Sermon for 6/8/25: The Feast of Pentecost

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Babel and Pentecost
Genesis 11:1-9

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

The people of Babel lived just a few generations after the flood. Noah and his descendants had been given the same command by God that was given to Adam and Eve: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” But the people of Babel didn’t want to fill the earth. They said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” These people sought their identity and security not in God’s Word and command but in their own achievements. They made an idol of themselves. They began to build a tower that would be so great, the generations to come would revere their name forever. This tower under construction stood there as a corrupt monument to their rebellion against God.

You are descendants of the people of Babel, and you, too, practice self-idolatry. Your sinful flesh doesn’t seek to find its identity and security in God’s Word, but in your own strength. The Old Adam in you wants to be remembered for generations to come. These things are monuments to a human race which trusts not in God, but in itself. God does not let such rebellion go unpunished. Concerning the people of Babel, He said, “Let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” Their words and speech were changed so that communication with one another was broken down. They could no longer carry out their plans. Their unity led to evil, and so the Lord scattered them.

Babel is still real today—not only in the many languages still spoken throughout the world, but in the lack of communication that can occur even between people of the same language. It’s not only that fallen people can’t understand one another; they don’t even want to listen to one another. They assume the worst about something that was said or left unsaid. Words and language are used destructively and selfishly. Words are used as a cover for sin: this month the world is celebrating its “pride” in homosexuality and gender confusion; abortion is “the termination of a fetus” or “choice”; living together is called “testing the waters”; assisted suicide is called “death with dignity.” Babel lives on in a world divided by words and speech and language.

But into this fallen world of discord and division comes the gift of Pentecost. At Babel God said in judgment, “Let us go down and confuse their language.” At Pentecost God poured out the Holy Spirit on the apostles. There were people of many different languages in Jerusalem, and the Spirit enabled the apostles to clearly proclaim the Gospel of Christ in the languages of all their hearers. For those who heard the apostles, their ears were opened so that they would understand and receive the forgiveness and salvation which Jesus won for them on the cross. Some didn’t recognize God’s gift and thought the apostles were drunk. But Peter proclaimed, “This is the fulfillment of prophecy; for God promised, ‘I will pour out my Spirit on all peoples.’”

God poured out His Spirit through words and language. The primary working of the Spirit that day was that the Word of God was preached: both Law and Gospel. By the Spirit’s power, the apostles condemned the people for their unbelief in Christ and their wickedness in putting Him to death. Yet the apostles also proclaimed how God accomplished His saving purposes through Christ’s death, and how He raised Jesus from the dead as Lord and Savior of all.

In contrast to Babel, the Spirit took the scattered peoples and brought them together and unified them through the Word of Christ. These new believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ words and teaching, to the Lord’s Supper, and to the prayers. At Pentecost, people were made one in Christ for the glory of God and the good of one another. Though the different languages remain, though forgiven sinners continue to speak and listen with the lips and ears of the Old Adam, the Spirit unites peoples of various places in the one body of Christ through His holy Word.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Pentecost continues still today. The Holy Spirit continues to do among you the very things He did that day; He calls you to repentance and faith in Jesus through the preaching of the Word. He convicts you of your sin and guilt. And then He proclaims words of mercy and pardon to you in the person of Jesus. As you hear and believe the Spirit’s preaching, you are forgiven, set free from guilt, set right with God. And then the Spirit opens your lips to confess your faith, as Carter and Adam will do this day, and to thank God for His blessings.

The Spirit continues to draw you together through the body and blood of Christ. As you are united with Christ in His Supper, you are also united with one another. You are made one by the Spirit in the Communion of Saints. In the end, the ongoing reality of Pentecost continues to be the undoing of Babel in the Church. Though you come from various places and different backgrounds, the Spirit unifies you in Jesus Christ. In the waters of Holy Baptism, Babel has been overcome 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 6/1/25: Ascension of Our Lord (observed)

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Heaven Opened

Luke 24:44-53

 

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

 

The Ascension of Our Lord is a celebration not at all unlike the celebration of Christmas. It is a celebration of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the One who both was and is “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God.” He took up human flesh through the virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit overshadowed her, and what was conceived in her, with only God as His Father, was the only-begotten Son of God in human flesh: a Man who is also God. The Father did all this to raise up for Himself a worthy Sacrifice to atone for all the sins of the world. And as a result, those cords that would bind us to eternal death and Hell were severed. By becoming and being Man, the Son of God fulfilled the will of the Father in His dying, in His rising, and in His ascending.

By becoming one of us, becoming a man, the Son of God has elevated human nature. One of the Holy Trinity was, and still is, also one of us. The Son of God has become not only our Savior; He has also become our Brother. Because He took on our human flesh, His Father is our Father. And for the same reason, the Holy Spirit comes to us to be our Defender and our Guide, our Comforter, our Sanctifier. Throughh the Incarnation of Jesus, we enjoy an even greater honor and privilege than Adam and Eve did before the fall, for as wonderful as the Garden of Eden certainly was, heaven is even more wonderful.

The Son of God, still in His human flesh that was mocked and beaten and nailed to the cross, still in the flesh that was raised again to life, has gone into heaven. From there He sends His Holy Spirit: the Spirit of Truth; the One who lives in us by faith and leads us into all truth; the One who bears witness to Jesus and to all that He has said and done. And from there, Jesus continues to intercede for us, for He is our advocate. At the right hand of the Father, Jesus pleads our case based on the wounds in His hands and feet and side. But His Body is now exalted and glorified, for this Man, flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone, the Ransom for our sin, is also God, has always been God, and will never cease to be God. There is no division between His natures. There is but one Christ, who is at the same time both God and Man, and He is capable of all things and of being everywhere. He has no limitations apart from those He set for Himself during the days of His humiliation on earth. So it is that He who ascends into heaven promises His disciples, and us as well, “I am with you always.” And He is.

He ascended in His body…and yet, He is not gone from us. He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is present with us in Word and Sacrament. He is present with us in His body in the Holy Communion. He who died, lives. He who went away is here still. This was His dying promise. He said, “This is my body, given for you.” It was given on the cross, a sacrifice for sin and guilt.

And that same body is now given to you as the benefit of that sacrifice: the removal of your guilt. It is the same body of Christ: crucified, risen, and ascended for you. It joins you to Him in this most miraculous way, by His entry into you. It is a most Holy Communion, a uniting of the God/Man to your sinful flesh; and, through His forgiveness, you are pure as He is pure. In Holy Communion, you experience the same blessing as Simeon received in the Temple as he held the Christ Child in his arms and declared that his life had seen its fulfillment. In the Holy Communion, the Feast of Christ’s body, you join with angels and archangels who descend to join with you; you join with the saints and martyrs who went before you. Christ ascended into heaven, but still He is here! He joins you to heaven, to angels, and to all who have gone before you. You are given a glimpse of heaven, though you are still on earth, for you are with Christ and His holy angels. Your sins are removed, forgiven by Divine grace and declaration. You feast on the foretaste of the Feast that will never end.

This is what the Ascension is about. It is not about Christ leaving us, for He has not left. It is about Christ going before us. He goes to prepare a place for us even as He is still with us, still for us, still in us. He who broke down the gates of Hell that would lock us in has also opened the gates of Heaven that would keep us out. His holy, precious blood, and His innocent suffering and death have paved our way and broken the trail before us. He is the Captain of our salvation. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is no one left who can hold our sin against us. There is no more guilt, no more shame, no more regret. Our sins are forgiven.

Death is dead. Life lives. Heaven is now open, for Christ, our Savior and our Brother, has ascended. As we prayed in the Psalmody, “God has gone up with a shout...” Let that shout be: Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

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

 

Sermon for 5/25/25: Sixth Sunday of Easter (c)

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Pray in the Name of Jesus

John 16:23-33

 

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

 

 

There are few things in life more frustrating than not being listened to by those who should listen to us. When there is trouble in the home, inevitably one of the root causes of the trouble is someone, or maybe everyone, not listening to the others when they should be listening. And it follows that the failure to listen is a problem for our praying. We don’t pray as we should, or as well as we should, because we do not listen to God as we should. Our prayers should be formed and informed by the richness of the Word of God and not by the poverty of our hearts. To pray rightly, we need to listen to God and not so much to our own sinful hearts. We speak of prayer as “talking to God,” which it certainly is, as far as that goes. But prayer is really a conversation, and a conversation is never a monologue; it is never one person speaking to the exclusion of the other. Above all, we need to be listening to God.

Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.” But sinners like to believe these words mean that you can ask for anything you want, and as long as you are praying with sincerity, and if you add the tag line, “in Jesus’ name,” God is going to give it to you. Prosperity preachers like Joel Osteen refer to this approach to prayer as “name it and claim it.” If you pray for something by name and claim it as your own, and truly believe that God will give it to you, then God is duty-bound to give it to you—be it a better-paying job, healing from some disease, a new car, or any number of things. But those are the kinds of things that can happen when prayer becomes a monologue rather than a conversation in which we do a lot of listening to God first and foremost; when prayer becomes more a matter of our telling God what we think we need rather than listening to Him tell us what is important, and what we need to be bringing to Him in prayer. These words of Jesus may sound as if they are putting an emphasis on our speaking to God. But we need to understand what He means when He says that we are to pray in His name.

Quite simply, to pray in the name of Jesus means to pray in faith. It means to realize that we can come before the throne of grace in prayer only because our Savior has gone to that throne before us and has claimed us there as His own. This is what opens the path that leads to the Father’s gracious ears. And faith wants to hear nothing but the voice of God, for it is in that voice that truth and wisdom are heard.

This is also why we can never merely entrust prayer to our hearts. You know the condition of your own heart, and knowing that, you also have a pretty good idea of what is going on in the hearts of others. Scripture tells us that the human heart is desperately wicked. Jesus said that it is out of the heart that murder and adultery and all kinds of other evil come. That is what flows out of the human heart when left to itself.

And this is why, to pray rightly, we must listen to God first, last, and always. When Jesus asked if His disciples were going to leave Him, Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life...” If this is so—and it most certainly is—then what better way of praying can be found than to use those words God Himself has given us first to hear? These are the words of forgiveness and life; words that tell us that, “if we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” They are those words that remind us that we belong to God; that in Holy Baptism He has called us by name, and we are His; that He will never desert those who bears His name. They are those words that tell us that. when we pray faithfully—that is, when we pray in faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord—God will hear and answer our prayers: not because we are so good and pious, nor because we have phrased our prayer in a certain way, but solely because the merits of Christ have gained for us the gracious ears of God.

When we try to go it alone with our salvation, you know what happens: we are lost. The same is true with our praying: unless we listen first to the Word of God, unless we let the Lord have His say, we cannot know how to pray. If you want to know how to listen and pray, then you are exactly where you need to be. The best way to prepare for prayer is to be engaged in the praying of the Church, to be in the divine service of Word and Sacrament. And that should lead you right into meditation: meditation on the sure and certain Word of God. Faithfully read your Bible; review your Catechism; utilize your hymnal. In these gifts, you have enough to listen to and to keep you praying for the rest of your life.

To pray in the name of Jesus means to pray in faith: faith which comes by hearing the Word of God. May God bless our praying, that it would be faithful to His Word and, therefore, fruitful in the blessing such faith receives. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

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

 

HYMN: Through Daily Life Your Path I Tread

It's been a while since I've posted a new hymn text. That's because it's been a while since I've written a new hymn text. The changing circumstances of my vocations as family man and pastor over the past six months have not been conducive to finding inspiration. Nevertheless, I discovered that I hadn't yet posted one of my texts—well, two actually, but I'm withholding one until I share it with the family of the person for whom I wrote it. So anyway, I have a text based on Psalm 119:105-112. We're all familiar with v.105 which says, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." I was inspired to expound upon what the Word of God means for me in daily life. As always, feedback is love. 

Through Daily Life Your Path I Tread

1. Through daily life Your path I tread,
Your Word the light by which I’m led.
I place my feet with certainty
For Christ, my Light, is guiding me.

2. Oh, make Your Law my sole delight,
My meditation day and night.
Give life to me, my gracious Lord,
According to Your mighty Word.

3. The wicked lay a trap in hate,
And heavy is affliction's weight.
Yet by Your grace I persevere.
Your Word upholds me everywhere.

4. Your Word and water cleanse my soul.
You speak, and I again am whole.
You feed me Word in bread and wine.
In these rich gifts your Word is mine.

5. Your mercy, shown in Christ, shall be
My joy for all eternity.
I pray You, hear my song of praise,
O Lord my God, through endless days.

Δ 6. All blessing to the Father sing.
Praise Christ, the mighty Word, my King.
And to the Spirit glory be
Now and for all eternity.


LM
GOTTLOB, ES GEHT NUNMEHR ZU ENDE (LSB 616) or
ST. CRISPIN (LSB 563)
Psalm 119:105-112

Sermon for 5/11/25: Fourth Sunday of Easter (c)

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Contrast

John 10:22-30

 

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

 

 

The Gospel reading today offers a striking image of Jesus, that of being our good Shepherd. This is the kind of image of Jesus most of us would want to see. We would much rather see Jesus as a shepherd standing among His sheep, than to look at the Jesus we saw during Holy Week: brutalized and beaten, mocked and kicked and slapped and spit upon. In fact, such an image draws criticism because most would rather see a peaceful image of Jesus. We have grown so accustomed to those beautiful images that we don’t want to consider the ugly ones. That’s why many church buildings lack a crucifix anywhere. The Good Shepherd, peacefully standing in the field watching over His sheep, compared with Jesus, a bloodied, filthy hunk of human flesh being crucified: which would you rather see?

There are a number of such stark contrasts in the Christian faith. One of them is how Jesus, both God and Man, could stand right in front of the religious leaders of that day, and they could not recognize Him! Quite simply, they did not recognize Him because they did not want to. Their minds were so clouded with their own power and prestige that they would not recognize Him. If they were to acknowledge Him for who He really was, they would have to give up their false notions of what their Messiah would be, and they had too much invested in that view to give it up.

And we deal today with the same sort of thing. The Church, though a spiritual communion, still has earthly trappings. It is God’s institution, yes, but it is filled with sinful human beings. And so within this institution we find power struggles and misuse of power, gossip and slander, back-biting and fighting for control. What a contrast! Jesus is the Good Shepherd who loves His sheep and brings them forgiveness and peace! Yet, sometimes, it seems the Church is the least peaceful place on earth. In fact, the Church can make people more upset and irritated than anything else.

In the midst of these contrasts comes the wonderful promise of Jesus in this text. “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” This isn’t being spoken by just anyone, but by the Lord of the universe, the God of all creation. Our God is all-powerful, and this is the all-powerful God saying that no one can remove us from His gracious hand. What a wonderful contrast! In a world where it seems that the only sure things are death and taxes, we find that the ultimate sure thing is the protection of God Almighty, and that we personally belong to Him. He not only knows your name, but in Holy Baptism has put His own name on you, with all the blessing that includes. When you stray—and you do stray—the Good Shepherd is there, calling you back to Himself. He calls to you through His Word and blessed Sacraments, and these means of grace speak to a whole variety of circumstances and situations that you face every day.

Yet another wonderful promise of Jesus is that He gives you eternal life. What a contrast! In a world where it seems that the only thing ultimately that will happen is death, Jesus says that your ultimate destination is life: eternal life with our great God who knows you by name. When your journey in this life is over, you will hear the voice of the Shepherd calling you into eternity. Compare that with the sadness death brings. What a contrast!

Do you hear the voice of your Good Shepherd? He has called you by name in Holy Baptism. You who are born sinful, who are filthy with sin, deserving nothing but eternity in Hell, are called by God and declared to be as holy and righteous as He is, and that you are to inherit eternal life in heaven with Him. God claims you as His own, even when no one else will. The Good Shepherd, who is also the almighty, all-powerful Lord God of heaven and earth, assures you that because He has called you by name, you belong to Him, and no one can take you away from Him.

What changes and uncertainties are you facing? Are your children moving on to another phase of their lives? Or maybe you are contemplating marriage, or having a child or grandchild getting married. Maybe it’s the imminent birth of a baby and all the changes that will bring. Maybe retirement is just ahead and, suddenly, you are without what defined your life for so long. Maybe you struggle with coming to terms with death. Maybe you see your congregation trying to figure out what its future will look like. Or maybe it is just as simple as feeling that you don’t matter to anyone anymore. Whatever the change in life, these words of Jesus tell us about a wonderful contrast, the certainty that comes from the voice of our Good Shepherd, who knows each of us by name, and promises that nothing and no one will take us away from Him and that eternal life He has promised. God be praised for His wonderful gift of life in Jesus Christ! ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

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

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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.