Sermon for 4/19/19: Good Friday (Return series)

RIGHT-CLICK HERE to save the audio file.

Return to the Lord 

Who Claims You as His Own

Isaiah 52:13-53:12

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

There is a children’s game called Hot Potato. Most of you have probably heard of it. Everyone sits in a circle and an object is passed around. That object is known as the hot potato. You don’t want to be caught with it. If you are, then you’re out of the game. The action gets pretty fast and furious, as the object is passed on as quickly as possible. To my knowledge, there is no opposite game, probably because it wouldn’t be much of a game. Whoever had the object wouldn’t pass it on; they would just hold onto it and keep it. 

For us, the hot potato we don’t want to be caught with is our sin. The good news for us tonight is that Jesus wants it. He takes the hot potato of your sin and claims it as His own. He does not pass it on. He will not let it go. But more than that, He lays claim to your condemnation. He lays claim to your chastisement. He lays claim to your death. He is cut off for you. He is crushed for you. He is wounded and oppressed for you. 

When Jesus lays claim to your sin, it He isn’t just holding on to your sin. He’s actually holding on to you. He is taking hold of you and laying claim to you. After all, your sin isn’t just something out there, separate from you. Your sin is in your flesh. And so He takes your flesh upon Himself. The Son of God became man. Your flesh, and all that comes with it, He claims as His own. He wants it. He refuses to let it go, even though holding onto you means He must go to the cross. 

We sit in the darkness of night and try to imagine the darkness of that day, when Jesus hung on the cross, when Jesus hung there in the darkness, when the sun stopped shining. But if you really must know, think about whatever sin you are most ashamed of, the sin that—if known—would make your family and friends distance themselves from you, the sin that would ruin your life. Put it in bold print on a sign hanging from your neck, and walk around in public. Write it in English, Spanish, and whatever other languages are spoken by your neighbors. Knock on your neighbor’s door and make sure everyone sees it and knows it. Make sure they know who you are, what kind of person you really are. Even then, you would be getting just the smallest taste of what Jesus did for you. 

Judas got a taste of this. After he betrayed Jesus and saw that Jesus had been condemned, he went to the priests and confessed. But the horribly, godless priests said, “What is that to us? You see to it.” This is your sin, they told him. It’s your hot potato. You deal with it. And he did. The only way he knew how: he sentenced himself to death. 

It didn’t have to be that way for Judas. And it doesn’t have to be that way for you. Jesus has laid claim to your sins. Your sins are hung with Him on the cross, and He took them to the grave. Jesus flips everything around. So you get to hold onto Him and claim Him and His righteousness as your own. You get His life as your own. Your faith takes hold of Jesus and His death, and in doing so, you also receive His life.

Tonight, you receive in your hand and your mouth the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He grabs hold of you and your sin and claims it as His own. He dies your death. He is buried in your tomb. And the third day is coming: the day when He rises from the tomb, still holding onto you. But the sin is gone, the condemnation is gone, and the death is gone. Jesus is clinging to you and not letting go. Sin, satan, death cannot have you, for Jesus has claimed you as His. “It is finished.” Salvation is accomplished. And because you belong to Him, salvation belongs to 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 4/18/19: Maundy Thursday (Return series)

RIGHT-CLICK HERE to save the audio file.

Return to the Lord 

Who Washes You

John 13:1-15, 34-35

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

They had often wondered who among them was greatest. James and John had asked for places at our Lord’s right and left, and the others had been indignant. But Jesus would teach them a lesson about greatest and least. Jesus grabbed the bowl and the towel, dropped to His knees, and began to wash their feet. When Peter tried to stop Jesus, our Lord told him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.” Peter didn’t understand why this foot washing was so important.

And then Jesus gave the lesson. “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.” That was a dagger into their proud hearts. For all their desire to be the greatest, none of them could believe that the Lord, the One who had told them that He was the very Son of God, would want His chosen disciples to be common servants, much less that God Himself would be a servant.

We should not be surprised at their reaction. We should not be surprised because none of us do what we should. If we had been in that room that night, who among us would have jumped up to wash everyone’s feet? Jesus told His disciples that night, “Love one another as I have loved you.” But we can’t even love God as we should. We can’t love our neighbors as ourselves. How can I love others as Jesus has loved me?

So it’s not just about foot washing; it’s about how Jesus demonstrated His love—to His disciples and to us. Jesus knew what was coming. He has said to them: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”  That was a love and service even greater than foot washing. He was about to lay down His life on the cross. He was about to serve us by dying for us. There is no love greater than that.

And because He lay down His life for you, you have been washed. You have been washed by His the watered blood that flowed from His side. You have been Baptized, a washing that has made you clean. Every time you hear the words of Holy Absolution, you return to those bloody waters. Jesus offers to wash your feet every day. He wants to speak that word of forgiveness to you constantly. He wants to feed you that blood along with His body every time you gather in His name. Washed by Him, you have a part with Him. You belong to Him. Forgiveness is the key to everything, every day of our lives. The people would know that those twelve men were His disciples by the forgiveness they would proclaim in His Name. They know that we are His disciples by the forgiveness we receive in His name and by the forgiveness with which we love and serve our neighbor.

We will also receive that forgiveness here tonight as we receive the Body and Blood of our Lord in His Supper, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. “As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” We proclaim His undying love in the shedding of His blood that washes us clean from every sin. Maybe you think you are unworthy of this gift. Maybe you think that you might be more worthy of it if you receive it less frequently. But think of it: those twelve disciples, wondering who was greatest among them: they not only have their feet washed by Jesus; not only do they hear His word of forgiveness; they eat His Body and drink His Blood. He does not withhold this from them. They are not worthy. Neither are we. But Jesus gives us this Supper because we are sinners in need of forgiveness. We need this gift. We need His forgiveness and life in us and upon us.  

It is time. Your feet have been washed. You have returned to those bloody waters today. The Supper is ready. His blood has been shed, His body given. This is His loving service for the life of the world. This is His loving service to 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 5/10/19: Midweek Lent 5 (Return series)

RIGHT-CLICK HERE to save the audio file.

Return to the Lord 

Who Calls You Endlessly

Amos 4:6-13

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

Our Lord is relentless. He does not give up. He is tireless in calling you to repentance. He wants to forgive before judgment takes place. “Prepare to meet your God,” Amos said tonight. But how? Prepare by repenting. When you repent, you meet a merciful God. When you do not repent, when insist upon your own works, you meet a merciless God who will judge you as you want to be judged. God doesn’t want that; He knows how such judgment will turn out. He is a God of love, a God who wants show mercy, a God who redeems and restores.

The Lord is calling His people, working to bring them back to Him. And yet, over and over we hear these sad words: “You did not return to me.” Amos records all that God did to call His people back to Him in repentance. First, He says, He gave his people “cleanness of teeth.” Teeth are clean when they have no food to dirty them, no food to get stuck between them. The Lord provides our daily bread; when we turn away from Him, we deserve to lose our daily bread. God takes it away—not in vengeance, but so that the people remember Him and turn back to Him as the giver of all good gifts. “Yet you did not return to me…”

Next the Lord “withheld the rain” from them. Throughout Israel’s history, the people were tempted to worship and trust in Baal, the god of their neighbors. Baal was believed to be the god of the sky, of lightning, and of rain. But a false god can produce and provide nothing, and the true God withheld the rain so that they would know that He is the one true God. “Yet you did not return to me…”

 So the Lord tries a third time, sending the devastation of blight, mildew, and locust. When the Lord brought His people into the Promised Land, He gave them a land with an abundance of everything. It was a land flowing with milk and honey! Why leave the God who provides such good gifts? So the Lord takes them away, that the people return to Him. “Yet you did not return to me…”

On and on it goes. He sends the nations to strike Israel with the sword. He struck some of them down as He did at Sodom and Gomorrah. All of this He did out of love. And yet they did not return to Him. He loved them relentlessly. How thick and dull and ignorant and unseeing the people are! “What’s wrong with them?” we might ask. But that same thing is wrong with us. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that these things in the Old Testament were written for our learning, to instruct us, that we do not make the same mistakes. But have we learned?

 Examine your life according to the Ten Commandments. In fact, just look at the First. Do you truly fear, love, and trust in God above all things? Do you fear the perils of this world more than you believe He will deliver you from them? Do you love the things of this world more than you love Him? Do you trust the things of this world more than Him? So often we think our sin is inconsequential. But every sin is a turning away from God, a breaking of the First Commandment. We, too, must repent. We, too, must return to the Lord.

In his 95 Theses, Martin Luther wrote, “When our Lord and Master Jesus said repent, he willed that the entire life of the believer be one of repentance.” Repentance is not just a once in a while thing. Your whole life must be a constant turning away from yourself; a turning to God; looking to Him for our forgiveness, life, and salvation. He wants to give you everything you need.

 That includes sending His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus took your death for you, in your place. The judgment of God you deserve, the Father placed firmly on His Son. He gives you faith to look at the Son and see your sin nailed to the cross. He gives you faith to look at the Son and see your salvation. He gives you faith to look at the Son and see the forgiveness He died to give you. He gives you faith to look at the Son and “meet your God” and return to Him.

So return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful. He has redeemed you. He has restored you. He will raise you up. He does not tire of calling you. He is your God. And you belong to Him. 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 4/3/19: Midweek of Lent 4 (Return series)

RIGHT-CLICK HERE to save the audio file.

Return to the Lord 

Who Does Not Change

Malachi3:6-12

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

            So far, we have focused on our Lord’s faithfulness, our Lord’s promises, our Lord’s work for us, and His desire that we return to Him and receive these gifts from His hand. Those are wonderful things. But all these words and promises, all this work, all of this would be of no use and no value to us, were it not for the fact that our God does not change. What good would be a God who speaks a word to us, but later takes it back? What good would it be if He says He will do something for us, but later changes His mind? You cannot count on a God like that. That is a God you cannot know, a God who is one way today and tomorrow may be quite different. Such a God says one thing today, but tomorrow He may speak something completely different. Which is real? Which is true? You could not know.

The good news for us is that God is not like that. When He speaks, it is true and sure. What He promises, He will do. You can count on Him and know Him. That is exactly what we need. We need a God we can depend on in an undependable world. We need a God who is steadfast in a world of change. And Malachi reassures us that this perfectly describes our God.

Malachi was the next-to-last of the Old Testament prophets. John the Baptist was officially the last, for he is the last prophet leading to Jesus. But after Malachi, there would be scriptural silence from God for some 400 years, before God would speak again: first through John, but then, even more importantly, through God in the flesh, our Lord Jesus. That fact makes these words of Malachi even more important, because the people would cling to those words during that 400 years of seeming silence. God does not change. His Word and promises don’t change. He says to you, “Return to me, and I will return to you.”

At the time of Malachi, Israel was no longer giving tithes. It’s not that God needs what we give Him; the truth is, tithes and contributions are for our benefit. It’s not that we give so that God will give more. Instead, we give to acknowledge that our Father has given us everything, and this is our response. We give because we believe that God will provide for our every need. We give to loosen our grip on the things of this world. We give so that we cling by faith to our God. Failing to give shows us that not all is right with us in our hearts; it says that we do not trust in Him to provide as we should. Malachi is pointing out not just a behavior problem, but a heart problem and a faith problem. With these words from Malachi, God is calling Israel back to faith. God wants His children to believe in Him and trust His goodness as their loving Father.

“Try me in this,” God says. Test Him, and see if He will not provide. This is who God is. If they give, they will not lack. The widow made a loaf for the prophet Elijah from the last of her flour and oil, but the flour and oil did not run out. Jesus provided food for groups of 4,000 and 5,000 men who gave of their time to listen to His Word, who trusted that “man does not live by bread alone.” He does this, not because Israel was so faithful and good, but because God is love.

Satan is always tempting us to unbelief, to doubt the goodness and love of our Father in heaven. The devil wants us to turn away from our loving God. But God cries out, “Return!”  Return in repentance for your unbelief. Return, believing in His promises. See how God feeds the birds and clothes the flowers. They preach to you of the goodness and love of your Father. If He cares for them, will He not much more care for you? Of course He will. He always has, and He always will.

This doesn’t mean life will be easy. Sin is still in this world, wreaking its havoc, just as it did in the Garden. But it has an end, when our Lord returns and sets us free from sin and death. Our bodies are transformed for everlasting life. We have that promise, too, which God will not change. In the midst of a world of change, of changing bodies, of changing people, we have a changeless God. We have a faithful Father you can count on. Return to Him, and He will return to 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 3/27/19: Midweek of Lent 3 (Return series)

RIGHT-CLICK HERE to save the audio file.

Return to the Lord 

Who Will Raise You Up

Hosea 6:1-6

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

            The past few weeks we have heard the call to “return to the Lord.” We return to the Lord because He is the one who has redeemed us, and He has promised to restore us. But tonight we hear something a bit different, and it runs against how we operate, especially these days. Return to the Lord, for He is the One who “has brought discipline upon you.” He is the one, Hosea says, who “has torn us” and “has struck us down.” Discipline isn’t pleasant to undergo. It is hard to return to a Lord who tears you and strikes you down, just as a child who has been spanked often resents the one who did the spanking.

            Discipline is not easy, either to give or to receive, but discipline is necessary. A child who has not been disciplined believes their behavior has no consequences. If he receives no discipline, his behavior will continue to deteriorate until he is a frustration to his parents and teachers and a menace to his classmates. Discipline teaches the child appropriate behavior. The child may not appreciate the lessons while learning them, but the lessons are important. They teach him to understand and respect boundaries, to interact with kindness towards his friends and neighbors. Maybe the child will even come to understand that this discipline comes from love. If a parent truly loves the child, the parent will love the child enough to say “no.” Parents want their children to be happy, but when the child is holding poison, drinking it might satisfy their curiosity, but in the end, it will kill them.

            God loves you, and He wants you to be happy. The hard part for sinners to understand is that, in giving us His Ten Commandments, God is showing us the best way to be happy. If we truly “fear, love, and trust in God above all things,” we will be satisfied and even happy with the blessings He gives us every day. When we live contrary to His Word, we are never satisfied with just a little sin. We want more of our idols, whether it be money or sex or superiority or whatever else we covet. But when we stray from His Word, He sends messengers to discipline us, to bring us back to Him. He sends pastors to preach the Law to us, to chasten our hard hearts until we hear God’s Word and repent. Our Lord loves us so much that He says “no” to our desires to have gods that we regard as greater than Him.

            So if God’s discipline comes from His great love for us, why does that discipline actually make it hard to return to Him? The truth is, our love is not steadfast or reliable. Hosea tells us that our love is like “dew that goes early away.” The dew quickly evaporates. That’s how our love works. Love is hard to sustain, both toward our neighbor and especially toward God. Our prayers, our devotions, our obedience, our confidence in Him—these things come and go. And because that’s how our love is, we think that how God’s love is, too. Our hard hearts make it hard to return to Him. We forget who God really is.

            And so He disciplines us, not only to show us ourselves and our little faith, but also to love us and show us His love. “He has torn us, that he may heal us! He has struck us down, and he will bind us up.” It’s as if He wants to prove Himself again and again, until we stop doubting whether He will arise and shine upon us. We know that He will, because we know Him. And where we know Him best is hanging on the cross for us. But as Hosea says: “after two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.”

            Just as Jesus rose on the third day, His third day is our third day. In Holy Baptism we’ve been crucified with Christ, joined to Him. We have already passed through death to life with Him, and so have already begun to live in that day and life that cannot be ended. Your sins have been atoned for and forgiven, and so for you there is life. And for now, the discipline you experience serves life.

            So come, “let us return to the Lord.” He disciplines you because He loves you. He preaches the Law to you so that He may bring you to repentance. And He will raise you up as His beloved child. 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 3/19-20/19: Midweek of Lent 2 (Return series)

RIGHT-CLICK HERE to save the audio file.

Return to the Lord 
Who Will Restore You

 Jeremiah 15:15-21

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

           

            More than once, Jeremiah was ready to give up. Of all the prophets—except maybe John the Baptist—Jeremiah probably had it the worst. The people just wouldn’t listen. He spoke God’s Word to them time and again, calling them to repentance. But the more he cried out, the more they ignored him. And it was even worse than that. They didn’t just ignore him; they got so tired of him that they threw him into a pit so they wouldn’t have to listen to him. Today they might call his District President to complain or conspire to throw him out of the congregation.

            The problem was, there were other prophets. These prophets weren’t saying the same things as Jeremiah. They were false prophets who told the people that Jeremiah didn’t know what he was talking about. There were more of them, and they claimed he was being too hard on them. “Jeremiah says that if you don’t repent, then Jerusalem is going to fall? Of course God wouldn’t let that happen to His city. God wouldn’t let that happen to His Temple. Everything’s going to be fine.” You hear similar messages today. “God doesn’t want you to suffer.” “You will prosper in this life.” “If you have a strong enough faith, you will be rich and you won’t get sick.” “Everything’s going to be fine.”

But it wasn’t fine. Time was running out. God’s patience was running out. And because of the people’s unfaithfulness and idolatry, God was not only going to let His city and Temple be destroyed; He was going to send the nations to do it. This was tough love for a stubborn and stiff-necked people. It didn’t have to be this way. If they would repent, if they would trust the Lord, they would be spared. But the people wouldn’t listen to the message He sent Jeremiah to preach. The words of the false prophets were too sweet. Why walk the narrow and difficult path of righteousness when they easy road of sin is so wide? So they sent Jeremiah into the pit. The people continued on, comfortable in their sin. Jeremiah wanted to quit. These unfaithful, idolatrous people weren’t worth it.

But to God, they were worth any price. So He wouldn’t let Jeremiah quit. He called the prophet to repentance. But He promised Jeremiah that He was with him; He promised to help His prophet and strengthen him. God tells Jeremiah, “I will restore you, and you shall stand before me.” “I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they shall not prevail over you.” “I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” Those sweet words and promises of God are exactly what the prophet needed; and they are exactly what you need. Maybe you’ve been in Jeremiah’s place. Maybe you’ve been at your wit’s end, ready to give up on others, maybe even give up on God. Maybe things aren’t working out. Maybe the difficulties just seem to keep mounting higher. Maybe it seems as if those who work evil, those who lie and deceive, seem to be winning. Maybe you feel like Jeremiah, being called to repentance when those others are the ones who need to repent!

But we must repent—this Lenten season and all year through—for our own unbelief and mistrust, for believing His grace is not sufficient for us. And so the call goes out to return to our gracious God and His wonderful promises, for He promises to restore you, protect you, and deliver you. These promises are true for us in Jesus. Though we are fallen in sin and death, the cross of Jesus brings forgiveness and life from the dead. God promises to raise up Jeremiah from the pit, and He will raise you up as well from the pit of sin and death. Our Lord’s resurrection is our resurrection by the power of Holy Baptism, and we will stand before God in righteousness and purity forever. That’s His promise to you.

So no matter how bad things seem, no matter how bad things get, remember the promises of the Lord to you. Repent and return. He will restore you. He will sustain you. He is your life and your salvation, and you are His dear child. 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 3/12-13/19: Midweek Lent 1 (Return series)

RIGHT-CLICK HERE to save the audio file.

Return to the Lord 

Who Redeemed You

Isaiah 44:21-28

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

            We heard some pretty incredible words from the prophet Isaiah tonight. “I have redeemed you.” “The Lord has redeemed Jacob.” “The Lord [is] your Redeemer.” “I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist.” And because of these things, the Lord calls all of creation to rejoice and sing: the heavens, the depths of the earth, the mountains, the forest and every tree in it. God calls creation to rejoice because our Redeemer is also creation’s Redeemer. Just like humanity, all of creation is subjected to sin and death. It is groaning, Paul says, writhing in agony, like a woman in labor. Creation is longing for its redemption.

God spoke these words through the prophet Isaiah as if it has all already happened, though it wouldn’t actually happen for another 700 years. But Isaiah is looking to the future, to when God would fulfill this promise in Christ. God speaks this way through Isaiah because He knows that salvation is a foregone conclusion. When God makes a promise, you can speak of it as if it has already happened, and know that you are speaking the truth. Every Word of God is true and sure. Every Word will come to pass.

And this one, Isaiah says, will come to pass through the one God calls His shepherd, our Good Shepherd, who would set us free from our captivity to sin and death. Or maybe better to say it this way: He would set us free from our slavery to sin and death. Yes, slavery. That’s the way Jesus spoke to the Jews of His day. When Jesus spoke of this slavery, they said Him, “We are sons of Abraham, and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it you say, ‘You will become free’?” Perhaps, like them, you bristle at this way of speaking. We’re Americans; we have never been slaves of anyone.

But Jesus says that you are slaves. “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” Jesus doesn’t dodge that reality, as unpleasant as it may sound. When we think of slavery, we probably think of what we learned in school, of those who were enslaved here in America. Slavery didn’t only happen here, but that’s probably what we know best. And for those who were enslaved here, it was horrible and unjust and cruel. Surely that’s not us!

But the slavery Jesus speaks of is even worse. Those who enslaved the body couldn’t enslave the soul. Think of all the spiritual songs that came out of slavery in American history. But the slavery of which Jesus speaks is slavery of the soul. Think of those sins you do even though you hate them and don’t want to do them. That’s slavery. Those sins are your ruthless master. Think about it. You despair though you know you should not despair. You lust though you know you should not lust. You rage though you know you should not rage. You disobey your parents though you know you should obey them. That is true slavery, a slavery that drives us deeper into slavery. It is a never-ending, ever-descending cycle from which we cannot set ourselves free. This is why we need a Redeemer, someone to pay our price and set us free.

This is the Good News which makes creation rejoice: you have a Redeemer. This One who sets you free is the Son of God Himself. This is no temporary or partial redemption; it is full and complete and everlasting, for, as Jesus said, “If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.” Through His death and resurrection, our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom all things were made, creates us anew. Our Lord has freed us from our slavery to sin and death to give new life to us and to all creation. We will be rebuilt upon the cornerstone of Jesus, never to be torn down again. We live new lives as children of God, with a Father instead of a master.

As Isaiah says, “Remember these things.” No matter how things seem, no matter how bad things may get, “you will not be forgotten.” Repent and return to the Lord. He continues to be “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” He is your Redeemer. He gives you life. He sets you free. 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 3/6/19: Ash Wednesday (Return series)

RIGHT-CLICK HERE to save the audio file.

Return to the Lord We Know

Joel 2:12-19

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

            “Return to me,” says the man to his beloved who has left him. “Return to me. I love you still. I want you back.” But this evening, these words are not from a man or a woman. They come from God Himself. “Return to me,” come back to me. I do not reject you. What good news that is! The truth is, we deserve to be rejected. Think of our confession of sin. Think of all the times we sin, all the kinds of sin, and—maybe worst of all—how casual we can be about sin. We act like it’s really not all that important, as if it really doesn’t matter that we do not listen to God’s Word and instead do what we want anyway. We think that, but only until the consequences of sin come crashing down on us. And then we see, and then we shake our fist at God and ask how He could let this happen, as if it’s His fault!

Still our God calls to us. “Return to me.” Repent. Turn away from your selfish desires and return to me. He wants us back, wayward though we are. His love for us remains. This is wonderful to hear. But we heard other words we heard tonight, also from the prophet Joel: “Who knows whether he will turn and relent?” Those sound monstrous. They seem like words of uncertainty, words that devour, words that plague, words that offer no comfort at all. It sounds as if Joel is asking, “Who knows whether God will forgive you?”

But that’s not what those words mean. Would the God who is calling us back to Himself do so with an uncertain forgiveness? Of course not. He has promised us forgiveness. He has promised us a Savior. Listen to these verses, all from the Psalms: “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” “When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.” “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” Our sin offering has been lifted high upon the cross for all creation to see. Yes, our sins make a mess of things, but in the sacrifice of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, God is setting us right again. You are forgiven. This is most certainly true. This truth, the promise of the forgiveness of sins in Jesus, is the most certain truth we have.

So when Joel asks, “Who knows whether he will turn and relent?” what do those words mean? The forgiveness is sure, but His discipline may continue—not to punish, but to teach; not to push you away, but to draw you closer; not to put you down, but to lift you up. Just like His forgiveness, this chastening is from His love. Sometimes you have to love someone enough to say, “No.” He will end this discipline at the proper time…but only He knows the proper time.

Forgiveness isn’t a guarantee that life will be good or easy. We know the life of faith is a life of trials, temptations, and suffering. Our Lord tells us that. But even if the trials and struggles continue—and we know they will—these things drive us to God and His love, forgiveness, strength, and faithfulness. They drive us into the Word, into prayer, into weakness, to receive the love and life of Christ. When we are weak in ourselves, we become strong in Christ. We remain confident in the Lord and in His love and forgiveness: signed, sealed, and delivered by the blood of the Lamb, shed for you and poured into you.

So tonight, yes, we repent. But even more that that, we rejoice. We rejoice in His love, love that would cause Him to send His Son for you. We rejoice in His love that would call you to repentance time and time again. We rejoice in His love that adopts you as His children, His sheep. We rejoice in His love that provides you with a Church, with His Word, and with His gifts. We rejoice in a love that won’t stop, indeed, that cannot stop. Though our love runs hot and cold, your Father’s love for you remains constant. So… “Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” 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.