Live in Christ’s love.

 

Sermon for Epiphany 7, February 23, 2025

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

Luke 6:27-38  ²⁷“But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies.  Do good to those who hate you.  ²⁸Bless those who curse you.  Pray for those who mistreat you.  ²⁹If someone strikes you on one cheek, offer the other too.  If someone takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt.  ³⁰Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes away your things, do not demand them back.  ³¹“Treat others just as you would want them to treat you.  ³²If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  To be sure, even the sinners love those who love them.  ³³And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  Even the sinners do the same thing.  ³⁴If you lend to those from whom you expect to be repaid, what credit is that to you?  Even the sinners lend to sinners in order to be paid back in full.  ³⁵Instead, love your enemies, do good and lend, expecting nothing in return.  Your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the unthankful and the evil.  ³⁶Be 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. (EHV)

Live in Christ’s love.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

            Ah, the Golden Rule: “Treat others just as you would want them to treat you.”  How many of us were taught to govern our lives by that command?  Likely most of us were given that instruction at some point.  Still, what happens when the people we treat well don’t respond as we hoped?  How should a person react at that point?  Has anyone ever really lived up to that rule?

Human nature isn’t ordinarily inclined to be concerned about others.  More than any of us would care to admit, ever since the fall into sin, we are more like Cain, who murdered his brother out of jealousy.  Furthermore, even when the law tells us to be good, we often become even more inclined to do evil, and whenever we feel hurt by someone else’s actions, the sin that infects our nature inspires us to fight against any perceived threat.  Against all of that, Jesus gives instruction that goes counter to the sinner’s normal reaction.  Help others even to the point of shortchanging ourselves?  Show love and concern even to enemies?  Lend without expecting a return even of the principle?  Won’t that leave us penniless, defeated, humiliated, or dead?  Who could survive in such a way?  Contrary to normal human experience, the answer is to Live in Christ’s love.

What Jesus teaches here would have sounded crazy to many of His enemies at that time.  Those people thought they knew God’s will.  They had law after law to teach them how to live.  And they considered themselves good people, but what Jesus taught was going too far.  Being kind to close relatives and friends, sure, but not to their enemies.  Perhaps that was our reaction, as well, when we first read the list.  Give more than a beggar asks for?  How wasteful!  Give even to the person who steals from us?  How foolish! Show trust or submission even to the person who abuses you?  How dangerous!  Who would do such things?  The answer, of course, is Jesus.

You see, Jesus did all of those things for you and me.  “Love your enemies.”  Jesus told His disciples, “No one has greater love than this: that someone lays down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)  This is exactly why Jesus came into this world—to lay down His life—not only for His friends who readily believe in Him, but even for the enemies who hated and conspired against Him and were guilty of His murder on the cross.  Jesus declared, “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17)

Here, Jesus says, “Bless those who curse you.  Pray for those who mistreat you.  If someone strikes you on one cheek, offer the other too.”  The night He was betrayed, Jesus prayed for His disciples and all people alike.  As they nailed Him to the cross, Jesus prayed for those who caused His pain.  Jesus humbly submitted when His enemies came to arrest Him.  He gave opportunities for Judas, Peter, Pilate, and all the others to repent of their sins, and when they didn’t turn from their wickedness, Jesus still exercised no retaliation at all for their lies, betrayal, cruelty, and deceptions.  In prophecy, Isaiah saw it clearly, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth.  Like a lamb he was led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent in front of its shearers, he did not open his mouth.  He was taken away without a fair trial and without justice, and of his generation, who even cared?  So, he was cut off from the land of the living.  He was struck because of the rebellion of my people.” (Isaiah 53:7-8)

Our Savior said, “Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes away your things, do not demand them back.  Treat others just as you would want them to treat you.”  Who has given to us without demanding back?  The Holy Spirit reminds us that, “Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights.” (James 1:17)  Because Jesus is the Son of God, we can and should credit Jesus along with His Father in heaven for every good thing we are given in life: loving parents, air, food, and water, good government, peace, prosperity, clothing, shelter, the ability to think and to do in whatever vocations God gives us. 

The list of ways God blesses us is endless, and what does He ask of us but that we recognize His grace, trust Him, and return thanks.  When the Israelites were reluctant in thanksgiving and cheated God with poor quality offerings, God responded with discipline and instruction, “I know every bird in the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is with me.  If I were hungry, I would not tell you, because the world is mine, and all that fills it.” (Psalm 50:11-12) 

God doesn’t need anything from us.  However, we need from Him everything necessary for survival and joy, and without regard for any possible benefit from us, God delivers the good things we need.  Jesus described God’s loving care for the world when He said: “He makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45)  In thanksgiving, King David said, “You open your hand, and you satisfy the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:16)

Still, the most important way God blesses us is with His mercy and kindness to those who have sinned against Him.  Here, Jesus says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”  Because our sins deserve the punishment of death, none of us deserves the lives we have.  From Adam and Eve on, we deserved wrath and retribution.  Yet, the Holy Spirit assures us through St. Peter, “The Lord is not slow to do what he promised, as some consider slowness.  Instead, he is patient for your sakes, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)  Therefore, when Jesus tells us not to judge others in comparison to ourselves, He isn’t telling us never to make judgements.  Rather, our Lord wants us to be dealing with others in ways that show His mercy—in other words, to Live in Christ’s love.

Therefore, the honorable thing to do is to repent of our own guilt and shortcomings.  Repent of all the ways we turn against God and His Word and in our repentance turn to Jesus for forgiveness and life.  Likewise, it is our duty as Christians to show the world what Jesus came to do.  It is our duty to show gently, with compassion and kindness, how sin corrupts and leads to damnation, but always doing this to show God’s mercy and kindness in Jesus.  We are not to seek retribution and redress for every sin, just as God has continued to bless us with life even though we deserved death.  We are to forgive just as our heavenly Father provided forgiveness to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

This text gives us a long list of ways we should be like Jesus.  At the same time, we know we continually fall short of His holiness and faithfulness.  Only Jesus could fulfil this list of commands, but He did so for all people.  Jesus lived righteousness for us.  Furthermore, He died on the cross in full payment for our guilt, taking the punishment of death we deserved.  John wrote, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the whole world.” (1 John 2:2)  Consequently, all sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake, your sins, my sins, and the sins of the world.  Since God has forgiven all because of Jesus’ sacrifice, how could we claim to love if we withhold that free forgiveness from others?  Therefore, because of Christ and the gift of faith in baptism and the Word, we Live in Christ’s love.

Finally, Jesus says, “Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  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.”  In our willingness to be generous with others and to forgive as God has forgiven, we do not earn God’s gifts but rather, those gifts are granted freely, and because of God’s gift of mercy, we will be moved to live for Him.  Jesus explained, “I am the Vine; you are the branches.  The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

On our own, all of these good commands seem impossible, but with Christ dwelling in us, they become not only doable but the normal way of Christ continuing to live in love for the world.  It is Christ dwelling in us that motivates forgiving and selfless giving.  In other words, we Live in Christ’s love.

Dear friends, the legalist would look at this text and either conclude that we are screwed, for we can never measure up, or he will decide that his little attempts to obey are good enough.  We, on the other hand, have been brought by the power of the Holy Spirit, to recognize that only Jesus lived this perfect righteousness the law demands.  Only God’s Son could satisfy God’s will that we live like Him.  But that is exactly what Jesus accomplished for us all with His holy life and perfect atonement through His death on the cross.  Through His work, and by the faith worked in us by the Holy Spirit, we are being restored to the image of God that our first parents were made in.  It is by faith in Christ, we are saved.  It is by Christ living in us that we will receive eternally in heaven “A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over” as we Live in Christ’s love.  Amen.

May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, both soul and body, be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.  Amen.

When in weakness, shelter in Christ’s strength.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 6, February 16, 2025

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

2 Corinthians 12:7-10  ⁷Therefore, to keep me from becoming arrogant due to the extraordinary nature of these revelations, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, so that I would not become arrogant.  ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that he would take it away from me.  ⁹And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will be glad to boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may shelter me.  ¹⁰That is why I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for the sake of Christ.  For whenever I am weak, then am I strong. (EHV)

When in weakness, shelter in Christ’s strength.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            St. Paul was one of the few men in history to receive revelations directly from God that showed salvation for mankind, and Paul was, perhaps, one of the most unlikely of those men to be given that grace.  You see, Paul, back when he was known as Saul, considered himself a great enemy of Jesus, one who prided himself on destroying anyone who followed the Man called the Christ.  Paul publicly admitted that he had been “a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; in regard to zeal, persecuting the church; in regard to the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.” (Philippians 3:5-6)  Then, after a blinding revelation on the road to Damascus, Jesus called Saul into a position about which the Lord would say, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Acts 9:16)

I suppose that sounds like Jesus was threatening an enemy, but He truly wasn’t.  Purely by God’s grace, Jesus chose Saul to be rescued from the damning path he was following.  Saul was on the road to hell while he was rejecting Jesus.  Yet, Jesus didn’t reject him.  Rather, the Lord met that persecutor on the road to Damascus and chose him to carry the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles.  Of course, Paul’s new path wouldn’t be easy.  Those who formerly would have praised Saul, now wanted to kill him.  In addition, unbelievers never initially welcome Christ’s message of salvation.  The natural man in each of us wants to believe that we can save ourselves, so until brought to our knees in repentance, it’s hard to believe a Savior is needed.

Here in his second letter to the Corinthian congregation, as Paul is defending his right to preach about Jesus, forgiveness, and salvation, Paul gets very personal and reveals something about himself that many didn’t know.  Paul didn’t chose to be a missionary to the Gentiles.  Paul didn’t even chose to believe in Jesus.  Yet, for reasons only God knows, Jesus revealed Himself to Paul and showed him through visions much about Jesus’ work and victory.  The natural man in each of us might have mistakenly and sinfully assumed that he himself had earned that precious look into the mysteries of God.  Therefore, God made sure that couldn’t happen to Paul.

Paul doesn’t tell us what the thorn in his flesh happened to be.  Many have speculated on what it might have been, but no one knows.  It certainly caused him much distress.  In fact, Paul prayed earnestly to the Lord that this painful condition might be taken away.  Paul says he prayed three times for relief.  Still, after those three earnest prayers, the Lord gave Paul His answer—“No!”  Paul’s response to God’s, “No!” teaches us that When in weakness, shelter in Christ’s strength.

It seems like some of the people Paul preached to didn’t find him all that impressive.  Many questioned his credentials, his speaking skills, his appearance, and who knows what else.  Worse yet, Paul had to endure great persecution from enemies of Christ and from various governing authorities.  The list of times Paul suffered for his faith in Jesus is long.  Yet, because God had so strengthened Paul’s faith, all those troubles, trials, and torments became almost a badge of honor to Paul.  Yet, not honor for himself but for his Lord.  You see, like many early Christians who endured harsh persecution even unto death, it was considered a privilege to suffer for Jesus, not to earn any merit, but because Jesus suffered so much for us, only to overcome it all in His resurrection from the dead.

That, therefore, becomes our lesson.  No matter what kind of trial or hardship we must face in this troubled life, the solution is to focus not on our loss but on our everlasting gain in Christ Jesus.  When Paul pleaded with God to remove the thorn from his side, God’s answer came to Paul and it carries the same message to us: “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness.”  God’s grace for us shelters us from everlasting condemnation.  That is the reason Jesus came into this world.  It doesn’t matter how rich or successful or famous a person might become, in the end, we all face death and judgment.  Consequently, it is only whether we believe in Jesus that matters.  Those who reject the Savior have eternal condemnation in their everlasting future.  However, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16)

St. Paul wrote, “Therefore I will be glad to boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may shelter me.”  Paul may have been mocked for whatever shortcomings his enemies thought he had.  In the same way, Christians are today often ridiculed as being weak and foolish for believing what the Bible says.  The arrogant unbeliever accuses us of needing Jesus as a crutch to help us through the tough times of life.  Well, so be it.  Christ Jesus covers us with His righteousness and shelters us from eternal condemnation.  Though others may imagine themselves strong, they have no help in death, nor any real strength in life. 

On the other hand, because of our faith in Jesus, we have an open line to the Creator of the world.  The Savior who lived righteousness for us, then died to pay for our sins, and rose from grave triumphant over sin, death, and the devil has promised us, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.” (John 16:23)  Therefore, let the world mock us.  Let enemies persecute, betray, and kill us, they gain nothing but damnation, while we receive eternal reward in heaven.  Concerning the enemies of true faith, Martin Luther wrote, “Take they are life, goods, fame, child, and wife, let these all be gone, they yet have nothing won; the Kingdom ours remaineth.”

There is no doubt that this world gives God’s people unending trouble, trial, and pain.  The curse of sin alone causes grief to every person, believer and unbeliever alike.  Still, there remains a difference between the Christian and all others.  When illness, pain, and death come our way, we are not without hope.  We have God’s sure and certain promise that all our sins are forgiven and that He works all things for our eternal good.  We have God’s promise that His Son has been given authority to judge the world.  How do you suppose the One who gave His life to save sinners will judge between those who gladly fell before Him confessing their sins and their confidence in His sacrifice as opposed to those who remain defiant before God?  The Holy Spirit through St John, explained, “Who is a liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?  This is an antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son.  Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father.  But the one who confesses the Son has the Father as well.” (1 John 2:22-23)

As long as we dwell in this sinful world, we will have trouble.  Increasingly, it appears like persecution will again raise its ugly head against the believers in Jesus.  Yet, no matter how weak the world might think us to be, our strength does not come from physical warfare, nor does it depend on wealth or worldly goods.  Our Savior had no place to lay His head.  His only possessions were the clothes on His back—well that and the holiness and power of the Almighty.  But, Jesus did everything we need to be saved.  He gave His back to the whips of the Roman soldiers, His face felt the beatings of their fists, His head their mocking crown of thorns, His hands and feet the nails that put Him on the cross for you and me.  Yet, none of those things could defeat the Son of God, because He came to die for us, to pay the penalty of death each person deserves, and because of what Jesus did for us, those who believe in Him are counted righteous.  Those who are baptized in His name are counted as children of God, bearing the name of God into an inheritance in heaven.

St. Paul wrote, “That is why I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for the sake of Christ.  For whenever I am weak, then am I strong.”  Paul no longer cared what the world did to him.  He didn’t put up a fight when they fought against his message, because Paul had learned by faith that the battle wasn’t his.  The battle belongs to Christ Jesus who already won the war for us on the cross.  Right in line with the work Jesus gave Paul to do, “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.  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)  So, When in weakness, shelter in Christ’s strength.

Dear friends, it is certain that you have faced opposition because you walk with Jesus.  It is just as certain that you will face more and more opposition in the coming days and years.  Yet, your future is already secure in the hand and judgment of your Savior.  Jesus gave His life so that you will live.  Jesus bled His innocent blood on the cross as payment for your sins.  He rose from the grave on the third day just as He foretold so that you never have to wonder whether Jesus is who He said, or whether what He has done for you is sufficient.  All your sins and transgressions have been forgiven for Jesus’ sake.  No matter what the devil’s allies try to use against us, we have Jesus on our side.  United with Jesus through baptism, “we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, [and therefore] we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:5)  Therefore, When in weakness, shelter in Christ’s strength.  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.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.

 

Sermon for Epiphany 5, February 9, 2025

Grace, mercy, and peace be yours, forever, from God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Isaiah 6:1-8  In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.  ²Above him stood the seraphim.  Each one had six wings.  With two they covered their faces.  With two they covered their feet.  With two they flew.  ³One called to another and said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies!  The whole earth is full of his glory!”  ⁴The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of the one who called, and the temple was filled with smoke.  ⁵Then I said, “I am doomed!  I am ruined, because I am a man with unclean lips, and I dwell among a people with unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies!”  ⁶Then one of the seraphim flew to me, carrying a glowing coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.  ⁷He touched my mouth with the coal and said, “Look, this has touched your lips, so your guilt is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.”   ⁸Then I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “Whom shall I send?  Who will go for us?”  Then I said, “Here I am.  Send me!” (EHV)

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.

Dear friends in Christ,

            In a time of great turmoil in Israel and Judah, God gave Isaiah a strange and powerful vision.  Isaiah was invited, you might say, to look into the throne room of heaven.  The sight of the majesty and holiness of God, and the appearance of His angels attending Him, caused Isaiah to shudder in terror.  It was all too much to comprehend at a glance.  Yet, there is a message of hope for us just as there was for Isaiah, because Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.

At the time Isaiah is reporting this, the Kingdom of Israel is entering its death swoon as the unfaithful kings leading it often ruled for a very short time until ultimately Israel is led off into captivity never to return.  Likewise, the death of Uzziah is the beginning of the end for Judah, for its final kings are mostly like unto Israel’s in their rebellion against God.  Isaiah would be given the task of prophesying warnings to both nations plus some others around them.  At the same time, God gave His prophet messages of hope for those who remained faithful to our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him stood the seraphim.  Each one had six wings.  With two they covered their faces.  With two they covered their feet.  With two they flew.”  It was a scene of great glory and majesty.  We will get to Isaiah’s response in a minute, but what strikes us immediately here, is that even God’s holy angels, these seraphim that serve Him day and night and sing praise to God’s glory, even they recognize that they are not equal to the Lord’s glorious presence.  Two of their wings cover their faces to shield themselves from God’s overwhelming glory.  Two wings cover their feet to shield the Lord of Glory from their lowliness, and with two wings they proceed with their service.

“One called to another and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies!  The whole earth is full of his glory.’”  The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of the one who called, and the temple was filled with smoke.”  Everything in the universe is testimony to God’s glory and power.  No other being or force could create the world and everything in it solely from the power of His spoken Word.  The smoke, Martin Luther explained, shows God’s presence just as it had filled Solomon’s temple at its dedication.  It shows “that God dwells in faith and that He is not served except by faith which confesses and praises God.”[1]

Isaiah was overwhelmed by this sight.  He said, “I am doomed!  I am ruined, because I am a man with unclean lips, and I dwell among a people with unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies!”  If the angels of heaven deem themselves unworthy to stand in God’s presence, how may a mere mortal, a sinful man, be able to see God and live?  Scripture testifies throughout that no sinner can stand before God without receiving eternal condemnation. 

However, it is in this scene that we see the true glory and holiness of our God.  Though God is perfectly holy and without compare in any way, shape, or form, God is also perfectly just and perfectly loving of His creation.  God’s holy justice requires that no sin, nor any person polluted by sin, may ever enter His presence.  Anything less than perfect righteousness and holiness will not be allowed.  Thus, if you and I examined ourselves with holy honesty, we too would be crying out in desperation, “I am doomed!  I am ruined, because I am a man with unclean lips, and I dwell among a people with unclean lips.” 

Who among us can say we have never sinned with our mouths?  Who among us can say that every utterance we have ever made gave praise to our Creator?  And even if we could say such a thing, we would still be doomed by the inheritance of a sinful nature.  However, Isaiah’s vision shows us the glory of our God.  God created mankind holy, in His image, without any sin or desire to rebel against His perfect will.  At the same time, it must be said, that God created our first parents knowing that by making them perfectly in His image and free to live without restraint, they would fail to uphold His perfection and would earn His just decision against them.  God knew mankind would rebel.  God knew we could never measure up.  Yet, God also had a plan to save us from our own deserved condemnation.

This is why the angels continually praise God’s holiness.  Because in His love for us, God had already planned a rescue mission to thwart the wicked deceptions of Satan and rescue mankind from its own rebellion with salvation by faith.  Here, in Isaiah’s vision, this is depicted as “one of the seraphim flew to me, carrying a glowing coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.  He touched my mouth with the coal and said, ‘Look, this has touched your lips, so your guilt is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.’”  The glowing coal represents the gospel, the word of God given to take away our sin and guilt.  Already seven hundred years before Christ would enter into human flesh to live and die for us, God is giving Isaiah the message of salvation.

For Isaiah, this meant he would be preaching a message of God’s judgment upon those who continued to rebel against the Creator of all things and the true King of all Abraham’s descendants, but Isaiah would also be preaching the Good News of the things God had planned from the beginning to rescue His people from death and damnation.  From before He created the world and everything in it, God planned to send His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. 

When the devil led Adam and Eve into their spiritual grave by misleading them into give up their trust in God, God was already prepared, and at their fall He announced the curse and the promise that would restore the world: “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.  He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

A Creator who was only just wouldn’t have the love that caused Him to save.  A Creator who was wishy-washy wouldn’t do anything to help, but only let mankind suffer their deserved fate.  However, the God about whom the angels sing, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, He brings His Son into the picture, “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)  Our Creator, who is holiness personified, gave a message of hope to sinners the world over, so that by hearing the Gospel we may believe, and that believing “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Joel 2:32)

This text introduces us to Isaiah’s mission.  His was the task to proclaim God’s Word to kings and ordinary people alike.  As you heard in our epistle and Gospel lessons, this is the way God works to save sinners from the darkness of death.  God sends out messengers with the powerful message of the Good News of all Jesus did to live holiness for us and to sacrifice His holy life to pay the penalty of death God’s justice and law demanded.  Jesus did this for you and me, so that like those seraphim around God’s throne, we can spend our eternity proclaiming boldly and without shame, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies!  The whole earth is full of his glory!” 

Furthermore, we don’t have to wait.  Because everything God promises is immediately as good as done, Isaiah could go out testifying to the world with the full confidence that his sins were forgiven and his salvation was assured.  Likewise, we can tell anyone we meet that because God sent Jesus to save us, and because He washed away our sins in Baptism and connected us there with Jesus, we are saved.  Because God gave His Son into death for our sins, our sins are forgiven forever.  And with Jesus raised to life again, we are assured that we too will live and can tell the world by our actions, and our trust in God’s love and kindness, that there is nothing that can separate us from His love.  We can live with full confidence just as St. Paul wrote, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

Dear friends, like Isaiah, we too live in tumultuous times when many members of our society and world have abandoned the true God for the idols of their imagination.  Though we too might sometimes have to deal with persecution and maybe even shunning by family or former friends, we have the truth that saves—that Jesus is our righteousness and our peace.  In Jesus, we meet God personified, “For all the fullness of God’s being dwells bodily in Christ.” (Colossians 2:9)  It is in Christ Jesus that we too see and sing, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.  “The whole earth is full of his glory!”—filled with redeemed sinners—washed clean and through faith brought into peace with God by the blood of the Lamb.  Amen.

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.

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[1] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works volume 16 AE, page 71.

We too must preach the Gospel.

 

Sermon for Epiphany 4, February 2, 2025

Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Luke 4:38-44  ³⁸Jesus got up, left the synagogue, and went into Simon’s house.  Simon’s mother-in- law was suffering from a high fever.  They asked him to help her.  ³⁹He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.  Immediately she got up and began to serve them.  ⁴⁰As the sun was setting, they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases.  He laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.  ⁴¹Demons also came out of many people, crying out, “You are the Son of God!”  He rebuked them and did not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.  ⁴²When it was day, he went out to a deserted place.  The crowds were looking for him.  They went up to him and were trying to prevent him from leaving them.  ⁴³But he told them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is why I was sent.”  ⁴⁴And he continued to preach in the synagogues in the land of the Jews. (EHV)

We too must preach the Gospel.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            Happy Groundhog Day!  If it strikes you as rather odd that I would say this, well, it should.  Now, Groundhog Day is a rather innocuous, silly, semi-reverent event, or superstition, a day people pretend that a cute, hairy rodent of rather large size can predict the future.  And, as long as it isn’t taken seriously, it can be a bit of fun entertainment in the middle of the cold days of winter.

Yet, we may ask ourselves, how many distractions and superstitions come along in our lives that interfere with what is truly important?  Our sermon text teaches us many things that are important—important in Jesus’ life, and important for our eternal lives, but primarily, it teaches that We too must preach the Gospel.

As we consider this text, we could certainly focus on Jesus’ demonstration of His Almighty power in the miracles He performed.  We well note that Jesus was becoming acquainted with Peter and his friends before He called them to serve as disciples and apostles.  We also recognize that Peter was a married man and that did not prevent him from serving the Lord in ministry.

Therefore, what problem might be found that would apply to our lives as well as it presented itself in the lives of those people surrounding Jesus in this account?  It certainly wasn’t wrong of the people to put their trust in Jesus for help and healing.  Indeed, Jesus has invited us to come to Him with any trouble and in any time of need.  The danger comes when people forget the true mission Jesus had in coming to this world.  Here, Jesus shows that He didn’t come to be a healer of physical ailments.  Furthermore, Jesus didn’t enter this world just to benefit a few people or a particular place.

All of the miracles Jesus was performing served His main mission of saving souls from eternal condemnation.  That also is the purpose of the Gospel.  One of the grave dangers facing the Christian Church in our times is the temptation to focus mostly on physical or political problems.  Some people even go so far as to assume that the purpose of a church is to help people in some earthly need.  Some churches have declared themselves sanctuaries for foreign nationals.  Some focus primarily on serving meals to the poor or providing temporary shelter for those in need.  Others have claimed that our role in life is to guide the government in order to correct every ill that afflicts our world.

Now, by all means, let it be granted that Christian believers should be helping our neighbors in need.  When the crowds asked John the Baptist, “What should we do then?”  He answered them, “Whoever has two shirts should share with the person who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.” (Luke 3:10-11)  God has compassion on those in need, and He provides for us all we need plus more so that we may help those around us who need help.  Consequently, Jesus never ignored the needs of those who came to Him for help or healing or brought someone to Him in need of a cure.

Yet, the point of this interchange is that Jesus’ real purpose was so much more.  He told them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is why I was sent.”  “Because that is why I was sent.”  Jesus came into this world to be our Good News.  He came to suffer and die for the sins of the world, for all people.  Jesus came to live the holiness we need to stand before God in judgment.  Jesus came to rescue us from clutches of Satan who does his best to convict us of many evil things: selfishness, greed, spite, envy, hatred, fear, and distractions, and self-righteousness, too.

So, what kind of distractions might Satan be using against us?  Might that serpent whisper in the believer’s ears that God fell asleep when an airplane and helicopter collided in mid-air?  Might the devil use our good works against us by leading us to imagine that we deserve God’s favor for how diligently we serve Him?  That is one temptation that was very common among the Jews of Jesus’ day, and it is more than a little common in our times as well.  How often does that devil come slandering the Holy Spirit by pretending that our efforts to proclaim Christ’s salvation in this world of sinners aren’t accomplishing God’s goals.

As many of our congregations shrink, do we find ourselves growing fearful or timid?  When others attack us with false accusations against the teachings of our Church, are we ready to respond with the truth of God’s Word, or do we shrink in fear that we will embarrass ourselves?  As we view the tragic events that our so extremely common in this sin-broken world, has our confidence in God’s care suffered as well?  Lot’s of questions that may distract us from the truth of our Savior.

When Jesus was ready to leave the area that day, the people tried to hold Him back.  They wanted Him to stay and keep helping them.  They loved that He could heal their illnesses and hurts.  They loved that even the demons had to obey.  However, the people were missing Jesus’ true mission.  They didn’t understand why He came.  When you are hurting or hungry or sad or lonely, do you ever forget why Jesus came into this world?  I think we would all be lying if we said that never happened.  The sin that afflicts our whole lives keeps us wondering if God really is good and loving all the time.

Here is why We too must preach the Gospel.  Satan isn’t about to stop his tempting and accusing ways.  Nor did God promise that He would make life in this world perfect.  In fact, Jesus warned just the opposite when He said, “In this world you are going to have trouble.”  Yet, Jesus didn’t leave His disciples hopeless when He said this, for He continued, “But be courageous!  I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  This world is under the curse of sin which is death.  That is the root of every problem we have to deal with, and every sorrow that ruins our days.

When the people tried to hold Jesus back, He “told them, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is why I was sent.’  And he continued to preach in the synagogues in the land of the Jews.”  Here is something you may not have considered; as Jesus was walking this earth, He didn’t cure every broken heart.  He didn’t heal every sick person in every land.  He didn’t raise every person who died all over the world back to life.  God doesn’t work that way.  He works in His own time and in His own good way to do the things that will bring those who believe in Him into His kingdom and into His everlasting home of heaven.  That is always God’s goal—to rescue sinners out of this broken, grief-laden world.

Jesus went about His work every day doing precisely His Father’s will.  That means Jesus was willing to heal anyone who came to Him for help and healing.  That also means Jesus obeyed those God had placed in authority over Him.  Imagine that—God placed humans, some of them awful sinners, in authority over His own dear Son.  One of them tried to murder the infant Jesus by killing all the babies in Bethlehem two years old and younger.  One of them, by washing his hands in front of an angry mob, signed the death warrant that sent Jesus to the cross to suffer and die for the sins of the world. 

All of those wicked men had the same need as you and me.  They needed a Savior who came from God to live perfectly holy so that righteousness could be credited to us who need it, and we all need a Savior who was willing to suffer and die in payment for the guilt of every time we have doubted God’s love, for every time we have ignored His commands, for every time we listened to the devil’s deceptions for even a moment, for every time we were scared, for every time we neglected to do our heavenly Father’s will.

Dear friends, We too must preach the Gospel, not so that we might earn salvation by doing that work (for our works cannot save us), but so that we might again be encouraged in hearing all that Jesus did so that we are now right with God, so that we can be sure that the devil is always lying, and that our sins are forgiven forever—because they are forgiven—washed away in Jesus’ blood.  We preach the Good News of what Jesus has done for us because of the joy we feel in knowing that sin, Satan, and death have been permanently overcome.

We too must preach the Gospel out of love for fellow sinners.  Whether they believe us, or not, we must preach because of the love God has poured out on us through His Son.  “This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)  From the day Adam and Eve sinned, God promised a Redeemer who would reconcile us with our Creator.  Jesus came into this world, not to make this world better, but so that we are now right with God and welcome in His presence eternally.

Jesus knew what He was doing as He left those crowds behind.  He was going about His Father’s business of saving souls from the devil’s lies and accusations.  After He had accomplished our redemption and rescue from sin’s curse with His suffering and death on the cross, Jesus rose triumphant from the grave, victorious over sin, death, and devil.  Jesus then returned to His Father’s side in heaven, and from there, He is ruling all things so that the Gospel can go forth in this world so troubled by sin and its curse.  That’s why Jesus sent those apostles He had chosen out of unlikely beginnings.  That’s why He continues to use us to testify with our lives of service, and with our willingness to declare our hope of eternal life even in the face of great sorrow and pain.

I am certain that many people in Judea still suffered the effects of sin even after Jesus passed through an area.  However, no believer in the Christ will ever miss out on the glories of heaven, because Jesus lived to give you righteousness.  He died to take away all your guilt and shame.  He rose from the grave, alive again, as sure proof that every promise He ever made is true and certain.  God grant that we never ever wonder or doubt about God’s love, or get distracted by the foolish things of this world, but rather, that We too will preach the Gospel to His glory and our sure hope of life everlasting.  Amen.

May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and in His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and establish you in every good work and word.  Amen.