His final steps led to the Place of the Skull.

 

Sermon for Good Friday, April 7, 2023

Luke 23:26-33  ²⁶As they led him away, they seized Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country.  They placed the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.  ²⁷A large crowd of people was following him, including women who were mourning and wailing for him.  ²⁸Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  ²⁹Be sure of this: The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never gave birth, and the breasts that never nursed.’  ³⁰Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’  ³¹For if they do these things to the green wood, what will happen to the dry?”  ³²Two other men, who were criminals, were led away with Jesus to be executed.  ³³When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. (EHV)

His final steps led to the Place of the Skull.

Dear fellow redeemed,

      They led Him out of the city to a hill named for a symbol of death.  Matthew used the Aramaic, Golgotha.  Mark here uses the Greek, cranion, from which we get our word, cranium, for the skull.  Since way back in the mists of time, the skull has been a symbol of death.  We don’t know the actual location of this hill, but it was well known at its time as a place of death.  It was a place reserved for executions. 

The Romans didn’t crucify randomly.  They chose a place for crucifying that would produce maximum impact on the local population.  Rome reserved crucifixion for slaves, rebels, and traitors.  They wanted everyone coming into, or out of, a city to see what happened to anyone who defied Roman authority.  Perhaps, that is one reason the Sanhedrin wanted Jesus crucified.  They wanted the people to see Jesus as a traitor and a fraud.

Both the Jewish and Roman authorities tried to do everything they could to wipe Jesus out of history.  The Jewish leadership stirred up the city to demand that Jesus be crucified for claiming to be God’s Son and the promised Savior.  Pilate, knowing Jesus was innocent, made a feeble attempt to protect Jesus from the Sanhedrin’s jealousy, but in the end, old Pontius used his feeble authority to try to mock both Jesus and the Jews.  Pilate posted a sign at the top of Jesus’ cross declaring in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.” (John 19:19)  The proud leaders of Jerusalem wanted the people to see that no one should defy them, and the Roman government was happy to use Jesus to threaten anyone possibly considering rebellion against it.  However, neither of those two groups comprehended that God was in control of even the minutest detail so that Jesus, the true King of heaven and earth, would suffer and die for the sins of the world.

We meet another Jew on his way into Jerusalem for the Passover festival.  Did Simon know Jesus?  It doesn’t appear that he did until the guards grabbed him and forced him to carry Jesus’ cross the final steps to The Skull.  Jesus had become too weak and had fallen.  Yet, whose plan was this?  Simon may not have been a Christian before he carried Jesus’ cross, but Mark tells us he had a son named Rufus, (Mark 15:21) and years later in his letter to the Romans, St. Paul greets Rufus as one of the elect of Christ.  The same Rufus?  We can’t say for sure, but we can’t say it isn’t either.  Far more people have become followers of Jesus after He was crucified than ever did before.

“A large crowd of people was following him, including women who were mourning and wailing for him.”  Were these the women who had supported Jesus in His ministry?  It does not appear so.  It is likely that most of those women weeping and wailing were doing so only because one of the Sons of Israel was being crucified.  I say that because of how Jesus responded. 

Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  Be sure of this: The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never gave birth, and the breasts that never nursed.’  Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’  For if they do these things to the green wood, what will happen to the dry?” 

Jesus wasn’t concerned about His own future.  He knew that was secure in His Father’s hands.  Jesus also knew what fate was coming to Jerusalem and to all who reject Him.  A scant forty years after Jesus was crucified, the Jewish leaders’ plans to preserve their authority came crashing down as Rome set a siege around the city, starved it into submission, then tore down every part of the city piece by piece until nothing remained standing, and slaughtered or enslaved every Jew still alive at that moment.  The Roman empire lasted a while longer, but it too is long gone in the annals of history.  Yet, Jesus remains, and Jesus lives, and Jesus reigns.

The immediate cause of Jesus’ crucifixion was Jewish and Roman forces trying to protect their own power and control.  However, the true cause of Jesus’ crucifixion was the sins of the world.  Adam’s rebellion.  Cain’s murder.  David’s adultery.  Peter’s denial.  Judas’s betrayal.  Every sin in between, and your sins and mine, all were counted against Jesus. 

Two criminals were also led out to the hill of execution that day.  Both deserved the treatment they got, just as you and I deserve death for the sins we commit.  Yet, in God’s eyes at that moment, only Jesus was guilty.  “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)  For all the sins ever committed in this world, God put the curse of death on His own dear Son and had Jesus hung on that tree to pay the penalty the whole world deserves.

One of those criminals finally realized who Jesus is, and why Jesus was on that cross.  We don’t know if he came to faith in that moment or if he had heard the Gospel previously, but in repentance for his guilt and abandoning any hope in himself, he pleaded with Jesus for life, and Jesus’ answer to that convicted criminal gives us hope as well.  Jesus told the guilty one, “Amen I tell you: Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

This is why we call this Friday Good.  On this day, we remember and celebrate the truth that God’s Son gave Himself as the sacrifice that would reconcile the world to God.  When His final steps led to the Place of the Skull, Jesus made Himself sin for us.  Then, not only did Jesus suffer physical death because of our sin, He suffered all the wrath of God, the separation from God that every sinner deserves—the punishment of hell, so that people like you and me who believe in Jesus as God’s promised Deliverer can be united with God in true holiness.  Because of Jesus, who cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) God the Father accepts us as His children who though we were once lost and condemned have now been returned to Him pure and holy.

Naturally, none of this would mean too much if Jesus had stayed dead.  Yet, in this, history is on our side.  Jesus didn’t stay dead.  Having conquered death and the devil and even the stubborn flesh of the human condition, Jesus also conquered the grave, and in doing so, He threw open the gates of Paradise to all who believe.

Tonight, we reminisce with sadness the suffering and death of God’s beloved Son because of our contribution to His sentence.  Tonight, we grieve that our sins led Jesus to “the place called The Skull.”  At the same time, we rejoice, because Jesus loved us so much that He bore those sins with honor—the honor He was bringing to His Father by redeeming the world of all shame.

The Jews wanted Jesus dead so that they could stay in their little domains.  The Roman government was willing to kill Jesus to keep control over a rebellious people.  Both of them failed to last.  But Jesus—though Jesus died, He lives again.  Jesus allowed the world to have full control over Him even to the point of death, so that having conquered the devil and the grave, Jesus now reigns over heaven and earth and will until the end.

By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, King David saw the outcome of Jesus’ crucifixion.  A thousand years before God’s Son gave His life for you and me, David wrote, “You make him suffer need, apart from God for a while, but you crown him with glory and honor.  You make him the ruler over the works of your hands.  You put everything under his feet: … O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalms 8:5-8)  Jesus conquered death and He lives and reigns over all things forever.  He grants us forgiveness of all sin and peace with God, all because His final steps led to the Place of the Skull.  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. 

His final steps led to the Upper Room.

 

Sermon for Maundy Thursday, April 6, 2023

Mercy and peace to you all, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people.  Amen.

Mark 14:12-17  ¹²On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”  ¹³He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and there a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.  Follow him.  ¹⁴Wherever he enters, tell the owner of the house that the Teacher says, ‘Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’  ¹⁵He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready.  Make preparations for us there.”  ¹⁶His disciples left and went into the city and found things just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover.  ¹⁷When it was evening, he arrived with the Twelve. (EHV)

His final steps led to the Upper Room.

Dear disciples of the faithful Word,

            Does it strike you a bit odd that on one of the most important days of the Christian faith, our sermon theme is focused on a mysterious upper room?  Why should we care where Jesus ate His last Passover meal?  Well, we must admit that it isn’t the place that is so important, but rather, that we are enriched by what happened on that day and in that unidentifiable room.

Now, there is a place outside the walls of old Jerusalem claiming to be that Upper Room.  It has been a site of pilgrimage for many centuries.  Thousands upon thousands of Christians journey to visit the site every year, but it is almost certainly not the actual location.  Thus, far more important than going to such a place is that we focus on what Jesus did for us in arranging that precious meal.

Another item that might seem odd is that “On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples asked him, ‘Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?’”  Are you kidding me?  It isn’t odd that His disciples would ask that question, but the timing seems crazy.  Consider the fact that the population of Jerusalem swelled by perhaps millions of people for the Festival of the Passover.  How could anyone wait until the morning of the Feast and still hope to find a place to gather with friends?  Why were the disciples not prepared for that most important event?  And, is it possible Jesus didn’t plan ahead?

That last question is especially silly on my part.  All of this is evident that Jesus and His Father in heaven had planned every moment of Jesus’ last week before His death in most minute detail.  Thus, we ask, “What is going on here?”  To answer, understand the reality Jesus faced that week: the Jewish leadership was looking for a way to seize and kill Jesus quietly, crowds of ordinary people wanted to take Him by force to make Him King, and Judas was looking for a way to betray Jesus for those few silver coins.  As we will see in the passion history later, Jesus was managing every detail so that all prophecies would be fulfilled and so that His disciples would be protected from every danger. 

On that morning of the day Jesus would be betrayed, “He sent two of his disciples and said to them, ‘Go into the city, and there a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.  Follow him.’”  That was Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question of where they would eat the Passover.  It seems random to us, but no one could know any of those details except Jesus.  Thus, God’s plan would move forward on schedule without any danger of Judas or Jesus’ many enemies interrupting.  Jesus knew exactly where He was sending His disciples, who would be in the perfect place to meet them, precisely how they could recognize the man, and most important that he would lead them to the one place in Jerusalem already prepared and ready to host Jesus and His disciples for the Passover.

Now, there is no sense in pretending that Jesus had secretly met with that man in advance.  There is no need.  Our God and Lord always works in unseen ways to direct things necessary for our salvation, and believe me, this is all necessary for our everlasting good. 

Jesus told the two, “Wherever he enters, tell the owner of the house that the Teacher says, ‘Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’  He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready.  Make preparations for us there.”  Here, we get a glimpse of how the Lord had arranged for His salvation plans to be carried out.  The Passover meal had been set in Israelite culture for over fourteen hundred years.  Every previous Passover festival was pointing forward to this night.  Every spotless lamb chosen out of Israel’s flocks foreshadowed the Lamb God would sacrifice for the sins of the world. 

Now, there were strict protocols to be carried out before and during the meal.  The room had to be swept, cleaned, and in perfect order before the celebration, but this was already done before the disciples arrived.  Their job then was to gather the rest of the meal, the bitter herbs, the appropriate condiments to go with the lamb and the bread.  They had to procure the wine, plus either buy or bake the unleavened bread.  Finally, they had to retrieve a lamb, inspected and approved by the priests, likely not cheap with every family in the city doing the same things. 

That afternoon yet, the lamb was slaughtered, its blood sprinkled on the altar at the temple, the disciples would then have to roast the lamb over an open fire, all before the evening when the Passover was eaten following the instructions and traditions laid down in Israelite history to teach the people about how the Lord had rescued His people from slavery in Egypt.  All of this would be done with the utmost reverence and care as if the lives of the people depended on it.

“His disciples left and went into the city and found things just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover.  When it was evening, he arrived with the Twelve.”  I said that all of this was done as if their lives depended on it.  Of course, on the very first Passover, the lives of every firstborn Israelite depended on following God’s commands to a T.  If they failed to follow God’s instructions given through Moses that day, there would be much weeping in the house.  Yet, by morning, the blood of those lambs had rescued all the Israelites while the Egyptian houses were devastated.

Likewise, everything Jesus did that night He did because our lives depended on Him.  Those lambs that saved Israel in Egypt foreshadowed the Lamb of God being sacrificed to rescue the world from slavery to sin, death, and the devil.  Jesus is that Lamb of God.  Our sins were laid on Him so that He would carry them out into the wilderness of God’s condemnation.

So, what else happened in the upper room that night?  While the meal was being served, but before anyone began to eat, Jesus surprised them all by taking the form of the lowest household servant as He washed and dried their feet.  He then commanded His disciples to pay attention to what He did and to do likewise.  Jesus said, “I have given you an example so that you also would do just as I have done for you.  Amen, Amen, I tell you: A servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” (John 13:15-17)

Now, some today think Jesus meant we should practice foot washing once per year, but Jesus was demonstrating for them what He had previously spoken, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  It will not be that way among you. Instead whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be your slave.” (Matthew 20:25-27)  Jesus’ followers are sent out into the world to love the world as He loved us.  Here, He shows us that to love means to serve, humbly, faithfully, without regard for selfish pride or aclaim.  The greatest Man ever to live gave of Himself unselfishly so that we might live and never die.

We could talk about the betrayer being identified at the meal, because that happened too.  We could speak about the disciples arguing among themselves who was greatest, but what is most important is that we remember Jesus’ concern for all those believers who would be in the world after that night.

On Maundy Thursday, it is our tradition to remember the new meal Jesus instituted in that upper room, not based on the Passover per se, but utilizing some of its elements.  “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples.  He said, ‘Take, eat, this is my body.’  Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it all of you, for this is my blood of the new testament, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’” (Matthew 26:26-28)  The original Passover meal commemorated Israel’s rescue from slavery in Egypt.  Each year after, until Jesus gave His life for ours, Israel was to commemorate the lambs slaughtered in Egypt with new lambs sacrificed for the people’s sins.  However, none of those lambs took away sin.  That all changed the night our text records.

The Lamb of God was leaving the upper room that night, knowing that He was giving His life in exchange for the lives of every person ever born into this world.  He knew the suffering and pain He would bear on our behalf.  Jesus went willingly out to the garden where His friend would betray Him, the authorities would arrest Him and begin their merciless treatment and vile accusations against Him.  While His disciples fled in terror for their lives, Jesus went willingly to the cross, bearing the sins of the world, because of His love for people like you and me. 

Furthermore, our Lord wants you to know His love in a very personal way.  Jesus wants you to know with all confidence that His sacrifice bought your freedom from the slavery of sin and condemnation.  Therefore, Jesus gave us this Holy Supper of His own precious body and blood, so that just as Israel ate the lambs whose blood covered their doorposts in Egypt, we could eat His body in the bread as food for our souls, food to nourish our faith in Him, food that delivers again and again the forgiveness Jesus gained for all people, so that when our hearts are troubled by the sins we commit, we can flee back to Him in repentance for forgiveness and peace.

As we drink the wine He blesses, Jesus takes of His blood and sprinkles it on the altars of our hearts to show, without any doubt at all, that our sins are covered by the righteousness of His blood.  The writer to the Hebrews tells us,

“He entered once into the Most Holy Place and obtained eternal redemption, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood.  Now if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled on those who were unclean, sanctifies them so that their flesh is clean, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works, so that we worship the living God?” (Hebrews 9:12-14) 

Dear friends, Jesus’ blood cleanses our consciences completely.  And just as Jesus could see exactly how the disciples would meet a man in the city, and just as Jesus knew the homeowner would willingly open that upper room for the Teacher, Jesus knows you and me.  He knows our troubles, our sins, our failures.  Jesus sees us when we stumble and when we are weak.  He sees us when we are beaten down with guilt and remorse. 

Jesus sees us when we wander in the wilderness of shame or despair, and with His arms open wide, He invites us to come to Him for rest.  Forever after, with His sacrifice complete, Jesus wants us to taste and see His forgiveness.  He wants to comfort us with the sure hope that God has taken our sins away from us as far as east is from the west, because the Lamb of God was sacrificed on the altar of the cross to reconcile us with our Creator.  Tonight, as you remember that His final steps led to the Upper Room, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Blessed is everyone who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8)  Amen.

Now to Him who is able to strengthen you—according to the gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, . . . to God, who alone is wise, be glory forever through Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The humble King brings a great peace.

 

Sermon for Palm Sunday, April 2, 2023

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

Zechariah 9:9-10  ⁹ Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion!  Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!  Look!  Your King is coming to you.  He is righteous and brings salvation.  He is humble and is riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  ¹⁰ I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem.  The battle bow will be taken away, and he will proclaim peace to the nations.  His kingdom will extend from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth. (EHV)

The humble King brings a great peace.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            There are people around today who reject faith in Jesus because of the humility of His life and death.  Jesus doesn’t measure up to their idea of what a King, a Savior, or especially, what God should be.  In their minds, God would reveal Himself in power.  You are likely to hear questions from them like, “Why doesn’t God intervene and stop all this cruelty, murder, starvation, and war?”  Why does God tolerate people hating their neighbor?  If God is so great and powerful, why does He allow so much tragedy, cancer, delusion, or whatever other great ills trouble the thoughts? 

In reality, that hasn’t changed since Jesus walked the earth.  Many people of His day rejected Jesus because He didn’t fit their idea of what Israel’s king should be.  The leaders of Israel rejected Jesus, at least partially, because they feared His teachings would upset the Roman government and they would be in danger of losing their own positions of power.  Furthermore, many rejected Jesus because they considered His background too humble for king material.  Others rejected Jesus because they found His teachings too hard to swallow.  That too continues today.  If we are truly honest with ourselves, and with our God, there is a part of each of us that similarly puts the Lord on trial whenever we begin to question His love and care. 

All of that being said, many find it curious that God had His Son enter the world in such humble form and then go into the decisive battle for our salvation in equally humble mode.  It is easy to wonder why God didn’t send His Son in a demonstration of power and glory to force the world back to the Lord.  Even among us, some are asking why doesn’t God bring judgment upon the wicked?  Now!

It was the same way back when this prophecy was fulfilled as Jesus entered Jerusalem.  As Jesus prepared for the battle of His life that first holy week, even His disciples were expecting Jesus to reestablish Israel as a powerful kingdom with Jesus as its head and the disciples His leading officials.  Likewise, many today think that Christians ought to do more to take control of the world politically in order to make the world a better place.

So, why does God send Jesus in humble form and send Him into battle on a lowly animal the world would mock?  The answer comes when we understand that the battle was never one of power.  Certainly, the God who created the world and everything in it simply by speaking the word, could just as easily declare its end, and it would all fall apart.  In fact, when Jesus showed St. John a vision of Judgment Day, John described it in this way: “There was a great earthquake.  The sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair.  The entire moon became like blood.  The stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when it is shaken by a strong wind.  The sky was removed like a scroll being rolled up.  Every mountain and island was moved from its place.” (Revelation 6:12-14)  Thus, as easily as God created this world, He can and will judge it at the appropriate time.

However, the real problem between God and mankind has never been a lack of God’s power.  The problem has always been a lack of faith on the part of sinful man.  Jesus had to be humble in all aspects because we are so often arrogant and proud.  Adam and Eve fell when they trusted the devil’s lies instead of God’s sure promise.  Such has been the case for everyone ever since.  As hard as it is to admit, we too often fall short of perfect faith.  Whether it be by breaking a commandment, questioning God’s plan for your life in the moment, or deciding in one’s heart that we know better than God how things should be, everyone falls short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

As Jesus prepared to suffer and die for the sins of all people, He made sure to fulfil every prophecy God had provided concerning the Christ.  Through Zechariah, the Lord foretold how He would enter the battle for our lives, our souls, and our trust.  The prophet wrote, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion!  Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!  Look!  Your King is coming to you.  He is righteous and brings salvation.  He is humble and is riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  We heard in our Gospel selection how Jesus fulfilled Zechariah’s prophecy so that no one in Jerusalem should doubt who Jesus was or why He was entering that city.  From these words of the prophet, it is clear that Jesus didn’t plan to cause a rebellion or any other kind of earthly confrontation.  Instead, The humble King brings a great peace.

Jesus entered our world for two purposes: to live perfect righteousness for the benefit of sinful people such as you and me, and secondly to take the punishment of death and separation from God that our sins had earned. (Romans 6:23)  “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17) The first part of our text prophesies the humble form Jesus would take as He lived for us.  Jesus never needed nor desired the kind of earthly wealth and honor so many of us desire.  Jesus didn’t strive for power and majesty on earth.  Meanwhile, He used the power at His disposal to help and befriend those around Him.  Many took advantage of Jesus’ kindness, but all the while, Jesus showed His love for the fallen sinners He had come to redeem. 

Through hunger or cold, storm or riot, in the face of disease, death or violent opposition, Jesus never wavered in His trust in the God of heaven, His own beloved Father.  Because He was living for you and me, Jesus lived in a humility and impoverished lifestyle we would never covet, yet all the while, He was at perfect peace with His Father’s plan for His life, which was that Jesus would be the Lamb of God sacrificed for the sins of the world.  Therefore, the Son of God kept Himself free from any spot or blemish of sin, arrogance, selfishness, or unfaithfulness.  Then, having lived His earthly life in perfect harmony with God’s will for us, Jesus was willing to lay down His life to establish peace between God and the human race.

What brings turmoil and war among the people of this world is the sin that infects us all.  The nature we inherit from our parents is subject to covetousness, jealousy, hatred, unrighteous anger, and fear.  We innately want to control not only our future but that of those around us.  Yet, no one among us has the wisdom to do that in a way that is good for all.  Only God can, and only God does.  Therefore, the prophet foretold what the Christ would do for all.  He wrote in God’s name: “I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem.  The battle bow will be taken away, and he will proclaim peace to the nations.  His kingdom will extend from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.” 

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that lowly donkey, His victory over sin, death, the devil, and the grave was sure and certain because that was God’s plan and promise.  Then, for His humble service and sacrifice, Jesus is given authority to rule over all creation bringing peace to all who believe in Him.

The Jews thought that Jesus was bringing rebellion against Rome.  From texts like this, Jesus’ supporters imagined that He would lead them to military victory over their enemies and set up an earthly kingdom for their benefit.  What remains difficult for many to accept even in our times is that Jesus had no intention of establishing an earthly kingdom.  Indeed, that was one of the temptations the devil tried to use against Jesus.  However, in love for us, God’s goal, therefore Jesus’ goal, was to establish peace between God and man so that He might take us out of this cruel, broken, passing-away world into the everlasting peace of heaven.

Jesus came so that His Father in heaven could claim us as dear children so that He, and we, would enjoy a peaceful, loving relationship like that our first parents had with the Lord in the Garden of Eden before sin entered our world.  In the new heaven and new earth, there will be no need for the tools of war, because war will have ceased.  There will be no strife or jealousy among strangers or friends because sin will be removed from the picture.  In His vision of life after Jesus’ victory, John reported, “And from the throne I heard a loud voice that said, ‘Look!  God’s dwelling is with people.  He will dwell with them, and they will be his people.  God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.’” (Revelation 21:3-4)

Dear friends, one of the devil’s most persistent lies is that God isn’t fair or trustworthy.  However, in Jesus, we see faithfulness complete and true justice carried out in His death for us.  Never again do we need to worry about what we have here on earth, for because of Jesus, we have peace with God in heaven, and He is preparing a place for us there.  Whenever it may be His desire to bring us home, we can know that it will be a far more glorious place than anything we have experienced on earth.  Furthermore, we will never again have to worry or fear, because The humble King brings a great peace. 

With His holy sacrifice of the only perfectly righteous life ever lived, with His suffering, death, and resurrection from the grave, Jesus ensured peace with God for you and a sure and certain hope that those who believe in Him will live.  “The promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:39)  As the apostles, Paul and Silas, assured a terrified, Roman jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31)  You will enjoy eternity, because Your humble King brings a great peace.  Amen.

The Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Reborn by the Spirit, we inherit glory with Christ.

 

Sermon for Lent 5, March 26, 2023

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

Romans 8:11-19  ¹¹And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you.  ¹²So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it.  ¹³For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die.  But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live.  ¹⁴Indeed, those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  ¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we call out, “Abba, Father!”  ¹⁶The Spirit himself joins our spirit in testifying that we are God’s children.  ¹⁷Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him.  ¹⁸For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.  ¹⁹In fact, creation is waiting with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed. (EHV)

Reborn by the Spirit, we inherit glory with Christ.

Dear loved ones in Jesus,

            This morning, we have been blessed to witness a rebirth that natural man struggles to comprehend.  A little girl was rescued from the forces of darkness and granted new life through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Now, we grant that there are no visible changes to her condition.  We also grant that she may struggle, at times, to live up to the Spirit that now dwells within her.  At the same time, we trust our God who promises that Reborn by the Spirit, we inherit glory with Christ.

This little child, who appears so small and innocent, is already at war in the world.  She was born that way.  However, this morning, the sides have changed.  Like all the rest of us, at birth, Miriam was an enemy of God, spiritually dead in sin, and separated from God; hopelessness was her natural condition.  If left that way throughout her earthly life, death and eternal separation from God would be her everlasting fate.  As believers in Jesus, we would not wish that upon anyone, just as God “who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)  This morning, because of His love for this little girl, God through baptism brought Miriam over to His side of the war.

By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, St. Paul writes, “And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you.”  Through baptism, Miriam has received new spiritual life in Christ, and along with that, she has received God’s assurance that her now mortal body will be raised to glory everlasting with Jesus.  Just as the Spirit of God raised Jesus from the dead, so He has now entered into Miriam’s life to give her new life.  Therefore, as long as Miriam remains connected to Jesus by faith, her eternity is secure, and her future is glory in heaven with Jesus, for those Reborn by the Spirit inherit glory with Christ.

Baptism has this amazing power because as Paul explained earlier in this letter, “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)  The death and eternal separation from God that every person deserved because of the sin we were born in, and the sins we each commit, was put on Christ Jesus.  Thus, God’s holy Son bore the punishment of death we each deserved. 

The great news for us is that Jesus didn’t stay dead.  In two weeks, we will be celebrating again the truth that Jesus was raised to life and on that first Easter morning, He walked out of the cold, dark tomb with His body glorified for eternal life.  Therefore, by the baptism He sanctified, and the faith it gives, Jesus’ resurrected glory is granted to us as well, for Reborn by the Spirit, we inherit glory with Christ.

By His resurrection from the grave, Jesus showed the world that His victory is complete.  Eternal joy is secure for all who walk in Jesus.  Still, like terrorists who refuse to concede that the war is over, the devil, the world, and our own natural flesh continue to battle against God’s children.  Though Jesus marched through the devil’s lair early Easter morning in triumph, and the devil knows his war against God is lost, he still fights and connives with the world to steal away as many of God’s loved ones as he can.  Because of the wicked one’s ongoing hatred for God and His Son, you and I are forced to be ever vigilant against his attacks and schemes.  The world and our own flesh often join the enemy in that fight, tempting us to walk apart from Jesus.  To this, the Holy Spirit through Paul tells us, “So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it.  For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die.  But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live.”

Because Satan is no longer our slave-master, we owe him nothing.  Furthermore, because Jesus paid the price to set us free, we owe to Jesus everything we have and everything we are.  We must remember that there really are only two sides to this war.  Whichever side we would serve has a claim to our hearts.  Thus, if we allow our mortal nature to have control, with all its lusts, impure thoughts, wicked desires, and tendency to self-promotion, we would be turning our backs to the Savior who loved us so much He was willing to live and die in our place.  If we turn against that Savior who loves us, our future returns to that of the devil condemned to eternity in the prison prepared for him and his angels. 

Still, it is our joy and confidence to remember that we are not alone in this war.  The Spirit is working in us to enable us to grow in faith by the power of the Word and the blessing of the Sacraments.  Jesus promised, “If anyone loves me, he will hold on to my word.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23)  As John also wrote under the power of the Spirit, “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)  Thus, because of God’s love for us and the Spirit working in us, we return daily to our baptisms in repentance and God forgives.

God loved us before time began as He planned our deliverance through Jesus.  God loved us as He prepared the world to receive Jesus and ultimately to reject Him and send God’s beloved Son to the cross to suffer and die in our place.  God loved us when He accepted Jesus’ sacrifice as sufficient for the whole world and raised Jesus from the dead.  And, God loves us still today by coming to us through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament, washing us clean of all sin in the waters Jesus made holy through His sacrifice, and working faith in our hearts by the power of the Good News of all the God has done to reconcile us with Himself.

This is why Paul writes, “Indeed, those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we call out, “Abba, Father!”  There are people in our world who claim they would only believe in Jesus if they could personally witness the miracles He performed while living among us on earth.  Yet, the vast majority of those who saw Him, rejected Jesus, and all abandoned Him in the end. 

On the other hand, a true miracle occurs in our time when the Spirit takes hold of our hands and our hearts, for our resistance is conquered, and God claims us as His own beloved children.  Then, to His adopted and beloved children, God opens His hands with forgiveness so great we could not imagine it, and He implores us to bring to Him our every need and concern for He desires to hear our prayers and answer them.  Therefore, we who believe in Jesus may now approach God’s awesome throne as a toddler runs to her father or mother with confidence and joy, because Reborn by the Spirit, we inherit glory with Christ.

Of course, Christianity has been around a long time now, and the world is still an ugly, dangerous place.  Many people even use the ugly history of wickedness in the world as an excuse to reject the One who loves them.  However, life in this world is not our end.  Therefore, giving every confidence in our God’s love for us and His care for our everlasting lives, the Spirit works in us to trust God’s plans for our lives.  “The Spirit himself joins our spirit in testifying that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him.” 

God’s own Son came down to earth to live with us, but do you think His life was all sunshine and roses?  From the moment of conception, Jesus was a marked Man.  Before an angel intervened, Jesus’ stepfather, Joseph, was ready to abandon Jesus and His mother.  Herod, the king of the land at the time of Jesus’ birth tried to kill Him, and the infant Jesus was saved only through a midnight flight to a foreign country.  Jesus grew up in a poor part of the kingdom without any claim to fame.  As an adult, Jesus was a pauper who owned only the clothes on His back.  He was persecuted, rejected, mocked, and finally slandered, betrayed, and crucified by His fellow countrymen.  Does that sound like an ideal life to anyone?

If the world treated God’s Son in such a fashion, could we expect anything better?  Consequently, when we suffer any trial or hardship for believing in Jesus, consider it an honor to be counted worthy to walk with your Lord, because the Holy Spirit has made that connection for us former lost sinners who now walk under the holiness of our Savior.  Furthermore, anything we have to endure in this world for our fellowship with Jesus is but a mere annoyance (perhaps like a kitten scratch) when compared to the magnitude of glory, peace, and joy we will experience in our everlasting home in heaven, where “God’s dwelling is with people.  He will dwell with them, and they will be his people.  God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

Dear friends, the whole of creation waits eagerly for that day.  Because this world was cursed for mankind’s sin, even the physical elements of the world want to be set free from sin’s curse and look forward to learning who among its creatures have been delivered into God’s everlasting kingdom through faith.  In the same way, we cannot, today, look into hearts and know with certainty who among us is saved, but by God’s grace and the faith in Jesus He implants in your heart, you have the Holy Spirit’s assurance that He is at work in all who believe to make sure that being Reborn by the Spirit, we inherit glory with Christ.  Amen.

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

Shine, you lights in Christ.

 Sermon for Lent 4, March 19, 2023

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

Ephesians 5:8-14  ⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light, ⁹for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.  ¹⁰Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord, ¹¹and do not participate in fruitless deeds of darkness.  Instead, expose them.  ¹²For it is shameful even to mention the things that are done by people in secret.  ¹³But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes things visible.  ¹⁴Therefore it is said, “Awake, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (EHV)

Shine, you lights in Christ.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            Imagine trying to use a mirror in pitch darkness.  Since I can’t turn out the lights fully this morning, consider how light is reflected off a mirror covered in black cloth.  It reflects next to nothing, just as when we were immersed in sin, we reflected nothing good to the world.  But, when the cloth is removed, and especially, when a strong light shines on the mirror, the difference is obvious.  In this letter to the Ephesians, Paul takes that idea and applies it to our lives.  Because of the faith in Christ that is given to Christians, a transformation takes place that not only benefits us, but is a blessing to those around us.  Therefore, we say, Shine, you lights in Christ.

You and I didn’t start out as lights to the world, for in fact, every person enters this world completely devoid of the light of Christ.  We don’t even start out as blank slates as some imagine.  Rather, we begin fully immersed in inherited sin and unaware of who God is, what He has done for us, or even how we might live according to His laws.  Because of the natural law written in our hearts, most people soon realize a somewhat fractured expectation that there is some divine being and doing certain things is wrong or could even get us in trouble, but when still in sin that typically also leads to an antagonistic reaction to the idea of God, so we are by nature opposed to Him or to any authority imposed over us.  Because of sin in us, we are like that mirror in the dark—useless to anyone or for any good.

Today, though, we praise God that He didn’t leave us in that useless condition.  Paul says here, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”  How did this miraculous change occur?  The prophet Isaiah wrote, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.  For those living in the land of the shadow of death, the light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2)  The beginning of the change happens when God’s Son, Jesus, enters our world to be the Light that eliminates the darkness.  The law couldn’t do what we needed because the law couldn’t make us shine.  On the other hand, by humbling Himself to take on our likeness and live among us, to live without sin in our stead, yet die while absorbing our guilt and shame, Jesus is the holy perfection that makes us shine before God.  By His life and death, Jesus removes the shroud of darkness that covered all mankind.

Having said all of that, however, we were still in the darkness of our sins by natural birth, so we needed another gift of God, the gift of faith in our Savior.  Thus, God provided for our salvation by bringing us into His kingdom of grace through the rebirth of Baptism and the hearing of the Good News of all Jesus has done for us.  Properly applied, the law opened our eyes to our need for a Savior and the Gospel led us to repentance of our sins.  Today, you know all of this because the Holy Spirit has worked that faith in you.  “God, because he is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses.  It is by grace you have been saved!” (Ephesians 2:4-5)

Now, our Creator had big plans for His Son.  God doesn’t want only a few people saved; He wants all people to enjoy His grace.  Through Isaiah, He declared, “It is too small a thing that you should just be my servant to raise up only the tribes of Jacob and to restore the ones I have preserved in Israel, so I will appoint you to be a light for the nations, so that my salvation will be known to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)  Having won forgiveness and salvation for all people, Jesus’s sacrifice gave power to the Gospel which made us alive as it enlightened us.  He then appoints those who believe in Him to reflect His light of mercy and grace on and around the world, which brings us to our sermon text.  By the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, Paul wrote, “Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.” 

Jesus lived as a Man in perfect obedience to the law, with perfect trust in God, in humble service to His neighbors, and showing kindness to those who came to Him.  His life on earth consisted of only “goodness, righteousness, and truth.”  Thus, by the perfect living of the Man, Christ Jesus, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)

In our world, today, truth has taken a beating.  Every person wants to command his own narrative as some kind of truth for all.  We see it in the craziness that afflicts our world: men and women deciding they aren’t the sex in which their bodies were formed; nations attacking neighbors using trumped up fabrications to justify the murders; populations here, there, and everywhere seem to be in a race to declare themselves more disadvantaged and unfairly treated than anyone else around them. 

Thank God for the truth that “God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)  By His life and death, Jesus set us free from the darkness of sin and death.  By the gracious exchange of our sin for His righteousness, we were released from the devil’s hold over us and from the hellish dungeon that should have been our destiny. 

So much of the world around us still walks in the darkness of the blind following the blind in the land of the shadow of death where no person can save himself by effort or offering.  They all need to know of God’s grace.  Thus, through Paul, the Holy Spirit instructs us, “Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord, and do not participate in fruitless deeds of darkness.  Instead, expose them.”  We learn what pleases God by hearing His word.  The Ten Commandments are basic instruction in what is true and holy and pleasing for our lives.  The Gospel reveals what God has done to rectify the lost condition of the world where none of us have obeyed the law in any part.

Therefore, the Lord sends Christians out into the world not to be stumbling around in the dark like everyone else, but to live in His light, to reflect His holiness by our kindness to others and faithfulness to His instruction.  That means we have to fight against our flesh, against the wicked among us, and against the temptations of the devil and the world, not with guns and ammunition designed to kill and maim, but with purity of action and intention, with kindness to all even those who hurt or seek to kill us, with forgiveness in our hearts and minds, and with the proclamation of what Jesus has done foremost in everything we do. 

When we are tempted to sin by friends, selfish desires, or the devil himself, we must be brave enough and strong enough in Jesus to resist.  None of this is done to elevate ourselves before the world.  We know that without Christ, we can do nothing.  It isn’t our good efforts that shine on people to give them hope.  It is Christ’s light reflecting off of us that brings hope to those who once were lost in darkness.

We should do nothing that imitates the ways of the world.  Nor should we be seeking to shame people into believing in Jesus.  Paul says, “It is shameful even to mention the things that are done by people in secret.  But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes things visible.”  As faithful Christians, our walk through this life is to imitate that of our Savior, Jesus, not so as to imagine we are contributing to our salvation, or are better than other people, or are earning a reward in heaven.  Instead, we strive to live our lives as such a reflection of Christ that others seek our help, and see that obeying God’s will benefits His people and gives glory to God.  Jesus said, “People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket.  No, they put it on a stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  In the same way let your light shine in people’s presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:15-16)

St. Paul concluded this section saying, Therefore it is said, “Awake, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”  This call to life is what the Holy Spirit works in our hearts by His Word of peace.  When the Gospel is heard and believed, God creates a new life, a spiritual life, a life that knows God and desires to walk in His ways.  As the Lord assured us through His prophet, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit inside you.  I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put my Spirit within you and will cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will carefully observe my ordinances.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

Dear friends, like the Ephesians to whom Paul wrote, you have been given new life through faith in Christ Jesus.  By that faith, granted to you by the work of the Holy Spirit, you are counted as holy and righteous in God’s eyes.  For Jesus’ sake, your sins are forgiven and removed from you as far as east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12)  The shame and guilt of sin was washed away at your baptism so that you may shine before men in Christ’s glorious light. 

Consequently, when you examine your daily life, whenever you notice that the stain of sin, the lusts and desires and temptations of the world, the devil, and your own flesh begin to cover the brightness of the Savior who died to give you life, flee back to Baptism’s cleansing flood in repentance, and feast again at Christ’s holy table, where with His holy, precious, body and blood, Jesus again restores to you forgiveness and peace.  Open your heart in prayer and plead “to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”  Look again to His promises of life and light everlasting through faith in His Word and sacrifice.  Then, happily refreshed in the peace of God—Shine, you lights in Christ.  Amen.

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