Sermon for 5/24/26: Pentecost (a)

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The Miracle of Hearing
Acts 2:1-21

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

Pentecost was accompanied by marvelous signs: the sound from heaven like a powerful wind; the tongues of fire that came to rest on the apostles; and, of course, the apostles speaking the languages of the world as the Holy Spirit gave that ability. Those signs were the indication that God was at work. Too often, however, the signs have gathered more attention than the thing to which they were pointing: the Word of God spoken and heard. Jesus often told His disciples to not speak of the signs they had seen Him do. Jesus didn’t want people to come to Him merely because of signs, but by the Word to which those signs pointed. This is the heart of Pentecost: the Word is meant to be heard and believed. The great miracle in all of this is the miracle of hearing, because it is hearing that receives saving faith.

Apart from receiving the Ten Commandments, what we likely remember most about Moses is signs God worked through him in Egypt, the plagues that eventually moved Pharaoh to let Israel go. But those signs pointed to the Word which Moses was given by God to speak. When God called Moses from the burning bush and told Him to go to Egypt, He gave Moses this promise: “I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall say.” The all-important thing was what Moses would say to the people and what they would hear. The signs that accompanied the Word could only bear witness to the judgment God would bring to bear on Egypt. It was the Word that would bear the promise of God to save and care for His people. Yes, signs and wonders were often part of prophetic work, but the signs did not save Israel. The signs confirmed the prophetic Word. God’s Word was to be heard, and from the Word come life and salvation. Pentecost gathers all of this together. The marvelous signs were surely there. But they were there to bear witness to the message of salvation. The real miracle of Pentecost is that the people heard the Word.

Ever since that first Pentecost, many have tried to claim that salvation is something of their own doing. Even some who heard the Gospel preached in their own language that day sought an answer apart from the work of God: they claimed the disciples were drunk. But Peter’s sermon turned away any such explanation. He boldly proclaimed that everything that had been done to Jesus, all that He had endured, was God’s doing, and all of it done for the salvation of the world. And when Peter’s sermon was ended, many were so moved by his words that they asked in desperation what could be done. Peter answered: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” It was all due to hearing the Word of God.

The miracle of salvation is that it is God who speaks; it is God who makes us able to hear; it is God who saves us. The signs and wonders only confirm that it is God who speaks and saves! You may remember these words from Luther: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel...” The miracle of Pentecost, the miracle of hearing, is that it is God who speaks and saves. It is God who offered up His Son as the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It is God who sent His Holy Spirit to preach this Word through men so that those who hear would be saved from sin, death, and hell.

This miracle of hearing continues even today. Immediately after Peter urged those believers to be baptized, Luke tells us: “They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The miracle of hearing continues today in the Church’s worship: in the faithful preaching and teaching of God’s Word, in the faithful administration of the Sacraments, and in the prayers of the Church.

If you carefully examine the Acts of the Apostles, the growth of the Church was always initiated and fed by worship and prayer, a work always ascribed to the Holy Spirit, and never merely to the efforts of men. “I planted,” St. Paul says, “Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” We can’t know how or when God will make a congregation grow, but you can be sure that, without faithful preaching and hearing of the Word, a congregation will die in sin, even if it grows in numbers. If we believe that God answers prayer, then we can surely trust that He will provide opportunities to hear His Word. He will surely provide opportunities to confess Jesus and His saving Word in our various callings in life. Whether it is in our families, among friends, in the workplace—wherever it might be, God has placed us there so that the miracle of hearing the Word would occur. He will give you chances to “...give an answer to everyone who asks the reason for the hope that is in you.”

God will continue to bless His Word as it enters our ears. God will continue to bless His Word as He speaks forgiveness to us and as He feeds it to us in Christ’s body and blood for the remission of sins. His Word will not return to Him empty; it will do exactly what He sends it to do. This is truly a miraculous Word: a Word to lead us from the death and despair of this world to life and salvation in the world 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 5/17/26: 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. Through 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 pray in the Psalm, “God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet!” He goes before us to prepare our place, and the door is open to us. 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 5/3/26: Fifth Sunday of Easter (a)

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A Place and the Guide
John 14:1-14

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

 

Jesus was teaching the disciples in the Upper Room on the night that Jesus was betrayed. Jesus made an important promise concerning the eternal destiny of all believers. He said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” Our home on this earth is only temporary. He has promised that a day will come when He will raise us from the dead to live with Him forever in an eternal dwelling prepared for each of us. These lodgings in the Father’s House are far beyond any luxury that we can even imagine while we live here on this earth.

Then Jesus said something that should give great comfort. He said, “And you know the way to where I am going.” Now, the disciples should have known the way. Jesus regularly told His disciples about the way He was to go. He would go this way for the life of the world, so that all who believe in Him will have eternal life. But as often as Jesus told them about it, the disciples did not have the ability to understand that Jesus would rise from the dead after a cruel death on a cross.

Thomas surely spoke for all the disciples when He asked, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Thomas thought that if he was to be with Jesus, then he somehow had to walk the way Jesus walked. He did not understand that Jesus would do the walking for him. Neither Thomas nor anyone else could ever find the way to the Father’s house. That is what Jesus meant when He explained, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus was telling His disciples and us that He and He alone is the one who is the way. If you know Him, you know the way.

Our natural instinct is to believe that we can and must find the way on our own—in fact, we may even need to blaze our own trail. The devil and the world know about this tendency and encourage it. Satan is more than happy to feed our ego and tell us that we can earn our way into heaven. “The good works you need for heaven might be a bit of a challenge, but you can do it. You’re really a good person. Heaven is within your grasp. You just have to put in a little effort, and it will all be yours.” He’s quite persuasive, but he’s just telling us what we want to hear.

Satan’s view is the opposite of what Jesus told His disciples. The only one who can take us to the Father’s house is the Son who comes from that house, and Jesus is that Son. He is the way to the Father. He is the truth that keeps us on that way. He is the life that is the destination of that way. Without Jesus, there is no way to the Father. Without Jesus, there is no saving truth. Without Jesus there, is no life. Jesus is not just one of many ways to the Father; He is the only way to the Father. Any religion that is not based on the person and work of Jesus leads only to eternal suffering in hell.

At first, this may sound like it is all law and no gospel, but Christ’s teaching really is good news. Jesus Christ did not say we are the way, the truth, and the life; that would be pure law. If it were true, we would be doomed. Instead, Jesus said of Himself, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” Jesus makes it possible for us to call God our Father; Jesus prepares our room in His house.

How did Jesus do that? He left His Father’s house and came to us to do the works of His Father. While He was here, He took on human nature and lived a righteous life under the authority of the law. He allowed the authorities to arrest Him, torture Him, and put Him on a cross. By doing these things, He satisfied His Father’s wrath against our sin. This is how He became the way for us to enter His Father’s house. We have confidence that He is the way because He rose from the dead. This is the reason He could say,”If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” His resurrection assures us that we too shall rise from death and that He will take us to live with Him.

What gracious words Jesus shared with His disciples! His words are full of the very life He came to be. How gracious it is of our Lord to prepare a perfect room for each and every one of us in His Father’s house. How comforting it is to know that Jesus will bring us there because He Himself is the way; He even feeds us for the journey. How reassuring it is to know that Jesus is the full presence of God with us. Most of all, how wonderful it is to know that His perfect life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection mean that His Father is also our Father, which makes His Father’s house to be our eternal home. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

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

 

Sermon for 4/26/26: Fourth Sunday of Easter (a)

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Sheep and Their Shepherd
John 10:1-10

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

Sheep are notorious for getting themselves into trouble, for straying away, for ending up lost and confused, subjected to danger and unable to take care of themselves. They’re dirty, smelly animals. Worse than that, though, they’d walk off a cliff without a thought. That’s why they need a shepherd.

Sheep may be stupid animals, but strangely enough, sheep know the voice of their shepherd. Sheep hear the voice of their shepherd and everything seems right with the world. They have their shepherd who will keep them safe from predators and thieves and lead them away from the cliff’s edge to food and water.

One of my favorite sayings, especially when I’m feeling rebellious, is, “People are sheep.” Ask nearly any adolescent why they’d want to do something they know will get them in trouble, and you’ll hear, “All my friends are doing it.” We might jokingly reply, “And if your friends told you to jump off a bridge, would you do that too?” I hope you younger folk aren’t offended. If it’s any consolation, sheep-like behavior doesn’t end when you turn 20, 30, or even 60. Advertisers know they can put pressure on anyone by saying, “Your neighbor is better off than you.” Left to our own devices, we will follow the crowd, even when that crowd leads us into hell. That’s why we need a shepherd, too.

Jesus pays us no compliment by calling us sheep. But that is, in fact, what we are. By nature we walk away from the Good Shepherd right into the jaws of death. As Scripture says, “All we like sheep have gone astray.” This is no temporary disorientation. It is separation and alienation from the God who alone gives us life. Too often we do listen to the voices of those who would lead us astray. We allow other voices to drown out the Voice that really matters. We hear the voice of false preaching, preaching that tells us we can earn our own ticket inside the heavenly gates, and it sounds appealing. The voice of the world is telling us that God really meant to say that abortion isn’t murder, that it’s okay to live together outside of marriage., that we can do whatever we want as long as it makes us happy. What could be more appealing than that? Surely our Shepherd He wouldn’t deny us happiness. Are there thorns in the pasture? Surely not; the grass is so green. We’ve let the thieves lead us out. We are poisoned with the putrid and stagnant water of worldliness with its passing fads which we think will quench our thirst, all the while refusing the streams of living water to which the Good Shepherd beckons us.

In the Old Testament God describes Himself as a shepherd. In Ezekiel, God promises that He will depose the false shepherds of Israel who scattered the flock and fed off the sheep: “As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered…” David, himself a shepherd, confesses, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Jesus is that shepherd. He is the Shepherd who comes to be with His sheep.

The Good Shepherd still calls and gathers a flock by His Word. He says, “the sheep follow [the shepherd], for they know his voice.” He speaks to us through pastors, men He raises up to serve as undershepherds. By the guidance of the Holy Spirit, these undershepherds will speak to you with the voice of the Good Shepherd. They will lead you to the still waters of Baptism and the green pastures of the Holy Supper. They will restore your soul with the holy word of forgiveness, spoken by the pastor as by Christ Himself.

You are blessed to have a faithful undershepherd in Pastor Rudnik. He speaks to you with the voice of Christ, and he has led and will continue to lead you faithfully to the gifts of God. There are people who will attempt to lead you astray. But you have your standard against which you can compare anyone claiming to be your shepherd. How does what this person says compare to what my Shepherd tells me? Ask that question, and you will be able to tell the true Shepherd and the true undershepherds from the mere hirelings. Listen to the voice. Does what I say to you lead you away from the true Shepherd and His gifts? If so, don’t listen to a word I say. If anyone steps into this pulpit and preaches anything apart from Christ and Him crucified, don’t follow them, and don’t listen to what they have to say. They would lead you away from your Shepherd, the One who would—and did—die to save you.

Martin Luther gave us a beautifully simple definition of the Church in the Smalcald Articles: “Thank God, a seven-year old child knows what the Church is, namely, holy believers and sheep who hear the voice of their Good Shepherd.” The Church is where the Good Shepherd is. The Shepherd calls you by name in Holy Baptism. Where His voice is sounding in the pure preaching of His Word and Supper, there you will find the sheep that belong to Jesus. Keep your ears attuned to the voice of the Good Shepherd, for He alone has the words which give you abundant life. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

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