His mission accomplished, Jesus returns to His Father.

 

Sermon for Ascension, May 29, 2025

Grace to you and peace from God our Father; “this same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven."  Alleluia! 

Luke 24:44-53  ⁴⁴He said to them, “These are my words, which I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”  ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.  ⁴⁶He said to them, “This is what is written and so it must be: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things.  ⁴⁹Look, I am sending you what my Father promised.  But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”  ⁵⁰He led them out as far as the vicinity of Bethany.  He lifted up his hands and blessed them.  ⁵¹And while he was blessing them, he parted from them and was taken up into heaven.  ⁵²So they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  ⁵³They were continually in the temple courts, praising and blessing God.  Amen. (EHV)

His mission accomplished, Jesus returns to His Father.

Dear friends in Christ,

            It is not uncommon for people to wish that Jesus would still be walking among us.  They often speculate that life would be easier for Christians if Jesus was still on earth helping, healing, feeding, and protecting us.  That wish is misguided.  We must remember the world’s reaction when Jesus first walked among His people.  For a while He drew great interest and support, but later, He was rejected by nearly everyone in the land, both enemy and friend alike.  Therefore, let it be understood that there is good reason for Jesus’ followers to celebrate His ascension, for with His mission accomplished, Jesus returns to His Father.

In one of His first public sermons recorded by Luke, Jesus read from the prophet, Isaiah, and He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)  In our Gospel lesson last Sunday, Jesus said, “‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me.’  Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice.  You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.” (John 16:19-20) 

When Jesus’ disciples where troubled and afraid as He was telling them of His upcoming suffering and death, Jesus told them, “If you love me, hold on to my commands.  I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.  He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him.  You know him because he stays with you and will be in you.” (John 14:15-17)  Here, in our text, we receive an explanation for all these statements and really every passage of God’s Word; He said to them, “These are my words, which I spoke to you while I was still with you: ‘Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.’”  So, with His mission accomplished, Jesus returns to His Father.

For all of these reasons, we can understand why Jesus had to return to His Father in heaven rather than stay with us here on earth.  On the night He was betrayed, Jesus told His disciples, “I want the world to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father has instructed me.” (John 14:31)  For our eternal rescue from sin, Satan, and death, everything had to be done exactly according to God’s plan.  God so loved you, that He left nothing to chance, nor any requirement for us to do something to go to God.  Jesus so loved you, that He was doing everything according to His Father’s perfect will so that you and I and so many others might someday believe in Jesus, and by faith in Him be welcomed into peace, glory, and eternal life in the paradise of heaven.  Anything less than perfect wouldn’t get us there.

Jesus came into this world to win our rescue.  By His holy life and innocent death, Jesus then accomplished reconciliation with God for us.  Yet, the world has, since the fall into sin, been in rebellion against God, and there is only one way in which people can be brought out of that rebellion that leads to death, and that is by faith in Jesus Christ worked in us by the Holy Spirit.  We would, of course, expect that a risen Jesus would draw people to faith.  Yet, the evidence is against that idea. 

In Jesus’ parable, when the rich man pleaded with Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers to convince them to trust God and avoid his eternal condemnation, “Abraham replied to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” (Luke 16:31)  Jesus rose from the dead and the general public still refused to believe in Him.  However, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the rebellious soul and stone-dead heart is conquered and people begin to believe.

Here with His disciples, Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.  He said to them, ‘This is what is written and so it must be: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  Look, I am sending you what my Father promised.  But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.’”  Jesus opened their minds so that they could finally understand everything Jesus and the Old Testament scriptures taught them, but the power to share that message was still to come.  Not too many days in the future, Jesus was sending to them the Holy Spirit, “the Spirit of truth,” who would empower their testimony and accomplish faith in the Gospel.

Doing everything according to His Father’s will and plan, Jesus was getting everything in place so that you and I nearly two thousand years later may be rescued from the suffering and death our sins have deserved.  It is the same for all people who have believed in Jesus in the last two thousand years.  We have been saved by the power of the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus and His Father to work saving faith in our hearts.  We celebrate Jesus’ Ascension to heaven, because it is the culmination of Jesus doing everything we need to be saved.  It is by His Spirit of truth that we are granted faith in Him and through that faith, a new life, forgiveness, and peace.

“He led them out as far as the vicinity of Bethany.  He lifted up his hands and blessed them.  And while he was blessing them, he parted from them and was taken up into heaven.  The previous time Jesus had been taken away from them, the disciples were truly terrified and dismayed.  When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, put on trial, tortured, nailed to a cross to die; when a spear to His side proved without a doubt He was dead, then buried in a borrowed grave, the disciples were bereft of any hope.  They didn’t know where to turn for comfort or peace.  All they could see was the One in Whom they had so much confidence seemingly defeated by His enemies.

Oh, but now we know that was no defeat.  Though the devil maybe laughed and cheered in the moment Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) Satan’s seeming triumph was actually his destruction for by His death on the cross for the sins of the world, Jesus has won freedom from the devil’s control for all people.  On Easter morning, when Jesus rose from the grave alive, the devil and hell and the grave lay shattered.  The gaping jaws of devil and grave alike will never again be able to hold God’s people.  Never again will the devil accuse us before God’s throne.  Never again dare anyone accuse Jesus of blaspheming God, because Jesus proved He is true God as well as true Man, and in that combination is life and peace and hope and joy and forgiveness and cleansing.  Through faith in Jesus granted by the power of the Holy Spirit through the means of the Gospel, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, you and I and millions more have been brought into His everlasting Kingdom of heaven.

That day, the people, who once had been so devastated to see Jesus go away, rejoiced to see Him rise up toward the heavens unaided, because His ascension proves that Jesus has accomplished everything needed to save us.  Every word of Scripture has been confirmed as true and reliable.  “So they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  They were continually in the temple courts, praising and blessing God.  Amen.”  From the depths of sorrow and gloom as Jesus lay dead in the grave to His moment of glorious triumph, the disciples had been put through the wringer you might say, but no longer would they be afraid.  No longer would they grieve Jesus’ death.  No longer would they wonder about the future, because Jesus was sending His Spirit to make their eternal future, and ours, a sure never-ending joy.  Amen—this is most certainly true.

Dear friends, all that is why we celebrate tonight.  We celebrate for the creation of the world, for the rescue of Noah and family in the great flood, for Israel’s rescue from Egypt, for all the messages of promise given by all the prophets, but especially, we celebrate Jesus’ birth, life, sacrifice, His suffering and death on our behalf, and even more so His resurrection on Easter morning.  All these things are confirmed as accomplished when Jesus returned to His Father’s side in victory. 

Those disciples, and we with them, celebrate because Jesus’ victory and our sure salvation are promised in His Word.  Likewise, we know for sure that Jesus is ruling all things for our eternal good.  We know with certainty that every word of our Lord is sure and reliable, so we know that Jesus will return to judge the world and to take home to His Father’s mansions in heaven all those who have walked by faith in Him. 

So, now we rejoice.  Because Jesus accomplished everything needed here on earth, we are assured that He will continue to do everything needed to bring us through this troubled world and safely into His eternal glory.  His word is truth.  Therefore, His mission accomplished, Jesus returns to His Father.  To Him be praise and glory forever.  Amen.

Now may the God of all grace, bless you and strengthen your faith with the peace of His Son, Jesus Christ, through the comfort and assurance of His Holy Spirit unto everlasting life.  Amen.

The true God reigns from above.

 

Sermon for Easter 6, May 25, 2025

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

Acts 14:8-22  ⁸In Lystra there was a man who was sitting down because he had no strength in his feet.  He had never walked because he was lame from birth.  ⁹When he was listening to Paul as he was speaking, Paul looked at him closely and saw that he had faith to be healed.  ¹⁰Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!”  And the man jumped up and began to walk.  ¹¹When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form.”  ¹²Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the main speaker.  ¹³The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates, because he wanted to offer sacrifices, along with the crowds.  ¹⁴But when the apostles Paul and Barnabas heard about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting, ¹⁵”Men, why are you doing these things?  We too are men with the same nature as you.  We are preaching the good news to you so that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.  ¹⁶In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways.  ¹⁷Yet he did not leave himself without testimony of the good he does.  He gives you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons.  He fills you with food and fills your hearts with gladness.”  ¹⁸Even though they said these things, they had a hard time stopping the crowds from sacrificing to them. (EHV)

The true God reigns from above.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            More times than not, people want to experience God being actively present in their lives.  They expect that we should always be able to see God’s action in the things of this world.  Rather than trust God’s Word, many people want to understand His message through the filter of their previous beliefs.  Sometimes that leads us to see God’s hand working where we shouldn’t and to miss His intervention when we should see it. 

The people of Lystra mistakenly saw gods in two of the Lord’s disciples, yet many of those people didn’t understand the saving message the two apostles had brought for them.  However, we know that at least one man got the message, and he rejoiced that The true God reigns from above. 

            Paul and Barnabas came to Lystra after escaping a conspiracy in which Jews from Iconium and Antioch planned to stone them.  Shortly after the incident of our text, that mob succeeded in stoning Paul at Lystra, leaving him for dead.  By God’s grace, their evil intention was thwarted by our Lord in heaven, and Paul was able to pick up his beaten body from the ground and return to his preaching.  There was great opposition to the truths the apostles proclaimed, even as there is in our day.  What seems to be the case is that whenever the Good News is preached, people are inclined to accept what lines up with their long-held beliefs, but as soon as the message crosses their former ideas, their rejection can become deadly.

            For one crippled man, however, that was not the case.  As Paul was preaching the Good News of a Savior who had taken away the sins of the world, this crippled man received that message with joy and full confidence in everything Paul was proclaiming.  Likely, he had been told from little on that his affliction was the result of some great sin in himself.  So, when Paul declared that all his sins were forgiven for Jesus’ sake, what joy lifted his spirits to sing praise to this Savior he had not previously known. 

Here, Paul was given the ability to see the Gospel enlighten this handicapped man to believe that he too was saved.  We aren’t told how Paul could tell, but it doesn’t matter.  The Lord in heaven knew that this afflicted man had been drawn to the salvation of the Christian Church and by His loving grace, alone, God chose to heal also the crippled man’s earthly affliction.  “Paul looked at him closely and saw that he had faith to be healed.  Paul said in a loud voice, ‘Stand up on your feet!’  And the man jumped up and began to walk.”  The healing of the life-long crippled legs was instantaneous and complete.  The muscles, joints, tendons, and bones became as if there had never been a problem.

Now, if you and I had been there, we too might have assumed that Paul had been the source of the healing, but Paul would be the first to tell you that the power to heal this man came straight from his Savior in heaven.  Paul was given the privilege of announcing God’s grace upon the cripple.  He didn’t need praise or honor for that, nor would he accept what rightfully belonged to God.  The healing came straight from The true God Who reigns from above. 

It is amazing how often we want to give God the credit (actually, I should say the blame) when things go wrong.  Yet, when something great takes place, it is very common for people to look at earthly things as the source of the blessing.  Maybe we point at our own efforts or think we have earned the good favor.  Maybe, we call it chance, or fate, or give credit to some great hero. 

Here, the people heard Paul give the command to stand, and remembering the myths of their pagan religion, assumed that their idols had arrived to bestow favor upon their village.  One of their ancient myths told of Zeus benefitting a man in a nearby place, and they didn’t want to miss out on their chance.  In other words, they hadn’t understood any of what Paul had been preaching to them.

When the people of Lystra saw the miracle that was intended to show that Paul and Barnabas were servants of the most high God who had created the heavens and the earth, the villagers recognized only their previous religion.  God, the Father?  Jesus?  The Holy Spirit?  None of those names made a connection with most of the Lycaonians.  Rather, they immediately assumed this miracle had been done by Zeus (who in reality had never done a miracle anywhere).  The idol worship of their forefathers was all they knew and all they cared to know.  “When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form.”  Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the main speaker.  The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates, because he wanted to offer sacrifices, along with the crowds.”

The majority of the people in Lystra were talking about the miracle, but they didn’t try to find out the true source of the healing.  They just assumed their dead idols had come to help.  Still, this healing was such an unexpected happening that the news spread through the town like wildfire.  The priest who served in the temple of Zeus heard about it and immediately tried to take advantage.  He orchestrated a thank you sacrifice even though there was no evidence that his master had anything to do with the event.

Sometimes when we preach the news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, our listeners react as if we are speaking a completely foreign tongue.  They hear the words, but none of it makes sense in the context of their previous beliefs.  Paul had been preaching Christ and Him crucified.  For some of the people in Lystra, this was the most welcome news.  Like the crippled man, they soaked it in, and without hesitation absorbed that message of forgiveness, life, and salvation.  For the majority though, it would take time, and for some, nothing would ever crack their stone-dead hearts.  It is that way always.  Even after almost two thousand years of the Good News being proclaimed in every part of the world, many still cling to the false ideas Satan has implanted in those who reject the true God above.  So, if you wish God would perform some great miracle to convert all the pagans of our world, understand that it wouldn’t make any difference.

However, there is one thing that does change hearts, and it’s not you and me, or famous preachers like Peter and Paul, or good times or bad, or miracles or the lack thereof; only the Gospel empowered by the Holy Spirit can transform idol worshipers into Christians, and the Gospel is only heard when it is carried to the many lost souls by those of us who have been converted. 

Remember how few people stuck with Jesus as He went to the cross—actually none, correct?  All of His followers first abandoned Him and fled in fear.  Jesus had been preaching to the people of Judea and Galilee and the surrounding areas for three years.  He had sent out His disciples to share the Good News even further.  Still, Christianity didn’t grow until Jesus returned to heaven to send the Holy Spirit to work faith in sinners by Word and Sacrament through followers who had previously been saved.

When the two apostles saw the dreadful mistake the people of Lystra were making, “they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting, ‘Men, why are you doing these things?  We too are men with the same nature as you.  We are preaching the good news to you so that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.  In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways.  Yet he did not leave himself without testimony of the good he does.’” 

It would have been easy for Paul and Barnabas to accept the praise of the people.  Many false teachers have done so.  They could have had a great big following there among the pagans, and only a few would have known the difference, but the Lord would know, and the apostles would too

To accept that spontaneous outpouring of praise (even though sincerely given) would have meant eternal death for everyone involved.  Therefore, with the most strident call possible, the two apostles rushed to give credit where credit was due.  They were not the source of the healing, and certainly Zeus and Hermes had nothing to do with it.  Those two idols had never done anything to help because they were just figments of human imagination and lies of the devil’s prompting.  So, Paul pointed the people to the source of every blessing, the living Lord God who had created the world and everything in it, who had continued to bless even those who didn’t recognize Him as Lord.

In effect, Paul preached that day about God’s right hand, and His left.  He preached about God’s love shared with us through His natural providence, and even more important about God’s love given to us through the suffering and death of His Son.  For many of those people in Lystra, it made no difference at all.  A short time later, those pagans conspired with Paul’s enemies to stone him until he was nearly dead.  Yet, for some of the listeners, Paul’s message made all the difference in their forever. 

After Paul rose up from being stoned, and after he had proclaimed Christ crucified in other areas, he returned to speak again with those who had heard him preach and seeing the miracle had believed for life everlasting in The true God Who reigns from above.  Paul shared God’s Word with them, again, “strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith.  They told them, ‘We must go through many troubles on our way to the kingdom of God.’" (Acts 14:22)

Dear friends, there are probably times when we grow frustrated with the slowness of other people to come to faith in Jesus.  Certainly, there are times when we wonder if what we are doing makes any difference.  We may even be tempted to wonder if Jesus has forgotten about us all together.  Be assured, The true God reigns from above.  Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  Through Jesus, all of your sins are forgiven, even for those weak moments when you wonder.  Your Savior lives, and He is working all things right now for your eternal good.  He continues to share His salvation with sinners around the world through people like you and me who share His Word in whatever way possible. 

How can we be so sure of these things when almost everyone around us would tell us something else?  Because the One true God who made this world and everything in it has enlivened us by His Gospel.  He washed us clean of every sin and marked us as His own through the Baptism our Lord Jesus commanded, and our Savior continues to be with us through all the troubles and trials of this world, just as He promised He would be.  No, we don’t always see His mighty hand at work, but His Holy Spirit has worked this confidence in us.  His Word is faithful and true.  His message is life.  The true God reigns from above for the good of those He has chosen, for people like me and you.  Amen.

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

God is glorified in sacrificial love.

 

Sermon for Easter 5, May 18, 2025

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence.  Amen.

John 13:31-35  ³¹After Judas left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.  ³²If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify the Son in himself and will glorify him at once.”  ³³“Dear children, I am going to be with you only a little longer.  You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.  ³⁴“A new commandment I give you: Love one another.  Just as I have loved you, so also you are to love one another.  ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (EHV)

God is glorified in sacrificial love.

Dear disciples of the Lamb of God,

            This portion of John’s gospel presents us with a strange juxtaposition that seems incomprehensible to human reason: Jesus identifies the traitor, Judas, then immediately tells him, “What you are about to do, do more quickly.” (John 13:27)  However, we then read, “After Judas left, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.  If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify the Son in himself and will glorify him at once.’”  I suppose it is possible that some might see no connection between these two things, but because they come to us together, we learn that God is glorified in sacrificial love.

We need to recognize that Jesus knows Judas is betraying Him to the authorities who planned to arrest and kill Jesus.  Jesus knows full well the suffering, torture, and death He will soon endure.  Who could possibly assume that His suffering and death would be anything but shameful and a horrible way to treat any innocent Man?  The answer is found in this, that there is no such thing as a truly innocent person except Jesus.  Because all of mankind deserved the sentence of death on account of sin, both the sins committed as the person goes through life, and the guilt of omission of truly good works plus the inherited guilt of every person born with a sinful nature.

Yet, it is in this gift of His Son, promised throughout the ages since Adam and Eve listened to the devil’s deceptions, that God has shown His pure, unlimited love.  The Son God sent into the world to be our Substitute was completely righteous and holy before God.  Jesus deserved none of the punishment and death He received the day after He spoke these words.  Still, it is in this very suffering and death that Jesus and God are glorified.  How can that possibly be?  It defies human logic that anyone could be glorified in such a gruesome, shameful execution.  Normally, this couldn’t be reconciled, but here we see God demonstrate true love, because “God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)  God is glorified in sacrificial love.

The glory comes in that we had nothing to offer to God to buy His good favor.  No gold or silver or any other thing we find precious could satisfy God’s judgment, because it is all already His by right.  No action we could do on our own could be counted as good work, because at best, we would only be doing what we were already supposed to be doing without shortcoming or fault.  Perfect holiness, righteousness, and justice were required.  In all this and every other way, we only fell short.  Therefore, the Second person of the Trinity entered this world to live and be the righteousness we needed.  Then, because our guilt required payment, Jesus became that price, making Himself the holy, unblemished Lamb upon whom all the sins of the world were counted so that in Jesus’ death, our debt is paid, and God would count us as righteous and holy.  The glory to God comes in the sacrificial love shown to the world through His Son on the cross.

That night He was betrayed, Jesus spoke to His disciples, “Dear children, I am going to be with you only a little longer.  You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.”  Jesus was bracing them for the events of the next three days.  No person could help Jesus win our reconciliation with God.  No one else could bear any sins but his own.  The thief on the cross was dying there because he deserved death for his tremendous crimes, but we all deserved to die for every misdeed, every misspoken word, every wicked thought, and every time we failed to do the good things God has commanded—for all the times we fail the love and honor we are to show to Him always and the love and service we are to give our neighbor everywhere. 

Only Jesus could stand before the judging eyes of the Sanhedrin without guilt.  Only Jesus could go to that cross with no sin of His own yet carrying the guilt and shame of the entire human race of all time.  Only God’s Son could pay the penalty of death for sin, then enter the grave and Satan’s eternal prison to declare victory over that liar’s rebellion, yet rise from the dead alive and glorified to ascend and live forever at His Father’s side in heaven.

Jesus’ words came true as the disciples cowered in fear after His arrest.  They wondered and worried about what would come next.  In spite of their shortcomings, however, Jesus returned to them to show them the fulness of His victory over sin, death, and the devil.  Jesus returned to this world to teach them what they were to spend the rest of their lives doing, and then, He ascended to His Father’s side in heaven to enable them to live according to God’s will until such time as He returns to take us home to dwell with God forever. 

Here also is when Jesus tells us what our lives should be like.  “A new commandment I give you: Love one another.  Just as I have loved you, so also you are to love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  This statement needs almost more explanation in our time than almost any other command.  So much of our world today has no understanding of the kind of love Jesus is talking about.  At best, the natural mind tends to think of love as affection.  Modern minds often demand that love requires approval and acceptance of everyone and everything no matter how depraved and immoral they might be.  None of this is real love.

Jesus said, “Just as I have loved you, so also you are to love one another.”  How did Jesus love?  Jesus loved by being completely true to God above; by obeying every command and will of His Father in heaven.  Jesus loved by teaching the pure truth as it had been given through the prophets in the Old Testament and the evangelists and apostles in the New Testament.  Jesus loved by being completely honest with those around Him, calling out sin in friend and foe alike.  Jesus forgave freely every person who came to Him in repentance, yet then He says, “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” (John 8:11) 

At the same time, Jesus condemned those who rebelled against God by not receiving Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  Modern fools want to imagine that all roads and all religions lead to God in heaven, but the truth is there is only one way to receive forgiveness and salvation and that is through trusting Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior and God.  Those who imagine obeying God yet rejecting Jesus need to deal with the Holy Spirit who had St. John write, “Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father.  But the one who confesses the Son has the Father as well.” (1 John 2:23)  Those who would follow any other god, religion, or philosophy must deal with the truth that God has declared, “I am the Lord; that is my name.  I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to idols.” (Isaiah 42:8)

So, where does all of that leave us?  How do we love our fellow man as we should?  The answer is found in our connection with Jesus by faith.  It is through faith that we are counted righteous and enabled to love others as we should.  Jesus tells us, “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)  St. Paul wrote, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.” (Romans 6:3-4)  It is with Christ living in us and guiding us from His throne in heaven that we are motivated to love as we should. 

And how should we love according to the Christian faith?  God is glorified in sacrificial love.  Here is where we need to understand the kind of love Jesus was talking about.  This agape love is not motivated by emotion.  There is no selfish gain or reward expected.  It is holding God’s will and our neighbors’ welfare as the driving motivation in everything we do.  That means we abandon our own will to Jesus.  We give no concern to gaining the world’s approval because the world will always be driven by sin and the devil’s lies.  Instead, we serve God willingly and faithfully in all things because that is what Jesus did for us.  We show love by speaking the truth even when it hurts and even when it costs us our lives.  Sacrificial love recognizes that the world will hate us because it hated Jesus; then boldly clinging to our Savior because He has already won the victory that gives us eternal life and peace with Him in heaven, we continue leading other broken-hearted sinners to forgiveness and life in company with all believers in heaven.

Dear friends, as God made us His own dear children when He claimed us as His own through the water and Word of Baptism, and as His Holy Spirit has worked faith in our hearts through the hearing of the Gospel, God prepared us to please Him by living for Him.  He has washed away our sins and remembers them no more, but whatever we do out of faith in His Son and to help and serve our neighbor, those things God remembers and will remember at the judgment.  For the sacrificial love Jesus shows the world through those of us who walk by faith, we will hear Him say in the end, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34)  Our place in God’s kingdom is prepared for us by our Savior, Jesus, who went to the cross and to the grave, to hell and back on our behalf, before ascending to heaven to prepare a place for us there, prepared for us, solely, because God is glorified in sacrificial love.  Amen.

For the LORD is good.  His mercy endures forever.  His faithfulness continues through all generations.  Amen.

Jesus displays eternal peace for His people.

 

Sermon for Easter 4, May 11, 2025

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.

Revelation 7:9-17  ⁹After these things I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing in front of the throne and of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and with palm branches in their hands.  ¹⁰They called out with a loud voice and said: “Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb.”  ¹¹All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures.  They fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, ¹²saying: “Amen.  Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and might belong to our God forever and ever.  Amen.”  ¹³One of the elders spoke to me and said, “These people dressed in white robes, who are they and where did they come from?”  ¹⁴And I answered him, “Sir, you know.”  And he said to me: “These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  ¹⁵Because of this they are in front of the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple.  He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.  ¹⁶They will never be hungry or thirsty ever again.  The sun will never beat upon them, nor will any scorching heat, ¹⁷for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd.  He will lead them to springs of living water.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (EHV)

Jesus displays eternal peace for His people.

Dear redeemed of the living Savior,

            It isn’t often that texts from the book of Revelations come up in our preaching series, probably because this book has been considered by many to be hard to understand.  And truly, Jesus’ Revelation to John on the island of Patmos is often misunderstood by those lacking trust in the risen Savior.  However, right from the start of the book, John explained that Jesus gave him symbolic pictures intended to bring blessing, comfort, and assurance to His people.  There is nothing in this book that should make us afraid, either for the present or into eternity.  In fact, Jesus here paints a picture as a funeral sermon for His Church by which Jesus displays eternal peace for His people.

John wrote, “After these things I looked.”  He is telling us what comes after so many things already described in the book.  Previously in the book, we have seen judgment come upon the world, and the Word preached to the far reaches of the earth, and victory brought to many.  However, the world never becomes paradise, but rather, the world is forever a place of trouble and sorrow for believer and unbeliever alike, because this world itself is condemned on account of sin.  However, we are given this kaleidoscope of pictures to assure us that this world and all its sorrows and pains is not the end for those who walk in Jesus.  This is why I say it is like a funeral sermon for the entire Christian Church.  The Preacher is showing us what comes next for the children of God after their time here on earth is ended.

Thus, we read, “After these things I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing in front of the throne and of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and with palm branches in their hands.”  Here, Jesus is showing us that His kingdom is not some little congregation like it often seems on earth.  Instead, this is the gathering of all the saints who have been delivered from condemnation through faith in Christ.  He is showing us that it doesn’t matter where any of us come from.  It doesn’t matter what language we speak, who our ancestors might be, nor the color of our skin.  This is the Christian Church of all the ages since Adam and Eve.  If we could identify individuals in that group, you would see Abel, Noah, Moses, Abraham, King David, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, Elijah, Ruth, Martin Luther, your believing relatives, and millions upon millions more of the unnamed believers who have walked in this troubled world, or yet will, while trusting in Jesus as their Savior, whom God sent into the world “to save the world through him.” (John 3:17)

That uncountable number is the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham, “I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your descendants greatly, like the stars of the sky and like the sand on the seashore.” (Genesis 22:17)  St. Paul confirms this when he wrote, “The promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace and may be guaranteed to all of Abraham’s descendants—not only to the one who is a descendant by law, but also to the one who has the faith of Abraham.  He is the father of us all.” (Romans 4:16)

Every person in that multitude is dressed in white robes, and they raise up a symbol of victory in their hands.  The white robes indicate that these are the ones who have been cleansed of all sin.  There are pure and righteous before God.  The palm branches have symbolized victory throughout the ages.  The whole multitude is celebrating in gratitude for what Jesus has done for them and for all who trust in Jesus as their Savior which is fully shown as Jesus displays eternal peace for His people.

“They called out with a loud voice and said: “Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb.”  This sentence contains an interesting construction in the Greek.  It is a compact statement in the dative case which often could be translated something like, “The salvation is in, to, or by our God.”  Any of these could be the correct choice, as also the translators chose here, because our salvation isn’t something we have accomplished, deserved, or earned.  We remember Jesus’ words, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6)  Therefore, that great multitude stands around the throne of God in eternal Paradise solely because God in His mercy sent His Son, Jesus, to live, die, conquer Satan, death, and the grave, and rise again to grant us living hearts that believe and trust in the One true God.

Now, imagine for a moment what the sound would be like if all 7.5 billion people currently living on earth would be gathered together in one place shouting with joy for victory, and you will have a sense of what it is like in John’s vision when “All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures.  They fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying: “Amen.  Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and might belong to our God forever and ever.  Amen.”  Amen means this is sure and certainly true.  The angels of heaven rejoice for even one sinner who repents, and that continues on among all the angels and saints until God has filled His heaven with all His elect.  Therefore, their joy and thanksgiving continues forever, for there will never be a moment in heaven when anyone will regret believing in Jesus. 

Here in time, there are some who want to hear a fire and brimstone sermon.  Some want rules to follow to live a good life.  Some want to hear their own works be praised.  However, Jesus didn’t come into our world to give us more rules, nor to drive us to be good because of fear of punishment.  The law was written in our hearts to teach consciences to recognize their guilt, and the proof of condemnation for sin is all around us because death is evident everywhere we look.  This world has been deteriorating ever since sin entered the world.  Our bodies grow more decrepit as we age.  The fruits of the field and forest soon fall into decay and rot on the ground.  The mountains and hills are slowly etched by erosion as the curse for sin in time and weather eats away at all creation. 

All things like this show us that our judgment draws ever closer.  Scientists scream and worry about various conditions that indicate our end will come.  However, we don’t need these physical proofs because the Bible clearly warns us that Judgment Day comes for all flesh.  Left on our own, that judgment brings eternal condemnation.  The only possible help comes from outside this sin-ruined world.  As John observed that great crowd of the redeemed, he tells us, “One of the elders spoke to me and said, ‘These people dressed in white robes, who are they and where did they come from?’  And I answered him, ‘Sir, you know.’  And he said to me: ‘These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’” 

Psalm 121 declares, “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:2)  Jesus has pictured that help in this vision just as John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the true Savior and promised Deliverer, “Look!  The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)  The vivid vision displays in graphic detail what Jesus has done for us.  With His holy life, Jesus lived righteousness for us.  By His bloody torture and crucifixion sacrifice, Jesus absorbed our guilt into Himself and paid the penalty each deserved so that the eternal death sentence should never have to be applied again.  By the grace of God and the washing of Baptism, God Himself has washed away our guilty stains.  By the blood of Christ shed for the guilty, the elect of God have been made pure through faith.  The great tribulation is life on earth.  All the death, trials, tears, pains, persecution, and devilish temptations are brought to an end as the Lord calls us out of this world into His eternal glory.

Then comes the fulfillment of every promise God has made to His chosen people: “Because of this they are in front of the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple.  He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.  They will never be hungry or thirsty ever again.  The sun will never beat upon them, nor will any scorching heat, for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd.  He will lead them to springs of living water.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”  Here, our Savior has pictured what Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden of Eden before sin corrupted every part of our existence.  “Once this perishable body has put on imperishability, and this mortal body has put on immortality, then what is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.  Death, where is your sting?  Grave, where is your victory?’” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)

Dear friends, as we consider all the troubles and sorrows we face throughout life, and we remember those whose passing we mourn, no greater funeral sermon could ever be preached than the picture Jesus displayed for John to write down to give us comfort and peace.  Through the work of Jesus, we have a sure and certain hope that when our end on this earth comes, there is for us far greater life, joy, glory, and peace ahead.  Though some people think they want law which only brings condemnation, Jesus has displayed for us here the true life He promised when He told His disciples, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)  This eternal reward is pictured for our sure confidence as the children of God, forgiven of all sin and cleansed of all guilt by the blood of the Lamb, as Jesus displays eternal peace for His people.  Amen.

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

From persecutor to apostle, Jesus changes lives.

 

Sermon for Easter 3, May 4, 2025

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

Acts 9:1-22  Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord.  He went to the high priest ²and asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he might bring them to Jerusalem as prisoners.  ³As he went on his way and was approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  ⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”  ⁵He asked, “Who are you, Lord?”  He replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.  ⁶But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you need to do.”  ⁷The men traveling with him stood there speechless.  They heard the voice but did not see anyone.  ⁸They raised Saul up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he could not see anything.  They took him by the hand and led him into Damascus.  ⁹For three days he could not see, and he did not eat or drink.  ¹⁰There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias.  The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!”  He answered, “Here I am, Lord.”  ¹¹The Lord told him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul.  In fact, at this very moment he is praying.  ¹²In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he can regain his sight.”  ¹³Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man and how much harm he did to your saints in Jerusalem.  ¹⁴And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”  ¹⁵The Lord said to him, “Go!  This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel.  ¹⁶Indeed, I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”  ¹⁷Ananias left and entered the house.  Laying his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, whom you saw on your way here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”  ¹⁸Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again.  He got up and was baptized.  ¹⁹And after taking some food, he regained his strength.  Saul stayed with the disciples in Damascus for several days.  ²⁰Immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”  ²¹All who heard him were amazed and said, “Isn’t this the one who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name?  Didn’t he come here for this very purpose: to bring them as prisoners to the chief priests?”  ²²But Saul continued to get stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. (EHV)

From persecutor to apostle, Jesus changes lives.

Dear friends in Christ,

            It’s probably a bit difficult to picture ourselves in the example of Saul.  Most of us have never been blatant persecutors of the Christians we meet.  Furthermore, it is unlikely that we will be sent out as apostles to the world.  Yet, the truth remains that our story is more like Saul’s than any of us might care to admit.  You see, Jesus told His disciples, “Whoever is not with me is against me.  And whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (Matthew 12:30)  That sounds like Jesus was speaking prophetically and specifically about this man, Saul, doesn’t it?  However, the truth is, He was speaking about all of us in our natural state.

I suppose it is possible that you may be growing tired of hearing me say that you are by nature enemies of God, but I pray that isn’t the case.  It really has to be the starting point of consideration about our salvation.  We enter this world completely unaware of the true God, and being unaware of His love, we are, because of the inheritance of sin from our parents, completely and actively enemies of the Lord Jesus.

Today, much of the world imagines that babies are born innocent and pure.  Likewise, Saul’s friends in Jerusalem considered him a pious champion of the faith of Abraham, Issaac, and Jacob.  Later in his life, Saul, then called Paul, would explain with shame how he had considered himself while hating Jesus, “If anyone else thinks that he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, 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 3:4-6) 

The reality in both Saul and newborn babies’ cases is the exact opposite of what Jesus’ enemies imagine.  Paul was violently opposed to Jesus.  Newborn babies have no knowledge of Jesus or His saving grace.  Thus, like Saul, we all were once against Jesus in thought and action.  By outward appearance, Paul looked to his friends like God’s great warrior, but after meeting Jesus, Paul understood the reality of his sinfulness and his desperate need for the Savior.

Thank the Lord that by God’s grace, Jesus didn’t leave us to the natural outcome of our lack of saving faith.  On the outside, our rescue may not seem as dramatic as the way Saul was brought to believe in Jesus, but the truth is we all met our Savior when He chose to come to us to direct us away from our previously hopeless condition.  Therefore, From persecutor to apostle, Jesus changes lives.

To redirect the great persecutor, Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus just as that man was intent on doing more of his murderous work.  Saul had the letters authorizing his nasty deeds in his hand.  The same high priests who falsely accused Jesus were complicit in this plot to destroy Christians.  However, no one is able to defeat God’s plan to save sinners.  Therefore, Jesus met Saul in the road, called to him with a stern reproach, and changed his future forever. 

When the vision was ended, Saul had been blinded by the Light.  His associates led him by the hand into the city but Saul saw nothing and ate and drank nothing for three days.  Jesus then sent Ananias to the stricken Saul with this command, “Go!  This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel.”

This is where the rubber meets the road for you and me.  While we might sometimes imagine that our faith could be stronger if only Jesus came to us personally, we are actually beneficiaries of Jesus’ loving care shown to us through those apostles He called into the service of the Word by His immediate call.  Saul, who we know today as Paul, along with the eleven apostles who had walked with Jesus as disciples during His life here on earth, each was called to carry the Gospel out into the world and fulfil the task Jesus assigned before ascending to His Father’s side in heaven: “Go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

For three days, Saul was blind to the world.  However, his whole previous life, he had been blind to God’s love in Jesus.  It is only after those scales fell from his eyes that Saul could see clearly what Jesus had done for him and for all of us.  It immediately changed Paul’s life and activity.  He was baptized into the Christian faith, and instead of hunting believers in Jesus in order to imprison and/or kill them, Paul began to teach the people, from the Old Testament scriptures he knew so well, that Jesus is God’s Son and the Savior and Redeemer of the world.  Thus, on account of Jesus’ intervention with His worst enemy, a transformation in spirit took place, and “Saul continued to get stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.”

From then on, though Paul suffered greatly in the efforts and travels of his ministry, his work in testifying to the world and recording explanations of what Jesus did to reconcile us with God has brought us the Good News through which the Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts, so that we too can believe in Jesus and receive forgiveness of all our sins, peace and reconciliation with God, and the sure and certain hope of life everlasting in heaven.

Back in the here and now, you perhaps sometimes feel that your work isn’t as important as Paul’s.  Maybe you feel like a lesser Christian than the apostles who gave so much to bring the Gospel to the world.  Yet, Jesus never commanded us to do or be anything more than the roll He calls us to.  First, He tells us to repent and be baptized.  He tells us to love our neighbor as He has loved us.  He tells us also to share the Good News of His life, death, and resurrection as we are able to those around us.  Through His disciple, Peter, we are instructed, “Regard the Lord, the Christ, as holy in your hearts.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15)

In all this, it is most important that we remember that we don’t save anyone, especially ourselves, but rather through the faith worked in our hearts in the hearing of the Gospel and gifts of the Sacraments, Jesus has brought us into His kingdom of grace with all the benefits He has earned and granted to those who believe in Him.  Therefore, we don’t have to be Paul, or Peter, or John.  Neither do we have to, nor can we, do anything to add to our position in God’s kingdom. 

On the other hand, Jesus has accomplished everything needed to reconcile us with God, and by Jesus’ direction, the Holy Spirit has worked faith in the hearts where and when the Good News of Christ Jesus is preached among those God calls to faith.  Consequently, as we live and walk in the true faith, trusting in Jesus as our Savior and Lord, His light is shining in the darkness reflecting off of us upon those around us, so that From persecutor to apostle, Jesus changes lives.  Amen.

May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The Lord be with you all.  Amen.