Our Great High Priest makes us confident.

 

Sermon for Lent 1, March 9, 2025

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

Hebrews 4:14-16  ¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest, who has gone through the heavens, namely, Jesus the Son of God, let us continue to hold on to our confession.  ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin.  ¹⁶So let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (EHV)

Our Great High Priest makes us confident.

Dear apprehensive friends,

            How do you calm the fears of terrified people?  That might seem like an odd question when a person considers to whom this letter was written, but the reality of it is that though the writer is addressing the fears of fellow Jews who were facing persecution, and perhaps family opposition, for believing in Jesus, he also addresses the fears that afflict all people to one point or another.

The letter to the Hebrews was written to encourage and instruct the people whom God had chosen to be His people, people chosen to follow the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their patriarchs.  Believing in Jesus as their Savior should have come easy to them.  Becoming a follower and believer in Jesus should have progressed naturally from their former practices into Christianity.  But, as we all know, nothing is ever truly easy in our world.  There are oh so many temptations and threats that fight against our faith, and really, against God’s Word of promise.  On account of that, the writer explains the reasons that Our Great High Priest makes us confident.

The fear spoken of here is really the terror of entering God’s presence either to plead for help or finally to face judgment.  The Jews to whom the writer has addressed this letter, were familiar with the high priest interceding for the people on the annual Day of Atonement.  He likewise took the lead in asking God for whatever help and protection was needed.  This was long standing in their culture dating back to when the Children of Israel were struck with terror as God addressed them from Mount Sinai in the wilderness. (Exodus 20:19)  God’s awesome voice with its thunder, lightning, and smoke was too fearsome for the people to bear, so the Lord had appointed Aaron and his sons to be priests in the temple, offering sacrifices for sin and thanksgiving, and lifting up the prayers of the people.

Of course, Jesus came to be the end of all those Old Testament sacrifices, because He became the great sacrifice, once and for all for all mankind.  God’s Son entered our world to live the perfect righteousness we all need and then to die as God’s sacrificial Lamb to bear away all the sins of the world.  This is the Christian faith.  No more sacrifices are needed.  No one else needs to intercede for God’s people, because Jesus has made us right with God and opened heaven’s gate.  But, the era in which this letter was written was filled with great opposition to the Good News of all Jesus has done.  Powerful Jews opposed Christianity because they feared losing their authority and prestige.  The Romans had begun to oppose the teachings of Christ because they wanted to cling to their old pagan ideas. 

The Jewish converts felt torn between future safety and present security.  If they renounced Jesus and stayed in their previous Pharisaical ways, the rulers in Jerusalem would praise them.  If they rejected Christ, the Romans would consider them allies.  Yet, both of those groups offered no hope before the One true God.  For the unbeliever, there is no hope for the future.

You and I are likely to face similar pressures today, sometimes even from some fellow Christians.  Many people and denominations in our times have reverted to preaching law as the way to be Christian.  The Gospel gets forgotten in trying to compel people into good behavior. The promises of what Jesus has done for us slip to the wayside when the focus tends toward pharisaical use of the law.  Now, I am not saying that we shouldn’t teach the law, but the law never saves.  It only condemns as Paul teaches us when he writes, “No one will be declared righteous in his sight by works of the law, for through the law we become aware of sin.” (Romans 3:20)

Of course, our enemies are not other Christians but anyone who promotes a god or salvation apart from Jesus.  “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)  These forces of evil are primarily those beings who lead people to trust in idols and false ideas about God.  The devil wants us to be afraid of God.  Satan knows that we will face God’s judgment, just as he has already been judged, convicted, and sentenced to eternal damnation.  That devil wants to steal us away from God’s love.  Therefore, the demonic powers want us to be afraid to seek God’s mercy and kindness, and they want us to be afraid to stand before Jesus on Judgment Day.

Nevertheless, the devil has been a liar since he deceived Adam and Eve.  Those forces of evil will never be on our side, because the most they could conjure up is jealousy of God’s grace and victory.  Thankfully, the Holy Spirit has given us this message of God’s grace to lead us to believe that Our Great High Priest makes us confident to approach Him for anything.

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest, who has gone through the heavens, namely, Jesus the Son of God, let us continue to hold on to our confession.”  Our High Priest isn’t some fellow sinner who must sacrifice a lamb or goat for his own sins before interceding for us.  Instead, our High Priest is the Son of God who came down to earth to live and die to rescue us from the deceiving kidnapper.  Furthermore, Jesus doesn’t go into the Holy of Holies at the temple to speak to God in our defense.  Rather, after dying on the cross in payment for our sins, Jesus was raised from the grave victorious over the devil and his wicked ways.  Then, alive and triumphant, Jesus ascended to heaven where He now lives and reigns with His Father forevermore.  “This Priest, after he offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.  Since then he has been waiting until his enemies are made a footstool under his feet.  By only one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:12-14)  Because of Christ cleansing us of all sin, Our Great High Priest makes us confident to approach Him.

So, our High Priest is real and powerful, and all of creation has been put under His authority until the end of time.  That means, He will also judge us in the end.  For our sinful flesh, that news is and will always be terrifying.  That is why every pagan needs to devise some way to appease his conscience.  It’s why every other faith system relies on teaching people some moral code of ethics that must be followed to satisfy its deity.  However, Christ has already fulfilled all law in our place.  He has already carried the sins of the whole world in His suffering and death on the cross.  Therefore, the debt for every sin, of believer and unbeliever alike, has been paid by the blood of Jesus.

Now, how might you expect to be received by someone who paid all your debts?  Might he expect your gratitude, your service, and your trust?  Yes, to all of those things.  But be careful.  Jesus didn’t come into the world to give us new law.  Instead, He substituted Himself in our place so that we could be restored to the grace and peace in which God originally created mankind.  To do so, Jesus lived as one of us.  “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin.”  Jesus lived on this earth in the same conditions that have troubled people since Adam and Eve fell into sin.  He too had to face bullies and sinful brothers and sisters.  He too had live with liars, cheats, swindlers, and deviants.  Jesus had to face the same earthly illnesses, loss of friends, and trials we endure.  Plus, Jesus dealt with the devil’s temptations head on yet never once sinned against God nor man.

We read in the Gospels about a few temptations Jesus resisted while He spent forty days and nights in the wilderness after His baptism.  Yet, that in no way includes all the temptations Jesus faced on our behalf.  Every day of His life was an opportunity for Satan to try to find a moment of weakness in God’s Son.  Right up until the last moment of Jesus’ life when Jesus could declare boldly, “It is finished,” the devil had been at work trying to defeat the one Man who could live a holy life.  Therefore, because He has conquered all temptation for us, “Jesus knows our every weakness.”

Not only does Jesus know what we are going through in this life, whether that be temptations or trials, persecution or violent opposition, illness or danger, the loss of loved ones or our own end, Jesus has been there too, yet without any sin.  Furthermore, His righteous obedience and trust in His Father’s care are now credited to our accounts so that no matter what fault or sin the devil or this world might accuse us of has been laid on Jesus’ strong shoulders and paid for by His sacrifice for the world.  The accuser can no longer testify anything against God’s children for we have been washed clean in the water and Word of Baptism and welcomed into God’s everlasting love through faith in His Son, Jesus.

The writer then offers us everlasting comfort: “So let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  To approach the throne of any ancient king would bring that ruler’s judgment upon the person.  If you were perceived as a threat or enemy, that would likely be your last day of life.  Here, we are reminded that Jesus has removed that fear for those who believe in Him.  As we approach the throne of God, either now or on Judgment Day, we are not approaching an angry or wary foe.  Instead, we come before God’s throne with a Brother ruling at His Father’s side for our benefit, a Brother who loves us with a love so strong that He was willing to bear our temptations, rejections, worries, and fears, and finally our sentence of death, so that we may live with Him in heaven forever in peace and unity and joy.

Your Savior proved His love for you with His willingness to live and die so that you have life and peace.  Thus, Our Great High Priest makes us confident to approach Him with any request for our good.  Jesus promised His disciples, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.  Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.  Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be made complete.” (John 16:23-24)

Therefore, dear friends, do not go about your days in this world being afraid of what God might do to you.  Don’t be afraid to lay before Him your worries and fears, your sins and faults, because Jesus paid the price for them all.  Furthermore, never be afraid of what the world, nor any opponent might do to you for Jesus’ sake, because we have a Brother interceding for us who has bought and paid for our redemption with His life and sacrifice.  Our Brother, Jesus, who has risen triumphant from the dead, already assured us, “In this world you are going to have trouble.  But be courageous!  I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  “So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Romans 14:8)

Therefore, we can be confident in any danger and when Judgement Day comes, as well, because this Savior, “The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them, to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)  Because Jesus lived, died, and rose again to make us righteous and acceptable to His Father in heaven for life everlasting, Our Great High Priest makes us confident in His love and His judgment.  Amen.

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Amen.

 

Recognizing against whom we sin.

 

1^st Sermon for Midweek Lent

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

Psalm 51:3-4  ³For I admit my rebellious acts.  My sin is always in front of me.  ⁴Against you, you only, have I sinned, and I have done this evil in your eyes.  So you are justified when you sentence me.  You are blameless when you judge. (EHV)

Recognizing against whom we sin.

Dear friends in Christ,

            The season of Lent is a time of preparation, but we might ask, preparation for what?  For many people, it is a time to prepare oneself to celebrate Easter.  Many others challenge themselves fast from some food or activity, assuming that depriving themselves of something they like is beneficial to understanding what Jesus gave up for us.  Or perhaps, some understand it to mean a preparation to meet the Lord.  Certainly, our whole lives should be lived in preparation to meet the God who created us and the Savior who has redeemed us, and that must include Recognizing against whom we sin.

Maybe we should begin by clarifying what sin is.  Most of us likely assume it to be breaking any of the Ten Commandments.  Clearly, breaking a commandment is sin.  In fact, anything we do that causes someone else any kind of harm or loss is a sin, because God intends His commands to protect all people from harm.  Thus, anything about us that isn’t pleasing to God is sin.  Anything we do that is not God’s will is rebellion against Him, and even the nature we inherit from our parents is in active rebellion against God.

We have heard about King David’s great sin, how he desired another man’s wife, seduced her, bedded her, then when she became pregnant, David first tried to deceive her husband, then had that poor man killed in a contract killing in the process of waging war.  There is no end to the list of people David hurt by his actions.  Bathsheba was debauched, though perhaps with her consent.  Uriah was deprived of not only his wife, but also his life.  The nation was harmed by David’s leadership failure.    Furthermore, David’s reputation was ruined.  No, not with the people, for he managed to hide his great guilt from the public for a time.  Yet, David’s reputation with the Lord was damaged, and David’s own life was upended as a consequence of his wicked deeds.  His life was never again the same, for David’s family was afflicted with trouble from that day forward.

All of that considered, every action David made was a sin against His creator, a rebellion against what God considers good, and truly a slap against the face of the loving God who so willingly and graciously had blessed David, lifting him up from a lowly shepherd boy to make him a great king.

After the prophet, Nathan, was sent to deliver the Lord’s judgment upon David, King David wrote Psalm 51 which centers our meditations this Lenten season.  It is a penitential psalm, a song of lament for sin.  It seems that it took that special intervention from God for David to acknowledge what great shame he had committed.  Thankfully, for David, and us as well, his repentance was heartfelt and real.  Therefore, the Lord has taken away David’s sin, and He has taken away your sins, as well.

Dear friends, too much like David, I fear, we often overlook, or try to hide, our guilt.  There is a mantra from pickup basketball games that perhaps pictures our thoughts on our sin—“no harm, no foul.”  We like to think that as long as no one is visibly hurt by our thoughts, words, or actions, then we get off scot-free.  Furthermore, it is very easy for all of us to imagine that we are always right.  That inherent flaw, however, causes a lot of the hurt feelings, arguments, disputes, anger, hatred, war, and political fighting so common in our world.

Still, what a hard pill to swallow that can be.  Who among us ever really wants to admit the complete corruption of our being?  There must be something good about us, right?  In reality, though, every thought, emotion, action, and idea is corrupted with sin.  Ever since Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden, there is nothing about us that isn’t corrupted with sin.  Everything we do by nature is offensive to our God.  Our flesh is corrupted leading to illness, injury, and death.  Our minds became bankrupt of any good on our own.  Our emotions have become steaming piles of garbage not fit for the home God has prepared for those who love Him.  Therefore, if we truly examine ourselves right down to the core of our being, we have no alternative but to admit with David, “I admit my rebellious acts.  My sin is always in front of me.”  How David must have suffered in silent terror of judgment before the prophet confronted him.

Of course, there are always those defiant individuals who claim that we are born with some good still in us, but why then is there so much guilt, stress, heartache, and pain in our world?  Why so much fear of judgment?  If everyone is born with some good, wouldn’t that come out more?  Oh sure, we can find things we think look good, but we still are forced to admit that guilt troubles us loud and long.

It is true that we can look around and find lots of people acting worse than we do.  Our world is filled with horrific examples of evil and wicked men.  Yet, I think we can all admit, seeing wickedness in others doesn’t ease our own guilty feelings.  The guilty conscience reminds us often that even the best of us struggle with desires that are not God-pleasing, harsh words spoken in haste, and failures to do the good we want to do.  Therefore, we likely have fears about the day we will stand in God’s courtroom. 

The tax collector in the temple had the proper response.  Jesus reported, “However the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes up to heaven, but was beating his chest and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” (Luke 18:13)  King David was brought to the same confession before God.  He lamented, “Against you, you only, have I sinned, and I have done this evil in your eyes.  So you are justified when you sentence me.  You are blameless when you judge.”  This confession from David also summarizes our lives.  We have sinned against God with every part of our being.  Therefore, every unholy action of which we are guilty, and even every slight flaw, is offensive to God and deserving of His just wrath.

Now, it is certain, that if God was the same wicked, fallen creature that we find in ourselves, our future would be beyond bleak.  If God had the same unstoppable desire for revenge that so often troubles us, we would have no hope.  Indeed, God has said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” (Romans 12:19)  Yet, where does that leave us, if God will avenge our faults, mistakes, and bad ideas?

The answer, in connection with Jesus, is we are safe and secure.  In essence, God has judged us guilty and without hope.  At the same time, God in His great mercy, decided to do something about our guilt.  The proper sentence in His perfectly just courtroom is death for every sinner—death and eternal separation from God in the hell prepared for the devil and his wicked angels.  That is the just judgment for you and me.  It is a sentence that had to be carried out to satisfy the law.  God’s justice would accept nothing less.  However, God in His great love prepared to be merciful by providing a Substitute to take our guilt. 

The Old Testament sacrifices pointed forward to the plans God made for our rescue.  Because we could do nothing to save ourselves, “God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)  God sent His Son into the world to be the One Man who could undo the damage Adam had brought upon humanity.  Because Jesus is true God as well as true Man, Jesus could, and did, live in perfect harmony with our Creator.  With every thought, word, action, and emotion, Jesus was living exactly as His Father in heaven would have all of us live, for He declared, “You therefore shall be holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:45)

With every ounce of His being, and every moment of His time on earth, Jesus was living exactly according to what He explained to a Pharisee who asked about the greatest commandment; Jesus told him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

Having lived in perfect accord with the law and in harmony and peace with God above, Jesus did what He came to do, He put Himself in our place to bear the punishment of death and the exile from God we deserved.  Thus, “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)

Throughout Israel’s history, thousands of lambs, bulls, goats, doves, and pigeons had been sacrificed in ceremonial payment for the sins of the people.  At times, the temple had to flow with shed blood.  All of that blood, though, only foreshadowed the precious blood of Jesus flowing from His body to cover the sins of the world—Christ’s holy, precious blood spilled for our guilt and shame—His holy, precious blood buying our freedom from eternal death and everlasting doom. 

This too is what Lent is about.  Yes, it is a time to prepare ourselves to hear the message of forgiveness and salvation culminating in Jesus’ Easter morning victory.  It is reminder of our need to be cleansed of all our guilt and a reminder of God’s love for even sinners like you and me.  That even though our sins, like King David’s were as glaring as scarlet, God has counted our lives, because of Jesus, as if all our thoughts, words, desires, and deeds are as white and clean as new fallen snow. (Isaiah 1:18)  Because God demonstrated such love for us, it is easy to recognize against whom we sin.  We have sinned against God.  He in turn has shown us His amazing love in His Son.  Your guilt is covered by the blood of the Lamb.  Your sins have been paid for by the sacrifice of God’s own dear Son.  Go out Recognizing against whom we sin and live in thankful trust that Jesus has purchased your freedom from all sin and guilt.  Jesus gave His life in exchange for your guilt, so that you may truly live.  All glory to His holy name.  Amen.

How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, everyone who is walking in his ways.  Amen.

Glory beyond understanding awaits us.

 

Sermon for Transfiguration, March 2, 2025

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.  Amen.

Exodus 34:29-35  ²⁹When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not realize that the skin of his face was shining because he had been speaking with the Lord.  ³⁰When Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, they were amazed that the skin of his face was shining, so they were afraid to come close to him.  ³¹Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the rulers of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them.  ³²Afterward, all the people of Israel came close to him, and he gave them all of the commands that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai.  ³³When Moses was finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.  ³⁴But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off until he came out again.  Then he would come out and tell the people of Israel what he had been commanded.  ³⁵Whenever the people of Israel saw Moses’ face, they would see that the skin of Moses’ face was shining.  Then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with the Lord again. (EHV)

Glory beyond understanding awaits us.

Dear friends in Christ,

            They were terrified.  Jesus’ disciples were terrified when they saw His transfiguration on the mountain along with the glorified saints, Moses and Elijah.  Fourteen hundred years earlier, the Children of Israel were, likewise, terrified when Moses came down from the mountain, because his face was glowing from being in the presence of God’s glory.  There is something about God’s glory that remains a mystery to us and will be so until we, ourselves, meet the Lord face to face.  Only in that moment will we truly know the Glory beyond understanding that awaits us.

We have heard that Jesus, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact imprint of the divine nature.” (Hebrews 1:3)  Yet, because His glory was masked by human flesh, it was and remains hard for people to comprehend God’s full glory.  Still, if you and I, as sinners, had to stand before God unredeemed, we would be destroyed in His glory that shines brighter than anything we currently see.  Thus, “When Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, they were amazed that the skin of his face was shining, so they were afraid to come close to him.” 

The reflection of God’s glory that stayed on Moses’ face for a time reminded the people how far we are from the glory of God.  While God is completely holy, pure, and righteous in all He is and all He does, we are the complete opposite since the fall into sin, and just as Adam and Eve were terrified to be in God’s presence after they sinned, so we by nature often find ourselves terrified of God.  Now, many of our world might argue against that idea.  The atheist claims not to be afraid of the deity he denies exists.  However, it is highly likely that it is his fear of being judged that drives his boldness against God.  He imagines that if he rejects the idea of God, then God cannot hurt or judge him.  It is foolishness personified as David wrote, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1)

But, how about you and me, how is terror of God also evident in us?  We have been baptized into Christ, and most of us have confirmed our faith in Jesus as our Savior, but does terror of God still haunt us?  If so, that is a consequence of living in a sinful world in which the devil still roams about trying to snare the sinner in his rebellion as Satan attempts to keep us from the Lord’s grace. 

Many people don’t recognize the danger we are in.  Many around us mistakenly assume that every person will eventually go to heaven, but they aren’t sure of it.  You and I may show fear if we harbor sins that we don’t want to confess to God because we are rightly ashamed of our behavior.  We might even secretly wonder whether we are good enough to enter heaven, which, of course, we are not.  Some have been afraid to approach the Lord for communion because of their strong feelings of guilt.  Others have come to the communion rail boldly defiant of the judgment they face when not recognizing Jesus’ presence in the bread and wine because they are afraid to believe what they cannot see.

Perhaps we most commonly see terror of God when someone doesn’t want to serve the Lord in His work of saving people.  They might think they are not good enough to do what the Lord asks them to do—wrongly assuming that some of us are good enough—instead of trusting that the Lord empowers those He calls to serve with the ability to do the jobs asked of them. 

Or maybe, we are most likely to feel terror of God when we have to face illness or death of ourselves or loved ones.  In those moments of bad news, is our immediate reaction to trust that God knows what He is doing for our good?  Or do some thoughts of despair creep in?  Do we then blame God, as if He hasn’t remembered to take care of us or has forgotten to answer our prayers?

Dear friends, there are times in every life when our fear of God may cross over into sin.  Just like those Israelites, we might want to flee God’s glory in those moments.  Yet, that is precisely what our Savior doesn’t want us to do.  Instead, He invites to come to Him in repentance to receive forgiveness of sins and peace.  That’s one of the reasons Moses covered his face after he spoke with the people.  If they saw the reflection of God’s glory fade, what would that do to their faith in God’s mercy?  Would they forget how truly remarkable God’s glory is, and how great a gift He has for us?  That seems to be the case for Israel.  They received both law and Gospel through Moses, but they eventually forgot the One Savior God promised to deliver His glory.  Therefore, their understanding remained veiled even when they met God’s Son, Jesus, face to face.

Today, we need to remember that God’s glory will never fade away, just as His mercy is never ending.  What Jesus came to do is completely finished just as He declared from the cross.  The glory of God includes giving us a Savior in His Son who lived perfect holiness for us.  God’s glory is most graphically evident in that He gave that Son to die for sinners who didn’t deserve God’s love or forgiveness, and that’s all of us and all people everywhere.  We all deserved God’s righteous anger and judgment.  St. Paul wrote to the Roman congregation, “The wages of sin is death, but the undeserved gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) 

Even one sin makes us deserving of eternal banishment from the paradise of heaven.  Yet, to God’s glory, He didn’t execute our deserved punishment.  Instead, God laid our guilt on His innocent Son.  God was patient with mankind, allowing our race to continue so that the Lord could rescue many from the guilt that would condemn.  Furthermore, God worked our salvation, first through the life and death of His Son, Jesus, and then through the work of the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son in the Word to work faith in the hearts of sinners, a faith that restores life to the previously-dead-in-sin soul so that we might learn that Glory beyond understanding awaits us.

At the transfiguration of our Lord, Peter, James, and John got to see a glimpse of the glory that will one day surround us and restore us to the glory that would have been ours if man never sinned.  That glimpse alone was overwhelming.  However, there will come a day when that glory will be our normal.  When the Lord of glory returns with all His angels to judge the world, those who have believed in Him as their Savior from sin will experience a new glory in themselves that has never been witnessed in this life, for a Glory beyond understanding awaits us.

The Holy Spirit had St. Paul write about Jesus’ return, “We will all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For 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.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53)  And what will the result of that change be?  Paul writes, “That is the way the resurrection of the dead will be.  What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable.  It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory.” (1 Corinthians 15:42-43)

The people of Moses’ day experienced a glimmer of the glory of God through the radiance of Moses’ face after he met with the Lord to receive instructions for life, worship, and governance.  We benefit from receiving the glory of God’s grace in the Gospel which tells us that Jesus has done everything necessary to rescue us from our fallen state so that He will take us into glory everlasting. 

In baptism, we were baptized into Jesus’ 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 6:4-5)  Thus, being connected with the likeness of Jesus’ resurrection, Glory beyond understanding awaits us.

When Jesus rose from the grave triumphant over the devil, temptation, sin, and death, He rose with a glorified body that is no longer troubled by the wretchedness of this world.  The human body that once masked His divine nature is now glorified into the image of God that had been lost to us in the fall.  However, the Father raised Jesus from the dead, “so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29)  St. Paul further reminds us that with His life and death, “Christ reconciled you in his body of flesh through death, in order to present you holy, blameless, and faultless before him.” (Colossians 1:22) 

When picturing the saints in the glory of heaven, Jesus assured John in the Revelation of what the gift of faith in Jesus will do for all who believe in Him.  He told John, “These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14)  Therefore, my fellow believers in Christ Jesus, at the end of our days here on earth, Glory beyond understanding awaits us.  Amen.

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

 

Live in Christ’s love.

 

Sermon for Epiphany 7, February 23, 2025

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

Luke 6:27-38  ²⁷“But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies.  Do good to those who hate you.  ²⁸Bless those who curse you.  Pray for those who mistreat you.  ²⁹If someone strikes you on one cheek, offer the other too.  If someone takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt.  ³⁰Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes away your things, do not demand them back.  ³¹“Treat others just as you would want them to treat you.  ³²If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  To be sure, even the sinners love those who love them.  ³³And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  Even the sinners do the same thing.  ³⁴If you lend to those from whom you expect to be repaid, what credit is that to you?  Even the sinners lend to sinners in order to be paid back in full.  ³⁵Instead, love your enemies, do good and lend, expecting nothing in return.  Your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the unthankful and the evil.  ³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  ³⁷“Do not judge, and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  ³⁸Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap.  In fact, the measure with which you measure will be measured back to you. (EHV)

Live in Christ’s love.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finally, Jesus says, “Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap.  In fact, the measure with which you measure will be measured back to you.”  In our willingness to be generous with others and to forgive as God has forgiven, we do not earn God’s gifts but rather, those gifts are granted freely, and because of God’s gift of mercy, we will be moved to live for Him.  Jesus explained, “I am the Vine; you are the branches.  The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

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

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

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

When in weakness, shelter in Christ’s strength.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 6, February 16, 2025

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

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

When in weakness, shelter in Christ’s strength.

Dear fellow redeemed,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

St. Paul wrote, “That is why I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for the sake of Christ.  For whenever I am weak, then am I strong.”  Paul no longer cared what the world did to him.  He didn’t put up a fight when they fought against his message, because Paul had learned by faith that the battle wasn’t his.  The battle belongs to Christ Jesus who already won the war for us on the cross.  Right in line with the work Jesus gave Paul to do, “We preach Christ crucified—which is offensive to Jews and foolishness to Greeks, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.  We preach Christ crucified, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:23-25)  So, When in weakness, shelter in Christ’s strength.

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

After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you.  To him be the glory and the power forever and ever.  Amen.