Victory comes through the hearing of the Word.

 

Sermon for Advent 1, November 29, 2020

Grace to you and peace from the Faithful Witness who is, who was, and who is coming.  Amen.

Revelation 3:20-22  ²⁰“Look, I stand at the door and I am knocking.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in with him and dine with him, and he with me.  ²¹To the one who is victorious I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.  ²²Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (EHV)

Victory comes through the hearing of the Word.

Dear repentant friends,

            The apostle John was charged with writing messages to seven congregations in the Roman province of Asia, in what is present day Turkey.  The words of our text are taken from the seventh letter, written to the city of Laodicea.  I sometimes fear that the condition of Christianity in our country most closely resembles that of the congregation at Laodicea.  That’s not a good thing. 

Jesus describes a congregation that considered themselves rich and healthy, and needing nothing, but they were anything but that in spiritual things.  In fact, the Lord describes them as poverty-stricken and dying, declaring them lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, so He was ready to spit them out of His mouth.  That is a brutal rebuke against people who were Christian, but who had allowed earthly prosperity to dull their faith to the point that faith was nearly extinguished.

Neither hot nor cold; food is best served hot or cold, lukewarm brings the danger of rapid spoilage.  Every holiday, we hear the warning that we should beware of letting our leftovers sit too long on the table lest they spoil and cause food poisoning.  Lukewarm spirituality is no different.  People who grow complacent and satisfied with life are often not so sure of their need for the Savior.

The point of this seventh letter, though, was not to bring condemnation.  It is, rather, our loving Savior’s call to repentance.  Those He loves, our Lord chastises.  He is not ready to give up on His children so easily as a less loving god might.  To such lukewarm Christians, Jesus said, “I rebuke and discipline those whom I love.  So take this seriously and repent.” (Revelation 3:19)  Then He speaks the invitation of our text to remind His people that Victory comes through the hearing of the Word.

Jesus declared, “Look, I stand at the door and I am knocking.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in with him and dine with him, and he with me.”  There are many of our world who want to twist this statement into some synergistic condition of faith.  In other words, they say Jesus will do His part through the work of the Holy Spirit, but you have to do your part by opening the door to Him, or inviting Him into your heart.  The words of our text have none of that intent. 

The Bible is clear that we do nothing to contribute to our salvation.  Before the work of the Holy Spirit in us, we were dead, blind, enemies of God who had no intention or ability to come near to God or even to hear His invitation.  This text is addressed to those who are already Christians, but who through indifference, or sinful living, have pushed their dearest Friend out the door.  The Friend who has loved them beyond all measure, to the very last drop of His blood and His own life sacrificed to the grave was pushed aside and forgotten, and this is why Jesus calls for their repentance and pleads to enter their lives again, so that in hearing His Word, their faith would regain its vigor.

In our world, it is so very common for Christian churches to forget that repentance is necessary.  Some would rather focus on helping one’s neighbor or welcoming any stranger and any strange sin into their midst.  The thought is why call people to repentance when it might drive someone away?  Yet, it doesn’t help anyone to tell them sin is okay.  Making light of sin is like seeing someone staggering blindfolded toward the edge of a cliff, but instead of turning that one away from danger, putting a sandwich in his hand and telling him to have a nice trip.

Others take the truth that God loves His people and twist it into a false notion that the Lord will never allow His friends to suffer, so they pretend that if things don’t go exactly like you want them to, you must not be doing the right things to keep God happy with you, which is nothing more than one of the devil’s oldest lies.

Therefore, the warning, here, is that we do not turn Jesus away.  We are to seek Him where He promises to be found—in His Word, and in the Sacraments He ordained.  There is a danger in the present epidemic.  Many who began staying away from church out of respect for the safety of their neighbors may find it easy to become complacent about hearing God’s Word.  Others may grow so comfortable staying home and watching a service from the comfort of the couch, they may not feel the need for the blessing Christ intends to give us through His holy body and blood in the Supper.

Dear friends, there are times when common sense tells us to stay home, but we dare not become indifferent to gathering with the body of Christ which is His Church on earth.  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)  When the conditions of this pandemic allow us to return to a more complete gathering, we must do so.  And while we operate under these restrictions, we dare not turn away from our Savior or each other by indifference, but rather, access the Word of our Lord by whatever means available: the worship service and Bible study offered online and in print, personal devotions and Bible study, call your pastor to bring you the Lord’s Supper privately, seek him out for comfort from the Word, and share with your friends and dear ones the assuring promises of a Savior who lived and died for them and for all.

Jesus said, “To the one who is victorious I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.”  The victory is ours by faith.  Just as in Old Testament Israel, the victory is always won when the Lord fights the war.  We win, not by great works of valor, but by hearing the Word of our Lord through which the Holy Spirit works in us the faith to humbly bow before the Lord in repentance for our sin and indifference and then trust that our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. 

Remember the account of the Pharisee and tax collector.  The Pharisee bragged before God about how much he was serving, but the Lord held that man in contempt, not because he shouldn’t serve, but rather because his trust was in his own works and not in the holy Son of God.  The tax collector, on the other hand, knew he had nothing to offer, so he threw himself before God’s mercy, and he was justified by faith informed by the Word of God.  Thus, Victory comes through the hearing of the Word.

The people of Laodicea likely assumed that because they had been so well-blessed materially, that surely they must have been doing some things right for God to be so generous with them.  From that mistake, they went down the path of life indifferent to the Savior who was pleading for them to return to Him in faith and repentance. 

The Advent season is, likewise, a call to repentance in preparation to meeting our Savior, both at the manger at Christmas time, and in person on Judgment Day.  To walk before the Lord on our own merit merits disaster, because we will never measure up on our own to the holiness of God’s Son.  Yet, God loves us as His chosen people, so He calls us to repent continually and to trust continually in the love He has shown to us in His Son, Jesus. 

Jesus left His Father’s side in heaven to come to earth to become one of us to live for us in perfect humility and obedience.  Jesus had no need to repent for He never once went against His Father’s will, yet Jesus bore the sins of the world and was punished with exile from His Father in our place, so that we could be reconciled with the One who loved us before the beginning of time.

“Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  What a graceful invitation to any and all.  This thought is repeated in each of the seven letters.  By hearing what the Spirit says, faith is worked in the penitent sinner giving life and peace.  “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)  We should well stand with those who observed Jesus’ life on earth, for “They were amazed beyond measure and said, ‘He has done everything well.’” (Mark 7:37)  Even in rebuking the indifferent, Jesus comes to us in love.  He wants only to save those who were lost, and to keep those in His loving care that He has already found, so Victory comes through the hearing of the Word.

Dear friends, as troubling as this year has been, we still live in such luxury that the danger of complacency is ever present.  We have such peace in our land that the threat of death is somewhat a new fear for many.  That is one reason why this pandemic is such big news.  We don’t like to face death.  However, death isn’t new.  It is the result of sin, and on our own, we should fear the One who has power over life and death.  Still, for the Christian believer, that fear is not terror but awesome respect for the One who holds our eternal lives in the palm of His hand, that is Jesus.

Jesus is the Author and Giver of life.  As John said, “Through him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.” (John 1:3-4)  This Man who came down from heaven, who in the beginning gave life to all living things, gave His human life so that you and I may live and never die.  That is the promise of God’s Word and the sure and certain hope of Christianity. 

The Gospel tells us all that Jesus has done to make us right with God above.  It tells us how He lived and died and rose again for you and for me.  It tells us that our sins are forgiven, now and forever.  It tells us of the Human God became so that we could enter the divine.  It tells us that Victory comes through the hearing of the Word.  Therefore, hear that the Good News is ours for Jesus’ sake for hearing it with faith brings your eternal victory.  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. 

Blessed you are in the name of the Lord.

 

Sermon for Thanksgiving Eve, November 25, 2020

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!  His lovingkindness endures forever.  Amen.

Deuteronomy 28:1-10  If you fully obey the voice of the Lord your God by carefully carrying out all his commandments that I am giving you today, then the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.  ²All of the following blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you listen to the voice of the Lord your God: ³You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the fields.  ⁴You will be blessed in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your soil, and in the fruit of your animals: the calves of your cattle and the lambs of your flock.  ⁵You will be blessed in your basket and in your kneading trough.  ⁶You will be blessed when you come in, and you will be blessed when you go out.  ⁷The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you.  From one direction they will come out against you, but they will flee from you in seven directions.  ⁸The Lord will command a blessing on you in your storehouses and in regard to every action of your hand, and he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.  ⁹The Lord will establish you as his holy people, just as he swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and you walk in his ways.  ¹⁰Then all the people of the earth will see that the name of the Lord has been proclaimed over you, and they will fear you. (EHV)

Blessed you are in the name of the Lord.

Dear elect and thankful friends,

            I wonder how many people are thinking this Thanksgiving is more a day of lamenting what we are missing than giving thanks for all we are given.  Anyone who spends much time watching the news, scanning social media, or reading the newspaper is sure to believe that 2020 has been nothing but tragedy, danger, isolation, turmoil, poverty, and death.  Thus, a good share of the populace might be wondering, “What do we have to be thankful for this year?”  Be that as it may, for the Christian believer the answer is always the same: Blessed you are in the name of the Lord.

            When you get home after the service tonight, I hope you will sit down with a highlighter and mark in this text every time you see the word, bless, blessing or blessed.  You will be stunned at just how often God’s blessing on His people shows up in just these few verses.  It is even more stark in the original language, because when the speaker wants to emphasize a particular thing or concept, he will often put that word at the very beginning of the sentence.  It doesn’t come across so much in English, but time and time again, Moses said emphatically to the Children of Israel, “Blessed you are.”

            Now, think about this fact, Moses was preaching to Israel before they crossed the Jordan into the promised land.  That people had been wandering through the wilderness for forty years.  They had faced a variety of hardships.  A whole generation had passed away before they got to this point in their journey.  They had eaten the same food day after day for forty years.  Whoever does the cooking in your family; will your spouse or children ever complain if you make the same meal over and over again for a week or two?  Try it for forty years.

            But here, Moses was pointing Israel to God’s promises and stating that they are as good as done.  This is what you and I need to remember as we give thanks to the Lord.  Everything God has ever promised to us is as good as done, even if we cannot see the whole fulfillment right now.

            Moses said, “If you fully obey the voice of the Lord your God by carefully carrying out all his commandments that I am giving you today, then the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.…The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you.”  Israel received a vivid demonstration of this when they entered Canaan.  When they obeyed God’s instructions for taking Jericho, total victory was theirs with great dispatch and their enemies were wiped out in a day.

            However, when a short time later, they went up against the second city in their way, the Israelites were horribly routed with many of their soldiers killed.  The difference?  One man’s greed brought the whole nation under God’s judgment.  All of God’s blessing hinged on Israel being faithful to the Lord.  The same is true for you and me.

            About now, you might be thinking, no wonder 2020 is so much trouble, our country has been living so recklessly and sinning so much, it is no wonder everything seems to be falling apart.  We might look at ourselves in the mirror and think, “Oh what trouble my sins have caused this year.”  But, we need to step back and realize that God’s promises are for His people, not the people of the world.  Furthermore, God is always faithful even when we fall short.

            Here, shortly before he died (because remember, Moses wasn’t allowed to enter the promised land), Moses said, “All of the following blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you listen to the voice of the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the fields.  You will be blessed in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your soil, and in the fruit of your animals: the calves of your cattle and the lambs of your flock.  You will be blessed in your basket and in your kneading trough.  You will be blessed when you come in, and you will be blessed when you go out.”

            Consider our own circumstances this year.  The whole world is in turmoil with political stress and a virus causing havoc here, there, and everywhere, but in our little corner of the world, we are pretty much at peace.  For the most part, our fields have produced bountifully this year.  The spring and fall seasons were almost incomparable in the ease and speed with which most of the work was accomplished.  We have continued in our jobs and in our worship services even if it does have to be from a distance.  And though there is disease and catastrophe in many places, we have been spared from most of the worst of it.

            Yet, even if none of this was true for us, Blessed you are in the name of the Lord.  Yes, year after year, the Lord blesses us with seed time and harvest.  He gives food for the sower and bread for the eater.  He blesses the work of our hands as His beloved children.  Therefore, no matter what difficulties or dangers we might have to face in life, God’s chosen people can face this world’s troubles with bold confidence in our Lord’s loving care.  Jesus told His followers, “Do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?”  For the unbelievers chase after all these things.  Certainly your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

So much more than all the challenges, or even the material blessings, we receive in this world, we have much greater things coming for us in the future.  You see, God chose us out of the filth of our birth to make us His dear ones through baptism and the preaching of His Word.  Like Israel, we didn’t choose God, rather He chose to be merciful to us, and by choosing to rescue us out of the darkness of the human condition, God opened the gates of heaven for our eternal bliss.

By the gift of His Son, God redeemed the world from sin, death, and the devil’s control.  By the obedience of the Son, the Law was fulfilled so that it no longer holds us in captivity.  By the suffering and death of our beloved Brother, Savior, and Friend, our debt for sin was paid, the chains of Satan’s control over us were broken, and we were set free to serve our Creator and Redeemer in peace and thankfulness.  By Christ’s resurrection from the grave, death’s dark cloud was lifted from over us, for we have God’s promise that like Jesus we too shall be raised from the grave glorified for life immortal.

Moses declared, “The Lord will establish you as his holy people, just as he swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and you walk in his ways.  Then all the people of the earth will see that the name of the Lord has been proclaimed over you, and they will fear you.”  Moses was speaking to the Israelites, but he was speaking also to all who have the faith of Abraham, who “believed in the Lord, and the Lord credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)

Dear friends, in the true Christian faith, Blessed you are in the name of the Lord.  When you trust in God’s promises of forgiveness and salvation, He credits to you the holiness of His Son, and counts you as though you never sinned.  Therefore, He will also bless you, not merely here on earth, but especially in His heavenly mansions where there will never, ever, be any suffering, sorrow, loneliness, pain, or death. 

Though God is blessing His people in all things, we shouldn’t delude ourselves into thinking life in this world will always be pleasant.  Moses said, “Then all the people of the earth will see that the name of the Lord has been proclaimed over you, and they will fear you.”  When we display the true faith in God’s promises that was put on us, we show Jesus to the world.  We show the suffering and death Jesus endured to make us God’s dear children.  When we let the light of our Savior shine in the world, the darkness is exposed, and the people of the dark may lash out against those of the light. 

Israel often faced fierce opposition from its pagan neighbors.  Likewise, Jesus told His disciples, “They will put you out of the synagogues.  In fact, a time is coming when anyone who murders you will think he is offering a service to God.  They will do these things because they have not known the Father or me.” (John 16:2-3)  Jesus also said, “In this world you are going to have trouble.  But be courageous!  I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  So, if you wonder why governors, and others around us, don’t always align with the ways of God, remember that this is just part of the troubled world in which we live. 

However, at the same time as we live in the kingdoms of this world, we are citizens of a better kingdom, a kingdom of peace between God and mankind, a kingdom where life doesn’t end when the body falters, a kingdom of grace, forgiveness, and every blessing, a kingdom where Blessed you are in the name of the Lord.  That is first of all why we give thanks to our great God again, not just that He has blessed us materially, though we certainly praise God for all those blessings too, but especially that even through the trials and hardships of life in this world, God is blessing us for eternity, an eternity of peace and righteousness with Him in the mansions of His glory.  Therefore, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, Blessed you are in the name of the Lord.  Amen.

The God of all grace, who called you into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, will perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.  To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever.  Amen.

Wise Christians stay ready for Jesus’ return.

 

Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year, November 22, 2020

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.

Matthew 25:1–13  “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  ²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.  ³When the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take any oil with them; ⁴but the wise took oil in their containers with their lamps.  ⁵While the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.  ⁶But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him!’  ⁷Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.  ⁸The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’  ⁹But the wise answered, ‘No, there may not be enough for us and for you.  Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’  ¹⁰But while they were away buying oil, the bridegroom came.  Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.  ¹¹Later, the other virgins also came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, let us in.’  ¹²But he answered, ‘Amen I tell you: I do not know you.’  ¹³Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. (EHV)

Wise Christians stay ready for Jesus’ return.

Dear friends of eager expectation, grace and peace to you,

            As you know, we live in two kingdoms; in the kingdom of the world, we have a little over another month before we can finally put this difficult, obnoxious, blest for some but most tragic for others, and certainly confusing year behind us.  Likely, most of us can’t wait to get it over.

In the kingdom of heaven, we have come to the end of the Church year, a Sunday in which we look forward eagerly to that moment when Jesus returns in triumph, and judgment, to take His people home to heaven and to send the rest to permanent exile in hell.  I think it is safe to say that the general population of our world is less eager to see Jesus return than we His people are.

Jesus gathered His disciples around Him, privately, on the Mount of Olives in what was one of His last teaching sessions before His arrest and crucifixion.  Jesus still had much to teach them, but the disciples asked Him about the end.  They understood that Jesus would be leaving them, even if they didn’t yet grasp that He would suffer and die in the process, so they asked about His return, what would happen, and what signs would precede His triumphant return. 

In answer, Jesus gave them many warnings, and in chapters twenty-four and twenty-five of Matthew’s Gospel, three themes recur several times: first, that Jesus would be returning to Judge the world, second, that His return would come unexpectedly with no opportunity for second chances to believe, and therefore third, His people must be ready at all times.  In His parable of the ten virgins, Jesus teaches that Wise Christians stay ready for Jesus’ return.

In this parable, the oil needed when our heavenly Bridegroom returns is true faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior.  The virgins represent all the people of the visible Christian Church.  All of these people were invited to the wedding and received their invitation by Baptism and the preaching of the Word, but while some remain in the faith until the end, others foolishly let their faith fade out, so when Jesus returns, those lacking real faith in Him are left out of the heavenly wedding feast, forever.

The first thing we need to understand is that we do not become wise Christians on our own. Faith is God-given through the power of His Word.  The Bible tells us, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3)  Jesus told His disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will endure.” (John 15:16) 

Furthermore, no one volunteered to become a follower of the Savior.  No one found Him by his own study or effort.  To the Thessalonians Paul wrote, “God chose you from the beginning for salvation by the sanctifying work of the Spirit and faith in the truth.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13)  And the letter to the Ephesians tells us, “Indeed, 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)

Though we could not come to forgiveness and salvation on our own, it certainly didn’t happen by chance.  Through the prophet, Isaiah, God declares, “I, yes I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.  I myself declared it.  I brought salvation, and I announced it.” (Isaiah 43:11-12)  It was God’s plan from before the fall into sin to bring salvation to the world and to rescue people from the disaster sin had given them.  God used all that Old Testament history to prepare for the exact moment of His Son’s entrance into the world to live, suffer, and die to redeem His people from sin and death.  Then, there at the cross of Calvary, “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)

Dear friends, this is the faith God gave to you as a child in your Baptism.  This is the faith you must hold onto until Jesus returns in glory.  This is the faith that allows you to enter the marriage feast of the Son, and it is the faith that also keeps you going through all the highs and lows of this world.  Thus, the second thing we need to remember is that wise Christians don’t neglect their faith.

St. Paul wrote to Timothy, “Continue in the things you have learned and about which you have become convinced.  You know from whom you learned them and that from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:14-15)  Notice that Paul too continues the theme that we must stay in this God-given faith.  In his earlier letter to Timothy, Paul had urged him, “Fight the good fight, with faith and a good conscience.  By rejecting these, some people have suffered shipwreck with regard to their faith.” (1 Timothy 1:18-19)  Again we see the warning.  Like Esau with his birthright, too many people don’t treasure their faith in Jesus, nor guard and nurture it, so it fades away until none remains. 

On the other hand, wise Christians keep their lamps burning in this life and keep their oil supply well stocked for that moment they meet their Savior face to face.  This is both for their own benefit and for that of their neighbors.  Jesus told His followers, “Let your light shine in people’s presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)  Likewise, James warned, “Faith, if it is alone and has no works, is dead.” (James 2:17)

At the same time, wise Christians know that their works don’t gain or preserve salvation.  We know by faith that it is the Holy Spirit who works in us to believe and to do good things.  Thus, we recognize the need to have the Holy Spirit working in us continually through His holy Word.  St. Paul wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes—to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed by faith, for faith, just as it is written, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” (Romans 1:16-17)

Because wise Christians recognize their need, you will find them regularly in church confessing their sins and letting the Good News of forgiveness in Christ lift their broken spirits.  They devote themselves to hearing and studying God’s Word to the best of their abilities and time.  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)

Wise Christians stay ready for Jesus’ return.  The final point I want to make based on this text is that wise Christians stay ready for Jesus’ return even in death.  To the world, it certainly looks like Jesus has been delayed in returning to take us into the banquet of heaven.  We should not despair at this delay.  Remember how Peter encouraged those who may have grown disheartened when Jesus didn’t come back in glory soon after His ascension.  Peter wrote, “The Lord is not slow to do what he promised, as some consider slowness.  Instead, he is patient for your sakes, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) 

God in His infinite patience has allowed this world to continue in all its trials, hardships, fears, wickedness, and temptation until that final moment when all the elect from every age have been brought into His kingdom of grace.  Meanwhile, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus to send His Holy Spirit, through Word and Sacrament, to make believers from every tribe, nation, people, and language so that His house in heaven will be filled with grateful celebrants.  Only then will Jesus return to separate the sheep from the goats as we heard last Sunday.  God allows this time for His Word to be proclaimed so that as many as might be saved will be.

Like those ten virgins in the parable, God’s people have fallen asleep while waiting for as long as Jesus has been promised.  The Old Testament believers looked forward to the day Jesus would come to redeem the world from sin and death.  They fell asleep trusting that God is their faithful Savior, and they will be raised in glory with that faith to enter heaven with their glorified bodies on the same day that all true Christian believers will be raised to enter with the Lord.

All true Christians before us, who like us have seen Jesus’ victory by faith, have been falling asleep while waiting since that time Jesus ascended to heaven to prepare a place for His people.  Yet, we don’t fall asleep empty handed.  The faith the Holy Spirit has worked in us stays with us to be ready for the moment the trumpet sounds from heaven announcing Jesus’ return in all His glory and with His angels reaping the fields to gather in the golden grain of His harvest.

When the call rings out, “Look, the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him!” those who have fallen asleep in Jesus will wake to a glorious new day to enter that heavenly wedding banquet that will never end.  Concerning Jesus second coming, St. 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.  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 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.  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.  And so we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)

Dear Christian friends, this is the sure and certain confidence Jesus has worked in us by the power of His Holy Spirit.  We have a home in heaven for our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake, and by His Gospel He has given us the oil of faith that will never run out or be lacking on the day He returns to welcome us into His heavenly mansion.  We are ready by faith to meet our Savior.  We will be ready always in the power of His grace, because by Word and Sacrament Jesus keeps us in the one true faith so that Wise Christians stay ready for Jesus’ return.  Amen.

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

Shout the Good News; Jesus shepherds His flock.

 

Sermon for 2^nd Last Sunday, November 15, 2020

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

Isaiah 40:9-11  ⁹Get up on a high mountain, O Zion, you herald of good news.  Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, you herald of good news.  Lift it up!  Do not be afraid!  Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”  ¹⁰Look, God the Lord will come with strength, and his arm is ruling for him.  Look, his reward is with him.  The result of his work is in front of him.  ¹¹Like a shepherd he will care for his flock.  With his arm he will gather the lambs.  He will lift them up on his lap.  He will gently lead the nursing mothers. (EHV)

Shout the Good News; Jesus shepherds His flock.

Dear friends in Christ,

            I last preached on this text thirteen years ago, and I began by noting how all the news of that time was bad news.  That year, there was a continuous stream of disasters with seemingly no end in sight.  Last year, again, we were eagerly looking forward to the new year so that we could put the struggles of 2019 in the rear-view mirror, but I don’t need to remind you how much fun 2020 has turned out to be.

The truth is, every year has its hardships and trials, because even in the best of times, our world is afflicted with the curse of sin, as St. Paul noted in his letter to the Romans, “For we know that all of creation is groaning with birth pains right up to the present time.” (Romans 8:22)  In Isaiah’s time, Israel too was experiencing a disastrous situation, and it would get much worse before it got better.  The people of that nation likely thought God had abandoned them, but the truth is, they had walked away from the Lord who loved them, which Isaiah duly noted, saying, “We all have gone astray like sheep.  Each of us has turned to his own way.” (Isaiah 53:6)

Because the whole world walked away from the loving God who wants only to make things right again, one might wonder whether God might simply decide to destroy our rebellious race and start over, but that is not the way of the God of love, so here in our text, Isaiah looks forward to the future and to God’s plans for the resolution of all the problems this world faces.  The message of this text for us is Shout the Good News; Jesus shepherds His flock.

The nation of Israel was God’s chosen people.  They were to be a beacon of light for all the world.  Unfortunately, they often fell far short of that goal.  Afflicted with sin like everyone else, they too so often walked away from God to serve idolatrous inclinations.  It is sad to say that we in the church sometimes struggle with the same faults.  We too have at times forgotten to be lights in this dark world.  We let the troubles of our days lead us to wonder about our futures, and sometimes we imagine that the future is in our hands or subject to the whims of fate.  Certainly, sin afflicts us like everyone else.

Yet, the command given to God’s chosen people continues likewise for us, Get up on a high mountain, O Zion, you herald of good news.  Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, you herald of good news.  Lift it up!  Do not be afraid!  Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”  The city of Jerusalem along with the mountain of Zion represent, in our times, that kingdom of peace that Jesus has established for us.  It is in that refuge of peace that we will enjoy life forever.

Now sometimes, it might seem like joy will come to us only in heaven, but truly, we have peace and joy even in the worst of times, because we know what Jesus has done for us and the gates He has opened for us.  Thus, the Christian Church is ever to be shouting from the heights that there is a Savior and that He comes to the world in this place bringing peace with God. 

Furthermore, it doesn’t require one to be a priest, a pastor, or a called apostle to let this Good News guide our days.  No matter our vocations, trust in Christ Jesus should dominate our lives.  Knowing that Jesus lives and that He grants forgiveness and salvation to all who believe in Him should remove all our fears about life in this world.  Again, Paul wrote in his letter to the Roman congregation, “What will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  Just as it is written: ‘For your sake we are being put to death all day long.  We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:35-37)

Having been granted the victory over sin, death, and the devil, we have the command to show love to our neighbors principally by sharing the Good News about Jesus.  Of all the things we have to do, and granted the work of our earthly lives is important for the good of all, the most important thing we can do is point to Jesus saying, “Here is your God!”  And of course, many of our times would argue that Jesus isn’t their God, but the fact remains that apart from Christ there is no earth to live on, no air to breath, no food or family or any other good thing.  The Lord provides for the wicked and the good.  Therefore, His is God for all whether believed in or not.

Israel was told, “Look, God the Lord will come with strength, and his arm is ruling for him.  Look, his reward is with him.  The result of his work is in front of him.”  Seven hundred years before the Son of God took human flesh into the Godhead with His incarnation in the virgin birth, Isaiah reminded his people that God was coming into the world to save them and to save us. 

Jesus came with a strength that was unrecognized in the world.  Certainly, His miracles did not go unnoticed, but His greater strength lay in His humility and weakness.  When Paul prayed for relief from some ailment, the Lord replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)  For you and me, likewise, weakness is a good thing.  We cannot cure the world’s ailments or the persecutions of our enemies by militaristic might or by our own hands in fight.  Yet, trusting solely and completely in Jesus, and in His care for us, yields the perfect ending—life in heaven where there will be no more suffering, sorrow, or death. 

Jesus perfected this weakness on our behalf by living as a man with no wealth, no army, no rebellious bands waging a guerrilla war, and not even a humble home in which to lay His head.  Rather than demand the honor He was owed as the Son of God, He came only to serve, and Jesus expressed the strength of His complete and perfect weakness on our behalf by trusting solely and completely in His Father above.  Jesus perfectly obeyed God’s commands in our place, then as our Good Shepherd, He gave His life so that we would live, and even as He hung on the cross after suffering the pains of hell for the sins of the world, Jesus continued humbly submitting all things to God above crying out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46)

Jesus’ “reward” and the “result of His work” is the believers He has won for salvation.  Not only did Jesus live, suffer, die, and rise again so that we might be His own and live with Him forever, but as the resurrected Lord of Life, Jesus continues to work all things for those who follow Him, and for those who yet will. 

Isaiah wrote, “Like a shepherd he will care for his flock.  With his arm he will gather the lambs.  He will lift them up on his lap.  He will gently lead the nursing mothers.”  What a beautiful picture of the Shepherd’s gentle care.  Though the world is against us and rejects our Shepherd, He continues to provide for all.  Especially for His flock, Jesus guides all things for our everlasting good.  Through the power of His Spirit in the Word, He resuscitates believers from the stone-hearted walking dead.  Though we couldn’t choose Him, God chose to give us life.  More than that, having given His life to rescue us from the curse of death, Jesus gives His body and blood in a simple supper of bread and wine to nourish and strengthen our faith, reminding us again and again of the forgiveness and life that is ours through Him, putting His immortal flesh and blood as life-giving medicine directly on our lips and tongues.

Starting with the apostles hand-picked and personally trained by Jesus, the Word has gone out throughout the world to gather in His Father’s chosen children.  So many times, this requires a special care.  When the lost lamb is surrounded by savage wolves, our Shepherd comes to the rescue, picking up that lamb by the power of His love, carrying him or her close to His heart through these trying times to a place of refuge and peace.

As you can imagine, a new-born lamb isn’t ready to travel the rough spiritual terrain so common in our world, but Jesus will never abandon those He loves.  Likewise, the picture of the nursing mother, so often so involved in the care of her lambs that she pays no attention to the dangers around her, but Jesus is there to gently lead her with her children to the perfect pasture where no danger can trouble them ever again, so “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)

Thus, the prophet cries out to me and to you, just as to Israel, “You herald of good news.  Lift it up!  Do not be afraid!  Say to the [world] (cities of Judah), “Here is your God!”  May our whole lives ring true to this grace that through the humble sheep of Jesus’ flock, the world may see the God of Love.  Have no fear of the troubles of this world, dear friends, no matter how loud Satan’s prowling wolves may howl.  Boldly go, not cowed by the troubles, sickness, and pain of this life but confident that your Shepherd has all things well in hand for your good. 

None of this means we don’t do our ordinary jobs or fail to take reasonable precautions for our health and that of those around us.  Rather, it means we go forward through every trial, danger, temptation, and fear while showing love to our families and neighbors with full confidence in the forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life that is ours through faith in Christ Jesus, that we sing for joy in the face of hardships and trials, rejoicing for the peace that is ours both now and forevermore.  Then with every breath we take, and for every moment we live, through any trial, hardship, sorrow, or pain, we will Shout the Good News; Jesus shepherds His flock.  Amen.

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

The cure for fear is Jesus.

 

Sermon for Reformation Sunday, November 1, 2020

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.  Amen.

Revelation 14:6-7  ⁶Then I saw another angel flying in the middle of the sky.  He had the everlasting gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth, to every nation, tribe, language, and people.  ⁷He said with a loud voice: Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come.  Worship him who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water. (EHV)

The cure for fear is Jesus.

Dear brothers and sisters washed in the blood of the Lamb,

            An insidious epidemic has engulfed our world, and it is being used against you.  It is used by the government to force you to change the way you live and the things you do.  This epidemic is being used by your neighbors to judge you.  It is being used by the media to influence how you view your neighbors and to persuade you concerning your vote in this coming Tuesday’s election.  There is much advice being given, and royal decrees have been issued under the guise of protecting you, but masks, social distancing, treatments, medications, and even potential new vaccines won’t stop this epidemic, because while some might say this is a new pandemic, the truth is, it is quite ancient, for the truly troubling epidemic is not Covid-19, but an epidemic of fear, especially, the fear of death.

This epidemic of fear is as ancient as sin in the world.  Sin separates from the love of God.  Sinful fear makes people afraid of others who seem a bit different, whether it be skin color, language, handicap, or the way one might dress.  Sinful fear makes people wonder if God is paying attention, and fear is being used against you in this election, as so much of the campaigning is designed to convince you that one candidate or the other is the only one who can keep you safe.  Media and political parties are doing everything they can to convince you that your neighbors are evil and bear you ill if they make different decisions about the candidates.  Fear of potential shortages of natural resources and greater hardship in one’s personal life often drives people to sacrifice their children on the altars of evil at abortion clinics, and some have sacrificed their own lives in despair.

What is truly sad about this epidemic of fear is that we already have the answer.  We don’t need to be afraid of death, because we know and believe in the One Man who has conquered death.  We have no need to fear the future, because we know and believe in the One Lord who has been given authority over heaven and earth.  We have no need to fear shortages of natural resources in the future, because we know and believe that our God knows that we need those things, and He will provide sufficiently for us.  Therefore, my dear friends, The cure for fear is Jesus.

In the Revelation our Lord Jesus gave to His apostle, John, we find the vision of our sermon text.  St. John reported, “Then I saw another angel flying in the middle of the sky.  He had the everlasting gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth, to every nation, tribe, language, and people.”  God’s messenger cries out to the whole earth the Good News God has provided us.  That gospel message will never change.  It is everlasting.  It is for all people a message of hope: your sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake.  The devil and his allies will never be able to silence this Good News because God Himself will make sure it is proclaimed to the ends of the earth. 

This is why we celebrate the Reformation—because when it looked like the devil would keep the gospel hidden in lies and false teaching, and unscrupulous men took advantage of peoples’ fear of death to sell false hope, God raised up a man with the ability to bring the promises of the Gospel back to light.  This text has long been associated with the Reformation and Martin Luther in particular, but it doesn’t point directly to Luther.  Rather, it gives us the assurance that God’s promises will never fail. 

St. Paul wrote, “This saying is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,’ of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:15)  Today, we could certainly debate whether Paul was the worst sinner ever, but there is no debating that Jesus came to save sinners, all of us included, nor is salvation conditional on anything we do, because Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies.  And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish.” (John 11:25-26)

We are being warned daily that if we don’t wear masks, avoid crowds, and follow all kinds of other regulations and rules, we will surely die and kill others in the process.  Terror is being proclaimed here, there, and everywhere.  Why now?  I am convinced it is because our culture has long entertained the illusion that we can put off death by not thinking about it.  However, that is a smokescreen of self-delusion.  Needless to say, Covid has helped bring death back out into the open, but the death rate hasn’t changed one iota in this pandemic year.  Death is still a one hundred percent certainty for everyone because we are all sinners, and “the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)

Now, rest assured, I am not telling you to throw away the masks, to disobey the government, or to take foolish risks with your health.  We were created to live, and as much as anyone else, I want to be able to spend time with my wife, children, grandchildren, and friends for as long as the Lord gives me on this earth, so we use whatever reasonable precautions are advised to preserve health, but I especially want to encourage you not to live in fear.  Rather, trust the One who has power to end all fear and to give you life that never ends.

When John first saw Jesus the day Jesus revealed these visions to him, the apostle fell to the ground terrified of the glory, but Jesus came to him and said, “Do not be afraid.  I am the First and the Last—the Living One.  I was dead and, see, I am alive forever and ever!  I also hold the keys of death and hell.” (Revelation 1:18)  As true God and true Man in One person, Christ Jesus defeated death once for all.  He holds the keys that bind Satan forever, and Jesus has opened the gates of heaven for all who believe in Him, so The cure for fear is Jesus.

Much of our world trembles before idols.  Our science and education systems have convinced most people that the world takes care of itself with no divine intervention.  Our political systems have convinced us that government is the do all and end all for every need.  Yet, this idolatry does nothing good for us or anyone else.  On the other hand, when the devil came tempting Jesus, our Lord rejected that liar by saying, “Go away, Satan!  For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” (Matthew 4:10)

The angel in the middle heaven shouted to the rooftops, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come.  Worship him who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water.”  The command to fear God means different things to different people.  In the unbeliever, this fear shows itself as a terror of judgement that keeps the sinner hiding from the God who loves to save.  When Adam and Eve had sinned, they hid themselves from the God they knew would condemn them.  Yet, God didn’t condemn but offered the promise of a Savior.  They suffered the consequence of death, but the hope of everlasting life was given to them right there.

Because the old man of our sinful nature also feels the terror of judgment, and we believers will often be in the minority, fear is a constant struggle.  So many around us don’t know God or His promises of forgiveness and life.  Yet, as believers, we have this sure and certain hope.  For the believer, fear of God is not terror of judgment.  It is rather, an awe-struck amazement and trust in God’s saving grace, for He gave His Son into death to take away our sin and condemnation, so that we might live forever with Him in heaven.  Therefore, being counted pure and holy through faith in Christ Jesus, we have nothing to fear in death, for in physical death, the Christian believer enters eternal glory that far surpasses the best of this world.

The hour of judgment encompasses two events.  Naturally, we look toward Judgment Day when all people will answer for their sins and their faith.  At the same time, the hour of judgment took place at the cross when God condemned His own Son for the sins of the world.  There, all sins were paid for by the blood of Jesus.  The suffering and death Jesus endured, there, guaranteed life for you and me.

The angel spoke boldly and loudly, “Worship him who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water.”  Worship is to bow in obeisance before the one who rules.  The world bows down to its own schemes, to the creation, to a variety of false teachings the devil dreams up, and to idols of human imagination.  None of those things can save or take away fear.

However, St. John wrote in His gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.  The light is shining in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5)  The angel in our text tells us to put all trust in the One who gave life in the beginning and who restored life by the sacrifice of His own.  Jesus cures our fears by giving us life through faith in Him.

Looking forward to the Christ coming into the world, David wrote in his psalm, “Nevertheless, you make him suffer need, apart from God for a while, but you crown him with glory and honor.  You make him the ruler over the works of your hands.  You put everything under his feet.” (Psalms 8:5-6)  So that you and I might live and never die, Jesus suffered separation from His Father in heaven and the punishment of hell in our place.  Jesus was then raised in victory to live forever, and in honor of the sacrifice He made to save God’s precious people, God has granted Jesus the honor of ruling heaven and earth. 

The world rejects the Man Christ Jesus as King, but for you and me He works all things for our everlasting good.  As St. Paul wrote, “What will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  Just as it is written: For your sake we are being put to death all day long.  We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:35-37)

Dear friends, there is no doubt that we live in trying times, but when hasn’t the Christian faced trouble and hardship in this sin-damaged world?  Take the angel’s command to heart.  Put whole-hearted trust in the Lord Jesus who created you and restored you to a position of honor and glory before His Father in heaven.  With all authority in heaven and on earth, Jesus has your future firmly in hand, just as He assured His disciples, “In this world you are going to have trouble.  But be courageous!  I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  The cure for fear is Jesus.  Amen.

To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God His Father—to Him be the glory and the power forever.  Amen. (Revelation 1:5-6)