Stay faithful to your faithful God.

 

Sermon for Trinity 22, October 25, 2020

To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God His Father—to Him be the glory and the power forever and ever.  Amen.

Deuteronomy 7:9-11 ⁹He did this so that you would know that the Lord your God, yes, he is God, the faithful God who maintains both his covenant and his mercy for those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.  ¹⁰But he also repays the ones who hate him to their face by destroying them.  He will not delay repaying anyone who hates him.  To his face he will fully repay him.  ¹¹So you are to be careful to keep the set of commandments and the statutes and the ordinances that I am commanding you today. (EHV)

Stay faithful to your faithful God.

Dear loved ones of the Lord,

            Consider for a moment a young couple newly in love: the young man cannot wait to see his beloved and will, in fact, go to great lengths to make time to visit her at every opportunity.  He bends over backward to demonstrate his care for her, giving gifts without her even asking.  At the same time, the young lady looks eagerly for her beloved’s arrival and gives rapt attention to whatever he says.  Both willingly serve and seek out ways to delight and encourage the other.

This morning, dear friends, I would like you to see in this idealized couple the relationship the Lord desires between Himself and His bride, the Church, and why Moses pleads with Israel that, forever after, they would Stay faithful to your faithful God.

Throughout the prophets, we find numerous times in which God described His relationship with Israel as being a loving bridegroom to His chosen bride, how He had cared for them and had done everything in His power to adorn them beautifully as His beloved.  Here, Moses was recounting for Israel the love God had shown them in rescuing that desperate people from slavery in Egypt so that He could fulfill in them the promises He had made to their forefathers. 

In the sermon this text is drawn from, Moses makes it clear that God had not chosen Israel because of anything good on their part.  Israel had neither beauty nor riches that would make God desire that people as His bride.  God made His choice simply because of His intention to love and care for them.  The same should be said about us.  God chose us to be His children not because of any beauty or merit in us, but because of His grace—His unadulterated love for people who don’t deserve it.  There was nothing we did to look lovely in God’s eyes.  There was nothing we could give God to make Him desire us.  We are Christians solely because of God’s love.

So, what about this Bride/Bridegroom picture; how do we fit in?  We all know the story of how God brought Israel out of Egypt with power and might, but it was mercy and love that motivated God to rescue them in the first place, and the same is true for us.  God set Israel free from their overlords through the miracle of the Passover.  Lambs were slaughtered and the blood marked the doorways of Israel’s houses to keep them from the destruction God’s avenging angel was bringing upon Egypt.  Afterward, God faithfully kept His promise to bring Israel home to the land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  All of this pointed to how God would rescue His bride, the Church.

Like those Passover lambs slaughtered for the Israelites, God sacrificed His Son, His Lamb, on a cross outside of Jerusalem, so that our spiritual house would be covered by His blood and we are set free from the slavery of sin, death, and the devil.  God made the Church, the assembly of all who believe in His Son as Savior, both the Bride for His Son, and the spiritual house in which we live.  Then He fills that house by adopting individuals into the Church by faith.  God rescued us not by leading us on a dusty trail through the waters of the Red Sea, but by washing us clean of all sin as He made us His own beloved children in the waters of Baptism.  Moses said, “He did this so that you would know that the Lord your God, yes, he is God, the faithful God who maintains both his covenant and his mercy for those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” 

But, dear friends, what so often happens to young love?  It becomes old and stale.  The excitement fades.  Selfishness begins to rear its ugly head.  The couple maybe doesn’t listen to each like they once did.  They no longer seek out each other’s company over any other relationship.  In fact, far too often, they let love die and move on to other loves.  That is what Moses is warning about.  He told the Israelites, “You are to be careful to keep the set of commandments and the statutes and the ordinances that I am commanding you today.”  In other words, Stay faithful to your faithful God.

We know from history that Israel often strayed from the God who loved them so dearly, but how about us?  Do we still sit raptly at our Lord’s feet eagerly desiring to soak up every word, will, and command He gives?  Do we remember to thank Him for every gift and benefit He provides?  Do we eagerly and speedily come to meet our God where He makes Himself known?  How often don’t God’s people grow a bit bored with His everyday providence, and with the Words He has spoken?

Most of us would probably like to claim that we have always been faithful to the God who loves us.  Most of are probably lying to ourselves if we make that claim.  We don’t spend our days studying God’s Word with rapt attention.  We don’t trust Him completely.  We don’t always remember to say thanks and express our joy for His care.  Sure, we might spend an hour or two a week here in church, but where are our thoughts when we go back out into the world?  Do we keep them pure?  Do we trust our Lord when things look bleak, or when the devil attacks?  Do we seek God’s love only, or do we sometimes put our trust in someone or something else, even ourselves?

One of the main reasons we come back to church on a Sunday, and hopefully every Sunday, is to confess our sins and plead with God for mercy, and you know what, your God is always faithful.  Moses declared, “The Lord your God, yes, he is God, the faithful God who maintains both his covenant and his mercy for those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.  But he also repays the ones who hate him to their face by destroying them.” 

Here, in this warning and promise, is where our sinful nature needs clarity.  Our God remains ever faithful to His promises and He is ever generous in His mercy.  At the same time, our God remains perfectly righteous in His divine justice.  Therefore, Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)  As much as God loves to save us, His justice demands that those who reject His love be cast away for all eternity to where they can never see His face again.  God will have no hesitation in destroying those wicked ones who reject His kindness and love.  Moses warned, “He also repays the ones who hate him to their face by destroying them.  He will not delay repaying anyone who hates him.  To his face he will fully repay him.”  That judgment is certain and final.

Now, some people confuse God’s justice with unfairness, as if God hasn’t been a faithful husband to His Bride.  The Israelites often accused God of this.  Yet, the truth remains that God has faithfully provided for His people throughout history.  God is such a faithful husband that He continues to provide for both the faithful and the wicked, “For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45)  Even those who have prostituted themselves to other lords have enjoyed the benefit of God’s providence.  Even when people have slapped God’s face with their wickedness and coarse rejection, God holds out His hands pleading for them to return to Him, looking to forgive as the father forgave the prodigal son.  Jesus promised, “I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10)

Consider how often God called the Children of Israel to repentance and sent judge after judge to rescue them from their wandering.  Remember Jesus as He is being nailed to the cross for your sins, for mine, for the sins of the Jews and the Romans and all the people of the world, for our Lord prays on our behalf, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

Dear Christian friends, our God remains faithful to you and to the promises He has made throughout history.  As soon as sin entered the world, God promised the remedy to restore the holiness and life that was lost.  When all seemed lost and God was sending a destructive flood to destroy the vast throngs of the wicked, He preserved a remnant of eight people on an ark to rebuild the populations of earth, and most of all, to fulfill His promise to send a Savior. 

When the knowledge of God’s mercy and grace began again to fade among men, God called Abram out of idolatry to announce that through his descendant all people on earth would be blessed.  And, in spite of her countless rebellions and wanderings away from the God who was like a husband to her, God preserved Israel so that through Abraham’s seed a Son could come into the world to live, die, and rise again for you and me. 

Countless prophecies and promises were made and kept by our loving Lord.  In spite of all odds in a sinful world, the Word of our Lord still stands undefiled and unmoved.  The Gospel proclaims the love of God for all people—a love so broad and high and deep and wide that it would carry God’s only begotten Son to the cross to die for you and me.  God’s love and faithfulness was on full display at the tomb when the angel rolled away the stone to reveal that God had continued His faithfulness and risen from the grave in victory over death and the devil.

As your parents have taught you from your youth, and as you have heard from this pulpit and the mouth of preachers the Holy Spirit has empowered to proclaim it to you, your sins are forgiven for the sake of the love of God shown to the world in Jesus Christ.  Today and every day, your heavenly Bridegroom calls out for your love.  From the throne of heaven, He calls to the congregation of believers in His name, “Arise, come, my darling.  My beautiful one, come.” (Song of Songs 2:13)

In the Revelation Jesus gave to St. John, we see the throng of the heavenly host singing, ^“Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory, because the wedding of the Lamb has come.  His bride has made herself ready, and she was given bright, clean, fine linen to wear.  (In fact, the fine linen is the “not guilty” verdicts pronounced on the saints.)” (Revelation 19:7-8)

For the rest of our days, let us rejoice with Isaiah who prophesied about the Lord’s Bride: “All who see them will recognize that they are offspring whom the Lord has blessed.  I will rejoice greatly in the Lord.  My soul will celebrate because of my God, for he has clothed me in garments of salvation.  With a robe of righteousness he covered me, like a bridegroom who wears a beautiful headdress like a priest, and like a bride who adorns herself with her jewelry,…so God the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up in the presence of all the nations.” (Isaiah 61:9-11)

Your God has faithfully forgiven every sin and every weakness that has ever been found in you.  He has loved us regardless of what we look like to the world.  Our Lord has shown mercy to the weak, kindness to the poor, generosity to all, and love to the world.  May we never forget His kindness to us.  Let us ever Stay faithful to your faithful God.  Amen.

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

Take the hand of the great I AM.

 

Sermon for Trinity 20, October 11, 2020

Grace, mercy, and peace to all of you who are in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Isaiah 65:1-2  I was available to those who did not ask.  I let myself be found by those who did not seek me.  I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that did not call on my name.  ²I reached out my hands all day to a stubborn people, who are walking in a way that is not good, who follow their own ideas. (EHV)

Take the hand of the great I AM.

Dearly beloved in the Lord,

            The people of Israel finally understood.  They finally believed God’s warnings.  After centuries of turning away from God, of rebelling against His commands, rejecting and even killing His prophets, they finally realized that the Lord wasn’t joking with His warnings of coming wrath, but it was too late.  Now, they were mired in captivity, enslaved in exile far from home in a foreign land.  Many of their friends and neighbors were lost forever, so they finally called to God for help, but it was too late.

            The Lord had been warning Israel for a long time that idolatry would lead to judgment.  God sent numerous prophets to tell them exactly how judgment would come and how long it would last.  He had pleaded with them to return to Him and trust in His mercy, but they continued racing unheedful on their highway toward destruction.  Now, stuck in exile they pleaded for a reduced sentence

Imagine for a moment, an interstate highway crossing a thousand feet in the air above a deep gorge like the Grand Canyon.  Picture multi lanes of travelers racing across that bridge in a heavy fog, and no one on the road notices that the middle span of the bridge is missing, and car after car plunges to the doom of those inside.  But consider the difference if one man stood at the side of the road trying to stop the travelers and divert them to a safer path.  If you can imagine all this, then you have a picture in mind of what God is saying to Israel as Isaiah exhorts the people to Take the hand of the great I AM.

This text is the beginning of God’s answer to the nation of Israel’s prayer as they pleaded for deliverance from their exile.  In answer, yes, God would be merciful.  The exile would not last forever.  Unlike Judgment Day, this exile would become primarily a warning for generations to come.  Yet, the Lord would not relent from His sentence upon the Israelites.  They would endure the full imprisonment.  Likewise, God will not relent from His warning about Judgment Day, and all should take heed for that banishment will be eternal.  So, let’s go back to our text and examine what went wrong for Israel and what the message is for us today.

In response to their plea for help, our God replied, “I was available to those who did not ask.  I let myself be found by those who did not seek me.”  This is Israel’s story and the story of everyone who believes and will be saved.  We didn’t go find God.  We didn’t earn His approval.  Instead, God came into the world to save us.  For Israel, God came first to Abram and announced that he would make him a great nation, and through Abram’s seed all nations on earth would be blessed.

Later, God heard the pleas of Abraham’s descendants for rescue from Egypt, and again, God rescued a people from slavery who didn’t even always seem to want to be rescued.  He promised them a great homeland that the Lord would give into their possession forever if only they would be His people—a people God alone had chosen to help.  At times, Israel walked with the Lord, but most of the time, they were like toddlers whose parents insist they hold the parent’s hands to cross a busy street, but those children break away to run free and run right into danger and death.

Here, we see what happens to rebels who run away from God’s free grace.  However, there will be no more second chances.  Whoever does not believe in the Savior, God’s Son Jesus, will be exiled to the pit of hell with no return—ever.  Therefore, as we journey on this highway of life, God calls out to each and every person on earth, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)  Like He had throughout the history of Israel, the Lord stands near calling out continually through His Word and His Church, “Here I am, here I am.” 

We have such an amazing God, but so few people want to listen to His call.  The whole human population has been racing on a highway to destruction, for Jesus told those who would listen, “Broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter through it.  How narrow is the gate, and how difficult is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

That narrow way often doesn’t look so appealing to the sinful nature.  Christianity is too rigid they say.  It isn’t as fun as chasing after the desires of the heart.  To which God replies, “The heart is more deceitful than anything.” (Jeremiah 17:9)  King Solomon warned his son, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but it ends up being the road to death.” (Proverbs 16:25)  Because so few of the people of Israel remembered Solomon’s advice, they were in exile, and the Lord reminded them, “I reached out my hands all day to a stubborn people, who are walking in a way that is not good, who follow their own ideas.”

This is the story of whole human race.  Every one of us was by nature stubborn, obstinate, foolish, and to be honest, spiritually dead and blind.  We couldn’t find God no matter how hard we might try, so God came to us. 

God came to Israel with Moses and Aaron as His spokesmen.  As He led them from Egypt, the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day.  He provided every morsel of food and sip of water they might need, protected them from enemies great and small, and led them kicking and screaming to the promised land.  To some extent, God did the same for us. 

Not one of us found God on our own, and though we too have often ignored His call, God came to us through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament and gave us life when were still immersed in the filth of sin with the stench of death covering our souls, and God washed all of that away in Baptism.  The Holy Spirit worked in us to believe in Jesus, to repent of our sins, and finally, to take hold of the loving, saving hand that God extended to us.  Like a little child, our hands aren’t always big enough to hold on against the troubles of the world, so the Lord wraps His loving embrace around us, pulling us close to His side by the power of His Word, giving His angels charge over us to keep us safe, and feeding our souls with His life-giving body and blood.

This year, many of us have felt tossed about by the challenges of wild weather, unstable markets, unruly politics, manipulative media, and hosts of other trials, troubles, and sorrows.  Yet, this truth remains, our God is present through good times and difficult days extending His arms of grace with the plea, “Here I am, here I am.”  In whatever need we might have, the Lord Jesus implores His people, “Keep asking, and it will be given to you.  Keep seeking, and you will find.  Keep knocking, and it will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

Take the hand of the great I AM.  When God called to Moses from a burning bush and gave Moses the assignment of leading Israel out of slavery in Egypt, Moses asked God “Who should I say sent me?” “So God replied to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’” (Exodus 3:14)  This is God who created us and who wants to save us from the path of destruction.  The world views God as an interloper to its fun, refusing to recognize the authority God has as the Creator of the world.  We would expect God to be angry and justly desiring our destruction for sin.  Yet, while God is perfectly just and must punish sin, He is also love.  Therefore, in addition to providing for every living thing on earth, friend and enemy alike, God provides forgiveness and salvation, to all who will believe, through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, on a cross.

In our epistle lesson, Paul reminded us to walk carefully with wisdom.  He said, “Understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:17)  God’s will is to save sinners.  He does so through the gift of faith in the Son who paid with His life for the sins of the world.  Furthermore, God doesn’t demand faith as if we could somehow decide to believe.  Rather, the Holy Spirit works faith in us by the life-giving power of His Gospel in Word and Sacrament.

In our Gospel lesson, we saw the fate of one who tried to enter the wedding banquet of heaven dressed in his own common clothes.  Just as the host threw that ungrateful interloper out into darkness, so God demands that we be dressed for the occasion.  Because the wedding feast of God’s Son demands that we be clothed in absolute perfection, the Holy Spirit dresses us in the beauty of Jesus’ perfect righteousness.

These three lessons show us that salvation isn’t something we must or can accomplish, but it is God’s gift to repentant sinners by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone, through the power of the Word alone.  It is God reaching out His loving hand to His children calling us off of the way of destruction to keep us on the narrow path to salvation and eternal life.  Now is the time to be holding tight to the God of love and mercy.  Now is our time to Take the hand of the great I AM.  Amen.

May the LORD our God be with us, just as He was with our fathers.  May He never leave us or abandon us.  May He turn our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways.  Amen.

Jesus cures with forgiveness.

 

Sermon for Trinity 19, October 4, 2020

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Amen.

Matthew 9:1–8  Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town.  ²There people brought to him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a stretcher.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Take heart, son!  Your sins are forgiven.”  ³Then some of the experts in the law said among themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”  ⁴Since Jesus knew their thoughts, he said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?  ⁵Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?  ⁶But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” he then said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”  ⁷The man got up and went home.  ⁸When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe and glorified God, who had given such authority to men. (EHV)

Jesus cures with forgiveness.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            Imagine for a moment that this account ended with Jesus’ words, “Your sins are forgiven.”  Would that paralyzed man have had a worse life if he never heard Jesus say, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”?  Conversely, what would be the case if that man only heard this command and not the encouraging word first offered?  The answer lies in recognizing the truth that our greatest problem is sin, and our greatest need is for a Savior from sin.  Regardless of this world’s troubles, joy comes graciously to everyone who learns that Jesus cures with forgiveness.

We see a number of parallels to our lives in this account.  Like that paralyzed man, we too are sinners.  Actually, sin paralyzed our ability to save ourselves, or even to come to Jesus on our own.  Likewise, too, there are many obstacles that get in the way of those who need to be brought to Jesus for healing and life.  Finally, we too have been granted the authority to forgive sins in Jesus’ name.

So, to begin, would that man’s life have been drastically worse if he hadn’t been healed of his paralysis?  From an earthly standpoint, it seems obvious to see that as a horrible outcome.  No one would want to remain paralyzed if there were some possibility of a cure.  Yet, we need to bear in mind the reality that our time on earth is very short in relation to forever.  Therefore, no matter the hardships or the ease with which God blesses us here, the truly important thing for our eternal welfare is that we receive forgiveness of our sins through the faith God’s Word gives.

St. Paul wrote, “I have learned to be content in any circumstances.” (Philippians 4:11)  Paul wasn’t content with his life because it was always sunshine and roses for him.  He had, in fact, suffered more abuse than most men for his faith in Jesus.  Rather, he learned contentment through the Good News of a Savior who had taken away his sins and opened Paradise to all who believe.  Thus, for the paralytic, the healing of his paralysis was indeed a great miracle and blessing, but the greatest benefit was that he received Jesus’ forgiveness and everlasting life through faith.  Furthermore,  it showed the world that Jesus has the authority to forgive sins on earth.

Now, many in the crowd that day, and many people since that time, hope to gain heaven in some other way.  Some look to their own obedience of law as a means to satisfy God’s judgment.  The scribes who questioned Jesus’ right to forgive certainly fell into that category.  They were sure that only God can forgive, but worse, they didn’t feel the need even for that because they were confident in themselves.  Still, the Scriptures are clear, “No one will be declared righteous in [God’s] sight by works of the law, for through the law we become aware of sin.” (Romans 3:19)  Indeed, it says, “You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked when you followed the ways of this present world.” (Ephesians 2:1-2)  Dead man cannot save themselves or even try.

In their gospel accounts, Mark and Luke show us the difficulty that man’s friends had in getting their disabled friend to the Healer.  When Jesus returned to his hometown, crowds of people came to hear Him.  The house was full.  Even the doorways were so jammed no one could enter.  It wasn’t just those who trusted Jesus, but many of His enemies were also there hoping to catch Jesus in something they could use against Him.  The friends had to innovate.  They carried their friend to the roof on his stretcher, dug through the tiles and rafters, and lowered the man into Jesus’ presence.  They were committed to bringing their hurting friend to the One they trusted could heal him.

This is a picture for us, too.  This year, we have seen many obstacles to bringing people to Jesus.  Churches have been forcibly shut down in some cases.  Governments have at times banned assemblies of believers.  So, we had to find other ways to meet with Jesus.  Yet, there is a reward of grace for our commitment of time and energy.  Some who might not otherwise hear the Gospel, may get the chance because of the expanded use of technology.  Perhaps, others have benefitted by a friend or neighbor opening the Scriptures to a friend in need.  Regardless, we trust the Holy Spirit’s assurance “that all things work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)  Certainly, we recognize that it has always been a struggle to bring people to Jesus in this world beset by spiritual forces of darkness opposed to God’s love and mercy.

The evil in our hearts runs deep, and the devil loves nothing better than to stoke our fears about our future.  Maybe you have wondered, at times, whether you could truly be forgiven of all sin.  In the dark recesses of our minds, it is very easy to worry about those things we know we did in our younger days.  Even though we know Jesus has won forgiveness for us, and the Holy Spirit has brought us to faith, maybe we wonder how we can be forgiven when we keep on sinning.  Too often, the devil and the world accuse us of being too guilty for God to love, too guilty for Him to forgive.

Dear friends, when that happens, tell the devil to take a flying leap back into his pit of despair, for the Bible assures us again and again that Jesus died for all sin, for every sin ever, yours and mine included.  St. Paul wrote, “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)  To the Christians at Galatia, Paul wrote, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.  As it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’” (Galatians 3:13)  In repentance, King David cried to the Lord, “Remove my sin with hyssop, and I will be clean.  Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7)  Then, to those who believe in Jesus, the promise of forgiveness comes through, “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11)

It is likely that this is why the first thing Jesus said to the paralyzed man is, “Take heart, son!  Your sins are forgiven.”  We are not told whether the man had been a cripple from birth, or if he had suffered some terrible accident, but when Jesus saw their faith, He also saw the guilt that hung on that man’s shoulders.  Had the paralytic been wracking his brain wondering what great sin he had committed to be in such sad condition?  How many times was he told that God was punishing him for his guilt? 

It is quite common for people to assume that if you have trouble, or illness, you must have done something to cause it.  We see that very much in evidence right now as guilt is laid heavily on anyone who falls ill with this Covid affliction.  People just assume that if you get sick, you didn’t take the right precautions, or you went where you shouldn’t have gone, or divine forces are paying you back for whatever evil they assume you committed.

Of course, we know there are consequences for sin, but much of the trouble and pain in our world happens simply because this whole world is broken by sin.  The curse of the law lays pain and death at everyone’s doorstep.  Thanks be to God, Jesus cures with forgiveness.

When the scribes accused Jesus of blasphemy for announcing that man’s sins forgiven, Jesus gave us the proof that He is who He claims to be, and that He does have the divine authority to forgive sins.  What great joy it gives us that they challenged Jesus, for He answered their rejection with proof.  Since Jesus knew their thoughts, he said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?  Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?  But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” he then said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”  The man got up and went home. 

Matthew gives us such a simple statement to hang our hopes on.  “The man got up and went home.”  No one had ever seen anyone cured from paralysis like this.  When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.  The people were shocked and amazed, but let’s not miss the point.  This physical healing was the easy part.  Jesus was living the hard part.  Even if our medical experts someday figure out how to cure paralysis, the only cure possible for sin is Jesus’ holy life and sacrificial death on the cross.  Only Jesus could do this because only Jesus is true God and true Man.  Only Jesus had the Father’s stamp of approval from heaven, “This is my Son, whom I love.  I am well pleased with him.” (Matthew 3:17)

This is our confidence: by His life and death, and through the work of the Holy Spirit in Word and Sacrament, Jesus cures us with forgiveness.  The Holy Son of God came down to earth to rescue us from darkness.  Jesus lived perfection for us.  Jesus died on a cross, beaten bloody, falsely accused of rebellion, but rightly recognized for claiming to be the Son of God, with the weight of the sins of the world on His back.  In our place, Jesus bore His Father’s rejection for the guilt of the world.  But for you and me, Jesus declared, “It is finished.”  Nothing more is needed to make us right with His Father in heaven.  The curse is ended.  Washed in the water of baptism and healed by the power of God’s gracious Word, we are set free from the curse of sin.  

Jesus showed the world that He has the authority to forgive sins.  He won that right with His holy sacrifice.  Now that we have been set free through faith graciously given, Jesus tells us, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  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 28:18-19)  “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you!  Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you.’  After saying this, he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.  Whenever you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven.’” (John 20:21-23)

Dear children of the heavenly Father, your sins are forgiven.  Rejoice in the forgiveness that is yours by faith in Jesus.  Rest secure in the comfort of Jesus’ promise.  Isaiah wrote, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of a herald, who proclaims peace and preaches good news, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God is king!’” (Isaiah 52:7)  Share that marvelous peace; tell your loved ones, your friends and neighbors and even your enemies the Good News: Jesus cures with forgiveness.  Amen.

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

Our God saves.

 

Funeral sermon for Lael Bahn, September 28, 2020

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

For our words of comfort this afternoon, we read in the name of our dear Savior, Jesus Christ, the words of His Father, our Almighty God, given to us through His prophet, Isaiah:

Isaiah 45:15-19  ¹⁵ Indeed, you are a God who hides himself.  You are the God of Israel, the Savior.  ¹⁶ They will be ashamed.  All of them will also be disgraced.  Together they will walk in humiliation—those experts at crafting images.  ¹⁷ Israel will be saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation.  You will not be ashamed or disgraced for all eternity.  ¹⁸ This is what the Lord says.  He created the heavens, He is God!  He formed the earth and made it.  Yes, he established it!  He did not create it to remain empty.  He formed it to be inhabited.  I am the Lord, and there is no other.  ¹⁹ I did not speak in secret, or from someplace in a land of darkness.  I did not say to the descendants of Jacob, “Seek me in the midst of chaos.”  I, the Lord, am speaking in righteousness.  I am declaring what is right. (EHV)

Prayer: O Lord, we are gathered in sorrow, yet not as those who have no hope.  We thank You for all the blessings bestowed upon our brother, now fallen asleep, and for all the blessings given through him.  But most of all, we thank You for making him Your own dear child by faith in Christ Jesus.  Give us all the faith that trusts in Jesus always.  We ask this all in Christ’s holy name.  Amen.

Our God saves.

Dear LuAnn, Liesl, Damon, extended family, and friends gathered in Lael’s memory,

            As a faithful Christian who had attended countless church services and played for more funerals than I would care to guess, Lael left specific instructions about what he wanted me to talk about at his funeral, and he didn’t want me talking too much about him.  Lael understood that most of you knew him better than I ever would.  He also knew that his accomplishments on earth, while many, wouldn’t earn him a place in heaven, so Lael instructed me to talk about the One who loved him above any human love, God the Father who created him, God the Son who redeemed him, and God the Holy Spirit who sanctified him.  The Triune God gave Lael everlasting life because Our God saves.

In essence, Lael wanted me to tell you about his truest Friend.  Now, many of you might think of a friend as someone you have fun with, but a true friend will give you the shirt off his back.  Our God does better than that.  Isaiah said, “This is what the Lord says.  He created the heavens, He is God!  He formed the earth and made it.  Yes, he established it!  He did not create it to remain empty.  He formed it to be inhabited.”  God the Father made this world as a place where we could live, move, and have our being, and He gave Lael a place in it.  He gave Lael life and knit Lael together in such a way that he had a talent and love for music which God then moved Lael to develop so that he could beautify the lives and worship of those around him.  God built Lael with skills, compassion, and a love for helping children who needed extra care and guidance in their journey to adulthood.

In the beginning, God gave Adam a suitable partner. (Genesis 2:20)  The word used there means someone who is ideally and obviously a good fit.  God the Father gave Lael a suitable partner who would be his loving companion, travelling partner, support, and caregiver, and through LuAnn God gave Lael a daughter in Liesl with whom he could pour out his love and demonstrate his care for someone most precious to him.

Now, the sceptic might scoff at the idea that God did any of this, but that’s because we often think too small.  The Almighty Creator doesn’t make Himself visible to the world.  He is beyond the world yet encompassing the whole universe, and because we all have been corrupted with sin, God told Moses, “You cannot see my face, for no human may see me and live.” (Exodus 33:20)  Thus in His love, God protects us from destruction by hiding Himself until our corruption is taken away.

Many a friend has proven to be a fair-weather friend, not willing to stick around when we hurt them.  Lael wanted me to tell you about God the Son, who not only promises, “Surely I am with you always until the end of the age,” (Matthew 28:20) but God the Son came into this world expressly to take to Himself all the hurt we have ever caused anyone, even His Father in heaven.

A good friend will stand with you in times of trouble.  Our truest Friend not only stands with us, but He stood in our place to bear the curse of sin so that we might be freed from sin and death.  Jesus told His friends, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)  The evidence for that is right here in front of us this afternoon.  Even the good man isn’t holy enough to avoid death.  However, God’s Son, Jesus, was not willing to let our deaths be permanent.  Because the law demands death for sinners, and eternal separation from our holy Creator, God the Father sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice that redeemed us from that awful fate.  Living His whole life in perfect obedience and submission to the Father’s will, Jesus then gave His life on a cross so that after this physical death, Lael and all others who trust in Christ Jesus, will live in the glory of heaven forever.  You see, “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)

In our corruption, we could not be in God’s presence, but God the Son came into the world to change all that with His holy life and sacrificial death, and because of the redemption price Jesus paid on our behalf, St. Paul wrote triumphantly about Judgment Day:

The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.  But once this perishable body has put on imperishability, and this mortal body has put on immortality, then what is written will be fulfilled: Death is swallowed up in victory.  Death, where is your sting?  Grave, where is your victory?  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Corinthians 15:53-57)

Some friends are yes-men, willing to tell you whatever they think you want to hear.  A true Friend tells you as it is, even when it hurts.  In order that we might see what we look like to God, and so that we might know about Jesus and the sacrifice He made to save us, the Father and the Son together sent God the Holy Spirit to bring the Word of God to the world and use it to sanctify those who hear it.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Our God saves.

Through Isaiah, God says, “I am the Lord, and there is no other.  I did not speak in secret, or from someplace in a land of darkness.  I did not say to the descendants of Jacob, ‘Seek me in the midst of chaos.’  I, the Lord, am speaking in righteousness.  I am declaring what is right.”  By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God brought to light our need for a Savior with the law.  The law shows our sinfulness before God in such a way that no one can pretend to be holy.  “I take no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God.  “So repent and live!” (Ezekiel 18:32).

The law, however, can do nothing to save us, therefore God the Holy Spirit didn’t stop with just the law.  Isaiah declared, “You are the God of Israel, the Savior.  They will be ashamed.  All of them will also be disgraced.  Together they will walk in humiliation—those experts at crafting images.  Israel will be saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation.”  Anyone who does not trust in Jesus for forgiveness and salvation worships an idol that cannot save from the wrath of God.  Even the atheist who claims there is no god is bowing down to the idol in his mirror.

God the Holy Spirit loves us enough to tell us the truth.  He gave us the law to convict us, and He shares the love of God in Christ through the Gospel so that we might be made holy to live forever.  Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, St. Paul wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16)

Though “the sinful mind is hostile to God,” (Romans 8:7) God the Holy Spirit works to change that and to save us through the power of His Gospel.  Through the Spirit, God promises, “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…You will be my people, and I will be your God.  I will save you from all your impurity.” (Ezekiel 36:27-29)

Dear friends, your dear brother, father, husband, and friend wanted you all to hear again about his truest Friend who had worked in Lael the sure and certain hope of life everlasting through Jesus.  Confident in the grace of God and the forgiveness that was his in Jesus, Lael could face his physical troubles, even death, knowing that this isn’t the end, but his best days lie ahead in the heavenly home Jesus has prepared for Him.

The Triune God is your truest Friend, as well, whether you believe in Him or not, because God the Father gave you life and everything you need for body and life.  God the Son gave Himself into torment and a bloody death to cover your sins and redeem your soul from death and destruction, and God the Holy Spirit gives His holy Word to bring to you the Good News of all that God has done for you since time began and how He has done everything needed to make you right with Him and righteous in His judgment.  Turn to your dearest Friend and live.  Trust the God who gave Himself for you, because Our God saves.  Amen.

The peace of God, established and won for you and for all by the sacrifice of God’s own precious Son, be with you always to the very end of the age.  Amen.

Forever to forever, our God is God.

 

Sermon for Trinity 16, September 27, 2020

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Deuteronomy 32:39–40  ³⁹Now see that I, only I, am he, and there is not a god comparable to me.  I put to death and I make alive.  I wound and I heal.  There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.  ⁴⁰For I lift up my hand to heaven, and I swear: “As I live forever…” (EHV)

Forever to forever, our God is God.

Dear friends of the living God,

            Jesus once warned His followers that there would come a time when they would be hated and viciously persecuted, but He assured them, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) 

Throughout the history of the Christian Church, there have always been those who despised God and hated any who mention Him.  Likewise, there may come times when our physical lives are in danger simply for believing in the Almighty God, but truly, we have no one else to fear, for by God’s grace, we are blessed in so many ways, because Forever to forever, our God is God.

In the song this text is taken from, Moses reminds us of how God blesses us with life and all things needed, but he also cautions of how often people turn to trusting other gods—gods which cannot see, cannot move, cannot think, cannot do.  Therefore, God says, “Now see that I, only I, am he, and there is not a god comparable to me.”  God alone has been here from eternity.  God, alone, is and will be here forever.  God alone created the universe and everything in it.  God alone formed everything we see and use, including also everything that is beyond our ability to see. 

It is a common trait among people of our world to doubt anything they cannot see and feel for themselves.  We can point to doubting Thomas who didn’t believe Jesus was alive until he could put his hand in Jesus’ side and his finger in Jesus’ wounded hands, but we don’t have to go so far away.  So many people in our world today do not believe that God created the world, and among those who admit that He did, many still question how much control He exerts in the world.

If we begin to doubt God’s ability to control this world and provide for our needs, or if we question His love and concern for us, we are crossing over into the idolatry of the ancient pagans, who, no longer acknowledging God, invented deity after deity in a futile attempt to influence nature and explain the troubles and joys of this world.  This is the idolatry God condemns in Moses’ warning song. 

Though we may not be able to see how God is working behind the scenes, we need to trust His assurance “that all things work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:38)

In our Gospel lesson, we saw a large crowd mourning with a widow for the loss of her only son and support.  Many likely wondered why that young man had to die.  Most people have a tendency to believe that when things go well, it is because they earned it.  Yet when things go wrong, they want someone else to blame.  Often, that someone is God.  In our sermon text, our Lord declares, “I put to death and I make alive.  I wound and I heal.”  As Creator, God has the due right to determine when everyone lives or dies. 

Of course, some people will take this as ammunition to lob against God.  We can imagine them asking, “If God is so good, how come He kills?  How come He wounds?”  In answer, God never causes sin, but nothing happens in this world beyond what He allows, and as far as taking or giving life is concerned, God claims His right as our Creator.  It is thus a terrible sin when man interferes with life.

The Triune God gave life to this world.  The newly created world was exactly as God wanted it to be.  It was without sin, pain, or death.  Then sin entered the scene as the devil challenged human faith in God’s goodness, and mankind trusted the lie rather than the God who created them.  As I said, some people are tempted to imagine that God is abusive as He uses His authority, but God, as Creator, has the right to judge the created.  Furthermore, God uses the troubles of this fallen world as discipline to teach us to turn to Him and to trust His will.  Much as a loving parent disciplines a child in the hope of leading that child to greater goodness, God disciplines those He loves in the desire to keep them true to Him.

Along with discipline, there is punishment.  Death entered this world, just as God had warned Adam that death would be the consequence of sin.  God will not allow anything sinful to be in His presence.  Anything sinful must be removed to a place far from God—that place of death is hell—which God created not for man but for the angels that rebelled against Him.  Yet, because man had become evil, hell became the rightful destination of all sinners.

On our own, we had no way to escape that punishment.  God declared, “There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.”  Many people hope to cheat death as they try every possible means to extend their lives.  Yet, even with every precaution and the best medical care available anywhere in the world, the death rate remains 100%.  In the end, everyone dies.  A common complaint of men is the unfairness of death.  Yet, we each earned death by rebelliousness against God.

At the end of our text God takes an oath.  He says, “I lift up my hand to heaven, and I swear: As I live forever…”  God swears upon the greatest power in existence, which is Himself, that He will never give His sovereign authority to another.  He will never turn over control of this world to any created thing.  For those whom God has called to faith, this is our great comfort and hope.  In God’s oath, we have the joy of knowing that He never changes.  He will never change His character, nor will He ever deny His promise.  Certainly, God warned that those who sin against Him will die.  That is the fulfillment of the Law which should terrify us, but God has also promised to be our Savior, and that promise is our hope and our life.

At the time of the very first sin, God pronounced His curse upon the tempter, but He also immediately extended His promise of salvation when He told that serpent, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.  He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)  

God renewed His salvation covenant in His promise to Abraham that “All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.” (Genesis 12:3)  God then continued that promise through Abraham’s descendants and renewed it again and again after they entered the promised land of Canaan.  Through this stubborn, wandering, stiff-necked people God would bring a Savior for the the world. 

The Children of Israel really weren’t much different than any other people.  All of us sin; all share the guilt of turning to other gods in one form or another.  Still, God provided a Savior for all, and the Lord wants all people to trust in that Savior for redemption, forgiveness, and everlasting salvation.  Our Savior was born from the descendants of Israel, from the line of King David.  He was born in circumstances that don’t reflect His actual standing as the Royal Son of God, for He was born homeless in a little town, to a virgin who became pregnant before marriage, and the little family had to flee from the rampage of a murderous tyrant, all of which God foretold so that we could recognize Him.  Through the gift of His humble Son, God fulfilled His promise of salvation for sinners like you and me.

As God proclaimed that He is the One who takes life, He also promises that He gives life.  When He said that He wounds, He also said that He heals.  This is the difference between the Law and the Gospel.  God kills with the law, and with the Gospel, God gives life.  The fulfillment of these two statements is found in Christ Jesus.  In Jesus, we have healing from our sinfulness, and His healing gives us life.  God healed us by taking all the sins of the world and putting them on Jesus.  All the punishment we deserved, God meted out on His Son.  God aimed all the wrath He feels for our sin at the One Man who never sinned.  Jesus took every punishment we deserved, because in His great mercy, God loved us and did not want anyone to be lost.  Because of Jesus, God declares our sins forgiven and remembered no more.

My friends, death came into this world because of sin.  Because of God’s mercy, life came into this world in the form of Jesus Christ, our rescuer, who rose from the grave victorious over sin and death.

In our Gospel lesson this morning, we heard how Jesus raised a dead young man to live again.  That miracle showed that Jesus has the power to give us life, but while that young man was restored to physical life, our resurrection will be patterned after Jesus, who rose to eternal life.  The Apostle Paul wrote,

Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.  For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection. (Romans 6:3-5)  

Dear friends, Forever to Forever, our God Is God.  God was before time began, and He will live and reign after all this world is consumed in the flames of destruction.  As God, He will send those who hold themselves apart from Christ to the punishment reserved for Satan.  But as God, He will also welcome into His heavenly mansions all those who trust in His Son, our Lord Jesus. 

Through our Baptisms and through faith in Jesus Christ, we have been made a part of Christ’s body, the Holy Christian Church.  Through that connection of faith, we have the assurance of life everlasting with our Father in heaven.  God, as God, allowed His Son to die for you.  He raised Him to life again, also for you.  God’s promise is eternal.  Your sins are forgiven.  Your salvation is assured, because Jesus Christ was killed for your transgressions, and He was raised again to give you eternal life.  Amen.

Glory be to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Amen.