Sermon for 10/29/23: Festival of the Reformation

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Free in Christ

Revelation 14:6-7

 

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

The Lutheran Reformation was all about freedom. Now, it’s not about the civil and social freedoms we enjoy as citizens of our nation. As much as we may appreciate those freedoms, the Reformation was about something better. It was about the freedom Jesus addressed in today’s Gospel: the freedom that comes from being delivered from the guilt and punishment of sin. The Jews of our Lord’s Day were oppressed, not only by their Roman conquerors, but also by a religious life that was heavily burdened by law after law piled on top of God’s commands.

Luther’s day was very much like that. The Roman Church of that time was keeping Christians shackled by the Law. The people were burdened by guilt for their sins, and the emphasis of the Church was constantly on what they should do about it. So the Pope sold indulgences, a means of purchasing forgiveness of sins with money. You could pay for your own sins or even for the sins of your long-dead ancestors. Sacred relics, such as fragments of the cross or bits of the bones of the saints, were revered for their alleged ability to grant saving merits. The emphasis was on man’s duty to satisfy God. Even worship, the freest expression of the faith of a Christian, became an obligation.

When Luther and others rediscovered the sweetness of the Gospel, they began to taste real freedom! God did not want man to remain shackled with the burdens of the Law. He set them free from a religion of unending obligation to one of the free grace of God. No longer did men have to strive to be good enough for God to love them. When would that be? When would you know that you had done enough? Instead, they could believe the Gospel message: that God was fully pleased with them in His Son, Jesus Christ, because He had paid the price for their redemption—indeed, for the redemption of the whole world at His cross.

Luther and others like him had their eyes opened to the Biblical way of viewing the judgment of God. They had been taught to view God as an angry Judge who was constantly sniffing around, looking for sins which would merit the condemnation of sinners. But they had missed the other half of God’s judgment: the verdict of “not guilty,” which He freely gives to those who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ! For when the Father condemned His only-begotten Son at the cross, the price was paid in full by Jesus, who bears the burden, guilt, and punishment for your sin.

You have been set free by Christ’s sacrifice at the cross. So don’t re-shackle yourself with the burden of the Law. You would never do that, right? And yet, you do, and so do I. Whenever you try so hard to do what is God-pleasing, as if your life depended on it, you shackle yourself. If you think you can’t be forgiven, you are shackled. If you dread the judgment of God on the Last Day, fearing that you haven’t done enough to please God, you remain shackled. If you ever think that the things of the Church are primarily about what you do, you are shackled.

So we all shackle ourselves in one way or another. So what can we do to get ourselves free? Nothing! That’s the point! Getting us free of shackles is God’s job, not yours! That’s what worship is all about. Worship is God’s favorable judgment for you. You come each Sunday as a shackled sinner, and God forgives your sin and removes those shackles through His proclaimed Word and the Sacraments. He has cleansed you by water and the Word, freeing you from your sins in Holy Baptism. He has judged you worthy to come to the wedding banquet of the body and blood of Christ. If more Christians understood and believed that worship is not an obligation to be met, but the place where Christ is dispensing His gifts of salvation and eternal life, Sunday morning could not come soon enough, and the Divine Service could not last long enough!

You are those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. That is how the beginning of this 14^th Chapter of Revelation frames our text. St. John says: “Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. …It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb...” He washes you from your sins in your Baptism, and you are here! It is here that salvation is proclaimed to you, and you are present to hear it. You come with your heart heavy with the guilty burden of sin, and Jesus proclaims it forgiven through the servant He puts here for that purpose. The Lamb of God is really present with His body given into death for you and His blood shed at the cross for you, and you are here to receive it. You have no reason whatsoever to fear the judgment of God, because He judges you to be forgiven: set free from sin, death, and the devil by His victory at the cross! You are set free—free to worship Him without fear, free to live forever as a redeemed child of God. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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

Sermon for 10/15/23: Nineteenth Sunday After Trinity

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Dreams Come True
Genesis 28:10-17

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

 

 

Jacob had a dream. Perhaps this dream was, to some extent, initiated by the stresses of life. Jacob was on the run from the wrath of his brother, Esau, who had threatened to kill him. He was on the run from his father, Isaac, who was disappointed by the deception Jacob had used to gain the blessing intended for Esau. Whatever the case, it was a dream the Lord was going to use for His purposes and Jacob’s eternal blessing.

Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebekah, a grandson of Abraham and Sarah. His twin brother, Esau, was born first, with Jacob following, grasping his brother’s heel. From birth on, Esau was the sturdiest in stature and was a gifted hunter and provider. Jacob was slighter in stature. But God often chooses what seems to us to be the weaker—think of Abel and Joseph, Gideon and David, Jeremiah and even Jesus Himself, who did not stand out among men in ways that one would look for in the Messiah. This helps explain why, in today’s Gospel reading, our Lord’s pronouncement of the forgiveness of sin and then healing the paralytic completely confused the religious leaders.

It was through cunning and deception that Jacob secured the birthright and blessing away from his brother. And although favored by his mother, he could not remain safely in his home; he ran for protection to his mother’s brother, Laban. And now he has this dream, followed by God repeating His promise as given to Abraham and Isaac. And this same promise of life and salvation has been kept not just to those three, but to all who share their faith in the one true God.

Jacob awoke from his dream afraid. It had been an overwhelming experience. He had seen the glory of God firsthand. God had spoken to him as God had spoken to Adam and to Noah and to Enoch and to his grandfather and his father. Despite his failings and shortcomings—and they were many—Jacob had been set aside by God in a way that went far beyond his thinking when he had fraudulently secured the birthright and blessing from his brother. This was an overwhelming moment for him, wondering what God was going to do with him in all of this.

But God causes all things to happen so that sinners will call upon Him in the day of trouble, that He would deliver them. St. Paul said: “All things work together for the good of those who love God, and are called according to His purpose.” And now God had called Jacob according to the purpose He had for him. As little as Jacob’s faith may have been, God kept him in that faith, never letting him go. Jacob was like that paralytic. He had no strength, no ability of his own, to get to Jesus. Still, Jesus saw this man’s faith and healed first his soul, which needed healing first, through the forgiveness of sins. The ability to get up and walk was secondary, but it was a visible sign to all that Jesus does indeed have authority over all things in heaven and on earth.

When we look at Jacob honestly, we are looking into the mirror of weakness and sin. On that night, with nothing but a rock for a pillow, God used Jacob’s brokenness to pull him back into the fold, into that promise of life and salvation given to Adam and Eve, to Abraham and Isaac, and, eventually to David and Solomon. That promise remained, even as God’s people were exiled to Babylon. That was the promise Jesus brought when He healed and forgave Jew and Gentile alike. That was the promise with which Jesus sent out His disciples, that good news of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life offered to all. And it is with that same promise that the Holy Spirit works the miracle of faith in the hearts of those who hear Him.

God shows His great love for mankind as He restores Jacob and all who are like him. Remember Peter: at the miracle of the huge catch of fish, he asked Jesus to get away from him because he was a sinful man. He knew he did not deserve the love and forgiveness of God. “I do not know the man,” Peter would later say of Jesus, but then he wept bitterly, only to be restored as Jesus sent him out to feed His sheep.

Like Jacob, your dream, your desire to put the past behind you and to be restored to God, has come true. You have heard Jesus speak the words that your sins are forgiven, just as the cripple in the Gospel heard those same words. God keeps His promise to all people, continuing to be their God and promising to never leave nor forsake them. The Son of God kept His promise as He fulfilled all and conquered all, even death and the grave. And now, like Jacob, He has brought you back through His Word. No longer will you flee from your deceptions; no longer will you run from your former life. You are God’s dear child for eternity through Holy Baptism. At the Last Day, God will send His angels at the last trumpet; He will gather you together with all the faithful from the four winds, from the ends of the earth. Thanks be to God for this remarkable promise, this dream come true. In the name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

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

Sermon for 10/3/23: Southern Illinois District Pastors Conference

This was the sermon I preached for Matins yesterday at the Southern Illinois District Pastors Conference. I've been a pastor for over 23 years; this was the first time I've served in this capacity. Interesting sensation, to bring the Word to your peers. But I guess that's what I get for volunteering, for trying to get more involved in things that I had to say no to before. 

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Faithful Preaching for the Narrow Gate
Matthew 7:15-22

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

If you’ve ever seen the Halloween special “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” you may recall that Linus Van Pelt believes in the Great Pumpkin. On Halloween, as Linus believes, the Great Pumpkin rises from the pumpkin patch he deems to be “the most sincere,” and he flies around, bringing toys to all the good little boys and girls in the world. In hopes of luring the Great Pumpkin to his local pumpkin patch, Linus cries out, “Just look! Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see!” Linus may be sincere, but ultimately he is a false prophet: the Great Pumpkin does not exist, no matter how sincere Linus may be.

Our text is a firm warning for our parishioners to heed the voice of the Good Shepherd, to flee from false teachers, to refuse to partake of the bad fruit of their lies and deceit. I remind my congregations that it’s their job to keep me faithful, to test what I preach and teach against what our Lord says in His Word; and if I should preach contrary to the Word of God, it is their duty to point out my error to me and even to drive me out if I remain an unfaithful prophet. A false teacher may tell people what they want to hear, but false preaching is neither edifying nor fruitful for their salvation; false preaching is the wide path that leads to the inviting and beautifully-adorned gates of Hell.

In that way, this text is also a warning to us who are called to preach the Gospel that we must not be false teachers, that we must not tickle the ears of our hearers with pleasant but false teachings. We know that the Church is built on the solid rock of Peter’s faithful confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Naturally we all strive to be faithful to the Word of God, to the confession that Jesus is our Savior, as we preach and teach; in fact, we promise to do so with the help of God in our Ordination vows. We know we must answer before the righteous Judge on the Last Day for the souls placed in our care.

And yet…we know how sinful mankind measures success. We know that a church where the attendance is shrinking is seen as a failing congregation and the pastor of that shrinking congregation is viewed as a failure. There is a little false prophet whispering in your ear, trying to convince you that you could be a success, that you could have a growing congregation with a growing general fund, if only you would tone things down a bit. Perhaps the church would not shrink quite so quickly—or maybe even grow—if you would be a little less blunt in your preaching against sin. Oh, you can still preach against sin, but maybe be more generic; don’t call out sins by their names. The abortion industry, for example, is growing quickly here in Southern Illinois. With people flocking in by the trainload to murder their God-given children, maybe you could stop calling it murder. With cohabitation being the norm instead of the exception these days, maybe you could let it slide. Do you really need to preach against gossip when you know it will upset the group that meets in the parking lot after the Divine Service? Would it not possibly help the bottom line in your parish if you’d be a little more tolerant? “Lord, Lord, did we not make the attendance numbers rise in your name? Did we not increase the congregation’s budget in your name?”

That might be the case, but such preaching is negligent; it is not faithful to the Word of God. The truth of the matter is that the Gospel is an offense. Man may judge you by the size of your parish and the number of digits in your general fund, but our Lord does not judge the way man judges. The Lord knows well the difficulties presented by His teaching, but He never compromised the truth of what He said. On the contrary, Jesus at times said things that were so difficult to accept that He lost many of His followers. While that may have troubled His loving heart, it never moved Him to change what He said. He explained how the world would receive those who claim Christ as Master by faith: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” You must preach the offensive Gospel, even if it means your congregation doesn’t grow; even if it means your congregation shrinks or even closes; even if it means the Lord’s enemies cast you out. You cannot compromise for the sake of self-preservation. Bureaucracy exists to protect itself, but the Church exists so that people will die to sin and rise to new life in the waters of Holy Baptism. The Church exists so that sheep will walk through the narrow gate that leads to eternal life.

It is a difficult path. You enter the kingdom of God only by following Jesus through the narrow gate. The true prophets speak the Word of God; false prophets would pass off their own words as God’s Word. What is the Christian to do? Does God leave you to try and sort out all of this yourself, to distinguish the true from the false? St. Paul tells us, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” The Holy Spirit bears witness to you, so that you may cry out, “Lord, Lord!”—not in fear or doubt or deception, but in the boldness of faith.

Our Father in heaven does not forsake His children. He gives His Holy Spirit to you so you may know that you belong to Him, so that you may know that it’s truly the voice of Christ you hear and preach. He gives His Holy Spirit to you to keep you on the narrow way. He set you on that narrow path in Holy Baptism. But He does not leave you to take that path alone; Jesus walked that narrow road to His death for you so that, having been baptized into His death, you would also share in His life. He speaks His word of forgiveness to you when the temptation to compromise overtakes you. He gives you food in His own body and blood to sustain you for the difficult journey. On the Last Day, there will be no need to convince Jesus that you were faithful to Him, for Christ Himself will be your boast, your confidence, your certain entrance through the narrow gate. Covered by the Lamb Himself and bearing the good fruit of His cross, you have 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.

HYMN: Give Ear, O Lord, and Hear My Plea

 It’s been a while since I’ve written a hymn that I thought was good. It’s been over a year, actually, and I’ve only written one text this calendar year. Well, now it’s two. 

I’m at the district pastors conference for the Southern Illinois District, and we’re looking at the topic of acedia, which is translated as spiritual listlessness or spiritual sloth or the equivalent. We’ve had two excellent speakers: the Reverend Doctor Joel Elowsky, who happens to be the husband of my Eighth Grade Spanish teacher at (the now-closed) St. Paul Lutheran School in North Tonawanda, New York; and the Reverend Doctor Tyler Arnold, who was well acquainted with my vicarage bishop, the sainted Reverend Kim Scharff. Anyway, during Pastor Arnold’s presentation, he quoted Psalm 143:4, which says, “Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart within me is distressed.” It sparked the notion of an idea in me, and then I decided to look at the rest of Psalm 143, and it gave me a framework. This text is pretty much a paraphrase of Psalm 143 with a few additions and changes. Feedback is love.

Give Ear, O Lord, and Hear My Plea

1. Give ear, O Lord, and hear my plea.

In faithful mercy answer me.

My righteous Lord, my prayer attend,

For You alone can help extend.

2. My spirit grieves within my breast.

I groan in wretched restlessness.

My hope is lost in dark despair.

The devil stalks me everywhere.

3. The evil foe seeks my distress.

I claim myself no righteousness.

Alone, I falter, helpless prey.

I thirst for You like crumbling clay.

4. On Your great works I meditate

And on Your boundless love I wait.

Hide not Your face, but hear my wails.

Without my God, my spirit fails.

5. Teach me to walk the faithful way.

Oh, hear Your servant, Lord, and stay.

You are my shelter and my shield.

You are my God; to You I yield.

6. Upon Your servant ever shine

And bathe me in Your grace divine.

Garb me in hope and let me see

Your triumph on my enemy.

7. Revive me by Your holy name,

And free my soul from fear and shame,

That I may sing Your joyous praise

And serve my God for all my days.

LM (88 88)

GOTTLOB, ES GEHT NUNMEHR ZU ENDE (LSB 616)

Psalm 143; Acedia (spiritual restlessness), Grief, Depression

Sermon for 10/1/23: Seventeenth Sunday After Trinity

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Worthy

Ephesians 4:1-6

 

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

 

There is something in the human heart that responds to a challenge. When St. Paul appeals to us in the opening words of this text to “walk in a manner worthy,” there may be a quiet stirring of restless energy as we prepare for the challenge. We want that challenge to be something that is noble, something that will lend a glory to what is all too often the routine weariness of our lives.

But then Paul goes on to give the details of the challenge. This walk, he says, is to be done with humility, gentleness, patience, and the willingness to bear in love with others, whatever their weaknesses and failings may be. Perhaps when we hear this, the eagerness that accompanied the original challenge begins to subside a bit. Our walk of faith does not seem to be a matter of high spirituality—at least, not like the disciples experienced with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, for example. Like them, we would like very much to never have to descend again to the valleys of daily life with its disappointments and frustrating relationships.

But that is the point, isn’t it? It is in the very ordinariness of everyday life that faith matters. And in those everyday lives, it is the human relationships that end up making all the difference. We are bound together in a common humanity which is meant to mirror that unity of the Spirit, God’s great gift to His Church, to which He calls us to walk in a manner worthy of that calling.

God’s eternal purpose was a free and harmonious fellowship of His people, united in His love for them and their love for Him. Each of God’s creatures is a unique personality, but we are not meant to stand alone. We will only develop properly in close fellowship with others. This is really the essence of the family. But even more than that, we are not to be separated in this life from fellowship with God Himself. That is the most unnatural thing that can happen to us. The true life of every human creature is found only in a life of complete harmony with God.

But something has gone wrong. Each of us puts himself or herself, individually, at the center of the universe where God should be. That is what sin does. By making ourselves into little gods, we not only separate ourselves from God but from each other. For example, many of us get married so that we will not have to be alone; that’s what God designed marriage to be. And yet, so often, the moment marriage restricts what we think should be our freedom, we want to rebel. We try to force our will upon our partner, and when that fails, we rush to the divorce courts. It’s like that in all human relationships. Man rebels against his God-given nature and ends up making a tragedy of his life.

But God has never given up on us, and He won’t as long as time runs its course. God has always had His purpose: that all of mankind might be one unified body in Him through Jesus Christ. And that is what St. Paul is addressing in this text and throughout his Epistle to the Ephesians. God has done what is necessary to realize His purpose. In Jesus Christ, God became Man to give Himself into suffering and death so that all might have that new beginning in the forgiveness of sins. In the cross of Jesus Christ, our God has broken down every wall that man’s sin and selfishness has erected between himself and his neighbor as well as himself and God. In His resurrection, Jesus has become the Head over all things in heaven and on earth, all for the benefit of the Church. And now, through faith, we are identified with all that God has done in Christ.

If we have comprehended anything about God’s purpose for mankind, then we must realize that there comes to us no greater purpose, no higher challenge, than this one in our text. This challenge is bound up with who we are in Christ in that call God has extended to us through the Gospel. It touches on everything we are: husband, wife, father, mother, widow, widower, child, student, employer, employee—you name it. The challenge falls to each of us: “Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace...” We are not asked to create this unity any more than we are asked to establish our own peace with God. Christ is our peace; He is the foundation of our unity with one another and with God.

What a wonderful challenge He has set before us. And He equips us to walk in that worthy manner. Joined through “one Baptism” and the “one faith” to this “one Lord,” we have been gathered into this “one body.” This is God’s great doing. For us there remains only the great endeavor of doing all within our power, under the guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit, to keep this unity which is God’s gift to us in the one Lord Jesus Christ. And we have no better means for this than the blessed Holy Supper that is offered to us: its gifts of the very body and blood of that one Lord, offered and given for the remission of our sins, given to strengthen us as we walk together worthily in 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.