Sunday, June 9, 2019

Salvation is in the name of the LORD.


Sermon for Pentecost, June 2, 2019

Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.



Dear friends in Christ,

            There is an old saying that “Some people can’t see the forest for the trees.”  I could give numerous examples of this, but none would serve better than our sermon text.  Some people get so caught up in Joel’s prophesy about signs and wonders that they miss the truly important point, which is that Salvation is in the name of the LORD.

Through the prophet, Joel, God Almighty declared, “After this, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.”  Some will, of course, focus on the “After this,” wondering with great speculation when this prophesy will be fulfilled.  Again, the point for us isn’t that we need to be concerned about the exact time but to focus our attention of what the Lord plans to do for us.  When we take God’s Word as a whole, it soon becomes evident that this prophesy is fulfilled after the Old Testament time frame, in other words, after Christ has lived and died for us all.  God will pour out His Spirit abundantly, and not just for a few but for all sinners, which means for all people who ever live. 

Our Epistle lesson showed us the fulfillment which Peter confirmed as he quoted this prophecy for the crowds of Jewish believers who questioned what was happening on Pentecost when everyone heard the wind of the Spirit, saw the tongues of flame on the disciples and heard them speak in diverse languages.  God was pouring out His Spirit for the blessing of all people yet to come.

The Lord God said, “Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.  Your old men will dream dreams.  Your young men will see visions.  Even on the servants, both male and female, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”  Some who miss the forest for the trees focus their attentions and their efforts on the signs.  Some go so far as to say that you’re not a real Christian if you don’t speak in tongues and prophesy future events.  But as they look for miraculous signs, they overlook the main miracle God intends here.  The primary miracle is that, through Word and Sacrament, the Holy Spirit gives faith in Christ which gives us forgiveness and salvation.

Furthermore, there was to be a change between the Old and New Testament times.  In the past, only the prophets had the privilege of hearing messages from the Lord.  Even they only had a portion of the saving Word that God was giving through time.  That doesn’t mean they didn’t have enough to know salvation.  Rather, their faith was in an incomplete revelation. 

Those who seek further revelations, today, often do so because they are unsatisfied with what God has revealed.  However, in the words of the Bible, given through His apostles and prophets, God has given us everything we need to know about Jesus and the salvation He has won for all who will believe.  We need no further or greater revelation, nor does God promise to reveal day to day events.  Furthermore, this message of salvation isn’t withheld from the common person but is available to all people, rich and poor, mighty and small, men and women, rulers and servants.  To us God pours out His Spirit through the hearing of the Word and by the grace of Baptism.  In turn, we proclaim the message of God (which is what a prophet does) to any and all with whom we have the call to teach.

None of this means that we are all public preachers, or that we will all speak in tongues or be gifted with any of the other miracles God used to confirm who seal of authority on Jesus’ apostles.  The need for those signs has passed.  It is enough that Salvation is in the name of the LORD.

Now and again, Christians will run into people who are worried and stressed about the end times.  They want to know when the world will end, or how that end will take place.  Some of these worriers are Christians, but many faiths have people who are concerned about the end.  In fact, this is a natural state, for it is hardwired into every soul that there is a God who will judge us.  Joel told us that there would be many signs before the day of judgment happens, just as Jesus too foretold many signs that would take place before His return in glory. 

Joel was told, “I will show warning signs in the heavens and on the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke.  The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and terrifying day of the Lord.”  Among the many other signs Jesus told us to watch for as a prelude to the last day, He said, "Immediately after the distress of those days " 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'  At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.  They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:29-30 NIV 84)

The point of all those signs foretold by the prophets, and Jesus Himself, is to remind us to be ready at all times.  The Lord has not chosen to reveal in advance on what day He will return.  This too is for our good.  Lest people foolishly put off believing, or turning to Christ in repentance, while living in sin and debauchery expecting to switch allegiances just before the last moments of our journey on earth, believers are left here to serve the Lord in gladness and faith.  Those who live serving the devil’s wiles will likely continue in them right up until it is too late.  Salvation will not be found in gambling on the day of Jesus’ return.  Rather, Salvation is in the name of the LORD.

And that brings us to the point of our text, and really, the point of Joel’s whole book and the Bible, too: the Lord promised, “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  So on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has promised, among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”  God has made salvation available to those who believe and trust in Him.  Already in the early part of history, the Bible tells us, “Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.  At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD.” (Genesis 4:26 NIV 84) 

What does it mean to call on the name of the Lord?  It is worship and prayer, confession and absolution, asking for forgiveness and help in every need and trusting God’s answer in all things.  Does that sound at all familiar?  It’s what we still do every Sunday, and what we do as we journey through life in Christian faith—calling upon the name of the Lord for forgiveness and the promise of salvation through faith in Christ, holding to all of God’s Word as the full and final authority for living and for salvation unto eternal life. 

And where is this found?  Joel pointed to Mount Zion and Jerusalem.  It is the place of God’s presence, the place where Jesus sacrificed Himself for the sins of the world, where God the Father put His faithfulness on the line as He took out His justice for the sins of the world on His Son. 

Now, again, in those who are caught up in looking at the trees but miss the forest, you will hear all kinds of talk about the Christian Church needing to take back present day Jerusalem.  Many evangelicals and others think that present day Israel in important in making a way for Jesus to return.  Yet, that’s all focusing on externals that accomplish nothing.  Jesus has already done everything needed to save us.  He has already promised to prepare a home in heaven for His followers.  He emphatically stated that His kingdom is not of this world.  Therefore, the politics of this world are irrelevant. 

Today, Mount Zion and Jerusalem, the presence of God, is found in the hidden Church wherever the Gospel is proclaimed in its truth and purity and the Sacraments are rightly administered.

Joel prophesied, “There will be deliverance, as the Lord has promised, among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”  I think this is such an interesting turn of a phrase for our modern ears.  If you study biology, you will learn of the difference between species that are existing and those that are surviving.  A species that exists is alive but no longer reproducing enough to keep itself going.  It is destined to extinction.  A surviving species is doing well through good times and the tough times that come along in the world.  There is a similarity among people.  Survivors are those who believe in Jesus, trust that He has redeemed them from sin, death, and the devil, and has them in His care unto life everlasting in the heavenly home He has prepared for us.  On the other hand are those who merely exist through this world.  Yes, they are physically alive, but they have no future.  When their bodies lie in dust, there time of grace comes to an end and the only future for them is eternal torment in prison prepared for the devil and his followers.  What a horrible fate awaits those who don’t believe.

But dear friends, for you and me and all who believe in Jesus with sincere hearts, we have the assurance that God Almighty has poured His Holy Spirit on us, and therefore, we will survive through whatever this world might throw against us.  The Lord God has redeemed us, cleansed us of our sins, washed us in the blood of His Son’s sacrifice, and raised us to life everlasting.  That’s what it means when the Lord God teaches that Salvation is in the name of the LORD.  Amen.

Now to the King eternal, to the immortal, invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.  Amen.
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