Built on Christ, we have the keys to heaven.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 13, August 27, 2023

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

Matthew 16:13-20  ¹³When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  ¹⁴They said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  ¹⁵He said to them, “But you, who do you say that I am?”  ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  ¹⁷Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.  ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it.  ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.  Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  ²⁰Then he commanded the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. (EHV)

Built on Christ, we have the keys to heaven.

Dear disciples of the living God,

            Imagine the answers He would receive if Jesus asked these questions in our day.  What answers might we expect to hear to Jesus’ question, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  A teacher.  A myth.  A lawgiver.  An aid?  How many of our friends and neighbors do you suppose know the real Jesus?  I suspect there are many who don’t know the truth or the blessings that come with it.

Perhaps the more distressing questions for us might come with what Jesus next asked His disciples: “But you, who do you say that I am?”  Do we answer as the rest of our world answers?  Do we know the true Jesus?  And, do we have a ready response, or do we have to think about how to answer?  Perhaps equally concerning is whether we answer at all.  How often do we make a point of telling those around us who Jesus is and what He has given us?  How often do we lift up a fellow troubled soul with the Good News that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”?  Why are these questions important?  Because, my friends, Built on Christ, we have the keys to heaven.

Jesus asked, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  They said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  All of these sound like rather noble answers because the people obviously thought highly of Jesus.  Yet, all of those answers miss the point.  Yes, Jesus was sent by God to His people.  However, Jesus was not just a prophet.  Certainly, Jesus is a great teacher and miracle worker, and He called people to repentance as did the men mentioned by the people, but Jesus came to be so much more. 

Jesus is not the forerunner of the Messiah as all of those answers supposed.  And yes, Jesus already knew full well what the people thought of Him.  Still, Jesus asked this question to prepare His disciples for His next question, “But you, who do you say that I am?”  To which Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Knowing that Jesus is the Christ means knowing that Jesus is the One promised by God to restore His kingdom of blessing and peace.  It means knowing that Jesus was sent to end the rift between God and man, the one God-Man God had been promising through His prophets since mankind fell into sin.

Knowing that Jesus is the Son of God is also critically important, because only the Son of God and Man could carry out God’s plan to rescue sinners from the darkness and death of our rebellion against God.  Jesus had to be true man in order to be under the law, so that He could obey the law on behalf of all of us wicked sinners who fail so often.  Furthermore, Jesus had to be true man so that He could suffer the death we deserve and the punishment of hell in our place. 

If Jesus had been just an ordinary man, even with special God-given powers, He would have suffered and died only for His own sins.  Yet, because He is truly God as the Son of God without any sin or fault, Jesus could and did live in perfect holiness and righteousness and pleasing to His Father in heaven in every way possible.  And because He is the true Son of God, Jesus’ horrible suffering and cruel death on the cross, suffered in our stead, would be the appropriate price to exchange for the eternal death penalty every sinner in history rightfully deserved, including you and me.

In addition, that Jesus is the Son of the living God, sets Jesus apart from any imagined children of the gods that a multitude of pagan religious myths had been used to mislead people throughout generations.  There is only one true, living God, the God who created the world and everything in it—the same God who loves us enough to sacrifice His own beloved Son so that we might live with Him forever in heaven, totally free from sin, guilt, shame, and death.

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”  This is such an important point in our day and age.  Many are the people who imagine that they make a decision on their own to know Jesus and believe in Him.  Many others imagine they can reach heaven by their own works and devices.  Yet, neither is true. 

For you and me and anyone who knows Jesus and what He has done for us, the credit for our faith in Him all goes to God.  The Father promised a Savior for people who could never earn or deserve relief.  The Father sent His Son to live and die on our behalf, so that the Father could, and did, declare us innocent for Jesus’ sake.  The Father and the Son, together, send the Holy Spirit through His Word, and through the messengers blessed with the Word, to transform formerly dead unbelievers into living children of the heavenly Father through the Gospel and the Sacraments instituted by Jesus.  Through the message of the Old Testament prophets, what he had heard from Jesus, and had seen in the deeds Jesus did, the Father in heaven had opened Peter’s mind to the truth and granted him sure, confident faith that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

Simon Peter, and you and I, are blessed by this faith in Jesus.  It is through this faith that we receive forgiveness of all sins, salvation, and eternal life.  We are privileged to know and believe what God wants all people to believe and thus be saved.  There is no one who Jesus didn’t die for.  There is no one in the history of the world that God didn’t want to save.  Yet, for that salvation to happen, they need to learn of Jesus and believe in Him as their Redeemer and Savior. 

In order for anyone to be saved, the message of the Gospel had to go out into the world and change people’s lives.  Jesus loved the answer Peter gave Him, and He promised His disciple, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it.” 

There is a play on words, here, between the name given to Peter (which means rock) and the bedrock upon which Christ’s kingdom is built.  Many have confused the issue, and maybe more have misused it.  We might say of a child that “He is a chip off the old block.”  In other words, the child is very much like his father.  By his faith, Peter was made a child of faith, a child of the Living God who is Jesus.  The Church, the gathering of all Christian believers of all time, is built upon the foundation that is Jesus Christ.  There is no other solid rock upon which we might be saved. 

Through Isaiah, the Lord declared, “You are my witnesses.  Is there any god except me?  There is no other Rock.  I am not aware of any other.” (Isaiah 44:8)  Thus, Peter’s statement of faith summarizes the support upon which every good thing is built.  Just as St. Paul later wrote to the Christians in Ephesus, “So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.  You have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the Cornerstone.  In him the whole building is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22)  Like Peter, Christian believers are stones being built into the dwelling place of God where He resides until He takes us home to heaven.

Jesus told Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.  Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  Like Peter, Built on Christ, we have the keys to heaven.  Because of all that Jesus has done for us, and through the faith in Him the Holy Spirit has worked in us, we have been made right with God.  All of our sins have been forgiven and forgotten by God, and He gives us the privilege and authority to forgive the sins of penitent sinners, so that they too may be built into Christ’s Church. 

“The gates of hell will not overpower it.”  The word Jesus used here is “Hades,” usually meaning “the place of the dead” to the Greek speaker.  When God’s Son entered the picture, Satan lost any power to accuse us from his prison.  The gates of heaven have been opened wide by the life and death of Jesus.  Therefore, death cannot hold the believer, just as it couldn’t hold Jesus.  As Jesus made this promise, He was assuring us that He would rise from the grave on Easter Sunday, and we know from history that it happened.  The door to death’s prison has been blown to bits by the rising of the Christ, so that even though the world often views death as the end, for the Christian believer, it is merely the portal between our life here on earth and our eternal home in heaven. 

Now, this is where Jesus’ question for you and me comes in, “But you, who do you say that I am?”  Built on Christ, we have the keys to heaven.  Because we know Jesus, and we know and believe what He has done for us, we are in perfect position to open the gates of heaven for those around us still caught in sin and the devil’s lies.  We have the opportunity and command to share the Good News about all Jesus has done for sinners, to forgive the sins of penitent sinners, and to assure our children, friends, and neighbors of God’s love for them in Jesus. 

So, to Jesus’ question, have we done enough to share the Good News with our children?  Have we always forgiven our neighbors when they admit to sin and repent?  Is there someone you know, who really needs the comfort of knowing that Jesus, the Son of God, lived perfectly for him, suffered, died, and rose again so that his or her sins are paid for, and all their guilt has been removed?

Dear friends, use those keys we have been given.  Reach out near and far, at home and away, day in and day out, with the message of Christ crucified for sinners.  Perhaps you are the only one who will have the opportunity to reach a lost soul and rescue that struggling person from Satan’s lies so that they too will enjoy a home in heaven.

Then, when you recognize that, like me, you have often fallen short of using these keys as we should, you have a Savior who has lived, died, and rose again for you.  The Son of the Living God bore all your sins, and mine, on the cross of shame, so that the Father in heaven now counts us as His dear children through faith in Jesus.  Rejoice and be glad; Built on Christ, we have the keys to heaven.  Amen.

The one who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”  Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus!  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints.  Amen.

We are citizens united by the blood of Christ.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 12, August 20, 2023

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

Ephesians 2:13-22  ¹³But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  ¹⁴For he himself is our peace.  He made the two groups one by destroying the wall of hostility that divided them ¹⁵when he abolished the law of commandments and regulations in his flesh.  He did this to create in himself one new person out of the two, in this way making peace.  ¹⁶And he did this to reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by putting the hostility to death on it.  ¹⁷He also came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.  ¹⁸For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.  ¹⁹So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.  ²⁰You have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the Cornerstone.  ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  ²²In him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (EHV)

We are citizens united by the blood of Christ.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

            There is no doubt that we live in a world divided.  We are divided by borders, nationality, tribe, religion, skin color, language, politics, immigration status, genetics, morality, economics, and countless other ways.  Indeed, the headlines of our times shout out warnings that this country we live in is so divided that we are on the verge of a new civil war. 

Now, I hope that is mostly hyperbole, but the truth is, we are as divided in our times as the Ephesians were when Paul wrote this letter.  The primary divisions Paul wrote about were between Jew and Gentile, between blood descendants of Abraham and those of other backgrounds who had become believers in Jesus.  However, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul writes that as Christians We are citizens united by the blood of Christ.

Now, as much as we are divided from one another and different groups against each other, the primary source of all the divisions is rooted in our separation from God.  That’s right, sin is the root cause of all the divisions and animosities.  Sin makes racism possible because it causes us to prefer those who look like ourselves and despise those we perceive as different from ourselves.  And, contrary to current popular opinion, racism isn’t limited to one particular race, color, or persuasion. 

Sinful pride makes one person look down on another.  Hatred makes people hurt or attack others for various reasons, also making revenge popular.  Sinful desire leads to grievous sins of adultery that hurt family and spouse and also theft and stealing that takes property from neighbors.  Greed makes the poor jealous of the rich and the rich prideful of their success.  Laws are enacted to try to protect people from each other, but law mostly leads us to desire something we maybe wouldn’t have thought of on our own.  Because the natural man is separated from God at birth, there is no real peace, no sure hope for the future, and joy is always temporary, especially among those who never come to know the true God.

The worst part of separation from God is that it leads to eternal condemnation, and this is true regardless of a person’s faith.  The defiant can claim there is no hell.  They can boast that they alone determine their fate, but the reality remains that we all will face judgment, and there is only one way of salvation, which is faith in Christ Jesus as Lord and Redeemer of all.

In our text, Paul proclaims Good News as he writes, “But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For he himself is our peace.  He made the two groups one by destroying the wall of hostility that divided them when he abolished the law of commandments and regulations in his flesh.”  Previously, inherited sin kept all of us separated from our Creator.  Paul uses the separation between Jew and Gentile to illustrate his point.  The Jewish people had been set apart from other peoples until the Savior should come into the world.  This was God’s plan as He carried out salvation for all peoples.  Yet, the hostility between groups comes from the natural hostility mankind feels toward God.  It affects every part of our world.

On the other hand, Christ ended that separation from God by becoming our Redeemer.  Jesus didn’t come to eliminate the law but to fulfill it.  In fact, He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy them but to fulfill them.  Amen I tell you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not even the smallest letter, or even part of a letter, will in any way pass away from the Law until everything is fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:17-18)  Thus, Jesus lived His life on earth in fulfillment of the Ten Commandments which apply to all people of all time.  In addition, Jesus lived in full obedience to the civil law of His day, so that you and I and all people could be counted by His Father in heaven as though we had fully obeyed.

More though than even that, Jesus also fulfilled the ceremonial law that applied only to the nation of Israel until the Lamb of God was sacrificed for the sin of the world.  The ceremonial laws God set before Israel always pointed forward to Christ, and because Jesus lived in perfect agreement with all law and with His Father’s desire to save sinners, Jesus was made the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world.  Therefore, Jesus laid down His life in death on the cross so that all sin is paid for, and the devil can no longer accuse anyone before God.  By Jesus’ death and resurrection, Satan has been cast down from heaven, never to appear before God again with his accusations and lies.  Yet, our citizenship is in heaven, because We are citizens united by the blood of Christ.

With all law fulfilled for us, there is no longer anything to separate people from God except unbelief.  It is only a rejection of Jesus as Savior that condemns anyone.  For that reason, God has sent His Holy Spirit to continue the work of building His kingdom through the preaching of the Word and the application of the Sacraments as the Lord instituted them.

In this text, Paul uses several metaphors to describe this building up of God’s people.  “He did this to create in himself one new person out of the two, in this way making peace.  And he did this to reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by putting the hostility to death on it.”  Through faith in Christ, all believers are considered one body in Christ.  We may look different, be different in our backgrounds and physical appearances, have different talents, gifts, and responsibilities, but all who believe in Jesus are seen by God as one with Him.

Now, not all people come to believe in Jesus, but we are promised, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)  In this letter Paul writes, “He also came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.  For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.  So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.”  Through the various messengers commissioned by the Holy Spirit, first the apostles and evangelists, and following them pastors and teachers, etc. Christ has gone out into the world by His holy Word to make believers who are counted worthy of salvation by the faith worked in them by the Holy Spirit. 

Notice then the second metaphor.  Not only are we counted as one body in Christ, but we are made fellow citizens in the kingdom of heaven, invited into access to God day and night.  The time draws ever closer to when Jesus’ words will be fulfilled, “You will see the Son of Man coming on clouds with great power and glory.  At that time he will send out his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of the sky.” (Mark 13:26-27)  From that time on, there will be no worrying about immigration or the differences of nations, because this world as we know it will pass away, but our home in heaven will be at peace—true peace with God and peace with each other—forever.  There in our heavenly home, we will be one body, one family, one kingdom, and one building in which the Lord our God dwells.

Another metaphor is introduced as Paul continued, “You have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the Cornerstone.  In him the whole building is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

What a joyful reunion this will be when the whole population of heaven is at peace.  In God’s heavenly home, there will be no divisions of race, no disharmony of various denominations, no language barrier, no sin, no death, no sorrow.  This is what it will be like when we no longer experience the effect of sin in our lives.  United with our God and our fellow believers, we will spend eternity in holiness, peace, and joy.  In our present condition, we can hardly imagine what that will be like.  Still, we have the promise that in Jesus, “There is not Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one and the same in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:28-29)  An heir receives a gift.  As heirs of the promise, we have been granted forgiveness of all sin, peace with God Almighty, eternal life, and a home in the peace of God’s glory forever.

Dear friends, all around us you will find people who have abandoned the Christian faith for one reason or another.  Sometimes, it is personal hurts that turn them off to God’s love.  Sometimes, it is the arrogance of the natural flesh.  Often, it is a foolish rejection of what the Lord offers.  To the Corinthian congregation Paul wrote, “Jews ask for signs, Greeks desire wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified—which is offensive to Jews and foolishness to Greeks, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:22-24)  We too preach Christ crucified for the sins of the world, and Christ Jesus raised to life again for our justification, not because we have been hoodwinked into believing myths or stories, but because we were rescued from the power of the devil and the certainty of eternal punishment by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel.  Thus, today we can boldly and confidently say, We are citizens of the kingdom of heaven united by the blood of Christ.  Amen.

How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, everyone who is walking in His ways.  Amen.

With the Lord, you are never alone.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 11, August 13, 2023

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

1 Kings 19:9-18  ⁹He came to a cave and spent the night there.  Then the word of the Lord suddenly came to him, saying, “Why are you here, Elijah?”  ¹⁰He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of Armies, but the people of Israel have abandoned your covenant.  They have torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword.  I alone am left, and they are seeking to take my life.”  ¹¹Then the Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is passing by.”  Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains and shattered rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.  After the wind came an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  ¹²After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.  After the fire there was a soft, whispering voice.  ¹³When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak, and he went out and stood at the entrance to the cave.  Then a voice came to him and said, “Why are you here, Elijah?”  ¹⁴He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of Armies, but the people of Israel have abandoned your covenant.  They have torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword.  I alone am left, and they are seeking to take my life.”  ¹⁵Then the Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came and go to the Wilderness of Damascus.  When you get there, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram.  ¹⁶You will also anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah as prophet in your place.  ¹⁷Whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill, and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.  ¹⁸But I have preserved in Israel seven thousand whose knees have not bent to Baal and whose lips have not kissed him.” (EHV)

With the Lord, you are never alone.

Dear friends in Christ,

            “I alone am left,” complained the prophet to the Lord.  After years of faithfully serving as a spokesman for the Almighty, Elijah felt near the end of his rope.  He had diligently followed God’s instructions.  He had boldly spoken with the authorities at the Lord’s behest only to be rejected and despised.  Indeed, Elijah had lived in hiding and exile in the wilderness for an extended period of time, so finally, when the Lord allowed a powerful demonstration before Israel that the God Elijah served is, in fact, the one, true, powerful God of their forefathers, Elijah expected a glorious revival among the Israelites, but instead, the king’s wife, Jezebel, put a death sentence over his head.  So, Elijah ran, and the Lord found him in this cave and asked, “Why are you here, Elijah?” 

In his fearful weakness, Elijah failed to understand how the Lord was working, and how the Lord generally works.  In his zeal for the Lord, Elijah had grown impatient.  He wanted it all to end.

Such impatience is not unheard of in our times, though it often goes unrecognized.  You might see it in a bullied teenager, who after a certain amount of torment gives up on trusting the Lord or his family to protect him.  Far too often, some of those troubled children assume they are all alone against the world and end their lives to stop the loneliness. 

You might see it in a married couple who let disagreements fester until neither is speaking with the other, and eventually the loneliness takes over and one or the other cheats or leaves, and the injured spouse is left all alone wondering why God allows such behavior.

It is not uncommon at all in our times for the elderly to feel this all alone in the world with their children grown up and, perhaps, moved away and busy with their lives.  Now, the parents who raised the children and sacrificed so much to help them grow find themselves mostly alone, with perhaps even their Christian faith rejected.  Instead of having the joy of gathering around God’s Word and partaking of the Sacrament with the ones they love the most, loneliness cuts to the heart.

Pastors, too, can feel this loneliness as they watch the ones they baptized, or taught with patience and love, flee from the Savior who gave His life on a cross, enticed into following the idols of the world.  We see it when we preach faithfully what God says, and so many react in disgust or indifference.  No, Elijah was not alone in his self-pity.  It is a weakness that can come upon any of us.

Yet, Elijah was wrong.  He was wrong when he forgot that the Lord was protecting him from Ahab and Jezebel’s wickedness, so Elijah had nothing to fear from Jezebel’s wrath when her heathen prophets were destroyed.  Elijah was also mistaken when he assumed that God should continue demonstrating His power and authority in order to convince the people of Israel to believe in Him.

This text shows us that With the Lord, you are never alone.  That doesn’t mean that bad things won’t happen to God’s people in this life.  It surely doesn’t mean that sinners in the world will always listen to what the prophets have to say.  Still, God will watch over His people, and in the end, God’s goal isn’t to make this world perfect, but to take those He calls to faith out of this wretched existence to a life of joy unending in the glories of heaven.

Meanwhile, there at that mountain cave, God shows us how He works to make believers in a world of sinners.  Elijah wrongly expected God to win followers with force.  Therefore, the Lord showed the prophet three powerful, destructive forces, but the Lord was not in those things.  Instead, the Lord came to Elijah in the “soft, whispering voice.”  It is the same for all of us.  Though many times, we may wish God would show His power against our enemies, or perhaps demonstrate it to our friends and loved ones, the reality remains that God works through the small, quiet voice of the Means of Grace He has chosen to give salvation and forgiveness to those who believe.  Rather than saving souls through works they do or through great displays of power, the Lord declares, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)  Furthermore, He explains that “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)

Our God holds all the power of the universe in His hands, but primarily, He allows this world to operate by the natural means He put in place in the beginning while directing all things according to His plan to save sinners.  At various times, we may struggle to understand why God does or doesn’t do certain things we think He should.  However, through Isaiah, we read, “Certainly my plans are not your plans, and your ways are not my ways,” declares the Lord.  “Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my plans are higher than your plans.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

You have heard me say it far too many times, but this world is and always will be filled with trouble.  It is likewise true that far too many people, who should gladly believe the Christian faith, will wander away.  Many will succumb to the temptations of idolatry in the modern life.  Yet, does the Lord want us to despair?  Does He want us to quit in our mission to share God’s grace with those around us?  Heaven forbid!  He wants us to remember that With the Lord, you are never alone. 

In effect, the Lord said to Elijah, “Okay, I have heard your complaint, now go back to work.”  And by the way, “I have preserved in Israel seven thousand whose knees have not bent to Baal and whose lips have not kissed him.”  As all alone as Elijah felt, with his faith in the Lord he was never alone.  Though those ten northern tribes of Israel had become so corrupted by idolatry, led primarily by their wicked rulers, God still preserved a remnant among them, and though Elijah felt afraid for his life, he was never in any real danger because the Lord kept His protecting care over Elijah, and regardless, was preserving Elijah in the faith that would give him everlasting life and glory in heaven.

God’s same loving care is over you and me.  Through Word and Sacrament God builds our faith and strengthens us to go out into this troubled world knowing that our God, alone, determines the course of the world.  Our God, alone, has offered up His holy Son to take away our sins.  Our God, alone, has lived among the people of this world yet remained without sin so that we can be counted holy in the eyes of our God.  Our God promises, “Surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)  In addition, His Scripture assures us, “He will give a command to his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.  They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91:11-12)  The Lord assures His faithful ones, “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified and do not be overwhelmed, because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

So, what is the message for us going forward?  Continue in the path God gives you knowing that He is controlling all things for your everlasting good (as we heard in our Epistle lesson).  The Lord calls us to remain faithful to His Word, and to continue gathering with our fellow believers around the Word and Sacrament.  It is in God’s promises that we have our greatest comfort and hope.  The writer to the Hebrews encourages 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)  We are encouraged the most by hearing the message of Christ crucified on our behalf, who was raised to life again in total victory over evil, sin, death, and the devil.

Do you want to spend time together with your Lord and Savior?  Jesus promised, “Where two or three have gathered together in my name, there I am among them.” (Matthew 18:20)  Therefore, the balm for our loneliness is not found in keeping ourselves away from others, but in gathering with our brothers and sisters in the faith and reaching out to other hurting souls with the Good News of all Jesus has done for us.  Do you want to spend more time with your children and, especially, eternity with them in heaven?  Do not neglect to pray for them, continually, whether they are currently strong in the Christian faith or wandering in the darkness of the world.  Reach out to the lost with love and kindness while always walking in true faith with the Lord of all.

Dear friends, we live in some scary times.  It is easy to look around and see little but troubled souls and mocking sinners, idol worshippers and enemies of the cross of our Savior.  Yet, we are not alone and God’s plans are never thwarted.  Still today, the Lord preserves and keeps those who hear His Word and believe it.  In company with them, you are counted as holy, forgiven, and welcome in the mansions of heaven, because Christ lived, died, and rose again to make us all one family with our Savior, Jesus.  Jesus declared, “If anyone loves me, he will hold on to my word.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23)  Therefore, With the Lord, you are never alone.  Amen.

After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you.  To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever.  Amen

Jesus has compassion to heal our weakness.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 10, August 6, 2023

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

Matthew 14:13-21  ¹³When Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place to be alone.  When the crowds heard this, they followed him on foot from the towns.  ¹⁴When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd.  He had compassion on them and healed their sick.  ¹⁵When evening came, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place and the hour is already late.  Send the crowds away, so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”  ¹⁶But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away.  You give them something to eat.”  ¹⁷They told him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”  ¹⁸“Bring them here to me,” he replied.  ¹⁹Then he instructed the people to sit down on the grass.  He took the five loaves and the two fish.  After looking up to heaven, he blessed them.  He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples.  The disciples gave the food to the people.  ²⁰They all ate and were filled.  They picked up twelve basketfuls of what was left over from the broken pieces.  ²¹Those who ate were about five thousand men, not even counting women and children. (EHV)

Jesus has compassion to heal our weakness.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            By the time of the events of our text, Jesus had become well known throughout the land.  Yet, as well known as He was, people didn’t really know what to make of Him.  Some thought Jesus a new prophet, some a healer, others thought He might be Elijah come back to earth, and at least a few, including King Herod, thought Jesus might be John the Baptist brought back to life.  Hearing that the ruler of the land was now afraid, and many others confused about Him, Jesus took His disciples away from the cities to have some time to rest, teach, and assure them.

As you heard, however, because He was now famous for His miracles, the people weren’t willing to let Jesus simply drift off into oblivion.  Though Jesus travelled across the Sea of Galilee by boat, it didn’t take long for that news to spread and for people to start walking around the Sea toward the place they had seen Jesus and His disciples headed.  Along the way, many talked to others they met, and it wasn’t long until masses of the population were going out to meet Jesus.  They took their sick and infirm.  It was as if there had never been any medical care, but now the greatest hospital ever had opened in the wilderness.  Yes, some wanted to see this great Teacher.  Some wanted to hear what Jesus was saying, but many, many came to Jesus as their only hope for healing.  The good news for them and for us, is Jesus has compassion to heal our weakness.

We can only imagine how many miracles Jesus performed that day, but for someone who had come to that deserted place for quiet and rest, we might expect that Jesus would be a bit perturbed or frustrated with the needy attention.  However, there was nothing like that in Jesus’ demeaner.  As He saw that mass of hurting, confused people coming out to Him for help, Jesus had compassion for them.  Rather than think of His own needs, He put theirs above anything He might want.  We need to keep that attitude in mind, for Jesus’ compassion for us is why we can be bold when He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)  We can be confident in our requests, because Jesus has assured us, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.” (John 16:23)

As is often the case, however, there may be some confusion among us, as well.  How often do we fall into the trap of asking Jesus only for material things instead of asking for help with our greatest needs?  Maybe we aren’t so blatantly obvious in this as they were, but it can be that we start to wonder if Jesus truly has compassion on us when we have to face things like illness, bankruptcy, cancer, crop failure, a breakup in a relationship, loss of a loved one, or an arrest for a crime we may or may not have committed.  When things don’t go the way we would like, how often do we question God’s love and care for us?

There is a connection between all those things and everything else that troubles us.  The connection is sin, sin that has corrupted this whole world, sin in ourselves and in others that causes so much hardship and pain in our world.  Sin causes disagreements about how people should live.  It is the root of all trouble, conflict, sorrow, and death.  Those people followed Jesus out into the wilderness in the hope of receiving Jesus’ healing care for themselves or their loved ones who were afflicted by the curse of sin on the world.  They came by the thousands.  They came without planning ahead.  They came without consideration of even what they would eat for the return trip home.

Now, we might think Jesus’ disciples would have been better prepared, but they weren’t.  They were used to their needs being provided by others who followed Jesus.  It might be a wealthy person inviting them to dine.  It might be the offerings people gave in support of Jesus’ work.  We know that there were wealthy women disciples who contributed much to maintain Jesus in His teaching and healing ministry. 

Still, the disciples did show some concern for the people.  They soon realized that they didn’t have food to feed thousands of pilgrims in the wilderness.  When evening came, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place and the hour is already late.  Send the crowds away, so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”  The solution the disciples suggested really didn’t help the situation.  It was basically “Tell the people to go away and seek what they could find.”  I suppose you and I could often find ourselves in the same uncaring bind.  How often have we assumed we couldn’t afford to help?  How often have we looked around and discovered we didn’t have an answer to the world’s problems?  This too is because of sin.

This feeding of the five thousand, as it is called, is usually considered Jesus’ greatest miracle, and indeed, it is the only miracle recorded for us in all four gospel accounts.  Truly, it is as amazing as it sounds.  With only five loaves of cheap bread (really not more than what we would call biscuits) and two small pieces of fish, Jesus fed a vast multitude, yes, about five thousand men, but who knows how many women and children were also there in addition to the men.  The writers didn’t bother to count, not because they weren’t important, but simply because the number of people in the crowd was more than could easily be numbered.

Yet, Jesus fed them all out of that young boy’s lunch.  To make doubly clear to His disciples that they hadn’t looked in the right place for help, they gathered up twelve basketfuls of leftovers after everyone in the crowd, the twelve disciples included, had eaten their fill.  It’s no wonder people were amazed.  John tells us that the crowd was so thrilled that they conspired among themselves with the intent to make Jesus their king so that He could do this stuff for them every day. 

The amazing thing about all of this is that Jesus didn’t come into the world to make sure everyone had enough to eat.  He didn’t come into the world to make sure we would be healed of every illness or pain that might enter our lives.  It sounds harsh, but those things are all part of life in a sin-broken world, “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)  Jesus didn’t have to come into our world at all.  If God would have abandoned us to our fate as sinners, no one could fault Him, because death and eternal separation from God is what all mankind deserves.

The amazing thing about our God, however, is that “God is love.” (1 John 4:8)  God could no more abandon mankind to the fate we deserved than to deny Himself.  With every right to destroy the human race for our sins against Him, God chose mercy.  As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, God announced His plan to save.  At every step of the way throughout history, man has done stuff that should have brought down the wrath of God upon us.  Yet, God remains faithful to His promise—He sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to make things right.  Jesus’ miracles were but a foretaste, granted to the people of His day, so that they would recognize Him for who His truly is, the God of love.

But what happened?  The same people who at one point wanted to make Jesus king, a short time later turned against Him and shouted, “Crucify, crucify Him!”  You see the same type of reaction still today.  Oh, maybe no one is shouting “Crucify Jesus.”  But plenty of people are shouting that there is no god.  Plenty of people are saying, “Where is God today?  Why isn’t He helping us if He is the God of love?  Why doesn’t He stop all this evil and pain?”

Maybe we don’t put ourselves in the same category.  Perhaps our sins seem pretty minor in comparison to some others.  Yet, how often do we too neglect to show our love for God in our daily lives?  How often don’t we stumble when it comes to loving our neighbor as Jesus has loved us?  There isn’t a man, woman, or child on this planet who doesn’t need rescue from sin, including you and me.  That’s why this miracle can give us so much hope, because Jesus has compassion to heal our weakness.

Jesus didn’t turn away from those people that day, and He didn’t turn away from helping us on the day they shouted crucify.  Instead, to heal our greatest weakness, Jesus carried our sins on His whipped, beaten body as they nailed Him to a cross to die for you and me, as well as for everyone else.

You see, this world is full of trouble.  It’s all we really ever experience in this life.  Even in the best of times, we are walking in the shadow of death.  Our God knew what sin has done to this world, and He sent Jesus to be the cure.  By living in perfect obedience to the Law and to His Father’s will, Jesus became our perfection, which is put over and on us through faith at the washing of Baptism.  With His sacrifice as the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus paid the debt for the sins of the world, and the Father has forgiven all sin, so that He could count all who believe in Jesus as though they had never sinned at all.  The record of all our guilt has been wiped clean by the blood of Jesus.

In His great compassion for those who follow Him, Jesus sent the Counselor, the Holy Spirit to bring this Good News to us in His holy Word, and through that powerful message of God’s grace, stone dead hearts were replaced with hearts that live and believe.  Souls that once were weary and without hope, now rejoice in the grace of God that has healed us of our sin disease and fed us with the life-giving bread of His Word, and feeds us still with the very body and blood of the Lamb who was slain to heal us permanently.

Dear friends, you never have to question God’s love for you.  He showed it by offering His Son on a cross in your place, by counting Jesus’ righteousness as yours, by accepting Jesus’ death in place of a sentence of eternal death for you.  And even in those times when, maybe in our weakness, we wonder if God is hearing our prayers, we can be totally confident that because Jesus lives and will never die again, we too will live and never die in the glorious home Jesus is preparing for us in heaven.  Before He left His disciples to suffer death for you and me, Jesus promised His friends, “I have told you these things, so that you may have peace in me.  In this world you are going to have trouble.  But be courageous!  I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Because Jesus has compassion to heal our weakness, He overcame the world, the devil, sin, death, and even our stubborn hearts, so that we might believe in Him and receive eternal life in heaven.  Rejoice today and always, that Jesus has compassion to heal our weakness.  Amen.

God will fully supply your every need, according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever!  Amen.