Church Year 2007 Sermons

I Corinthians 12:31b-13:13

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our sermon text for this 4^th Sunday of Epiphany is the epistle reading recorded in the 12^th chapter of First Corinthians.

Last week we heard Paul make the point that all of the various gifts given to individual Christians are important. Important because the combination of all of the gifts makes up the whole that is the body of Christ. This morning Paul continues that conversation on spiritual gifts and how those gifts, whatever they might be, are to be properly used.

Paul begins this part of the conversation, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

Paul mentions some wonderful gifts here. Yet without love what good are they? Look at the results: First result, "I am only a resounding gong or clanging cymbal." In other words I am talking but nobody is listening. Second result, "I am nothing." In other words I am there but no one is watching. Third result, "I gain nothing." In other words I do nice things even brave things but for the wrong reason so nobody takes account–not even God.

It is not hard for us to understand this. First of all, from our own point of view we know that there are times in our life where we find ourselves just "going through the motions." And we all know how we describe ourselves in those moments. We say, "My heart just isn’t in it." And when we say, "My heart just isn’t in it," we mean we are getting the task done–but we are doing it without love. And when we are "going through the motions" because our "heart just isn’t in it," we know it makes a difference. A negative difference. The quality of the job while acceptable, isn’t good. It also makes a difference with people. When my heart isn’t in it people notice and they don’t like it. When my heart isn’t in it I notice and I don’t like it. Why does love make a difference? I’m not sure I know, or can put the words to it–but it does.

Second of all, it is not hard for us to understand this because many of us have been the recipient of someone using a gift on our behalf without love. And when that happens, no matter how good they are at what they do, we tend to go looking elsewhere to get the job done. One example would be that of your Doctor. If your Doctor is great at what he does in terms of his knowledge but does not seem to have any bed-side manner–which is to say he has no love–you will probably change doctors. Why does this love make a difference? I’m not sure I know, or can put the words to it–but it does matter. We instinctively, as humans, know exactly what Paul is talking about here. Love makes a difference. We must be loved. Ask any child. When they have a bo-bo they don’t just want a band-aid they want you to kiss it to make it better. The band-aid applied will heal the wound, but love makes it better.

What is this love that makes the difference? Paul uses a whole lot of words to describe it. Which should tell us that this love is a pretty big concept. Paul says, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

This love however does not need to be defined with all of these words. The apostle John has a much simpler definition: "God is love." Which means "love is God." And if that is the case then this concept of love is even bigger than we imagined. If God is love then let me read to you this part of our text again replacing love with God:

"God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud. God is not rude, God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails."

God is indeed all of these things Paul speaks of in our text under the name of love. But it isn’t just theory. God has shown us. And the record of God showing us that he is love is the book we call the Bible. The Bible tells us, as it has recorded the great acts of God’s redemption, that he is in fact this love that Paul is talking about. The final act of God by which we know he is love is by giving up his Son Jesus Christ for the redemption of the world. Romans chapter 5 says it clearly, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The apostle John says it well too, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us."

Had Jesus, "just gone through the motions," had Jesus, "just not had his heart in it,"it would have made a difference. But that’s not the case. Jesus willingly went the way of the cross in love. Many criminals have died on a cross. There is nothing exceptional about the cross. What makes the death of Jesus on the cross exceptional is Jesus. Jesus who innocently went forth in love, his whole heart into it, to suffer and die for the sins of the world. And what bigger testimony to the love of Jesus on the cross could there be than his first words from the cross. Paul says in our text, "Love keeps no record of wrongs." From the cross Love itself speaks out the word of absolution that makes it sure, "Father, forgive them they know not what they do."

This love, incarnate on the cross, God wants to give you. He wants it to get inside you and fill you up to overflowing with this love. And I assure you this love can get it in you. Consider Romans 5:5, "And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us." Or consider II Corinthians 4:6, "For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light to shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." Or consider Galatians 4:6, "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out "Abba, Father." And lastly, consider Ephesians 3:16-17, "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." All of these verses speak of the God who is love who wants to get inside you and not just make you do loving things but rather to become love yourself. God has redeemed you in Christ. But he does not plan to leave you merely a redeemed sinner. God in Christ plans to make you like himself. As Peter tells us in his second epistle God has saved us so that we may participate in the divine nature itself: And what is that divine nature but love.

Do you see why Paul makes this love out to be so much more important than any spiritual gift we might possibly have?

First, love is what makes the use of our gifts effective in service to others and sanctifying personally. Most people think you have to love what you do. Theologically speaking that is backwards. If you are filled with the love of God you will love whatever it is you are doing. Jesus did not love dying on the cross. Jesus died on the cross because he is love. All of the Christian martyrs did not love getting ripped apart by wild beasts in the arena–but they went to the arena and laid down their lives because they were full of the love of Christ.

Second, all of the gifts that we have been given will eventually become obsolete. As Paul tells us, "Where there are prophecies they will cease; where there are tongues the will be stilled; where there is knowledge it will pass away." When Christ returns these things will no longer be necessary. But love will be very necessary–for love is God himself who has given us a Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord. Our gifts, whatever they are, are not necessary for salvation. But love–that is God in Christ–is very necessary for salvation.

All our gifts will fade away. In the return of Christ even faith and hope will disappear. But the greatest of gifts: Love–God himself–will remain forever, and because of that Love we shall be with him who is forever and ever. Amen.

The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Luke 6:17-26

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our sermon text for this 6^th Sunday of Epiphany is the Gospel lesson recorded in the 6^th chapter of St. Luke.

In the history of salvation a lot of things happen on mountains. The law was given to Moses and the Israelites on Mt. Sinai. Elijah held a contest between God and Baal on Mt. Carmel. Elijah fled for his life to Mt. Horeb. Jesus was transfigured on top of a mountain. Jesus ascended into heaven from on top of a mountain. Immediately before our text for this morning there was another important mountain event that forms the background for our text from Luke usually called, ‘The Sermon on the Plain’. Jesus went up the mountain to pray—spent the night praying to God. When morning came he gathered his disciples around him and designated twelve of them to be his apostles. That is His messengers who would be the official eyewitnesses of all that Jesus said and did.

Our text for this morning begins with Jesus coming down the mountain with his disciples. In fact we are told a large crowd of his disciples had gathered with him there. But we are also told that a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and even as far away as the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon had come to see Jesus. They had come to hear him preach and to be healed of diseases and evil spirits. It must have been a tremendous scene as everyone was trying to touch Jesus and be healed by the power flowing out from him.

The fact that Jesus comes down from the mountain to the people is a picture of the incarnation itself. For this is what God in Christ has done. God has come from the very throne of heaven down to earth in the form of a man in order to save us. And so Jesus also teaches his newly designated apostles and all of his disciples: The work is not up on the mountain—it is down here, among the people.

It is important to note that when Jesus teaches here he does so by directly addressing his disciples. The language is very vivid: "Looking at his disciples, he said." The words he speaks in our text are not for everybody. They are only for those who believe in Jesus. This is a message for believers—not unbelievers. This is a message for the church—not the world. And the message for the church is simple: The work is down here among the people. And it is hard work. You may not see the reward for your work now, but I promise you—you are blessed and great will your reward be in heaven.

These statements of blessing, or beatitudes as they are sometimes called, here in Luke (and Matthew as well) are often misconstrued. Take the first statement: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven." People misconstrue the statement to mean that poor people must go to heaven—therefore if I want to go to heaven I must make myself poor by giving away everything I have. While such an action is generous and charitable this is not what gets you to heaven. As it says so clearly in Ephesians, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works." To get to heaven by being poor would be getting to heaven by your own works and this just isn’t so.

So what’s going on here? Again this is why the context of Jesus speaking these words to his disciples is so very important. He isn’t saying these things about just any old poor person. He isn’t just saying these things about any old hungry person. He isn’t just saying these things about any old sorrowful person. And He isn’t just saying these things about any old person being hated, excluded, insulted and rejected. These words are being spoken to the church—and to individuals only insofar as they are part of the church. Therefore what Jesus is saying is this:

"Blessed are you Christians, who are poor because you are a Christian: for yours is the kingdom of heaven."

"Blessed are you Christians, who hunger now because you are a Christian: for you will be satisfied."

"Blessed are you Christians, who weep now because you are a Christian: for you will laugh."

"Blessed are you Christians, when men hate you because you are a Christian, when they exclude you because you are a Christian, and insult you because you are a Christian and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man who has made you his own, that is a Christian."

I realize this is hard to believe because you live in The United States of America. You live in the land of the freedom of religion. But your experience is not the experience for much of Christendom and its history. There are many Christians throughout the world past and present who have been made poor and hungry simply because they confessed Christ. There are many Christians throughout the world past and present who have wept deeply over the tortures that have come upon them and their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. And there are many Christians throughout the world that have been hated, insulted, excluded and rejected all on account of being a Christian. All on account of boldly confessing Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

And as these Christians have suffered these things. Suffered them all on account of their faith in Christ all while they have had to watch the world that persecutes them grow rich and live the easy life. While they have hungered they have had to watch the rest never go without a meal, always filling themselves full at luxurious banquets. While the Christians have mourned their sufferings the world has laughed and rejoiced. While the Christians have been mocked and derided the people of the world have been treated like superstars and are celebrated as wise-men and gurus of the good life. It is a strange irony. Those who believe teach and confess the truth concerning Jesus Christ as Lord are persecuted. Those who teach lies and deceit because that’s what people want to hear are elevated to almost ‘divine’ status.

Under such circumstances it would be hard to keep the faith. Under such circumstances it would be easy to become discouraged and think, "What is it all for? Why am I bothering with this? Why not just give up the faith and enjoy my life in this world? Sure, the work of the church is down here, among the people. But the people are mean and nasty! And they don’t want to have anything to do with us."

Jesus understands. He knows it doesn’t look good. But he gives these statements of blessing in contrast to the woes of worldliness to remind you that one day the situation will be reversed. And that reversal hinges on faith in Jesus Christ. Quite simply Jesus is telling us, the church: Don’t worry about how bad it looks now. Let them have their fun now. In the end things will be different. For you it will mean eternal blessing. For them eternal damnation. As our text says so wonderfully: Great will your reward be in heaven!

Jesus’ words of blessing take our eyes off ourselves and point us forward through the cross, beyond our own empty tombs to the resurrection glory that awaits us. This is why we can let all hang out when we share our faith in Christ. This is why we can make bold in the name of Jesus in spite of possible ridicule. We can do it all in the name of Jesus because no matter what we suffer here for the sake of Jesus: whether it is poverty, or hunger, sorrow, hatred or persecution we know that in the end, in eternity blessing awaits us. Amen.

Ash Wednesday

Luke 4:1-12

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our sermon text for this first Sunday in Lent is the Gospel lesson recorded in the 4^th chapter of St. Luke.

The temptation of Christ is a very beneficial event in the life of Jesus for at least two reasons. First, and this is the most important of the two benefits, the tempting of Jesus by Satan is part of that active obedience by which Jesus secures our salvation. In other words Jesus’ obedience to God in the face of the Devil’s temptation is done in our stead. Jesus is not only our substitute in his death on the cross. Jesus is also our substitute in his life on this earth.

That substitutionary character of Jesus’ temptation can be seen by comparing Jesus’ obedience against the Devil in the wilderness with two of mankind’s biggest sins: Israel’s failure to be obedient in their own wilderness wanderings and Adam’s failure to be obedient in the Garden of Eden.

In the first temptation the Devil comes to Jesus after he has fasted in the wilderness for forty days. Jesus is obviously hungry and that is where the Devil begins. "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Jesus answers, "It is written: Man does not live on bread alone."

Jesus is faithful in the face of this testing where Israel and Adam were not. Where Israel grumbled for food constantly and never trusted that God would provide for them Jesus does not. Jesus was hungry too, but he trusts God’s word. Adam was tempted to eat what was not given him to eat. Adam eats and sins. Jesus does not eat and remains the obedient Son of God.

In the second temptation the Devil comes to Jesus and shows him in an instant all the kingdoms of the earth. He promises Jesus that He can have them all if only he will bow down and worship him. This temptation had to be appealing, having authority over the earth without the beatings, mocking and crucifixion. But Jesus remains faithful, answering the Devil, "It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve him only."

Jesus is faithful in the face of this testing where Israel and Adam were not. Where Israel was constantly bowing down to other gods such as Baal and doing so looking for more worldly power Jesus does not. Jesus obeyed God’s word. Adam was tempted by the Devil with the promise that he would be like God, knowing good and evil. Adam was not satisfied with the abilities God had given to him and so he accepted the Devil’s offer for greater power. Jesus refuses this offer and remains the obedient Son of God.

In the third temptation the Devil takes Jesus to the highest point of the temple and dares him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here." And then the Devil quotes the scriptures to show Jesus that the angels will certainly rescue him—if He is in fact the Son of God. Jesus answers: "It says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test."

Jesus is faithful in the face of this testing where Israel and Adam were not. During the wilderness wanderings Israel put the Lord to the test by asking, "Is he among us or not?" (Exodus 17:7) Surely after the miraculous escape from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea the Israelites knew that the Lord was among them? Yet, they put him to the test and demanded that he prove he was there. Jesus demands no such sign from His heavenly Father, He is obedient and does not jump. In the Garden of Eden the Devil misrepresented the Word of God: "Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree that is in the garden?’" Adam believes the Devil’s twisting of God’s Word and eats the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Jesus does not trust the Devil’s handling of God’s Word. He again refuses the Devil’s offer and remains the obedient Son of God.

In Jesus’ baptism the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus and the voice of the heavenly Father declared, "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Adam was meant to be God’s son but he sinned. Israel, as a nation, was meant to be God’s son but they sinned. Now Jesus is declared to be God’s Son—empowered by the Spirit and obedient to the will of the Father. Prove it! Prove you are the Son of God! In the temptation Jesus proves it. He remains obedient to the will of the Father. It is Jesus whom God loves and is well pleased—for only Jesus has obeyed.

And that is Good News for us because what Jesus does, remember, he does in our stead, as our substitute, for us and for our salvation. As it says in Romans 5, "Just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous."

The second benefit of the temptation of Christ is that what Christ does for us also becomes instructive for us as His people in how to understand and deal with temptation. First of all notice that Jesus fasts for forty days in the wilderness before the Devil even shows up to tempt him. That really is shrewd. And that really is the way it goes with temptation. The Devil doesn’t usually show up when things are going well. He waits until his victim is beaten-up, tired, and exhausted then he attacks with great fury. He waits because he knows what most animals know by instinct: The weaker victim makes for the easiest prey. Why work harder than you have to? So the temptation of Christ puts us on notice to watch out—especially when we are worn out, tired and hungry for that is when the Devil is mostly likely to pounce. As it says in I Peter, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

The temptation of Christ also shows how it is we are to be ready for the Devil and with what weapon we are to fight him off: We are to fight him off with the Word of God. The Word of God that Paul calls, "the Sword of the Spirit," (Ephesians 6:17). When Jesus is tempted he does not respond with his own wit or reason. He does not engage the Devil in a debate he simply wields the Sword of the Spirit. Every time Jesus is tempted he responds with the clear, unmolested, bald-faced, nothing added to, nothing taken away Word of God.

How often when we are tempted do we choose to deal with that temptation apart from the Word of God? How often when we are tempted do we instead try to take it on by ourselves? Jesus temptation teaches us there is no better way to fend off the assaults of the Devil then with the Almighty Word of God.

But if you are going to use the Word of God as a weapon with which to defend yourself then you need to know how to use it. You need to dig into it and let it have its way with you. Then and only then will you be prepared to use it. For the temptation of Christ also teaches us that the Devil knows the Word of God too. He knows it well enough to use it out of context in order to lead you astray. How will you challenge the Devil and his servants when they use the very same weapon against you if you have not trained? There is a reason we pastors are always harping on about going to worship, but not just worship but also Bible class and about daily devotions that include Bible reading. So many of you choose to take the minimalist route—and therefore when temptation comes you are ill-prepared for the battle. The temptation of Christ is a call to be vigilant in your study of the Word of God—not lazy-bellies who think you have it all figured out. It is unwise to think to yourself, "Go ahead Pastor, talk all you want about Bible study and devotion—you will never see me there—it’s not my thing." God is not amused by your obstinacy. In fact, he is grieved by it. Remember the very same scriptures that our Lord Jesus quotes, are the very same Scriptures that call us to be about the business of reading them and studying them.

The more you study and read the Scriptures the more prepared you will be to recognize and fight off temptation and sin. And the more you study and read the Scriptures the more certain and sure you will be that when you fail and the Devil says, "Gotcha," you can say, "Liar." You can say liar because you will know the truth of God’s Word: That Jesus Christ has taken your place—which means he has taken your sin and your failures and nailed them to himself on the cross. What blessed assurance that is when we are overcome by temptation and fall into sin! A blessed assurance that only comes by way of the Word of God. He who has ears let him hear.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Luke 13:31-35

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our sermon text for this Second Sunday in Lent is the Gospel lesson recorded in the 13^th chapter of St. Luke.

There is more than one way to run a prophet out of a synagogue. Some ways are pretty direct, like in our Old Testament lesson, where the priests, prophets and all the people after hearing Jeremiah’s sermon grab him and say, "You must die!" I think that’s pretty clear. "Jeremiah these people really don’t like you and they want you gone." Then there are more indirect (passive aggressive) ways, like the classic move in the Missouri Synod, where the people just keep cutting the salary until the pastor leaves. They never tell the guy to leave but after so many cuts he begins to wonder, "I don’t think these people really want me around." And then there are scare tactics like we have in our text from Luke. And as far as scare tactics go this one is pretty good. Pretty good because these Pharisees feign concern over Jesus’ well-being, but really the command to leave is intended to just get Jesus out of there. They say, "Jesus, leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you."

In II Timothy there is a great exhortation given to prophets and preachers. It says, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

The history of God’s people, both Old and New Testament has proven the case. People do not put up with sound doctrine. They want to hear what they want to hear—not the truth from God’s Word. And the result is that over and over again the mouth piece of the Word of God—the called and ordained servant is, in one way or another, run out of town—alive and even dead if necessary. In our text Jesus laments the record of God’s Old Testament people in this matter, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you."

How should a prophet respond to such tactics? Should one stay and do their duty? Should they shake the dust off their feet as a sign against those people and walk away? Both are given by God in his Word—which is right? I suppose it depends on the specific circumstances of a given place. In any case we are not trying to discover vocational techniques for prophets and pastors. We are looking for what Jesus, the Prophet God did and why he did it. What did Jesus do in the face of this threat regarding Herod wanting to kill him? For Jesus isn’t just any prophet, He is also the Son of God. And why did Jesus respond that way? For, again, Jesus isn’t just any prophet, He is also the Son of God.

Here is Jesus’ response to the Pharisees scare tactic. Jesus says, "Go tell that fox, I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal." Jesus response is clear: He will stay and do his duty. He will not be run off by any threats. And the time for shaking the dust off his feet has not yet come. Jesus has come to do the will of the Father. And that is what he will do until he reaches his goal.

The will of the Father, shared by His Son Jesus Christ, is so wonderfully expressed here, "O Jerusalem . . . How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings." And the goal of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in fulfillment of his Father’s will is to gather His children together through his death and resurrection in Jerusalem, for as Jesus states, "Surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem."

Up until this point in Jesus’ ministry He has shown that He has come to gather the children together. He has done it by setting His people free. He has set them free from possession by demons. He has set them free from their diseases. And He has set them free from their sins. Jesus announced this response on one occasion when he went to synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth. Jesus read the following words written in the scroll of Isaiah the prophet, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor." Jesus then sat down and said, "Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Jesus is saying, "I’m the one Isaiah was talking about. I am the one who has come to set you free." (By the way, guess what happened to Jesus after that little sermon? Yep, that’s right—they ran Him out of town even tried to throw him off a cliff.)

In our text Jesus’ response to Herod shows that He will continue to set people free today, tomorrow and on the third day He will reach his goal. What a clear foreshadowing that Jesus’ final act of setting us free from a fallen creation and our own sinfulness is brought to completion in his rising from the dead on the third day. And nothing, not his hometown crowd in Nazareth nor even King Herod will stop Him. Jesus will bring to completion what it is He has come to do: Set us free from sin, death and the power of the Devil.

What wonderful news that God, through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ, wants to gather us together under the gracious protection of His Almighty wings. Who wouldn’t want to receive such a blessing of freedom? Jesus final words teach a sad truth: "How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." So many simply reject Jesus Christ and therefore reject God. Man would rather stay in his sinful condition and believe he is master of his own destiny then repent and be set free by God’s Son Jesus Christ.

For those who believe in Jesus, Jesus’ reaching his goal on the third day is the Good News that they have been set free from their sins once and for all.

For those who reject Jesus, Jesus’ reaching his goal on the third day is the Worst News that they have been judged and the wrath of God is upon them. In Jesus’ own words, "Look, your house is left to you desolate." Literally this means, your house has been set free to yourself. What Jesus is saying is this, "If you will not be set free from your sin through me, then you will be set free from God." What an awful judgment results from rejecting Jesus Christ. If you reject Jesus, then in the End God will reject you.

Jesus ends His lament and judgment on Jerusalem with the words, "I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’" Those words were shouted out loud when Jesus entered Jerusalem the Sunday before his crucifixion. Jerusalem would go without God, as judgment against them, until that holy week. When God in Christ returned the people celebrated his return. But the Pharisees and other leaders of Jerusalem were tired of scare tactics. And so they resorted to what Jerusalem always resorted to: murder.

Following Jesus resurrection he disappears from sight on the day he ascended into heaven. What are we to make of this? Is Jesus leaving us His judgment on us even as his abandoning Jerusalem was His judgment on Jewish nation? No, Jesus’ ascension is not abandonment. For where Jesus judged Jerusalem, "Look, your house is left to you desolate," Jesus promised the Church, "Lo, I am with you always to the very end of the age."

He who has ears let him hear what the Spirit says to the church. Amen.

The peace of Jesus be with you. Amen.

Tonight we have our 3^rd word from the cross, "Woman, behold your Son. Son, behold your mother." The third word records the most personal and touching scenes at the foot of the cross. Jesus seeing his mother there, remembers her even amidst his present suffering and commends her into the care of another—John, the disciple whom Jesus loved.

Of the twelve disciples only John dies a natural death and that according to tradition at a very old age. Judas, on the other hand, commits suicide and the other ten are all martyred for the proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In our Revelation class on Sunday mornings we speculated that maybe the reason John lived so long was so that he could help establish the New Testament canon. As the last living witness to Jesus Christ John could verify which writings were the truth and which were false. It is an intriguing speculation, but as we consider this touching scene at the foot of the cross perhaps, more simply, John lived as long as he did because John was charged with taking care of Mary, his mother. John’s calling was not to die for the faith. John’s calling, from the mouth of the suffering Christ, was to care for the mother of our Lord—and that he did until she closed her eyes in death in the city of Ephesus, where John and her shared a house and he pastored the church there. That’s how it went for John.

For Mary the story begins a little earlier. In the Gospels, on several occasions in the life of the young Jesus we are told that Mary, "pondered all these things in her heart." Such was Mary’s faith. When the angel came to announce that she was the one who would give birth to the Christ she humbly said, "Let it be to me as you have said." But how, like any mother would, she pondered: How will all work out? How will it all take place? The pondering was not doubt but wonder at the mysterious ways of God. Mary pondered, and then she waited. Waited for the Lord to accomplish his purpose through her son, Jesus Christ.

At the foot of the cross I can’t help but wonder if she was at that time also, "pondering all these things in her heart," when Jesus paused to take time to care for his beloved mother. Comforting her with a promise that she would not be forsaken but rather cared for always by his hand picked, divinely appointed servant: John. Perhaps one of things Mary pondered was, "What will happen to me now? How will God take care of me?" Again not doubt, but wonder. And then her Son cries out from the cross, "Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother." There it was: Nothing fancy. Nothing miraculous. Instead the very fleshly reality of care and protection from another human being.

We are familiar with the phrase ‘Christ for us.’ He lived, died and rose for us. We are familiar with the phrase ‘Christ in us.’ He dwells in our hearts and minds sanctifying our lives. But what about ‘Christ through us.’ For that is what we have at the foot of the cross: Jesus Christ taking care of his mother through his chosen servant John. Luther had a wonderful phrase to describe ‘Christ through us.’ He called it being the mask of God. John took care of Mary, but in reality it was Jesus Christ taking care of Mary through John. As we fulfill our callings, even as John did, it is God in Christ who stands behind us doing the work. As it says in Isaiah 64, "Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." Or as St. Paul says in II Corinthians, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." This is why we so often say, "to God alone be the glory!" Jesus words are true, "So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’"

The last recorded words of Mary in the Scriptures lead us in the direction of heeding the voice of our Savior. The words were spoken to the servants at the wedding of Cana. Mary said, "Do whatever Jesus tells you." Jesus tells us to do a lot of things. Some of them difficult, like, "Whoever wants to gain his life must lose it," and, "Take up your cross daily and follow me." But Jesus also tells us to do things that will build us up and give us relief from our cross bearing. And in light of the mercy that Jesus shows his mother Mary at the cross we will end with these words that Jesus tells us to do, "Come to me you who are wearied and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

People, behold your God. God, behold your people through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Fourth Word - My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

The peace of Jesus be with you. Amen.

Tonight we continue our meditation on The Seven Words From the Cross with the Fourth word, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

St. Augustine in his Confessions is well known for writing , "for You [O Lord] formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You." Anywhere and everywhere people are looking for rest and peace. They look for it in their leisure activities: both legal and illegal. They look for it in their occupations: whether legally or illegally. And while people anywhere and everywhere never seem to give up trying new things, whatever they are, they always seem to come up short. They have peace for a moment, but it does not last. It always falls short. The thing that brought peace doesn’t seem to bring the same sense of peace it did at first. In the end it fails—and the search begins again for peace: real peace, everlasting peace. But the search will not end until it ends at God: Our hearts are restless till they find rest in God.

And while this restlessness is distracting, a constant itching until it is scratched—there is something much worse than the restlessness of the heart seeking peace. The something much worse would be the knowledge that the One who formed you for Himself has forsaken you.

Being forsaken is to be utterly abandoned. Left alone to defend yourself against this fallen creation and a sinful world. Left alone to fight off the all the wiles of the Devil and his minions. But being forsaken is more than just simply being abandoned it is also the realization that no one is coming back. No one is coming to rescue you—so there you will die in despair with no hope because there is no reason to hope. You are forsaken.

I once saw a special on channel 12 regarding the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. It was one of those specials where they recounted the stories of certain survivors and how they related what was happening to them to their faith. "Where is God in all of this?" asked one. The answer from another was to point at the gallows outside the windows and say, "There, God is on the gallows." With the certainty of a cruel death and believing that he was forsaken by God, as well as all the rest in the camp, the conclusion of this prisoner was despairingly simple: God must be dead. I suppose, in a sense, that conclusion would be easier to come to grips with than the awful truth that God was not in fact dead, he just isn’t coming: He isn’t coming because you are forsaken.

That was this prisoner’s conclusion to his situation. But does that have to be the conclusion a human being in the midst of their own suffering has to make? It need not. The question of our Lord crying out from the cross, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" leads us in a different direction. The direction of hope. The answer to Jesus’ question, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me," is so that I will not be. Jesus is forsaken by God so that in the midst of the cross I am asked to bear I will not have to suffer the added despair that God is not coming to relieve me in my distress. Because God has laid my sins on Jesus and forsaken him, I need not fear the abandonment of God in the midst of my suffering. As the book of Romans so wonderfully confesses, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, no any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." The love of God that forsook his one and only Son in order that we might never again go without the gracious presence of God.

Not all prisoners in concentration camps abandoned their faith and concluded God was dead. Father Kolbe, a Roman Catholic priest from Poland held fast to his hope that because Jesus Christ was forsaken of God, he was not even in the midst of the feared concentration camp at Auschwitz. In that camp Father Kolbe willingly exchanged his life for the life of another and went to an awful death in a starvation cell. And there in that cell he led the other prisoners in hymns and prayer as slowly he wasted away. Father Kolbe died in that cold, bitter, and dark cage—yet he was not abandoned nor forsaken. Remember, nothing, not even death can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And leading up to his death, through it all, the peace of Jesus that surpasses all understanding guarded his heart and mind in those dark days. Through faith in Jesus Christ in the midst of a severe cross Father Kolbe experienced the truth: Our hearts are restless until they rest in God—the God, who through His Son Jesus Christ has promised, "Lo, I am with you always—even to the very end of the age."

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The peace of Jesus be with you. Amen.

In the New Testament our Lord Jesus Christ institutes two gifts by which the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation that He won by his death and resurrection may be given to individual people.

The first is Holy Baptism, which our Lord commanded in the last chapter of St. Matthew saying, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

The second is the Lord’s Supper, which our Lord commanded on the same night in which he was betrayed. The night which we commemorate tonight. The Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and St. Paul write, "Our Lord Jesus Christ on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: "Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me." In the same way also He took the cup after supper and when he had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament, in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

These two gifts are called sacraments. They are called sacraments because they have been instituted by Jesus Christ, as we have just heard. And because a visible element or sign is attached to the Word of God. And lastly because the Word of God attached to the sign is a Gospel Word, a Grace Word. With baptism it is water with the word of God’s forgiveness as it says in Acts 2:38, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of Your sins." With the Lord’s Supper it is the bread and wine which become the vehicles of Jesus Christ’s true body and true blood for the forgiveness of sins as Christ said, "This is my body . . . This is my blood . . . shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."

But the way I have been speaking about these two sacraments thus far gives the impression that they are ultimately the same thing. But in reality they are not. Each is, to be sure, a gift of God’s grace. But there are differences. The most obvious of which is Holy Baptism is only done once. As we confess in the Nicene Creed, "I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins." But the Lord’s Supper we celebrate over and over again. As St. Paul says in I Corinthians 11:26, "Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes."

So we have two gifts: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Both of them means of God’s grace. Both offering the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. And yet there is this vast difference in terms of the frequency in which they are conducted. This begs the question, the question that will demand our attention the remainder of this sermon: What is the relationship between Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper? Which is another way of saying, Why Baptism once and the Lord’s Supper often?

I think the answer for understanding these spiritual gifts is most easily apprehended through an analogy from human life: People are born and then they eat. They eat in order to stay alive. In order to maintain their life. More than that they eat in order to grow. They eat in order to have energy. They eat in order to be nourished. Physically speaking humans are born once but they eat over and over again.

And so it is with the Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper in regard to our spiritual lives. Holy Baptism is our spiritual birth. The birth by which we are born into the Kingdom of God’s Grace. And once we are in that kingdom our gracious God feeds us over and over again with the Lord’s Supper. And through that gift the Lord not only keeps us spiritually alive. His meal gives us food for spiritual growth. His meal gives us food for spiritual energy. His meal is that constant spiritual nourishment for our souls. Spiritually speaking Christians are born once but they eat over and over again.

The understanding of this relationship between Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper is not foreign to the Scriptures. In John chapter 3 Nicodemus goes to Jesus in order to find out who He really is. In that conversation Jesus says to him, "I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." This confused Nicodemus, so he asked, "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born?" To this Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit give birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’" Baptism is clearly pictured here for what it means spiritually: it is being born, not of the flesh but of the spirit. And as with the flesh this is only done once, so with the spirit it is only done once.

In the Scriptures there isn’t a verse that explicitly states that the Lord’s Supper is a spiritual meal that should be done often—like other meals. But as you look at the Lord’s Supper controversy as recorded in I Corinthians and consider the references to celebrating the Lord’s Supper in the book of Acts one can infer that the church understood it that way for the truth is they simply celebrated the Lord’s Supper often. They knew it was a meal of God’s grace given for the strengthening not only of their individual faiths but also for the strengthening of the fellowship/the communion of the believers.

Which leads us to the final point this evening regarding this relationship between Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Using our human analogy again of birth and eating. When a mother gives birth to more than one human they are brothers and/or sisters. They are of the same flesh. Being related to one another in that way is a very strong bond.

A Christian is born again through faith in Jesus Christ. All Christians come from the same parent: God himself. Which means we are all brothers and sisters—in Christ. We are of the same flesh, not the flesh of just any old human, but of the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. Being related to one another in this way is a very strong bond.

The gathering place of fellowship or communion between brothers and sisters and their parents is the dinner table.

And so it is that the gathering place of fellowship or communion between brothers and sisters in Christ and their God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is the altar table.

Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are indeed two very special gifts given to the church. The first the means by which we become a part of the family of God. As we say at the conclusion of our Baptismal liturgy, "We welcome you into the Lord’s family. We receive you as a fellow member of the body of Christ, a child of the same heavenly Father, to work with us in his kingdom."

The second, the means by which God in Christ feeds that family and grows them together in, "the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace."

So come, eat and be satisfied with the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Amen.

The 7^th Word

This is the seventh and final word from Jesus on the cross, "Father into your hands I commit my spirit."

I recently just finished reading John Barry’s Rising Tide. It is a book that tells the story of the Great Mississippi River flood of 1927. Part of the telling of that story involved recording the history of the New Orleans racket that ran the city. It was an elite group made up of mostly wealthy, white, bankers. They controlled the city and most of Louisiana. They told the politicians what to do—and the politicians did it. And if the politicians didn’t, it would be assured they would not be reelected. As Barry reports this unfortunate corruption of New Orleans he also tells the story of one of the owners of a local paper at the time. His name was Jim Thompson. Thompson’s story is a tragic story of a man spending his life trying to gain the approval and acceptance of the New Orleans elite circle of power. What Thompson didn’t understand was that it didn’t matter what he did, or how much money he had—he was new. His ideas, however great, were new. His money, no matter how much it was, was new. He just wasn’t part of the club, wasn’t part of the good ol’ boy network that ran the city—and he never would be.

In one sense we can’t blame a man like Thompson for wanting to gain acceptance and approval. It is a basic human need. Acceptance and approval is part of what develops our confidence and gives us the courage to try. Every child knows how important the acceptance and approval of their parents is—who doesn’t feel encouraged to try harder in school when that A+ goes up on the refrigerator for all to see. And of course we all recognize when someone hasn’t received that acceptance or approval. We generally loathe that person for it. That person whom we judge, "They’re just doing it to get attention." But the loathing isn’t so much a judgment on that person so much as it is a loathing of ourselves. As it has been said, "We criticize in our others, what we hate most about ourselves." And we hate it that we need this acceptance and approval from others.

However, the problem really isn’t that we need acceptance and approval. The problem is that we seek acceptance and approval from those we should not. That was Thompson’s problem. He sought approval from the gods of New Orleans instead of the one true God. It is the problem of many of us: we seek acceptance and approval from whomever it is who seems to have the power.

Then there is Jesus. An altogether difference sort of man. A man who was also God. The man Jesus never once sought the approval or acceptance of another human being. Not even from the cross would Jesus seek that sort of human need. As St. Peter has written, "When they hurled insults at him he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."

Jesus through his death on the cross leads us in the direction to the only place we should be looking for approval and acceptance: to God, himself—our heavenly Father. For it is through Jesus, and only through Jesus that we receive the only approval and acceptance that has any value at all. As St. Paul says, "when we were God’s enemies we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son," and in another place he tells us that, "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them."

And here is why this approval and acceptance from God in Christ that Paul calls reconciliation is so important: God’s approval and acceptance of you means eternal life. What more could you possibly need? And this eternal life comes through the one on whom God first placed this seal of approval, as it says in John, chapter 6, "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval . . . The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

To the one who believes in Christ the seal of God’s approval and acceptance is also given. And here is what those who have been approved by God, sealed by Jesus Christ, are promised, that in the heavenly city of God, "they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever."

Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Father into your hands I commit my Spirit." We follow the lead of our Savior, and forsaking the approval and acceptance of all others, we also cry out from amidst our own crosses, "Father into your hands [and no one else’s] I commit my Spirit."

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Confirmation/Good Shepherd Sunday

Revelation 7:9-17

Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed. Alleluia!)

Our sermon text for this Confirmation Sunday is the second reading recorded in the 7^th chapter of Revelation. In particular this verse, "And he said, ‘These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’ Therefore . . .the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water."

The very last question in Luther’s Small Catechism is, "What is confirmation?" The answer is, "Confirmation is a public rite of the church preceded by a period of instruction designed to help baptized Christians identify with the life and mission of the Christian community."

What we celebrate today is the public rite of the church. Today we recognize the two years of learning that these six young Christians have completed—perhaps they might prefer the word endured.

Those two years include a lot: It includes the study of God’s Word outlined by the six chief part of the Christian faith, which are The Ten Commandments, The Apostles’ Creed, The Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, Confession, and the Lord’s Supper. It includes ‘memory work.’ Memorizing, committing to heart these great, foundational truths of the Christian faith. It includes four retreats in which we spend time on the history of the Reformation and the beginnings of Lutheranism, and then three very practical parts of the Christian life: The Devotional Life, Stewardship and Evangelism.

The culmination of all that learning is concluded with a final oral examination before their parents and the elders of this congregation. In that exam they share what they have learned over the passed two years. I then ask them one final question that they all have to answer: Give me the reason for the hope that you have? In other words, "You say you are a Christian—what do you believe?"

I would like to share with you some selections from their answers:

"My hope comes from many things. The first being Jesus Christ. Through his life, suffering, death and resurrection he has "fueled" my hope."

"The reason for the hope that I have is salvation and eternal life. By salvation I mean that because Jesus died on the cross, and I believe that he did, therefore my sins will be forgiven."

"The reason for the hope that I have is that I believe the Bible is God’s Word. . . God’s Word, the Bible, is proven and tried and still prevails. It is a solid foundation for my faith and contains the truth of my God, my Lord, and my Savior"

"My reason for hope is Jesus. Jesus, meaning, ‘Lord Saves,’ is the one I trust in. He gives me forgiveness of my sins by his suffering, death, and importantly his resurrection."

"The hope that I have is that I will go to heaven and live eternally. . . I believe that God has given me the life and salvation through Jesus Christ. I also believe that Jesus was my substitute, and was true man to take my place under the law. I am more than thankful that Jesus died on the cross just so my sins could be forgiven. Everyday I thank and praise God for all he has done for us, and still does for our salvation."

Every one of these quotes illustrates the wonderful truth of these young faiths: That they are founded upon Jesus Christ who is given to us through the Word of God—the Bible. And that is the great truth that we celebrate today. We celebrate the foundation upon which their faith will be built: Jesus Christ. St. Peter put it this way, "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

But the two years of confirmation instruction are not just about acquiring knowledge. It is also about acquiring the spiritual discipline involved in living the Christian faith. Ask any of these confirmation students about how happy I get when they showed up to class late, or didn’t show up to class at all to chase after some worldly pursuit, or didn’t have their work done or skipped a retreat because something better was going on somewhere else. All of these things happened to one degree or another throughout our two years together. And, you probably don’t have to ask our confirmands, you can guess--it doesn’t make me happy at all.

And here is why: part of what I intend to teach through confirmation is the hard reality of living the Christian faith. It isn’t easy. Being committed to Jesus Christ does mean saying ‘No’ to the world and ‘Yes’ to Him. So when these things happen in class it does get me going. This is the training ground—and I expect commitment to the training. But, nonetheless, when it happens there is a very important teaching moment. A moment I do not let pass by. When these inevitable sins of worldliness happen—I stop and talk about what the choice means. You see salvation is not about choice—it is all about Jesus Christ. But living the Christian life is all about choices. And sometimes the choice is holy and other times it is sin. These choices have consequences. When it comes to faith—those choices over time can have the cumulative effect of killing your faith. But the witness you give by choosing your life in the world over your life in Christ also has the possibility of killing a faith yet unborn. What I mean is this: When you say you are a Christian, and then choose the world over Christ, the world takes notice: "I guess this Christianity thing is a joke—a joke because my friend who is a Christian only seems to attend to his faith when there is nothing better going on in the world."

Part of confirmation is learning the lesson: If you don’t want people to treat your faith, or even worse treat Jesus like a joke—then don’t do it yourself.

Part of confirmation is also learning the lesson: These decisions are sinful and therefore we must look to Christ for His forgiveness, pardon, and amendment of sinful life.

Christian words are easy, the Christian life is hard. That’s why our text from Revelation describes those in heaven as ones who have, "come out of the great tribulation." TRIBULATION. That’s not a happy word, it is not an easy word. Living the Christian life brings with it tribulation—in this life. But our hope as Christians is not tied up in this life—it looks forward to the life that is yet to come. The life in which our Savior Jesus Christ will remove us from this tribulation and lead us to springs of living water.

Today is not just confirmation Sunday, it is also Good Shepherd Sunday. A timely collusion of celebrations. For as hard as this Christian life is—praise be to God we are not left alone to live it. For then we would have no hope at all. Jesus Christ, your Good Shepherd has promised to lead you all the way through. And as he leads you in living this Christian life you shall not be in want. He has given you His Word and also the gift of the Lord’s Supper. Spiritual nourishment for your life of faith.

One of our confirmands picked up on that blessed benefit of the Lord’s Supper. And as we partake of that supper today, some for the first time, let these words now point our hearts in that direction, "Taking the Lord’s Supper will also help me get through my day to day life to help make the right choices and follow God’s commands." In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Mother’s Day

John 16:23-33

Christ is risen. (He is risen indeed. Alleluia!)

Our sermon text for this 6^th Sunday after Easter is the final verse of our Gospel lesson recorded in the 16^th chapter of St. John, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Jesus states in these words a fact we would rather not face: "In this world you will have trouble." It is definite, sure, certain. Sooner or later, you will have trouble. This trouble can come about for many reasons.

As is the case with the apostles, they will have trouble because of the message they are being sent to proclaim. Telling the good news about Jesus always brings with it a certain amount of trouble. And for most of the apostles that trouble would even mean a cruel death.

But trouble in the life of a Christian is not always a direct result of proclaiming the good news. Sometimes trouble in the life of a Christian is the result of seemingly random actions of evil men. In those moments most of us do wonder ‘Why?’ Why did this happen to me? We seldom get an answer from God. But God in Christ does tell us that when these things happen we shouldn’t be surprised, even if we don’t know ‘why’. We shouldn’t be surprised because as Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble."

Of course trouble in the life of a Christian is not always the result of someone else’s action. In other words trouble in the life of a Christian is not always someone else’s fault. Sometimes Christians make bad decisions on their own--yes, even sinful decisions. And the consequences of those decisions is trouble. Every child tattle-tale knows this, "OOOOOOOOOHH I’m telling, you’re in trouble." And of course if your decision was really bad then, "you’re in BIG trouble mister."

All of this trouble of course comes about because we live in a fallen sinful world. Christians proclaim the Gospel and there is trouble. Trouble because some sinners are perfectly content to sin their lives away and they don’t want to hear anything different. Christians live among evil people and so there is trouble. Trouble because evil people seek to destroy life—Christian or not. Christians also sin and therefore have trouble. Trouble because sin always has consequences.

Trouble, trouble, trouble everywhere you look. Trouble, trouble, trouble no matter what you do. With all of this trouble one can easily recognize why so many people are stressed out to the max, why so many people just want to get away. Get away and find some peace. Peace—that is surely the opposite of all this trouble. Peace—that is what I really need. Just give me some peace.

But when Jesus says, "I have told you these things so that you may have peace," does he really mean the sort of peace that means the absence of trouble? I believe the answer is ‘NO’. The sort of peace that Jesus is talking about is the sort of peace that can exist in the midst of the trouble. And that really is the right kind of peace for this fallen world for if in this world we WILL have trouble then getting rid of trouble really isn’t an option. The only option is to find a peace that can exist in the midst of trouble.

And that peace, the sort of peace that can exist in the midst of trouble, is the peace that Jesus gives to all those who believe in Him. And the reason Jesus can give that peace is because He has overcome the world and all its troubled sinfulness. He has overcome it through His life, death and resurrection. And one of the gifts that Christ Jesus gives to His church following the resurrection is this peace. As the choir sang those wonderful words from the Gospel of John, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

When I was in college I went to school with a student named Eric. Eric had come all the way from California to go to college in Wisconsin. And Eric was adopted. Eric was a very bold witness for His Savior Jesus Christ and he had good reason to be. You see what makes Eric’s adoption special is because it almost wasn’t. His birth mother got pregnant very young, confused and scared she had made the decision to have an abortion.

Two very close Christian friends of hers came to her and said that if she was willing to go through with the pregnancy they would like to adopt her child and also help pay for the medical expenses. Another thing they did that was absolutely incredible was promise her that she could be a part of her child’s life. They all decided however that they would not tell the child unless the child wanted to know. They then prayed together. She decided not to have the abortion and agreed to give her child up for adoption to her two Christian friends.

She gave birth to a healthy baby boy and named him Eric. Eric would grow up knowing his birth mother as an Aunt. When Eric was a senior in high school and turned 18 he told his parents that he wanted to find his birth mother. They flew in his "Aunt" and they sat down and had the talk. Eric of course was shocked was also filled with joy when he realized what might never have been.

I heard Eric share this story with his birth mother—it’s part of what they do together. And I will never forget his birth mother telling the story of watching her son play football his senior year in high school. Seeing him so grown up, so big, healthy and strong. How she sat in the stands that night so happy, so thankful and overjoyed for her two Christian friends and their gracious visitation. For her, amidst her trouble, she had been given the peace of Jesus through the gracious action of the body of Christ. And every time she saw her son she was reminded of the grace of God and its powerful gift of peace. Eric decided to go to college in Wisconsin all the way from California in part to be in the state in which his birth mother was residing at the time. A chance for them to get to know one another better.

That is their story of the gift of peace given to them through Jesus Christ who has overcome the world. But everyone’s story is a little different. As we began with, trouble comes in many forms. And you will have trouble. With different troubles comes a different story. But for you children of God, the story always ends the same: It ends in peace. And it ends with the same peace because the source of that peace is Jesus, only Jesus—the Jesus who has overcome the world and its many faces of trouble.

When you have trouble because of proclaiming the name of Christ—do not fear, the peace of Jesus who has overcome the world is with you.

When you have trouble because the evil in the world has set its sights on you—do not fear, the peace of Jesus who has overcome the evil world is with you.

When you have trouble because you have sinned and made a huge mistake—do not fear, the peace of Jesus who has overcome the sins of the world is with you.

That is Jesus’ promise to you: "My peace I give to you." Amen.

John 17:20-26

Christ is risen. (He is risen indeed. Alleluia!)

Our sermon text for this 7^th Sunday after Easter is the Gospel reading recorded in the 17^th chapter of St. John.

What is a priest? That is the question we will begin with this morning for if we know what a priest is then we will understand what it is Jesus is saying in our text. The answer to the question is really quite simple: A priest is an intercessor, a mediator, a go-between, a middle man. Many areas in life have the necessity for a similar role. In the civil realm we have intercessors and go-betweens to stand between a person who has caused offense and the judge who will hear their case. We call these intercessors lawyers. What separates priests from lawyers is the judge. A lawyer intercedes between a human who has been accused and a human judge. A priest intercedes between a human who has been accused and the Almighty God of the universe.

The priest has two means given to him by which he may intercede on behalf of the ones he is called to represent and defend: Prayer and Sacrifice. The priest does his job by offering up prayers on behalf of the needs to people and by offering sacrifices to make satisfaction for the sins of the people.

I think we are familiar enough with Jesus and his priestly function of sacrifice. For Jesus does not merely perform the sacrifice to make satisfaction for our sins, Jesus is the sacrifice for our sins. John writes of this truth in his first epistle, "He [Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world," and also, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." Hebrews also describes Jesus priestly work of sacrifice, "But now he [Jesus] has appeared once for all at the end of ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him."

From these passages you can see that Jesus’ priestly function of sacrifice is a very big deal. A big deal because it is through his sacrificial death that we have indeed been forgiven for our sins. But as big a deal as this sacrifice of Jesus is, it is not the only thing that describes Jesus’ priestly ministry among us. For quite simply Jesus also prayed for the needs of his people as well. In fact the words of our text this morning are Jesus’ prayer for all believers for all time. And they are connected to his work of sacrifice for they are his last words that John records before Jesus is arrested and offers himself up on the cross for the sins of the world.

Jesus Christ our priest prays for us before the great and holy sacrifice of himself on the cross. What does he pray for? His prayer is for the believer in His day but also reaching beyond the grasp of time his prayer is for all of those who will believe in him through their message. And the prayer is simple: That all believers in Christ may be one.

This unity that Jesus prays for is no mere outward expression of unity. For the unity he prays for is a unity that is of the very essence of the unity of our Triune God. Jesus prays that the church may be one even as He and the Father are one. This is Jesus prayer for the church and Jesus will answer that prayer with a resounding ‘Yes’ when he returns from on high in all His glory to bring his church to life everlasting. Until then the church prays boldly those words of Revelation, "Amen, come Lord Jesus!" We pray for Jesus to come for only in Jesus’ coming will the church ever experience the unity that Jesus desires for his holy church.

Jesus expresses in this prayer the reason he desires this unity for his church. First, he says so that the world may believe that the Father has sent Him. And second, Jesus desires this unity to let the world know that the Father has sent Him and that the Father has loved them even as He has loved Jesus.

One does not have to be much of a church historian to realize that at the present this prayer of Jesus goes unfulfilled. Jesus Christ’s church, visibly speaking, is fractured and divided. There are countless denominations. Within those denominations there is often vicious division. And even within the life of a congregation there is often disunity. Disunity whenever brothers and sisters in Christ squabble and hold grudges and refuse to forgive. There is division in every corner of the church. From the interpersonal relationships of individual Christians all the way up to the church at large and its denominational loyalties.

There have of course been many efforts through the centuries to heal these divisions. Many a Christian has tried to step in and help two Christians divided heal their problems. Some times it works, often they are drug into the fray. On the bigger scene many a denomination has sought the audience of another in order to achieve unity. It is often called the ecumenical movement. A movement whose sole purpose is to unify the Christian church on earth.

The ecumenical movement is a movement that no matter what success it may seem to enjoy always fails. For every time there is a merger there is always someone who will not go along with the terms. And knowing the basis of some of those mergers I must say I wouldn’t have gone along with those terms either. In the quest for unity it has sadly happened that even Jesus can get left out of the discussion. The ecumenical movement also fails even if it succeeds because once an ecumenical decision is made then begins the reeducation process within that body to conform to the new standard. And that conformity can sometimes come at a high price. Pastors who refuse to conform are refused assignments to congregations. Lay people who refuse to conform can find themselves excommunicated. So visibly the ecumenical agreement looks great but in reality it has come about by coercion of the powerful few. A unity of the church by coercion and blackmail is not unity—at least not the kind of unity that our Lord Jesus Christ prayed for.

The unity that our Lord Jesus speaks of now is a hidden reality. It is not something that we can see or touch or reach out and grab or even achieve. It is the unity that simply is because of Jesus Christ. If you believe on the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins then you are a part of that unity. Joined to all of the rest of that invisible host of believers that we confess is, "the holy Christian church." Joined to them because you belong to Him, Jesus Christ our Priest: who prayed for us and sacrificed himself for us that we may be where he is, that we may see his glory and that the love God the Father bestowed on Jesus may also be in us.

As I have already mentioned this is in part why the church prays for Jesus to come. Because in his coming the true unity that is the church will no longer be hidden. Then we shall see the true church of Jesus Christ and as a part of that church which has been gathered from every tribe, people, nation and language we shall sing out together with ONE voice, "salvation belongs to our God who sit on the throne and to the Lamb," "the great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God."

And now to Jesus our priest who reigns with the Father and the Spirit ever one God world without end be glory now and forever. Amen.

Luke 7:36-8:3

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our sermon text for this Third Sunday after Pentecost is the Gospel lesson recorded in the 7^th chapter of St. Luke.

On one occasion Jesus told a parable about a young son who left home with his inheritance and squandered it in prodigal living. In that story we are told that the young man comes to his senses and returns home. On returning home his father runs out to meet him, and rejoicing orders that the fattened calf be killed and a celebration be had because his son who once was lost but now is found. The older brother who never left is furious. He never left—yet he has never been celebrated like his loser brother for returning home. The story ends with the father counseling this older brother, "My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and now is found.

This parable is a wonderful illustration of the great truth revealed throughout the scriptures: God is a merciful God. God is a God of love. And most of us would agree. Especially when we are talking about our own personal relationships with God or with Jesus. When it is my own sin—well then I love the fact that God is merciful and forgiving. But when it is someone else’s sin then I tend to question God’s mercy in Christ. When someone else has committed a sin that I judge too terrible and grievous and God is merciful and forgives that sin on account of Christ then I get angry with God. "I can’t believe you God—how could you forgive that guy’s sin? How could you just let him off the hook so easily?" That’s that unfortunate part of our sinful condition: My sin—it ain’t so bad. Everybody else’s sin: They must pay with the wrath of the Almighty God!

That was the attitude of a certain Pharisee named Simon. God was indeed merciful—merciful to him. But to perpetual sinners like adulterers and prostitutes—God’s mercy is not for them. They must forever remain outside the grace of God. And since God has shunned them for their sin—so shall he. At least that’s the way he saw it. That’s the way he saw it until he made the mistake of having Jesus over for dinner.

By this time Jesus fame as a new prophet in Israel had spread pretty far. People were already beginning to ask, "Could this Jesus of Nazareth be The Prophet—the Messiah himself?" Simon the Pharisee wanted to check it out for himself. He wanted the chance to meet and talk with Jesus so he could decide whether or not Jesus was The Prophet. So he invites Jesus over for dinner. And while they are eating a woman, simply described as a ‘sinner,’ comes in with a jar of perfume. Standing behind Jesus weeping her tears fall on Jesus’ feet. She bends down and begins to wipe them off with her hair. She then kisses his feet and pours perfume on them. It is a scene that is both pitiful and joyful. Pitiful for such overwhelming guilt over sin is hard to watch. Joyful for this woman has found the forgiveness she seeks in Jesus. What she does for Jesus, she does because she knows what Simon has not yet figured out: Jesus is The Prophet—the Messiah of God.

Like the younger son in Jesus’ parable who came to his senses and rushed home into the arms of his loving and merciful father this woman has come to her senses. She has recognized the folly of her ways and has rushed into the arms of her loving and merciful Savior Jesus Christ. What joy! What celebration! This daughter of Israel has come home, she was dead but now is alive, was lost but now if found!

Simon however is not overjoyed. That’s not the way he sees it. So Simon mutters under his breath, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner." Simon has made his decision: This Jesus of Nazareth is not The Prophet, he is not a prophet at all. For what sort of prophet would let such a filthy sinner blubber all over him? Like the older brother in the parable he doesn’t get what all of the hoopla is about. As far as he is concerned God should not be merciful to people like this. God should be merciful to people like him. People who keep the law and don’t commit such terrible sins.

Jesus understands this about Simon. And so he seeks to instruct him regarding the true nature of God and his undeserved mercy. For the mercy of God is so great that it not only has room for this woman who is a ‘sinner’ it also has room for this self-righteous Pharisee. So Jesus tells a simple parable to try and win him for the Gospel: "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him 500 denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both." Then he asks Simon, "Which of them will love him more?" Simon answers correctly, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."

Simon gets the truth about the results of financial debt being forgiven. He understands that having a bigger debt forgiven brings with it more love and joy on the part of the one forgiven. Now, Jesus has to help Simon make the connection spiritually. And so he turns to the woman and explains how she is the woman who has had the bigger debt canceled. Only the debt is not money—it is sin. All of her wrongs that had caused her to be labeled as simply a sinner. That was her debt. She could not pay it off. Nothing she could ever do could ever make up for all of the sin. All she could do was turn to Jesus. And there in Jesus came the unbelievable: "Your sins are forgiven." God in Christ Jesus canceled the unpayable debt.

"If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner." Simon, your words are truer than you know. This man is indeed a prophet for he knows exactly what type of woman this is who is touching him: He knows it is the worst of sinners who is pouring out her love and thanks to him. But Jesus is more than a prophet: He is The Prophet, the Messiah of God. And so he knows something else. Something that Simon in all his human self-righteousness cannot see. This woman is not just a ‘sinner.’ She is a forgiven ‘sinner.’ And this is why God became a man in Jesus Christ—to forgive ‘sinners.’ ‘Sinners’ like you. ‘Sinners’ like me. ‘Sinners’ like the people you work with. ‘Sinners’ like you see anywhere and everywhere you look. And when Christ Jesus forgives there is this difference: Whoever is forgiven loves. So, whoever has been forgiven much, loves much. Whoever has been forgiven loves little.

This sinful woman in our text barged in to that dinner full of love and thankfulness for the bountiful forgiveness Jesus had given her. She came in full of the sort of love that is so overwhelming the tears flow freely. The sort of love that can’t do enough for all that Jesus had done for her. And Jesus knowing that this woman was not just a sinner but a forgiven sinner does just like the father in his parable: He does not turn her away or tell her stop. He does not worry about how socially embarrassing this might be for him. He does not worry about what Simon the Pharisee may think. He lets her love him. He lets her love him because he shares her joy. He had to celebrate with her for she once was dead but now is alive, was lost but now is found, was a ‘sinner’ but now is forgiven.

There is so much in this text for us to wonder about the power of Christ’s forgiveness. I pray God’s blessing on each of you as you carry this Word of God in your hearts and minds this week. God’s blessing of love that flows from sin forgiven on account of his Son Jesus Christ, to whom be glory now and forever. Amen.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our sermon text for this 15^th Sunday after Pentecost is the Old Testament lesson recorded in the 30^th chapter of Deuteronomy.

Last week we focused on those words from Deuteronomy, chapter 7 that tell us of the wonderful news that we are God’s chosen, treasured possession. And what really makes that news wonderful is the reason we are God’s chosen, treasured possession. We are not God’s chosen because of who we are. And we are not God’s treasured possession because of anything we have done. We are God’s chosen, treasured possession because he loves us. He loved us so much that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ to die for us. He loved us so much that he paid that most expensive price so that we would be his treasured possession of all the earth.

This morning, from the words of Deuteronomy 30, we are going to discuss the chosen difference. We are going to discuss how being God’s chosen, treasured possession informs the choices we make. How being God’s chosen, treasured possession makes a difference in the choices we make.

These words of Moses in our text this morning are spoken as Israel is now, after 40 years of wandering in the desert, ready to enter and conquer the promised land. Before doing so the Lord has Moses renew the covenant that he had made with his people at Mt. Sinai after having redeemed them from slavery in Egypt. And so God sets before His redeemed, chosen, treasured possession a choice: "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil."

As Lutherans, we often cringe at the word ‘choice.’ We know the truth that when it comes to salvation we cannot make that decision because of our sinful, fallen state. We cringe because we know the truth that we do not choose God—He chooses us. And this, as the Catechism often says, is most certainly true. It is even true for Israel. God redeemed them from Egypt because he loved them. The choice comes after they are made God’s chosen, treasured possession. Saved by God’s love, chosen through Jesus Christ. Nonetheless, choice is a part of life in this world—even if the choice of salvation is not on the list. Being chosen by God does not mean being set free from making choices. You do and will continue to have choices to make in this life—some easy, some hard. Being God’s chosen, treasured possession does not mean freedom from having to make choices—it means being free to make the right choices. And a right choice—is a God-pleasing choice.

So, back to Deuteronomy, the Lord asks his people to make a choice. Will it be life and good with the Lord and His ways or will it be death and evil without the Lord? The Lord makes it very clear the choice that he would have for His people, "Choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."

Choose life. That’s the choice that God wants his chosen, treasured possessions to make. That’s the choice God wants you to make: Choose life. God is all about life. He created life—in the beginning. He created your life in this present time. The world fell into sin and thus death and evil—God fixed that through His Son Jesus, who is the Resurrection and the Life. In fact the Gospel of John tells us that Jesus came so that we may have life and have it to the full. Life—this is what God is all about. And this is what God wants you his chosen, treasured possession to be about: choose life because you belong to the living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In our particular time and place when we hear ‘choose life’ there is one issue that comes to mind: Abortion. It is a national sin that our government does not have laws that protect the life of an unborn child. Nonetheless, the present situation is such that pregnant mothers do have a choice before them, the same choice put before Israel: life and good, or death and evil. That’s the reality of this present time: Choice. So the question for you, not as an American citizen with all your rights, but rather as God’s chosen, treasured possession is what will you choose? The choice that God would have you make is quite clear, even if it is not easy: Choose life.

But choosing life is not just something we are called to do with respect to Abortion. Choosing life is what we are called to do with respect to all the choices that we make. Substance abuse, whether it is alcohol or drugs or something else, is a life destroying behavior. Eating disorders are a life destroying behavior. What will you, as God’s chosen, treasured possession choose? The choice that God would have you make is quite clear, even if it is not easy: Choose life.

Putting someone down. Bullying someone. Stealing. Gossip. Adultery. Coveting. All of these and a whole lot more: these also are all life destroying behaviors and they are evil. What will you, as God’s chosen, treasured possession choose? The choice that God would have you make is quite clear, even if it is not easy: Choose life. That means not putting someone down but building one another up. Choose life. That means not bullying or stealing but protecting each other and each other’s stuff. Choose life. That means not gossiping but speaking well of one another. Choose life. That means not committing adultery but being faithful until death do you part. Choose life. That means not coveting but being content with what you have and happy for others and what they have. All of that and a whole lot more is what it means to choose life.

When life and good, death and evil are set before you, in whatever form they come, God is clear what he wants for you, even if it is not easy: Choose life, for the Lord is your life.

As we have considered this morning what it means to choose life as God’s chosen, treasured possession I have tried to indicate two important aspects of choosing life: First, God is clear. We make it more difficult by rationalizing our sinful choices—but the fact remains—God is clear about the choices he wants us to make. Second, the choices God wants us to make are not easy. They are not easy because of that willful desire in us to choose evil over good, death over life.

You are God’s chosen, treasured possession with a very clear goal before you: Choose life. It is not easy. But there is something even harder that God calls you to, harder than choosing life: And that is faith.

Choosing life is what God wants—so what happens to you when you have failed? What happens when you choose evil over good? What happens to you when you choose death over life? (And it is important to talk about this because those are the choices you make sometimes—and they destroy us.)

When you choose death over life it can mean one of two things: One, you fall into despair, die and go to hell. Two, you have faith. Faith in God, the God of life who sent His Son who is the resurrection and the life so that all who put their faith in Him will not die but live.

This is the Good News in the face of your evil, death bestowing choices: God’s choice for you, his chosen, treasured possession is life. And that life is given to you through the forgiveness of your evil, death giving choices in the name of His Son Jesus Christ.

God is clear: Choose life. Choosing life is not easy. You fail often.

God is clear: In Christ, you have life and have it to the full because you are forgiven. Believing that on a bad day as God’s chosen, treasured possession is not easy. But it is true.

As the Scriptures so clearly state through the prophet Ezekiel, "As surely as I live declares the Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their evil ways and live." If God’s choice for the wicked is that they live—how much more is that God’s choice for you, his chosen treasured possession?

If Jesus is called, "a friend of tax collectors and sinners," how much more is Jesus a friend to you—God’s chosen, treasured, possession?

You are God’s chosen, treasured possession. His choice for you is clear: Life. Life to the full. Life through his Son Jesus Christ.

Everyday you are presented with choices. Everyday lies before you the choice: life and good or death and evil. Choose life—for you are life, chosen, treasured possessions of the living God. Amen.

Luke 15:1-10

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our sermon text for this 16^th Sunday after Pentecost is the Gospel lesson recorded in the 15^th chapter of St. Luke.

Joy. That is the simple, one word goal of the sermon this morning. Joy. That is the goal of this sermon because that is the goal of these two parables told by Jesus in our text. And the object of that joy is this: Joy over a sinner who repents and who has found his or her way home. Joy over those who were lost but now are found.

In our text Jesus has drawn to himself tax collectors and "sinners". These are the truly awful people of Jewish society in Jesus’ day. They were more than lost they were forsaken and shunned by those who knew better. And yet, almost surprisingly, it is these people who have drawn near to hear Jesus. So often as Jesus goes about his ministry he is heard to say, "He who has ears, let him hear." It was unthinkable—but the ones who have heard are the tax collectors and "sinners". And now more of these types of people have come to heed the call of Jesus. To come to Him, to believe in Him, to listen to Him.

This doesn’t sit well with the ones who know better. It doesn’t sit well with the ones who are actually trying to keep God’s law and practice their religion correctly. And so it is that we find the Pharisees and Scribes grumbling, muttering under their breath, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."

And so Jesus tells two parables. Two parables, both making the same point, directed at the Pharisees and the Scribes for their lack of joy over the repentance of those tax collectors and sinners who have found in Jesus a way out of the mess they have made of their lives.

Both parables begin with a rhetorical question that demands a "Yes, of course," kind of answer. If a man has 100 sheep and loses one won’t he leave the 99 and go find the one? Yes, of course. If a woman has 10 coins, won’t she light a lamp and search and search until she finds it? Yes, of course.

Both parables continue with success in the search: The lost sheep is found. The lost coin is found.

Both parables end with another rhetorical question that also demands a "Yes, of course," kind of answer. Won’t the man call his friends to rejoice with him that he has found his sheep? Yes, of course. Won’t the woman call her friends to rejoice with her that she has found her coin? Yes, of course.

Both parables come to the same conclusion: There is great joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.

For the tax collectors and sinners who were listening to Jesus tell this parable to the Pharisees and the Scribes they must have been full of joy. After all Jesus was speaking about them. They were the sinners who had repented. Which meant heaven was full of joy over them.

For the Pharisees and the Scribes the parable is particularly harsh. It is harsh because the parable lets the Pharisees and the Scribes off the hook of their first responsibility which is to seek and to save the lost sheep of Israel. It sort of brushes aside the fact the Pharisees and the Scribes had failed in their task of reaching out to those in need. The parable says, for the sake of argument, you Pharisees and Scribes don’t even have to do the looking. Me, God in Jesus Christ, I will take care of that. All you have to do is be ready to celebrate. Be ready to party when I come home bringing with me what I went to find. Be ready to share my joy over repentant sinners who have come home.

And here is where the parable really gets at it: If you have such joy over a found sheep (and you have admitted you do)—why not such joy over your found fellow brother or sister in Christ? If you have such joy over a lost coin (and you have admitted you do)—why not such joy over your found fellow brother or sister in Christ? If all of heaven, in all its holiness, can stoop down from that lofty place and rejoice over one repentant sinner—surely you be full of joy this day for all of the tax collectors and sinners who have heeded Jesus’ call and found in Jesus their savior, their way out? Joy, that’s all Jesus wanted that day out of the Pharisees and Scribes. A little bit of joy over those who have been found. A little bit of joy over the results: repentance; rather than all the complaining and grumbling about the method: welcoming tax collectors and "sinners" and eating with them.

That’s the Pharisees and Scribes of Jesus’ day: No joy. No joy because Jesus didn’t do it the right way. No joy because they just didn’t think those tax collectors and sinners had really repented enough.

In our own particular circumstances in the life of this congregation we also may sometimes suffer from a lack of joy. But that lack of joy is for a different reason than the Pharisees. The Pharisees had a lack of joy over sinners repenting. As far as I have observed this is a congregation that loves it when repentant sinners come walking through our door looking for Jesus. Our lack of joy is a result of the fact that there are not more. Our lack of joy lies in the fact that so few seem to repent. So few wish to draw near and hear the word of Jesus Christ. To dwell on such a thought for too long is a joy stealer.

I once found myself dwelling on this thought too long and found myself sharing with a friend why as a pastor personally it absolutely makes me frustrated when the members of my congregation so easily blow-off church. Frustrated because when I sit down and pour over the word of God to prepare a sermon those are the people I have in mind. Each and every one of them. It is for them that I am writing this sermon and carefully preparing these words. And then they don’t even bother to show up for a whole host of lame reasons. Frustrating! No one cares. No one repents.

In the midst of my frustration over what I perceived as a lack of respect for me and more importantly God’s Word the Lord shined down great wisdom on my friend who gave me this counsel in my dark hour: "Yeah, but its not about whose not there. It’s about that one person who is there who wants to hear it. Who needs to hear it. That one person that is reached by the word you proclaim."

Wow! That word was a humbling word. But it was also a joyful word that truly lifted my spirit and continues to do so. It’s about the one. All the hard work and preparation during the week to go after the one, the one lost sheep who on Sunday will draw near to hear the word of Christ.

And this really is how God would have us be—for this is who God is: The God who goes all out to find the one—to find you. In terms of the first parable the shepherd actually leaves the 99 in the open country in order to go after the one. He risks all for the sake of the one. All out for the life of the one. In the second parable the woman lights a lamp and sweeps the house and diligently does so until she finds it. She does not give up on the one coin. The search is not complete until the coin is found.

The parable illustrates this wonderful truth about our God who does not give up on us. It illustrates the wonderful truth that God goes all out for the sake of an individual. But such a parable would truly be a farce if it did not illustrate objective realities done by God in history. God has proven the truths illuminated by these parables by becoming a man in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. God came after you by sending his Son to go and get you. Jesus did not stay in heaven with the angels saying to His Father, "Let him find his own way home." Jesus said, "I must go and get my lamb who is lost and is looking for the way home."

Luther expresses this wonderfully in his hymn Dear Christians One and All Rejoice:

What joy! Jesus came looking for me. I have been found. What joy! Jesus came looking for you. You have been found. What joy! Joy over the one. Joy over each one. Joy over every one who draws near to hear Jesus and finds in him the way out! Amen.

The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

Exodus 3:1-15

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our sermon text for this 24^th Sunday after Pentecost is the Old Testament lesson recorded in the 3^rd chapter of Exodus.

This week I had the opportunity to do chapel at Lutheran High School. I began my time with them by asking them a question: What is it you don’t like about going to church? Here are a few of their responses: Uncomfortable Pews. Getting up early—which one student astutely observed seemed contradictory since it was supposed to be a day of rest. Some other responses included impersonal, monotone/bland. Disconnected from what’s going on in their life. No interaction. You just sit there watching what’s going on.

Of course all of these criticisms about "going to church" are nothing knew. They have all been heard before. I know I certainly voiced similar things to my parents growing up—though it never seemed to persuade them that not going was a better option. No matter the truthfulness of the criticisms, we were going to church.

I understand now why my parents were not persuaded even if they secretly agreed on occasion with the criticisms. They were not persuaded because going to church isn’t all about what you want—it is about what you need. And what you need is given at church, in worship. Some days what you need comes across as exciting and dare I say even pushes the envelope into a religious experience. Some days what you need at church comes across as worse than a visit to the Doctors office. But the important thing to remember is that you receive what you need. And that happens whether or not you were excited or bored, happy or depressed or whatever your emotional state. Receiving what you need in church, or perhaps better put receiving from God what you need does not depend on your emotional state. The vehicle for what you need and for what is offered at church in its worship is faith. It is faith that receives what God has to offer in every hour of the church’s worship. And what God has to offer is His Son Jesus Christ for you and for your salvation.

What this leads us to then is the idea that worship has a whole lot less to do with me and my own ideas about what it should be. Worship is instead about what God is doing and accomplishing in me as I participate in that worship. My part is merely a response to what God has done and continues to do. So Christian worship really begins with this idea of God acting first then we respond in faith with prayers, thanksgivings, songs and hymns.

Our Old Testament text, the story of Moses and the burning bush, is a wonderful illustration from salvation history that God must act first before any true worship can take place. For without God acting their can be no faith in him. But when God acts, faith is created and worship begins.

In our text God acts: God calls and God promises. First, God calls Moses to be the one who will deliver His people out of slavery in Egypt. Moses’ response to this call is anything but impressive: "Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God." There are a lot of reasons to be fearful of such a direct encounter with God. For Moses I would think in part this would have to do with a murder on his conscience. Remember, the very reason that Moses was in Midian, tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, was because he was running for his life for murdering an Egyptian. And now God was looking for Moses. Looking for Moses to accomplish a great deed of salvation for God’s people.

Moses’ wasn’t up for the task, at least as far as he was concerned. So God gives Moses a promise, "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."

Moses is unconvinced. No faith. Or at the least his faith is very weak. So there is no worship. No worship until God saves. No worship until God rescues. No worship until God fulfills his promise to deliver his people out of Egypt. But when God does fulfill his promise they will worship God on the mountain. For through God’s mighty act of deliverance Moses would come to faith along with all of Israel. And so the first stop following the Exodus is to the foot of Mt. Sinai to worship God. God acted—the people responded.

Our worship in these New Testament times is no different in this respect. Like Moses there is that tendency to hide from the presence of God. The tendency to try and get away from Him. Then God comes calling, not through a burning bush, but through the gospel of His Son Jesus Christ, who died and rose again bringing you life and salvation.

But like Moses there is not always faith immediately. Where there is faith that faith is often incomplete, or weak or struggling. So God does not only call God also promises. Just as God promised Moses, "I will be with you," so Jesus promises His church, "I will be with you always to the very end of the age." Just as God promised Moses a sign, "when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain," so also Jesus has given his church signs. Jesus has given the church His Word and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Jesus has told his church, "when you do this things I am in your presence." Jesus has told his church, "when you do these things I am at work for you forgiving sins, creating faith and sustaining faith."

Our worship, our time together as God’s people in His holy presence begins with God at work in us and for us through His Word and Sacraments.

Minus the opening hymn the first words of the liturgy bring us back to the time when God called us to faith through the sacrament of Holy Baptism as we make the sign of the cross and speak the baptism formula, "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Worship begins with God’s act of salvation in Baptism.

The first part of the service is called the Service of the Word. We are forgiven of our sins by the power of God’s Word of absolution. We hear readings from God’s word. We hear a sermon based on God’s Word. Through all of these Jesus Christ is acting on our hearts and minds, coming to us, creating faith, strengthening faith.

The second part of the service is called the Service of the Sacrament, in which we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. There our Lord Jesus has promised us his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. There our Lord Jesus comes to us in a most intimate way to act upon our whole life of faith.

In every hour of Christian worship Jesus calls, Jesus promises and Jesus fulfills those promises. And God’s people respond to that salvation with acts of worship such as praying and singing.

You may very well be tired this Sunday. You may not be tired at all. Your faith may be hanging on by a thread or it may be as strong as it has ever been. Either way, in this hour Christ is come. Christ is come. He will do His work as he has promised. Faith is born, faith is renewed and there is worship in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Malachi 4:1-6

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our sermon text for this 25^th Sunday after Pentecost is the Old Testament lesson recorded in the 4^th chapter of the prophet Malachi.

In my first year as pastor here at Lamb of God I had a graveside funeral in July down in New Orleans at St. Vincent DePaul #2. It was a really, really hot day. I’m wearing my black suit, made of wool—a not-so-comfortable summertime material. At one point someone, sensing that I was wilting, shaded me with an umbrella. I made it through and so did the sweat, all the way through my suit. When the funeral was over I got into my old Pontiac 6000 to head home and rolled all four windows down—No air conditioning. Bearable as long as one could keep moving. I get on the interstate, cross the high rise, through New Orleans East, no problem. Then all of the sudden, just a few miles before the Twin Span the traffic just stopped. Eighteen wheelers on either side me, no breeze—it was really hot.

As I inched along in the traffic I was so hot I couldn’t stand it. I unbuttoned my collar. Took my shoes and socks off. Anything to get cool. A lady in a truck next to me noticed my discomfort and also noticed that I was a reverend. So she rolls down the window and yells at me, "Hey reverend! Pretty hot isn’t it?" Before I could respond she continued, "Not as hot as it could be right?" And then let off one of those gruff smoker’s cackles and moved along.

As hot and uncomfortable as it was that day this strange woman teasing me on the interstate was right: It was not as hot as it could be. The prophet Malachi in our text tells of a day that will burn like an oven. An oven that is so hot that the arrogant and all evildoers, who have been cut down to stubble, will be set ablaze. It is fire that will burn so hot upon these people that the root will be destroyed as well. This means there will be no more growth. The arrogant and evildoers are done away with once and for all on the Day of the Lord that will burn like an oven. It is an unpleasant picture intended to warn against being numbered with the arrogant and the evildoers.

This day that will burn like an oven is contrasted with the sun of righteousness which will rise with healing in its wings. This is not the intense heat that destroys and kills but rather the life-giving warmth and radiance of the springtime sun. This life-giving warmth is promised to those who fear the name of God. Whereas the heat that blasted the arrogant and evildoers were destroyed at the root, the warmth that radiates down upon those who fear the name of God will cause them to go forth leaping with life like a calf released from its stall.

The two images given to the prophet Malachi, the image of the day that burns like an oven and the sun of righteousness rising with healing in its wings, are not describing two different days. It is describing two different experiences of the same day: The Day of Judgment. For some, namely the arrogant and the evildoers, the Day of Judgment will be the day when they experience the full intensity of God’s wrath. For others, namely those who fear God’s name, the Day of Judgment will be the day when they experience the full intensity of God’s grace.

In the song the "Saints Go Marching In" there is the familiar line: "Oh, I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in." Given the options, you most certainly want to be in that number that experiences the full intensity of God’s grace rather than His wrath.

So how can you be sure this will be the case for you when the Day of Judgment comes? The answer of St. Peter on the first Pentecost to a group of people desperate to be sure of their salvation was this: "Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

How can you be sure you will be in that number? The answer of St. Paul to a jailor in Philippi desperate for salvation was this: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."

Over and over again the theme could be rehearsed: Repent and believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for as it says in the Scriptures, "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Malachi makes it clear what needs to be repented: Arrogance and doing evil. And the reason arrogance and doing evil needs repenting of is because of what lies at the heart of all arrogance and evil doing: A trust in one’s own works, abilities and achievements. The arrogant man does not need God. His acquired wealth and power are proof enough of that. The arrogant man can appear quite moral when speaking of others. But the rules of morality seldom apply to him. The arrogant man is above the moral law. And if all of this weren’t enough the arrogant man is fool enough to stand before God and desire almost beg to be judged according to his abilities and achievements. On the Day of Judgment all of the arrogant with their evil deeds will get their wish. They will be weighed in the balance and found wanting and so they will be cut down and burned in the fires of hell.

Malachi makes it clear what needs to be believed: The name. The name of Jesus Christ, for that is the name given in our time from God Himself through which we have life and salvation. "In many and various ways," the Scriptures say, "God spoke to our forefathers by the prophets, but now in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son." To believe in the name is to repent of one’s own works, abilities and achievements and rely on the works, abilities and achievements of Jesus Christ.

And the works, abilities and achievements of Jesus Christ are indeed amazing. I will mention only two: First, he took on the full blast of God’s wrath on the cross as an innocent man in my place. Second, after he died he took up his life again by rising from the dead. No man has ever withstood the full blast of God’s wrath and lived to tell about it. Jesus did. No man has ever risen from the dead by his own power. Jesus did. No man has ever risen from the dead who didn’t eventually die again. Jesus did not. He lives forever and ever. That’s a name to believe in, to trust for one’s salvation. If you want to be in that number Jesus is the one who will guarantee it.

The one who fears the name of God will stand before God and desire almost beg to be judged according to the abilities and achievements of Jesus Christ. On the Day of Judgment all of those fear the name of God will get their wish. They will be weighed in the balance and found righteous on account of Jesus Christ and so God will welcome them into eternal habitations. It will be a day of victory and celebration as all of those who have feared the name of God trample under their feet the arrogant and the evildoers once and for all.

The Day of the Lord is coming. Now you know what will happen on that Day. Now you know how to be in the number. But there are still others, many others who are arrogant evildoers. God’s will is that they too would believe on the name of His Son and live.

It was true in Malachi’s day as he concludes his prophetic book with these words, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."

This prophecy was fulfilled when John the Baptist came and prepared the world for Jesus Christ. God is patient in waiting for his people to come to repentance and faith.

It has been 2,000 years since John the Baptist came to prepare the way fulfilling the prophecy, yet the work of John the Baptist to turn hearts to God continues. It continues through you whenever and wherever you condemn arrogance and evil deeds and call people to fear the name of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Behold the Day of the Lord is coming. Proclaim the name while there is still time so that many, many more will be right there with us, in that number in the name of Jesus. Amen.