. Hunger was then their reward for unbelief.

The lesson in faith is highlighted by their lack of faith. They saw God’s goodness. They witnessed His abundance, but they did not trust Him to continue. He promised, but they did not trust Him to keep His promises tomorrow, even in the face of the miracle of today’s faithfulness. But don’t feel superior. We are not all that different. We enjoy the blessings of God daily, but we still find reasons to complain about our lot, personally and as a congregation. We don’t know what God has planned for our immediate future here, and so we worry and complain. No matter how long God takes care of us, we imagine that He won’t, that He doesn’t want to, that life is going to slip out of control. We fail to expect God to be good. We fail to trust God to provide. We imagine dangers that are not real. We show this lack of faith both as individuals and as a congregation when we expect to fail, when we fear the future. We stop being faithful. We stop doing what is right and good in favor of what seems practical or pragmatic. We worry where there is no cause and no benefit from worrying.

But being less than faithful is not a winning strategy. You cannot lose by doing what is right and good and faithful, and you cannot accomplish by unfaithfulness what God wants to give you through your faithfulness. You can not earn anything faster than God can take it away. You cannot grow by unfaithfulness nearly as well or as strongly as what God can grow. You are His. This congregation is His. We are called to be faithful. Faithfulness means doing what is right, even when it isn’t popular.

God has a plan, and that plan is so deep and so wonderful that it included the birth of God as a man, and Jesus dying for your sins and the sins of the whole world. The cross is the emblem and sign of the love of God for you! Look there and see how much God loves you. He has claimed you as His own and called you by name in Baptism. He has guarded you and guided you and kept you to this very moment. He has blessed you with long life and riches. God loves you deeply—outwardly, inwardly, physically and spiritually. He has claimed you for eternity with Him.

So how can we grumble and worry as if we have never seen the goodness of the Lord? Troubles are not fun, but God can and does handle them. Sickness is no joy, but God creates health and wellness. You cannot run so far that God cannot find you or bless you. Trust God and pray, and do what is right and faithful. Don’t be afraid to witness to Him. Don’t be reluctant to trust Him. Act and speak as those who have God’s blessing. He will meet your every need.

We have the Word of God. Like ancient Israel, all we need to do is take God at His Word and be patient. Israel’s unbelief and unfaithfulness was met by God’s faithfulness and blessing. He didn’t do it because He likes unbelief. He did it because it is His nature to be good. Look and see; hear and believe. Trust God! He is endlessly good, and He promises to be with you for the needs of your body and for the needs of your soul. 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 3/15/23: Midweek Lent 3 (Lord's Supper series)

This continues our sermon series for the season of Lent: our series on the Lord's Supper. It is never a bad thing to return to the Catechism so that we may continue to grow in faith toward God and appreciation for His gifts to us.  

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the sermon video.

The Benefits of Holy Communion
1 Corinthians 10:14–22

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

When we think of the benefits of the Sacrament of the Altar, of course good Lutherans will think of Luther’s words in the Small Catechism: “These words, ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,’ show us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words.” These have been pounded into our heads—I know I speak of them constantly when I preach and teach regarding the Lord’s Supper. And that’s appropriate, because those are rich blessings of eternal significance. But tonight we concentrate on another blessing.

The Lord’s Supper is a communion or participation with Christ and with one another. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” The word Paul uses here is koinonia, which is usually translated as “fellowship” or “participation” or, as we see it in our reading, “communion.” St. Paul is teaching the Christians in Corinth that, in the Lord’s Supper, they have union and fellowship with the body and blood of Christ. The same word is used in the book of Acts, where the early Christians “…continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” This tells us quite plainly what it was the early Christians were doing: they were celebrating the Lord’s Supper.

What a blessed gift! Through the means of bread and wine combined with the Word, Christians come into contact with the very Son of God Himself. You have union with Christ in a way that we do not have anywhere else in this world. For the one who believes the words of Christ, this is a very good thing. Christ, the Holy One of God, shares His holiness with those who commune. This is an especially good thing because, in and of ourselves, we are not holy. With repentant hearts, we confess that we are unholy and unclean sinners. By our fellowship with Adam and his unholy nature, we ourselves are made unholy. Our unclean thoughts, words, and actions make us unacceptable in God’s sight.

Jesus identifies the source of this when He says, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” So it should cause us great joy to hear that we unholy people can share in Christ’s holiness through participation in His holy things—namely, His body and blood in the Sacrament. Here at the altar, He invites us to enjoy a blest Communion with Him.

But there is another dimension to this idea of “communion” or “fellowship,” another union that takes place in the Lord’s Supper. Yes, it is first and foremost a union of the believer with Christ. But this blest Communion results in another union, that of Christian to Christian. The Lord’s Supper is never merely a “me and Jesus” thing. Though we receive the benefits of the Lord’s Supper individually, it is never a private matter. When you come to the altar and receive this salutary gift, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, you also are bound and united to those with whom you commune. St. Paul says as much in the next part of his letter to the Corinthians: “For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.” We who are many become one body in the Lord’s Supper.

Since you are united with Christ, and through Him with each other, it matters that you be united in your confession of faith and reconciled with one another. Division at the Lord’s Table is not pleasing to the Lord, which is why we practice Closed Communion. So if you claim to be reconciled with Christ, yet continue to hold onto your grudges and anger toward your fellow Christian brothers and sisters, are you not lying to the Lord? It is necessary that those who commune together are also united in faith and doctrine, and that they have no enemies at the Lord’s Table. Christians should be willing to let go of their grievances with their brothers and sisters, or they run the risk of forfeiting their own forgiveness from Christ, as we learn in the parable of the unforgiving servant.

And finally, there is another aspect to the blest Communion with Christ and with one another that our Lord grants in the Lord’s Supper that we have yet to speak about. Have you ever paid close attention to the words of the Communion liturgy? “Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, ever more praising You. . . ” These words remind us that we are “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” when we are gathered at the Lord’s altar. Your departed loved ones who have fallen asleep in Jesus are part of the “company of heaven.” They are among those who have joined the Church Triumphant and are with Christ. In the Lord’s Supper, you have fellowship not only with Christ and with one another, but also with these unseen saints, as the hymn confesses: “Oh, blest Communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.” What comfort there is in knowing that we have union with our Lord Jesus Christ and with the whole company of heaven!

In this “blest Communion” of Christ’s body and blood, our Lord answers a need that all Christians share: the need to have fellowship with God and with one another. Nowhere does this happen in such a way as it does at the Lord’s altar, where Christians are joined to Christ through His body and blood, and where we who are many are made one body with Christ. May we never despise this blest Communion, but rejoice in it! 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 3/12/23: Third Sunday in Lent

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Imitating God
Ephesians 5:1-9

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

 

There always seems to be a dispute about whether or not behavior is influenced by what we see on the television, video games, and movie screen, and by what we hear over the airwaves. Of course, there are statistics that support both sides of the issue, as statistics can always be made to say what someone wants them to say. Perhaps you remember that Mark Twain said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” But whatever the stats say, common sense tells us that behavior can be influenced by what is seen and heard. And even more persuasive than common sense is the Biblical argument St. Paul makes in this text. He tells us that we are to be imitators of God. How could that be if there was not something from God, something seen and heard, that we are to imitate?

It has been said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. If that is true in positive things, like imitating God, why would it not also be true in negative things? If God wishes His children to imitate Him in His ways, would it not also be the case that His great enemy, Satan, would try to get us to imitate him? The truth is, imitation is something we do all the time. We are likely not even aware how often we imitate what others do or say.

Of course, it should go without saying that we are not to be imitators of Satan. But there are such imitators in the world, and many of them even in places where we would least expect them. On one occasion, Jesus said to the Jews: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires...” Obviously, this is something we should avoid. But we should not even be thoughtless imitators of men. It is true that there have been great men and women of faith, and Holy Scripture encourages us to remember them and imitate their faith. But like us, they were sinners. They needed the same Savior you and I need. They may be good models for imitation, but only in certain respects. Where we can and should imitate them is in the faithful witness they made by the power of the Holy Spirit to the Savior of the world.

If we are to be imitators of God, then we must have a clear picture of Him. To give us that clear picture of God, St. Paul might have laid out a series of divine characteristics we should follow. Instead he chose one divine attribute which includes all the others: love. The clearest picture of God is received by seeing His love. And this encouragement to imitate God is surrounded by His love. In the verse that just precedes our text, Paul says: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” And then, the second verse of our reading says: “Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us...” To know God, and then to imitate Him, means that we first see His love for us perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ. As St. John wrote in his first Epistle: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.” This is the love of God in Jesus Christ that has reconciled the whole world to Himself. In Jesus Christ, God loves us poor sinners. And this is the God of love we are now to imitate. If we believe that God has so loved us as to give His very best for us—His own dear Son—we must love Him in return. Imitating God, then, is not something we are forced or compelled to do. It is not even something we choose to do. The power of that divine love itself persuades us. It is never a matter of fear or intimidation, but a free and willing return of love to Him who has loved us.

Of course we should be concerned by the troubles of our neighbor and extend the hand of love to him. But it is of even greater importance that we are concerned about the needs of his eternal soul. As Jesus wept over the unbelief and rejection from His own people, so we, too, should pray over those among us and around us who remain in unbelief and rejection of Jesus Christ. From a loving heart, we ought to speak of their soul‘s salvation and the love of God for them. Sometimes we have to love someone so much that we must tell them that they are dead in sin. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” In this, too, we are to be imitators of God. 

My brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Paul is encouraging here to imitate God in all of His goodness and mercy—not because our efforts to do so contribute anything to our salvation, but because the blessings of that salvation are already ours by His grace. May God grant that we would be faithful imitators of His love and mercy, that the lives and souls of those whom we encounter every day might also find in Jesus Christ their hope for life and salvation, now and 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.

Sermon for 3/8/23: Midweek Lent 2 (Lord's Supper series)

This continues our sermon series for the season of Lent: our series on the Lord's Supper. It is never a bad thing to return to the Catechism so that we may continue to grow in faith toward God and appreciation for His gifts to us.  

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CLICK HERE for the sermon video.

The Words of Institution
Luke 10:25-37

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

 Bruised, beaten, and helpless, the man who had fallen among thieves lay on the roadside. He was half dead, needing rescue and healing. If help had not come soon, he would surely have perished. A priest and a Levite walk by on the other side of the road. They ignore the plight of the helpless, dying man. But then comes this Samaritan: a foreigner of mixed race and religion, despised by the Jews. When he sees the poor, wounded man, Luke says that he had compassion. He was moved in the gut, the same way Jesus was moved at the sight of people who were suffering. The Samaritan wastes no time in helping the injured man, immediately binding up the man’s wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He places him on his own animal and takes him to an inn. The Good Samaritan doesn’t stop there. He places the man into the care of the innkeeper, gives him some money for expenses, and promises to repay the innkeeper upon his return.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, if this was just a lesson in morality, a story to remind Christians what they should do for others, then that would not leave us much in the way of comfort, would it? After all, we do not live this way, and we should love our neighbor this way. But more than that, with this parable Jesus paints a beautiful portrait of your salvation. He shows you just how desperate your condition was on account of sin, and He shows the gift of healing He has come to bring. This man in the parable provides a picture of all the fallen sons of Adam. Wounded by sin, beaten by the devil’s attacks, robbed of our good standing with God, we, too, were “dead in the trespasses and sins.”

Like this man, we were helpless and destitute. Left to ourselves, we would have most certainly perished eternally. Eternal death and damnation are a just reward for our sins. Who could help us? Could the Law? Could Moses raise us up from spiritual death to life? The parable would seem to suggest that this is not so. The priest and the Levite represent Moses and the Law of Sinai, which do not heal but only kill. The Law is good; its commandments are pure. But they cannot help or heal the wounded and beaten sinner.

So along comes this foreigner from heaven called Christ. Like the Samaritan, He is hated by the world. “He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” But He came anyway. The Son of God saw your wretched state and had compassion. He did what the Law could not do: He has bound up the wounds of sinners. He has carried your sins and griefs and sorrows to the cross. And with His stripes—by His wounds, by His death at the hands of sinful men—you are healed.

The healing medicine of Christ’s forgiveness was first applied to you in your Baptism. As you were buried and raised with Christ, your Savior began His good work of healing and restoration in you. For like the man fallen among thieves, “…You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

But the cancer of your sin continues to rear its ugly head. You need ongoing treatments. And this is why your loving Savior has brought you into the inn of His Church and placed you into the care of His called shepherds. In this way, He continues to do for you what He began in your Baptism. He continues to apply the healing medicine of His forgiveness, life, and salvation to your souls. And He does this in a unique and special way in the Lord’s Supper. In this salutary gift, the same Christ who healed every disease among men, the same Christ who bound up the brokenhearted, the same Christ by whose stripes we are healed—He comes and does for you what He did for so many wounded souls in the Gospel. You come to the Lord’s Table, wounded by your sins, helpless and in need of mercy and healing. Jesus sees your miserable condition and has compassion. He comes to weak and weary sinners and gives to you the healing medicine of His crucified and risen body and blood. Like the Samaritan in the parable, Christ binds up your wounds and pours on you the oil and wine of His good Spirit, to comfort wounded consciences.

This healing medicine of Christ’s body and blood is truly a medicine of immortality. Whoever receives this medicine, trusting in its power and benefits, truly has eternal life. Whatever illnesses and ailments you now endure, these will no longer annoy in the life to come. The healing that Christ has begun here will be brought to completion at the day of the resurrection.

So what about you? Do you need consolation? Do you have a wounded conscience? Have you lived as if God did not matter and as if you mattered most of all? Are you plagued by sin and the temptations of the devil? Then this medicine of our Lord’s body and blood is for you. It is for your healing and sanctification.

We give thanks to God during this Lenten season that through this salutary gift, Christ’s healing hand reaches out to us and heals us. “Take and eat!” “Drink of it all of you!” “This is my body.” “This is my blood.” “For you.” “Do this!”  These are the words of your Great Physician, your Good Samaritan, Jesus Christ. Heed His words. Receive the medicine He has for 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 3/5/23: Second Sunday in Lent

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Abounding in Holiness

I Thessalonians 4:1-7

 

 

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

 There is a false teaching very much alive and well among Christians: the idea that, having been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, it becomes our responsibility to make our lives pleasing to God. “Salvation is God’s gift to us; a holy life is our gift to Him.” The first half of that statement is quite correct; the second most definitely is not. St. Paul made this clear in his first Epistle to the Corinthians: “Christ Jesus…became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— ³¹ that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.’” Not only is our salvation a gift from God in Jesus Christ; our entire life of faith, with its holiness and obedience, is also a gift that comes to us through Jesus Christ. It is only when we believe and understand this that we can talk about playing a role in abounding in holiness.

When grace and faith turn our hearts to Jesus Christ, there is a profound change that occurs. When we are convinced that God loves us so much that He gave His own Son as the great Substitute for the whole world, our hearts are overcome by that divine love and a desire to please God in all things. And that is what the word “sanctification” means: the God who gives His Son in the greatest act of sacrificial love overwhelms our hearts with that same love, that we cannot help but abound in holiness. That is not only God’s desire, but ours, as well. But the truth remains that we are both flesh and spirit. Though we are to abound more and more in holiness, and our spirit genuinely desires that, the sinful flesh that clings to us will keep us from achieving it this side of the grave. As Jesus said regarding His disciples, “The spirit, indeed, is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

It doesn’t matter how long one has been a Christian. The time will never come when we can say we have done all the abounding in holiness that God desires of us. On the surface, this text might seem to address those who are faced with the kinds of temptations that are most typical to the young. But each age and generation has temptations to immorality unique to it. As long as you live and breathe in this world, what Paul says here cuts across every age and every source of temptation: “We urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God.” But we still find ourselves repeatedly in that same condition as Paul: “The good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.” Were we to live to be as old as Methuselah himself, we would still need to pray daily, “Forgive us our trespasses.”

But now, with the encouragement to abound in holiness, Paul also tells us how this is to be accomplished under God’s grace. He singles out for attention two of God’s Commandments which are especially important in one’s personal holiness: the sixth and seventh commandments. “This is the will of God, your sanctification; that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and defraud his brother in this matter...” Being constantly bombarded by such things, that already delicate sense of right and wrong can be easily lost and, before you know it, even Christians are apt to go along. It sounds something like our day, doesn’t it? Isn’t it often true that what you and I consider right and moral, because it is pleasing to God, the society around us generally considers abnormal? Isaiah saw it clearly: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil...”

If we are to stand successfully against these temptations, we cannot forget the weaponry God has given us: His Word and prayer. If your heart and mind are saturated with the Word of God, if you continue to think on it and pray over it, there will simply be less and less room for sinful thoughts and desires. Satan loves a vacuum. If your heart and mind are empty of divine things, you can be sure he will find ways to fill them up with his things. Last Sunday we heard how Jesus met every temptation with the Word of God. If it was necessary for Jesus to do this, how much more so must it be for us? If we are to abound more and more in holiness, who will be doing the motivating? Will we motivate ourselves? Is that our part of the bargain? Or will our motivation come from our Lord Jesus, through His Holy Spirit, “...our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption?”

One of the great blessings of the Lenten season is that it intensely focuses our attention squarely on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, that is where our attention should always be directed. But in this holy season, we are brought face to face with the suffering and death of Him who came for the singular purpose of saving us from sin, death, and the devil. Only in His saving labors do we find forgiveness of sins, life now, and life forever in the security of God’s eternal Kingdom. Only in His saving labors may we abound more and more in holiness. May God in His rich and abundant mercy grant this to us for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 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 3/1/23: Midweek Lent 1 (Lord's Supper series)

This continues our sermon series for the season of Lent: our series on the Lord's Supper. It is never a bad thing to return to the Catechism so that we may continue to grow in faith toward God and appreciation for His gifts to us.

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the sermon video.

The Nature of Holy Communion
Exodus 16:1-21

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

The Lord delivered His people Israel from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. It was a time of great rejoicing as the Lord delivered His children from Pharaoh, bringing them across the sea on dry ground and washing away Pharaoh’s army. It was a day of victory, a day of release for the captives. God had shown strength with His arm and given the sons of Jacob a new beginning as His chosen people.

It would not take long, though, before that new beginning was spoiled, just as it didn’t take long for Noah and his family to spoil the new beginning after the flood. The people began to wonder how they would survive out in the wilderness. Like newborn babes, hungry for nourishment, the newly redeemed Israelites soon began to notice their hunger pangs. But instead of inquiring of the Lord, instead of trusting in Him to provide for them, they began to grumble against Moses and Aaron. “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

The people were hungry. They were in a wilderness, without food or water. They thought that they had it better back in Egypt as slaves. But the Lord was merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in love. He promised to rain down bread from heaven for them so that they could eat and be satisfied. The Lord heard their grumbling, and though they deserved to die, He responded with love: “At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.” And that is exactly what happened. God was faithful to His promise. In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp; in the morning, the dew settled. And when the dew had gone up, there was a fine substance on the ground. Moses told them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.”

This was bread from heaven. God provided it to ease their physical hunger. He fed His newborn children so that they would not go hungry in the wilderness and die. But it didn’t sustain them forever. They still died eventually. It offered no lasting benefits. And there was a reason for that: this miraculous feeding was meant to teach them something about what God would do in the future. This was a sign, the full significance of which would not be revealed until the coming of Jesus. St. John records for us our Lord’s own interpretation of these events: “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

So this miraculous feeding of the Israelites pointed to the coming of the Christ and the gifts of salvation that He would bring. In the fullness of time, God would rain down bread from heaven once again for His people. He would give them His Son, who is Himself “the bread of God…who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Christ is the new and greater manna, for He does not come merely to satisfy your physical hunger. He comes to satisfy those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” He alone can satisfy the hunger of your souls. Whoever eats of this bread—whoever eats of Jesus Christ—will live forever, for His flesh and His blood nourish and strengthen the soul unto eternal life.

“Lord, give us this bread always,” begged the disciples. And so He does. Every time you are gathered around His gifts of Word and Supper, Christ feeds you with heavenly manna, just as He fed the Israelites in the wilderness. He feeds you with holy food, as we just sang:

We eat this bread and drink this cup,
Your precious Word believing
That Your true body and Your blood
Our lips are here receiving.

As you feast on His body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins, the Lord gives you the spiritual nourishment that your souls need for the journey. Jesus knows that you need such nourishment. He knows that the journey through the wilderness of this world is long and difficult. He sees your daily battle with your sinful flesh. He knows your physical ailments. He knows you grumble at the gifts He gives, just as the children of Israel did long ago. There is a part of you—a sinful part—that thinks that what God has done for you is not good enough. There is a part of you that longs to return to your spiritual Egypt, to the captivity of your sins. But He is merciful. He is slow to anger. He abounds in loving faithfulness.

He does not want you to faint or grow weary. And so He comes, week after week, inviting battle-weary sinners to commune at His Table, until you finally reach the heavenly Promised Land. Now is not the time to grumble, to long for the days of your captivity as Israel once did. Now is not the time to complain that God means to harm you. Now is not the time to worry that you might not appreciate this salutary gift if it is offered too frequently.

Now is the time to receive in faith the gifts our Lord wants to give. Luther tells us in his Large Catechism: “…By Baptism we are first born anew. But…there still remains the old vicious nature of flesh and blood in mankind. There are so many hindrances and temptations of the devil and of the world that we often become weary and faint, and sometimes we also stumble. Therefore, the Sacrament is given as a daily pasture and sustenance, that faith may refresh and strengthen itself so that it will not fall back in such a battle, but become ever stronger and stronger.”

This is manna from heaven, life-giving bread, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. That is your spiritual sustenance as you wander through the wilderness of this world. That is the Lord’s salutary gift to you—a gift that is undeserved, to be sure, but one that comes from your loving and faithful Lord. 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.