Let the Father’s mercy be in you.

 

Sermon for Trinity 4, June 27, 2021

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and Jesus our Teacher, Redeemer, and Lord.  Amen.

Luke 6:36–42  ³⁶“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  ³⁷“Do not judge, and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  ³⁸Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap.  In fact, the measure with which you measure will be measured back to you.”  ³⁹He also told them a parable: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he?  Won’t they both fall into a pit?  ⁴⁰A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.  ⁴¹Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?  ⁴²Or how can you tell your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck in your eye,’ when you do not see the beam in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck in your brother’s eye.” (EHV)

Let the Father’s mercy be in you.

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

            It has become quite popular in the politics of our time to criticize wealthy people for being too selfish, too greedy, and too uncaring about their neighbors and fellow countrymen.  Now imagine someone with great wealth who would be unwilling to share his great treasure, not because he didn’t care, but because he simply forgot he was rich.  That would be just as wrong as the rich man whose greed or lack of love keeps him from generously sharing his good fortune with those in need. 

Now, I want to assure you that this sermon is not speaking about politics, nor will I tell you how much money to give to church or charity.  In fact, I don’t plan to speak about money at all.  However, I wonder, does forgetfulness about our great treasure also infect us?  For this reason, I need to remind all of us about the great wealth we possess in the mercy of God. 

Jesus said, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”  How often do we consider the full extent of God’s mercy as it applies to us?  The people that surrounded Jesus certainly needed to be reminded.  Likewise, we need to be reminded to Let the Father’s mercy be in you.

“Just as your Father is merciful.”  One of Jesus’ main points here is to remind us of how richly God’s mercy has blessed us.  Whether we are rich or poor, God has been blessing us far more than anyone deserves.  The Bible tells us that the Father “makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45)  Without our asking, or earning it, God gives us everything we need for body and life.  Far beyond what any of us even recognize, God is caring for us, helping us, and protecting us from harm and danger, for as Luther noted,

God has made me and all creatures; He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still preserves them; He richly and daily provides me with food and clothing, home and family, property and goods, and all that I need to support this body and life; He protects me from all danger, guards and keeps me from all evil; and all this purely out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me; for all which I am duty bound to thank and praise, to serve and obey Him.  This is most certainly true.

In addition to all these material blessings, the greatest gift of God’s mercy is the Son He gave into death so that all of our sins would be paid for and we could be forgiven.

A second main point is that Jesus wants us to see our own faults and shortcomings.  The primary reason we preach the law is not to condemn anyone else, but to remind every person in attendance just how far we all are from perfection.  Ideally, when we stand before the mirror of the law, we should see the holiness of God reflected in us, but as long as we remain in this world, we see instead the corruption that so infects us.  Yet, God does not immediately condemn us for that vast and total corruption we inherited from our parents, nor for the sins we ourselves commit.

“Just as your Father is merciful.”  Jesus declared the greatness of His Father’s mercy when He said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)  The only person in the history of the world who by His perfect righteousness and holiness could have the right to look down on sinners is the One Man who did not.  Instead of arrogance, Jesus demonstrated perfect humility and kindness, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17)

The pious, self-righteous leaders of Jesus’ day looked down on Him because He willingly associated with people they considered sinful and unclean.  The Pharisees thought that the sins of the people Jesus associated with made Him unacceptable to God.  They were offended, especially, when Jesus forgave sins.  The question for us is how often do we exhibit those same self-righteous attitudes in our dealings with fellow sinners? 

It would be easy for me to look at the people in this room, in my family, or in the neighborhood, and find sinners who don’t deserve God’s mercy, but when I look in the mirror of the law, I see even more so that it is me who doesn’t deserve the grace I have been shown.  We all should stand with William McComb who wrote, “Chief of sinners though I be, Jesus shed His blood for me.”

Perhaps one of the most misused lines of Scripture is the passage, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.”  Many are the sinners who try to defend their wicked ways by using Jesus’ words to claim that no one should judge their actions.  However, Jesus was not teaching that sin should be approved or ignored.  Jesus never condoned any sin.  When the teachers of Israel dragged an adulterous woman before Jesus hoping for Him to condemn her, Jesus simply asked for those without sin to cast the first stone.  When no one had the audacity to throw that first rock, Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.  Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” (John 8:11)  Likewise, we say, Let the Father’s mercy be in you.

The message for you and me is that Jesus was not in this world seeking to destroy those who disobey the law; He was here to rescue all of us who cannot keep the law.  Every human who has ever lived is in the same putrid pool.  None of us can swim out of the muck to safety.  None of us will survive the cesspool of sin without divine intervention.  The love of God demands that we recognize that no matter how great the sin, how evil the action, how awful it all might look, Jesus paid for it all. 

Having said this does not require that sin be encouraged or excused.  Nor can we help anyone else while we are immersed in disobedience or selfish arrogance.  The Christian response to sin is to correct the fallen soul as honestly, gently, humbly, yet forcefully as possible, and then to share the Good News of Jesus to the penitent sinner. 

Jesus said, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap.  In fact, the measure with which you measure will be measured back to you.”  This is the same way Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins, as we also forgive everyone who sins against us.” (Luke 11:4)  This is the grace God has shown us, to give us the forgiveness we don’t deserve so that we can extend God’s love and mercy to others who have no right to claim it.  By the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice, God washed us clean of the stench of our sin, so that we can likewise share that cleansing miracle with fellow sinners.

Jesus then told them a parable: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he?  Won’t they both fall into a pit?  A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.”  To help our fellow sinners, we need to have our eyes opened to both the law and the grace of our God.  We need to see our own weaknesses and the sins which would condemn us.  We need to learn from Jesus how we should live in humility and kindness.  Yet, like our Teacher, we will demonstrate to the world the kindness of our Father who sent His only-begotten Son to live and die on our behalf so that sin is no longer our downfall and sentence of death.

Jesus’ second parable shows us that we can only help others when we live in humble repentance for all of our own sins.  It is only in living truth faith in Christ Jesus for forgiveness and life that anyone can help his neighbor.  The log in our eye is removed only through humble repentance, trust in the Father’s love, and confidence in the sacrifice Jesus made for us all.  We help our brother when we keep our eyes focused on Jesus and what He did for us all.  We help our friends the most when we lead them to the Great Physician of body and soul.  It is trusting in Jesus that heals us.  He is the only One who has perfectly carried out the proper mixture of love, forgiveness, and firm rebuke. 

All of us need to remember that there is a Judgment Day coming in which all things will be revealed.  None of us can know the hearts of those around us.  We observe the actions and accept the confessions, then we offer the forgiveness God has accomplished through the blood of His Lamb.

Dear friends, I don’t know how much these passages trouble you.  If you are like me, you recognize that in this too we often fall short.  Did I rightly explain the law?  Have I given a proper correction so that I am not leading a spiritually blind person into further darkness?  Have I readily forgiven those who have hurt me with the same mercy as God has shown me?  Questions like these often trouble faithful Christians because we know we fall short of the glory of God. 

However, this point must be our assurance and our comfort: Jesus has done everything necessary to win our forgiveness and life.  Jesus has already lived the perfect holiness that covers our guilt.  “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For in Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.  Indeed, what the law was unable to do, because it was weakened by the flesh, God did, when he sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to deal with sin.” (Romans 8:1-3)

Jesus has dealt with every sin ever—your sin—my sin—the sins of the whole world—all of it was paid for on that cross on Golgotha.  God, in His immense mercy and love, gave His Son into death so that no sin will ever be held against mankind again.  Let this be your confidence and guide: “The gracious gift is not like Adam’s trespass.  For if the many died by the trespass of this one man, it is even more certain that God’s grace, and the gift given by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, overflowed to the many!” (Romans 5:15)  Thus again I say, Let the Father’s mercy be in you.

One of the sad realities of our sinful nature is that we sometimes overestimate our goodness in comparison to others, especially when our feelings are hurt by loved ones, friends, or fellow church members.  We find it so easy to judge them, yet so hard to judge our own failures.  For this too let us turn to Jesus knowing that He has invited us all into His Father’s mercy by the life He lived and the death He suffered so that the Father in heaven will count you as perfectly holy and forgiven.  “Like all the others, we were by nature objects of God’s wrath.  But God, because he is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses.” (Ephesians 2:3-5)

My friends, return daily to your baptism by humble repentance.  See the love in your Savior’s eyes as through His apostle He assures you again and again, “If anyone does sin, we have an Advocate before the Father: Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2)  Let the Father’s mercy be in you.  Amen.

Now may the God of peace—who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, in connection with His blood, which established the eternal testament—may He equip you with every good thing to do His will, as He works in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ.  To Him be glory forever and ever.  Amen.”

Trust the God who forgives and forgets our sin.

 

Sermon for Trinity 3, June 20, 2021

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Amen.

Micah 7:18-20  ¹⁸ Who is a God like you, who forgives guilt, and who passes over the rebellion of the survivors from his inheritance?  He does not hold onto his anger forever.  He delights in showing mercy.  ¹⁹ He will have compassion on us again.  He will overcome our guilty deeds.  You will throw all their sins into the depths of the sea.  ²⁰ You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, as you swore to our fathers from days of old. (EHV)

Trust the God who forgives and forgets our sin.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

            Modern man likes to imagine that humanity has grown better, smarter, and more civilized than the ancients.  However, when one examines society with a critical eye, he soon finds that humanity, as a whole, has not grown more loving to neighbors, nor more devoted to peaceful living.  We have not solved the problems of hunger, or drought, or crime, hatred, racism, or greed.  And most certainly, this world of seven billion plus people has not grown more faithful to the one true God.

The prophet Micah is relatively unknown among the prophets.  We know almost nothing about his life or who he was as an individual.  Yet, Micah was called by God to proclaim judgment and doom against the defiant, rebellious people of Israel and Judah just before and after the ten northern tribes of Israel were conquered and carted off to exile never to return.  At that time, also, the state of Judah came desperately close to suffering the same fate.  However, to say that Micah was called to proclaim judgment and doom against God’s people shortchanges his work, for after each such condemning prophecy, Micah had the privilege to announce God’s mercy on those who trust in the one true God.  Thus, Micah teaches us to Trust the God who forgives and forgets our sin.

The people of Israel and Judah often succumbed to the temptation to worship their neighbors’ idols.  On top of that, many simply didn’t feel the need to recognize God at all, so rather than seek help from the God of their fathers, the leaders, as well as the common man, often chose to navigate the troubles of this world on their own foolish wisdom and feeble strength.

You might guess that I would contend this sounds an awful lot like our present reality.  Our world is filled with religions that worship idols of one type or another, and many who once would have claimed at least a loose affiliation with the Christian faith, now chose to identify their religion as none. 

The temptations against us are many.  We maybe don’t think we are tempted by idols, but like every generation before us, we are strongly tempted by two kinds of idolatry—the first type of idol worship assumes a person can be saved by personal effort or purchase.  The only question is what effort or material gift must be traded to gain God’s favor.  Any religion that demands personal obedience or works in order to be saved fits this category, just as most pagan religions fall in here.

The second form of idolatry imagines that nature, the earth, or the universe as a whole has godly powers.  This idol worship is extremely pervasive in our times, and most families send their children to schools that are inclined to indoctrinate our children with these false ideas.  The theories of a big bang source to our world and the ideology of evolution are nothing more than direct, idolatrous assaults on the truths of Scripture.  This type of idolatry also emphasizes that truth is relative to situation and should be decided by the will of contemporary culture.  Many of the teachings associated with this idolatry are very tempting to our sympathies.  We like to see people feel good about themselves.  We desire to have control over our world.  Furthermore, the voices of its teachers are compelling—until you realize the demonic source.

Therefore, we could have no end to preaching against the idolatries that affect us.  Yet, simply committing ourselves to the First Commandment will suffice: You shall have no other gods.  What does this mean?  We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.  All other commandments hinge on this one.  Without holding firm, here, obedience to any other law or rule means nothing. 

The truth is, however, we all fall short.  We all have worried.  We all have doubted.  We all have broken any number of commandments—often willingly.  We even find it tempting to put our own feelings above what our God has instructed.  Hatred, greed, prejudice, lust, selfishness—all of these things tinge our record just like any other sinner.  Therefore, if we assume to enter heaven on our own merit, we will be left out.  Likewise, if someone assumes to purchase everlasting peace, he will be disappointed.  Be advised, therefore, we must Trust the God who forgives and forgets our sin. 

Israel and Judah failed God in many ways, and there was discipline applied to them as a warning to us.  However, the point of our text, and the whole Bible in truth, is that God never once failed us.  Micah wrote, “Who is a God like you, who forgives guilt, and who passes over the rebellion of the survivors from his inheritance?”  With this rhetorical question, Micah emphatically declares that there is no other God like the Triune God!  The idolatries that pollute the world offer no solution for sin, unless you count those idolatrous ideas that don’t recognize sin as sin, but even that is no solution when God requires perfect holiness to enter His everlasting kingdom and home. 

Micah rejoiced because God is not only merciful, He planned our forgiveness and salvation even before man sinned.  Unlike any other force or person ever, God was willing to take on the sins of the world so that those of us who need rescue can have it, and as we learned in our Gospel lesson, God goes out of His way to seek out and find the lost He treasures.  This is the history of Christianity.  God searching the world through His messengers to gather together those He treasures, and dear friends, God treasured you. 

God treasured you so much that His Son was willing to leave the glories of heaven to live in this vile, sin-drenched, rebellious, broken, troubled world wearing human flesh, so that He could live the perfect holiness we need to dwell in God’s kingdom.  

God treasured you so much, He gave His Son into death to pay the price for your ransom.  Jesus treasured you so much that He bore your sins as He was punished for all the blasphemous, idolatrous, failures of the world.  Jesus bore that punishment without complaint and without threat of retribution against those who mistreated Him and falsely accused Him.  Jesus willingly laid down His perfect life in exchange for every speck of the guilt of the world, yours and mine included to complete God’s testimony: “I, yes I, am he.  I blot out your rebellious deeds for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” (Isaiah 43:25)

Micah wrote with Holy Spirit inspired joy, “He does not hold onto his anger forever.  He delights in showing mercy.”  In God’s unimaginable desire to save the sinners of the world, He made plans to help you and not harm you.  Through Jeremiah, the Lord declared, “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to give you peace, not disaster, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)  In our gospel lesson this morning, we heard Jesus declare, “I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10)

The sinful nature that infects every one of us often tempts us to put our own thoughts above what God has said.  It tempts us to give higher priority to our feelings, desires, and wants than to the needs of our neighbor and certainly above God’s commands.  The God who created us and instructed the world in holy living through His Word could rightly demand a just penalty of us even to incarcerating our souls for eternity in hell.  Yet, God’s mercy and love moved Him to seek our salvation.  The words of the prophet come to us, “He will have compassion on us again.  He will overcome our guilty deeds.  You will throw all their sins into the depths of the sea.”  Therefore, Trust the God who forgives and forgets our sin.

Some seven hundred years before God’s Son entered Mary’s womb, God revealed this message of hope through His prophet Micah.  God had a plan to deal with our sin.  Nothing would be missed.  Not one detail would be neglected.  For a world of people who couldn’t help themselves, God intervened with His Son, Jesus.  Isaiah lamented, “All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a filthy cloth.  All of us have withered like a leaf, and our guilt carries us away like the wind.” (Isaiah 64:6)  “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son to be born of a woman, so that he would be born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law, so that we would be adopted as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)  Through His Son, God overcame our guilty deeds, just as Micah had noted.

Still, God wasn’t done.  God left nothing to chance in His mission to save you.  Your righteousness and justification was completed when Jesus declared from the cross, “It is finished.” (John 19:30)  But, since salvation is by faith alone, (Ephesians 2:8) you needed to hear of this great accomplishment and trust it.  Therefore, Jesus promised a Helper, and in the work of the Holy Spirit, you and I were brought to faith and sanctified to stand before God in peace as He washed your sins into the depths of the sea in your baptism. 

By the Word of His grace, God put in you a believing heart, and He continues to strengthen your trust in the Triune God by His promises of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life through faith in Christ Jesus, and by giving for you to eat and drink in the Lord’s Supper the very body and blood of the divine Son shed for you on Golgotha.  So Trust the God who forgives and forgets our sin. 

Micah wrote, You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, as you swore to our fathers from days of old.”  This is simple recognition that God never fails to keep His promises.  All the promises of forgiveness and peace with God that the Lord made to those ancient fathers have been fulfilled.  Micah looked forward to that day as a day of hope upon which his fellow believers could grasp eternity in heaven.  You and I look back at the same message knowing its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, and we too will join together in the vast throng of holy believers in heaven, made holy by the blood of the Lamb of God, His own dear Son.

My friends, there are many things that trouble us in the present world.  The list seems almost endless at times.  Yet, take heart and know that your Redeemer lives, and because Jesus lives, you too will enjoy life everlasting.  Because the Father in heaven knows all your needs and desires to provide everything you need for body and soul, we don’t need to fret or worry.  We don’t need to fear the enemies that may surround us.  We can simply put all trust and hope in the Triune God. 

In his letter to the Roman congregation, St. Paul asked, “What will separate us from the love of Christ?” (Romans 8:35)  The answer Paul gave is that nothing on earth, or in heaven, or any other realm will keep God from working out His plan to save us.  Through baptism and faith, God has forgiven our guilt and passed over our sins.  By the work of His Holy Spirit, the Lord made us His own dear children, and He will bring us home.  Therefore, in the peace of His forgiveness and grace, Trust the God who forgives and forgets our sin.  Amen.

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

Worship the God who is worthy of praise.

 

Sermon for Trinity 2, June 6, 2021

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

Romans 1:18-25  ¹⁸Indeed, God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who try to suppress the truth by unrighteousness.  ¹⁹This happens because what can be known about God is evident among them, because God made it evident among them.  ²⁰In fact, his invisible characteristics—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, because they are understood from the things he made.  As a result, people are without excuse, ²¹because, even though they knew God, they did not honor him or give him thanks as God.  Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless heart was darkened.  ²²Although they claim to be wise, they have become fools ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human, or like birds, four-footed animals, and crawling things.  ²⁴So, as they followed the sinful desires of their hearts, God handed them over to the impurity of degrading their own bodies among themselves.  ²⁵Such people have traded the truth about God for the lie, worshipping and serving the creation rather than the Creator, who is worthy of praise forever.  Amen. (EHV)

Worship the God who is worthy of praise.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            When reading Paul’s words here, you get a feeling of the condemnation and self-degradation God poured upon the pagans surrounding the Christians in Rome.  However, Paul wasn’t writing specifically about the pagans in Rome.  Rather, he is writing about the history of mankind as a whole. 

Ever since Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, the things Paul writes about are evident pretty much everywhere.  Cain is a prime example of one who turned against the Creator and suffered from the ills of sin because of it.  Do not be misled, therefore, into thinking this warning doesn’t apply to us.  Because whenever the truth is rejected, God’s wrath is displayed in the wickedness people pursue.  The exhortation for us is to Worship the God who is worthy of praise.

Paul wrote, “God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who try to suppress the truth by unrighteousness.”  We don’t like to think of God punishing people for sin, and indeed, we know that God punished His Son for the sins of the world.  Therefore, this wrath isn’t God’s true retribution for ungodliness.  What it is, however, is God withdrawing His mercy and kindness from those who reject Him, and in turning His face against those who reject Him, God allows the selfish, lustful, greedy, wicked, perverted desires of the sinful nature to become the controlling force in their lives.  Apart from God’s intervention, no one will be saved, so when God turns His back on the wicked, their eternal future is in serious jeopardy.

Here is where it gets rather scary for our times.  Paul said, “This happens because what can be known about God is evident among them, because God made it evident among them.  In fact, his invisible characteristics—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, because they are understood from the things he made.”  We live in a time when the vast majority of scholars have rejected the idea of God creating the world and everything in it. 

Our children are daily subjected to the false teachings of evolution and other ideas claimed to be scientific that are not based on reasonable research or assumptions.  No reasonable person can look at the world and not see the hand of a creative power.  In spite of what is widely assumed in our times, it is unreasonable to reject God creating the world out of nothing in order to believe that nothing created everything out of itself.  Yet, that is the current mindset of our world.  And, that is pretty much what Paul writes against.  The creation makes it obvious that there is a Creator.  Any other belief is pure foolishness.

Now, just knowing that God exists doesn’t tell us much about Him, but unlike the pagans of ancient history, we have clear knowledge of the true God handed down to us through the writings of the prophets and apostles through whom God revealed Himself to the world and through whom God revealed His plans to reconcile the world to Himself in His Son, Christ Jesus.  “As a result, people are without excuse, because, even though they knew God, they did not honor him or give him thanks as God.  Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless heart was darkened.”

Today, all people are without excuse.  Through His Word, and through countless generations of messengers God has sent throughout the world, the knowledge of His grace has been widely revealed.  There is no place on earth the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus has not reached at some point in time.  Yes, I grant you that because God’s truth has been rejected in so many places, there are generations and whole populations that do not know the saving message of God’s truth.  However, that merely confirms Moses’ warning that while “The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in mercy, forgiving guilt and rebellion.  He certainly does not leave the guilty unpunished, following up on the guilt of the fathers with the children unto the third and the fourth generation.” (Numbers 14:18)  When God is rejected by even one generation, salvation is lost to the generations that follow.  This also confirms what Paul writes as he tells us that God’s wrath is revealed against the godless.

Those who are trapped in the darkness of unbelief live in ways that the Godfearing find abhorrent, and yet strangely, those wicked things have an undeniable draw to the sinner within each one of us.  Therefore, we need God’s help on a daily, and even moment by moment, basis.  We never want to be left subject to Satan’s whims, because as Paul wrote here, “Although they claim to be wise, they have become fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human, or like birds, four-footed animals, and crawling things.  So, as they followed the sinful desires of their hearts, God handed them over to the impurity of degrading their own bodies among themselves.”

As Christians look around the world in our times, it is clear that God has allowed the cravings of the natural man to proliferate in society.  Degrading sins are flaunted, even promoted, here, there, and everywhere.  The sad truth is that this is evident even among many who claim to be Christian believers and in places that pretend to worship the Triune God.  Yet, where sin is so prominent, accepted, or even praised as something wholesome, God’s judgment is being clearly demonstrated on idol worshippers who have elevated themselves into the position of gods—by allowing them to chase after wicked desires rather than to live according to God’s commands.

Now, maybe you firmly believe that you could never be drawn into worshipping an idol of wood or stone, but idols can be a wide variety of things.  Giving glory to idols happens whenever we do not have complete trust in the God who made us, who sacrificed His Son for us, and who gave us life through the power of His Spirit in Baptism and the preaching of His Word.  Who among us can honestly say that he or she has never worried about the future?  Who among us can honestly claim they don’t worry about the political realms of our times, the chance of disease taking them out of this life, or of persecution (however minor) for our confession of faith?  Who among us hasn’t been tempted by the constant barrage of pornographic images in media and advertising, the continual encouragement of society to follow your own desires and understanding, or been tempted by neighbors dangling unscriptural teachings in the place of God’s revealed truth?

The Israelites of the Old Testament often fell into the trap of thinking they could participate in the idolatrous celebrations of their neighbors and still worship the true God of their fathers.  Similarly, many in our day believe themselves Christians but still desire to follow the tempting ways of some who have abandoned portions of God’s instructions for our lives.  Why not follow the worship practices of our neighbors?  We’re all Christians, right?  Well, the answer is maybe not so much. 

Jesus said, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.  You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)  Nowhere does Jesus say, “You can follow any teaching you like as long as you say it came from me.”  No!  We need to preach and teach the full counsel of God.  We need to adhere to all of what God has given us, and we need to do so boldly and gladly for the gift of eternal life, for Jesus declared, “The Spirit is the one who gives life.  The flesh does not help at all.  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63)

Concerning the pagans among us in every era of history, St. Paul was inspired to write, “Such people have traded the truth about God for the lie, worshipping and serving the creation rather than the Creator, who is worthy of praise forever.  Amen.”  With sin handed down from parent to child, it became natural for people to reject God for the lie.  However, that is never what God wants for us, for as Paul wrote to Timothy, “God our Savior,…wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4)  And as we already heard from Moses, “The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in mercy, forgiving guilt and rebellion.” 

In His great mercy for mankind, God does not quickly destroy even those who reject Him.  At the same time, His judgment is at work in them for it is God’s desire that they come to their senses and seek His mercy through repentance.  God’s mercy and kindness is why His followers praise the Creator of all things.  God’s mercy delivered His word of peace among us.  God’s mercy sent His Son to earth to live perfect righteousness on our behalf and to take the penalty of death and separation from God in our place.  Jeremiah rejoiced, “By the mercies of the Lord we are not consumed, for his compassions do not fail.  They are new every morning.  Great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Dear friends, we have indeed been given the benefit of God’s mercy.  In most cases, we were born into Christian families that desired for us to hear the God News of all that Jesus has done for us, families that brought us to church and to the baptismal font where God claimed us as His own dear children.  What joy is ours to come and hear all that Jesus has done for us, and to partake of the very flesh and blood Jesus sacrificed to God on our behalf, as we eat and drink of Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper for the forgiveness of our sins.  What great joys is ours to know that all our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake, and that we have peace with God through faith in Christ. 

These things should never be taken for granted, for it is through God’s kindness to us that we can recognize the wickedness of the world for what it is, but it is especially through God’s kindness to us that we recognize the love Jesus has demonstrated for us with His life and sacrifice.  “He himself carried our sins in his body on the tree so that we would be dead to sins and alive to righteousness.  By his wounds you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)  This is God’s truth, the message that gives life and peace to you and me.  “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” (Psalms 150:6)  Worship the God who is worthy of praise.  Amen.

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.  Blessed be his glorious name forever.  May the whole earth be filled with his glory.  Amen.

Be not ashamed of the power of God.

 

Sermon for Confirmation, June 6, 2021

To all those loved by God who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Romans 1:16-17  ¹⁶For 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. ¹⁷For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed by faith, for faith, just as it is written, “The righteous will live by faith.” (EHV)

Be not ashamed of the power of God.

Dear loved ones of the living God,

            Isn’t this an interesting way to begin a discourse on the love of God for sinners?  Paul, Christ’s chosen apostle to the gentiles, had long desired to preach to the Christian congregation in Rome, so why do you suppose he felt the need to say that he is “not ashamed of the gospel.”?

In answering that question, we could speculate about a variety of reasons.  For one thing, Paul had been long delayed in going to Rome and it would be several years yet after he wrote this letter before he would get there.  Perhaps, he feared that, because of his delay, that little flock might assume he wasn’t so confident in the message he was preaching.  Or perhaps, with all the persecution he had faced for preaching the gospel, Paul may have already expected to go to Rome as a prisoner in chains because of the gospel, but he would go boldly knowing the power of the Lord.

On the other hand, Paul likewise recognized that the message of Christianity was a stumbling block to the Jews and considered foolishness by Gentiles. (1 Corinthians 1:23)  Proclaiming a Savior who had been put to death by Romans at the demand of rebellious Jews would hardly be considered glorious or crowd-pleasing in Rome.

In the same way, we must face the reality that many people of our time, including even many Christians, seem to be ashamed of the gospel.  You can see that in a variety of ways.  There are any number of churches that in their preaching ignore what Jesus has done for you in order to tell you how they think you should live or what they think you should do to make this world a nicer, kinder place.  Others are so intent on pleasing the itching ears of sinners that they proclaim a message that is antithetical to the words of Scripture, praising lifestyles the Bible calls abominations and promoting murders, adulteries, rebellion, and all forms of depravity.  Furthermore, just as it was in Paul’s day, the message of the Bible is considered total foolishness by many of the elite and powerful members of society and is boldly rejected by many in the fields of science, education, and politics.

But, we don’t have to look at all those people out there.  There are plenty of examples of being ashamed of the gospel right here at home.  Maybe it is neglecting to study the Word of our God, or neglecting to come receive the body and blood Jesus gave to make us righteous in His Father’s eyes.  Maybe it is staying silent when we have the opportunity to tell friends how Jesus gave all to bring them forgiveness and salvation.  Maybe it’s refusing to forgive others for the hurts they cause us.

So, why did this old pastor choose this text for his message to two young people who are confirming their faith in Jesus today?  Simply, because what the world has always thought is foolish is the only thing that brings to you forgiveness and life everlasting.  Therefore, I urge everyone here, and especially our confirmands—Be not ashamed of the power of God.

Cale and Cadence, in many ways we are sending you out today as Jesus sent out His disciples, as sheep among wolves and serpents. (Matthew 10:16)  There will be no end to the dangers you face in this world that is ever boldly rejecting the God who created it and gave His Son to save all people from their sins.  Our society is continually more focused on selfish desires than on what God wants for us.  You will have many teachers and friends who will consider you a fool to believe in Jesus.  Many will try to convince you to stay away from the source of God’s grace which is His Word and Sacraments.  I am here to plead with you Be not ashamed of the power of God.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 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.”  The gospel is the good news of all that God has done through His Son Jesus to rescue you from sin and death.  The gospel tells us how Jesus lived a perfect life to satisfy every demand of the law and His Father’s will.  Jesus did that for us because we could never live up to that perfection. 

The gospel tells us how God has declared us innocent of all sin because Jesus also died in cruel and horrible circumstances as payment for the sins of us all.  The gospel tells us that Jesus didn’t stay dead but rose triumphant from the grave as the First-born of all those children of God who will rise in the end to live with our Lord forever.  The gospel tells us that because of Jesus, God has forgiven all your sins and made you His own dear child by faith, so Be not ashamed of the power of God.

The power of God for salvation is the gospel.  The gospel is the powerful tool God used at your baptisms to make you a believer in Jesus.  This does not refer to God’s omnipotence.  God does not simply declare sinners saved while ignoring their sins.  Instead, God sent His Son, Jesus, to live in our place.  Holy from all eternity, the Son took human flesh into the Godhead so that He could live the holiness that we could not.  Then as true Man and true God, Jesus accepted the penalty of death for the whole human race.  This message is the power that works faith in sinners, so that they believe the promise that “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)

Prior to hearing this good news, no one could imagine a God who would graciously forgive.  Prior to hearing the good news, the only reaction people have to the authority and might of God is sheer terror.  Those who someday meet God without faith in Jesus will “say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’” (Luke 23:30)  In the face of Christ’s divine majesty and glory, terror will consume them because it will be too late to believe when their final judgment is upon them.  Then, like the demons, they will recognize Jesus as Lord, but they will do so from the pit of eternal torment in hell.

However, the good news of what Jesus has done for us is what the Holy Spirit uses to change hearts.  By this message of grace through faith in Jesus, the Spirit transforms our understanding and our faith.  No longer is the love and kindness of God hidden from our eyes, “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.”  The righteous are all those who have been declared innocent as God worked faith in them by the power of His gospel.  This transformation doesn’t come from within us.  It isn’t something we can do or decide.  “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) 

My friends, the message of the gospel is what God serves to us in church every Sunday, and hearing the gospel is the whole point of the catechism classes you have attended the last two years.  We don’t hold church services or confirmation merely to tell you to be a better person in Lyon County.  Instead, we teach the law primarily to show that we all need a Savior but then, “we preach Christ crucified,” because “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.  We preach Christ crucified, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:23-25) 

Faithful Christians are never ashamed to call Jesus their Savior, even when the world mocks that poor, beaten, crucified Teacher for dying on a cross.  We are not ashamed of Him, because He wasn’t ashamed to die for us.  Our sins put Jesus on the cross.  Our disobedience put the whip marks on His body and the nails through His feet and hands.  Yet, Jesus died willingly for you because of the great love He has for you and for all.  Jesus told His disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)  This is the gospel, the power of God for your salvation—Jesus gave His life for you.  He gave His body and blood for your guilt, and He gives His perfectly righteous life to cover you in holiness before His Father.

Cale, Cadence, and everyone else, faith is seldom lost by one sudden thrust of the devil’s temptation.  Rather, faith tends to die by starvation of the soul, or by death from a thousand cuts.  Either way, the loss of faith happens when we don’t seek the help of the greatest Physician who ever lived, our Lord Jesus.  As He walked this earth, Jesus drove out demons and healed every sickness and injury that was laid before Him.  Through the gospel, Jesus invites us, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29) 

Jesus doesn’t promise that we will never have trouble or never get sick.  He doesn’t even claim that we won’t die physically.  However, He does promise to be with us through all these things, that He will defend us in every trouble, that He has forgiven all our sins and opened the gates of heaven to all who believe in Him, and that because He lives, we too will be raised from the grave to live with Him forever in heaven. 

Furthermore, Jesus offers us His very body and blood in His Supper to strengthen our faith in Him and to heal sin-sick hearts with the good news that all our sins are forgiven by His sacrifice.  That’s what the gospel is all about.  This is the power of God that will keep you trusting in Jesus to the end.  The gospel is why the writer to the Hebrews implores us, “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)

Dear friends, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Blessed is everyone who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8)  Be not ashamed of the power of God.  Amen.

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.  Amen. (Heb. 13:20-21 NKJ)