The Christmas Word Is the Easter Word

Second Sunday of Easter
April 11, 2010
John 20:19-31

At the beginning of his Gospel account the apostle John goes one up on the beginning of the Bible that says that God created the heavens and the earth. John says that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1 ESV) A few verses later he makes a startling statement: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14 ESV)

What does this mean? What is the Word? What does it mean that the Word was God? What does it mean that the Word became flesh? And what you also might be thinking: What do these things have to do with me and my life?

Jesus is here to answer your questions. He shows up when He’s not expected. He comes in when there’s no way to get in. He comes despite unbelief and doubt.

More animals were around when God became flesh than were people. God becoming a man just wasn’t on the radar of most people. God coming out of His tomb wasn’t either. It’s just as hard to believe the little baby born in a stable was God as it was to believe that the man Jesus who was lifeless in the tomb was now alive.

But everything depends on words. The Bible tells us that in the beginning God said. This is what He said: “Let there be light.” We all know what the Bible says next: “And there was light.” God is God. He could have created the universe in any way He wanted.

He chose to do it by speaking it into existence. The Word. He used words. Speaking into being what He was saying. God’s Word brings about what it says. We don’t have that power. God does. He’s God.

But the thing about God is He doesn’t go around convincing us that He’s God. He just does what He does as God. And what that is is saving us. Forgiving us, loving us, sustaining us in salvation. Bringing about in us the salvation He eagerly wants us to have.

I have learned over the years to be very careful about what I tell people I’ll do. Too often I have said, I’ll do this. Or I’ve offered to do something. Or I’ve said yes to a request to do something. Once you say it it sticks with people. If you don’t do it they’ll remember that. He said he would do it and he hasn’t done it. And saying, Oh yeah, I’ll still get to that, doesn’t help anything. The proof is in the pudding as they say.

So some have also said that you should say what you mean and mean what you say. That’s what John is getting at when He says that the Word is God and that the Word became flesh. God doesn’t just tell us He’s God. He does His being God. He puts His money where His mouth is. He doesn’t just talk the talk, He walks the walk. The proof is in the pudding. If you don’t believe it, just look in the manger. There’s God. Why would He be there if He weren’t serious about being God and saving us? If you doubt it, look at the empty tomb. Why would God go through the suffering and dying and being laid in a grave if He weren’t intent on being our God, our Savior?

When God says He’s going to do something, He does it. He puts His action where His Word is. But actually, with God His Word is His action. His Word brings about what it says. When He says He is our God He does what it means to be our God. He saves us. He doesn’t use His Word to tell us how to save ourselves, He by His Word saves us.

And what is His Word? Himself. Jesus is the Word of God. He is the Word made flesh who dwelt among us. And what does this Word do? He goes about being who He is, which is God. He goes about doing what God does, which is saving us.

Nothing will impede Him. The locked doors on the first Easter Sunday didn’t prevent Him from being the Word made flesh and dwelling among us. He was right there among His disciples, being their God, in the flesh. Risen, alive, bodily. They were in there, locked up, because they were afraid. Because they listened to their own reason and the words of unbelievers. Jesus was dead, He’s gone. Those who killed Him are going to come after us.

But Jesus breaks through this world of unbelief in coming bodily to them just as the light broke forth in the darkness when God spoke His Word at the dawn of creation. Jesus, the Word made flesh who dwells among us, is present among us and speaks to us. “Peace be with you.” The Word He speaks is His Word that brings about what it says. When He says “Peace be with you,” He’s not just saying it so they might have some peace after all they’ve been through. He’s bestowing on them peace. He’s bringing about Peace in their lives by speaking it into their ears. John shows us this when he says: “When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.”

But there’s more. With God there’s never just something. There’s always more. “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.’” He is the God who goes about being God. He doesn’t sit around hoping we’ll get the picture that He is the Almighty eternal powerful God and that we’ll give Him homage for it. Nope, He goes about being God, our Savior. He goes about saving us. He’s the God who comes into our world, our lives, with salvation. He comes to us to save us. He is the God who is always present not just because He’s always present, but because He comes to us in the Word made flesh.

He bestows on them once again peace. He is pleased as peaches to have been sent by His Heavenly Father. He is just as pleased to send out these pathetic excuses for disciples. One moment they’ve given up on Him the next they’re overjoyed that He’s really with them. These are the guys He’s going to send out.

Because it’s all about the Word. Not about them. In other words, it’s not dependent on them. It’s dependent on God. On the Word made flesh. They are to speak words. Not just words, the Word. The Word the Word Made Flesh gives them to speak. If they forgive the sins of those who are repentant the repentant will be forgiven. If they withhold the sins of those who are unrepentant the unrepentant will not be forgiven. This isn’t because these guys are way more on top of it than the rest of the poor saps who haven’t gone to the seminary. No, we’ve just established that these guys were pathetic and Jesus had every reason to give up on them. But He didn’t. Because it doesn’t depend on them but on Him, the Word made flesh.

But we need to keep ourselves in check because it’s too easy to dismiss others as Doubting Thomases and exempt ourselves from such a distinction. It’s true, when Thomas, the poor guy wasn’t there when Jesus made His grand entrance, heard the news he didn’t believe. He wanted to see for himself. He wasn’t going to take their word for it. But even as he was indeed Doubting Thomas, weren’t they all? Weren’t they all holed up in the room believing they would never see Jesus again? Hadn’t they despaired of hope when Jesus died rather than taking His word for it when He had told them He would die and that He would rise?

So, no, we are usually wrong when we think we are any more firm in the faith than the Doubting Thomases in the Christian Church. But the good news is that Jesus remains the Word made flesh. He continues to dwell among His people. He is ready and willing to bring Himself into our midst so that we may see Him and touch Him and believe in Him. Jesus came to them again and said, “‘Peace be with you.’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered Him, ‘My Lord and My God!’” God’s Word brings about what it says. What we need to remember is that God’s Word is His Word in the flesh, Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, our Lord and Savior. We cry out with Thomas, “My Lord and my God.”

Thomas was given a great gift on that day. He wasn’t there the first time so Jesus came to him the second time. This time he believed. He had seen. He had touched. “Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” We are given a great gift also. We haven’t seen the Word made flesh as Thomas and the disciples did. But we believe. We are blessed by Him as they were. Jesus comes to us in the flesh and dwells among us. He comes to us in our Baptism, in His Holy Supper, even in His very Word which is read and proclaimed.

The Word made flesh at Christmas is the Word risen bodily at Easter. The risen and bodily Word that sprung from the tomb at Easter is the Word in the flesh and dwelling among you in Holy Communion. At His birth He was called Emmanuel, which means God with us. The God who came to be with us at His birth continues to come to you as the risen Lord in His Word, through your Baptism, and in His Holy Supper. He is with you always. Amen.

SDG

The Amen of the Resurrection of Christ

The Resurrection of Our Lord
Easter Day
April 4, 2010
Luke 24:1-12

Our observance of Lent has given way to our celebration of Easter. But there’s one more thing we need to do before we leave our Lenten focus. There’s one more word left in the Lord’s Prayer we need to meditate on. Our look at the Lord’s Prayer and the cross of Christ during Lent has shown us that the prayer our Lord has given His Church has as its foundation and essence His suffering and death on the cross. It is because of the cross He has given us His Prayer to pray. It is by the cross that everything we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer is applicable to our lives and profitable.

But even as we have looked at the Lord’s Prayer in light of the cross we have now come to the place where we are zeroing in on the Resurrection. The empty tomb has replaced our focus on the cross.

The last word of the Lord’s Prayer reflects that. The word “Amen” is a word that finishes off our prayer the way the Resurrection finishes off the suffering and death of Christ. It puts a stamp on it. Christ rising from the dead isn’t so much icing on the cake as it is a stamp on what was accomplished through the Cross. It seals the deal.

Everything for salvation was accomplished through the Cross. That’s why we can pray the Lord’s Prayer in confidence. Jesus said it Himself on the cross—It is finished. But it is still true that if Christ had remained in the tomb then all would be lost. Our faith would be in vain. We would have no hope. The Resurrection puts the stamp on the salvation accomplished in Christ’s suffering and death.

That’s how it is when we say “Amen” at the end of our prayers. Amen, it is true. What I have prayed for is in accordance with Your will. That’s assuming, of course, that we have prayed according to God’s holy will. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we can be assured that we are. It is, after all, the prayer our Lord has given us to pray. The petitions He has given us in His Holy Prayer encapsulate His will for us. How can we say anything but “Amen” after praying it?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t always feel especially spiritual or conformed to God’s will when praying the Lord’s Prayer. Sometimes it just seems like words I’m praying. I know the words. I know what God wants me to be praying for. But I don’t always take them to heart.

The women and the disciples had a little problem in this way, too. They went to Jesus’ tomb on Sunday morning expecting to see His body slowing decaying. They certainly didn’t expect to see it gone. But their eyes didn’t deceive them, His body was not there. It was their lack of faith that deceived them. Jesus had told them He would suffer, die, and rise. He told them beforehand. But it all just seemed like words to them.

They could not say their “Amen” to the words of Jesus because they couldn’t get it passed their feeble minds that Jesus would actually die, much less, when He actually did, rise from the grave. Now on Sunday morning their fears were giving way to surprise, their surprise was giving way to belief, and their belief was springing forth in joy and amazement. They could now say their “Amen.”

Jesus had suffered and died. He was the ground of their faith. His sacrifice on Calvary for the sins of the world. Because of that we can say Amen when we pray. He had now risen from the grave. He had accomplished salvation and now sealed the deal. We can be sure of who He is and what He has accomplished. We can know that when we pray the Lord’s Prayer we are praying for what He knows we need. It may sound at times like so much words, but they are the words of the one who was crucified, rose, and goes before us as we pray to our Heavenly Father and live out our lives.

Try this, the next time you’re down and out, or you’re in over your head, or you’re frustrated, at you’re wit’s end, or you’re confused, or you’re worried, or you’re doubting, or you’re not all that happy with God, or you’re even angry with Him, or even if things are going well and you’re not thinking about all this stuff all that much—remember that one little word at the end of the Lord’s Prayer. Keep that word in mind. You have finished your prayer off with a word, a conviction, that what you have just prayed is what you need, whether you feel it or not, whether realize it or not.

When you say “Amen” you’re saying, God, You take it from here. You accomplished salvation for me and sealed the deal. You sustain me. You keep me in the faith. Keep me firm in the knowledge that the one who was crucified was the one who rose. That the one who rose has come to me in my Baptism. That the one who came to me in my Baptism comes to me at this altar, giving me His body and blood for the forgiveness of all of my sins and the strengthening of my faith.

Much more could be said. God’s Holy Word is inexhaustible; the Lord’s Prayer itself is inexhaustible. His work of salvation in His suffering and death and resurrection can never be delved into enough. His blessings are ever new and eternal. But no matter where you’re at or what you’re going through, you know one thing: Jesus died and rose for the sins of the world. He has given you new and eternal life and you may conclude that among all the other things there are to say, “Amen” puts a seal on things very nicely.

SDG

The Kingdom, Power, and Glory of Christ

Easter Vigil
April 3, 2010
Luke 23:49-56

There’s something strange about talking about the Kingdom of Christ, His power, His glory, in connection with His burial. They don’t seem to fit together. Being buried means you’re dead. It means you’ve come to the end. It means you’re no longer overseeing your kingdom, you’re out of power and the next guy gets to take over. There may be glory in how you’re remembered, but you don’t get to bask in it because you’re underneath the ground.

But not with Christ. It is precisely in His death and burial that Jesus comes into His Kingdom. God’s power is made manifestly superior to every other power when Jesus suffers, dies, and is buried. The glory of God is most brilliant in the death of Jesus Christ and being buried in a tomb.

The hours between Jesus’ life coming to an end on the cross at 3:00 on Friday afternoon and His coming to life again sometime during the early hours on Sunday morning are somewhat mysterious to us. What kind of state was Jesus in? Was He unaware of what was going on, as with any dead person in a grave? Or, because He is God, was He fully aware?

In the Creed we confess that Jesus descended into hell. This was after He was buried. He died on the cross, was taken down, and laid in a tomb. His descent into hell was the exercising of His power, a display of His glory, and the proclamation to Satan on his own turf that Jesus’ Kingdom is eternal. That He has the victory. That Satan is defeated, that even death cannot hold Jesus.

Luke tells us that Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the council, the group of religious leaders that brought Jesus down, and yet, he had not consented to their decision and action. Luke also tells us that he was looking for the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Well, He was looking in the right place. Jesus hanging on the cross, His life having left Him, didn’t look very powerful. He didn’t seem glorious. His Kingdom appeared to have come to an end.

But Joseph went to the only place where the kingdom, power, and glory of God is manifest—Jesus. Even dead. Even buried in a tomb. Joseph may have sought the Kingdom of God as coming in this one, in Jesus who was condemned and brought to death by his very own religious colleagues. Now as he approached Pilate he was simply giving Jesus the honor and respect He deserved. Jesus would at least have an honorable burial.

What Joseph didn’t realize is that in looking for the kingdom of God and then in going to take care of the body of Jesus he had actually come in to the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ resurrection in three days would make that clear to him.

While Jesus had hung on the cross He cried out “It is finished.” To everyone there it was a sad way to end the whole affair. But not to Christ. What He was crying out was a cry of victory. It is finished. Salvation has been accomplished. His suffering was now over, His sacrifice completed. Now came the Kingdom, the power, and the glory.

Joseph of Arimathea had looked in the right place after all. On this night, in the time between the observance of our Lord’s crucifixion and our celebration of His Resurrection, let us look to the same place. Our Lord. God in the flesh, born, suffering, dying, buried, and risen. There we see the Kingdom, the power, and the glory. Our praying of the Lord’s Prayer ends with this. In other words, with Christ. When He comes into His Kingdom on the Last Day we will realize it in the fullness of glory. Amen.

SDG

Deliverance from Evil and the Cross of Christ

Good Friday
April 2, 2010
Luke 22:1—23:56

During Lent we have gathered here to meditate on what our Lord has done for us. God can do anything. What we are most grateful for, though, is that what He has done for us is because of His mercy. We know God has acted toward us in mercy because of the cross. If He acts toward us apart from that then He acts toward us in His eternal and holy wrath. If we seek Him apart from the cross we find only eternal damnation.

During Lent as we have meditated on the Lord’s Prayer we have done so in relation to the cross. We lift up our prayers because of the cross. Jesus gave us His Holy Prayer because He knew He would be going to the cross.

Now as Lent has come to its culmination in Good Friday we are met with that singular event. The cross. Jesus suffering in the place of the world. Offering up the prayer “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me” so that we may offer the prayer “Our Father, who art in heaven.” The entire prayer of the Lord’s Prayer is a prayer for salvation. It is a prayer that God would act toward us in mercy. That He would save us and preserve us because of the cross.

Oftentimes when I hear a sermon or read a devotion or attend a Bible Study or listen to someone give a presentation on theology my mind is thinking about all the points that were left out. All the things that could also have been said but weren’t.

I can’t do that with the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus has put it all in there. Everything we need from God, it’s in there. He has given us the prayer we need that covers everything our Lord would give us in His mercy.

And if we’re not quite sure, if after we’ve prayed the Lord’s Prayer and think that perhaps something was left out—perhaps Jesus didn’t think of the exact situation we’re in—He has closed His Holy Prayer out with this petition: deliver us from evil. The reason He has done this is because everything we need, everything we think we need, even everything we want, is met in this petition.

Let’s be honest, we don’t know how to pray as we should. The very fact that the Lord’s Prayer might seem to be lacking, not addressing our every situation or need, shows us that we aren’t always so concerned that God act toward us in mercy as we are for Him to give us what we want.

We’re more than ready to pray to Him to deliver us from poverty. We are consumed with our prayers that He deliver us from struggles and trials and annoyances. We are intent on asking Him for those things which will make our lives more comfortable and better.

But what we truly need, and what Christ truly understands, is that we need to be delivered from evil. He understands this because He endured retribution for our evil on the cross. On the cross He delivered us from evil. Why would we concern ourselves with the petty things we so often pray for?

But no, we shouldn’t have the impression that some things are out of bounds to pray for. We are invited by God to pray for those things we need, and yes even the things we want. He has taught that we pray for those things according to His eternal holy gracious merciful will. So pray away! Pray for those things you need. Pray for those things you want.

But as you pray, pray that His will would be done. And what is His will? That you be delivered from evil. Because, you see, the thing we get tripped up on is this desire that God’s will would be in line with ours, rather than praying that He would conform our will to His. Our will is too often what we want. His will is that we be delivered from evil. That’s why He went to the cross. That’s what he endured, evil. Our sins, our guilt, our punishment, were all laid on Him. That’s God’s will. That’s how He delivered us from evil.

That’s why we pray the Lord’s Prayer. That’s how we pray the Lord’s Prayer. Because of the cross. When we pray, Deliver us from evil, we also give thanks that He has. In His mercy, on the cross. Amen.

SDG

Daily Bread and the Cross of Christ

Maundy Thursday
April 1, 2010
Luke 22:7-20

One of the things you learn as a Christian is how to pray. Our sinful nature is quite content asking for things we need in this life. Our sinful nature has no need for the spiritual and eternal things. Our sinful nature would just as soon have us be concerned with the things we need to live in this life at the cost of losing eternal life.

So it’s no surprise that when our Lord has given us ‘His Prayer’ it’s a deeply spiritual prayer. It’s a prayer that combats the readiness with which we pray for our peace of mind, a steady job, a well-paying job, our team to win, our neighbors to keep the noise down, and our family members to stop annoying us so much. When we pray we pray for the things that are staring us in the face. Our feelings, our wants, our dreams, our frustrations, our pain. God wants us to pray to Him in our need and we do.

It’s just that our prayers tend to be so very unspiritual. So Jesus teaches us to pray for things like hallowing His name, His Kingdom to come, His will to be done, our sins to be forgiven, and for us to forgive others, for us not to be led into temptation, and the catch-all spiritual petition: that we be delivered from evil. Jesus is God and knows that our spiritual problems and needs are far greater than our physical ones and the prayer He taught us reflects that.

But there is that one little petition in the middle of it all. You know, that one non-spiritual one. The one that concerns our physical needs, if you will. Give us this day our daily bread. Throughout Lent we have meditated on the petitions, all very spiritual. Tonight we consider the one that’s much more to our liking—God give us what we need to live in this world.

In the middle of our Lord teaching us that our greatest needs are our spiritual and eternal ones He invites us also to pray for our daily bread. For those things we need in order to stay alive. But even more, to enjoy life and reap the benefits of His creation. While filling His Prayer for us to pray with the theology that man does not live by bread alone but by the very Word of God He places smack in the middle of it an invitation to pray for bread. The key I suppose is that we’re not praying for bread alone. But we are praying for daily bread. He knows we need much more than our physical needs to be taken care but at the same time He knows that we need those physical needs to be taken care of as well.

Perhaps He surrounds this petition for our earthly needs to be met with the others which are wholly spiritual to remind us that without our spiritual needs being met we have life for this world only resulting in eternal damnation. As we pray for daily bread we must be mindful that this too is just another gift from God. As He blesses us eternally with His spiritual gifts so He blesses us temporally with His physical gifts. He gives us those things we need in order to live our lives on this earth.

Obviously there are some who don’t have as much as others. And there are some who don’t even have enough to survive. But this is one more reminder to us that the prayer for our physical needs is only one petition among seven that are for our more important spiritual and eternal needs. You may have more than enough to eat and live in luxury but if you die in your sins you die without the glory of heaven for eternity. On the other hand, you may be barely scraping by but if you die in faith of Jesus as your Lord you are with Him and have surpassing wealth in heaven for eternity.

We have come to the heart of Holy Week. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday hone in on the suffering our Lord endured so that eternal blessings are secured. Have you ever thought about all that Jesus went through in His suffering? You know much of the physical torture He endured. But think about another thing He endured beginning from His Last Supper with His disciples. He ate that meal with them and then nothing. From the evening of Maundy Thursday through 3:00 on Good Friday He had nothing to eat. Part of His physical suffering was that He was dreadfully weak. He went through the night with no sleep and with no food. He was expected to carry His cross to the crucifixion site and in one of the few merciful, or perhaps merely practical, acts toward Jesus, they gave the task of carrying His cross to some guy who was on the side of the road. Jesus was too weak to carry His own cross. If it were happening today someone might have given Him one of those power gels long distance athletes use to give themselves energy and stamina.

But for Jesus there was nothing. No food. No drink. He truly was not living by bread alone, and even at all, but by the very Word of God. His life was entrusted to His Heavenly Father. He was brought to the cross.

When we pray the petition that seems to be the only physical one on the list in His Holy Prayer we really should treat it and pray it as we do all the others which are so very spiritual—in light of His cross. Yes, it’s true that we need our daily bread, and obviously true that our Lord invites us to pray for it. But isn’t it even more true that we cannot pray for our daily bread without also realizing that our Lord gives us so much more? He is, after all, the Bread of Life. In His Suffering and Death we have eternal life. There is food which gets us by day to day, and thank God for that! But there is also food which sustains us for eternity.

At this altar He gives it to you. Living Bread. Life-Giving Blood. The Body delivered on the cross, the Blood shed on the cross, given for you, in your mouth, for you to eat and drink, for you to be forgiven, strengthened, sustained.

So we may pray in boldness, Give us this day our daily bread. And we may also pray, Give us this Life-Giving Bread now and forever. Amen.

SDG

What Do You See?

Palm Sunday
Sunday of the Passion
March 28, 2010
Luke 19:28-40

The whole multitude of His disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen.

On Palm Sunday the people were rejoicing and praising God because of the mighty works of God that they had seen.

If you saw mighty works of God wouldn’t you rejoice also? There are some who don’t believe in God and even if they saw the mighty works of God they wouldn’t rejoice and give Him praise. They’d harden their hearts. Or they’d explain away the mighty works. But they most certainly would not rejoice. Under no circumstance would they give praise to God.

There are some who would come to see that the God of the Bible, the God who has revealed Himself in Jesus, is the true God. And they would rejoice. They would praise Him as the only true God.

Why do we rejoice? Why do we give Him praise? Are we like the people in the Gospel reading in that we have seen the mighty works of God? Or are we unlike them in that we haven’t seen His mighty works? We rejoice as they did, so in that we are like them. As they did we give praise to God. But do we do so despite not having witnessed the mighty works of God? Is it along the lines of what Jesus said to Thomas, because you have seen, you believe—blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe?

Well, yes, it’s along those lines. But there’s something else going on here. We’re not just similar to those people on the first Palm Sunday in that we rejoice in God and give Him praise. It’s not just that we can’t say, Well, we haven’t witnessed the mighty works of God in the Person of Jesus as He walked the roads of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, so we haven’t seen the mighty works of God in the way they did. What do we see? We know what they saw, the mighty works of God. How about us?

Isn’t one of the problems people have is that there are no mighty works of God to be seen today? There are natural disasters, predators who do heinous things to teenagers, an economy that limps along, wars and rumors of wars. If God is so great why doesn’t He do some of those mighty works so that we can rejoice in Him?

Yes, that’s a problem people have with God. And let me say that I can identify with them. I’d love to see God do some spectacular things in my life so that I’d have no doubt He’s the true God and I’m completely in His care forever. I’d love for Him to step in and remove the struggles from my life.

But is this problem people have, including us at times, a problem with God? Or is it rather a problem with us? It’s a problem we have because we know what we want to see from God and usually that’s not what He shows us. The problem really is with us, not God.

It’s safe to say that the mighty works of God that those people on Palm Sunday saw were not these details Luke recounts in the Gospel reading: He went up to Jerusalem —He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany — He sent two of His disciples — He told them to “go into the village where you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat” — they were to untie it and bring it Jesus — if anyone asked them why they were untying it they were to say that “the Lord has need of it” — they found it just as He had told them — and it all happened just as He told them — they brought it to Jesus — they threw their cloaks on the colt — and they set Jesus on it.

These aren’t mighty works. They’re simple things. The mighty works Jesus had been doing were the miracles, the healings, the raising people from the dead, the powerful preaching. But what would happen in only a few days? He would be delivered over. He would be beaten and crucified. There would be no rejoicing in or praising of God.

But could it be that the people were looking for the wrong thing? Or, maybe the right thing for the wrong reason. Perhaps the things Luke tells us about in the Gospel reading, that Jesus did on Palm Sunday, were the mighty works of God. It’s easy to miss them because they don’t seem mighty. They seem simple, almost ordinary. Jesus very well could have set it all up beforehand with the owner of the colt, so that there was nothing really spectacular in the owner saying what Jesus said He would say. And Him riding in on a donkey isn’t the most grand way to enter into a city.

The thing they really needed to see in order that they might rejoice and give praise to God was the thing they despaired of: Jesus being tormented and hanging on a cross. Jesus in weakness and saturated with the sin of the world.

What about you? What do you see? Do you see the mighty works of God in your life? Let me suggest that you do. Jesus’ words to Thomas—blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe—apply to you, but even though you haven’t stood before Him as Thomas did, and put your fingers in His hands and side as he did, you do see the mighty works of God. The reason you rejoice and praise God is because of what you see, not simply that you go through life holding out hope that in heaven you’ll finally be vindicated that it was all true after all.

The mighty works God does in your life are just like those He did when Jesus walked the roads of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. They’re just like them because they’re not always spectacular. In fact, most of the things were far from eye-catching. Most of them were mundane. Ordinary. Simple.

Just like today. He takes water, something you and I make use of every day, and does the mighty work of saving you and forgiving you all of your sins. He takes bread and wine, things you can get at any store, and brings about the mighty work of giving you in that bread and wine His body and blood.

What do you see? Do you see these things? Well, no, in that you can’t see your sins being forgiven. You can’t see yourself being united with Christ in Baptism. You can’t actually see the body and blood of Christ in His Holy Supper. But when you witness a Baptism, you see the mighty works of God, it just looks like an ordinary thing, much like Jesus sending His disciples to get a colt. When you witness and participate in Holy Communion you see the mighty works of God, it just looks like a very simple meal, much like Jesus having a colt brought to Him and His disciples putting their cloaks on it.

What do you see? As you enter into this Holy Week, do you see God as far removed, or do you see the God who comes to you in this place, at this altar, from this pulpit, at this font? Do you see the God who does mighty works through ordinary things like words and water and bread and wine? Do you see what those people back then saw? Yes, you do, because that’s what God shows you. That’s how He does His mighty works.

Jesus Himself is the preeminent mighty work of God. Jesus in the flesh, walking those roads of ancient provinces and cities. Jesus, sitting on a donkey entering one of those cities. Jesus, turning His cheek to be struck one more time. Offering up prayers of forgiveness for His persecutors. Jesus humbly and in weakness enduring the scorn of sinners and suffering for their guilt and sin. This is the Mighty Work of God, Jesus in the flesh, suffering for the sin of the world on the cross.

This is what you see. The world will not see it. Your sinful flesh will try to blind the eyes of your faith so that you can’t see it. You will constantly be tempted to look elsewhere so that you can see something more spectacular. Something God would really do! But you will never see it. You will look in vain.

It is only in Christ that you will see the mighty works of God. Only in Him you will rejoice and give praise to God. This Holy Week, look nowhere else. Look no further than this altar where He gives you His Body and Blood. Look no further than this pulpit where He forgives your sins in the proclamation of His Gospel. Look no further than the font where you were brought into the eternal Kingdom of the God who does mighty works. It is only in these things you will see who the God is who does mighty works. Who takes simple things and does mighty things. Eternal things. Forgiving you, loving you, saving you.

What do you see? Christ. Now as in a mirror dimly, then face to face. Amen.

SDG

The Only God I Know

Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 21, 2010
Luke 20:9-20

The only God I know is surrounded by the smell and noise and droppings of animals in a dank cave. Held in the arms of a loving mother and father in a humble setting just outside a little town known as Bethlehem. The only God I know is surrounded by wealthy men who bow before Him. Even though He’s a baby and makes only cooing and gurgling sounds, not knowing who is giving Him gifts and honor.

The only God I know is the one hanging out with the religious leaders in the temple asking them questions. The only God I know is the one who went to school and went down to the creek with His friends and ate dinner with His family.

The only God I know is the one who should have been Baptizing sinners left and right but instead commanded that He Himself should be Baptized. The only God I know is the God who is one and yet revealed in three Persons. Standing in the Jordan with water flowing down His face and God the Holy Spirit alighting on Him as a dove. Eyes lifted to heaven where His Heavenly Father speaks the words that He is the One.

The only God. He’s the only God I know. I know because God the Father has told me so. Because the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and no one else. The one who healed many and also took the time to heal just one. The only God I know is the one who didn’t gather an army but some fishermen and a few other guys, including one who didn’t turn out the way you’d expect him to when God is calling the shots.

But this is the only God I know. The one who is willing even to call Judas. The one who took time out, who needed time, to pray to His Heavenly Father. This is the God I know. The one who was, who needed to be, ministered to by angels. God. Needing angels. Needing help, needing strength.

This is the God I know. He’s the only God I know because He’s the only God who hasn’t remained ‘up there’, or wherever else a god might be, but has come down to me.

No, I haven’t seen Him. I didn’t see Him as the apostles and many others did while He walked the earth. But He’s the God I know. He’s the only one I know. And I know just as they did. I know Him as the God who is a man and became a man in order to come to us, human beings who need a God, who need a Savior.

The only God I know is the God who is that God, is that Savior. Because though He didn’t come to me the other day where I was working, He has come to me in my life and still does. The only God I know is the God who came to me in my Baptism. He knows all about Baptism, He Himself was Baptized. He knows all about what we need because He needed it too.

The only God I know is the God who needed what we do because He chose not just to come to us but to take our place. That’s how I know He’s the only God. What other God can you point to and say, I know He’s God because He actually saved me? He actually did what was needed in order to save me?

There is no other God. Ask anyone who has any other god what their god does to save them. They will show you in their response that their god cannot be truly God because he doesn’t do everything needed to save sinners.

The only God I know does. The only God I know is the one hanging on the cross. Bloodied and beaten. Stricken and smitten. Flesh ripped open, head dug into by piercing thorns. The only God I know was bleeding from torture, from punishment designed for criminals. But the only God I know suffered not as a gesture of enduring harsh pain and agony. The only God I know was stricken by God Himself. Forsaken by the Father. His righteous wrath poured out on Him.

The only God I know is the one who has done it all. Other gods will show you the way. They will teach and affirm and exhort and help and encourage and many many good worthwhile things. But none of those things are what the only God there is would really do. The true God would never just show the way. The only God there is must be the way.

The only God I know is the Way. He is the Truth and the Life. The only God I know points the way and then shows that He is indeed, Himself, the Way. The only God is compassion and help and guidance and all those wonderful things we need. But the only God I know doesn’t just point or help. He does. He is. He is the only God. He Himself saves us.

The only God I know doesn’t play games. He doesn’t tell us He loves us just so we’ll feel better. He slams us into the wall of the Ten Commandments. Think you need help? No, you need salvation. Think you need to improve? You need perfection.

These are things you can’t do. He can. He’s the only God. He’s the only one who does them. He’s the only God I know and the only God I need.

He’s not the only God I know because I was raised in a Christian home and have been in His House for worship most every Sunday of my life. He’s the only God I know because He’s the only one who has called me into eternal life, actually bringing me into it. Not just inviting me or showing me the way. Saving me. Doing what is needed to save me.

Some of you here are like me, you’ve always known Him because you were raised knowing Him. Some of you came to know Him later on in life. But no matter who you are or how long you’ve known Him, you can know Him as the only God you know. He’s the only God and when He is your God He’s the only God you know.

Because He’s the only God He’s a stumbling block. When I’m at my wit’s end, how does the God lying in a manger in a stable help me out? When I’m caught in the cross fire of my warring relatives, how does a little boy shooting the theological breeze help me restore the peace with my loved ones?

How, really, does an All-Powerful, eternal, omniscient God help me when He’s hanging helplessly on a cross? How is it comforting and strengthening that the only God is weak and dying and finally ends up dying on the cross?

When you want tangible evidence that He’s with you, that He’s your God, that He is powerful and loving to save you, to help you, to comfort and strengthen you, what kind of God is it who says that He’s the one who was a baby, who called a bunch of guys that even He had a hard time getting through to, who meekly stood before His oppressors, who even now stands in glory with scars on His hands, His feet, and His side?

Read the Gospel reading again. His people will keep questioning Him. They’ll keep throwing everything they have at Him. They’ll abuse Him, use Him, and throw Him under the bus. But He’s the only God we know. He’s the only God and is therefore true to Himself. He will never give up on us. He’ll keep coming back at us with love and compassion and mercy. He’ll keep coming to us in His only-begotten Son in the flesh—in our Baptism, in the pronouncement of His Holy Absolution, in His Holy Supper.

The only God we know is the one who is found in a piece of bread and a sip of wine. The only God we need is the one who happily is speaking when His servant pronounces to us that in His stead and by His command all our sins are forgiven in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The only God who can help us and save us is the one who has when He came to us, forgave us, joined us to Himself in our Baptism.

The only God we know is the one we won’t simply know when we are face to face with Him in His glory in heaven. The only God we know is the one we know now. Out of the humble context of a stable and long journeys on dusty roads and sticking with dense apostles and walking the path to the cross the only God we know comes into the humble circumstances of our lives, using ordinary water and words and bread and wine to give us the only thing we truly need: Himself. The only God we know. The God who is not simply the only true God but the only God we know. Amen.

SDG

More Than Enough

Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 14, 2010
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough…

With God it’s never just enough. There’s always more than enough. He doesn’t give to us only so that we can just get by. He doesn’t invite us to pick and choose from His blessings but to receive all the vaults of His glory and gifts.

Maybe it’s only when we come to our senses that we begin to see that more than enough is better than what we have. Maybe it’s only when we’ve hit rock bottom that we come to realize that a little from God is manifold wealth compared to what we have on our own.

The son who wanted more than he could ever dream of lost it all. The funny thing is he had already had more than he could ever imagine, he just didn’t realize it. On his own he lost it all and now saw that he had nothing.

With nothing he also saw that his father’s servants had more than enough. They in fact had it made compared to him. They in fact had it better than he had ever realized they had when he was living in the palatial estate of his father.

He no longer deserved to live as a son but he’d have it made as a servant. It’s amazing how differently you understand things when you see them from a different perspective. Maybe God knows what He’s talking about when He tells us we have nothing without Him. We just don’t see it until we see it from a different perspective.

So let’s try seeing it from a different perspective. Let’s look at our lives through the eyes of that young brat, um, I mean the young son of the fabulously wealthy father.

He decided that enough was enough and needed to strike out on his own. If anything, his pop was holding him back. He needed adventure. Thrills. Freedom.

He didn’t need his dad. He needed his money though, so Dad, just give me my inheritance and I’ll be on my way. I want what’s mine, so just give it to me early and I’ll be out of your hair.

What this young punk walked away with was a lot of money that you and I would say, that guy’s got it made. He has more than he’ll ever need. He’s set for the rest of his life. People may wonder, how much was it? It doesn’t matter. It was more than this young punk knew what to do with. How many times have we heard of fabulously wealthy people who ended up losing it all because they couldn’t control their money and their desires?

So when this young dude lost it all he realized not only how much he had had when he was living with pop, but how much his father’s servants had living with pop. Now this young man had perspective. Now he had wisdom. Now he had come to his senses. He realized what his father had realized all along: that he was nothing without his father. That doesn’t mean that his father was going to keep him holed up in his mansion his whole life. It meant that his father would provide for him for all that he needed. He would raise him, care for him, love him.

But this also meant he would let him go if his son wanted to be let go. It’s only when the boy was out on his own that he realized he needed his father. Even if his father would now be his master, and he his father’s servant. He’d still have it made. He’d be living in the lap of luxury because he would be benefitting from his father’s generous portions to all who were part of the estate, family and servants alike.

There’s another perspective we should see also, and that is the father’s perspective in the first place. He knew what his young son didn’t know. He knew that his son had more than he could ever hope for or imagine but took it for granted. But he didn’t force it upon his son. He simply gave it to him and let him go if that was his desire.

The father’s love is so great that it never forces itself upon someone else. Even someone he loves so deeply as his own son. This is the true and abiding love the father has for his son. It doesn’t keep tabs. It is not only fabulously wealthy but manifestly generous. The father is merciful to his son, welcoming him back in a heartbeat. He won’t have any of his son’s talk of being a servant. He’s his son. All that he has he gives to his son.

It’s at this point that one lesson has been learned. It was learned the hard way, but it was learned. But it’s at this very point that the very same lesson is not learned by another person. He’s also a son. The older son of the father can’t get his head around what just happened. He’s having a hard time subduing his bitterness.

I’ve been here all along. I’ve toiled and slaved. I’ve been faithful to you and have given you my best, and this pathetic excuse for a brother runs off to throw away all your hard-earned money. And what does he get for it? A huge party! He gets off scot-free. He’s back in the household as if he’d never left. He’s back as if he were the one who gave you the best years of his young life when in fact he hardly did any work around here at all. It’s me who should be getting the glory.

Sadly, it’s the older brother who doesn’t see at all who is father is, what he, as his father’s son, has. He does not see things from the perspective of his younger brother because he hasn’t seen the other side. He sees only himself and what he brings to the table rather than the love and wealth his father lavishes on him. What does his father say to him? “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” The younger brother finally realized that his father’s servants had more than enough and now their father was trying to exhort his older son to see that, Son, all that is mine is yours.

But what did the older brother want? A goat. He wanted a party. He wanted his father to treat him to some nice gestures of reward for the hard work and labor he had provided for his father. But nope, nothing. The younger brother gets it all. And for what? For blowing all his dad’s money on fun and adventure. The younger brother realized that even the servants had more than enough whereas the older brother can’t even see that he already has more than he could ever imagine or hope for. He doesn’t see that a little party for him and his friends doesn’t compare to all that His father has provided him.

He doesn’t see that his father is not content to give just enough. Or not even just more than enough. It has to be everything. He gives it all. All that is mine is yours.

And if you and I haven’t yet seen the way God sees us from His perspective then take one more look. We haven’t talked about Him yet, but He’s there in the Gospel reading. He’s the one telling the parable. Jesus embodies the words the father speaks in the parable: “all that is Mine is yours.” What is God the Father’s is His own Son. And He gives Him to us. The Father gives His own Son so that we may have more than just enough. More than even just more than enough. More than we could ever imagine. More than we could ever hope for. More than we could ask for and certainly more than we deserve.

The incomparable love God has for His Son is love that shines through even when He gives His own Son over; Jesus becoming destitute; wallowing in the slop of our sin and guilt; hitting rock bottom, weighted down with the punishment we deserve; suffering on the cross so that we may enjoy the palatial estates of heaven for eternity.

You are with God the Father forever. You are His sons and daughters. All that He has is yours. What He gives you is never just enough. It’s always more than enough. All that is His is yours. Now you know what Jesus means when He says, “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Amen.

SDG

Face Suffering with Humility

Third Sunday in Lent
Perpetua and Felicitas, Martyrs
March 7, 2010
Luke 13:1-9

When is a bad thing a good thing? The answer is when God gets involved. We should give thanks that He does. Because that’s the complaint, isn’t it? That’s the question we all have, isn’t it? Where is God? Why doesn’t He get involved when the horrifying earthquake hits Haiti or Chile? Why does He allow me to suffer when I do? Why is He not preventing the cancer from spreading in my body? Why has He allowed my child to be taken away from me rather than to be able to live a long and fulfilling life?

We often stand speechless before terrifying natural disasters that claim life and a peaceful comfortable life. We often wonder what God is telling us or where He is at all when we endure suffering in our personal lives.

We look at suffering, whether it is that of others or what we ourselves endure, as a bad thing. And that’s not entirely wrong. When God created the universe there was no suffering. There was no sin, no evil. But the Fall into sin changed all that. From the Fall proceeded more sin, death, and suffering. Suffering isn’t supposed to be part of this world and we know it. But neither is our sin. And yet we continue to sin.

This is the point Jesus wishes to make. We come to the question of suffering from an arrogant standpoint. Why should we have to suffer? But Jesus takes an entirely different approach. His approach to suffering is humility. We should not question why we suffer so much as we should marvel that though we deserve worse God spares us from it. We should not question God in the midst of suffering so much as we should humble ourselves before Him and thank Him for His mercy to us.

Because Jesus doesn’t do the kind of thing where if you suffer it’s because, frankly, you deserve it. No, that’s what we do. If that person we don’t like goes through the mill, well, he got what was coming to him. Or we pity the person who is a good person because no one deserves to suffer in the way they have.

All of this is arrogance. Nowhere in here is humility and a realization that we don’t even deserve to be here being able to talk about this stuff. We simply deserve hell. By rights we should be eternally separated from God Almighty.

Our Lord, however, has abiding humility. He steps aside from His glory to make known to us our plight. He calls us to repentance. He warns us so that we do not in fact end up in hell forever.

Hell doesn’t seem as real to us as people who are murdered in their place of worship and their blood mixed with their sacrifices. Eternal damnation doesn’t appear as relevant as a tower falling on people who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Being separated from God doesn’t seem as pressing a matter as a powerful earthquake that strikes a third world country and causes untold devastation and agony. Never being in the eternal glory of heaven seems a distant concern when we’re facing the news that the cancer is progressing rapidly and that nothing can be done but wait.

The problem isn’t really that we’re arrogant. We don’t stroll into this discussion, and into our facing of suffering, with an arrogant mindset. No, the problem is that we are simply turned in on ourselves. The problem is that our sinful nature is so tightly wrapped around our lives that we can’t see things any other way than the way we do; which is that we have to know why this is happening to us. Why it has to happen to all those poor innocent people in those third world countries. This is arrogance even though we don’t intend it to be so. It is arrogance simply because it is not humility.

Our first reaction is not to repent. Who are we kidding, our second reaction isn’t even to repent. Do we even ever come to the point where in our suffering or in observing that of others that we simply repent? That we see that there is far worse for us to be concerned about than anything we endure in this life? That there is a far greater concern we have than anything we face here on earth?

Repentance puts a whole new perspective on suffering. It allows us to face suffering with humility. Repentance and humility in no way make enduring suffering easier. They certainly don’t minimize suffering.

What they do is help us see suffering the way God does. What they do is help us face suffering the way God does.

And what is that way? It is the way of seeing Christ in the midst of suffering. It is the way of looking to Jesus and His suffering on the cross. It is the way in which we see that humility is the only way to truly endure suffering because then you are not consumed with yourself but rather what God would have for you. Rather than questioning and wondering and agonizing, to be at peace knowing that God can do much more for you and through you through suffering than if you breezed through life with no thought of Him or the glory He has prepared for you eternally.

In humility we see suffering through new eyes. Instead of wondering where God is we see Him more clearly than ever. Instead of questioning His love and care we know more powerfully than ever that His love and care are never greater than when we are suffering. Your physical eyes will never see this. They will only see pain and turmoil and plainly a God who is not powerful or loving enough to keep you from suffering. Your sinful flesh will never see this because it will only see itself and how you deserve better from God than the suffering you endure.

But that is why Jesus faces suffering with humility and calls upon us to do so. It is only in humility that we can see Him in suffering. He is who we need to see. He is our only hope in suffering. It is only in looking to the cross that we can see our need for repentance when we are at our weakest. When we are most in pain and despondent. Why do we think we are going through anything we don’t deserve? Why are we so arrogant as to think that God does not care or doesn’t understand? Jesus endured suffering on the cross beyond what we can imagine or even describe.

It wasn’t simply physical pain and torture He endured. He suffered what we deserve. Our sins were laid on Him. He was inflicted with our guilt. He was hit with the holy wrath against sinners. He suffered in our place. Nothing compares with that. No suffering. No love. No thing can come between that kind of love and us. Not suffering. Not our sin. Not our guilt. Not even our arrogance at continuing to question God when we face suffering.

So face it with humility. Tell Him what you feel, there’s nothing that says you have to hold it all in. But be humble. Accept that He’s God and you’re not. Thank Him that He’s God and you’re not. Thank Him that when it comes to suffering He knows quite a bit more about it than you do because He endured quite a bit more of it than you could ever imagine.

Then ask Him to get you through. You know you can’t. He knows you can’t either. That’s why He sent His Son. That’s why Christ went to the cross. That’s why you are Baptized. You may suffer, but you are forever Baptized. Forever God’s own child and heir. Forever His son or daughter. Forever in His care. It’s why you partake of the Body of Christ that was delivered up on the cross. Why you drink of the Blood of Christ that was shed on the cross for the forgiveness of all of your sins. Why in true joy you can daily repent and receive the eternal Absolution of all of your sins. Why even in suffering you can give thanks that God would love you in such a way as not to let you breeze through life where you would be content with yourself and your easy life and your sinful flesh. Why in suffering you have the opportunity to see what He sees: yourself, a sinner who needs to repent and yet emerges stronger through the trials.

Just think about what tremendous help you can be to others who are facing suffering only with their own arrogance and sin and guilt and questioning of God. Just think about what opportunities you have to rejoice when you see that God has blessings that are so far beyond comparison to any suffering you endure. Just think of what you see in suffering that you otherwise would not have seen: that Christ has gone before you to endure what you can never imagine, that He goes with you as you face the trials and struggles of life, and goes beyond what you can see to have prepared a place for you in the eternal peace and joy of heaven. Amen.

SDG

Coming to Terms with Jesus

Second Sunday in Lent
February 28, 2010
Luke 13:31-35

It seems that every time there’s a new study or survey that shows where people are at regarding their religious beliefs it’s presented as if it’s some big revelation. As if we wouldn’t have known what people really believe had the study or survey not been done. A recent one shows that young people are staying away from church and organized religion but are still religious. They still believe in God. They still believe in an afterlife.

I get a kick out of these because I can’t help but come to the same conclusion each time I see one. Something God in His Word said a long time ago. About, oh, three thousand years ago:

There is nothing new under the sun.

We certainly shouldn’t make light of the views and beliefs people express. They are entitled to them and we can respect the people who hold them and even engage them in their views and beliefs.

But do we really need surveys and studies to tell us what people think and believe when the Bible long ago has told us what they believe? Without a formal study done about what people believe would we really not know that they believe they don’t need organized religion or church or formal worship? Before there were ever surveys, the Bible has told us all along that people have felt this way ever since, oh, Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree. The people of today are not the first to think they’re so enlightened in holding to these views and beliefs.

It’s natural that these surveys and studies are done. People tend to look for trends. They look for the way things change, or stay the same, or go back to the way they were, or anything to try to get a handle on where people are at. That’s our inclination. We want to get a handle on these things. But it would be a mistake for us ‘in here’ to talk about how those people ‘out there’ believe when we don’t need any surveys or studies or experts to tell us where our own hearts are at. The Bible slices right through all the stats and trends and cuts right to the heart. We are no better than Adam and Eve. We are like every other human being in history, with the exception of Christ, of course. He doesn’t fit into any survey or study. No expert can find any trend with Him. He alone embodies true worship of God and belief in God. We don’t need any expert sources telling us that in contrast to Jesus we have fallen far short of His glory and His righteousness.

We care, of course, for those people ‘out there.’ As the Church, we listen to people and take them seriously and engage them right where they’re at in life. But we also look at that book that was written over the period of about 1500 years and two thousand years ago and take our cue from that as to where people are at and what they believe. To some this is archaic. The funny thing is, that’s what many people thought way back then as well. We don’t really need any survey to tell us that. To some it’s narrow minded. Wouldn’t you know it, the same charge was made back then as well. We don’t need anyone today to show evidence that this is true so that we can know it.

We already know it.

And that’s why we hear the Scripture read in the worship service. That’s why we hear it preached. That’s why we stand or fall on this book and don’t take our cue from what has just been discovered by a survey or study. We already know. God has shown us. He has given us His Word.

In the Old Testament reading Jeremiah wasn’t struggling with those people ‘out there,’ but the very people of God. In the Gospel reading Jesus was being warned about outside forces that were against Him, but Jesus knew better. He knew that the very people of God were no better than their fathers before them, the same ones that persecuted Jeremiah and the other prophets. That it wasn’t Herod the wicked king who would be the downfall of Jesus but that it would be the very people of God that would bring Jesus to the cross.

This is what no survey or study or expert can tell us. They can show us what’s on the surface. People believe this. Or that. Or some other thing. But they can’t tell you what is in the hearts of people. They can’t tell you that there is nothing good within them. They can’t tell you that while their mouths say they believe in God and have spiritually fulfilled lives their hearts are far from Him. And they can’t tell us that we are no different. Jesus longs to gather us to Himself, we won’t have any of it.

The people of God want to be religious but want their religion and spirituality on their own terms. Sounds a lot like a bunch of people interviewed for a survey. Jesus knows what is in our hearts. Jesus knew why the religious leaders were coming to Jesus. And He knew something they didn’t know. That He would die at their hands but for their very obstinacy against Him. He would suffer at the hands of sinners for those very sinners and for all sinners. Jesus didn’t take any surveys or do any studies. He knew what was in the heart of man and died for man anyway. He knew that His very own people would have nothing to do with Him and died for them for this very reason.

What those in the Gospel reading are trying to do with Jesus is the same thing those ‘out there’ who are surveyed try to do. Have their religion, their spirituality, their salvation apart from Jesus. They just know God loves them and they’re good to go. But what Jesus does with these people is force the issue. We must come to terms with Jesus. Religion, spirituality, salvation, apart from Christ is religion without God. And it doesn’t matter if you believe in an afterlife or not, religion and spirituality without Christ is eternity without God. You cannot have God or eternal life without coming to terms with Jesus.

But here’s the thing. The thing you and I know that those people out there don’t know. We know that coming to terms with Jesus does not mean judgment but forgiveness. We know that coming to terms with Him means that He is the one who transforms us into new people, sons and daughters of the eternal God. Coming to terms with Him is looking at God in view of the cross. At the cross Jesus is the one who is brought to judgment, we are brought to eternal life.

What that also means for us ‘in here’ is that instead of spending our time discerning what all those surveys and studies mean about what people believe, we can simply share with them what they don’t know about God: that He has given them His Son. His Son who has died for all of their sins, who wants to bring them not into an ambiguous afterlife but eternal life and glory with God. Amen.

SDG

Lead Us Not into Temptation

First Sunday in Lent
February 21, 2010
Luke 4:1-13

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always thought it odd that in teaching us to pray our Lord told us to pray that our Heavenly Father lead us not into temptation. As if our Heavenly Father might just lead us into temptation so we’d better pray to Him that He doesn’t. God wouldn’t lead us into temptation, would He?

Sometimes I think ordinary Christians are the best theologians. When I was on vicarage an elderly woman, who when praying the Lord’s Prayer and came to the sixth petition, would always say it this way: “and lead us NOT into temptation”, as an affirmation that God indeed does not lead us into temptation.

Consider, though, what occurs in the Gospel reading for the First Sunday in Lent: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.

There’s no question that the devil is the source of the temptation. But there also is no question that God the Holy Spirit is the one who led Jesus into the wilderness in order to be tempted by the devil, Matthew makes that clear. Mark is even stronger, saying the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to tempted by the devil.

Was the Holy Spirit leading Jesus into temptation? Was Jesus walking out to the wilderness praying, “Lead me NOT into temptation?” All joking aside, Jesus knew exactly why He was going out there. And He knew exactly who it was that was leading Him out there. He was being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Even as the Scriptures teach that God tempts no one, at the same time they teach that God does indeed test us. They teach that God works all things for good for those who love Him who have been called according to His purpose. This includes temptation. God doesn’t tempt, but He uses temptation. He doesn’t lead us into temptation but He uses temptation for our good.

Temptation is the work of the devil. All the more better, then, that God uses it for our good. The devil is going to try to bring us down by tempting us. God builds us up through temptation, the very thing the devil is trying to bring us down with. What the devil brings about to harm us God uses to strengthen us. What the devil attempts to use to tear us away from God, God uses to draw us closer to Him.


What’s tempting for us here is to hear this and think that it’s ridiculous. Or impossible. Or what we would just as soon not have to go through. Temptation is by its very nature enticing. We’re tempted to do something we want to do that we shouldn’t do. But wrestling with temptation is miserable. You want to go through with the sin but you know you shouldn’t and you don’t want to go through with it but the urge is strong. And your mind is very good at rationalizing all kinds of ways of why it’s good to succumb to the temptation.
How does God use this for our good? How does He strengthen us through this?

We must look to see what He does in His Son. What He does in us is what He does because of what He has done in His Son. We are strengthened through temptation because of what Jesus endured and accomplished.

The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. This is vitally important. We really should not talk about temptation apart from the fact that God the Father wanted Jesus to endure temptation. Not for the kicks of it all. So that we may know there is victory over Satan. So that we may know that temptation can be overcome, because it has been overcome.

We are powerless against temptation. Not Christ. The devil meets his match in Jesus. Because that is so it is so with us. We have power over Satan because Christ does. We have the victory in Christ.

Christ did not veer. He did not succumb. He stayed the course. And not only did He battle Satan with the Word of God in the desert, Christ continued on His course all the way to the cross. He accomplished victory over temptation and the devil in suffering and dying for every one of our times we have fallen into temptation. Every time we have listened to the devil and heard his enticement as appealing and what we desire more than the Word of God.

Jesus’ final word to Satan was that you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. It’s not just an answer to Satan. It’s a word for you and me to live by. Otherwise we die. Succumbing to temptation leads to death. God will never lead us into that. What He will do is give us what we need in times of temptation. His Word. Strength when we are weak. This is all in His Son, the one who conquered Satan and his temptations. That’s why our Lord gives Himself to us in His Holy Supper, just as He gave Himself to the world in His suffering and death.

You might hear the voice of the devil questioning whether Jesus’ body and blood could really be given to you for you to eat and drink in simple bread and wine. When you hear this voice respond in confidence with the Word of God, Jesus’ words themselves: This is My body, this is My blood.

And when the voice of Satan comes right back at you, getting you to wonder what that really does for you—receiving the body and blood of Christ, how it could possibly help you in the time of temptation—come right back at him with word of Christ, His victorious words to you in direct combat to Satan: shed for you for the forgiveness of all of your sins.

Jesus was led into temptation. He will lead you through it. The Holy Spirit led Jesus through the wilderness while Jesus was being tempted. You are Baptized. The Holy Spirit led you into eternal life when you were washed in those waters connected with the Word of Christ. The Holy Spirit leads you through the dark valleys of temptation. You have the victory in Christ. Rely on the Word of God. Pray in the fullest confidence the prayer your Lord has given you to pray: and lead us NOT into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

SDG

Prayer (& Fasting) and the Cross of Christ

Ash Wednesday
February 17, 2010
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

During our midweek Lenten worship services we will be meditating on the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer our Lord has given us to pray and in it is contained everything we need in order to pray to our Heavenly Father. A lifetime of praying and meditating on the Lord’s Prayer is what our Lord has in mind for us in giving us His holy Prayer.

If you look at the Lord’s Prayer you will see that it is concerned with the things we need. What we need in order to live is what we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer. If you look at what Jesus says in the Gospel reading for Ash Wednesday you will see that what He is teaching us about prayer is nothing else than teaching us about what we need and about living out our lives in a way that is in consonance with His will.

So in the three things He mentions—giving to those in need, praying, and fasting—He is doing nothing other than teaching us how we ought to live our lives. Our lives are lives of prayer. Jesus begins His teaching on prayer by talking about practicing our righteousness before others. We are not to do it for the purpose of being seen by them. We are to do it in a way that doesn’t draw attention to ourselves.

It is in the verses between the ones of our Gospel reading where our Lord gives us His holy Prayer. The petitions He gives us to pray are for those things we need. The more we pray that Prayer, the more we ponder it, the more we will see that giving to those in need, praying, and fasting are things we need.

Those things focus ourselves outwardly. They get us to look beyond ourselves and to the cross of Christ. Giving to the poor is easily understandable because you’re helping someone out and looking beyond yourself. But when you pray isn’t it so easy just to focus on your own needs rather than the needs of others? And when you fast, aren’t your thoughts consumed with the rumblings and even the pain of your stomach and the weakness you experience from not having enough food to sustain you?

But this is why we need these things. Even in giving to the poor we tend to focus on ourselves, how good of people we are in helping others; or agonizing over what extra time and effort and money it’s costing us to help someone else. We tend to think more about our own needs than the fact that there is someone else who is in need.

But giving to those in need is not only for their sake but for our own. It’s not so much something we must do as it is an extension of who we are in Christ. Because of the cross we see others in need as an opportunity to serve rather than as a drain on our time and energy. Because of Jesus giving Himself wholly in His suffering and death we are ready and willing to give of our time and money in order to help those who are experiencing burdens.

When our prayers tend to revolve around our own needs or even our own wants what we need is the prayer our Lord has taught us. There we see what our true needs are. There we see that our wants need to be melded into what our Heavenly Father wants for us. He wants what is best for us. That is brought out in the Lord’s Prayer. Otherwise it would be filled with the things He gives us that help us out only in this life. Those things are wonderful and we need them and He desires we have them. But if that’s the main thing then we don’t have a very loving God—we have a God who cares for us only for a time. The things we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer are primarily the things we need for our soul, the things that last forever. There is nothing better to receive in this life than those things.

How do we know this? Again, the cross of Christ guides our view toward this. Jesus didn’t suffer just injury and harm in being crucified. He was forsaken by His Heavenly Father on account of the sins of the world. His suffering was enduring the punishment of hell we all deserve. His sacrifice was being counted as the sinner in our place. Giving His life was nothing else than suffering in our place so that we may have eternal life. Reading and meditating on and praying the Lord’s Prayer helps us see more and more that that’s what that prayer is getting at that we need in our lives.

Most Christians would think it’s odd if you told them that they shouldn’t give to those in need. It’s pretty clear that Scripture tells us to give to others. But do we need to be told not to pray in public? Many Christians would rather stand on their head than pray in public. And what about fasting? Outside of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, fasting to many Christians seems like a ritual that is better suited to those in a monastery or those in a church that is based on the Law where you do things in order to gain favor with God.

But Jesus doesn’t teach us about fasting for any purpose of what we must do or how to gain favor with God but rather for what we need. Where when we fast our minds are telling us that we need food—and really want food; and our stomachs are doing more than just telling; God is showing us that there is so much more to His gifts to us than just daily bread. That while our stomachs are craving to be filled the Word of God feeds us with eternal blessings that sustain us long after we again need another meal.

You don’t have to give to those in need. But you will be blessed when you do. You don’t have to fast either. But you will come to see that it’s true that man does not live by bread alone. And when you give to those in need you don’t have to make it an elaborate thing. You can be very simple about it: offer to help someone you know who needs help with their yard work or a ride to the doctor. Lend an ear to someone who is going through a rough patch or is grieving the loss of their loved one.

When you fast you can make it something simple, such as getting up on Sunday morning and reserving eating any food until after you have been fed by your Lord in Word and Sacrament. And if you have a particular condition that would make it prohibitive for you to abstain from food, then take something else in your life that you need or want in your daily life and cut a portion of it out. Put in its place meditation on the Word of God. Praying and meditating on the Lord’s Prayer. Reading and studying the Catechism. Pondering the suffering and death of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

It’s true that prayer is something commanded you by God. But it’s true because He commands things of you that are for your benefit. It’s true that humbling yourself, serving others, giving up things in your life that you crave is difficult. But the things we need, the things that are truly best for us come through difficult things. Christ on His cross was giving of Himself to those in need: you and me and the world. He was praying to His Heavenly Father on our behalf. He was fasting, not taking in anything of this life for help or benefit. That’s because He was giving of Himself so that we may be the dear children of our Heavenly Father in boldness and confidence. Amen.

SDG

Prayer and the Cross

The Transfiguration of Our Lord
Last Sunday after the Epiphany
Valentine, Martyr
February 14, 2010
Luke 9:28-36

I hope that as I continue to teach the Word of God I will keep learning and growing. I always use teaching Confirmation Class as the test for whether I am. Since in Confirmation Class we’re dealing with the basics, the fundamentals, of the Christian faith, I could easily go through the motions; knowing the material well enough to just teach it without giving it any thought.

But it never fails to happen that I learn. I grow. I continue to be brought by the Holy Spirit to new insights in the faith and stronger growth in faith. It is that way in teaching the Word of God. There’s never a point where you can master it.

It is my prayer that as I grow and learn that I will seek to do it in the way that Christ Himself did it. It sounds odd, but Jesus humbled Himself to be much as we are, learning and growing as a man. The author of Hebrews says that Jesus learned obedience as a son. This is a remarkable statement. It’s hard to get your head around that one, as Jesus is true God of true God, fully divine. And yet, what He chose to do was to humble Himself. He chose to become a man, and even more, to submit Himself to authority. To learn. To grow. To be obedient.

This is what we need to learn in our prayer life, in our lives as Christians. At this moment in the Church Year we’re in a transition. We’re closing up the Epiphany season and preparing to enter the Lenten season. At the same time we’re not just thinking ‘transition’, we’re also focusing on a specific and unique event in the life of Christ, the Transfiguration.

In our celebration of the festival of the Transfiguration of Our Lord and in our transition to Lent and preparation for Lent we can use the event of the Transfiguration to help us understand where we’re going with our Midweek Lenten theme of “The Our Father and the Cross of Christ.” “The Our Father” is another name for the Lord’s Prayer. In conjunction with the annual Catechism Convocation our congregation joins in with several other congregations the Midweek Lenten worship services will focus on the Lord’s Prayer, which is the topic of the Catechism Convocation this year. The cross of Christ helps us focus in praying the Lord’s Prayer as well as in prayer in general.

How does the Transfiguration help us understand prayer in light of the cross? The Transfiguration of Christ has Him on the mountain in an array of glory and splendor. What appears to be shown on the mountain is the opposite of the shame and suffering of the cross. It is not because of the Transfiguration we pray. It is because of the cross. It is not through the glory displayed on the mountain that we bring our petitions to our Father but through the humiliation of the suffering of His Son.

Luke makes a point to tell us something that Jesus did often, and that was to pray. Matthew and Mark tell us of the Transfiguration but they simply say that Jesus went up onto the mountain. It is Luke who tells us that He went up there to pray. Matthew and Mark mention a few times that Jesus prayed. Luke emphasizes that this was an integral part of His earthly life. Since Jesus was all about the cross, in His Ministry heading to the cross we can safely assume that this is what His prayers were concerned with.

And while not praying to His Heavenly Father, when Jesus is talking with Moses and Elijah on the mountain they are talking about His departure, His suffering and death on the cross. He went up on the mountain to pray and ended up being transfigured before the disciples. He was displaying His glory and ended up having a conversation about His death.

Prayer was vital to Jesus’ Ministry. It was vital to His relationship with His Heavenly Father. How much more with us? We who are sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father but who are constantly struggling in this vale of tears and with our sinful flesh… if Jesus needed to pray, we more so. And as Jesus needed those times alone with His Heavenly Father in prayer, prayer always led Him to the cross. For Him it was always about the cross. His prayers were never separated from it. Even in His suffering and dying on the cross He was lifting up prayers to His dear Father in heaven.

Sometimes the Church Year and the calendar year intersect, although many may not realize it. Today, of course, is Valentine’s Day. Many think of it simply in terms of expressing love to their sweetheart. What many people may not realize is that the commemoration in the Church Year today of St. Valentine is the commemoration of his death. That doesn’t seem to fit with our American celebration of Valentine’s Day. But it actually fits better than we might think. His death is commemorated because he was martyred for his faith.

The Bible says that there is no greater love than a man lay down his life for his friends. Valentine, as with so many other Christians down through the centuries rejoiced in laying down his life rather than forsake his Lord. We would gladly give our lives to save our loved ones. How much more to give our lives rather than renounce Christ? On the day when Valentine’s Day, as well as the commemoration of Valentine, Martyr, coincide with the Transfiguration of Our Lord, it’s telling that the commemoration of Valentine is of his death—his martyrdom—and the celebration of the Transfiguration of Jesus has Moses and Elijah talking to Him about His death. It was because of the cross that Valentine willingly gave his life and by the cross that Valentine’s death brought him to life eternal. The cross is the substance of our prayers and our lives as Christians.

In our midweek Lenten worship services we will be meditating on the Lord’s Prayer, as it is the prayer our Lord has given us to pray. When we pray His holy prayer we are praying what He wants us to be praying for and for the things we need. But there’s another aspect to praying also.

We don’t pray simply by praying. We don’t learn to pray simply by praying. We learn to pray by listening. Specifically, by listening to Christ. God the Father on the Mount of Transfiguration said: “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to Him!” This is how we learn to pray. We listen to our Lord. We hear His Words. We focus on what Peter, James, and John saw when they heard the voice of the Father—Jesus. Luke says that “when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.” When we pray it is because of and through Jesus alone. It is by His suffering and death on the cross that our prayers ascend to the throne of the Father.

Prayer is talking with God. Jesus begins this whole thing on the mountain that way. He’s talking with His Heavenly Father. Luke doesn’t tell us any of the words from the Father to Jesus. What he does tell us are His words to us: “Listen to My Son.” How we do that is the same way Peter, James, and John did—from the source. From Jesus Himself. They literally heard His words as He spoke. We don’t hear Him speak with His mouth and vocal chords the way they did. But we hear His words as they did. That’s why He had His Word written down. That’s why we hear it read. That’s why we hear it preached.

That’s how we hear Jesus. That’s how we listen to Him. That’s how we learn to pray. We listen to Him and He forms our prayers. We read and meditate on His Word and we are formed by Him to pray according to the will of our Heavenly Father.

We begin to see more and more that everything in the Scriptures is centered in the cross. That the Scriptures bring Christ to us and are mere words apart from Him and what He suffered on Calvary. That our prayers are meaningless even if well intended if they do not flow out of the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary for the forgiveness of all of our sins. The words you say may not always seem to reflect that; sometimes you may not know the words to say; sometimes you may pray half-heartedly; but don’t fear and don’t give up. Lift your eyes as Peter, James, and John did, and see the One in whom is your salvation and hope. Talk to your Lord about what Moses and Elijah talked to Him about: His suffering and death on the cross for them, for you, for everyone.

And if it still seems hard after that, then dig more into the Word of God, where you will be hearing the Word of Christ, listening to Him. Remember daily those words spoken to you when you were transformed into a new creation: “I Baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Hunger and thirst for the proclamation of Christ’s holy Word in His House. Come often to His Table where you will hear His words spoken directly to you: Take and eat, this is My body, given for you. Take and drink, this is My blood, shed for you for your forgiveness.

Your prayer at that point may simply be “Amen.”

SDG

From Night to Day

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
February 7, 2010
Luke 5:1-11

Until a specific point in time that would come soon enough, no one was able to point to Jesus and comprehend who He was as He was to be known. But there was something. There was something that brought those people to press in on Him. So that He had no breathing room. So that He had to go out on the lake in order to continue on with His preaching and teaching. They had come through the night in order to get from Him something they needed. Something unattainable through the long dark night of their lives.

They had seen the miracles, heard the preaching, listened to His Word that was authoritative. The word that spoke of something that they couldn’t get in any other way. They were darkened in their minds and hearts. The Holy Spirit accompanies the Word of Christ wherever it goes. Wherever it is proclaimed. Whenever it brings demons out of men, brings people from their sickness, gives comfort to the afflicted.

In this case the Word of Christ is Christ Himself. Jesus walking from town to town proclaiming the Good News, giving Himself to people who are in the darkness of sin and a fallen world. The night that turned into day on that particular day found them crowding Jesus to the point where He made use of boats that were for fisherman but were now to be used for the Man who created all things in the sea and on land.

The dawn that came over the lake of Gennesaret saw another light, a Light that shines in the darkness of people with darkened minds, who hear but never listen, who see but never understand. The Light that is Christ is more powerful than that darkness. And that Word—the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of the Living God, God Himself, very God of very God—now spoke. The Word proclaimed the Word. Jesus delivered Himself to the people who had overtaken Him.

Peter and his companions listened on. Weary from the night. Perhaps enjoying a break from the usual silence while they cleaned the nets in the hours after dawn. They were tired, but they could hear the words Jesus spoke. They were hearing of things that were more important than fish and their livelihood. It was a difficult job, cleaning those nets. They were big, they were wet, they were filthy. And they were tired. Exhausted from a long night of toiling on the sea. Of trying every trick they knew to bring in a haul. Even if it was a few fish. Something for their hard work. But they would go back home and go to bed awaiting the next night shift in which they’d try again.

Perhaps they were just finishing up cleaning the nets when they found that Jesus had one more thing to say: “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” They were the professional fisherman who hadn’t caught a thing. Even more, they had just gotten done with the grueling work of cleaning the nets. But now the preacher was telling them to try again. They had worked the night shift because that’s when the fish bite, not in the daylight, as Jesus was suggesting. Peter let Jesus know what he thought of Jesus’ request but acquiesced to it. Because You have said it I will do it. Jesus was in the process of bringing these people, and now Peter and his fellow apostles, into the day of the Light of salvation.

In bringing Peter from night to day Peter was seized with astonishment. Fear. Conviction. Peter was face to face with his Creator. He stood before the Holy God and saw in the multitude of fish that was brought in an awareness of the multitude of sins that darkened his heart. Isaiah stood before God Almighty in a vision, crying out, “Woe is me, I am undone, I am a man of unclean lips!” Peter stood face to face with the very same God, but in no vision. In broad daylight. What hope did he have? “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” One cannot stand in the presence of the Lord and live. There is no hope, you are done for.

This was Peter. Exhausted. Spent. Wretched. Mind and heart filled with greed and lust and envy and pride. A man of unclean lips and mind and heart. As unable to assuage his guilt as he was in his toil and labor to bring in fish that night in his vocation as a fisherman. What would Jesus say to him now? Was all the preaching and teaching, and for that matter the healings and miracles, all to show him that Jesus was the Lord Almighty and how Peter was weighed in the balance and found wanting? Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.

What would you say to your Lord if you stood before Him? Would you attempt to rationalize your sin and guilt? Would you strain for hope? Peter fell at Jesus’ knees. Jesus spoke volumes to Peter in His action of bringing in more fish than the fishermen could handle. But now Jesus spoke one more word. This was a word that brought home to Peter who he was as he prostrated himself before the God of Creation. It was the word of Absolution. The word of Forgiveness. The word of the Gospel. The word that does away with the effects of the word that convicts and condemns.

But this was not a mere word. It was not simply speech communication that came from the mouth of Christ. The word Jesus gave to Peter was the Word that has always been, the Word made flesh. The Word that is Jesus Christ Himself. He did not say to Peter, “I forgive you.” He simply forgave him by giving him Himself: “Do not be afraid.” The Word made flesh—Jesus Christ, the Son of God—is the Word of God that does not return to Him empty but accomplishes the purpose for which it is intended. That’s why Jesus doesn’t say, “I forgive you.” By saying, “Do not be afraid,” Jesus is speaking Himself into the heart and mind of Peter, delivering Himself into the life of Peter in which in that very act Peter is forgiven by his Lord, the darkness of sin banished by the presence and speaking of Christ.

There was nothing wrong with Peter working the night shift. That’s what he did. That was his calling, his vocation. That’s how he served his Lord, by serving his fellow man in catching fish so that others may eat. Everything was right about that. Peter worked hard. He worked hard to do his job well. What Jesus needed Peter to see is that without Him, that is, Jesus, all our toil is for naught. For this life it’s all well and good, maybe even great. But ultimately it leaves you standing before the Holy Lord of Creation with a sinking feeling that your best falls short and isn’t good enough, rationalize though you might. You are a sinful man and are done for.

What Jesus needed him to see is that the prayer of the man who stands before Him, instead of “Depart from me a sinner,” should be “Be merciful to me a sinner.” And you know who you stand before? The very same God. And you see that that very same God is the God of Jesus. The God of mercy. The God who brings about more abundant mercy and forgiveness than a multitude of sins. The God who breaks into the darkness of your life, your sin, your guilt, your fear, with the Day of His forgiveness.

Go from here in the joy that you are called by God to serve where you’re at. Whatever your vocation, you are serving the Lord Almighty. Don’t fear that you haven’t done enough. Be at peace in knowing that your Lord’s vocation was to become as you are, a man. To go into the heart of darkness and conquer there in the solitude of the cross the grip Satan has on creation, that your sinful flesh clings to. Jesus broke through the darkness of Good Friday with the Light of forgiveness and salvation. It was on Calvary that He accomplished a miracle that makes the catch of fish look like a child’s game.

It was at your Baptism that He called you to new life. He has come into your life to bring you from night to day. It is in His Holy Supper that He produces the miracle of giving His Body and Blood to you in bread and wine—a multitude of mercy to wipe out the myriad sins you have committed. You stand before Him in the light. His eternal word to you is Himself, His forgiveness of all of your sins. He brings you out of the darkness of your sin and guilt. He stands before you as your Lord, in mercy and peace. Amen.

SDG