Sermon for 4/20/25: Resurrection of Our Lord (Salutary Gift series)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the service video.

The Lamb’s High Feast
Exodus 12:1-14
 

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

 

On Good Friday, our Lord was crucified and laid in a tomb. As it was in the beginning of creation, so it was with our Lord’s Passion. After completing His work of redemption He declared, “It is finished!” and He rested in the tomb on the Sabbath Day. As the Church gathers this day, she rejoices in the happy news that Christ who died has risen from the dead. The liturgy for the Easter Vigil places the death and resurrection of Christ in the context of the Passover: “This is the Passover of the Lord in which, by hearing His Word and celebrating His Sacraments, we share in His victory over death.” This also recalls Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.”

The Passover was closely connected with the exodus of God’s people from Egypt. On the night before the Lord delivered the Israelites from bondage, they were to take an unblemished lamb and slaughter it, smearing the blood from the lamb on their doorposts and lintels. They were commanded to eat the roasted flesh of the Passover lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. That night, as the Israelites hunkered in the safety of their blood-smeared homes, the angel of death slew the firstborn in Egypt. The tenth and final plague came in the form of death. But God be praised, for Israel was spared the blade of divine judgment. They were saved by blood of the lamb! That night, God brought Israel out of Egypt, having smote the firstborn of Pharaoh and all his house. It was the Lord’s Passover; it was also the Lord’s victory.

This was not just to be a one-time thing. The exodus itself was not repeated again, but the remembrance of it was to be kept as a “feast to the Lord” throughout their generations. “You shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance.” God wanted them to remember this day forever. He wanted them to remember His great work of redemption, and to celebrate it annually with their families.

But this Passover festival that commemorated their exodus from the hands of Pharaoh served a greater purpose. It was a type and shadow of that greater exodus, when the Lord’s own firstborn Son would suffer the pains of death for sinners. That is why Paul says that “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.” Christ was the true Passover Lamb, whose blood was shed so that we might be spared eternal death. By His death and resurrection, God has brought His true Israel, the Church, out of the Egypt of sin and death. As our hymn confesses:

    Where the paschal blood is poured,

    Death’s dread angel sheathes the sword;             
    Israel’s hosts triumphant go              
    Through the wave that drowns the foe. Alleluia! 

            The wave that has drowned the old evil foe in us is none other bloody water that flowed from our Lord’s side, representing Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. By that blessed washing away of sins, the old man in us has been drowned and engulfed. Those who are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection have freed from bondage to sin and Satan.

But the Lord’s Passover would not be complete without a meal. The Israelites were commanded to eat the flesh of the roasted lamb. Likewise, our Lord says to the true Israel: “Take and eat, this is My body which is given for you.” In the salutary gift of the Lord’s Supper, the Church feasts on the body and blood of the Lamb of God, who was sacrificed for us on the altar of the cross. This blood shed for us on Calvary, sprinkled on us in our Baptism, is smeared on the doorposts and lintels of our hearts as we receive it at the Lord’s Table. And since our Lord’s precious blood has touched our hearts and absolved us, all fear and dread must flee. All worry and doubt about our standing with God must cease, for “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

        The exodus of our Lord’s death and resurrection only took place once. Like the exodus of Israel from Egypt, it is not repeated. But it is remembered and recalled every year during Holy Week and Easter. It is remembered and celebrated daily in the Church, every time the Church receives the Lord’s Supper. “Do this in remembrance of Me,” said Christ. This is a perpetual feast to the Lord. This is the Lord’s Passover, when Christ passed over from death to life. The seal of the grave is broken. Today our celebration of Christ’s triumph over death begins, especially as He appears to us in the salutary gift of His body and blood. And we are free, indeed we are invited to celebrate this holy Feast whenever we gather in the name of Jesus. 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 4/18/25: Good Friday (Salutary GIft series)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the service video.

The Cup of Wrath, the Cup of Blessing
Isaiah 52:13–53:12

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

There are two things that are made crystal clear on Good Friday. The first is that God takes sin seriously; His wrath toward sinners is real. The death of His Son on the cross proves this beyond all doubt. The second is that His love for sinners is also real. The cross of Christ also shows the extent of His love, the price He is willing to pay to redeem the fallen sons of Adam. This is why you need Good Friday: it is your nature to underestimate God’s potential for wrath when it comes to your sin; it is your nature to doubt God’s favor when things go badly in your life. Scripture is full of evidence that God despises sin and punishes it, yet we often take His patience as proof of the opposite. We look around and see how much wickedness seems to go unpunished, and we conclude that God must not be all that concerned about sin.

Our culture doesn’t offer much help in this regard. Today, no one really likes to talk about God’s “wrath.” He is a God of love, and that is as far as some churches and teachers will go. In many pockets of Christianity, people have fashioned for themselves a tame god, a god that winks at sin, a god who will allow anything for the sake of what we call love. Think about it: if you really considered your daily violations of God’s Commandments as deserving of death and damnation, wouldn’t you run to your pastor for Confession? If you simply took God at His Word and believed Him when He says that “the wages of sin is death,” wouldn’t you seek to be free of your guilt and obey His Commandments?

With Good Friday in view, we cannot believe that God ignores our sin. We can no longer brush off our sins and say, “Oops, I did it again.” We are forced to face the reality of what God thinks about sin and what it deserves. If ever there was proof that God takes sin seriously, it was hanging on the cross on Calvary. It was there in the beaten, bloody, bruised, and dead body of His Son. There God showed the world that He meant it when He said to Adam and Eve: “In the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.” When you see Christ hanging on the cross, you are compelled to see what God really thinks of your lying, your lustful thoughts and actions, your covetous desires, your gossip—every sin you take for granted. But God did not send His Son to the cross to make you feel bad. Good Friday is not a “feel sorry for Jesus” day. Christ willingly drank the cup of suffering for you.

What you ought to see most clearly in the cross of Christ is the extent of His love for sinners. If ever there was proof of God’s love, proof of His mercy toward sinners, proof of His desire to save, it hung there on Calvary. There the holy God was taking out His wrath and anger toward your sin on His innocent and holy Son so that you would not have to face His wrath for eternity.

But you would not know this merely by looking at the cross, apart from faith. It is only by divine revelation through the mouths of prophets and apostles that you know what was actually taking place on that day. Without this, you would be like those who believed Him to be “stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” You would not know just by looking at the cross that He was “wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities.” You would not have known, unless it had been revealed to you in the Word, that in Christ, “God was reconciling the world to Himself.” This is why Christ made known to His disciples the purpose of His sacrifice in the words by which He instituted the Sacrament of the Altar: “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

So it is through the words of Jesus, and His prophets and apostles, that you know and believe that everything that happened on Good Friday was according to God’s own will. As the Prophet Isaiah declared: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.” Every whip, every jeer, every nail driven into the hands and feet of Jesus turned God’s fierce anger away from your sin. As long as we remain united to Christ by faith, we are safe from God’s all-consuming anger toward sin and unbelief. This is why we run to Christ when we are overcome by our sinful urges. This is why we remember our Baptism, where God buried us and raised us with Christ. And this is one of the reasons why there is such comfort for Christians in the salutary gift of the Lord’s Supper. This is one of the reasons our Lord desires for you to receive His Supper frequently, why the Lutheran Confessions encourages us to receive it every Lord’s Day.

Through participation in this sacrificial banquet, you receive the benefits of Good Friday, especially pardon for all your sins, won for you on Calvary. God declared all sin forgiven in Christ’s death. But this gift is graciously delivered to you and made available to you here and now in tangible things like bread and wine. And since Christ has turned away the wrath of His Father toward you by His sacrificial death, now the Father turns to you in love when you come to His holy Table. Your merciful and faithful High Priest, Jesus Christ, has made full atonement for your sins. “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. …And with His stripes, we are healed.”

Today, you can breathe a sigh of relief that divine judgment swept past you and stuck in the innocent flesh of Jesus. You can thank your gracious Father for unleashing His wrath toward your sin on His Son, thereby canceling your debt. You can wake up and go to work each morning, secure in the forgiveness of your sins won for you on the cross and given to you in Holy Communion. You can approach your Father boldly, having been cleansed of your sins through Holy Baptism, knowing that you stand innocent before Him by faith.

That is how the Church looks at the death of the Son of God. That is why we call this day “Good.” It was good that God placed His own Son under a curse, good that the nails were driven into His flesh, good that the spear pierced His side, good that blood and water flowed from Him, good that His head was bowed in death for us. And it is good that He has turned the cup of His Father’s wrath into a cup of overflowing blessing for us, which we receive with grateful hearts in His Holy Supper.  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 4/17/25: Maundy Thursday (Salutary Gift series)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the service video.

A Meal of Rest and Refreshment
Exodus 31:12-18

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

“Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” This was the Lord’s solemn command to His newly redeemed people. He had given them many other commands, but above all, the Lord wanted His people to rest from all their work, just as the Lord Himself had rested from all His works of creation. By observing this command, the people would know that it is the Lord who sanctifies them. God also warned the people what would happen to them if they did not keep the Sabbath. “Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.” God’s command was not to be disobeyed.

Why was it so important? Why was God so insistent that His people set aside a holy day of rest? Besides the obvious purpose of providing physical rest and refreshment, this holy day was established so that God might bring spiritual refreshment to the souls of His people. The Sabbath was a time for the children of Israel to receive instruction in God’s Word, to be refreshed with the Word, to be comforted and renewed.

But the Sabbath Day served another, greater purpose. Like all the laws given by God through Moses, the Sabbath Law was a “tutor,” as St. Paul says, until Christ came, “that we might be justified by faith.” It was to teach His people about the One who is Himself the “Lord of the Sabbath.” With the coming of Christ in the flesh, the true Sabbath rest had come. Jesus shows us that He has fulfilled the Sabbath when He says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” By urging those who are weary by sin to find rest in Him, He is telling us that in Him all our labor ceases, and we find true “rest for our souls.”

During His earthly ministry, many heard our Lord’s invitation. They came to Christ in faith, and they found rest for their souls. They cast off their burdens, their guilty consciences, their sorrow over sin, death, and the devil. They took refuge in the mercy and righteousness of Jesus Christ. They put aside their work so God might work in them through His Son. He is our Sabbath rest because He rested in the tomb. He rested on the Sabbath from all His works of redemption. On Good Friday, after suffering for our sins on the cross, He said, “It is finished.” And then He was laid in the tomb, where He rested until the third day.

Of course, many rejected this invitation. Many Jews did not want to lay aside their works; they wanted their works to count for something. They had forgotten the true purpose of the Sabbath—to point to Christ. They insisted on carrying their own burdens, spurning the Lord’s gracious invitation to cast all their cares on Him and find rest for their souls. Nothing saddens the Lord more than having His invitation despised and rejected. This is why He weeps over Jerusalem: He knows what their rejection will cost them. This is why He so urgently commanded the children of Israel to observe the Sabbath. And this is why He urgently invites those who are troubled by their sins to believe in Him.

Jesus also wants you to find rest for your soul—not in the passing pleasures of this world, nor in your own works and righteousness, but in Him: in His atoning death, in His rest in the tomb, and in His resurrection on the third day. He wants you to lay aside your load of sin, just as He wanted His people of old to rest from all their works. To this end, He has instituted for you and for all of His weary sojourners the salutary gift of the Lord’s Supper.

Every week you come to the Lord’s Table, weak and weary and burdened by sin, in need of spiritual rest and refreshment. You have multiple transgressions against God. Your thoughts and desires have been soiled with sin. Your load is too heavy for you to bear. And so the Lord says to you, “Come to Me. Eat and drink My body and My blood, and you will find rest and refreshment for your soul.” The hymn we just sang confesses this comforting truth:

Here would I feed upon the bread of God,
Here drink with Thee the royal wine of heav'n;
Here would I lay aside each earthly load,
Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiv'n.

Our Lord’s presence is not just something that happens in our thoughts or feelings. It is a concrete reality in the Lord’s Supper. Jesus is present in His body and blood under the bread and the wine. He is not far away. He is not in some place you must go to in your imagination. The Lord comes to you in the Divine Service and invites you to “lay aside each earthly load” and find rest.

The children of Israel did not wander in the wilderness forever. They were pressing toward a goal. The Lord was leading them to the land flowing with milk and honey: the Promised Land. Each Sabbath was a “rest stop” along the way toward that final rest they would have in the land of Canaan. The Church also presses toward a goal. We, too, look with longing eyes to the eternal rest Christ has promised to give us. It is comforting to know that, each time we gather to rest our weary souls at the Lord’s Table, we are reminded of the future and final rest we will have when Christ comes again in glory. It is truly a foretaste, not only of the Feast, but of the rest to come. 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 4/13/25: Palm Sunday (c)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the service video.

The Long Road
John 12:12-19

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

The Creed moves from our Lord’s birth to His suffering and death with little mention of the life He lived. Some have faulted the Creed for failing to note His works of mercy or His words of truth. But in moving directly from His birth to His Passion, the Creed confesses that the One “who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary” came to suffer and die.

The events that we are observing this week are not the sad conclusion to an otherwise triumphant and well-lived life. Rather, they are at the very heart of who Jesus is and what He came to do. It is no small matter that Jesus comes to the holy city to suffer and die as the Passover Lamb whose blood brings redemption for this sinful world. Ponder well all that takes place this week, for the Son of God did it all for you and for your salvation.

Jesus comes to Jerusalem at the head of a parade. “Everybody loves a parade,” as the old saying goes. But the Romans did not love this parade. In fact, this looked more like the start of a riot. With nervousness the Roman troops looked on as the crowds chanted about the coming of another King of Israel. What could this mean? Was this Man a political revolutionary who would incite Jerusalem, swollen with pilgrims who were in town to celebrate the annual Passover, to revolution? Would His presence stir up the ancient memories of Egypt’s oppression of Israel to rouse a revolt? Roman soldiers watched in vain for this would-be insurrection. Jesus is not that kind of King.

The Jewish religious leaders did not love this parade. Jesus was not their kind of Messiah. He was not a teacher of Israel who could be controlled. They were threatened by His popularity and concluded that, if He were allowed to continue on, their religion would be ruined. No wonder they stood by as the parade passed and said to themselves: “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the whole world has gone out after Him!”

Neither did Satan love this parade. In fact, Satan had tried to prevent this parade. He had offered Jesus another way three years earlier as he tempted Jesus to embrace the kingdoms of this world by simply bowing down and worshiping him. The cross would mean suffering and shame for Jesus, but for Satan it would spell his own eternal defeat. No wonder that Satan, speaking through Simon Peter, had rebuked Jesus as our Lord spoke of how He must go to Jerusalem to suffer, die, and rise again on the third day. The devil hated the sight of this parade as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords made His way in humility to the place of sacrifice.

But Jesus loves this parade. He isn’t fooled by the shouts of “Hosanna!” He knows that they will be short-lived. He knows that another cry will come from the fickle lips of the people: “Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Let His blood be upon us and our children.” He knows that even His own disciples will forsake and deny Him; one of them will even betray Him. He knows that those for whom He died care little for His cross, even knowing what it means for our salvation. Jesus loves this parade because it ends at the cross. That is why He came into the world. That is why He rode into Jerusalem in fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophetic word. For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame.

We spend so much our lives trying to avoid suffering. The world tells us that it is a good thing to end the life of one who suffers. To those who think that the supreme good in life is to avoid pain, the Suffering Servant, our Lord Jesus Christ, is an embarrassment, and His cross a foolish scandal. If the cross is the highlight of the parade and the foolishly suffering Jesus is the grand marshal, the world wants nothing to do with him.

But Jesus did not detach Himself from the suffering. He did not avoid Jerusalem. Jesus took the path to Calvary. He walked the way of the cross. Even when He was abandoned and deserted, betrayed and denied, He held to the work that was His alone to do. He drained the cup of suffering. When the parade was over and cheering crowds were silent and the palm branches wilted in dust, the Lamb of God kept walking to the judgment hall and the cross. He goes there, driven by the passion to have you with Him for all eternity. The pain that He endures is real and raw. The death He dies is dark and cold. He does it all for you.

This morning we participate in another parade, as we come forward to receive the body and blood of Christ. Satan does not love this parade, either. The devil has made this a parade of pain and suffering because he does not want you to get to the end of it. But the body and blood of Jesus strengthens you to continue on, enduring that suffering, so that you will not perish, but have eternal life. It is no small thing that the same God who went the way of the cross still comes to you today. He does not come to show you the way around suffering, but the way through it. It is the way of His cross and resurrection. It is the way of His Gospel. It is the way of His body and blood, given you to eat and drink from this altar. “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Blessed is our Lord. And through Him, blessed are 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 4/9/25: Midweek Lent 5 (Salutary Gift series)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the service 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. Paul reiterates to the Ephesians that 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 matrimonial 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.

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 to give to you in this Feast. You prove yourself His eager bride when you hunger and thirst for this Supper, when you cry out for this meal your Bridegroom supplies for you, when you demand to be fed with it when you come into this holy house and find that the Table is empty. 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 your lips, and you open wide the door of your heart to receive and adore Him. And truly He is with you always, to the very end of the age.

In this Holy Supper, prepared by our 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 and do not delay or display reluctance, for excuses and defiance 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 holy 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 4/2/25: Midweek Lent 4 (Salutary Gift series)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the service 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 warm and crusty baguette with butter…excuse me while I wipe off the drool. But this is not even great bread. It’s nearly paper-thin bread with almost no taste. And what about the wine? I’m no wine 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 bread and the wine take on the body and blood of Jesus. We believe that He is truly, physically present in and under the bread and wine. Jesus speaks, and we hear and believe.

Or do we believe it? 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 would consider blind faith to be 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. Scripture tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” You must pick a side: Do you believe God and His changeless Word? Or do you believe the world and its failing promises?

“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 God, our Father, has called you His beloved child. He is eager to forgive, eager to save, eager to have you know of His love: love He sent to us in His Son, 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 3/30/25: Fourth Sunday in Lent C

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the service video.

 

Family
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

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

The family depicted in the Gospel is not a perfect family. The younger son runs away, but not before demanding from his father all the property that would be his when the father dies. And the older son stays on the ranch, but he is not at all pleased with the situation. He feels like a slave. He’s mad at his brother for running off, and he might even be a little angry with himself for not thinking of it first. Those are only the symptoms. The real problem is that the sons are having problems with forgiveness.

The younger son has sinned against God and against his father. He feels shame. He can’t forgive himself. He has wasted the money his father gave him on extravagant living. He’s going hungry. He has to find a job. He’s gone from raising livestock on his father’s ranch to feeding pigs. There is really no other job in a land ravaged by famine. Don’t forget that this is a nice orthodox Jewish boy. He’s barely supposed to know what a pig looks like, much less spend any significant time with them. He’s shamed himself. He’s shamed his family. How can he go back home? He finally comes to the conclusion that maybe his father will hire him on as a servant. He remembers that the servants are well-treated and have plenty to eat. He won’t dare ask for forgiveness; what he’s done goes far beyond what can be forgiven. But maybe his father will have mercy on him and let him work for his living.

But when he returns home, he finds his father running to him, and his father gives him the forgiveness he could not bring himself to ask for. His father not only welcomes him home, but gives him the best robe, a pair of sandals, and a ring. And on top of all that, he has the servants kill the fatted calf, gives everyone the rest of the day off, and has a big party to welcome home the son that was lost, but now is found. The end. Roll the credits. What a spectacular ending!

But what about the older son? He’s still out in the fields, slaving away for his father. He hears the sound of a party at home, and he wants to know what’s going on. When he finds out that his brother has come home, that the party is for that delinquent, he refuses to join. He refuses to speak of the younger son as his brother. He certainly won’t forgive that boy for what he’s done.

Neither son really understands forgiveness. The younger son feels that nobody can forgive him for what he’s done. The older son doesn’t think he should have to forgive, and he doesn’t understand how his father can forgive. Why should he forgive his brother? The older son has never done anything wrong! He’s been loyal to his father, even though he feels like he’s been a slave all these years. He is the one who deserves a party, not his brother. Why should he be the one to make things right again?

The only one in the family who understands forgiveness is the father. When his younger son comes home, Dad runs out to meet him. He has compassion. He throws his arms around him, never mind that he smells of pig. This is his son, not some stranger. The father completely forgives his younger son, and the son begins to understand. In the face of his father’s grace, he can repent; he has already been completely forgiven. And then the father pleads with the older son to forgive, to show the same complete mercy the father has shown. The father has not closed the door on either son.

We are members of a family, and the danger of being brothers and sisters in Christ is that we act like brothers and sisters. By refusing to forgive, we close doors on our relationships. Most broken homes exist because someone cannot speak forgiveness. Sometimes one feels he can’t be forgiven. In the same way, if we don’t forgive others, we not only lock them out; we lock ourselves out, too. We see this, both in our homes and in our churches. The divorce rate is higher than ever. Too often we hear and live stories of brothers and sisters who don’t speak for years. And in our churches, we see more and more feuds every year. Pastors are forced out of churches by angry congregations. Angry or ignored church members trickle out of membership rolls, to reappear on other churches, or worse yet, to disappear from church altogether. Church meetings become shouting matches between factions that can’t agree; and these shouting matches are never resolved. Sunday morning becomes a war—a war within ourselves and a war with those around us. The worse part of this is that we don’t understand that we sin against God first and foremost. We don’t forgive those who trespass against us; why should God forgive us? The psalmist writes, “While I held my tongue, my bones withered away, because of my groaning all day long.”

But before anyone can condemn you, God forgives you. Our God is a forgiving God. Our Lord hung upon the cross to bear all your sins, so that when the Father looks upon you, He sees only the blameless Son. The Son instituted Sacraments in which you receive forgiveness. In Baptism you have been washed clean from the sin that you were born into, and the Lord received you into His family. In the Lord’s Supper, you eat the body and blood of Jesus, which is given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins. This is the great family banquet which is shared by the whole family of Christians of every time and place. And Jesus also shows you how to forgive each other. Forgiveness is a complete change. He told Peter that forgiveness isn’t something you limit to 7 times, but something to give freely, 70 times 7, as many times as a person truly repents and asks to be forgiven. That’s a radical concept, as radical as dying on a cross to forgive sins.

In the face of your Father’s complete forgiveness, you can truly repent and you are truly forgiven. And through His forgiveness, you can forgive each other, as well. That’s family: the family of brothers and sisters 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.

Sermon for 3/26/25: Midweek Lent 3 (Salutary Gift series)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the service 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 fellowship 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 “communion.” St. Paul is teaching 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. 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.” 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 Supper. He invites us to enjoy a blest Communion with Him.

But there is another dimension to this idea of 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 brings 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 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 be reconciled with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Division at the Lord’s Table is not pleasing to our Lord, which is why we practice Closed Communion. Jesus said, “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” 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 3/19/25: Midweek Lent 2 (Salutary Gift series)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

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.

When I teach the Catechism, I tell my students that the Words of Institution are where they find out if they’re Roman Catholic, a generic Protestant, or a Lutheran. It all has to do with how we receive the words Jesus speaks to create this Sacrament. Do you believe that Jesus is present in the Lord’s Supper, but that the bread and wine are gone? Then you are Roman. Do you believe that Jesus is only spiritually present in the Lord’s Supper? Then you are a Protestant. But if you take Jesus at His Word—if you believe that Jesus is truly, physically present in and under the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper—then you are a Lutheran. And that really does matter, because it is a matter of faith. Do you take Jesus at His Word? Or must this fit into your reason and strength? And if you don’t believe Him in this, where can you believe Him?

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. The other 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; the 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 the 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. Jesus tells you this in His own Word, and you can believe Him.

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. Listen to Him! 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.