Christ’s Word believed will set you free!

 

Reformation Sunday, October 26, 2025

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever.  Amen.

John 8:31-36  ³¹So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.  ³²You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  ³³“We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered, “and we have never been slaves of anyone.  How can you say, ‘You will be set free’?”  ³⁴Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Everyone who keeps committing sin is a slave to sin.  ³⁵But a slave does not remain in the family forever.  A son does remain forever.  ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.” (EHV)

Christ’s Word believed will set you free!

Dear friends in Christ,

            A pious, guilt-ridden monk climbed the scala sancta, the so-called holy stairs in Rome that tradition claims were the stairs Jesus climbed to go before Pontius Pilate.  Climbing these stairs, it was claimed, was a work one could do to free a dead relative from the tortures of purgatory.  That monk climbed those stairs on his knees, stopping to kiss each stair and pray as he climbed.  Yet, when he reached the top, he could only wonder if his efforts had accomplished anything at all.

Martin Luther was anything but free at that point in his life.  He zealously lived the monk’s life, doing everything he could to deprive and punish himself for his sins.  He was so guilt-ridden that he was sure that he even failed to confess properly.  Luther was enslaved by sin because the teachings of the Roman Church failed to absolve his guilt.  Luther was tormented by the mistaken idea that the righteousness of God was the righteousness God demanded of all people, and Luther recognized that he failed miserably at living up to God’s perfect holiness.  Luther needed the message of the Gospel of our Savior, that Christ’s Word believed will set you free!

In contrast to the heavy burden of guilt Luther felt, the Jews to whom Jesus was speaking in our text were confident in their imagined holiness before God.  Those Jews were ready to follow Jesus as the long-promised Messiah, but only for the wrong reasons and looking for the wrong results.  Jesus recognized that their faith in Him was flawed by their own misconceptions about the Messiah, so He told those Jewish believers, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.  You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  Their response demonstrated that their false assumptions were keeping them enslaved in sin. 

Those Jesus weren’t ready to hear what Jesus taught.  Instead, they hoped Jesus would be their king.  They protested, “We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered, “and we have never been slaves of anyone.  How can you say, ‘You will be set free’?”  The Jews’ reaction to Jesus’ words testifies to the foolishness of their self-delusions, for this was a nation of people living under the unwanted rule of the Roman Empire, whose forefathers had been carted off to slavery in Babylon, and whose more distant forefathers had suffered hundreds of years of bitter enslavement in Egypt.  Still, in their deluded thinking, they claimed they had never been slaves to anyone. 

So far, we have seen two examples of people enslaved by sin.  The Jews of Jesus’ day were enslaved in sin because they relied on their bloodlines and heritage to make them right with God, and therefore, they failed to believe the truth of Scripture that teaches that all people have sinned against God and need a Savior.  Martin Luther, on the other hand, heard the Law and trembled before it, but as a young monk, he remained enslaved by sin because the forgiving message of the Gospel was withheld from him.  Both cases demonstrate the tragic result when the truth of God’s salvation is not heard.  Both types of enslaved sinners need to hear that Christ’s Word believed will set you free!

As we look around our world today, we can find all kinds of people enslaved by sin.  Many, like those Jews, don’t want to hear that they are sinners in need of a Savior, preferring, instead, to have their wickedness approved.  Of course, no one really wants to hear that their guilt condemns them to eternal torment.  Defensively, like the Jews, they want to cry out, “we have never been slaves of anyone.” 

The same can happen to us if we grow complacent with our sins as we hear and read about all kinds of horrible transgressions around the globe.  We may find it easy to think that, certainly, with such bad people in this world, we must compare favorably in God’s eyes.  Therefore, many go merrily on their way foolishly confident that God’s wrath will not affect them, either because they think they compare well with others, or some perhaps hoping that God must be too nice to condemn anyone.  But Jesus’ words deny this foolishness as He declares, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Everyone who keeps committing sin is a slave to sin.  But a slave does not remain in the family forever.” 

Now, while some people deny their guilt, others feel their guilt, sometime desperately, so they look for ways to salve that feeling.  Many try to relieve their guilty feelings through works, experiences, or even alcohol, drugs, or other vices.  Some run into churches or cults that pretend to teach you how to live but make the mistake of imagining that your efforts to behave better will somehow make you right with God.  Our human nature likes this type of philosophy because it makes us feel like God will have to reward us for our good works, but like the monk, Martin Luther, we are always left wondering if we have done enough.

Still, we cannot avoid the message of what Jesus says, “Everyone who keeps committing sin is a slave to sin.  But a slave does not remain in the family forever.”  It is clearly true that even one sin makes the sinner ineligible to dwell in God’s house.  That sounds scary, but it is meant to terrify the defiant.  Thus, when I look back on my life, I can see why Luther was afraid.  He knew that no one ever lives up to the demands of God’s righteous Law.  My own conscience reminds me continually that even as I try to be good, I often do things that hurt people, and I am reminded that I find it impossible to be perfectly obedient or perfectly reverent.  If I am being honest, I could never be perfectly obedient or perfectly reverent, and neither will anyone else. 

Thus, when we acknowledge this shortage of self-righteousness, and tremble in fear for our future, we really need to hear some good news.  But guess what, Jesus is there for me, and He’s there for you.  Jesus told those Jews “a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”  Wow!  That sounds really good.  We know the Son of God.  So how does the Son set us free? 

My friends, Jesus already answered that question earlier in this text.  He said, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.  You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  That’s a very simple answer, isn’t it?  True freedom is found in God’s Word, but not because of any of our vain attempts to obey it; rather, because it tells us how Jesus lived and died to earn our place in His family which the Holy Spirit grants to us through faith in Jesus.

Now someone may say, “But isn’t God’s Word just a bunch of laws?”  Today, you and I, and Martin Luther, and Jesus Himself can shout out a bold “NO!”  Whoever thinks God’s Word is just Law is only reading part of it.  And really, this is what the Reformation is all about.  God used Martin Luther to return the church to the truth of the whole Bible—not just the Law, but the Gospel as well.  God gives all of His Word to proclaim the truth that salvation is given through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.  When Jesus says, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples,” He isn’t telling us to pick and choose what parts of the Word to believe.  He is telling us to believe all of it, and to make all of God’s Word the very center of our lives, because Christ’s Word Believed Will Set You Free!

God gives His Law to show us how in our fallen state we have failed to be holy.  He gives that Law so that we know that our failure to obey brings death.  That curse began in the Garden of Eden, and we see that curse again and again throughout the Bible.  Yet, the truth of Jesus’ Word also tells us of God’s great love for us.  The Bible follows its Law with the promises of the Gospel.  The promises began immediately after the first sin as God condemned the serpent, saying, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.  [also immediately God declared the promise of the Savior] He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)  

The promise of a Savior was repeated again and again throughout the Scriptures: to Abraham, God promised a special descendent saying, “All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.” (Genesis 12:3)  The promise was repeated to King David, that his descendent would reign forever, and again through various prophets even as Israel was punished for its rebellion against God.  Finally, to Mary, the angel, Gabriel, came from heaven saying, “Listen, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:31-33)  Likewise, an angel brought a message of assurance to Joseph saying, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)  

“If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.  You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  We live in an era when truth is often qualified—truth, it is claimed is only what is true for you—the opposite, it is imagined may be true for someone else.  But dear Christians, we can be confident that in God’s Word we have the rock solid, absolute truth, because it comes directly from the perfect God who created us and loves us, Who sent His only begotten Son to rescue us from our disobedience.

Jesus’ true disciples put their confidence in God’s Word alone.  They trust Jesus’ words, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6)  They rejoice in the promise of the Holy Spirit that turned Luther’s fear into confidence and joy: “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) Jesus’ disciples take God’s Word as a whole and believe it in its entirety.  Though we don’t know everything Jesus may have said or did, we are confident in the Biblical record because Jesus’ faithful disciple assures us that “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31)

My friends, do not despair at what the world might think; rather put your confidence in all of God’s Word.  The power of that Word has washed away all your sins in the water of Baptism and transformed you from slaves into God’s dear children.  The forgiveness of sins that Jesus won for you on the cross is brought to you, again and again, each time He serves you with His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. 

You and I were born bound in the same chains of sin that bind the devil to everlasting torment in hell, but those chains were thrown off of us when Jesus entered our world as “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)  By His perfect life and innocent death on the cross, Jesus, The Son of God Almighty, paid the ransom price that set us free from everything that would have kept us out of His Father’s house. 

Once, we were at war with God, but that war is over, because God’s love for us never changes.  Jesus said, "If the Son sets you free, you really will be free.”  See your Savior on the cross and hear Him cry, "It is finished." (John 19:30)   See Him again after Easter morning, arisen from the grave, announcing to the whole world that God has accepted His sacrifice as full payment for all the sins of the world. 

Jesus, God’s own Son, set you free from sin, death, and the power of the devil.  Jesus set you free from the guilt of your sins.  Walk boldly and faithfully through the trials of this world, holding firmly to the truth of all of God’s Word, for Christ’s Word Believed Will Set You Free!  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.

Be confident in God who gives eternal life.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 19, October 19, 2025

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

1 John 5:13-15  ¹³I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.  ¹⁴This is the confidence that we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  ¹⁵And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we also know that we receive the things we have asked from him. (EHV)

Be confident in God who gives eternal life.

Dear redeemed in Christ Jesus,

            It might be tempting to overlook this short letter tucked away in the back of your Bible, but some very profound thoughts are found in this little note.  The Apostle, John, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes to the young Christian Church, to the people God has made His own dear children through faith in Jesus Christ.  In this short text, the apostle encourages believers to be bold in their faith and in their prayers, that they Be confident in God who gives eternal life.

John tells us point blank why he was appointed to write this letter: “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”  Here, the Holy Spirit is addressing one of Satan’s most effective lies.  The devil works very hard to convince people, sinners all, that our sins will keep us from eternal life in heaven.  As with all the devil’s lies, he takes a sliver of truth and turns it against us.  The Bible says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)  That is the message of the law.  Therefore, Satan loves to use that law against us whenever he has tempted us to defy it.

So, who here could argue against the logic?  Who among us could claim to be without sin?  However, John wrote this letter, and God gave us the whole Bible to remove the curse of sin from us and to open the gates of heaven for us.  You see, the message of the Bible isn’t centered on mankind’s rebellion and sin against God.  The Bible is centered exactly on the Son of God who came into this world to rescue us from the darkness of death and condemnation.

Again, hear the message God wants you to know: “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”  Having been rescued from the devil’s control and granted faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior by the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacrament, you already have eternal life.  This is perfectly in line with what Jesus declared to John in the Revelation, “Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  He who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.” (Revelation 2:11)

Because of sin afflicting mankind, most of us will experience physical death.  Every person on earth will go through that portal except for those still physically alive the day Jesus returns to judge the world.  However, those marked by the blood of the Lamb and bearing the seal of God’s grace will never have to face the eternal death which is everlasting separation from God in hell.  That second death does not apply to God’s children.  Hell is set apart solely for the devil and his followers.  Even those who wickedly reject Jesus will be in hell only because they refused the salvation offered through faith in Jesus, because Jesus has already paid the price for all the sins of all mankind.

Thus, dear friends, Be confident in God who gives eternal life.  Rest assured that the Father in heaven loves you.  He so wants you to spend eternity in heaven that He gave His own beloved Son into suffering and death to rescue you and bring you eternal life through faith.  Then, as St. Paul so eloquently pointed out in his letter to the Roman congregation, “If God is for us, who can be against us?  Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?” (Romans 8:31-32)  St. John is in full agreement for he wrote, “This is the confidence that we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”  God listens to His children, to their wants and needs, their hopes and dreams.  Having delivered us from the clutches of the wicked one by the lifeblood of Jesus, God wants only the best for us. 

Here is the rub, though, and the reason many of God’s people struggle with this promise that God hears our prayers; people all too often expect God to act like a vending machine in which we place our order and receive immediate satisfaction.  Thus, if we pray for healing and healing doesn’t come right away, or ever, the devil is right there whispering in our ears that God must not have heard or doesn’t care.  All over the world, Christians pray for peace and yet war, turmoil, bloodshed, and persecution continually torment us and many unbelievers as well.  Sometimes, we pray for different weather than we have in that moment, and yet, we may or may not receive the answer we desire.

So, what is the problem, or who is to blame?  The prosperity preacher will tell you that you didn’t pray hard enough, long enough, or properly in some way.  The sinful nature will become exasperated with God’s response.  The devil again delights to torment us with questions.  Yet, there is never a plea that God doesn’t hear, so we must admit that like little children, our prayers and pleas are not always what is best for God’s kingdom which is His beloved children of faith.

To pray according to God’s will is to pray with complete confidence that God always answers with exactly what is needed for us and for our fellow members of the kingdom regardless of whether we are happy in the flesh with His answer.  Just as a loving father will never give his child what he knows will bring him harm, God will never give you anything but what He knows is in your best interest for eternity, even if that makes you have to adjust your wishes in this life.

Sometimes, our desires have consequences that we cannot know.  Sometimes, our requests must be put off until a later time, not because God is not able to fulfill, but because it is not in line with His plans for you or for someone around you.  Often, the answer to our prayers is immediate, but we don’t immediately recognize God’s benevolent gift.  This failure to recognize the blessing God gives is sin.  Likewise, whenever we selfishly demand our personal preferences over what God knows is best, this is a childish temper tantrum that is also sin, and whenever we listen to the devil whispering in our ears that God is shortchanging us in any way, that is the same sin that led Adam and Eve into death in the first place.

Therefore, we confess to our God and Father that we cannot know what is best for us, and we confess that the desires of our sinful hearts often conflict with His unchanging love for us, and we confess that our lives would be infinitely better when we simply and completely trust His gracious good will for our everlasting welfare as we bring our needs and wants before the Lord.

With complete confidence in God’s loving care for us, St. John reminds us, “And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we also know that we receive the things we have asked from him.”  That dear friends is Being confident in God who gives eternal life.  Remember, also, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, St. James wrote, “The prayer of a righteous person is able to do much because it is effective.” (James 5:16)  Thus, as we pray to God seeking only those things in line with His perfect will, how could we possibly receive anything but what our God determines is best for us?

In our Gospel lesson last Sunday, we heard of ten lepers who begged Jesus for healing, and they each received that gift, but only one returned with thanksgiving for the healing we all need, that for his soul.  This is the most important gift we could ask for and we dare never forget.  God has already given us what we need to dwell with Him forever in Paradise.  He gave His own dear Son into death, so that with our sins fully paid for on the cross, His resurrection declares to us everlasting life.  Jesus lived His life in perfect trust in His Father’s will, so that you and I who believe in Jesus will be counted as having trusted God with that same perfect faith.  Therefore, even if our prayer for physical life is answered with a martyr’s death, we can stand with the same confidence Paul displayed as he faced the emperor’s judgment saying, “So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.  For this reason he died, rose, and lived, to be Lord of both the dead and the living.” (Romans 14:8-9)

In our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus spoke of a wicked judge who couldn’t be bothered to do what is right for some poor woman.  Yet, because of her persistence in seeking justice, that wicked judge eventually gave in to her plea.  Jesus’ point is not that God withholds His favor until we earn it with persistent prayer—that would be sacrilege and a judgment against God’s perfect love—but rather, God earnestly encourages us to continue to present our needs to our Father in heaven, because in His perfect holiness and love, He is always ready and willing to both hear our prayers and answer them for our everlasting good.  To expect anything less is a stain of sin on us. 

However, even this sin was put on Jesus at the cross, so that all of our sins are removed and all our guilt has been carried by the love God showed to us in Jesus.  His righteousness covers us with a robe of brilliant holiness that shines brighter than the sun.  Furthermore, nothing in heaven or on earth, nor any created thing can ever take away what Jesus has already accomplished so that we will live with Him forever in heaven.  Therefore, trust that whatever challenges, hardships, or losses we might ever face here on earth will only come our way because our loving Father in heaven has deemed these things to be for our eternal good. 

St. Paul explained this difficult to understand reality when he wrote:

Therefore, 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.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that he would take it away from me.  And 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. (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)

Dear friends, may we too always shelter in the power of Christ Jesus.  May we always recognize that God answers our prayers exactly as He deems is best.  May we every day of our lives go out in this world, with all its troubles, hardships, and pains, bringing our prayers to God above with full confidence in His love, and thus in every prayer, Be confident in God who gives eternal life.  Amen.

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

 

Give thanks for God’s faithfulness.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 18, October 12, 2025

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.  Amen.

Genesis 8:15-22  ¹⁵God spoke to Noah.  He said, ¹⁶“Go out of the ark—you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.  ¹⁷Bring out with you every living thing of every sort that is with you, all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may swarm over the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”  ¹⁸Noah went out with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives along with him.  ¹⁹Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever swarms on the earth went out of the ship, species by species.  ²⁰Noah built an altar to the Lord and took from every clean animal and every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.  ²¹The Lord smelled the pleasant aroma.  The Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the soil anymore because of man, for the thoughts he forms in his heart are evil from his youth.  Neither will I ever again strike every living thing, as I have done.  ²²While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” (EHV)

Give thanks for God’s faithfulness.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            Imagine the difficult challenges Noah and his family faced both before the flood arrived while he built the ark and again during the tremendous downpour that drowned the whole world except for the people and creatures aboard the ark.  While Noah was building the ark, he surely was abused with mockery for crafting such a great ship in a world that didn’t see rain or storms.  During the flood, the strain of caring for such a vast array of animals had to be taxing beyond our imagining.  We may well wonder how it was possible that so few people could build that large structure and then gather the supplies to care for the eight-person crew and all those many animals and birds.  The answer is that the Lord always provides, which is why it was appropriate for Noah to Give thanks for God’s faithfulness.

God faithfully protected Noah and his family from destruction in the flood and provided for all those creatures.  God faithfully carried out every last detail of the judgment He had told Noah was coming.  Yet, while carrying out His judgment on that wicked world, God provided the means by which eight people and all kinds of animals, birds, and creeping things were preserved to repopulate the earth.  Now, I would suppose that Noah was very thankful just to be off the ark and no longer burdened with the care of such a vast floating zoo.  However, Noah was especially thankful that God was faithful in keeping His promise to provide a Savior for the world and the promises God made at that point in time.  Noah’s offering of those sacrifices shows that he was still very much trusting God for everything.  He had seen God’s faithful care.  He had no doubt it would continue.

Today, we live in a world beset with what we might call alarmism.  Every change in weather, market, or circumstance is often accompanied by dire warnings that this trouble will lead to a disastrous future, or perhaps even the end of life as we know it.  That is especially true among those who don’t take seriously God’s warning concerning Judgment Day.  While prophets of doom terrorize people with threats of looming Armageddon, they seldom are concerned that God will bring judgment upon the unbeliever.  Noah was eyewitness to God’s faithfulness to His warnings and in faith, Noah offered up burnt offerings of thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness in keeping His promises.

As those sacrifices burned and the aroma of the smoke lifted up into the sky, God declared His promise to continue to provide for us all until that last day.  The Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the soil anymore because of man, for the thoughts he forms in his heart are evil from his youth.  Neither will I ever again strike every living thing, as I have done.  While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

Thus did God promise to care for mankind until the end of time, yet you and I might well confess our guilt in failing to trust God’s promise as we should.  We too can be troubled with worries when the hardships of this world seem overwhelming.  When the clouds pour out too much rain, how often we tremble in fear of the damaging floods.  When the rain fails to fall in a timely manner, how often we worry about the fields producing enough for our daily bread.  When Satan’s hoards surround us, how often we fear embarrassment for the faith we hold in Jesus.  How often we remain silent when we could speak boldly of what Jesus has done to rescue us from sin, death, and the devil.  Then, when the yawning mouth of the grave appears before us personally, how often even believers wonder about whether God’s promises really are true.

The Bible reports that already before the flood, “Noah was a righteous man, a man of integrity in that generation.  Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9)  This doesn’t mean Noah was without sin because God’s Word is true that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)  What it does mean is that Noah was trusting the promise handed down through his forefathers from Adam and Eve, that “The Lord God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, … 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 3:14-15)  Noah trusted that God would send a Savior to rescue him from the darkness and evil of this world.  Because God was choosing to save Noah and his family from the destructive flood, Noah had to recognize that God would carry out that promise through his own descendants, and like Abram later, Noah believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness.  Thus did Noah Give thanks for God’s faithfulness.

For you and me as well, God has remained ever faithful.  Just as we were shown this year with a bountiful harvest even in the face of some challenging weather, God continues to provide seedtime and harvest, summer and winter, and He will do so until Jesus returns to judge the world.  However, much more important that even that, God was and will be faithful to the promises He made throughout the Scriptures of a Savior from sin—a Savior born of the seed of a woman, a Savior who would be holy and gentle, righteous though despised by men, a Savior innocent as the most pure dove who would bear the sins of the world as “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)

The world in its unrighteousness has remained skeptical about Jesus, but in spite of the objection of sinners who refuse to believe, the Holy Spirit continues to send out messengers who deliver the Good News of Jesus’ life and death on our behalf so that the Spirit can work faith in those God chooses to believe.  Because you are here, hearing the Word of God and putting your trust in it, you can be confident that God chose you to be His own dear child by faith.  He chose you to believe in His Son, Jesus, and receive forgiveness and life.  He chose to cover you with Christ’s righteousness so that you are counted worthy to stand in God’s presence and be welcome in His heavenly mansions for eternity. 

In all this, you had no part in making it happen.  Rather, God was faithful to His promises and to His election of you as one who would believe, just as St. Paul wrote to the Ephesian congregation, “He did this when he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 1:4-5)

You might say that every time we gather in worship before the altar of our God, every time we confess our sins, and every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we Give thanks for God’s faithfulness.  We give thanks primarily simply by believing His promises.

Concerning faith in Jesus, the writer to the Hebrews wrote, “By faith Noah, when he was warned about things that had not been seen before, built an ark, in reverent fear, in order to save his family.  By it he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that is by faith.” (Hebrews 11:7)  It was faith worked in Noah by the Holy Spirit that got him to commit himself to building an ark and then led him onto that boat that would protect him and his family from the deadly flood.  Likewise, it is faith, worked in you by the power of the Holy Spirit in Word and Sacrament, that brought you into the saving vessel of God’s Church, so that you won’t have to face destruction in the judgment on Judgment Day.

In light of the momentary troubles this world continually throws against us, and even in the face of persecution and death, the same writer to the Hebrews encourages us:

Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal.  In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God’s throne.  Carefully consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinful people, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2-3)

When Noah came to faith, everything Jesus would do to carry out God’s saving plan remained a mystery ahead of him.  Noah would never know all the good things that were to come until he entered heaven believing God’s promise.  You and I have the history of all the prophets foretold and the fulfilment of those prophecies in Jesus.  Everything God prophesied to rescue us from condemnation has been fulfilled in His beloved Son.  God has been and continues to be ever faithful.

To the recalcitrant Israelites, God spoke through His prophet, Malachi, “Certainly I, the Lord, do not change.  That is why you, sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.” (Malachi 3:6) 

So that many more sinners may hear and believe, Judgment Day has not yet come.  Still, to you and me who have been counted righteous through faith in Jesus as our Savior, the Lord declares, “Look, I am coming soon and my reward is with me, to repay each one according to what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.  Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the Tree of Life and so that they may enter through the gates into the city.” (Revelation 22:12-14)  God has been faithful to His promise to deliver us from sin and death.  He brought us into His kingdom through the cleansing water and Word of Baptism, and it is in that Sacrament that we were washed and dressed in the righteousness that makes us His dear ones by faith.  That is among the many reasons why today and every day, we Give thanks for God’s faithfulness.  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.

Lord, increase our faith!

 

Sermon for Pentecost 17, October 5, 2025

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Luke 17:1-10  Jesus said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!  ²It would be better for that person if a millstone would be hung around his neck and he would be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.  ³Watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him.  If he repents, forgive him.  ⁴Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”  ⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”  ⁶The Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you could tell this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.  ⁷Which one of you who has a servant plowing or taking care of sheep will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at the table’?  ⁸Won’t the master tell him instead, ‘Prepare my supper, and after you are properly dressed, serve me while I eat and drink.  After that you may eat and drink’?  ⁹He does not thank the servant because he did what he was commanded to do, does he?  ¹⁰So also you, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants.  We have only done what we were supposed to do.’” (EHV)

Lord, increase our faith!

Dear fellow redeemed,

            Have you ever sat down and considered how often we deserve the fate Jesus described in our text?  St. Paul, in his letter to the Roman congregation said, “The wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23) so we know we deserve death—even eternal death—for every time we sin.  Yet, on top of that, Jesus teaches us here that we deserve that condemnation likewise for every time we even inadvertently cause someone else to sin. 

So, again, I ask, have you ever caused anyone else unrighteous anger?  Has something you have done given the impression that it is okay to disobey God’s command or invitation?  Is our Christian witness ever so lackadaisical that people imagine the faith we have been given doesn’t matter?  Is there anything in your past, or present, that might lead another sinner to avoid attending our church services?  Have we ever inadvertently given others the impression that it is okay to disobey any of God’s Ten Commandments?

The first part of our text shows us that we are unworthy sinners who deserve that millstone around our neck and drowning in the sea.  We deserve eternal punishment and rejection from God.  Yet, Jesus then goes on to teach us to forgive without reservation those who sin against us.  As many times as someone hurts us but then repents of that sin, it is our duty and obligation to forgive- and to forgive completely without regard to cost or any compensation.

Because these two things seem incompatible to our broken, sinful natures, we would beg along with Jesus’ disciples, Lord, increase our faith!  We need faith in Jesus to repent of our sins.  In truth, we need God’s Word and the faith the Holy Spirit works in our hearts even just to feel remorse for our guilt.  Then in order for us to forgive as Jesus instructs, we need to know God’s forgiveness for us.  That is the only thing that can make this make sense to the fallen mind.

Because, like us, the disciples found this level of repetitive, unearned forgiveness so difficult to grant, Jesus told a parable to show that faith makes what we are commanded to do possible.  In the ways of the world, crime must be punished, wrongs must be avenged, debts—even inadvertently caused losses—must be repaid to the injured party.  Jesus tells us to forgive and forgive and forgive—unreservedly, willingly, gladly.  It goes against our nature.  It especially goes against what the world imagines about an Almighty God.  Without faith in the Savior, we are weak and helpless, but forgiven by Christ, we see God working through us to work repentance and forgiveness among sinners.

The law written in our hearts tells us that we owe a debt to God for our sins.  Sometimes then, we who imagine ourselves to be relatively good compared to so many in the world around us, calculate that those who sin against us also owe us some recompense to be forgiven.  However, Jesus is teaching us to do what He has done for us.  By the grace of the Father’s love, Jesus took our place in punishment and death for our sins.  St. Paul explained, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19) Therefore, through Jesus, God has completely wiped away all our guilt and forgiven us for every sin.

Every time you repent of sin, the Word of God tells us, “Yes, your sin is paid for on the cross; you are therefore counted righteous in the courts of the Lord.”  Thus, a few moments ago, you as a congregation of believers confessed your sins before God, and by God’s command and desire, my mouth spoke God’s absolution to you all.  Time and again, we gather together to be assured that “For Jesus’ sake, your sins are forgiven.”  Believe it.  Trust it. 

Throughout His life on earth, Jesus demonstrated for us what perfect faith in His Father’s love and providence could do.  It could heal the blind and lame, feed thousands with five loaves and two small fish.  With His perfect faith, Jesus drove out demons and brought dead bodies back to life.  Most important, with His perfect trust in His Father’s love intact, Jesus, rose from the dead Easter morning just as He promised He would, thereby also guaranteeing that every word He has spoken is certain and true.

The last half of our text addresses our desire for recognition.  Because we are still dragging around the corrupt flesh of the natural body, we have an expectation to be recognized when we do good things.  We want to be rewarded for our work.  We desire to be acknowledged as children of God.  In the business world, this idea makes perfect sense, so the manager who can honestly make his people feel valued will likely be very successful.  People will want to work diligently for him or her.

However, Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, and when I say that, don’t imagine that the Kingdom of Heaven is some cruel place where we will be treated like dogs.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Yet, for now, we live in the kingdom of the world, and the world treated Jesus like the worst sinner and criminal the world has ever seen.  Thus, Jesus warned His disciples, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own.  However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, for that very reason the world hates you.  Remember the saying I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too.” (John 15:19-20)

In the Roman Empire of Jesus’ day, no master would have been worried about whether his servant felt appreciated.  They owned those individuals and expected complete subservience and faithful service.  That illustrates what Christians might often feel about our service in the Kingdom of God.  Because we serve our Savior here in this world of sin, we can expect that we won’t receive praise and commendation.  Instead, we should expect to work tirelessly without reward.

At the same time, however, because we have been bought out of slavery to sin and the devil, we are now owned by the One who paid the price for our release from the tormentor’s whims.  We have been purchased by the benevolent Son of God who gave His own lifeblood to set us free from eternal condemnation.  For His great purchase price and the joy we now have to serve a Lord who truly loves us and gave His own life to save us, we should serve without reserve, and without expectation of any thanks or praise.  Thus, Jesus told His disciples, “So also you, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants.  We have only done what we were supposed to do.’”

Meanwhile, we might ask ourselves, what glory did Jesus receive from the world after sacrificing His own life so that we might enjoy everlasting life?  From the people of the world, Jesus continues to receive rebellion and mockery, outright rejection and the mistreatment of His servants, brothers, and sisters.  Because the devil and his wicked hoards still torment the world, the God who created this world and everything in it is still being questioned, His existence still even doubted, and His authority rejected.

This is why those who have been rescued from eternal condemnation through the power of the Holy Spirit in Word and Sacrament cry out pleading, Lord, increase our faith!  Increase our faith, Lord, so that we don’t despair.  Increase our faith so that we do the work You give us without any desire or need for earthly recognition.  Increase our faith, Lord, so that while You are always walking with us, we never doubt Your presence, Your comfort, or Your power to save and to move mountains.  Increase our faith, Lord, so that we always forgive as You forgive.  Increase our faith so that we seek the best for our fellow man and especially that we focus on the work you give us personally, for Jesus command to His disciples is also His command to us: "Therefore 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)

In this mission, we each have our roles.  Therefore, it behooves us to ask and pray, Lord, teach me to do Your will.  Help me to recognize the opportunities around me to invite the stranger to come into Your kingdom through hearing Your Word in our worship services or personal witness.  Help us to give of ourselves so that others may learn of Jesus’ sacrifice and salvation.  Ask the Lord to help you recognize how you might serve those around you so that they realize you have something great to offer them. 

When it comes to outreach with the Good News of what Jesus has done to set us free from sin, death, and the devil, it is easy for us to say, well that is someone else’s job.  Let the pastor, or maybe the elders reach out to the lost.  However, we each have opportunities to develop relationships that allow asking the question, “Do you know the Savior?  Do you have a pastor to lead you to Him?”  This is again where we all can plead, Lord, increase our faith!  Help us, Lord, to do those things that may make us nervous, or make our knees shake, or maybe put ourselves on the line for You, Lord.

As we go about our days trusting in Jesus as our Savior, and the Savior of the world, we won’t always receive the recognition our weak flesh might desire.  Many a Christian, even still today two thousand years after Jesus walked this earth, faces persecution and danger for walking with Jesus.  However, this world is rapidly nearing its end.  Time is running short for all of us to lead those near and dear to us to the cross of Jesus, so that they too will know His love and faithfulness which won for us forgiveness, peace with God, and life everlasting in the mansions of heaven. 

Even more important, so that we are always prepared to answer for the hope we have and empowered to serve our Lord as we should, He refreshes our souls with the life-giving power of His Gospel, and by His body and blood in the Holy Supper, Jesus nourishes our faith and refreshes our confidence in the forgiveness and peace we have with God.

In our Epistle lesson this morning, we read what Paul wrote to fellow believers in Thessalonica, “For this reason, we are always praying for you, that our God will make you worthy of your calling and use his power to fulfill every good desire and work of your faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in him, in keeping with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)  In heaven, the saints and angels sing praise to Jesus in timeless, unending peace.  When our time comes and we are called out of this world of sorrow and shame, may our humble, willing service to our Savior be commended with His words of ultimate affirmation, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21)  Lord, increase our faith!  Amen.

Now to him, who is able, according to the power that is at work within us, to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!  Amen.