Test the Lord’s love, not His patience.

Sermon for Thanksgiving Eve, November 27, 2019

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

Malachi 3:6-18  ⁶ Certainly I, the Lord, do not change.  That is why you, sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.  ⁷ Since the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them.  Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Armies.  You say, “In what way should we return?”  ⁸ Will a man rob God?  You are robbing me!  You say, “How have we robbed you?”  In regard to the tithe and the special offering.  ⁹ You are being cursed since all of you, the whole nation, are robbing me.  ¹⁰ Bring the complete tithe to the storehouse so that there may be food in my house.  Just test me in this, says the Lord of Armies.  See whether I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour down blessing on you, until there is more than enough.  ¹¹ I will restrain the devouring swarm so that it will not destroy your produce from your soil.  Your vine in the field will not be without fruit, says the Lord of Armies.  ¹² All the nations will call you blessed, because you will be a delightful land, says the Lord of Armies.  ¹³ Your words against me are harsh, says the Lord.  You ask, “How have we spoken against you?”  ¹⁴ You say, “Serving God is pointless.  What have we gained by carefully keeping his requirements and by walking around like mourners before the Lord of Armies?  ¹⁵ Now we will call the arrogant blessed.  Even evildoers are built up.  They even test God and get away with it.”  ¹⁶ Then those who fear the Lord spoke with each other.  The Lord gave them his attention and listened.  A book of remembrance was written in front of him for those who fear the Lord and have regard for his name.  ¹⁷ They will be mine, says the Lord of Armies, on the day I make them my treasured possession.  I will spare them just as a man spares his son who serves him.  ¹⁸ Then you will again see the distinction between a righteous person and a wicked person, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. (EHV)

Test the Lord’s love, not His patience.

Dear blessed of the heavenly Father,

            Malachi said, “You have made the Lord weary.” (Malachi 2:17)  Isn’t that a horrifying condemnation that came out of Malachi’s mouth against Israel?  How awful to hear that your behavior had led God to grow tired of blessing you.  I don’t think there is anything more devastating that one could hear than this condemning phrase, “You have made the Lord weary.” 

Now, as we read through our sermon text, no one would be surprised if you got the idea that the people of Israel were being condemned for their lousy offerings to the Lord, yet the offerings, and all the other sins condemned in this book, are really only symptoms of the real problem in their relationship with the Lord.  Israel’s real problem was that they didn’t fear, love, or trust God with all their hearts, souls, and minds.  They weren’t afraid to offend God.  They said it didn’t pay to serve Him.  Perhaps they thought He didn’t exist or didn’t care what they did, or maybe they thought God was too feeble to notice their lack of faith and trust in the God who had loved them as a husband.

If you have heard me preach before, you most likely already know what comes next, but I have to ask, are we any different?  Do we really, truly fear, love, and trust God Almighty as we should?  Or do we, like those long-ago Israelites, shortchange God in our offerings, in our service, in our love to our neighbor, in our family relationships, and especially, in our trust in His goodness?  Any honest reflexion will have to admit that yes, we too are guilty.  We too have times when we do things we know are wrong, but we assume (hope) God is too busy elsewhere to notice our sins.  Likewise, we have at times neglected worship, prayer, Bible study, and personal devotions in His Word because we give higher priority to work, family, or hobby, robbing God of His place of honor in our lives.  We too sometimes offer God what is left over in our wallets rather than make a first fruits gift that shows how much we trust Him.  We too sometimes imagine that God doesn’t know what He is doing, or care.

Dear friends, I know these accusations sound awful, and they should, because we all are guilty.  Perhaps I more than anyone else, because I know the depth of my sin, and still, I find myself sinning more.  I don’t say that to gain your sympathy, or to try to soften the blow of the accusations.  Rather, I want all of us to hear God’s faithful testimony in this text, and I want to see all of us go about our lives making sure that we Test the Lord’s love, not His patience.

As the Lord brings His condemning words upon Israel, notice even more His kindness.  He reminds us: “Certainly I, the Lord, do not change.”  “Return to me, and I will return to you.”  “Just test me in this,” says the Lord of Armies.  “See whether I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour down blessing on you, until there is more than enough.”

Twenty-four hundred years later, God still hasn’t changed.  He remains faithful to every promise.  He continues to pour out sunshine and rain upon the good and the wicked.  He continues to bless us in ways too many to count.  Most importantly, “He is patient for your sakes, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

This past year has certainly had its challenges.  Most people likely wondered how it would all turn out.  Would the crops make it to maturity?  Would the yields cover the cost?  Would our labor make any return?  Yet, an honest examination of these questions shows that we test God’s patience by the weak faith and doubt behind them.  In contrast, the writer to the Hebrews wrote, “Faith is being sure about what we hope for, being convinced about things we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1).

To be honest, farmers and businesspeople are likely better at this than the rest of us.  Farmers pour many thousands of dollars of their money, or their bankers’ money, into the soil every spring confident that the seeds will grow and produce a crop.  If they didn’t believe that, they wouldn’t take the risk.  Yet, having been a farmer for several decades, I know how weak faith can be even there.  Businesses too invest small fortunes in the hope of making a living and perhaps increasing wealth.  But do we adequately remember God’s gracious providence in all of this?

I pray that we do, yet I know I often fall short.  I have to keep reminding myself that no matter how bad the news makes things sound, Jesus is still in control of this crazy world.  No matter what the politicians might say, or the activists scream, the Lord really does have things firmly in hand, and we have His promise though St. Paul, “that all things work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

The Lord of Armies sent His prophet to say to Israel, “Just test me in this.  See whether I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour down blessing on you, until there is more than enough.”  Thanksgiving is a time when we look around at all God does for us daily.  Especially in the United States of America, we have blessings so amazing that far too many of us don’t even notice the wealth anymore except to covet what some neighbors have.  Yet, consider that in contrast to so many other places on earth, we can turn a faucet in our homes and safe drinking water comes out, enough that we can bath in it, wash our clothes in it, even go so far as to wash our cars and driveways with water pure enough to drink.

Activists scream about pollution, but for most of us, the air is clean, and readily available—though no effort of ours.  We drive vehicles that are extremely reliable compared to yesteryears.  I know I complain about some of the nuances of our health care and insurance systems, but by and large, we have medical care that most of the world’s population, and certainly most of history’s people, could only dream about.  We worried all year about the crops, but in the end, most of them turned out okay, and insurance will help many of the rest.  Who one hundred years ago could have imagined 200 hundred bushel per acre corn?  Today, we have come to expect it.  When we ignore God’s hand in all our many blessings, or give too much credit to ourselves, we really are testing God’s patience.

Now, having considered our failures and shortcomings, I want to remind you about the most important way God shows His love to us.  Malachi said, “Then those who fear the Lord spoke with each other.  The Lord gave them his attention and listened.”  Those who feared God didn’t accuse Him of any neglect; rather, they encouraged each other as we do in worship, and they begged God for mercy they knew they didn’t deserve.  And God heard them!  In fact, God heard us pleading for mercy long before we ever thought to cry out our need.  He saw our desperate condition before He created the world, and He planned our forgiveness and salvation.

God said, “A book of remembrance was written in front of him for those who fear the Lord and have regard for his name.  They will be mine,” says the Lord of Armies, “on the day I make them my treasured possession.  I will spare them just as a man spares his son who serves him.”  When the disciples rejoiced for the power they were given in Jesus’ name, He told them, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names have been written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)  What a great God is ours!  Though we deserved nothing but His anger, God loved us from the beginning.  He provides for us far more richly than anyone could expect.  But especially, He loved us enough to send His own Son to live for us and to die for the guilt of our weakness of faith and trust.

Our message from this text in Malachi is Test the Lord’s love, not His patience.  We test the Lord’s love when we believe without any doubt that all our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake.  We test the Lord’s love when we make our offerings not according to rules, or by looking to see if the church has enough money to pay its bills, but when we look at the blessings God gives us and we humbly thank and praise Him in the way He leads us to give.  We rightly test God’s love when we don’t entertain any worry but put our complete confidence in the love of our Savior who having died and risen for us, now rules all things from His throne in heaven.  We test the Lord’s love when we face illness or death with sure confidence in the resurrection of Christ Jesus, knowing that our bodies, too, will be raised from the grave to live glorified forever in heaven.

Dear friends, there was a day when God made you His treasured possession.  He wrote your name in the Book of Life the day He washed you clean of all sin in baptism, the day He drowned your sinful nature and raised up in you a new life of faith, the day He gave you hope in Jesus by the hearing of the Gospel.  Through faith in Christ, God spares you of any condemnation.  Through faith in Christ, God loves you as His own dear child.  Through Word and Sacrament, the Lord continues to build up the faith that saves you, so that we never have to wonder or doubt about God’s love for us. 

No matter what this world may send our way, God will never give you anything less than what He knows is best for you.  As you give thanks tomorrow, remember that this isn’t a one-day event, but rather the life of the faithful believer who remembers that God’s love is unlimited even when His patience is not.  Test the Lord’s love, not His patience.  Amen.

Amen.  Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and might belong to our God forever and ever.  Amen.

Encourage one another, aware of the times.

Sermon for Last Sunday of the Church Year, November 24, 2019

Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ (Luke 23:30)  So declared Jesus about those who rejected Him.  As the soldiers led Him to the cross to redeem us, Jesus soberly and sincerely warned the world about the day He will return in judgment.  Jesus wasn’t threatening to seek His revenge; He was grieving their rejection of Him, yet warnings like this should jolt every person on earth out of their stupor.  Time and again, the Bible warns about the judgment that is coming.  The signs Jesus told us to watch for have been evident now for almost two thousand years.  Only the foolish would doubt that Jesus could return at any moment.  So, are you ready to stand before the Lord of glory?  Are you ready to help your neighbor get ready?  Then, Encourage one another, aware of the times.

1 Thessalonians 5:1–11  Concerning the times and dates, brothers, there is no need to write to you, ²for you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  ³When people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will suddenly come on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will certainly not escape.  ⁴But you, brothers, are not in the dark so that this day takes you by surprise like a thief, ⁵for you are all sons of the light and sons of the day.  We do not belong to the night or the darkness.  ⁶So then let us not sleep like everyone else, but rather let us remain alert and sober.  ⁷To be sure, those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.  ⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.  ⁹You see, God did not appoint us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.  ¹⁰He died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.  ¹¹Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are also doing. (EHV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  Amen.

Dear friends in the living Lord Jesus,

            Twice in this last section of his letter, Paul urges us to encourage one another.  Moved by the Holy Spirit, Paul knew that we would need continual encouragement.  He told the Thessalonians that there was no need for him to talk about when the world would end, because they all recognized that the signs were already there.  The Thessalonians were actively expecting Jesus’ return, sometimes so much so that they didn’t think they needed to be at work in the kingdom, but that is one of the subjects of Paul’s second letter to that congregation.  Yet, those people were taking Jesus’ prophecy to heart concerning the last day. 

You and I, too, can look anywhere around us and see that most people have far more love for themselves, and their own ideas and desires, than they do for God or their neighbor.  Even we who have been so richly blessed by our heavenly Father have to fight the temptation to put ourselves first.  And, we have to fight the temptation to imagine that just because Jesus didn’t return yesterday, or in the last nineteen centuries, He won’t today.  Because, we just don’t know when God will end the world, but we do know it will come upon us suddenly, when the world least expects it.

Honestly, not many people of our day and age really expect Jesus to return.  The number of people who reject Christian faith as outdated, irrelevant, or flat out wrong, seems to be growing by leaps and bounds.  Likewise, even many Christians are probably hoping Jesus returns simply to see Him judge all those other people who are so wicked.  We might wonder if they aren’t like the foolish virgins in Jesus’ parable—waiting for the Bridegroom, but not being at all prepared to meet Him. 

So, what about you and me; should we be trembling in our boots worried that Judgment Day is imminent?  Paul has a much better answer: “But you, brothers, are not in the dark so that this day takes you by surprise like a thief, for you are all sons of the light and sons of the day.  We do not belong to the night or the darkness.”  Men, women, and children who believe and trust in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior and Redeemer are addressed here with Paul’s full confidence that we can look forward boldly to Jesus’ return.  To the Corinthians, Paul wrote, “You are not your own, for you were bought at a price.  Therefore glorify God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)  “Not your own,” “not in the dark,” but “sons of the light and sons of the day”—what does it all mean?

It means that you and I and every person in whom God has staked a claim has been prepared for Jesus’ return to judge the world.  This morning, we are again shown what God does to bring children into His kingdom of grace.  Washed in the water and the Word, a little girl is adopted into God’s family, cleansed of her sin, and given a new heart and new faith preparing her to meet Jesus.

In the book of the Revelation, St. John reported an amazing vision: “After this I saw four angels, who stood at the four corners of the earth.  They were holding back the four winds of the earth so that the wind could not blow on the earth, the sea, or any tree.  And I saw another angel coming up from the east, who had the seal of the living God.  He called out with a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to harm the earth and the sea.  He said, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have placed a seal on the foreheads of God’s servants.” (Revelation 7:1-3)  We don’t know when the end will come, but we do know that before He sends His Son to judge, God will place His seal—the sign of the cross on the head and the heart—on all those He chooses to be His own.

Through the proclamation of the Good News of all that Jesus did for us, and through the cleansing flood of baptism, God prepares us to live with Him forever.  This is God’s gift of grace to the world.  Furthermore, God keeps His people here on earth for the time being, so that we can share His message of grace, pray for the lost, and seek those who are hurting from the devil’s lies.  “This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4)  So, Encourage one another, aware of the times.

Jesus said, “I am the Light of the World.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)  Dear friends, having been brought to faith in Jesus, we are no longer in the darkness of sin and Satan’s deceptions.  Yet, we dare not take that safety for granted.  Paul wrote, “So then let us not sleep like everyone else, but rather let us remain alert and sober.  To be sure, those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.”

Now, Paul isn’t warning us against having a drink.  Rather, he is urging us not to let anything, intoxicant or otherwise, not success or failure, wealth of poverty, get between us and the faith that was instilled in us at our baptisms.  The world around us slyly entices with temptations of every kind of sin.  The pagan world screams at us all kinds of warnings that we must do this, or that, or another thing to escape environmental destruction.  We are continually assaulted with the opinions of people who have no faith in Christ as Redeemer and Savior.  Social media and pop culture cry out that we must vote for this party, or that one, lest all hope be lost.  However, all the unbelieving world can really do is numb our minds to the truth and put us in spiritual slumber.

Now, certainly, we should be active in the concerns of the world.  We were given the task of the stewardship of the planet God blesses us with, and we are to be lights to the world around us.  At the same time, we need to remember that it is God who directs all things for our eternal good.  As much as we can do in the little things, the big things are still only under His control.  So, don’t be disturbed.  Even if the enemy should seek our physical lives, we have a home in heaven, and no matter what hardships we might yet face as we get closer and closer to Judgment Day, in the end, we are meeting, face to face, the One who cleansed us of all sin, who says, “My sheep hear my voice.  I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.” (John 10:27-28)  This same Lord also declared, “Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you.  I have called you by name.  You are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)

Paul wrote, “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.  You see, God did not appoint us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.  He died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.”  By bringing you and me to faith in Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit in Word and Sacrament, God appointed us to live—with Him—forever.  Jesus lived on earth and died on the cross to win our freedom from sin, death, the devil, and eternal condemnation.  Furthermore, God has provided protection for His people like soldiers in a battle for their lives.

God gives us the Means of Grace—the Gospel in Word and Sacrament.  Through Paul, the Holy Spirit pleads with us to keep using these gifts He has provided to keep us strong and safe in Jesus.  Paul wrote, “Let us be sober.”  He wasn’t talking about joining Alcoholics Anonymous.  Rather, he is encouraging us to keep our thinking clear of anything that would put us in danger of forgetting what we have in Christ.  He wants us to be dressed in the confidence that Jesus has taken all our sins, and the sins of our neighbors, away.  We should let that light shine in our world and demonstrate the love of God in us by helping our neighbors see Christ’s love in everything we do.

Mostly, we wear the hope of salvation as a covering over us.  This is the sure and certain confidence we have, that because Jesus lives, we will live also.  Because Jesus has risen from the dead, He will raise us also to life everlasting, just as He promised.  All of this is gifted to us by the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacrament.  Yes, this is the why the Lord our God wants us to come into His presence often and regularly so that He might keep us strong in faith, hope, and love.

Still, notice that the Holy Spirit doesn’t work alone in the believer; He says, “Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are also doing.”  When you and I gather around God’s Word—in worship and Bible study, in prayer and repentance, we are alive together as the body of Christ building each other up in the one true faith.  The writer to the Hebrews said, “Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have the habit of doing.  Rather, let us encourage each other, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)  Here, in every worship service, we remind each other of the forgiveness and salvation Jesus won for us all on the cross.  We do that also every time we forgive a brother or sister who causes us harm, every time we assure the repentant sinner that he, or she, is truly forgiven.  As we share the Good News of God’s forgiveness, we Encourage one another, aware of the times. 

To the Colossians St. Paul wrote, “Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, to which you were also called, in one body.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God.  And everything you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:15-17)

Dear friends, the Lord Jesus is coming soon, but we won’t have to hide, because while He is coming in all His glory to judge the world, He will also take home to heaven those who have followed Him, who have believed and trusted in Him for life and salvation.  As He has made you clean of all sin, given you a new heart of living faith, and made you holy in the eyes of His heavenly Father, believe it!  And, Encourage one another, aware of the times.  Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.

Stand before the Lord in His glory.

Sermon for 2^nd Last Sunday of the Church year, November 17, 2019

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.  All who do his precepts have good understanding.  Amen.

Matthew 25:31–46  ³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.  ³²All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.  ³⁴Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat.  I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.  I was a stranger and you welcomed me.  ³⁶I was lacking clothes and you clothed me.  I was sick and you took care of me.  I was in prison and you visited me.’  ³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?  ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or lacking clothes and clothe you?  ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  ⁴⁰“The King will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’  ⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels.  ⁴²For I was hungry and you did not give me food to eat.  I was thirsty and you did not give me anything to drink.  ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, lacking clothes and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not take care of me.’  ⁴⁴“Then they will also answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or lacking clothes or sick or in prison and did not serve you?’  ⁴⁵“At that time he will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’  ⁴⁶And they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (EHV)

Stand before the Lord in His glory.

            The people are gathered as far as the eye can see, and every one of them will hear the verdict of the Man who gave His life so that all might live.  And, they all ask the same question, “Lord, when did we see You?”  One part of the crowd says those words in humility, the other in defiance—the former by faith, the latter in accusation.  The latter group stands there terrified of Christ’s judgment, while the former raises their eyes in expectation, for they Stand before the Lord in His glory.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            Jesus was explaining Judgment Day to those following Him.  Around Him was a mini gathering resembling the final picture He described.  Gathered around Jesus were disciples, old friends, new believers, as well as skeptics, defiant teachers, and synagogue leaders who thought they had earned the right to stand in God’s presence.  We could almost consider it an ordinary event in the Christian church.

Today, too, people are gathered around the word of the Lord.  Yet, still today, many of those who would consider themselves believers are in reality in denial.  Some don’t want to be bothered with meeting Jesus at all.  Some refuse to believe He is the Son of God and Man as well.  Others simply don’t want to be bothered with the details.  And far too many are thinking that Christianity is a self-help group and if we just do it right all our problems and the problems of the world will disappear.

So, what should we take from Jesus’ description of Judgment Day?  Will we be welcomed into heaven because of how well we served?  So often we have heard that salvation is a gift; is that not really true?  You have been told that we can’t earn salvation, yet here, it sure sounds like we do, so what should we take from Jesus’ words?

As always, we let the Bible interpret itself.  The Bible declares that “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)  Therefore, we can in no way, shape, or form pretend that we earn the declaration of welcome Jesus gives to His followers.  In fact, Jesus shows us why any are saved; He said, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” 

Salvation is God’s gift to us.  We couldn’t achieve a place in God’s heaven.  Like everyone since Adam and Eve, we were born sinners and enemies of God.  Still, before time began, God had worked out a plan to save us.  What a joyful and marvelous thing this is.  By God’s grace, you and I who had nothing to offer are dressed in a righteousness not our own. 

Before creating this world, God had a plan to save us, and not just a generic people, but you and me personally were known to God and elected into His kingdom.  At the first sin, God announced His plan, a son of the woman would win our rescue.  The message was passed down from generation to generation.  Then, the Lord gradually, prophetically expanded the details of His saving message until finally all is recorded in Scriptures written over 1500 years’ time by men who were handpicked for the task by the Holy Spirit who breathed into them the words of life.  Through faith in those words, faith implanted by the Holy Spirit Himself through the pipeline of those words, God filled His kingdom with saints who believe in His Son, Jesus, as Redeemer, Savior, and King. 

Having been made members of Christ’s kingdom by faith, believers lived to serve their neighbor as Christ Himself, even though they didn’t recognize that they were doing anything special.  With Christ living in His people, they helped others without even a thought for reward or personal glory.  Furthermore, it was the holiness of Christ put over and around them that counts before the Judge of the world. 

Now, what about those on the left, and how are we to live in consideration of this explanation?  First of all, we understand that as we live here on earth, God uses us as His hands to serve those in need.  We certainly should give every consideration to helping any we see who are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, a stranger, or in prison.  And, walking in faith, Christians do those things more than any other group on earth.  Yet, we do it knowing that the things we do don’t save us, but that Christ who is our Head has won for us forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life, because “God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

And those other folks placed on the left?  Those are the souls who didn’t have time for God, or who thought they didn’t need His help to be holy, or who didn’t think Jesus is the God-Man sent to give us life and hope.  Throughout their earthly lives, they refused to see Jesus as the true Son of God holding out His hands pleading for them to come to Him for forgiveness and peace.  They refused to believe that Jesus lived for them, died for them, and gave His holy life in exchange for their sins.  Thus, they also refused to see that God is served as He says here, by serving those around us who have a need.  And on that great day when Jesus returns in glory, those who refused to see His glory, here, will be looking for a place to hide from it when the angels gather them together for His verdict, for the Bible declares that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Dear friends, this text wasn’t given to us to teach us how to get ahead on Judgment Day.  Rather, it confirms what the Bible teaches elsewhere, that our God-given faith will be seen in our works.  The warning is that we should live our faith in everything we do.  At the same time, the Bible clearly teaches that our faith, our forgiveness, our salvation, and yes, our sanctification too, are gifts of God, gifts not to be wasted in selfishness but gladly shared with those around us, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Today, there are many people in our world who think you have to do something grand and special for it to count as a good work, but good works are primarily found in the ordinary things we do by faith: things like a parent changing a baby’s diaper and giving sustenance and instruction to the child, a farmer working his fields to feed the nation, a teacher sharing knowledge, laborers, office workers and public servants willingly serving their neighbors in humble ways, and especially, whenever we work together to share the good news of salvation in whatever small way we can. 

If you read the words of our text and wonder, “Have I done enough?” you are asking the wrong question.  The right question is “Have I listened to the voice of my Savior?”  Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice.  I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.  No one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27)

When we come to worship our Lord, we rightly confess that we haven’t served our King and our neighbor as we should.  At the same time, we come trusting that in Christ, we have the holiness of God applied to us, for God’s own dear Son lived for us the perfection of service God’s holiness demands.  Furthermore, that dear Savior also carried our shortcomings to the cross where He suffered the full penalty for all our guilt, and for His sake, God has promised, “I will be merciful in regard to their unrighteousness, and I will not remember their sins any longer.” (Hebrews 8:12)

This is the message our Savior and Judge has provided in the Bible to give us life.  In baptism, hearts that were stone dead to God were replaced with hearts of living faith.  A sinful nature that infected and corrupted us completely was drowned in that tide of salvation and our souls were raised up to live and serve.  “Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.  For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:3-5)

Our confidence and hope, as we await our Lord’s return in glory, is that we will come before Him not in the filth of our sins, but in the glorious righteousness He has provided to us by faith.  By faith, you will Stand before the Lord in His glory, because “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11)  Stand before the Lord in His glory.  Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.

Comfort for Christians: we are always with the Lord.

Sermon for 3^rd Last Sunday of Church year, November 10, 2019

In God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: Grace and peace to you.  Amen.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18  ¹³We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you do not grieve in the same way as the others, who have no hope.  ¹⁴Indeed, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then in the same way we also believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.  ¹⁵In fact, we tell you this by the word of the Lord: We who are alive and left until the coming of the Lord will certainly not go on ahead of those who have fallen asleep.  ¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  ¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them, to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will always be with the Lord.  ¹⁸Therefore, encourage one another with these words. (EHV)

Comfort for Christians—we are always with the Lord

Dear Christian friends,

            It is often said that the only sure things in life are death and taxes.  Yet, there are circumstances where it appears that taxes are not so certain, for some people seem to avoid them, either by being exceptionally sly in avoiding tax, or more likely, simply having no income, property, or purchases to be taxed.  On the other hand, death remains a certainty for every person who ever walks on this earth.  That means that at some point or another, every person you know will be taken away from you; every person you love will be called out of this world; and you and I, too, will certainly die.

It appears that this truth had begun to trouble the Christians at Thessalonica.  They had gladly abandoned the false gods they previously served to believe in the salvation and eternal life offered through faith in Christ.  Yet, death didn’t stop.  Even though they had received the Gospel with gladness, death was still calling people out of their lives.  So, those new Christians were troubled and wondered, are only those believers still alive at Jesus’ return going to be saved to live with Him in heaven?  They might even have begun to wonder whether Christianity is any better than what they had before? 

The Apostle Paul hadn’t had much time to teach the new believers there before persecution forced him to flee for his life, so the Thessalonians, like all believers, needed further instruction.  They needed the comforting knowledge that Christianity wasn’t intended just for the first few years after Jesus lived, died, rose, and ascended to heaven.  Instead, Christian faith gives believers everlasting life in the heavenly realm where Jesus lives, now, and forever.  Therefore, Paul tells us, receive this Comfort for Christians: we are always with the Lord.

My friends, not a day goes by that death doesn’t touch us.  Daily we hear of tragic deaths: senseless killings, accidental deaths, deaths by disease or war, and death simply from old age.  But, in each death, no matter how young or old the deceased, whether tragic or expected, grief fills the hearts of those who knew and loved the person who has died, and the constant report of death puts fear in those of us still living.  The world has always grieved death, and always will, so Paul wrote, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you do not grieve in the same way as the others, who have no hope.” 

First, notice what Paul doesn’t say.  He doesn’t tell us not to grieve—that would just be cruel.  Grief is unavoidable in this world.  Each death is a reminder of the curse that sin has put us under.  Each death is a reminder of the sin-caused separation between God and mankind.  And at each death, we mourn our loss of the blessing that person has been in our lives. 

Throughout the Bible, deaths were mourned, so we know that the Holy Spirit doesn’t deny or reject our grief.  Even Jesus wept at the death of His friend, but we need to know that the death of a Christian is something far different than any other death.  Therefore, our sorrow can also be far different.  The person who dies without faith in Christ Jesus dies hopeless.  That person has no more chance ever to live.  The truth is that the unbeliever was spiritually dead before his body ceased its earthly life, and when a spiritually dead person dies, that death becomes everlasting.  That spiritually dead person will suffer eternal separation from God’s love.  There is no hope for that person and no comfort for those left behind.  The grief for that person should be extreme, for it is too late to help or change that dead person’s eternity.  And that is the harsh reality of dying without faith in Jesus.

On the other hand, the death of a Christian, while still bringing sorrow to the loved ones, also comes with the sure confidence that while the body lies sleeping in the ground, the believer’s soul is already enjoying eternal life in heaven.  So, the sorrow we feel when a Christian dies is very real, but also very different.  While we also mourn for our loss, we rejoice for that person’s wonderful gain.  The believer’s death means entrance into perfect reunion with our Creator and Savior in Paradise, and we could want nothing more, or better, for anyone no matter how long or short the life here on earth.

St. Paul assures us that unlike the unbeliever, for whom death is the worst kind of end in hell, the death of a Christian is not the end, but rather the beginning of true joy.  Paul writes, “Indeed, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then in the same way we also believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.” 

In these end times in which there is so much trouble and sorrow, God gives us comfort.  Though we still face death all day long, all Christians will be reunited at the Lord’s return.  Paul explains that because of Jesus, we can be confident that our believing loved ones will be coming back with Jesus when He returns in judgment upon this world. 

The Thessalonians may have been afraid that those who died would miss out on Christ’s return, or even miss out on His salvation, but Paul assures us, “In fact, we tell you this by the word of the Lord: We who are alive and left until the coming of the Lord will certainly not go on ahead of those who have fallen asleep.”  We won’t have anything over those who fell asleep in Jesus.  The sainted Christian believers have already been resting in Jesus’ loving arms, already enjoying eternal life with Him in heaven, and they, too, will join in judging the world with Jesus at His return, even judging angels just as the Holy Spirit promised. (1 Corinthians 6:2-3)

So, if we won’t have anything over those who have been asleep in Christ, will they have something better than what we will experience?  Not at all.  Paul wrote, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them, to meet the Lord in the air.”  St. John was given a vision of this second Ascension Day, and he said, “I looked, and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.” (Revelation 14:1) 

On the last day of this world, all true Christian believers of every age and place, from Adam until the last baby baptized before Jesus’ return, will join in that throng of believers removed from earth before its final destruction.  It really doesn’t matter when the believer lived, whether in Old Testament times, or if he walked this earth with Jesus, or at the time of Martin Luther, or today, or centuries from now; we have the comfort of knowing that all those who trust in Christ for forgiveness and salvation will be among this great assembly of believers rising in the air with their Savior. 

Paul says “The dead in Christ will rise first.”  Some have argued that this resurrection will take place some time before Christ’s return, but the Scripture is very clear that when the graves are opened and the dead rise, the end has come, and those Christians still living on earth will not die, but will immediately join their Lord to live forever along with those whose bodies had lain sleeping in the earth.  “We who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them, to meet the Lord in the air.”  Which ones of this picture will we be?  Doesn’t really matter, does it?  In the end, all faithful Christians will be with their Lord and Savior forever.

Now, our Lord wants you to know and believe that as Christian believers, we are united with Him not only just at the end of the world, but right now, and nothing can separate us from Him.  Just before His ascension to heaven, Jesus promised, “Surely I am with you always until the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)  Through Paul’s letter to the Romans, the Holy Spirit assures us, “neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)  Here in our sermon text, we are again reassured, “We will always be with the Lord.”

You and I, who live and walk in faith, believing that we are sinners whom Jesus has cleansed with His perfect life and with His holy precious blood shed at His innocent sacrifice on the cross have another sure comfort.  We are, by faith, already united with Christ Jesus as His holy body.  That doesn’t change at our physical death.  We remain united with Him for time and eternity.  That is why St. Paul calls the death of a Christian merely a sleep.  He wasn’t using this phase as a euphemism or to give false comfort.  Rather, God explains that we continue to live even though our bodies must die.  For the body in the grave, it will be no different than when we lie down in our beds at night.  Each night, we put our heads on our pillows fully expecting to wake up in the morning, and that is the way the Christian enters death—fully confident that on the last day, our bodies will awaken and rise from their rest refreshed and reunited with their souls to live forever in the bliss and joy of heaven.

Our sermon text closes with the simple phrase, “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”  Just a few phrases earlier Paul said that he and his fellow writers were speaking to the Thessalonians “by the word of the Lord.”  The Word of the Lord is our comfort and strength.  Through God’s holy Word, you and I were brought to faith in His Son.  Through that same holy Word, God promises that you and I have forgiveness and life everlasting.  Thus, the more we hear and read and meditate on God’s Word, the more we can live in this troubled, sorrowful world with comfort, confidence, and joy, knowing that our lives do not end in death.  Rather, we live forever with Christ.

In the letter to the Romans we are told, “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.  For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:3-5) 

The message of the Bible is this: that through faith in Christ, you and I have been delivered from death into life everlasting.  No one, and no thing can ever take that away.  Our comfort and joy is to hear, again and again, God’s promises of love, forgiveness, and salvation for the sake of His own Son, Christ Jesus.  Hearing those promises again and again until He takes us home, we are strengthened in faith, comforted in trouble, and carried by the power of the Spirit to live in Christ all the days of our life, so that we never wander away from Him or throw away the great gift of love we have received.

Dear Christian friends, our individual sinful natures were put to death at our baptisms.  There also, we were made alive through faith in Christ.  So, whether we physically live or die, we live forever with Jesus.  Therefore, whenever we see Christian death in this world, or when we must face our own, we have great comfort and joy, for whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord giving us this sure and certain Comfort for Christians: we are always with the Lord.  Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore.  Amen. 

Rejoice in the feast of salvation.

Sermon for All Saint’s Day, November 3, 2019

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.  Amen.

Isaiah 25:6-9  ⁶On this mountain the Lord of Armies will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food, a banquet of aged wines, with the best cuts of meat, and the finest wines.  ⁷On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that covers all peoples, the burial cloth stretched over all nations.  ⁸He has swallowed up death forever!  The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face.  He will take away the shame of his people throughout the earth.  For the Lord has spoken.  ⁹On that day it will be said, “Look, here is our God!  We waited for him, and he saved us!  This is the Lord!  We waited for him.  Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation!” (EHV)

Rejoice in the feast of salvation.

Dear friends in the Living Savior,

            Death surrounds us.  That is a bitter pill for mankind to swallow.  The human nature feels that it was created to live, yet it also knows that death is constantly stalking us.  Death is evident in the storms that assault us, the ground that moves and shakes beneath our feet, sometimes enough to change the course of rivers and roads or to knock buildings and bridges down.  Death is evident in how quickly we move from looking forward to becoming an adult to dreading the day our grandchildren do. 

Death is evident in the way people can be scared into believing that if we don’t do something right now, the world will end as we know it.  And the supposed world-ending threat changes depending on the whim of the antagonist.  Death even shows its ugly presence in the fact that everything in this world is wearing out, wearing down, gradually, or not-so-gradually, moving toward destruction.  Every piece of property, equipment, or toy we own is just one more thing that will break down, wear out, or fall apart.

In his visions, Isaiah was surrounded by death.  He was shown the destruction of all the surrounding nations, his own country, the great city of Jerusalem lying in ruins, and finally the judgment and destruction of the whole world.  It is in the midst of those visions of judgment, death, and destruction, Isaiah was also shown God’s plan to bring life to His people as He gathers them out of this world of death.  Thus, as we listen to Isaiah’s words, Rejoice in the feast of salvation.

Today, we celebrate All Saints’ Day.  It is a day we remember those fellow believers who have left us behind as the Lord called them out of this world.  Days like this often leave us mournful as we remember those we love and miss.  Yet, as St. Paul wrote, we “do not grieve in the same way as the others, who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13)  Because of the fulfillment of what Isaiah saw, we have a sure and certain hope.  We have every confidence that those fellow believing Christians who have gone before us are enjoying life in a far better place where there is no more destruction, decay, or death.

The ancient Hebrew language doesn’t have a lot of words to describe the less concrete ideas of the world.  Therefore, God often spoke to His prophets in pictures, showing us that what He has prepared will be the best of the best of the best.  Rather than trying to describe the peace and glory He has prepared for us in heaven, He simply gives a picture or the most fantastic wedding celebration any of those ancient people could imagine.  “On this mountain the Lord of Armies will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food, a banquet of aged wines, with the best cuts of meat, and the finest wines.” 

No expense would be spared in preparing this feast for His people.  Today, with the benefit of hindsight, we see that the mountain upon which Isaiah stood in his vision is Jerusalem.  God was promising to prepare this heavenly banquet on the hill where Jesus died.  The cost for our peace and joy was the lifeblood of God’s own begotten Son who took on human flesh to fulfill His Father’s plan to save us, a plan intended to benefit every sinner who ever lived on this earth.  Of course, not every sinner will be willing to be covered by God’s loving gift of salvation, but that’s another story.

From the vision we hear both the prediction and the fulfillment, for whatever God declares is as good as done, “On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that covers all peoples, the burial cloth stretched over all nations.  He has swallowed up death forever!”  As God warned of judgment upon those who refuse to trust Him, He also promised to end the death that has troubled us for as long as any of us can remember.

The verdict has been repeated time and again throughout the history of the world: “the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)  Sin initiated in Adam and Eve caused them to die as well as every soul who has descended from them.  Sin and the curse it brought upon this world is the reason our bodies wear out and fall prey to disease and accidents.  The curse for sin is the reason equipment breaks down, land erodes, plants, animals, and people get sick and die, “For creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in the hope that even creation itself will be set free from slavery to corruption, in order to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Romans 8:20-21)  Yet, for those whom God has called to faith, there is a sure and certain hope, because “the undeserved gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)  Isaiah was looking at the future results of that undeserved gift of our God.

On the mountain of salvation, Jesus swallowed up the curse of death.  He bore our sins as they nailed Him to the cross.  He suffered for our guilt, bearing our shame as He hung there naked, bleeding, dying.  He suffered the rejection by God and the death we each had earned, but for what purpose?  So that God’s Son could destroy death’s hold on us.  “He has swallowed up death forever!” 

When Jesus rose from the dead on Easter morning, the power of death was destroyed.  Death no longer was an eternal banishment from God’s presence, and don’t misunderstand me, I am not saying that those believers who lived before Jesus were suffering in hell.  God’s gift of salvation and eternal life, earned in time, is granted to believers outside of time.  Thus, no matter when a believer has lived, when he or she dies in the faith, that person is welcomed into heaven.

With Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, our sadness at the loss of a loved one is changed.  Yes, no doubt we grieve our loss, yet we celebrate their gain.  Isaiah reported, “The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face.  He will take away the shame of his people throughout the earth.  For the Lord has spoken.”  Our shame is the sin that so corrupts and troubles us.  Our shame is that we could not serve God as we were created to do, but Jesus took away our shame by living for us the perfect life God’s people desire and by dying to take the death we actually deserved. 

But now, look at what God has granted to us and made available to all people—He has wiped away our tears.  That is true especially for those who enter His heaven through the doorway of physical death.  Never again will those believers suffer.  Never again will grief or shame or temptation or sin trouble the glorified believer’s soul.  Never again will the anguish of losing a loved one trouble those who enter heaven because death has no place there.  The Lord God says, “Look!  God’s dwelling is with people.  He will dwell with them, and they will be his people.  God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

Not only has God taken away the tears and suffering of our fellow believers now living in triumph above, but He has eased our pain as well.  Yes, as we think back on those who have gone home before us, we do so with great longing to hold them again, but like them, we will one day be raised up to glory with our Lord and Savior, and we will see them again in a place where love and peace rule forever, where no one will ever again deal with suffering, decay, or pain. 

And, On that day it will be said, “Look, here is our God!  We waited for him, and he saved us!  This is the Lord!  We waited for him.  Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation!”  Who will say these wondrous words?  That would be you and me and every believer as we are carried home by the angels of our Lord to be with Him forever in glory.

That truly is the message of All Saints’ Day.  The sorrows of this world will come to an end.  The joy and peace of heaven, though, will go on forever.  And while we feel a tinge of sorrow as we remember those who have gone on before us, we rejoice that their God has saved them and delivered them into His glory.  Furthermore, we rejoice because the witness our dear ones made to us, when sharing the Good News of Christ’s salvation, or witnessing their trust in the God who loved us all enough to sacrifice His own dear Son so that we could live has been the means through which the Holy Spirit worked saving faith in our hearts.  And that means that you and I who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will with those saints of God forever and ever, Rejoice in the feast of salvation.  Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.