"Behold God's Glory!" (Sermon on 2 Corinthians 3:7-18) | March 2, 2025

Sermon Text: 2 Corinthians 3:7–18
Date: March 2, 2025
Event: The Transfiguration of Our Lord, Year C

2 Corinthians 3:7–18 (EHV)

If the ministry that brought death (which was engraved in letters on stone) came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look directly at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (though it was fading), 8how will the ministry of the spirit not be much more glorious? 9For if the ministry that brought condemnation has glory, the ministry that brought righteousness has even more glory. 10In fact, in this case, what was glorious is no longer very glorious, because of the greater glory of that which surpasses it. 11Indeed, if what is fading away was glorious, how much more glorious is that which is permanent!

12Therefore, since we have this kind of hope, we act with great boldness. 13We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the Israelites could not continue to look at the end of the radiance, as it was fading away. 14In spite of this, their minds were hardened. Yes, up to the present day, the same veil remains when the Old Testament is read. It has not been removed because it is taken away only in Christ. 15Instead, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. 16But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18But all of us who reflect the Lord’s glory with an unveiled face are being transformed into his own image, from one degree of glory to another. This too is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Behold God’s Glory!

Things that have been hidden can be quite surprising when they are revealed. The engagement ring that was waiting until just the right moment to appear might take someone by surprise—in a good way. A cancer diagnosis when the person feels otherwise healthy will absoultely take someone by surprise—in a bad way.

While “ignorance is bliss” at times, we often prefer to know things rather than stay in the dark. Some things may need to remain hidden, at least for a while: the surprise party or the bad news that could be completely destructive to someone already going through a tough time. A surprise can be enjoyable when it’s fun, but when it’s something important and concealed, it can be frustrating and harmful.

When it comes to spiritual matters, there are all sorts of hidden things. Think of how many times we ponder God’s Word and we get caught up in genuinely unanswerable questions based on what God has told us. While his message in the Bible is sufficient—more than sufficient, even!—it is not exhaustive. Not every question that crosses our mind will be clearly answered in the Scriptures and many decisions need to be made in our lives with only the most general of guiding principles from what God has said. Rarely do we have a passage telling us which choice in our lives is right and which is wrong.

This Sunday, Transfiguration Sunday, is a summary Sunday for the whole season of Epiphany. The season has been all about revealing hidden things. We’ve seen things about Jesus that were not obvious—his being true God hidden in the garment of his true humanity—and we’ve learned things about the reality of events in our lives that are not always clear, such as the good purposes behind suffering and how God wants us to treat those who are our enemies.

Today, the veil covering Jesus’ divine nature was mostly removed for a brief moment in our Gospel. Peter, James, and John could see Jesus almost completely as the God that he is: his face changed, and his clothing became dazzling white, a comparison with a flash of lightning.  In Matthew’s Gospel, he compares Jesus’ appearance with the sun (Matthew 17:2). This was not just a glowing complexion on someone who is happy and content; Jesus looked wildly different than he usually did during his ministry.

But this is not the only time in the Bible that we hear of someone’s appearance being changed to something more dazzling. In our First Reading this morning we heard that after Moses met with God to receive the Law the skin of his face was shining because he had been speaking with the Lord (Exodus 34:29). Moses’ gleaming face was, of course, different than Jesus’ appearance at his transfiguration. Moses’ shine was a reflection of God’s glory where Jesus’ radiance was his own glory as God.

In our Second Reading, the apostle Paul takes the account of Moses and expounds on it for us. As the Holy Spirit adds some symbolic meaning to Moses’ gleaming face and as we see Jesus display his glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, we can spend time this morning appreciating the true glory of God—his mercy and compassion.

When Moses received the law from God, that interaction brought about his gleaming face, reflecting God’s glory. But the law is, as you well know, not good news. This was a covenant that God was establishing between himself and his people. It was a bilateral, two-directional covenant: if the people would keep up their side, God would keep up his side. But if the people did not follow what God directed, then his promises of blessings would end.

Of course, understanding that this was a nation of sinners indicates from the very beginning how this would play out: not well. Therefore, Paul describes this law as the ministry that brought death, because that’s all the law can do for sinners. It reveals where we have failed to perfectly follow God’s directions, leading to eternal punishment in hell. Yet, even this death-bringing message still carried God’s glory. Paul continues: How will the ministry of the Spirit not be much more glorious? For if the ministry that brought condemnation has glory, the ministry that brought righteousness has even more glory. If God’s glory shines in the law’s message of condemnation, how much more does his glory shine through the gospel message that brings forgiveness?

Moses had to cover his face, the reflection of God’s glory, because even that fading reflection was too much for the people of Israel to look at. We might remember Peter’s reaction to the gigantic catch of fish a few weeks ago in our Gospel; in terror he fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to go away because Peter knew he was sinful. This is the same reaction all sinners—you and I included—have toward God’s glory.

But Jesus came to change that. He came so that we could stand in God’s presence, live in God’s presence not for a moment, but forever. For that to be possible, sin would have to be eliminated. Nothing would prevent us from living in God’s glory if all sins were gone. And not in a veiled, muted way or a disguised way as it was most often in Jesus during his ministry. No, without sin, we could bask in that full glory forever.

We see a very small preview of this on the Mount of Transfiguration. When Peter, James, and John saw Jesus’ glory, we don’t hear them begging for Jesus to go away from them in terror. No, quite the opposite, actually. Peter’s mind couldn’t quite process what was happening here, but he knew on a fundamental level that this was a place he wanted to stay—with these heroes of faith and his Savior in his revealed glory. Thus, he suggests that he put up some tents so that this moment wouldn’t have to end and could last as long as possible.

But it did have to end because the work of removing sins was not done. God could not just pretend like you and I had not sinned or that our sins didn’t matter. He had to solve this problem; he had to deal with sin. Jesus would deal with it in his own body, offering his own life in place of ours.

As we begin a new season of the church year this Wednesday, we will have ample time to dwell on the reality of our sin and the horrid price it cost Jesus to free us from it. But as we move through Lent’s darker and meditative days, let this scene with Peter, James, and John live in your mind. This is the goal. This is what Jesus is driving toward. This is what he wants for you, for me, and for all people.

And by God’s grace, we know how this all shakes out. We know that Jesus’ goal is not a pipe dream—it’s the reality he brought to completion. The trip down from this glorious mount will eventually lead elsewhere, a horrid and disgusting hilltop. As we sang in our hymn of the day, “Strange how his journey ended! In love that is his fame our Lord again ascended a mount—the hill of shame. Upon the cross he proffered himself to agony; his holy soul he offered to set the guilty free” (Christian Worship 388, s. 4). All of Jesus’ work, all of the promises that God had made for millennia before him, is leading to the cross. And the suffering at the cross leads to the victory of his empty tomb.

For us here today, this has all been accomplished. As was true for the apostle Paul, so it is true for us. There is no end to this glory brought about by the gospel. Indeed, if what is fading away was glorious, how much more glorious is that which is permanent! What is the result? All of us who reflect the Lord’s glory with an unveiled face are being transformed into his own image, from one degree of glory to another.  We don’t shield our eyes or face from this glory. We look directly into God’s glory with unveiled faces and bask in it.

Soon enough, we will join Peter, James, John, Moses, and Elijah, not in tents on a dusty hilltop, but in the perfect courts of heaven, in the mansions prepared by our Savior, because of his victory for us. You, my brothers and sisters, have been changed from fear and death to joy and life. The glory of God—the gloria Dei, if you will—transforms us so that we reflect that very glory, not in a fading way, but in a permanent way. We no longer need to be given special dispensation like Moses or Peter, James, and John, but we will be in that glory forever because Jesus has taken away our sins. There we will behold God’s glory without end! Thanks be to God! Amen.

"Love Your Enemies" (Sermon on Luke 6:27-38) | February 23, 2025

Sermon Text: Luke 6:27–38
Date: February 23, 2025
Event: The Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, Year C

Luke 6:27–38 (EHV)

“But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 28Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, offer the other too. If someone takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes away your things, do not demand them back.

31“Treat others just as you would want them to treat you. 32If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? To be sure, even the sinners love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even the sinners do the same thing. 34If you lend to those from whom you expect to be repaid, what credit is that to you? Even the sinners lend to sinners in order to be paid back in full. 35Instead, love your enemies, do good and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the unthankful and the evil. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. In fact, the measure with which you measure will be measured back to you.”

Love Your Enemies

A common theme in political discourse throughout history is leaders (or would-be leaders) identifying a problem that some core part of their constituency has and then finding some group of “others” to blame it on. You see that especially in difficult economic times. Usually, the blame gets put on someone who is different than the core group—maybe a different religion, skin tone, language, or ancestry. More often than not throughout history, those claims and blames have been baseless.

Yet, why do you see that throughout history and even today? Because it works. If I’m suffering, if there is something bad in my life, I want to blame it on someone or something—and ideally that someone or something isn’t me. And whether anything changes in my life or not, just having someone leading me saying this is the person or group to blame for my problems gives me an outlet, a metaphorical (or, in more horrid terms, a literal) punching bag that I can take out my frustrations on, and perhaps think that if I do bad to them then good will happen to me.

Let’s set aside for just a moment that the vast majority of that rhetoric is utter nonsense and is spewed out just to incite mob mentality among a group of hurting people. Let’s assume, just for the sake of argument, that my current troubles are the result of some other person’s or group’s actions. What would be the result of my taking action against that person or group? What if I were to hurt them, take their belongings, or perhaps even take their life. Does my life get better? Are my problems solved because I’ve gotten even with my oppressor? Hardly. In fact, while the now-trite line is “vengeance is a dish best served cold,” it’s almost always a poisonous meal.

That’s not to say that we don’t have problems in our lives. And that’s not even to say that often times our troubles aren’t possibly the result of other person’s action or inaction. But what is the appropriate response to that? How do we handle being wronged in this life? How can we conduct ourselves in this life to give glory to God while also acknowledging that life in this sin-corrupted world is often awful?

Our readings for this morning build on some of what we talked about last weekend. This past Sunday, we spent time with the apostle Paul as he wrestled with God in prayer regarding his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7), which God opted not to take away from him because it served his purposes for Paul in this life. So, while God does indeed want what is best for us, sometimes what is best for us and what we want is not the same thing. And so while what we want is probably for people to just be nice to us—or at least to treat us the way that we want to be treated—that often doesn’t happen. Sometimes, you have true enemies set against you that despise you for what you’ve done or not done or for no apparent reason at all. And surely, we might recognize that our own failures are at the heart of this. Perhaps I have, in fact, sinned against someone in the past and left them hurt to the point that they are not interested in forgiving me. But how do I deal with the reality of someone making me their enemy?

In our Gospel for this morning, Jesus has direction for us that is the polar opposite of the political leader sicing his adherents against a group of “others” that have been identified as the enemy. Jesus’ words and direction are so controversial, so at odds with our sinful natural mindset, that his words might almost seem like madness to us. How do we deal with an enemy, someone who sets out to make our lives miserable? Love them. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, offer the other too. If someone takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes away your things, do not demand them back.

This “love” is not just not hurting someone or not lashing out at them. This love is real, selfless, self-sacrificing love. How often do you pray for those who are set against you—not praying about them, that is, that they stop doing what they’re doing, but actually praying for them—that things would be good for them, that God would bless them, take care of them, and biggest of all, bring them to saving faith? Naturally, those types of prayers are probably at the bottom of our list, if they’re on the list at all.

But, my brothers and sisters, we do well to consider our own relationship with God. What was our natural state with God? It certainly wasn’t friend or ally—it was enemy. Our sin put us in a war with God. Every sinful action and thought was rebellion against our Creator; every time we disobeyed was tossing a hand grenade toward the Almighty. So, what was God’s response? Did he come and wipe us out? Did he open up the earth and consume us at the first sniff of sin? Did he just send us to hell? No, he loved us.

In Romans 8, the apostle Paul sums up our natural situation well: To be sure, those who are in harmony with the sinful flesh think about things the way the sinful flesh does … Now, the way the sinful flesh thinks results in death … For the mind-set of the sinful flesh is hostile to God, since it does not submit to God’s law, and in fact, it cannot. Those who are in the sinful flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:5-8). But earlier in that letter, in Romans 5, Paul had already outlined how God addressed this sin-laden hostility toward him: It is rare indeed that someone will die for a righteous person. Perhaps someone might actually go so far as to die for a person who has been good to him. But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. … For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, it is even more certain that, since we have been reconciled, we will be saved by his life (Romans 5:7-8, 10). How rare it is for someone to be willing to sacrifice their own lives for someone they love, for someone who has been good to them! But what does God do? He gives up his life to save those who hated him because he loved us even when we were his enemies!

So Jesus is really laying out the way that God deals with sinners: love for enemies. That’s what you and I have been shown. Our whole lived, spiritual experience is that God loved us when we were. In a way that makes no sense to us, even as Christians, God saved us from hell by dying for the sins that we committed against him. Thanks be to God that it doesn’t have to make sense to us to be true. It is our certain foundation and our hope.

So, why didn’t God just take us from this life as soon as he brought us to faith? As soon as the words of the gospel hit our ears, as soon as the moisture of that baptism touched our skin, once he had made us his children rather than his enemies, why didn’t he just whisk us up to heaven at that moment? Because, as Jesus lays out for us here, you and I are to be models and reflections of God’s love to the world among those who do not know it.

Yet we do have to admit the sad reality that not only do we not do this as often as we could or should, but very often, we don’t even want to. It’s much more satisfying to the sinful nature to pay back someone evil with our own evil. We like the political message of blaming others for our problems, of responding to people’s hate with our own hate. It’s like spiritual junk food—it tastes so good, and is so very bad for you. Paul asked the question, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” What credit is there in hating those who hate us? None at all! Lord, forgive us for such shallow, thoughtless attitudes toward others!

So that means that even Paul’s quotation from Proverbs in our Second Reading—that in responding to evil with good we “heap burning coals on his head” (Romans 12:20; Proverbs 25:21-22)—is not the main point. We’re not just trying to shame someone by responding to evil with good; instead, we are trying to move them from shame to assurance of their forgiveness. Our prayer is that love for enemies—as alien and foreign as anything could be in this world—might be a window, an opening, to be able to share the joy of Christ-crucified and risen for all people. If asked why I treat someone in such a surprising way, despite how they treat me, may the answer always be, “Well, that’s how God treated me—loved me—in Jesus.”

So, Jesus’ direction is as much about sharing God’s love as it is about thanking God for what he’s done for us. When you follow Jesus' so-called “golden rule” of treating others just as you would want them to treat you, you create an environment in which you can share God’s baffling love in Jesus with those you treat well, even when they don’t show you the same courtesy.

In the end, if someone needs to be rebuked, if there needs to be vengeance laid out on someone for what they’ve done to you, that is God’s decision and God’s work. As for you? Knowing that you are fully loved, fully forgiven in Jesus’ blood shed for you, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). Amen.  

"Is Jesus' Grace Sufficient?" (Sermon on 2 Corinthians 12:7-10) | February 16, 2025

Sermon Text: 2 Corinthians 12:7b–10
Date: February 16, 2025
Event: The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C

2 Corinthians 12:7b–10 (EHV)

I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, so that I would not become arrogant. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that he would take it away from me. 9And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will be glad to boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may shelter me.

10That is why I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For whenever I am weak, then am I strong.

Is Jesus’ Grace Sufficient?

Have you ever felt at the point of being completely overwhelmed, that you just couldn’t take one more issue or you were going to lose it? And “lose it” may have different meanings to different people in different contexts. Maybe you feel like you’re going to scream if one more person tries to put one more thing on your tasklist. Maybe you feel like you’re going to get sick if you have one more piece of anxiety-causing news come across your phone or TV screen. Maybe you feel like you’re going to quit your job or run away from some other responsibilities if things don’t change because you just can’t take one more minute of the way things are going.

Those responses all make sense. Each of us has different things piling on us and making us feel overwhelmed. Things that are difficult for you to deal with might be easier for me and vice-versa, but even if we’re all different in the specifics, the generalities are universal. You can only take so much before something needs to change.

We have some specific promises of God to consider in matters like these. He promises through the apostle Paul that we will not be tempted—or tested—beyond what we can bear (see 1 Corinthians 10:13). And perhaps those limits are higher in God’s eyes than they seem to us, but whether it’s on your own or by making use of the support that God provides in your family, friends, neighbors, fellow Christians at church, etc., you will be able to bear up under any kind of testing and temptation.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t feel overwhelming. And God knows that. In fact, he tells us in Psalm 50:15, “Call on me in the day of distress. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” He acknowledges that there will be distress and hardship, but that prayer is a lifeline for us. When you feel at the brink and edge (or ideally, well before that), God says to call on him and he will rescue you.

But, sometimes things we thought were good in our lives are revealed to be bad, and things that we thought were bad are revealed to be good. This isn’t exactly the kind of epiphany that we want to make, because it probably means suffering and hardship. Yet, do God’s promises still apply even in those instances? Even when we got things really mixed up?

This morning, in our Second Reading, we have a very specific illustration of this kind of epiphany. The apostle Paul, who had been granted many blessings along with his challenges, noted that “so that [he] would not become arrogant,” God allowed what he calls “a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment” him.

Plenty of attempts have been made to guess what this thorn in the flesh was, and we’re not going to spend much time on that here this morning because most of it boils down to speculation. However, we can probably say this much: it was most likely some kind of physical ailment, as it is something in the flesh, and it was likely something that Paul saw as hindering his work as a gospel minister.

So what does Paul do? He takes up God on his promise and calls on him in his trouble—three times! And perhaps in a different way than you and I have ever experienced, Jesus answers his prayers and pleading directly, but it’s not what Paul wants to hear, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness.” Put that another way: “No, Paul, I will not take this away from you. I will be with you to empower you to endure it, but this thorn remains. And it is to this end: pairing your obvious weaknesses with the blessings that I give, you will see that the credit belongs to me, not you, and that your true strength is external in me, not internal within yourself.” If Jesus removed the thorn, the temptation would be stronger for Paul to boast in himself—in his work—rather than seeing Jesus’ power at work through him.

So, Paul had to resign himself to the fact that it was God’s will to let this hindrance and difficulty remain. He had to trust what God was doing and know that even if he didn’t understand it, he would trust that God was keeping his promises and doing what was best for him.

Our new district president, Pastor Heckendorf, attended our circuit pastors’ meeting this past Monday. While studying this text for this weekend’s sermon, he offered up a phrase that has stuck with me since he said it: “It is easy to trust God, until you have to trust God.” Trusting God is easy when you don’t feel like you’re leaning on him. When the income is comfortable, the food is plentiful, the home is sound, the health is solid—do you trust God? Of course! But when everything is good, that’s not really difficult. When God feels like the third or fifth or tenth line of defense, of course we trust God!

But what happens when the thorns in the flesh come for us? What happens when it feels like there are no other lines of defense—that I’m left trusting God alone because there’s nothing else to rely on? What about that challenge at work or even in securing a job? What about the health scare with no clear treatment options? What about the relationships with family or friends that are just wilting away, and no matter what you do, you can’t fix or change it? Do you struggle with God in prayer regarding these issues? Do you turn to your heavenly Father, who loves you dearly, and ask him to bring relief and solutions to these matters? Do you remind God of his promises that he won’t let you be overwhelmed and will provide a way out—and that he’ll work all things for your eternal good?

I hope you do. However, I know I’m not always so good at that. Perhaps I pray once, nothing changes, and then I give up. Or I assume that God’s answer to me is the same as it was for Paul, a firm, “No.” And so I ignore all of God’s promises to deliver me in the day of trouble, all of his direction to pray to him persistently, and I just stop—and perhaps begin to sink under the weight of these crosses and suffer at the pain of these thorns.

But, my brothers and sisters, what joy and relief we leave on the table when we just give up. Petition your God! Plead with him! He has not left you or abandoned you; your prayers are not being shouted into the void. They are coming before the God who loves you, who has saved you from your sins, who gave up his life that you would have freedom from death and hell and the certainty of eternal life with him. And with every decision that he makes, everything he allows in our lives, whether good or bad (from our point of view), he allows with a purpose, and that purpose is always focused on eternity.

Paul had the thorn that wouldn’t be taken away so that he didn’t get full of himself and start trusting in himself for salvation rather than Jesus. Perhaps some suffering in your life is being used for the same purpose—to keep you focused and reminded of how dependent you are—we all are—on God alone. We cannot get rid of our sins, but he has. We can’t make good come from bad, but he will. We cannot enter the gates of heaven on our own, but he draws us to himself.

Paul identifying this thorn as a “messenger of Satan” is something that has really stood out to me this week, and I can’t help but think about God’s conversation with Satan at the very beginning of the book of Job. All of Job’s troubles, to a certain extent, begin because God is bragging on how faithful Job is. At that time, God said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8). Satan scoffs at this. Satan replies that Job is only faithful because God has given him many blessings and kept him physically safe. “But,”Satan argues, “just stretch out your hand and strike everything that is his, and he will certainly curse you to your face!” (Job 1:11). Surprisingly, God’s response to Satan’s challenge is to agree, but with limits. First, Satan cannot hurt Job himself, only the things near and dear to him (Job 1:12). And then, he can only affect Job’s health, but not take his life (Job 2:6).

And this has had me wondering—is God bragging on you? Is he holding you up to even Satan and saying, “Have you considered my servant, [Fill In Your Name Here]?” And perhaps, has Satan crafted a snarky response giving some crummy reason for your faith and dependence on God? And has God, knowing that the faith he’s given you is much more robust than that, given Satan permission to do something that would feel bad to us to test us, to try to pull us away from our faith in Jesus as Savior?

And if all of those things happened for you, and you stand your ground in your faith despite these thorns in the flesh, what does that say? Well, first it says to Satan that he’s wrong, you are not so easily overcome. And as Jesus said, his power is made perfect in weakness, so when the earthly props that we are leaning on get kicked out from under us, does God use those moments to help us depend on him even more than we used to? Does he put so many things in our lives that we have no control over to allow us (or force us) to say, “Lord, please help me—in the way that is best according to your will!”?

By holding fast to your Savior in good times and bad, you are focusing your life and attention where it should be: on Jesus. At the same time, you might be proving God right and Satan wrong. Satan was allowed to do something nasty to you, to send his messenger to you, to scourge you with these thorns. What does it matter? To live is Christ, to die is gain. Even if all is taken from me, our Savior’s power is still complete to save us; his grace is, indeed, sufficient for our needs.

Of course, we still pray for relief when bad and troublesome things are in our lives. That’s what those who have gone before us have done (like the apostle Paul), and that is what God himself tells us to do. But as we deal with these thorns, these sufferings, these hardships—whatever they may be—we are also freed to ask the question, “If God is not going to take this away, then he’s using it for good. I know that his power is made perfect in weakness. So, what good might he be working from this?”

We may never have an answer to that question until we can ask God directly in heaven, but we can know what God’s plan ultimately is: he wants us to be with him forever in heaven. And so, he’s freed us from our sins and allows all things in this life—both good and bad—to keep us focused not just on the here and now but on the eternity that lies ahead of us. That eternity is the free gift that our Savior won for us through his life and death in our place.

Is Jesus’ grace really sufficient for you? Absoultely. Both today and through eternity. Amen.

"You're Sending Whom...?" (Sermon on Luke 5:1-11) | February 9, 2025

Sermon Text: Luke 5:1-11
Date: February 9, 2025
Event: The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C

Luke 5:1-11 (EHV)

One time, while the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. 2He saw two boats there along the lakeshore. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3Jesus got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the shore. He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat. 4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.”

5Simon answered him, “Master, we worked hard all through the night and caught nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets were about to tear apart. 7They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, because I am a sinful man, Lord.” 9For Peter and all those with him were amazed at the number of fish they had caught, 10and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.

Jesus said to Simon, “Have no fear. From now on you will be catching people.”

11After they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

You’re Sending Whom…?

I don’t watch it often, but I love the PBS show Antiques Road Show. If you haven’t seen it, the basic premise is this: people attend an event and bring in old things they have in their homes (perhaps displayed, perhaps stashed away in the attic) to have them appraised. They film many of the appraisals, and the interesting ones tend to be aired on the show. Sometimes they’re interesting because the person is sure they’re sitting on a small fortune, only to discover that what they have isn’t worth much. On the other hand, sometimes people bring something in and it ends up worth 10, 100, or even 1000x what they thought it might be.

As these surprisingly high valuations settle on the people, often you see them looking at things differently. Often, they start handling the item more carefully; some people suddenly start talking about insuring it. Because if you suddenly found out you had something worth a whole lot of money, you’d want to protect it, right? And whether you were protecting it as an heirloom to pass down to the next generation or just keeping it safe until it could be sold, you still need to consider how to handle it in the days ahead.

Whether you’ve known it for a long time or only a very short time, if you have something precious, you want to be careful with it. You don’t store a priceless painting outside or leave that fragile piece of pottery in the trunk of the car. Whether something is valuable monetarily or sentimentally, you are careful with it.

There’s nothing more valuable in this life, in the world, than the gospel message. The certainty that Jesus has removed every sin is eternally valuable, and all the world’s wealth combined can’t even touch its worth. And considering all it cost Jesus to accomplish it—his very life!—you would rightly assume that he will be careful with it and ensure that it is safe and in good hands.

And while that is true, the way Jesus entrusts this message to be shared is surprising. We’d assume that perhaps he’d take the lead in sharing this with the world. After all, who would be better equipped to share the gospel than the one who accomplished it? Or perhaps, if not Jesus himself, then the angels. After all, the term “angel” means “messenger.” After God himself, who better to share this good news than God’s official messenger force?

But then we see scenes like we saw last weekend in our First Reading where God said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). And what was Jeremiah’s response? “Ah, Lord God! I really do not know how to speak! I am only a child!” (Jeremiah 1:6). In other words, “Um, Lord, you’re sending whom…? Me? Oh, that doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

We saw a very similar scene in our First Reading this morning. Isaiah takes in the scene in heaven and is terrified even to be there, never mind being a messenger for this perfect God, “I am doomed! I am ruined, because I am a man with unclean lips, and I dwell among a people with unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies!” (Isaiah 6:5). Until one of the angels intervenes with a coal from the altar, Isaiah can’t fathom how he could ever serve in this capacity.

And in our Gospel for this morning, which is our primary focus for our meditation, we see Peter freaking out in a way very consistent with Isaiah’s encounter with God. He falls in fear before Jesus at the unprecedented catch of fish, saying, “Go away from me, because I am a sinful man, Lord.”  

Scripture is filled with unwilling, terrified, and seemingly inappropriate human messengers for God. The apostle Paul persecuted the Christian church until Jesus corrected and called him on the road to Damascus. When Moses spoke to God in the burning bush, he gave God a similar line to Jeremiah’s: he didn’t know how to speak. And the prophet Jonah was so unwilling to be God’s messenger to the heathen city of Nineveh, that he got in a boat headed the exact opposite direction that God had told him to go, until a terrifying dip in a stormy sea and three nights in a giant fish’s digestive system put him back on the right track (mostly).

To one degree or another, these human reactions to God’s call make sense because God’s actions don’t make sense to us. Why is God entrusting this priceless message to fallible human messengers? Everyone he calls, willing or not, is at least a sinner and thus flawed to the very core. And many don’t seem to have the gifts one would think would be necessary for this work. Jeremiah, Moses, and Paul all mention how they’re not good speakers, and God’s answer is always the same; as God calls these faltering lips, he assures them that he’ll be with them and give them the words they are to share.

This morning’s Gospel has two epiphanies—revelations—about Jesus. The first is the most obvious one. The professional fisherman had been at their work all night (which was the ideal time to catch fish) and came away with nothing. But, Peter’s respect for Jesus is so great that he agrees to try again at the worst time of day to catch fish, even dirtying nets they had already spent time cleaning. And what happens? A catch of fish so great that it strained the nets to the breaking point and even threatened to sink two boats. Quite a change from an empty night’s work!

Jesus reveals himself, again, to be God. In a miracle not unlike the water changed into wine at Cana that we saw a few weeks ago or the healings we saw in Capernaum last week, this miracle stresses who Jesus really is. He’s not some layman who has a hunch about how these professionals can do their job better. No, he is the one who made the lake they’re on and created the fish they will catch. This is why Peter, like Isaiah, reacts in such fear before God, falling before him. For Peter, this miracle went well beyond underscoring the message Jesus taught. Instead, it made him fearful to even be in Jesus’ presence. He knew who he was, a sinful man, and that sinners cannot be in God’s presence and ever hope to survive.

And here is the second epiphany: the New Testament’s gospel ministry will be no different than the Old Testament’s gospel ministry. In the past God sent fallible prophets to proclaim his Word, only very rarely intervening directly to send an angel as his messenger. Here, too, Jesus reveals this will also be the plan: “Have no fear. From now on you will be catching people.” Peter, James, and John would trade in their nets and boats for God’s Word and come away with a “catch” that would be far more important than a ship full of fish: they would share the message of forgiveness in Jesus with the world!

Which, fortunately or unfortunately (depending on your perspective), comes back around to you and me. Who is tasked with sharing God’s Word with others? Well, look around. There aren’t any angels speaking and God isn’t making his presence visibly known and teaching that way. No, you have a deeply flawed mouthpiece here called to be your pastor. The young child hears God’s Word from sinful parents and imperfect Sunday School teachers. Your neighbor across the fence or seatmate on the airplane or train may have a gospel-sharer who makes mistakes, forgets things, and is sometimes overcome by fear and anxiety.

But this is the system God has set up. This is how he’s chosen to bring saving faith to people. He restricts himself to using the means of grace, this gospel message found in his Word and sacraments. And far more often than not, that Word is shared by faltering lips and stumbling tongues, because it’s shared by people like you and me.

We may wonder about the wisdom of God’s plan, but remember that the messengers sharing Jesus also are the ones who benefit from what Jesus has done. We know what it is to be forgiven, whereas the angels and even Jesus himself do not. This is our lived experience, and I believe you can see this choice of messengers for the gospel message as a feature, not a bug; as a blessing, not a detriment. You can share what it means not just that sins are forgiven generally or even that the people listening to you are forgiven, but that your specific sins are forgiven in the blood of Jesus. That’s a powerful advantage to bring to this work that no angel could ever provide.

So, despite all the challenges we bring to the table, God has still called us to share, invite, and call people to hear his good news of sins forgiven. He has entrusted the precious gospel to us. My dear brothers and sisters, let us work together so that we might not cower in fear at this opportunity asking God to go away from us. Instead, when God gives us the chance and in so-doing asks, “Whom will I send? Who will go for us?” may we answer, with humility and joy, “Here I am! Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8). We are forgiven! Let us throw our gospel nets into the sea of this world! Let us share that forgiveness! Amen.

"What Does Gospel Success Look Like?" (Sermon on 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5) | February 2, 2025

Sermon Text: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Date: February 2, 2025
Event: The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Year C

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 (EHV)

As for you, continue in the things you have learned and about which you have become convinced. You know from whom you learned them 15and that from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, and for training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be complete, well equipped for every good work.

4:1I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom: 2Preach the word. Be ready whether it is convenient or not. Correct, rebuke, and encourage, with all patience and teaching. 3For there will come a time when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, because they have itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in line with their own desires. 4They will also turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

5As for you, keep a clear head in every situation. Bear hardship. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry.

What Does Gospel Success Look Like?

Keep at it. Keep pushing. Fake it ‘til you make it. These sorts of encouragements are often shared with those who are finding the path ahead of them difficult. Maybe they’re trying to set new personal records at the gym, and just can’t seem to break through that plateau. Maybe they’ve started a new job or embarked on a new personal project and it has become clear that they are in over their head or didn’t have as solid a command of the material as they thought they did. What’s the encouragement? Keep at it.

But how do you know when you’ve succeeded? How do you know when you’ve reached your goal? In some cases, it’s probably pretty straight forward. If you goal is to be able to life a certain amount of weight on the bench press, and then you do that, then you’ve accomplished that goal. But what about the project at work? Have you found success simply if it’s done? Is there a metric to measure it by? Do you need to rely on other people’s feedback and affirmations to know that you have done something well?

Many aspects of life and work are murky, including our calling as Christians and as a congregation to preach God’s Word to all creation. How do we measure success in that endeavor? What dangers exist when we look to the wrong place for success? What comfort does God have for us in this work?

Last week, we saw two examples of what looked like failure in Gospel ministry: Jesus was rejected in Nazareth, while the leaders in Jerusalem rejected Peter and John’s preaching. At that time we wrestled with what rejection of God’s Word means. Does it mean that the messenger had failed, or even that God had failed? No! If God’s Word was shared the response from the people spoken to is not the measure of failure or success. If they reject the Word clearly and accurately shared, that is on them, not on the one sharing.

But the inverse is also confusing. What does success look like? How can we measure it, or can we measure it? In our Gospel this morning, we saw Jesus find what appeared to be great success, so much so that the people in Capernaum tried to prevent him from going elsewhere! What could be more successful than an adoring crowd begging a messenger from God to stay with them and continue the work among them?

Well, appearances can be deceiving. Entertainers and politicians often try to measure success by numbers and visible metrics. How many people attended that concert? How many movie tickets were sold? How many people were at that rally to hear that speech? If the number is big, that is success; if the number is small, that is failure.

But in our Second Reading for this morning, we have the apostle Paul revealing to young pastor Timothy where his focus should be. And nowhere does Paul mention crowd, audience, or congregation size as where he should be focused. Rather, from Paul’s point of view, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the thing that determines gospel success is faithfulness.

Paul begins our reading with an encouragement that is probably familiar to our ears, especially if we went to Catechism class in our earlier years: As for you, continue in the things you have learned and about which you have become convinced. You know from whom you learned them 15and that from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, and for training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be complete, well equipped for every good work.

There is a lot there, more than we have time here this morning to unpack. But very briefly, Paul encourages Timothy above all else to stay faithful to the Word that he was brought up with, because that Word is the flawless, inerrant, inspired Word of God. It is not just a list of rules, or a guidebook that we can pick and choose from as we wish. No, this is the God-breathed will of God given to us, and it should be used for both addressing problems and bulding up people in God’s will, so that everyone may be well equipped to give thanks to God for his forgiveness through their life of good works.

That all sounds great. But what happens when things go awry? What happens when the motivations of messenger and listener get distorted? Paul addresses this: 3For there will come a time when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, because they have itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in line with their own desires. 4They will also turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

What will happen? People will grow tired of what God has to say and seek other sources of spiritual guidance that are more appealing. Perhaps this messenger emphasizes self-help that offers visible, practical benefits for people in their daily lives. Maybe this messenger understands that people prefer not to dwell on the negative aspects of God’s law and tends to avoid discussing sin, death, or hell, instead focusing on God’s love and peace.

There’s a lot of talk about echo chambers in our modern-day, internet-connected world. But this is not a new concept. The idea of wanting to surround yourself with people who think like you (or perhaps even cater and tailor their message to your desires and interests) is about as old as humanity itself. Many people—even ostensibly Christian preachers—have made quite a name for themselves by scratching people’s itchy ears, by just saying what the people want to hear and reinforcing their preconceived notions. That is a much more popular tact than challenging people to expand their thinking and challenge their feelings because that work is hard and uncomfortable, and I, generally, would rather not do it.

For as long as I live, I don’t think I’ll ever forget my conversation with a Christian who was looking to join a congregation outside of our fellowship after doing some “church shopping.” “Pastor,” the person said, “these other churches are full.” And there it was. What was the metric for measuring success for this person? How many people were there? But what about the message being shared from God’s Word? Was it correct? Was it complete?

So, what is actual success when it comes to the gospel ministry? What is actual success when it comes to congregational ministry? Well, Paul tells us in his encouragement to Timothy: 1I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom: 2Preach the word. Be ready whether it is convenient or not. Correct, rebuke, and encourage, with all patience and teaching. … [K]eep a clear head in every situation. Bear hardship. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. Notice what is missing here? Nothing about the people's reaction, the crowd's size, or the message's popularity. Success in gospel ministry is dictated by faithfulness by God’s messengers.

That means that we will not shift our message as a congregation to meet the social norms of the day. While there’s certainly no reason to be acidic in our communities, we will not compromise God’s words to make other people happy or more comfortable. We will continue to press each other with God’s law, urging one another to see our sins and failures before God and recognize what we truly deserve from him: eternal death in hell.

However, we will not sidestep or distort the solution to that eternal problem. Any effort to look within ourselves to improve or reconcile with God is misguided, wrong, and eternally dangerous. Instead, we focus on Jesus and Jesus alone. He alone solves our sins through his death. He alone provides certainty for eternal life through his triumphant resurrection. He alone—his teachings and his work on our behalf—is the center of the entire Bible and, therefore, must be the focus of all of our work in his name.

What does that work look like? It looks like sharing this message with people as you have the opportunity. As Paul told Timothy,“whether it is convenient or not.” It means being in God’s Word ourselves so that we can draw from that Word for this sharing work.

As a result, we will let our lights shine in the world with joy and thankfulness to God for His free and complete forgiveness. This thankfulness means we will show love—true, unconditional love—to everyone. Not just our families or our congregation, but everyone everywhere. That includes showing love to our neighbor with whom we don’t get along, our coworker who can be a bit obnoxious, and the stranger who lives here or on the other side of the world and needs help and support. Perhaps that love starts with earthly kindness, but it always longs to address the more significant, eternal matters of sins forgiven and life in heaven because of Jesus’ work for us.

Faithfulness in our message and how we live our lives is the key to success in gospel ministry. Are we proclaiming God’s Word clearly and accurately? Can people learn from us what God has done to save the world, to save us, to save them? Then, regardless of the response, we’re fulfilling what God has called us to do. And what about the impact of the Word on the hearts of those who hear? Well, that is God’s work, not ours, so in our faithfulness, let’s not worry about the response and let God be God, doing what he has reserved for himself to accomplish.

And in all of these things, whether positive or negative, encouraging or discouraging, let us lift up our hearts in joy to the God who has saved us from our sins. The world's response to God’s work doesn’t change God’s work, which means that no matter how many people join us in church or share our confession of faith, our sins are forgiven in the blood of Jesus, and heaven stands waiting for us. The very Word that healed the sick in Capernaum and worked powerfully through Paul’s ministry is also with us. Thanks be to God! Amen.

"Rejection Is Not Failure" (Sermon on Acts 4:23-31) | January 26, 2025

Sermon Text: Acts 4:23-31
Date: January 26, 2025
Event: The Third Sunday after Epiphany, Year C

Acts 4:23-31 (EHV)

After Peter and John were released, they went to their own friends and reported everything the high priests and the elders had said. 24When they heard this, with one mind they raised their voices to God and said, “Master, you are the God who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. 25By the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David, your servant, you said:

Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26The kings of the earth take their stand,
and the rulers are gathered together
against the Lord
and against his Anointed One.

27“For certainly, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and people of Israel, were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28They did whatever your hand and your plan had decided beforehand should happen.

29“Now Lord, look at their threats and give to your servants the ability to keep on speaking your word with all boldness 30as you stretch out your hand to heal and as signs and wonders take place through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

31After they prayed, the place where they were gathered was shaken. Also, everyone was filled with the Holy Spirit, and they continued to speak the word of God with boldness.   

Rejection Is Not Failure

When plans fall apart, it might leave you feeling like you failed. But the things that caused (or hastened) the failure were often out of your control. The picnic plans fall apart because of the rain. The project at work gets cut because of budget decisions far above your job description. The car you intended to keep for a decade or more is totaled because someone wasn’t paying attention and ran into you.

We start second-guessing ourselves, “If only I had picked a different day for the picnic,” “If only I had lobbied to my boss’s boss’s boss to get funding,” “If only I had left the house just a couple of minutes earlier.” And yet in all of those cases, you couldn’t have known and probably you couldn’t have done anything to change things. Couldn’t it have just as easily rained on your alternate picnic day? You don’t control the weather! Sometimes, things, even significant things, fail or go the way we didn’t want them to go, but that’s through no fault or action on our part; it’s just the way things go.

This morning, as we continue our journey through the Epiphany season, we get a clearer and clearer picture of who Jesus is. Last week we saw him as the miracle worker (turning water into wine in Cana) whose miracles pointed to his message that he is, in fact, the Savior. This week, in our Gospel, we see Jesus preaching early on in his ministry—to the people of his hometown even! He’s sharing the very message that the miracles all served to highlight. But what is the result? Not faith but utter rejection; it was rejection so strong that they would sooner murder Jesus, this hometown boy, rather than listen to another word from his lips.

Jesus’ preaching in Nazareth is not our explicit focus this morning, but it is an account similar to our Second Reading. In the early days after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, the apostles spent a lot of time preaching the good news about Jesus’ victory in Jerusalem—the very place where Jesus said they would start their witnessing work. But, of course, the people who didn’t like Jesus and worked to have him executed just a few months earlier are still in power and, unsurprisingly, are very upsert that these former disciples of Jesus are keeping the name and teaching of this man in front of the people. They saw Jesus as a threat and they see those keeping his memory alive as a threat as well. This was especially concerning for them because the apostles’ work often included working miracles in Jesus’ name which, once again, underscored the validity of their message and also Jesus’ own ministry and his claims about himself.

The leadup to this scene in our Second Reading starts with one of these miracles. Back in Acts 3, Peter and John met a man who was begging in the temple because he had been crippled from birth. Peter told him to look at them. Then Luke tells us, “The man paid close attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I will give you. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!’ Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately the man’s feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk. He entered the temple courts with them, walking, jumping, and praising God” (Acts 3:5-8).

This, understandably, caused quite a commotion. It gathered a crowd of some size, enough for Peter to take the opportunity to proclaim God’s Word, both law and gospel, to those who came to see what had happened. He gave all glory for the miracle healing to Jesus and then underscored the purpose of Jesus’ work—the forgiveness of people’s sins, even the sins of crucifying the Savior. Peter ended his message by saying, “God raised up his Servant and sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you away from your wicked ways” (Acts 3:26).

Now, this did not go over well with the officials. The Jewish authorities came to where this crowd was gathered and arrested Peter and John. After questioning them, the officials ordered them to stop speaking about Jesus and let them go. This is where our Second Reading picks up: “After Peter and John were released…”

Peter and John’s preaching was largely rejected. The enemies of Jesus remained the enemies of Jesus. And while undoubtedly many in the crowd heard the gospel and through that the Spirit created faith in Jesus as Savior in their hearts, it certainly wasn’t everyone. And in this case, it wasn’t the people who might have seemed to have mattered the most: the influential leaders who could have served as a blessing to sharing the good news with the broader populace rather than a hindrance to it.

But what is the response of Peter, John, and the other believers? With one mind they raised their voices to God. And this raising their voices was not in complaint; they were not grousing to God about the treatment the apostles were undergoing. No, actually, just the opposite. They were praising God that despite the opposition, God’s will was still being done.

They quote Psalm 2, which we gave a detailed look at a few weeks ago, when they ask David’s question, “Why do the nations rage?” And the point they make is the same point we discussed then, that this is not a question of what motivates the enemies of God but more of a question of “Why bother? This isn’t going to work.” Consider what happened at the raging of Herod, Pilate, and those in the crowds who were against Jesus. Not only did they not get rid of the message, but their raging was actually used by God to bring about his purpose. They thought they were winning a great victory by nailing Jesus to the cross, but God worked it so that that was the payment for sin, that was the promises coming to fruition, that is our eternal hope.

And so, no rejection and anger on people’s part is going to be able to stifle God. But rejection will come. Jesus faced it, the apostles faced it, and we have and will continue to face it as we share the good news about Jesus. What do we do with that? How do we think about that? If the world rejects us when we share about God’s love because the world just wants people to do their own thing, or hate people who are different than them, or rage against God, is that a failure for us? What should we do?

How did Jesus handle the rejection by the people of Nazareth? As they dragged him to the edge of the cliff to kill him, he passed through the middle of them and went on his way (Luke 14:30). How did the apostles and those with them deal with the rejection by the people in Jerusalem? They continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Rejection does not mean you have failed; rejection doesn’t mean you did something wrong. Rejection of the gospel is to be expected, but the path forward is to continue on the path, share God’s love, and not let Satan use that rejection to discourage or stop the good news from going out into the world. Jesus left Nazareth and the apostles quickly began to widen out beyond Jerusalem and Judea. It may be that in rejection, we change our audience. But we continue to share this Word with the world. And we know that, in the end, faith in this message is God’s work, not ours. And he has promised that his Word will not return empty (Isaiah 55:10-11).

In all of this, we have something about God revealed to us, a clearer sense of who God is, an epiphany:  He is not a God who forces love and obedience. While he is truly the God who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them, he does not make us robots who cannot help but listen to and obey him. Instead, he does all things for us; he forgives every sin and invites us to love and thank him in response to this glorious, eternal gift.

And in rejection, he doesn’t destroy those who reject. He didn’t call down fire and destroy the people of Nazareth who rejected him; he just left. He didn’t wipe out those who arrested Peter and John; he let them just move on. It’s not that he doesn’t care, in fact, it’s precisely because he does care. Would those people in Nazareth have other opportunities to hear the gospel, to reconsider their rejection? I hope so! So, too, for someone who might reject God’s Word at our sharing as individuals or as a congregation, perhaps we are not the people to see the fruit come forth. Perhaps we are just a cog in the machine, and that later, through someone else’s sharing of his Word, God will work faith in that person. There is time to share as long as a person is still here.

So don’t let rejection equal failure in your heart and mind. Instead, commend these things to God who promises to do what he knows is right when he knows the time is right. As for us? Let us continue to speak the word of God with boldness! Amen.

"Jesus' Power Brings About Faith" (Sermon on John 2:1-11) | January 19, 2025

Sermon Text: John 2:1-11
Date: January 19, 2025
Event: The Second Sunday after Epiphany, Year C

John 2:1–11 (EHV)

Three days later, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. 2Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.

3When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine.”

4Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My time has not come yet.”

5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6Six stone water jars, which the Jews used for ceremonial cleansing, were standing there, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. 8Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” And they did.

9When the master of the banquet tasted the water that had now become wine, he did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew). The master of the banquet called the bridegroom 10and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have had plenty to drink, then the cheaper wine. You saved the good wine until now!”

11This, the beginning of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

Jesus’ Power Brings About Faith

If you’ve ever adopted a pet from a group like the Humane Society or an animal rescue, you’re probably familiar with all the hoops you need to jump through to complete the adoption. These groups will not just hand over an animal to you because you walked through the door and had the cash for the adoption fee. They ask for information, if you rent your home they want clearance from the landlord that it’s ok for you to have a pet. They want to know who your vet is to get a clear idea of how you’re caring for any current pets or pets from the past.

Why do they go through all of that work and make you supply that information? They are looking out for the well-being of the animals They want clear indications, clear signs, that you are a person or family that would take good care of an animal. They don’t want you to have a pet if it will be overwhelming (a large dog with behavior issues probably isn’t right for a family with newborn twins) or if you simply are not fit to take care of the animal. This process ideally indicates both the pet’s fit in your home and your home’s fit for the pet.

In Catechism, we learn that one of the significant differences between God and people is that God can read the heart while we cannot. The people at the animal shelter can go on some signs, but they can’t actually know that someone is a suitable adopter because they can’t know the person’s heart and mind. So they have to go on outward signs, outward indications of what’s happening inside a person, their ability ot care for and their intentions with an animal, and make a judgment call.

Have you ever wondered why there seemed to be so many more miracles throughout the Old and New Testaments than we see today? On the one hand, I think we get a little bit of a misguided sense of that, because the Scriptures tend to cover those special events and tend to skip over more “quiet” times of history. It’s not like God was turning rivers to blood every other week—that happened once in Egypt. But the miracles, whether in Moses’ or Jesus’ day, served a purpose. They were authenticating to the message that was being proclaimed. Essentially, every miracle performed through one of God’s messengers was God setting up a giant flashing neon sign pointing at that messenger, telling everyone around, “HEY! LISTEN TO HIM!”

Why was that more important then than it is now? Because they didn’t have the Scriptures written, complete, and preserved, like we do today. Consider Moses’ day—there was no written Bible. Moses himself wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, so the people had nothing to go on to check to see if what Moses said was true. One of Moses’ big concerns when God called him at the burning bush was that no one would believe God had sent him. So, God equipped Moses to work miracles with the staff that was in his hand.

This is the same reason that Jesus worked his miracles. It wasn’t because he had come to heal people from their physical ailments or because he wanted everyone to have a nice meal when they were far away from being able to purchase food. No, they were to draw attention to and underscore the validity of Jesus’ claims. They made it clear to the people that they should listen to what Jesus had to say.

But even that is jumping far ahead into Jesus’ ministry, isn’t it? Where we are in our Gospel is at the very start. Jesus has been baptized—anointed and installed for his work as the Messiah—as we saw last week. He’s called a couple of his disciples to follow him. But there were no crowds. Few people would have known his name. This scene in the wedding at Cana in John 2 is one the earliest moments in Jesus’ public ministry.

Jesus and his disciples attend the wedding with Mary, Jesus’ mother. Jewish weddings, especially at this time, could be a week-long celebration. Running out of wine early on in the celebration would point either to the family’s poor planning or slim resources. Whatever the reason, running out would have been an difficult embarrassment.

Before anyone knows that the wine at the wedding is gone, Mary asks Jesus to help. Jesus clarifies that his mother does not get to dictate when and how he conducts his ministry, but we also see Jesus’ heart to help this family. So he works a miracle. This miracles has become so well-known that it transcends the Christian faith so that even pop culture will refer to “turning water into wine” as a phrase to describe doing the impossible or turning something of seemingly low value into something of high value.

This was the first miracle of Jesus’ public ministry and very likely his first miracle ever. As we go through this Epiphany season, as we see Jesus do his work, Jesus will show us who he really is. He is not some charismatic guy who was able to get people to follow him because of his personality. He is the one who was worthy of the angelic announcement at his birth, the long journey of the Wise Men, and the joyful praise of the Father at his baptism.

Can you trust Jesus? When he promises that his death paid for your sins, can you believe that? Is it reliable when he promises that his resurrection has also opened your grave and that because he lives, you too will live? Well, journey again to Cana. Enjoy the wedding reception and note that the one who has promised your sins are forgiven can turn giant jugs of water into the finest wine that the sommelier of the day had tasted.

That power is a résumé that speaks volumes. What authority does Jesus have to make such audacious claims about your sin? Look at what he has the power to do; look at the signs. He can turn water into wine. He can heal the sick, feed the hungry, and even raise the dead. And he does so not because God is doing it for him or through him; he’s doing it of his own accord because he is the promised Savior, true God and true man, that you and I need.

That power reveals Jesus to be trustworthy—worthy of our faith. Jesus’ disciples at the banquet understood that. After this singular miracle, we’re told he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. Of course, in the end, it wasn’t the miracles that did that, was it? It was the Holy Spirit. They didn’t just believe because of the miracles but because of the Word Jesus preached. The miracles, from the very first one, did their job, though. They pointed out that this Jesus was worth listening to, and through that lisenting, the Spirit worked faith—trust—in the hearts of his people.

He does the same for you and me today. By faith, we know that the accounts in God’s Word are not just fables and myths but actual events. The miracles that Jesus worked, as inexplicable as they may be, were real and happened. Even after being removed from these miracles by about 2,000 years, they still hold value as signs revealing Jesus to be trustworthy.

So, Jesus’ power brings about faith. You know Jesus’ power and authority and that he can be trusted. So his promise of complete forgiveness in his death for you is unquestionable. His promise that he’s applied his perfect life to your record is sure. His promise that because he’s been raised from the dead you, too, will rise, is inevitable. The one who turns water into wine turns your hell into heaven. Thanks be to God! Amen.

"Do You Laugh with the Lord?" (Sermon on Psalm 2:1-7) | January 12, 2025

Sermon Text: Psalm 2:1-7
Date: January 12, 2025
Event: The Baptism of Our Lord, Year C

Psalm 2:1–7 (EHV)
Why do the nations rage?
Why do the peoples grumble in vain?
2The kings of the earth take a stand,
and the rulers join together
against the LORD
and against his Anointed One.
3“Let us tear off their chains
and throw off their ropes from us.”
4The one who is seated in heaven laughs.
The Lord scoffs at them.
5Then he speaks to them in his anger,
and in his wrath he terrifies them.
6“I have installed my King on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7I will proclaim the decree of the LORD.
He said to me:
“You are my Son.
Today I have begotten you.”

Do You Laugh with the Lord?

Have you ever been in a situation so bad, frustrating, or seemingly hopeless that all you could do was laugh? Why is that a gut reaction for us sometimes? I assume it’s a response to things we can’t control, things that are sometimes so out of reach that it almost begins to be funny.

That laughter or “humor” (if we can call it that) is a dark, hopeless laughter. I can’t do anything but laugh. But it’s not expressing the joy that laughter often communicates. It’s certainly not expressing something funny or entertaining. So, there are many reasons someone might laugh at the situation around them, some of them positive but sometimes very negative.

In Psalm 2, we get some behind-the-scenes look at God’s actions, and perhaps one of the most surprising is that the one who is seated in heaven laughs. What kind of laughter is this? Joyful? Funny? Hopeless? What is going on here? And if God is laughing at the events surrounding him, do we join him in that laughter?

The psalm writer sets a scene that was familiar in ancient days and continues to be familiar today: Why do the nations rage? Why do the peoples grumble in vain? The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers join together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. “Let us tear off their chains and throw off their ropes from us.” The nations, and especially the powerful people in them, are taking their stand against God. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? When was the last time you saw someone who was truly influential in the world and you thought, “This person really has their moral compass calibrated completely correctly. What they say and do is in line with God’s will!”? I don’t know that I could list many examples...

Being on this side of it, that’s kind of scary. When the world around us seems to have their sights set on God’s will, trying to rebuff it, ignore it, and even change it, what will we do to stop them? To redirect it? If the most powerful, influential, and wealthy people in the world want to try to rip off what they see as chains and ropes from God and even encourage others to do so as well, so that the nations and people rage and grumble against God, what can we do? Does this feel like a hopeless situation?

It might. But then we look at God’s reaction. The one who is seated in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. The Lord laughs. But what is in this laugh? Is it a laugh of fear and hopelessness because all of these powerful forces have taken their stand against him? No! This is the laugh that might come out of me when I see one of the cats reaching and reaching and reaching under the refrigerator to retrieve a lost toy that is hopelessly out of their reach. They’re trying so hard, but it’s never going to work. It’s almost funny, but there’s also a little sadness at the effort’s futility.

This reaction from God helps us to understand precisely what the psalm writer is getting at in the first verse of this psalm. When he asks, “Why do the nations rage?” it’s not an inquiry about motives. He’s not wondering what drives someone to do this. It’s “Why?” more like “What are you doing? What do you hope to accomplish? What is the point?” Because he knows that no matter how powerful you are, to take a stand against God is to lose.

That point is driven home by what God says next and how he says it, “Then he speaks to them in his anger, and in his wrath he terrifies them. ‘I have installed my King on Zion, my holy mountain.’ ” This raging of the nations against God is not laughable to be ignored and dismissed. This open rebellion against God is a real problem he doesn’t allow to stand. So, in his anger and wrath, he points to the King—the real ruler—he has placed over everything.

This installation, placing, and anointing of this King is what we are focused on here this morning. What is spoken of as true from eternity here in the psalm happened in time as Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. This moment—as Jesus is baptized, the Holy Spirit descends as a dove, and the Father’s voice booms from heaven—is the formal start of Jesus’ ministry.

Why is the Messiah’s installation pointed to as proof that no rulers of this world can do anything against God? We do well to pay close attention to a very small detail in our text, one that might not have stood out at all when we read these verses and honestly could be chalked up to a typo in our worship folder, but it’s not. It’s very important.

Look at the word “Lord” in our psalm. In vv. 2 and 7, it’s in all capital letters (LORD), and in v. 4 it’s in normal lettering (Lord). This is intentional because it reflects the careful wording of the Hebrew verses of this psalm. When that name is printed in all capital letters, it is God's special covenant name. This is God’s unique name, Yahweh, that emphasizes his grace and his mercy. So who are the nations and people raging against in v. 2? The covenant God of grace. Whose decree is the Messiah proclaiming in v. 7? The covenant God of grace.

But then, in v. 4, God is responding to this open rebellion. His name is no longer listed as the God of grace, but a more generic “Lord,” which we might sometimes translate as “master” or “ruler.” This name emphasizes God’s sovereignty and his authority. This name reminds the nations that they are not in charge; God is. He is the Lord.

So, the rebellion is against the God of love and mercy. The peoples of the earth don’t want to hear from God about anything, and certainly not about sin and forgiveness. And while that might strike us as a touch strange, we need to carefully consider how unpleasant it is to be told we are not only not in charge, but that we are accountable to someone else—to God—and that we haven’t met his expectations. The message of God’s law is deeply unpleasant, so much so that the sinful nature will do anything it possibly can to get rid of it, even trying to stage a coup against God. If we are accountable to God and we can get rid of him, then we would be free, right?

Well, as we said before, to take a stand against God is to lose. So, no, the path to freedom doesn’t go through open rebellion against God because you won’t get rid of him. And people with that mindset and goal will be crushed. But even the sovereign, ruling God points to the Messiah as proof that he can’t be thwarted. Why? Because the Messiah is the solution to all of this. “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy mountain.”

Jesus’ work is one of mercy, but it’s also one of exclusivity. If you and I want to be rid of our sins and be right with God, Jesus is the only way. So, from a law perspective, if you’re not with Jesus, you’re lost. But from a gospel perspective, Jesus is everything you could need for eternity.

This part of the psalm ends with the Messiah speaking. I will proclaim the decree of the LORD (the God of grace!). He said to me: “You are my Son. Today I have begotten you.” Sound familiar? We heard essentially this exact phrase from the Father at Jesus’ baptism, “You are my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with you.” What does it mean for the God of grace to call the Messiah his Son? It shows their profound unity of purpose.

God’s plan is not just to be the vengeful, terrifying, wrath-filled God that punishes open rebellion. If it comes to that, he certainly will, but he prefers a far different approach. He would much rather solve this with his grace. So he sends his Son to take the place of these rebellious, sinful people—you and me included. We hear more details about this relationship at his baptism: I am well pleased with you. If God is well-pleased with anything, it is perfect. So here, in Jesus’ anointing, we have not just a connection shown, but Jesus’ value is made clear. Here is the perfect Son of God who has been sent to rescue us and all mankind from our sins.

What does all of this mean for us? Let’s return to our original question: do you laugh with the Lord? When it comes to what some might call the crumbling of society, living in a post-Christian world, or however else people might choose to despair when they see what they view as the downfall of society, do we need to panic? No! This is not anything new. It’s been happening since the beginning, and it will continue to happen until the end. But in the meantime, we can laugh with God. This can be a laugh of certainty, not despair and hopelessness. These nations, these people, these powerful forces raging against God are no more than the kitty desperately trying to get the ball from under the fridge with no hope of ever reaching it.

Because Jesus, God’s Son, won the victory over sin, death, and hell, we know that we do not need to join the nations in this rebellion against God. The solution to our eternal problems is not getting rid of God; rather, it’s the plan God has set in place. He has installed his King, his Messiah, our Savior, as champion and ruler of all. He is the one who willingly started this formal work at his baptism, knowing full well it led to the cross. The one who judges the earth, who rules all things, is the same one who loved you and me enough to die in our place. And so complete was his victory that not even the grave could hold him.

So, my brothers and sisters, do not despair over your sins or how they affect your relationship with God. The covenant God of grace forgives you for Jesus’ sake. And as you see the world in open opposition to God, do not fret or fear. Instead, you can laugh with God. Laugh, knowing how hopeless their raging is in the long run, how they will not be able to overthrow God or do anything to change his promises or his work. With that confidence, we can approach those who rage with the comfort and assurance of God’s mercy in Jesus to show them they are not chained or bound by God but that he has released them from their sin just as he has released us from ours.

The results of sharing the gospel can lead to real, joyful, even ecstatic laughter as we and many more join in the perfection of eternal life that Jesus has won for us. Here before us is God’s Son, God’s King, the one who, despite appearance to the contrary, will conquer sin, death, and hell in his death so that all of us, purified from sin, can be called the children of God. Thanks be to God! Amen.

"Do You Consider Yourself Worthy of Eternal Life?" (Sermon on Acts 13:46-49) | January 5, 2025

Sermon Text: Acts 13:46-49
Date: January 5, 2025
Event: The Epiphany of our Lord (Observed), Year C

Acts 13:46-49 (EHV)

Then Paul and Barnabas responded fearlessly, “It was necessary that God’s word be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, look: We are now turning to the Gentiles! 47For this is what the Lord has instructed us:

I have made you a light for the Gentiles,

that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth.”

48When the Gentiles heard this, they were rejoicing and praising the word of the Lord. All who had been appointed for eternal life believed.

49And the word of the Lord was being carried through the whole region.

Do You Consider Yourself Worthy of Eternal Life?

Have you ever gotten a gift, maybe this Christmas just finished or sometime in the past, that you felt unworthy to receive? Maybe it was something so personal, so dialed in to you, that you knew you could never, ever give such a thoughtful gift, and rather than appreciating the love and care that went into it, you felt only guilt over the generic nature of the gift you had prepared. Maybe there was a gift so costly that you were embarrassed to think that someone gave you a gift of such value. Perhaps it even left you wondering why they did.

The answer is probably pretty simple: because they care about you. They have talents or resources that they wanted to use for you! But even that can leave us feeling unworthy, that we don’t deserve what has been given to us. But it wasn’t given because you met some standard of worth; it was given because the giver loves you and cares for you.

So it is with God’s gifts. We can be overwhelmed by the unmeasurable scale of all that God provides, physical, spiritual, and eternal. This morning, we want to pause to take a fresh look at those gifts and consider whether or not we should consider ourselves worthy of them.

Our brief Second Reading takes us to Pisidon Antioch, a city in the south-central region of modern-day Turkey, very early on the apostle Paul’s first missionary journey. This city had become important in the area, serving as the region's capital in the Roman Empire. As such, it had a diverse population. As a major Roman city, it would have been predominately populated by Gentiles, people who were not Jewish. But, like most prominent cities in the empire at the time, it served as home for many Jewish people living in the “diaspora” of God’s people worldwide.

So, Paul’s initial audience was the Jewish people worshiping in the synagogue in Antioch. He summarized God’s promised plan of salvation and how it was accomplished through Jesus. Afterward, both Jewish people and Gentile converts to Judaism continued speaking with Paul. Luke records that the next week on the Sabbath, “almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of God” (Acts 13:44). What an audience to hear the good news of God’s forgiveness!

However, as would be an unfortunate theme throughout many of Paul’s missionary journeys, a segment of the Jewish people did not want to believe in Jesus as Savior or even allow this message to be shared. Here in Psidian Antioch, we’re told that the Jewish people who rejected this message were filled with envy and began to contradict what Paul was saying by slandering him” (Acts 13:45). To these actions, Paul and Barnabas responded fearlessly.

Paul’s fearless message is short and cutting, “It was necessary that God’s word be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, look: We are now turning to the Gentiles!” For many of the Jewish people, they would not have considered Gentiles to be worthy of God’s mercy; they viewed that as their special privilege. But that’s far from the truth. On this festival of Epiphany, sometimes called Gentiles’ Christmas, we see the nations coming to worship the Savior first in the Wise Men's faith. Jesus wasn’t a Savior for some—he’s a Savior for all.

But Paul’s warning to the Jewish unbelievers in Antioch cuts even for us today. “You … consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life.” That is harsh. But why did their actions show this? What attitudes or thoughts show that someone considers themselves unworthy of eternal life? Are we ever guilty of that?

Let’s begin where Paul begins. Why did he say that his Jewish opponents in Pisidan Antioch considered themselves “unworthy of eternal life”? Because they heard the Word of God, the gospel of the good news of God’s plan of salvation, and they reject[ed] it. This rejection of God’s Word is a rejection of God’s work. In this case, they are doing so because they think they are above it—smarter than it, better than it, or at least know better than the message being proclaimed. But such hubris and belittling of God’s promises and works results in disaster. Rejection of the Word of God is the rejection of eternal life.

We may not see this often as a real likely danger for us (and I hope that we don’t), but we do well to be mindful of this attitude. Does it not happen occasionally that we hear a part of God’s Word and say, “Ehhh… I’m not sure about that. I don’t know if I agree or think about it that way.”?

But this may show up in our lives differently. Maybe it’s not an out-and-out refusal to believe God’s Word, but not giving it a place of priority. We get busy with things or problems crowd out God’s Word in our hearts, minds, and daily lives. And so as we slowly, almost subconsciously, separate ourselves from the promises of God, we are no different than those who rejected Paul’s preaching. By not prioritizing it, we essentially admit that we don’t consider ourselves worthy of this eternal life given by God’s grace.

But perhaps the word “worthy” is a sticking point for you. I know it is for me! Because am I worthy of eternal life? Have I lived my life in such a way that God would look at me and say, “Tim, you deserve to be in heaven! Come on up here with me!”? No! I’ve been as far from worthy as can be! I’ve been sinful and rebelled against God. To be worthy of eternal life on my own would mean to be perfect, a life of literally flawless obedience to God’s commands. I know that’s not me, and I’m sure that’s not you. So, in that way, are we worthy of eternal life? No!

But, if I stick to that thinking, I’m ignoring the work that God has done for the whole world, me included. In my misguided “piety” and “humility,” I could, perhaps, exclude myself from eternal life. If I consider my sins not only real and constant (which they are), but actually so bad that they’re unforgivable, that will lead to real problems. If I think that I’m so unworthy that not even God can forgive me, I don’t consider myself worthy or even eligible for eternal life. I can convince myself that somehow, I’m so bad, that I am unique among all the history of humanity, of every person from every nation, and that when Jesus died for the sins of the world, I managed to exclude myself.

This is the lie that Judas believed. Judas is not in hell because he betrayed Jesus on Maundy Thursday night, nor is he in hell because he committed suicide; those were both sins that Jesus died for. He’s in hell because he thought himself excluded from forgiveness, that what he did was so bad that there was no way he could be forgiven. Thus, this deep grief and hopelessness led him to reject the promises Jesus had so clearly taught, and it left him in the state of unbelief. He did not consider himself worthy of eternal life.

Indeed, we do well to take stock of our sins, to hear God’s law, and let it resonate in our hearts. These are healthy things that God wants for us and provides for us. As we mentioned on Christmas Eve and last Sunday, a Savior only has value if you recognize what you need to be saved from. But don’t sell Jesus short. His payment for sin was a global, universal, objective payment. It is done—finished! The Wise Men didn’t travel all those miles to worship an unsubstantiated hope that maybe, possibly, this child would grow into one who could save them. No, by faith, they knew this was the promised Savior who would rescue all people from their sins.

So are you worthy of eternal life by your own actions? No! But are you worthy of eternal life by Jesus’ actions? Absoultely, yes! Jesus has washed and made you clean, purifying you of all sin. He’s given you his perfection so that you are exactly what God expects—demands—that you be. When the Father looks at you, he only sees his Son’s faithfulness. When he looks at me, he does, in fact, say, “Tim, you deserve to be in heaven! Come on up here with me!” because Jesus made me deserving, made me worthy.

That message is not something new for most of us. Many of us have known this for years, decades, perhaps even our whole lives. But the problem of considering ourselves unworthy of eternal life can even creep into that fortress of God’s grace. Because the longer we know this, the more difficult it can be to appreciate it. We can take it for granted. We know all that stuff. We’ve been going to church for how long? We’ve read the promises of God how often? We’ve even, perhaps, read the entirety of God’s Word—even multiple times! Indeed, I do deserve this, Lord; I am worthy of eternal life. Look at what the faithfulness of my life displays!

A life focused on Jesus can, over time, through familiarity and apathy, devolve into a life of self-righteous arrogance. I can start putting more stock in my church attendance than my Savior. I can start pointing to my works, such as my knowledge of the teachings of God’s Word, rather than trusting in the Savior it points to. Even in my ultra-familiarity with God’s Word and perhaps even its constant presence in my life, I can begin to consider myself unworthy of eternal life when faith warps into mere tradition and head-knowledge.

So, do you consider yourself worthy of eternal life? I hope you do because God certainly does. He never would have sent that gift lying in Bethlehem’s manger if he didn't. He never would have given us this King, worshiped and adored by the Wise Men. But he did, and we have him as our certain Savior from sin.

So, where do we want to be now and in the future? See yourself as the loved, blood-bought child of God that you are. No matter how you feel or what you think about things, God’s Word stands true: We were lost in our sins, and God rescued us through Jesus.

And this message doesn’t just apply locally; it applies globally. It’s not just for “good” people; it’s for everyone. It’s not just for members of our congregation or for people who currently share our same faith; it’s even for those who, today, are totally ignorant of and perhaps even antagonistic toward this message. Jesus is for all—even for you and me.

So, let’s not fall into the trap some of the Jewish people in Antioch did as they rejected the gospel from Paul. Let us not let distractions, guilt, or apathy lead us to separate ourselves from this promise and consider ourselves unworthy of eternal life.

Instead, see yourself as worthy of eternal life because God has made you worthy. See yourself as worthy of his love because he loves you. See yourself as worthy of his forgiveness because he died to forgive you. See yourself as worthy of the perfection of heaven because God, who knows you better than you know yourself, as given you this free gift, no strings attached.

Value and cherish your God-given worthiness. Continue to seek it out and look for opportunities to share it with those who might not yet know or understand it or who have been dragged away from it so that they, too, know they are worthy of eternal life, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

"Let Us Tend the Tree of Faith" (Sermon on Luke 13:6-9) | December 29, 2024

Sermon Text: Luke 13:6-9
Date: December 29, 2024
Event: New Year’s Eve (Observed), Set 3

Luke 13:6-9 (EHV)

He told them this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it, but he did not find any. 7So he said to the gardener, ‘Look, for three years now I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and I have found none. Cut it down. Why even let it use up the soil?’ 8But the gardener replied to him, ‘Sir, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put fertilizer on it. 9If it produces fruit next year, fine. But if not, then cut it down.’ ”

Let Us Tend the Tree of Faith

I was listening to a year-in-review podcast last week, and one of the hosts of the show made a joke at one point along the lines of, “It’s good to know that once January 1 comes, once the clock ticks over to midnight and it’s 2025, all the world’s problems will disappear.” Truly, January 1, 2025 will not really be different than December 31, or December 29, or…

It’s one of the reasons I have no qualms about observing the New Year transition in worship today rather than two days from now. It’s not really that big of a deal. The opportunities for reflection and forward-thinking are not limited to one 24-hour period. It’s one of the reasons I really don’t like New Year’s Resolutions because, if you’ve identified something you want to do or a change you want to make, why not start it on December 29th or November 17th or whatever rather than waiting for this arbitrary point in the future.

That being said, there is a benefit to the themes of taking-stock and planning-ahead that these late days in the years provide. And while things around us may not change all that much as we turn the calendar, we can know for certainty that the God who provides for us, forgives us, and protects us does not change at all. So we move forward into a new year under the same perfect providence that he has provided up to this day. It’s a perfect providence not because our life right now is idyllic but because he is working everything for what he knows is our eternal good.

Since we know the promises and works of God and how important this all is, we do well to prioritize it no matter where in the year we fall. This morning, using Jesus’ parable of the fig tree as a guide, we’ll spend some time considering how we might better tend the tree of our faith today, on January 1, and throughout our lives.

The parable Jesus tells is very simple. There’s a tree in a vineyard that is not producing anything. The owner of the vineyard wants to get rid of it so that soil can be used for something else, while the caretaker asks for some more time to care for the tree and see if starts to produce fruit. The owner agrees—for a time.

The parable's application is pretty straightforward and very much lines up with John the Baptist’s preaching that we heard in the Advent season just a couple of weeks ago. In order for a fruit tree to be worth anything, it needs to produce fruit. Likewise, a person can and should produce fruit of thanksgiving to God—the fruit of repentance. Failure or refusal to produce such fruit in our lives points to a real problem with our faith.

And so it’s not surprising that the parable's context is Jesus preaching a message that sounds very much like the message that John the Baptist proclaimed. In the verses just prior to our parable, Jesus twice repeats the stern warning, “But unless you repent, you will all perish too” (Luke 13:3, 5). “Perish” is a much stronger word than “die.” When God uses this word, it points not to physical death but eternal death in hell.

So, a lack of repentance leads to hell. A lack of fruit causes the tree to be cut down and discarded. What are we to make of this? And how does that sync with biblical truths that we are saved by grace through faith alone?

It’s perhaps a bit of a trite saying, but I think it can be instructive: it is true that we are saved through faith alone, but that faith is never alone. Faith always has works, fruits of repentance, attached to it. The faith that trusts Jesus as Savior naturally produces good works in thanksgiving to God. A problem with thankful good works may point to a problem with faith.

But, in reality, we all have a problem with faith. None of us is entirely governed by the faith given to us by God. We all still have a sinful nature that is vehemently opposed to that faith, that fights it tooth and nail. If, in thanksgiving to God, faith wants us to go left, then the sinful nature wants us to go right; if faith wants us to go down, then the sinful nature wants us to go up. The sinful nature only wants the opposite of what God wants, often to a non-sensical and self-destructive degree.

So, part of us wants to bear excellent fruit in thanksgiving to the God who loves us and has forgiven us, while another part of us wants there to be no fruit at all. This is why you don’t always do the good things you want to do, why sin, at times, is a very tempting path—and perhaps even seems like the correct path! Even after God has created faith in our hearts, on our own, we are not healthy fig trees.

So what is the solution? Well, if we’re looking for the solution of “make there be no sin anymore in my life,” then we are going to be really disappointed. This side of eternity, no matter how genuine our faith is and how much we might want that to be the case, we won’t be able to make that happen. No, the real solution is labor, work with this tree of faith. Just as the caretaker pleaded with the owner, “Sir, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put fertilizer on it,” we, too, have work to do.

What does “digging around and fertilizing” faith look like? How do we do that work? Well, just like a tree, it matters what you use. If you dig around a tree to aerate the soil a bit, you don’t want to do so in a way that damages the roots; that would be the complete opposite of what you’re trying to do! If you’re trying to fertilize the tree, you would want to use something that would actually make the soil better and thus the tree stronger. Using something that would poison or weaken the tree is the opposite of your goal.

So, too, if we’re going to tend to our tree of faith, we want to use the right tools and products and in the right way because doing this work in the wrong way could damage faith rather than strengthening it. So, what are the right tools and methods for this work?

First and foremost, tending to your faith is not an exploration of your thoughts and feelings. While our thoughts and emotions are valid and important, they’re not always accurate. For instance, on a really rough day, I may feel like God no longer cares about me. But is that true? No! No matter how deeply, sincerely, and honestly I feel that, my emotions do not dictate reality. My thinking may try to justify my actions, but that doesn’t mean it’s right.

The fruitless tree can’t just will itself into producing fruit; it needs work from the gardener. So, too, we cannot just will ourselves into stronger, healthier faith. We need God to do his work on us.

And while God technically could do that in an infinite number of ways, he has restricted himself to some very specific tools. God tends to your faith and mine through his Word. That Word may be read in our homes, listened to as it’s read or preached, remembered and meditated on, or in the case of the sacraments, connected to earthly elements like water in baptism and bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper.

While God does this work,  you and I have a part to play. We can’t make our faith stronger on our own, but we can put ourselves in a position to be surrounded by his Word, to be in a place where God will do the work he’s promised. So, tending to the tree of our faith means immersing ourselves in his Word.

How will that go? Well, it’s not going to be all pleasant. Remember, we still have that sinful nature in us, and part of combating this part of us is cutting it down to size. But that’s not comfortable because that means addressing the sinful nature’s wrongdoing, which is the same as addressing our own failures and faults. God’s Word is clear what the expectations are for us—perfection—and how far we are from that. That sin is why Jesus warned the people about perishing without repentance. Sin that is cherished, loved, and embraced is poison to faith.

But, of course, the message of God’s Word doesn’t end there. If it did, that would be utterly hopeless. The gardener has to address the problems with the fig tree, but with the goal that things will be better. It is the same with God’s Word.

It’s not until we see our need as made clear through the mirror of God’s law that we can appreciate the gospel. As we noted on Christmas Eve, the message of a Savior being born for you is only significant if you have something that you need to be saved from. Well, God’s law makes clear how hopeless our sinful situation is and how much we need rescue.

So God assures us time and time again, sometimes in direct conflict with our internal dialogue and emotions, that he loves us. While, yes, we have sinned, and yes, we do deserve eternal punishment in hell for those sins, Jesus took our place. Jesus paid the price we owed. Jesus has saved us through his perfect life that he applies to us and his death on the cross that removed every single one of our sins. Now, the soil can breathe and have nutrients rush to the roots.

And what is the result? What could the result be but joyous thanksgiving to God? When we can see and appreicate how great the love of God for us is, how could we possibly respond in joy to him? To be clear, any response, any good works we do are not done to earn God’s love or forgiveness; those have been given to us as a free gift. No, the fruit we produce is the result of thanksgiving to the God who loves us.

This will be a year-long, life-long struggle. The sinful nature will want to squash that fruit and the faith God has given will want to produce it, and you will be caught in the middle. Thus, we need that caretaking that comes only through God’s Word; we need to surround ourselves with the Word and benefit from the caretaking that he, alone, provides.

What will that look like practically? In part, it will look like what we’re doing right now: gathering around God’s Word for the edification that it brings and finding encouragement in the support of our fellow Christians. It will mean digging into God’s truths in the year ahead on a personal level, watering that tree of faith with his promises and assurances.

There are many tools that can help in this end. While you can certainly read your Bible cover-to-cover, or open up to a random page and try to soak in the truths of law and gospel presented there, a more structured, organized approach might be better and longer lasting. The Meditations booklets do a nice job of presenting a daily, bite-sized dose of God’s Word to digest at any point during the day. They also have the benefit of coordinating with the readings that we just worked through in worship the Sunday before.

In addition, I have some tools laid out on the back table that I would encourage you to consider using in the days ahead. Some of these will be new, some familiar, but all have the same goal: get myself into God’s truths to combat that sinful nature and allow the joy of God’s freedom to produce thankful fruit in my life. There are a few different Bible reading plans, be they the whole Bible, the New Testament, or the Gospels. There’s a book that harmonizes all four Gospels into one cohesive narrative. And if none of those are where your interests lie, talk to me and I can get you other recommendations for digging around and fertilizing that tree of faith.

In the end, it’s not the fruit that is the ultimate concern, but the fruit is a sign of the tree's health. The good works in our life are not the goal, but they are a useful metric to gauge the health of our faith. And that faith that clings to Jesus as the only and complete Savior from sin is what is most vital. A healthy tree will produce good fruit; a healthy faith will produce thankful fruit, and we want our faith to be healthy as we look forward to the rescue from this life that God will provide.

So today, tomorrow, and into the new year, prioritize being immersed in the Word and his comforts. Seek out opportunities to express your faith in your life through those thankful fruits. You are the dearly loved child of God. Enjoy that now and always! Happy New Year! Amen.

"I Bring You Good News of Great Joy" (Sermon on Luke 2:1-20) | December 24, 2024

Sermon Text: Luke 2:1-20
Date: December 24, 2024
Event: Christmas Eve, Year C

Luke 2:1-20 (EHV)

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3And everyone went to register, each to his own town. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the town of Nazareth, into Judea, to the town of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was from the house and family line of David. 5He went to be registered with Mary, his wife, who was pledged to him in marriage and was expecting a child.

6And so it was that while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8There were in the same country shepherds staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified! 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people: 11Today in the town of David, a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude from the heavenly army, praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward mankind.”

15When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Now let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they told others the message they had been told about this child. 18And all who heard it were amazed by what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

“I Bring You Good News of Great Joy!”

“Can we talk?” What does that question do to you? I’ll tell you what it does for me: my heart leaps into my throat and other questions race through my mind, “What’s wrong? What did I do? What happened? Where and how big is the hurt, and for who?” Now, those questions might just point to my own wrestling with anxiety because could it not just as easily be good news as bad? Couldn’t someone want to spend a few minutes sharing something positive rather than negative, encouragement rather than criticism?

But maybe that is a familiar feeling for you, too. Knowing that there is news, something that warrants a conversation, but not knowing if it’s something you’d classify as good or bad can leave you feeling very uneasy.

The events around Jesus’ birth have several moments when someone is startled by a message (or even the messenger). We were reminded on Sunday of two occasions when the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, to tell him that he and his wife would have a son in their old age. Likewise, Gabriel appeared to Mary to let her know she would be the mother of the Savior. There, Luke records Mary’s internal response for us: The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.” But she was greatly troubled by the statement and was wondering what kind of greeting this could be (Luke 1:28-29). Is this good news or bad news? How do you respond when an angel says, “Can we talk?”

The beginning of our Gospel for this evening tells us the basics of Jesus’ birth. For as popular and romanticized as this account is, even outside of the church in popular culture, in the Bible, it’s really, really short. Just eight verses, the first three of which are really just establishing when in history this took place. Many of the details we have filled in from our imagination or works of art surrounding these events just aren’t there. Did you notice Mary did not have a donkey to ride to Bethlehem? It’s not unreasonable to think that she might have ridden one—being nearly ready to give birth and having to make a trek of more than 80 miles on foot would probably call for some assistance—but it’s not in the biblical account.

In part, that comes because you have to round it out a bit. Just five verses is not a lot of details. However, when it comes to the construction of the Gospel narrative, it makes some sense because the specifics around Jesus’ birth are just not that important. I mean, they’re not unimportant. They show the lowliness and humility that would define Jesus’ entire earthly life and ministry. They show the quiet faith of both Mary and Joseph, trusting that everything would be ok despite a really stressful situation because God had promised that it would be ok. They make clear that distinguishing mark that the Messiah would be born in the Judean town of Bethlehem, where King David was born. But when it comes to the work Jesus had to do, the details of his birth are, in some ways, a footnote.

But when it comes to verse 8, then things get interesting, because there are some sleepy shepherds out in the middle of fields near Bethlehem keeping watch over undoubtedly sleepy sheep. And then someone says, “Can we talk?” There were in the same country shepherds staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified! In the middle of the night, an angel from God appears to these half-asleep animal caretakers. Not only that, but even the glory of the Lord, the pillar of cloud and fire that led the Israelites through the wilderness almost 1500 years before, not only appears near them but actually surrounds them. I think you can take Mary’s troubledness and curiosity at what kind of greeting Gabriel had for her and dial it up 1000x for the shepherds. “What is going on? What is going to happen to us? What is this message being announced?”

The angel quickly puts their fears—their terror!—to rest, “Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy.” Whew! Not only is this not bad news, but this is good news that produces great joy! And what is the good news the angel has to share with the shepherds? “I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people: Today in the town of David, a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord.” Again, terse and to the point, but one that points ahead—a Savior (the Savior) was born; he’s arrived! The Christ—the Messiah—is here!

And yes, more details are given, but again, that is not the point. The lowly state of the Messiah—a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger—is given only as a means of identification, “a sign to you.” That a child is sleeping in a feeding trough is not the message, not the good news of great joy. But what he will be and what he will do is the focus of the angel’s brief message.

According to the angel, this good news of great joy applies to all people. The main joy is that a Savior was born for you. And this is the part of tonight that might not feel very “Christmas-y,” because the good news the angel shares and that we celebrate presupposes some really bad, even hopeless, news.

Perhaps we think of the joy of a severe disease going away, something that threatened life or at least the way of life. What rejoicing there is in that good news! The bad thing is gone! But in order for there to be joy in that good news, the bad news had to be there first. The concerns over future health and living arrangements. Sleepless nights not knowing what would come or how this would turn out. Would the medicine be effective? Were the doctors right? What was tomorrow going to look like? Feel like?

The same is true for Christmas. Good news of great joy to be sure! But that good news stands against the backdrop of the hopeless news we lived with. A Savior was born! Praise the Lord! But for a savior to be worth something, we needed something to be saved from.

The reality is that, on our own, we do need to be saved. We need to be rescued because we’ve dug ourselves such a deep, dark pit with our sin and rebellion against God that we can never get out. The whole reason that Jesus was born, the reason that God took on our human nature in this miraculous birth of a virgin, was so that he could rescue us. And his work would be a true rescue. To go back to the picture of the pit, his mission wasn’t to put a ladder down so we could climb out ourselves. No, his rescue is so complete that it meant climbing down that pit himself, putting us on his shoulders, and carrying us out. The Messiah’s mission was a complete rescue with no help or contribution on our part whatsoever.

So this child in Bethlehem’s manger would live a flawless life in our place during the 30-some years of his life, and then he would take up our sins on himself when he died on the cross. He was and is our substitute, putting himself in the place of the punishment of hell that we deserved. Death and hell are not really themes that we might want to zero in on a serene Christmas Eve, but this part of Jesus’ work is the only reason that the message of the angel to the shepherds could be good news of great joy.

This evening, we rejoice, we celebrate, not just over the birth of a child in wild, surprising, and miraculous circumstances. We rejoice and celebrate because the one who would rescue us from eternal punishment in hell is here. The one who would give our life for ours and then rise from the dead, triumphantly proclaiming his obliteration of sin, death, and hell—that long-promised Savior—has arrived!

Do you want to see him? On this silent night, follow the angel’s directions: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. … He is Christ the Lord. My sisters and brothers, your Savior is here! Thanks be to God! Amen.

"My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord" (Sermon on Luke 1:39-55) | December 22, 2024

Sermon Text: Luke 1:39-55
Date: December 22, 2024
Event: The Fourth Sunday in Advent, Year C

Luke 1:39-55 (EHV)

In those days Mary got up and hurried to the hill country, to a town of Judah. 40She entered the home of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41Just as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42She called out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44In fact, just now, as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy! 45Blessed is she who believed, because the promises spoken to her from the Lord will be fulfilled!”

46Then Mary said,

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
47and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,
48because he has looked with favor on the humble state of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed,
49because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
50His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
51He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52He has brought down rulers from their thrones.
He has lifted up the lowly.
53He has filled the hungry with good things, but the rich he has sent away empty.
54He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, remembering his mercy,
55as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.

My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord

Well, we’ve reached it. The Fourth Sunday in Advent, the last Sunday before Christmas, finally has a Christmas feel to it. It’s still Advent; we’re still firmly in the preparation phase, but with readings focused not on the end, not on John the Baptist’s ministry, but firmly on prophecy of the Savior’s birth and reaction to the upcoming arrival of the Savior. We’re almost there; the preparations are nearly complete.

Our Gospel for this morning takes us to the home of Elizabeth and Zechariah, a childless couple blessed with a son in their old age. Their son was John the Baptist, whose adult ministry we’ve focused on for the last two Sundays. But for today, we take a step back in time, still three months or so from John’s birth. The angel Gabriel had announced this unexpected pregnancy to Zechariah, Elizabeth’s husband. Because he doubted God’s promises, Zechariah could not speak throughout Elizabeth’s pregnancy and wouldn’t have that ability restored until it came time to name the child.

During these exciting and undoubtedly chaotic times in their home near Jerusalem, Zechariah and Elizabeth have a visitor—one of their relatives from the north, from Galilee. Mary arrives not long after her own angelic encounter, where Gabriel also appeared to her to give her news about another miracle birth. Of course, this birth would be even more jaw-dropping than Elizabeth and Zechariah naturally having a son in their old age. Mary, a virgin, was told that she would bear a son. But not even just a miracle child, but the miracle child—the long-promised Savior. Gabriel described how it would happen in the verses just before our Gospel: Listen, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end. … The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Listen, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age even though she was called barren, and this is her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible for God (Luke 1:31-33, 35-37).

Mary was undoubtedly and understandably overwhelmed with this news, and given that the angel had told her that her relative, Elizabeth, was in at least a related situation, it made sense that Mary would make the journey south to visit her and Zechariah. It’s clear from the moment Mary first speaks that God is doing something incredible here. As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the yet-to-be-born John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit. As soon as Mary entered their home, Elizabeth knew what was happening: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

Both of these women were basking in God’s graciousness to them. Not only did he love them and promise to remove their sins and bring them to eternal life with him, but he actually blessed them by allowing them to play incredibly important roles in his plan of salvation. Elizabeth was the mother and caretaker of the promised messenger to prepare the way before the Messiah; Mary was the mother and caretaker of the Messiah, God-come-in-the-flesh, true God and true Man, for our salvation.

Mary responds with what we have traditionally referred to as Mary’s Song or the Magnificat. These words show that the enormity of this moment and these events was not lost on her. Let’s take a few moments to walk through her Spirit-inspired words, and let them find application not only for her and the people of her day, but for us as well.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, because he has looked with favor on the humble state of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. Her first sentence gives us the whole point of what she’s doing and feeling in the moment: her very spirit within her can’t help but broadcast the greatness of the Lord. And what is she looking to share? That God, her Savior, had looked with favor on her.

Now, we could certainly zero in on the specific blessing of Mary being the mother of the Messiah. But there’s more here than just that. In calling God her Savior, she’s seeing not only the great privilege and honor that God has placed on her, but her very need of it. She was going to be the mother of the world's Savior, yes, but more to the point, she would be the mother of her own Savior. The child she would bring into the world would pay for her sins when he was taken out of the world. His death would save her as it would save all people.

And we don’t want to miss this critical point about our final preparations here today or our celebrations later this week. We’re not just observing a tradition. We won’t just be singing familiar songs or perhaps enjoying special food. We won’t just give and receive gifts with bows, tissue paper, and shiny wrapping. No, this preparation, this celebration, is for a purpose infinitely beyond all of that.

Because the true gift that we have received, the true reason for celebration, is that here is God’s mercy and God’s promise come in the flesh. Here is what God had meant when he first promised that Satan-stomping champion in the Garden of Eden. Here is God putting things into motion what his people had been waiting for for millennia.

And the effects of all of this are crucial for us today. Because salvation and forgiveness were not just for Adam and Eve or Elizabeth and Mary, but for you and me as well. This forgiveness of God—long promised and taking so long to fulfill—is still our confidence of better things to come, even at this late date in history. Those better things are not necessarily here in this life (which is in many ways a deceitful charade, as Mary will explain in a moment), but we are looking ahead to better things in eternity. Jesus took your sin and mine on himself so that even though you and I do not participate in the actual execution of God’s plan to save the world, we can join Mary and say, “The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name,” because he has rescued us from hell and will bring us to himself in heaven, forever.

Mary continues: He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones. He has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, but the rich he has sent away empty. In a world where political and socio-economic standing and power seem to be the only things that matter, the only ways to really get things done, Mary reminds us of the truth hidden behind that façade. Is the ruler of a nation in charge of things? Is the one who holds all the wealth in charge of things? Is the one who promotes themselves and exalts their own importance in charge of things? NO! God is the one with the strong arm that works his will. God is the one that accomplishes what he knows needs to be done. God is not limited by any earthly political power or wealthy influence. He cuts through it all.

In fact, God is so much in charge that he uses those who think they are in charge. The Romans thought that they were in control at the time of Jesus’ birth. The emperor, Ceasar Agustus, declared a census. The rules dictated that families had to go to the origin point of their family lines. This meant Mary and Joseph would need to make that trek down south to Bethlehem Ephrathah, so small among the clans of Judah, but the promised birthplace of the Messiah. God saw to it that the Savior in the line of King David would be born in David’s birthplace and used that as a sign to confirm, in part, who Jesus was.

As we prepare not just for Christmas and not just for the end of time but for anything this next week or the new year might bring, we do well to keep Mary’s reminder in mind. The Lord is in charge of all. That little baby still forming in his mother’s womb whom we’ll see in Bethlehem’s manger? He’s King of kings and Lord of lords. He is, right now, ruling all things for your eternal good, and no one can wrench control away from God. No one in a national or community scene nor even someone in a more local family scene—can oust God as the one who watches you, protects you, forgives you, and will bring you home to himself.

And that’s where Mary leads us: His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. … He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, remembering his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever. That phrase, “remembering his mercy,” looms so large. To be clear, this is not God going through the events that I’m so familiar with: sitting somewhere, perhaps working, perhaps relaxing, perhaps sleeping, when all of a sudden, the memory of that thing you forgot to do comes crashing into your mind and, in a panic, you race to try to get it done before it’s too late. God doesn’t forget; nothing slips his mind. But when God “remembers,” he is keeping his promise; he’s making clear that he didn’t forget.

From Adam and Eve to Noah to Abraham and all the children of Israel, God had promised our ancestors in the faith to save all humanity in the Savior’s work. Here, he keeps the promise. Here in the mission of Gabriel to speak to Zecahariah and then Mary, here in the working of humble faith in Mary’s heart that trusts these promises will be fulfilled, here is our hope for eternity.

Let us all follow Mary’s example, and let us all proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Maybe we won’t burst into poetry or song in the home of a loved one, but those fruits of repentance we spent time with last week are all ways to proclaim God’s greatness. Let us share the good news of this upcoming birth. Invite a friend to worship this week, share the hope you have for eternity, and let your joy in God’s eternal rescue from sin motivate every moment.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, now and forever! Amen.

"Repentance Produces Joyful Fruit" (Sermon on Luke 3:7-18) | December 15, 2024

Sermon Text: Luke 3:7-18
Date: December 15, 2024
Event: The Third Sunday in Advent, Year C

Luke 3:7–18 (EHV)

So John kept saying to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Therefore produce fruits in keeping with repentance! Do not even think of saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ because I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. 9Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is going to be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

10The crowds began to ask him, “What should we do then?”

11He answered them, “Whoever has two shirts should share with the person who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.”

12Tax collectors also came to be baptized. They said, “Teacher, what should we do?”

13To them he said, “Collect no more than what you were authorized to.”

14Soldiers were also asking him, “And what should we do?”

He told them, “Do not extort money from anyone by force or false accusation. Be satisfied with your wages.”

15The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might be the Christ. 16John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But someone mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor. He will gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

18Then with many other words, he appealed to them and was preaching good news to the people.

Repentance Produces Joyful Fruit

When young children are first being introduced to the idea of receiving gifts, what do parents often have to instill in them? Showing their thanks. Now, that doesn’t mean they aren’t thankful or appreciating for a present or other kind gestures, but a parent will help the child learn how to express that to the gift-giver. Are you thankful? Say, “Thank you!” For children (or even some adults), this concept can be a bit of a foreign one, and it’s only with modeling and direction that it starts to become ingrained and automatic (though, hopefully not thoughtless) to thank the person giving you something or who has done something kind for you.

This morning, we will be spending time with John the Baptist again as he’s teaching some of the crowd about thanksgiving, not to people, but to God. We are building on the concept of repentnace this morning, and focusing on the fruit of repentance, the things we joyfully do because God has taken away our sins.

The opening verses of our text might sound a little rough, might sound a little harsh. John calls the group gathered before him “offspring of vipers.” It’s even harsher sounding in the more standard English translation, “brood of vipers,” indicating that the people he's talking to are vipers themselves.

However, John’s point seems more about the parentage than the offspring. While it’s completely logical that vipers produce vipers, this dressing down seems aimed at the parents rather than the children, and in this case, it is aimed directly at the spiritual parents—the religious leaders of the day. “Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?”

The assumed answer to that question is, “No one,” because the religious leaders tended to focus on what the people should do to be worth something to God. They directly tied the people’s value to the Almighty with their actions. The Pharisees felt pretty comfortable in their own behavior and thus their status with God. But in a message that is all, “Do better! Do more!” there is no sense of repentance of that U-turn we talked about last week. There is no call to examine your life and acknowledge that there are places where you have sinned, places where you have failed and should do different and better.

It's almost as if the religious leaders lumped people into two groups: those who were doing great and those who were beyond hope. The ones who were beyond hope were the outcasts of society, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the “sinners.” And so John, in his message of repentance, is calling on the people to examine their lives. He wants everyone, no matter their social status or occupation, to recognize that they haven’t been good enough for God because they have been perfect and, just as importantly, to recognize that there is forgiveness for all of those failings from God.

That is repentance: sorrow over sin, trust that it’s forgiven, and a desire to change your ways. This morning John is taking us on the next step of that spiritual journey, to the fruits of repentance. What comes aftewr true, God-worked repentance? The life the rejoices in what God has done! And John doesn't want the people to fall into that false sense of security that the Pharisees may have led them to think that just because now I'm repentant, well, now I must be good with God. Just because Abraham is my father, I must be good with God. There’s no confidence in that! God can generate biological children for Abraham from stones! Being in Abraham’s family line has no impact on eternity.

And in fact, John says, “Now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees.” A life lived in rebellion to God, a life lived in rejection of repentance, a life lived without the fruits of repentance ,will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

With this solemn warning, the crowds began to ask him, “What should we do then?” And I think we do well to take this not as a question of fear, but as a question of legitimate desire for direction. This is not a request of frightened people trying to make God happy with them. This is people who understand the imporance of all of this, and desperately want to live a life filled with the fruits of repentance, to respond properly to God’s love and forgiveness. And so they come to John for some specific direction and guidance

John’s responses are, perhaps, surprisingly… normal? Even boring? There’s no grand spiritual journey and high-falutin ceremony to perform. No, what does it look like to have the fruits of repentance in your life? “Whoever has two shirts should share with the person who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.” The unremarkable direction continues when some tax collectors and Roman soldiers, two groups that would have been reviled by Jewish society then, ask John the same thing. John’s answer to them? “Collect no more than what you were authorized to … Do not extort money from anyone by force or false accusation. Be satisfied with your wages.” Just do your job honestly; that is a life filled with the fruits of repentance.

John addresses this idea of the fruits of repentance vocationally. What does it look like to have a life filled with the fruits of repentance and the joy of knowing that we are forgiven? Well, that will vary depending on the places God has put us in and the opportunities he has set before us. Parents have opportunities to produce fruits of repentance as they raise and nurture their children in youth and contnue to provide stability and direction for them when they're grown. Workers will have the opportunity to do their job faithfully, regardless of what industry or specific occupation and vocation they have. Everyone can be a good, kind neighbor to those who live near us or even to perfect strangers—yes even the person that cuts you off on the road or makes that long flight across the country uncomfortable as your seat-mate.

Living our life in a way that pleases and thanks God in every circumstance is a life filled with the fruits of repentance. Because those works are done not just out of a sense of obligation or because it’s the “right” thing to do but because you know you have a God who loves you, has freed you from your sins, and will bring you home to eternal life. These are actions that we take in joy, in celebration, rejoicing in knowing our sins are forgiven, that the Lamb of God, Jesus, has taken away not only the sin of the world but my sin; my personal failures are gone because the promised Savior came and lived and died for me; he's done exactly the same for you.

Of course, as John started his work and gained popularity and notoriety, there was a little buzz about him. He was a bit weird. He lived in the wilderness; he didn't wear conventional clothing or follow a conventional diet. And so all these things combined with his powerful preaching and teaching made the people wonder if John might be the Christ. Might this be the promised Savior? Might John be the one who came to save us? And John is very quick to deflect and shut down those rumors. “I baptize you with water. But someone mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

We could spend a lot of time this morning trying to parse out the different options of what it means that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. But let’s focus on one option this morning. In this brief discourse, we have fire mentioned three times. The first is what will happen to those fruitless trees that get cut down. The last is the separation of the wheat from the chaff, the good grain from the worthless leftovers. The fruitless tree and the useless parts of the plants are burned up. And then we are also told that that Messiah will come and baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.

I would suggest that the difference between the Holy Spirit and fire in Jesus’ baptism is the difference between faith and unbelief at this preaching and teaching. The Holy Spirit comes to anyone who hears God’s Word, his promises, and the work that has been accomplished for us. For some, the Holy Spirit stays and creates and strengthens faith in the hearts of those who hear. For others who reject the message and the Holy Spirit, fire replaces him. The heart that refuses to have fruits of repentance, that refuses to acknowledge joy or see anything special or good in what God has done for us is going to be that tree that's cut down and thrown into the eternal fire of hell, the chaff that's burned up with that unquenchable fire, the one that that our coming king will send to that eternity of abandonment by God, baptized with fire, not in a spiritual or refining sense, but in the sense of condemnation.

But my brothers and sisters, you and I are not destined for that fire. By God's grace, we cling to our Savior as the solution to our sin. We know that we couldn't do anything on our own, and he has done it all for us. So now we have that joy because we have been baptized with the Holy Spirit. We have that faith that God has produced in us, whether through our literal baptisms, preaching or hearing and reading his Word, and strengthened by the Lord's Supper. Here the Holy Spirit, given by Jesus, does his work to keep us forever in the true faith.

Your sins are gone. How do you want to live your life? Joyfully, in rejoicing and thanksgiving to the God who loves you. The end is coming. We still have Judgment Day in view here in the latter part of Advent. But that need not be a scary thing. That need not be a fearful thing for us. Instead, it will be a joyful thing because that will be the fulfillment of our forgiveness, the fulfillment of our redemption. And in heaven, we won't need fruits of repentance because we will have nothing to repent from. At that point, sin will be but a distant memory.

Until that rescue, until that day, what should we do? What does it look like to have a life filled with the fruits of repentance? Perhaps Paul’s direction to the Corinthians best summarizes John the Baptist’s teaching. Whether you eat or drink, or do anything else, do everything to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Amen.

"The Days Are Coming!" (Sermon on Jeremiah 33:14-16) | December 1, 2024

Sermon Text: Jeremiah 33:14-16
Date: December 1, 2024
Event: The First Sunday in Advent, Year C

Jeremiah 33:14–16 (EHV)

Listen, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the good promises that I have spoken to the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.

15In those days and at that time,
I will cause a righteous Branch to grow up from David’s line.
He will establish justice and righteousness on earth.
16In those days Judah will be saved,
and Jerusalem will dwell securely.
This is what she will be called:
The Lord Our Righteousness.

The Days Are Coming

The days are coming! How many until Christmas? I’m sure you could ask most of the children and they could give you an exact number. The rest of us could probably do the math, but perhaps we don’t want to think about that just yet. There’s so much to do to prepare—planning, decorating, cooking, emotionally centering ourselves. It’s a lot. But unless the Lord returns before December 25, it will be here. That day is, in fact, coming!

This morning in worship, we are not yet getting into the Christmas season itself, but we are beginning a new church year, and we begin that year in the season of Advent. Advent is a season all about preparation which fits in more ways than one at this time of year. Amid all the preparations that happen for us to celebrate Christmas, spiritually, we are preparing our hearts for a dual purpose. We are, in part, preparing our hearts to hear that glorious Christmas gospel that the angels and shepherds will share that night in Bethlehem. But we also continue to prepare for his second coming, ensuring our hearts are ready to receive him not just as the baby in the manger but also as the returning King of kings and Lord of lords.

In some ways, we begin the new church year in a very similar way to how we ended the last church year this past Sunday. In our Gospel, we saw Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and while there is humility as he rides on a lowly colt of a donkey, it’s still a greatly different picture than what we saw in last week’s Gospel when Jesus was on trial before Pontius Pilate. Shouts of praise from the Psalms, and specifically praise to the promised Messiah, filled the air!

Our focus this morning takes us back, though, some 600 years before that first Palm Sunday. In our First Reading, we spend time with the prophet Jeremiah, who lived and worked in a dreadful time in the history of God’s people.

The Israelites had lived in the Promised Land for over 800 years, and during that period, there was a constant struggle to keep God's commands and directions. Not only did they struggle with the normal sinful natures that would lead them astray from God’s will anyway, but they also allowed people who worshiped false gods to continue to live among them and influence them. So the pull to fictional deities like Baal, Asherah, Molech, and others constantly distracted from the true God and while also incorporating pure sin in their worship practices.

God sent his prophets to them repeatedly, warning them that he would step in with chastisement using the sword of foreign powers if things did not change. That happened to the northern part of Israel before Jeremiah’s time when the nation of Assyria came and exiled most of the people and mixed in people from other nations with the Israelites who remained.

The southern part of Israel had some brighter spots. A few kings like Hezekiah and Josiah would come in and try to clean up the worship life of the nation. They would clean up and repair the temple. They would reinstitute festivals and sacrifices God had commanded, which the people had long forgotten. But things never fully turned around; the people never devoted themselves back to God reliably.

The real issue was not the faithfulness of one nation or several tribes but God’s global promise of a Savior. Just like when God intervened with the flood of Noah’s day because the promise of the Savior was on the verge of being extinguished, so God intervened here. While his actions were not as dramatic and did not require an ark, it was no less critical. The promise had to be preserved, and it wouldn’t be a pleasant road ahead for the Israelites.

At the beginning of Jeremiah 33, before our First Reading for this morning starts, God outlined what this was going to be like: The Lord, the God of Israel, says this concerning the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah …  I will fill them with the corpses of men whom I have killed in my anger and my wrath. I will hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness (vv. 4-5). There’s no sugarcoating that. Things would be miserable because the people had abandoned God’s ways.

And this makes up a large percentage of the message God sent Jeremiah to share. The people responded to that message as well as you might imagine they did. They viewed Jeremiah as a liar, a blasphemer, a traitor to the nation and king. Who would say such horrible things about their own country, their own people? And yet, Jeremiah was sharing what God had told him to say. Jeremiah was just the mouthpiece; the words were God’s.

However, there is something important to remember about this downfall God promised for the nation of Judah: God set an expiration date. It wouldn’t be short—70 years—but it would end. The purpose of this was not to punish unfaithful people; the purpose was to purify, to rehabilitate an apostate nation because they had a role to carry out for the good of mankind; it was through them that the Savior of the nations would come.

So Jeremiah had the privilege of describing future days. The terrible days are coming! Babylon would come and carry the nation into exile. The difficult days are coming! A seven-decade-long exile would end all but a select few of that current generation. The trying days are coming! Even in return to their homeland, exiles would find it difficult to endure; as they took a stronger stand against the false religions around them, they would find relationships with the other nations much more difficult in the short and long term.

There’s not a ton to be excited about in these promises. These coming days sound dark and cold. But then, there are other days that Jeremiah is privileged to announce: Listen, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the good promises that I have spoken to the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah. God would someday keep and complete the promises he made to his people. What would that look like? In those days and at that time, I will cause a righteous Branch to grow from David’s line. He will establish justice and righteousness on earth. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. This is what she will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness. The salvation days are coming! God will come and save his people, and the people, the cities, and the nations will be named to reflect the reality of their spiritual condition: The Lord Our Righteousness.

A branch would grow up from the house and line of King David—Messiah would be the descendant, the son, of David. And he would do what David and the rest of his bloodline couldn’t: bring real justice and righteousness. Justice because sins would be truly and fully paid for; righteousness, because by paying for those sins in his own body, the Messiah would put our broken relationship with God back together and make it right again.

So, this was the answer to the Israelites’ sin problem. They couldn’t make things right by suffering in exile. They couldn’t make things right by turning over a new leaf and suddenly being very faithful to God. No, they would need a Savior to rescue them from their sin, pay for their wrongdoing, and put them at peace with God. In his work, Judah would be saved, and Jerusalem would find a peaceful existence.

If we compare ourselves to the Israelites, we note there’s not much difference. Perhaps we’re not building altars to Baal and participating in pagan worship services. But aren’t we often prioritizing other things, letting matters other than God be king in our hearts? When we allow work or school, money or influence, entertainment or relaxation to become the dominant focus of our lives at the expense of God, we’re making that thing or goal our god in his place. We are no better than the Israelites visiting shrine prostitutes to worship fertility gods or sacrificing their children in the fire to Molech. It just takes different forms for us: pornography use and sex outside the bonds of marriage, neglect of family or children due to work, play, alcohol, drugs, or anything else that pulls us from our God-given responsibilities. All of these sins can become our gods.

And so, what do we do? Well, nothing. We should not be surprised if we find ourselves in a really bad situation at some point—now or later. Maybe not exile in Babylon, but perhaps something God uses to wake us up from our spiritual apathy or unfaithfulness. Why does he do that? Because the days are coming, or more to the point, the day is coming. Be it the end of our lives here through death or his return at the Last Day, there is a moment when we will have no more time left, where the clock on our time of grace here in this life will stop ticking, and then we will face judgment before our God.

Because that day is coming, Jesus rouses us from our sleepy and sinful spiritual state. He warns us that that day is coming like the day of exile was coming for Judah. But he also points us to himself and reminds us why we do not need to be afraid. All of our unfaithfulness to him, every time we have made other things our gods rather than him, all of our sins of weakness and willful sins of desire, they are all forgiven in him. The days were coming and have in fact come when the King of kings and Lord of lords took on our human flesh, lived and died in our place. By that life and death, he destroyed our sins, justified us, and made us righteous. That branch from David’s line, Jesus from Nazareth, is the long-promised Messiah, the Savior we desperately needed.

My brothers and sisters, because of Jesus, the days are coming when we won’t have to fight this battle inside of us and around us to be faithful to our God. The days are coming when he will pluck us out of this life of misery and bring us to himself in heaven. The days are coming when we will live and bask in the complete fulfillment of everything Jesus accomplished for us, when “The LORD Our Righteousness” will also be the name given to us.

Until that day when we have it in full, hold on to what we have in part. Guard the good deposit of the Holy Spirit that God placed in you. Value God’s work and promises to you above all else. Prioritize him above everything, even in (and perhaps especially in) these busy days before Christmas. The days are coming. Lift up your head! Your King will come to you! Amen.

"Absolute Power for Our Eternal Good" (Sermon on Revelation 1:4-8) | November 24, 2024

Sermon Text: Revelation 1:4b–8
Date: November 24, 2024
Event: Christ the King Sunday (The Last Sunday of the Church Year), Year B

Revelation 1:4b–8 (EHV)

Grace to you and peace from him who is, who was, and who is coming, and from the seven spirits that are before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his own blood 6and made us a kingdom and priests to God his Father—to him be the glory and the power forever. Amen.

7Look, he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. And all the nations of the earth will mourn because of him. Yes. Amen.

8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, the one who is, and who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.

Absolute Power for Our Eternal Good

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” If you are watching a movie or reading a book and a character in the story has or acquires the ultimate power to rule, and they don’t start to use that selfishly, at least a little bit, your suspension of disbelief may flounder. We can’t believe anyone who had control of everything around them—all the wealth, all the political and social power—would be truly generous, selfless, and altruistic, using the power to help others rather than helping themselves. It doesn’t make sense because we know that’s not the way things work in this life.

We know what people are like; we even know ourselves. I’d love to think that if I had access to near-infinte money and could pull all the political strings of a nation, I would be kind and loving and use all of those resources for good. But I know that, like you, I have a sinful nature inside of me that would at least try to seize onto that and use it to serve myself rather than others, and perhaps even non-sensically use that large amount of power to try to get more at the expense of others. No, I’m probably good being far removed from that situation.

Sin corrupts everything. Sin is the reason that those in positions of power will often use it for their own advantage. But this morning on the last Sunday of the church year, we have the chance, the privilege, the joy to focus on the one who has literally all rule, power, and authority and yet had no sin, so that he uses that position and power for the good of others. Today, we focus on Christ as our King—the one who defeated our enemies, the one who cares for us in the present day, and the one who will return to rescue us from this life and bring us safely to himself in heaven.

Our Second Reading for this morning comes from the very beginning of the book of Revelation and is really setting the tone for the whole book. Revelation is filled with wild (and sometimes scary) pictures of events, but many of these vivid details picturesquely portray what has already happened or point ahead to what Jesus clearly promised would happen. In fact, there is no teaching in Revelation that is not taught elsewhere in Scripture, and often, we will use the more straightforward, more direct passages in the Bible to help unpack and explain the visions in this book.

But at the very start of this book, which is really one big letter, John sends greetings to those who would read what the Spirit inspired him to write—including us today. His greeting begins, “Grace to you and peace from him who is, who was, and who is coming, and from the seven spirits that are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” Here is a greeting to God’s people from the Triune God himself. The one who is, was, and is coming—the Father, the seven spirits (or perhaps better translated, “the seven-fold Spirit”)—the Holy Spirit, and, of course, Jesus Christ.

The description of each person of the triune Godhead is worth spending a moment on. The Father is described as the one who is, who was, and who is coming. The tenses of those verbs are all very intentional: who is (present), who was (past), and who is coming (future). It speaks to God’s eternal nature. He is here; there was never a time when he wasn’t, and there will never be a time when he will not be. It’s a very similar word picture to the one God used when he revealed his name to Moses at the burning bush as “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14), the forever-present God.

The Holy Spirit is described as being before [God’s] throne. This connects very closely to God’s promises about the Holy Spirit’s work in the book of Romans, where we’re told that he intercedes, prays for us even when we don’t know what to pray for, and even knows the very heart and mind of God (see Romans 8:26-27).

And then Jesus is described as the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Here we see the three-fold office or work that Jesus holds: prophet, priest, and for our focus this morning, king. He is a completely reliable prophet who was and is a faithful witness to God’s Word. He is the perfect priest who offered himself as the sacrifice for sin and then became the firstborn from the dead at his resurrection. And finally, Jesus is not just a king, but the King, even the ruler of the kings of the earth in that, despite all appearances, he has authority well above every earthly power.

All of that coalesces around our focus for this morning of Jesus as our King. Jesus’ work all points to his power and authority. Now, we have examples when he didn’t look like that all-powerful king. We have the example from our Gospel of him on trial before Pontious Pilate—it didn’t look like he was in charge. In just a few weeks, we’ll celebrate his birth again, and the baby in Bethlehem’s manger will not look like the King of kings and Lord of lords.

During his first time being present among his people, Jesus didn’t look the part of the king because he wasn’t here to promote his divine, regal authority. He was here as our loving King to save us from our spiritual enemies, so he humbly laid aside the full use of that divine power for a time to save us. John, thinking about that work, bursts into words of praise to Jesus: To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God his Father—to him be the glory and the power forever. Amen. The humble sacrifice of his life, the shedding of his blood, means we are freed from sins. That weak-looking man standing before Pilate, who eventually will be nailed to a cross, is still the one who has and deserves all glory and power because he is our God who created us, preserved us, and redeemed us from sin, death, and hell. Jesus’ victory was a baffling blowout, where despite appearances, our enemies never had even the remotest chance of winning.

So now we are a kingdom, his kingdom. He rules us, but not in a way that means trouble for us; he rules us in love and for our eternal good. He preserves and protects us at this very moment, but this feeling of an absentee King, or at least an invisible King, will not remain. There will come a time when he will return as he left, with the clouds of the sky, but now visible to everyone on earth. Look, he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. And all the nations of the earth will mourn because of him. Yes. Amen.

But why the mourning from the nations? Doesn’t this speak to Jesus being scary? Doesn’t this support the idea that his rule means something negative for us rather than positive? Later in Revelation, we will hear of the massive collection of people in heaven, an uncountable number from every nation and tribe (see Revelation 7:9 and the following). There will be people in eternal life from all over the world. But these nations, these tribes themselves? They are those who, collectively, have separated themselves from the promises and work of God. They sought earthly power above all else and rejected anything perceived as standing in their way, including the King. For them, at the King’s return, they will mourn because his appearance proves all of their aspirations failed and every delusion of their mind and heart false.

But not so for us. That day for you and for me will not be a day of mourning because it will be the return of our King in visible fashion, and it will mean the ultimate rescue from this world of sin, sorrow, and pain. In that moment, we will fully experience all that Jesus did for us. Whether we are caught up to heaven directly from this life or whether that day will mean the resurrection of our bodies laid in the earth with our souls that had been safe with God in eternity, the King’s return will mean the full experience of the peace he won for us—and the final, public defeat of our enemies, especially Satan.

We can and should look forward to that day. It will come soon when we are not necessarily expecting it, and he will bring us home to heaven where we will live forever seeing our loving King’s face every moment of every day.

But what about now? What about until that time of rescue and release? What about that time until we fully experience the victory our King has won for us? Well, all of these things are still true. Our King died for us and rose from the dead victoriously for us. We are still his people, citizens of his kingdom right now, even as we eagerly await his return.

But right here and right now is difficult. There is hardship and sorrow. We see sin corrupt everything that could be good in this life and leave it, at best, as ehhhh. But in this brief introduction, Jesus has another promise for us. Listen to how he describes himself, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” and for those of us who don’t live in the Greek alphabet, we might hear him saying, “I am the A and the Z.” What does that mean?

It means precisely how he described himself—the one who is, and who was, and who is coming, the I am who I am. God is eternal, filling all time and even beyond time. For us, he is the beginning and the end of all things. Our whole lives, start to finish, are wrapped up in the care, compassion, love, and power of the Alpha and the Omega. Our King doesn’t lack anything to help us, provide for us, or save us because he is before and after everything. No matter how much the bully at school, that oppressive boss, or the terror of some world leader might make us think we are in trouble, we are not. Our God fills all things. No one else's power even comes close to God’s power—not even Satan. He’s been defeated in the lopsided victory where Jesus crushed his head, and now we are safe here and forever because our King continues to provide for us and work things for our eternal good until we see that eternal good with our own eyes.

My dear fellow loved citizens in our Savior’s kingdom: lift your heads from these miserable, trying times you are going through. See your King providing all that you need now but also keeping us ever mindful and longing for that ultimate rescue when he will bring us to himself. The Alpha and the Omega, the Lord God, is the one who loves you with eternal love. He’s won the victory over your enemies. All that remains is for us to join the victory celebration that will ring out in his kingdom forever.

Lord Jesus, quickly come. Amen.

"One for All Won for All" (Sermon on Hebrews 9:24-28) | November 17, 2024

Sermon Text: Hebrews 9:24-28
Date: November 17, 2024
Event: Proper 28, Year B

Hebrews 9:24-28 (EHV)

For Christ did not enter a handmade sanctuary, a representation of the true sanctuary. Instead, he entered into heaven itself, now to appear before God on our behalf. 25And he did not enter to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own. 26Otherwise he would have needed to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once and for all, at the climax of the ages, in order to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27And, just as it is appointed for people to die only once and after this comes the judgment, 28so also Christ was offered only once to take away the sins of many, and he will appear a second time—without sin—to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.

One for All Won for All

It can be very difficult to look beyond right now to the future. If things are going well right now, it can be hard to think of a time when maybe they will be more difficult. If life is challenging and complicated right now, it can feel almost impossible to think of a time when things will be going better and easier.

This morning on the second-to-last Sunday of the church year, we are attempting to look beyond right now to what is coming. We heard the promise of Jesus in our Gospel that there will come a time when he will return and call us to himself. Daniel also pictured this final rescue and resurrection, when God will deliver his people from a life corrupted by sin to a home in heaven where we will shine like the brightness of the sky and … like the stars forever and ever (Daniel 12:3).

Our focus this morning, though, is on our Second Reading which is no less future-looking, but it also offers us some very specific direction and encouragement for us right here, right now. The last day and rescue are coming, but what do we do until then? How do we stay focused until then? As it so often is, the answer is to keep our focus on Jesus. His victory means our eternal security and even our temporal comfort and peace.

The writer to the Hebrews takes us back to Old Testament worship. There was a special day, one of the (if not the) highlights of the Israelites’ worship life. It is a holy day that is still obsereved in our day, which you probably will see marked on your calendars in the fall, Yom Kippur, or in English, the Day of Atonement.

The Day of Atonement was a celebration focusing on the forgiveness of sins and what the Messiah would provide. This was the one day of the year that anyone was allowed in the Most Holy Place, the most inner room in the Tabernacle or Temple, where the Ark of the Covenant sat. Only the high priest could enter there on this day, and only with blood. He would offer two special sacrifices: first, a bull sacrificed for his own sins, and then one of two goats as an offering for the people's sins. The goat that wasn’t sacrificed was known as the scapegoat, and the high priest would place his hands on this animal to symbolically transfer the people's sins to the goat and send it out to wander away into the wilderness (see Leviticus 16). It served as a picture of how God would send away sin, never to be seen again.

There’s a weakness to this celebration that was present from its establishment. You can even see the weakness as you find Yom Kippur on your calendars—this was an annual event. It happened over and over and over again. If it has been observed annually since it was commanded, it has been celebrated roughly 3,500 times up to this day. And that’s because this holy day is promise, not fulfillment. This was not the actual removal of sins but a picture of how God would remove the sins. And so, while it was undoubtedly important for the Old Testament believers looking forward to the promised Savior, the Day of Atonement always carried with it the idea of something that would happen later that hadn’t been accomplished yet. It was future-pointing to something bigger and better than the high priest, the temple, the sacrifices, and the scapegoat.

This is a constant theme throughout the letter to the Hebrews because it was written to Jewish converts to Christianity who were finding it challenging to stay connected to Jesus. They were tempted to “backslide” into the promises of Judaism while ignoring Jesus' fulfillments. So, the writer repeatedly points out how Jesus fulfilled and is far superior to everything that came before him.

And this idea of repetition looms large in that discussion. If you have to do something repeatedly, it means there is a continual wear and tear. There’s a decay that hasn’t been fixed and a problem that hasn’t been solved. You must do car maintenance with tires, brakes, and fluid changes because things wear out. What if you had brake pads that never wore out? What a blessing that would be! Likewise, the repetition of the sacrifices, specifically on the Day of Atonement, meant that something was still wearing out and broken. If things had been really fixed by the animal sacrifices and other ceremonies, well, then there wouldn’t have been a need to do them over and over again. But they did have to do them over and over again because they weren’t actually fixing things—they pointed ahead to the full repair that God would eventually accomplish.

The writer to the Hebrews latches on to this point at the beginning of our Second Reading and shows how different Jesus is from all that came before him and pointed to him: Christ did not enter a handmade sanctuary, a representation of the true sanctuary. Instead, he entered into heaven itself, now to appear before God on our behalf. And he did not enter to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise he would have needed to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once and for all, at the climax of the ages, in order to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Jesus’ work didn’t take him into the temple in Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice; he entered God’s true temple in heaven to provide the sacrifice. And it wasn’t something done over and over again. Instead, this sacrifice was once for all, over and done.

On the cross, Jesus offered the singular and complete payment for sin before God in heaven. His life was the payment that had been promised and that we all desperately needed. And Jesus’ work is truly one for all. There is nothing left to do. No further sacrifices have to be made. We are not here this morning trying to make things right with God; we don’t go about our day-to-day lives trying to “earn points” with God. The work is done. Sin is forgiven. We have a perfect relationship with God because Jesus paid for every sin.

We can know and cherish this, but it can be difficult to remember. The problems and heartaches of this life are a constant distraction from this reality. As we slog through this life of sin, heartache, illness, and sorrow, we can start to lose our grasp of it, and the “so what?” question about Jesus’ work starts to loom large.

And then you can again sympathize with the original audience of this letter to the Hebrew Christians. The “so what?” question is especially hard to wrestle with when you are undergoing persecution for the faith, and the temptation to retreat from it. The pull to find solace and comfort somewhere, anywhere, is powerful. And because we can’t see and interact directly with Jesus on a daily basis, our human nature starts to pull us away from him to something more concrete in this life.

We’ve seen this struggle a few times in our readings toward the end of this church year. Satan is relentless in trying to separate us from what God has said, done, and promised. This is nothing new, but it is our lived reality.

And so the writer to the Hebrews encourages us with a look ahead, a reminder of what is coming: And, just as it is appointed for people to die only once and after this comes the judgment, so also Christ was offered only once to take away the sins of many, and he will appear a second time—without sin—to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him. That last verse of our reading is our theme and focus for this morning. Why is this important? What do we want to stay committed? Because while Jesus’ work was one for all, his visible, direct interaction with this world was not a one-time thing. He’s coming back. But unlike the priests dealing with the sacrifices in Israel’s worship system, he’s not coming a second time to deal with sin—that’s done!—instead, he’s coming this second time—without sin—to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.

And the end, we will see the proof that Jesus won the victory for all through his one-for-all work. Jesus promised in our Gospel for this morning, “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out” (John 5:28-29). This Judgment Day will be the unavoidable, undebatable public proclamation of what Jesus did and who will benefit from it. Jesus said that those who have “done good” (John 5:29) will rise to live, and we know that the only way to do anything God considers good is to be perfect. So those who will rise to live, those who have “done good,” are those who cling to Jesus by faith for the forgiveness of every sin. They are those that God himself as purified in the blood of Jesus, shed for us.

This is open to anyone and everyone. Jesus didn’t pay for a limited amount of sins or die for only a special, select group of people. No, he died for all, which means the victory over sin, death, and hell has been won for all—you included!

And so on that day when he returns (or at the end of our earthly life, whichever comes first), we can look confidently toward our Savior who loves us because that will be the end of this horror show of a sin-corrupted life. Instead, that will be when Jesus bring[s]salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him. At that moment, we will experience and enjoy in full what Jesus won. Then, we will be free from sin. Then we will be with our Savior forever.

Until that day, my dear sisters and brothers, find comfort in knowing that your salvation is complete, your sins are totally forgiven, and that Jesus finished all the work that you needed him to do. Jesus has truly won salvation for all by his one-for-all sacrifice of sin. Find comfort in that for yourself, encourage each other with that certainty, and seek to share this victory with others because no matter who they are, Jesus won it for them too. Thanks be to God! Amen.

"The Sanctified Heart Trusts God" (Sermon on Mark 12:38-44) | November 10, 2024

Sermon Text: Mark 12:38–44
Date: November 10, 2024
Event: Proper 27, Year B

Mark 12:38–44 (EHV)

He also said to them in his teaching, “Beware of the experts in the law who like to walk around in long robes and receive greetings in the marketplaces. 39They love the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40They devour widows’ houses and offer long prayers to look good. These men will receive greater condemnation.”

41Jesus sat down opposite the offering box and was watching how the crowd put money into it. Many rich people put in large amounts. 42One poor widow came and put in two small bronze coins, worth less than a penny. 43He called his disciples together and said to them, “Amen I tell you: This poor widow put more into the offering box than all the others. 44For they all gave out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all that she had to live on.”

The Sanctified Heart Trusts God

Does life ever feel chaotic? A family conflict might do that. An election might do that. A job loss, illness, struggles in school, or falling out with a friend might do that. We have so many things that we count on for stability in our homes, our government, employment and other vocations that any changes (or even threats of change) to those things can cause you to feel like you’re standing on quicksand. It feels uncertain. s

And that can be what life feels like sometimes—or always. We’re trying to guess the future. We’re trying to weather those personal or communal storms. We’re trying to figure out how to tend to our responsibilities to self, family, and neighbor. Maybe things are severe enough that you feel a strong connection with the woman in Zerphath, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I have no food except a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a pitcher. See, I am gathering a couple of sticks so that I can go and prepare it for myself and my son, so that we can eat it and then die” (1 Kings 17:12). There is nothing left; I might as well just give up and surrender myself to the chaos and whatever that might mean for me.

And, boy, does Satan love to hear us think and talk like that. He would love nothing more than for short-term problems to separate us from God’s eternal solutions and promises. And really he doesn’t care what does it; if something divides us from God, he’s in. He delights in it. He longs for it.

This morning I suggest we take stock of our lives, our own hurts, pains, and struggles. They are different for each of us, though we are unified because we all have them. Yours are probably different than mine, and we don’t do any good trying to compare who wins the “trauma championship.” If something is difficult for you, it is difficult for you, no matter how you rank it compared to others’ difficulties. The same is true for others; just because you might view your problems as more significant by comparison doesn’t mean their heartaches and worries aren’t real and legitimate.

Jesus, in our Gospel, uses the model of the widow in the temple courts and contrasts it with the general attitude of the experts in the law to show us where our trust should be centered. Where do we find relief, confidence, and true hope in the chaos of this life? In our God who loves us.

Our Gospel is set in the middle of Holy Week. Jesus is spending these last few days of his earthly ministry with his disciples, doing a final round of teaching and preparing them for what will happen. But he’s not just with the Twelve—Jesus’ opponents are also around peppering him with questions, hoping to get him to trip up and say something they can condemn him for or at least discredit him in the eyes of the people.

And so it is in this context that Jesus begins our Gospel for this morning. He warns against the attitude and actions of the experts in the law, the scribes, who liked to garner earthly acclimation for themselves. They felt secure in their fancy clothes, friendly greetings in public, and the best seats at different gatherings. They had everything they needed, and everything went well for them.

You and I might look at other people and still insist on playing that comparison game. We see others who don’t seem to have the problems, fears, or struggles we do and we long to be like them. Might the disciples have felt that way as they looked at the influential religious leaders while Jesus seemed constantly pushed to the side? Can you imagine the widow we’ll meet later looking at those in billowy, expensive garments and longing to have a bit of the wealth and comfort that they had? I think I might be more surprised if she didn’t.

But what does Jesus say?  “Beware!” Why? Because they are focused on the here and now at the expense of the eternal. This warps them so that they even see sin—devouring[ing] widows’ houses—as justified when it would get them ahead. Jesus warns, “These men will receive greater condemnation.” That’s not the position we would want to be in, so earthly comfort at all costs is not where we want to focus.

After making these statements, Jesus looked across the temple courts to the offering box where people were putting in their gifts—not unlike the plates we use here at church. And there were no envelopes or checks or electronic giving methods to mask the amounts; it was pretty clear who was giving a lot and who was giving less. So Jesus watched as wealthy people came and gave significant sums of money. But then a widow, who had nearly nothing, came and gave two small bronze coins, worth less than a penny. Money comparisons are a little bit difficult across 2,000 year gap, but Mark notes that this gift is worth less than 1/64th of an agricultural worker’s daily wage, and yet, this was everything—all that she had to live on.

Now, why is Jesus pointing this out? The point is not to give all we have to the church. About a month ago, in our Gospel, we wrestled with this when we heard the rich young ruler talking with Jesus, and Jesus directed him to give away all his wealth. Jesus was not pointing out that you need to have nothing in order to have saving faith or to get into heaven; rather, he was showing the man that money was his god and was distracting him from eternal blessings.

The point here with the widow is the inverse. Again, Jesus is not setting up a necessity to give away all she had, but he points out that her trust in God was so strong that she was able to take the minuscule amount that was to her name, entrust it to God, and then trust that God would provide for her needs. Jesus’ praise of the woman’s actions doesn’t lead us to think that this was done in a “this is the end of my life; I give up” kind of way as the widow with Elijah initially approached it. Instead, this gift was given in trust for what God would do for her.

Let’s consider the widow’s attitude toward this offering. First and foremost, she trusted God to do what he said he would. He did not promise daily bread and earthly care as long as you stockpile money. No, she trusted that he would do that regardless.

That trust in God’s promise led to the second aspect of her attitude: thankfulness. She didn’t have much, but she was thankful for what she did have. Did she have what her neighbors or leaders had? No. But she trusted God’s gracious hand and that what he provided was for her eternal good.

That trust and thankfulness to God led to another aspect of her giving—she would not make excuses. She wasn’t intimidated by the large gifts others gave or the meekness of her offering. No, she focused not on those around her but only on her relationship with God. From what he had given—not much by earthly standards—in joy, she gave to God.

All of these aspects of the window’s gift are good for us to keep in mind. God asks us to give out of what he has given. We want to be generous! That means if he has given us much, perhaps the gifts or time will be more significant. If he was given little, they may be smaller dollar or hour amounts. But this is not a comparison game when we talk about trust in God’s promises and stewardship of the things he’s given. You don’t give relative to those around you; you give relative to what God has provided. If you have fewer financial resources or less time, that doesn’t mean your gift is somehow lesser than someone who has more. Regardless of the amount, a gift given in thankfulness to God is a pleasant sacrifice to him.

That spirit of thankfulness goes well beyond the gifts we give to God in offerings, the amount of volunteering we do, or the time we set aside to help our neighbor. Because this trust in God is produced by the sanctified heart that he provides. We know that regardless of our earthly blessings, we all stand on equal footing with God. We are all sinners who deserve his eternal punishment in hell, and the blessings around us are not indicative of what God thinks about us. By nature, we are his enemies, wrapped up in an eternal war with God that we will lose.

But like the widows, both in the temple and in Zerphath, God’s promises and actions change that. What had he promised these two women, separated by nearly 900 years of history? God pledged to them both a Savior from sin to solve this spiritual war we were waging against God. The only difference was that the widow giving her offering was seen by the physical eyes of the incarnate God; in just a few days, he would be laying down his life to keep that promise and pay for the world’s sins.

And so God has forgiven your sins and mine. He sanctified our hearts, setting us apart, when the Holy Spirit worked faith in our hearts through his Word and sacraments. We believe in God's promises not because of us but because of him.

If we are looking for trust, confidence, and peace in the world around us—earthly blessings, human relationships, political policy—we are looking in the same place the experts in the law were looking. And if we do so, it’s no wonder the world and our lives feel utterly chaotic. This corrupted world, with its misguided messages, can never bring the comfort that God provides. But, if, as the children of God, we find our confidence in God’s promises and work, and trust him to do what he said, then every earthly prop can fall away, and we will still stand with confidence in God’s promises. We still look forward, completely sure that God will, in the end, wipe every tear from our eyes.

So, with the faith God gives, trust what he’s promised you. In that trust, support others in their times of difficulty, both to provide immediate relief and to help them see the fullness of the love of our God that provides in all times—be they times of trial or blessing. You, dear Christian, are forgiven. Stand in that forgiveness and trust God to do what he’s promised. Amen.

"Stand Confidently in God's Grace" (Sermon on Daniel 3:16-28) | October 27, 2024

Sermon Text: Daniel 3:16-28
Date: October 27, 2024
Event: Reformation Day (Observed), Year B

Daniel 3:16-28 (EHV)

Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “We have no need to answer you about this matter. 17Since our God, whom we serve, does exist, he is able to save us from the blazing fiery furnace. So, he may save us from your hand, Your Majesty. 18But if he does not, you should know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden statue that you set up.”

19Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed against Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego. He said to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was usually heated. 20He ordered some men, who were soldiers from his army, to bind Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego in order to throw them into the blazing fiery furnace. 21So these men were bound in their coats, their pants, their turbans, and their other clothing, and they were thrown into the middle of the blazing fiery furnace. 22Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace was extremely hot, those men who carried Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego were killed by the intense heat of the fire. 23But these three men, Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego, who had been tied up, fell into the blazing fiery furnace.

24Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and immediately stood up. He said to his advisors, “Didn’t we throw three men, who had been tied up, into the middle of the fire?”

They answered the king, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

25He said, “Look! I see four men, who are untied and walking around in the middle of the fire, unharmed. What is more, the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

26Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing fiery furnace. He said, “Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out!” Then Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego came out from the middle of the furnace. 27The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the royal advisors gathered together and looked at these men. The fire had no power over their bodies. Not a hair on their head was singed, their robes were not damaged, and the smell of fire had not stuck to them.

28Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrak, Meshak, and Abednego, who sent his angel and saved his servants, who trusted in God and ignored the king’s command. They gave up their bodies and did not pay homage or worship any god except their God.

Stand Confidently in God’s Grace

Our First Reading this morning takes us back thousands of years in history, but it might take you far back in your personal history as well. The Three Men in the Fiery Furnace is an account that is in almost every children’s Bible and Sunday School curriculum. Despite the grim possibility of three young men being burned alive in a furnace, it is often referred to encourage both young and old to stand confidently, to follow in the pattern of these young men and their trust in God’s promises. This morning, as we observe this Reformation festival, let’s join them in standing confidently in God’s grace, his undeserved love for us.

To properly understand what is happening here, we need to back up a bit. Or, maybe a lot. This event occurs in the late 600s or early 500s BC, centuries before Jesus was born. But it was something that God had said was a possibility almost 1,000 years before it happened when the Israelites first settled in the Promised Land. Moses warned the people just before they entered the land God would give them that if they were not faithful to God and even served false gods, this would happen: The LORD will lead you and the king, whom you will set over you, to a nation that you and your fathers have not known, and there you will serve other gods of wood and stone. You will become an object of horror, the subject of proverbs, and the butt of sarcastic taunts among all the people to whom the LORD will send you. (Deuteronomy 28:36-37).

And so it was. The Israelites were unfaithful and ignored God’s continued calls to repentance through his prophets. And so, finally, God sent the nation of Babylon to exile the people to this faraway land where they would be cut off from their homes.

But this exile didn’t happen all at once. Babylon rolls through and makes several deportations, and in the earliest of these deportations, they examine who among the Israelites is perhaps worth having as servants in the government—pillage the best and the brightest to be a blessing to Babylon. The Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar directed one of his officials to choose young men who had no blemish, who were good looking, who had insight into all kinds of wisdom, who possessed knowledge, understanding, and learning, and who were capable of serving in the king’s palace, in order to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. … In this group of young men were the Judeans Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. (Daniel 1:4, 6). This is how Daniel (who much later as an old man would be thrown to the lions yet saved) and the three men in our reading end up coming from Judah to Babylon.

And the Lord was with them and blessed them. They were shown to be very adept at many things; God blessed the work of their hands so much that they rose to be the cream of the crop in the king’s service, not just of Israelites but of all the officials in the land. You can imagine how this might have left some of the other officials feeling—especially those who looked down on these men from Israel as inferior to themselves. The king highly favored our three young men.

And then trouble came. At the beginning of Daniel chapter 3, we're told, “King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue. … [T]he satraps, the prefects and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all of the rulers of the provinces assembled for the dedication of King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. … The herald called out loudly, “To you peoples, nations, and languages, this command is given: When you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, the harp, the triangular harp, the drum, and all kinds of musical instruments, you will fall down and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.” (Daniel 3:1, 3-6). It’s a lot of words, but it boils down to this: the king commanded that when the special music played, everyone gathered had to bow down and worship this giant golden statue he had made.

You can see the problem for these young, faithful Israelites. They knew not only that the worshiping of idols was forbidden, but that was primarily why their nation was in the mess it was currently in. Their people had largely been unfaithful to God, and now here they were, exiles in a foreign land. They resolved to not continue that pattern, be it bowing to sinful weakness or the command of a foreign king. They would be faithful to God and would stand confidently in his grace.

And so, their enemies see an opening! They tattle on the three young men, saying that these guys would not bow down and worship the statue when the music played. The king is furious, but also you can see his love and admiration for these men because he doesn’t just throw them into the furnace as he had declared. He summons them, questions them, and then gives them a second chance to do what he had commanded rather than immediately hurling them into the furnace. And the men’s response to this second chance is where our First Reading picks up: “We have no need to answer you about this matter. Since our God, whom we serve, does exist, he is able to save us from the blazing fiery furnace. So, he may save us from your hand, Your Majesty. But if he does not, you should know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden statue that you set up.”

There’s a little phrase that we should not miss in that statement, “But if he does not…” That phrase speaks volumes. God had not given them a heads-up about this. He had not appeared to these men the night before to say, “Don’t worry about the furnace; I will save you.” For all these men knew, they were staring death straight in the face and they would not budge. They stood confidently in God’s grace, either to save them from physical death or, at that moment, to bring them to eternal life.

And it’s really that, rather than the rescue itself, that I want us to focus on this morning. Yes, God did intervene very directly to save these men from fire so hot that it killed the soldiers throwing them in. Yes, a fourth person was there to protect them, whom Nebchadnezzar described as the “son of the gods,” whom we might assume is one of the angels or perhaps even Jesus himself before his incarnation. And yes, they were so protected from the furnace that they were spared even the negative effects of a grill or campfire—they didn’t even smell like smoke! But on this Reformation Day, let’s focus on their dedication to God in the face of not knowing any of that would happen, their firm stance to do what was right in the face of immense pressure to do what was wrong.

I won’t speak for you, but I can assure you that no one has threatened my life with fire or anything else because of what I believe. No one has held me over the flames, or put a sword to my throat or a gun to my head and said, “Abandon your God or die.” And for so many reasons, that is reason to give thanks. But then when I consider the faithlessness that is still present in my life, it brings even greater shame.

How often haven’t I remained silent when I had a chance to share God’s comfort? How often haven’t I let my faith and life of thanksgiving fade into the background so that I could blend in with the people or even the world around me? How often haven’t I slunk back from boldly standing for what I believe in not because my life was on the line, but maybe it was my reputation, my family relationships, my friendships, or even just the commradrie of strangers I’ve only just met. How quick I am to bend the knee to save my own hyde and my own comfort. I truly fear what I would have done had I been in the place of these three young men.

Perhaps some of those points resonate with you, too, and sound more familiar in your life than your comfortable thinking about or admitting. The reality is that the temptation to give up on God’s truth can come from many different and varied places. For Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, it came from their king, demanding them to sin against God. For Luther and the other reformers 500 years ago, it came from the false teaching of Rome that said people could earn and even buy their way into forgiveness and a proper standing with God.

Perhaps none of those resonate with you. Perhaps neither your boss nor your government nor (I pray) leaders in your church are leading you into false worship or even demanding it from you. But, all of us struggle with a temptation to veer off course from God’s path in our hearts. Because all of us have a sinful nature that would rather serve ourselves than God, that would rather seek our own ways rather than God’s ways, that would do what seems right to us rather than what God says is right.

And so the sinful nature might lead us to think highly of ourselves, perhaps that we have no real wrongdoing before God or, even if we do, that we can do a few things to make it up to him. We might make compromises to fit in with those around us and avoid scrutiny or justify our actions by thinking that our sin isn’t so bad because it doesn’t seem as bad as what other people around us are doing.

These compromises, big or small as they may seem, are all bowing down to a giant golden statue. Because anything that takes priority over the true God is our false god. Whether we worship money or work or fame or grudges or entertainment or anything else, it all distracts us from God’s truth.

And so, truly, this is why Jesus came for us. Because this situation was as hopeless as it sounds. On our own, we are lost with no abilitiy to get ourselves back on course. In fact, you and I are no more able to make God happy with us by our own work than the people in Babylon could have made God happy by bowing down to that statue. And any time we or someone else might try to fget us to think that we can, Jesus’ warning from our Gospel should ring in our ears, “Be careful that no one deceives you” (Mark 13:5).

Eevn for these three men, with their amazingly brave and bold faith to face near-certain death rather than veer from it, that did not come from themselves. They were not so amazing on their own that they had the courage to stand confidently in God’s grace come what may. No, that faith and that resolve were the gift of God as well. Jesus promised his disciples that before those who persecute them, boldness and courage to speak and even the words themselves would come from the Holy Spirit. So it was for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So it is for you.

Whether you face a maniacal king trying to get you to worship his latest art project, or those who would seek your life because of your faith in Jesus as Savior, or simply the fear of mockery and rejection by those who are close and important to you, be bold and stand confidently in God’s grace. Not only do you have forgiveness for every time you have caved to internal or external pressure to turn from God, but you also have forgiveness for every sin. That forgiveness won by Jesus in his life and death in your place and given to you as a free gift gives you the boldness and the confidence to stand in God’s grace against anything or anyone who would threaten it, even if that attack comes from within you.

So, stand confidently in God’s grace. He loves you and will protect you from all spiritual harm until that day when he brings you home to heaven—that free gift won for and given to you by your Savior, Jesus. Give thanks for those who have confidently stood on this truth in the past, and pray that we may also pass down this same confidence to the generations that come after us. Amen.

"Jesus Served Us; Let Us Serve Each Other" (Sermon on Mark 10:32-45) | October 20, 2024

Sermon Text: Mark 10:32–45
Date: October 20, 2024
Event: Proper 24, Year B

Mark 10:32–45 (EHV)

They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading them. The disciples were amazed, and the others who followed were afraid. He took the Twelve aside again and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. 33“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the experts in the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles. 34They will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”

35James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we wish that you would do for us whatever we ask.”

36He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”

37They said to him, “Promise that we may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your glory.”

38But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with?”

39“We can,” they replied.

Jesus told them, “You will drink the cup that I am going to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with. 40But to sit at my right or at my left is not for me to give; rather, these places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

41When the ten heard this, they were angry with James and John.

42Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43But that is not the way it is to be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus Served Us; Let Us Serve Each Other

There are a lot of ways to measure greatness in the world that we live in. It could be greatness in the sense of earthly power. It could be greatness in the sense of wealth. It could be greatness in the sense of our family's size or success. And even the word success might have a variety of definitions for people. What does it mean to be successful in this life? Well, you could probably ask ten people and get ten pretty different answers.

But there is a commonality among people: We want to succeed rather than fail. We want to accomplish our goals rather than ignore them or throw them away. Perhaps, in a more selfish mindset, we want to gain favor. We want to be better, or at least better than someone else. In our gospel for this morning, we see the disciples wrestling with that temptation while, at the same time, Jesus is trying to show them how he will be great for them by serving.

Perhaps we struggle with the same things the disciples struggled with. And I know for certain that we all need the same encouragement and reminder of what Jesus has done to save us. So this morning, let's gather around Jesus and learn from him what service and greatness look like. And then let us seek to follow in our Savior’s service path, motivated by his service for us, serving the people that God has placed in our lives.

In our gospel this morning, we meet up with Jesus and his disciples almost at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. We are just a few verses away from Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday in the beginning of Mark chapter 11. This is the end of Jesus' time with his disciples to teach them and help them understand what is coming.

And so that's where he begins. Now, Mark's writing style is very abrupt. He jumps from subject to subject very quickly, moving from main point to main point. But it doesn’t seem to be a stylistic choice that puts the disciples’ bickering at odds with what Jesus is teaching. Jesus tells them how he is going to be killed and give his life as a ransom for many. And then James and John approach him with that perhaps selfish request, “Promise that we may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your glory.”

Now, on the one hand, they did get it; they did understand that Jesus was going to be in glory. They knew that he would not be defeated by whatever was coming that he had just explained. But you want to say to James and John, “Guys, read the room a little bit here. This is not the time to be talking about things like this.” And Jesus really does that. He says, “Things are going to go really badly for me. And guess what? They're also going to go really badly for you. You will drink the cup that I am going to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with.”

The other ten were indignant with James and John. And it's unclear whether they're resentful because they realize the inappropriateness of this request or because James and John were requesting what the rest of them wanted for themselves. Regardless, this was a source of conflict among the Twelve. And if I were Jesus, and I were on the brink of this catastrophe of being betrayed and murdered by my government, I think I would be pretty short with them. Thankfully, Jesus is not me; Jesus is perfect; Jesus does not sin. He uses this as a teaching moment.

“You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But that is not the way it is to be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave of all.” We've heard Jesus over the last several Sundays emphasize similar points. Just four week ago in our Gospel, all of the disciples were arguing among themlseves about who of them was the greatest. Jesus continues to patienly correct and them. What is the goal of the believer’s life? It's not glory. It's not being the best. It's not finding recognition in the world or even among other believers. The goal of the Christian life is service.

We heard it two weeks ago when Paul addressed Christians, especially Christian families, and encouraged them to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21). Put each other ahead of yourself. Consider others' needs more important than your own. Submit. Sacrifice. Serve. Jesus underscores this point in the last verse of our gospel: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

If there was ever anyone who walked the face of this earth who deserved to be honored and acknowledged as the greatest of all, to have glory ascribed to him, it was Jesus. Not only was he perfect and sent by God, but he is God. And so it would have been justified (and perhaps to our way of thinking, maybe more appropriate) for him to come to this earth and demand honor and tribute and glory and praise from anyone and everyone that saw him. You might think of the wise men when he was a little child coming and bringing their gifts only on a much grander scale. If we're talking about who deserved earthly glory, well, no one deserved it more than Jesus.

But that's not why he came. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. His time on this earth was not about himself. It was not about his glory, praise, or ego, if you want to put it that way. Everything about what he did while he was on this earth was about laying aside what was rightfully his to serve you and to serve me.

The apostle Paul, in Philippians chapter 2, says that Jesus did not consider equality with God as something that had to be retained, gripped with all his might. Instead, he willingly put that aside. He put aside the full use of his glory as God to become a servant, serve you, and serve me. And this was always the plan; this is not a departure from what God promised. We heard those familiar words in Isaiah 53 in our first reading as a reminder that the Messiah’s task was always to serve you: Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and to allow him to suffer. Because you made his life a guilt offering, he will see offspring. He will prolong his days, and the Lord’s gracious plan will succeed in his hand. It was the Lord's will to crush him and allow him to suffer. Because you made his life a guilt offering, he will see offspring. He will prolong his days. And the Lord's will be the Lord's will to serve you. And the Lord's will to serve you. And the Lord's will to serve you. And the Lord's will to serve you.

From the beginning, the Messiah was coming to be crushed. To offer his life as a guilt offering. To empty himself to serve us. And we should be really clear about why he did this. He's not just giving us a model to follow. He's not just saying, “Here’s how you should treat each other or prioritize others ahead of yourself,” though surely we can learn that from him. But Jesus did not come to be primarily a model for us; he came to save us.

Jesus’ service is not just about him being humble; it’s about him being and doing what we needed. Our sin had trapped us in an impossible place; we were headed for eternal punishment in hell with absolutely no way to change course. So Jesus took our place. He humbled himself and served us by enduring the hell we deserved on the cross. He served us in our greatest need so that we would be spared from hell and instead be with him forever in heaven.

He did this because he loves you, and he loves me. There is no guilt trip here. And you can see that in how he patiently explains to the Twelve what will happen. He doesn’t lash out at their selfish goals and conversations. No, he tells them what he will do to save them from even this sin.

James and John would drink the cup of Jesus’ suffering in some ways. James would be the first of the twelve to be martyred, and while John might be the only of the twelve to die a natural death, he would endure persecution and exile and face challenges to the sound teaching of comfort and sins forgiven in Jesus during his long life. The Twelve would learn to serve for Jesus and about Jesus.

We, too, can serve in this way. We can serve by sharing the good news of what we’ve come to know and believe with those who don’t know it. We can serve by encouraging our fellow Christians with the message that brings true, lasting, eternal comfort—Jesus was crucified for our sins and raised from the dead. We can serve by not seeking personal glory but by striving to support those around us. We can serve by bringing people to Jesus’ feet so they, too, can hear and, by God’s grace, believe what Jesus has done for them.

Dear Christian, rejoice, for Jesus has served you. Let us serve others by sharing what he has done for all people so that many may join us in eternal celebration, away from this world of sin and with our Savior forever in heaven! Amen.

"You Are Safe Now; Rejoice in Eternity!" (Sermon on Luke 10:17-20) | September 29, 2024

Sermon Text: Luke 10:17-20
Date: September 29, 2024
Event: Festival of St. Michael and All Angels

Luke 10:17–20 (EHV)

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!”

18He told them, “I was watching Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19Look, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing will ever harm you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names have been written in heaven.”

You Are Safe Now; Rejoice in Eternity!

The young child walks with his parents in a shopping center on a hectic day. The crowds are thick, and the adults are almost shoulder-to-shoulder, to say nothing of the young man whose head barely comes up to the adults’ hips. Suddenly, there’s panic. He looks up in the sea of people, and he’s no longer walking with Mom and Dad. Where did they go? How does he find them? And then he hears his name in a familiar voice and finds himself scooped up by one of his parents. Safe.

There are many minor festivals in the church year. We don’t celebrate all of them yearly; in a given year, we may only celebrate one or two in our congregation. These festivals center on most of the twelve disciples; the apostle Paul; John the Baptist; Mary, Jesus’ mother; Joseph, Jesus’ earthly caretaker; Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ close followers; and even celebrating the first reading of the Augsburg Confession, one of the standard Lutheran confessions of faith.

These minor festivals tend to focus on people and other earthly events, yet they are not praise of the person or event itself; they praise God for his work done through these people or at these events. This is also true today on the minor festival of St. Michael and All Angels, where our focus is mainly on the spiritual forces that God uses as messengers and for our protection. We are not here to worship angels this morning—we are here to worship God for his love for us and, in a special way, to remember his protection given to us by this heavenly host.

Our Gospel for this morning helps to give us that focus because Jesus is directing the disciples away from the awe of the spiritual realm (and the power he had granted over it). He wants us primarily focused on what is eternally meaningful: rejoice that your names have been written in heaven. As we focus on God’s temporal promises and his work for us through the angels, we want to keep that in mind. Our primary awe should not be in what the angels do, but our awe should be centered in God’s love for us, the forgiveness he won for us by Jesus, and the fact that our eternal safety in heaven is secure.

Our brief Gospel for this morning comes at the end of Jesus sending out seventy-two of his followers to spread his good news in the towns he would travel to next in his earthly ministry. While Jesus is God, he limited himself during his time on earth so he was not always present everywhere. So, as is true for us, more people working meant more people hearing the message Jesus sent them to proclaim simultaneously and in different places.

The seventy-two come back, awestruck and excited to share what had happened: “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!” Jesus had often driven demons out of possessed people, and these men discovered, as they went and met people suffering from that very affliction, that in Jesus’ name, they, too, were able to drive them out. Jesus gave them authority to trample … over all the power of the enemy, at least for a time.

Where would these demons have come from? Originally, what we now call angels and demons were one unified group. While God never pinpoints for us exactly when, he created the angels at some point during those six, twenty-hour days of creation. And then, at a moment that is not narratively described in the Bible, a whole group of those angels staged a rebellion against God, and the lead architect of that rebellion was Satan. It seems that the chief issue Satan had was that of pride and conceit—he wanted to be recognized as greater than he was; he wanted to be recognized as God’s equal. So Satan stages a coup of sorts, which fails; so it goes when anyone wages war against the almighty God, the angels included.

Satan is jealous of God’s power and status. It seems possible that Satan is also envious of the standing that mankind has in God’s creation, so one of his first goals after he fell was to get the precious crown of this new world to fall as well. He brings to Eve and Adam the temptation that caused him to fall: The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die. In fact, God knows that the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). In other words, “God is holding out on you! You, too, can be like God, even have equal status with God. Just take the fruit and eat!”

After the fall, we can see the clear difference between angels and human beings in God’s heart and perhaps understand Satan’s envy a bit better. Peter describes the fall of the angels and God’s judgment on them this way: “God did not spare angels when they sinned but handed them over to chains of darkness by casting them into hell, to be kept under guard for judgment” (2 Peter 2:4). In fact, hell did not exist until the angels fell; it was not part of God’s perfect creation. Jesus describes hell as the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). Do you see the difference between us and the angels? The angels sin? Boom. Hell. What happened when Adam and Eve sinned, though? God promised a Savior; God promised that he himself would rescue his people from their fallen state. That is an immeasurable difference.

Back to our Gospel, when Jesus says, “I was watching Satan fall like lightning from heaven,” the tense of that verb is very important. This is not a description of Satan’s rebellion and being cast out of God’s presence near the beginning of creation; Jesus is describing a current event, something he was just doing. As the seventy-two were going out, Jesus was then watching Satan fall. So, what caused this fall, this weakening of Satan’s power?

To answer that, we need to understand Satan’s true purpose. He wants us in hell. But as we noted above, he doesn’t want us in hell to rule over us; he wants us in hell to suffer like he will suffer. He wants us in hell because he knows it hurts God to have the precious crown of his creation separated from him forever. And so what undermines Satan’s power? What causes him to stumble and fall dramatically like lightning toppling out of the sky? God’s Word—specifically, the gospel message proclaiming the forgiveness of sins in Jesus.

As the seventy-two proclaimed that God’s forgiveness, which had long been promised, was now present among them, they were undermining Satan’s power. They were causing his plans to stumble and fall because, in sharing that message, the Holy Spirit was working faith in the hearts of those who heard. People who God brought from unbelief to faith were snatched out of that slavery to sin and death; people whose faith was strengthened were put even farther away from Satan’s eternally destructive goals. The weapon most effective against the old evil foe is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

So, we are safe from Satan’s attack because the Holy Spirit placed faith in us to trust Jesus’ forgiveness. When Satan or one of his cohorts would try to convince us that God doesn’t love us, that we are not forgiven, the words of Jesus’ promise and certainty of our status in his family is enough to send Satan toppling down the hill. Even if Satan were to appear in front of you in a gruesome, Hollywood version of demonic power, you could overcome him simply by stating who you are, “I am the baptized child of God.” Or, if even that seems too long, the name of your brother and Savior, “Jesus,” would be enough to send him scurrying away with his tail between his legs.

Not all of the angels rebelled against God; not all of this heavenly host followed Satan down his path of destruction. In fact, many angels are yet devoted to God and his will. We saw some of them with Elisha and his servant in our First Reading this morning. However, the primary role of the angels is more straightforward than even that narrative account might communicate.

When the term “angel” is used in the Bible, be it in Hebrew in the Old Testament (מַלְאָךְ, malak) or Greek in the New Testament (ἄγγελος, angelos), the primary meaning is the same: the angels are first and foremost messengers for God. We have many notable examples of this throughout Scripture. Angels were sent to bar the way to the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve fell to communicate that they were not allowed back into where the Tree of Life grew (Genesis 3:22-24). When God called Isaiah to be his prophet, Isaiah saw a vision of heaven when an angel announced that God had taken away the his sins (Isaiah 6:1-7). One of the few named angels in Scripture, Gabriel, is the messenger to Zechariah that he would be the father of John the Baptist (Luke 1:11-20) and to Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:26-38).

But God attaches a special promise to these messengers. Not only will they communicate the messages that God sends them to deliver, but he also sends them on missions of protection, as we saw against the forces of Aram. As we sang earlier, God makes specific promises to his people in Psalm 91, “Yes, you, Lord, are my refuge! If you make the Most High your shelter, evil will not overtake you. Disaster will not come near your tent. Yes, he will give a command to his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone” (vv. 9-12).

Does that mean that the angels protect us from every possible harm? Well, if you’ve banged your head or skinned your knee recently, you know that, no, God doesn’t protect us from anything that could cause us pain. But in many ways that we cannot measure or even understand, God sends his angels to tend to, guard, and protect us. Were the angels involved in making it so the skinned knee wasn’t a broken leg? Were the angels engaged in ensuring that the incident on the road was just a fender-bender where no one was hurt rather than something tragic? We can’t say for sure, but we do have God’s promise that this is precisely the kind of work that he will send them out to do.

In our Second Reading, we heard about one of the visions from John’s Revelation. John looked up and saw a battle taking place in the sky. Michael (who seems to be a created angel in a leadership role among the angels) directs God’s forces against the ancient dragon, Satan, and his minions. This is not an account of the fall of Satan. Instead, this vividly depicts the battle waged at the cross, the battle won by God. It was the final battle in the war that Satan initiated both with his personal rebellion and especially at the tree in the Garden of Eden. God promised at that time that this serpent’s head would be crushed (Genesis 3:15), and here in this vision, we see that take place: The great dragon was thrown down—the ancient serpent, the one called the Devil and Satan, the one who leads the whole inhabited earth astray—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him (Revelation 12:9). As is the theme of all of the book of Revelation, so it is in this account: Jesus wins, therefore we win as well.

The declaration that follows the vision makes that understanding clear: Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser [a literal translation of the name “Satan”] of our brothers has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony (Revelation 12:10-11).

But if this is a depiction of the battle of the cross, if this war is between God and Satan, what role do the angels have in that? Undoubtedly, the angels didn’t suffer for our sins; the angels did not win forgiveness for us in their victory. Those blessings come entirely from Jesus; as was declared, mankind
conquered [Satan] because of the blood of the Lamb.

We have glimpses, little tastes in the Gospels, of the angels’ activity during this time. As Jesus was so distressed in the Garden of Gethsemane, pleading with his Father for another way to save us from our sins that his sweat was like drops of blood, we’re told that an angel came and tended to him before this confrontation began in earnest (Luke 22:43). As he rebuked Peter for using his sword to try to prevent his arrest, Jesus was clear that more than twelve legions of angels, more than 72,000 of them, stood ready to defend him if he wanted, but that was not the plan (Matthew 26:53).

But I believe the most prominent role that the angels played in this battle was like the seventy-two’s role in weakening Satan’s power in their preaching. What special role did some of the angels get assigned? On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. When they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothing. The women were terrified and bowed down with their faces to the ground. The men said to them, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has been raised! Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee that the Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again?” Then they remembered his words (Luke 24:1-8). The angels’ power is seen most clearly here, not in a battle or protection or anything like that, but in their messenger role that day—Jesus is alive! He won!

So we can “ooh” and “ahh” over the power of the angels, the descriptions of their might, and their sometimes wild physical descriptions in the Bible. We can get shivers when we think of Satan and the other fallen angels, the demons, slinking around the world like prowling lions, looking to deceive, distort, and tempt us away from God. But all of that must be in service to the real story, the most important work God has done for you: your sins are forgiven. You are safe, not just now for a moment, but for eternity.

Let Jesus’ words to the seventy-two find a permanent home in your mind and heart, “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names have been written in heaven.” At the end of Romans chapter 8, the apostle Paul gives what is essentially a commentary on Jesus’ words: We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (vv. 37-39).

My brothers and sisters, God commends his angels concerning you to guard you now and will send them to bring you safely to his side on the last day because Jesus has paid for your every sin. Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names have been written in heaven. You are safe now! Rejoice for eternity! Amen.