Sermon for 11/19/23: Twenty-Fourth Sunday After Trinity

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“The Arm of the Lord”

Isaiah 51:9-16

 

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

 

 

The arm of the Lord is a pretty amazing thing. The Father stretches forth His arm as He speaks and creates the heavens and the earth. The Lord reaches down to make a way for Israel to pass through the Red Sea. Jesus reaches out His hand to a dead child and raises her to life again! You can see that, when God moves His almighty arm, amazing things happen. This has not changed over the years. He keeps on stretching forth His arm, even reaching out to bless you this day.

But we need to take a moment to figure out what this strong arm of our God is. The arm of God is not just some metaphor that will cause people to realize that there is a powerful God out there somewhere who really does care about His creatures. Nor is He a stern God, looking down on you with His arms folded and with a scowl on His face, waiting to pounce in judgment on your every action. He is not an uncaring God, watching from a distance, indifferent toward you and your daily needs and ongoing problems. No, your Lord actually reaches out His strong arm, His gracious hand, to bless you in many and various ways.

We also do well to remember that God has two arms for blessing us. With His left hand, He provides for us our daily bread—all that we need for the support of our bodies and our lives here on this earth. He gives you clothing and food. He gives you a home and the means to provide for a family. He provides the weather and governing authorities to protect you. He gives you health and friends and a host of other blessings with His left hand. He blesses you richly each day, often with more than you actually need, so that you may be a blessing to others.

That’s a whole lot that God does with only one hand! And He does all of this with the “lesser” of His two hands, so to speak, for you have a God who is, above all, “right-handed.” His almighty right hand has the power to save you! His right hand bestows those heavenly blessings that last forever! The all-powerful right hand of God is what He uses to forgive your sins, to rescue you from death and Satan, and to grant you everlasting life in paradise with Him!

The right hand of God assures all who hold to His Word that He will, indeed, carry out the promises He has made. God’s people have no need to fear mere men. Your deliverance rests in the hand of the Lord who is your Maker and your Redeemer. It is the right hand of God that offers comfort to those who believe in Him and have His Word in their hearts and on their lips. He has chosen you to be His. He has declared you to be His own. He has given you that message of redemption and righteousness and the promise of a new heaven and a new earth to come. And you, and all who believe this, rest securely in the powerful hand of the Lord. No one will be permitted to steal you from His powerful right hand.

But so often we forget this powerful comfort of God. Perhaps we are intimidated when others ridicule us or when we are threatened with harm. Yet the pages of Holy Scripture and sacred history are filled with the stories of those who have been upheld by the right hand of the Lord, those who were prepared to offer up their lives rather than deny the Lord who had bought them at such a precious price: the price of His own life and blood.

You know about this powerful right hand of God. You confess it in the Creed. It is Jesus, your Savior, who is at the right hand of God! He came down to earth to accomplish what no man before or after ever could. He kept God’s Law perfectly in Your place, earning life in heaven for you and for all who trust in Him. Then He willingly gave up His own glory, instead suffering the death you deserved at His cross, so that by His death you would have eternal life given to you as a free gift!

And the right hand of God continues to act to bless You today! The right hand of God came down to you in the font to cleanse you of your sins in baptism. The right hand of God marks you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified in Holy Absolution. The right hand of God serves you the body and blood of Christ, given into death for the forgiveness of your sins.

And God’s right hand continues to deliver you from death and the devil’s temptations still today. It still marks you with the cross of Jesus Christ, your Savior. It keeps on cleansing you from sin as your baptism brings you daily to repentance. The right hand of God covers you in its shadow to protect and keep you. It is stirred up again and again to help you by His great love for you in Jesus Christ. His strong arm reaches out to lift you up to life again. And that strong arm takes you finally to heaven, will you will hear Him say, “You are my beloved, now and forevermore.” 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.