Lent 4 Sermon

Lent 5 – John 6:1-15 – March 15^th, 2015

In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

          Lent can be a hard and rough time, an intense time in the Church.  I always get a little nervous writing Lenten sermons, because they deal so bluntly with sin and temptation.  But that’s what happens in Lent.  And I think that the intensity of Lent, the intensity of a focus on repentance can be a bit shocking to us today in America because we have forgotten that there is a cost of discipleship, that there is a weight and burden attached to being a Christian.  It shows up in the old hymns.  We sing in A Mighty Fortress - “And take they our life, goods, fame, child and wife”.  Jesus, Priceless Treasure cries out defiance against a sinful world that constantly hounds us.  These are hymns that are describing the burden, the true burden in this life of being a Christian, of turning your back upon the world. . . and letting the world kick you in the backside.  This is something that Christ though is blunt and honest about – we hear Him teach this, but somehow in America our mindset has gotten twisted.  We think that because we are Christians we should have things easier, that if we are good little Christian boys and girls that we should get more toys.  The stories from the middle East with ISIS shock us – when Christ told us such things would come.  Take up your cross and follow Me, not sit back in your BMW and follow Me.

          In America we’ve sort of lost the expectation that the Christian life is hard and difficult – and as such, Lent seems insanely burdensome – the concept of giving something seems strange – and as such, we don’t understand what Christ our Lord teaches in the Gospel today – Refreshment Sunday – the pink Sunday of Lent.  What we are going to do today is look at the feeding of the 5000, but in terms of burden and relief, in terms of trials in this life and being rescued.  It fits well, and it is something we need to hear, need to be rightly focused on.

          After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  And a large crowd was following Him, because they saw the signs that He was doing on the sick.  Jesus went up on the mountain and there He sat down with His disciples.  Now, the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.  Lifting up His eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward Him, Jesus said to Phillip, “Where are we to buy bread that these people may eat?”  Here is the familiar set up.  Jesus has been doing miracles, He has been preaching, and large crowds begin to follow Him.  And Jesus sees the crowds, and Jesus asks the disciples a simple question.  Where are we going to buy bread to feed these folks?  Now, consider this.  You’ve been walking all day, following after a person.  Jesus had gone onto the other side of the Sea of Galilee, so you may have gone many, many miles following Jesus, eager to hear Him, eager to see Him in action.  In a hot, dusty, rugged area.  All the day long.

          What would these people following Jesus here look like?  They would be a mess, they would be tired, they would be hungry.  There is a cost, a burden associated with these people following Jesus.  Their bodies are worn.  They’ve probably missed lunch, if not more meals than that.  The money they would have earned that day – never gotten by them.  They have made a sacrifice, their life is harder right now because they are in that crowd.  Things of this life, they gave up, simply to follow Christ.

Now, as we observed a few weeks ago, Jesus knows quite well what it is like to be out in the desert, tired and hungry.  And so we know that Christ will have compassion, that He will seek to alleviate their hunger.  However, that doesn’t mean that they weren’t hungry.  That doesn’t mean that there was no cost, no burden to the people.  It is rough following Christ.  Christ doesn’t make things easier, He doesn’t keep burdens away – rather this – He will refresh and strengthen these people, so that they can recover from this day, so that they can be prepared for the next. 

The same is true in your life.  Christ knows your life is hard, and He knows that the more you try to live as a Christian, the more you turn away from sin, the more you say no to the people of the world who want to do wickedness, the more you give of yourself so that others can have and rejoice – the more you do these Christ-like things the harder your life is.  And so Christ will refresh you.  He will bolster you on His Word, He will feed you on His Supper, He will encourage you, He will let you see joys in simple things, simple acts of compassion, joys that the world will never understand.  But still, we can ask the question.  Why the hard stuff in the first place?  If Jesus was gonna feed these people, why’d He let them follow Him out around a lake in the first place?  If God is going to give us peace and rest, why is there a burden in the first place?  This text gives us two reasons, which we will see shortly.

First, listen to what Jesus says to Phillip.  “Where are we going to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”  He said this to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Jesus knew what He was going to do – but here is the question.  Did the disciples know?  And the answer is no.  Phillip mutters that a mound of cash wouldn’t do much good.  Even Peter, top of the class Peter says, “Eh, a boy has five loaves and two fish, but that doesn’t amount to much.”  The disciples didn’t know, they didn’t understand.  If they didn’t know what Christ would do, how would they be able to be Christ-like, to do things like Christ?  One of the things that we forget is that the Christian life is often compared to training, to learning, to preparing for a race.  And that is hard.  If you want to be a better runner you don’t sit on the couch eating fritos – you must run and often.  If you want to be a better basketball player you don’t play XBOX or playstation, your Coach is going to send you through drills until you are worn out.  If you want to be a better reader, you can’t just read nothing but Clifford the Big Red Dog books, you have to pick up harder and more difficult books, learn words you hadn’t known before.  Learning math means you’ve got to do harder and harder homework.  Even in the things of this world, we grow in the face of struggle.

The same thing holds true in our lives as Christians.  If we are to grow to be like Christ, we have to be put in places, be given opportunities to do Christ-like things.  And that means difficulty.  That means showing love even to your enemies, that means praying even for those who persecute you, that means making the care of others your top priority, even if it means you don’t get everything you wanted.  Our Lord says in Luke that “a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”  Recognize the trials in your life for what they are – for they are not simply burdens, but they are opportunities which Christ gives you in order for you to grow, to grow in love, to know in knowledge and wisdom, to grow in understanding of Christ’s love for you.  In this world which is full of sin, we will always need growth in Christ, learning how to struggle against sin, and it will remain a struggle, that is the way things must be here.

Then we know what happens in the text.  Christ provides, and He provides abundantly.  12 baskets of leftovers are gathered.  Christ does provide us with all that we need, the difficulties are endured and conquered, and we rejoice and give thanks.  However, there is that verse at the end of the section that is also of note this morning.  Perceiving that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by Himself.  The people have just been fed, have just received this wonderful blessing from Christ – and what do they want to do?  They want to do the exact opposite of what Christ wants them to.  They want to make Him King, they want more and more blessings, let’s just focus on our bellies and the here and now.

Let me ask a question.  Do children who are provided every thing they wish, receive every whim that they desire grow in maturity – or do they become spoiled, miserable brats?  The same thing holds true spiritually. You know yourself.  If you never had any struggle, any toil, any difficulties, would you grow in your faith?  Would you learn to trust God more, or would you rather end up putting your trust in stuff, in blessings?  Would you want to see Jesus heal more sick people, show more love to others, or give you more and more stuff? 

Here is the wonder.  Christ provides for us – but he provides what is good for us, what is proper for us, blessings to sustain us, but not blessings to make us lazy and lethargic.  He acts in a way that is best for us.  Don’t you think that in the text it is best for the people that Jesus withdraws from them there?  He didn’t come ultimately to make them tasty bread, He came to win them life and salvation by going to the Cross.  But at the moment, the crowd doesn’t see that, they are just focused on their bellies.  Christ withdraws because His focus is right.  Same thing in our lives now – Christ doesn’t want you focused simply on the pleasures and stuff of this life, this world.  This life will never be the end-all be-all of your life, but rather you are being prepared and preserved for the joys of the life of the world to come – that’s the goal.  Christ will bless you, He will sustain you – but He isn’t going to spoil you and He isn’t make you lazy.  Rather this – He will sustain you and support you throughout your struggles, indeed He will join with you in your struggles so that you will conquer them in Him.

This is what we receive in the Word, this is what we receive in Christ’s Supper.  Forgiveness strengthens us for life, strengthens us so that we might go out and live.  We close this service with the benediction, so that our life in the world this week might be blessed.  This is God’s care for us.  And it is more than enough, more than we need, and it is given to us simply because He cares for us – but it is the right care, the good care, the proper amount of care, so that we are provided for and so that we also have opportunity to grow.  Christ refreshes us, and then He sustains us in our time here in this life, so that we might ever more understand His love for us.  In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

Lent 3 Sermon

Lent 3, March 8^th, 2015 – Luke 11:14-28

 In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

          In the face of an unpleasant truth, we like to make excuses.  That’s our sinful nature.  We mess up at work – and we can then tell you all sorts of reasons why it’s not our fault.  We upset a friend, and well, they just took things completely out of context and blew everything out of proportion.  The harsh and cruel words come out – and well, we were just having a bad day.  This or that just got to me.  So often, when we get caught with our hand in the proverbial cookie jar, we say “It’s not my fault.”  When confronted with an unpleasant truth, especially when confronted with our sin, we like to stop up our ears, we like to make excuses, we like to cast blame. And we’ve been doing it since Genesis 3 – it was the woman You gave me, it was the serpent’s fault. This, dear friends, is what happens again in our Gospel text today.  People make excuses, refuse to see what is actually going on – and Christ calls them on it.

          Now, [Jesus] was casting out a demon that was mute.  When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled.  As the text starts we see Christ going about His business – taking the battle to Satan, breaking down Satan’s kingdom bit by bit.  This is fantastic stuff.  Look, a demon, let’s take care of him.  This is a wondrous thing – this shows that it is God at work for our benefit, God come to rescue us from sin and death and damnation.  Surely, that is a joyous thing, surely all will rejoice over that!

          But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” while others, to test Him, kept seeking from Him a sign from heaven.  But some people don’t rejoice over this.  They make excuses.  Duh, no, He’s not sent by God – He’s casting out demons by demons!  Duh, no, He’s not from God, we’d need a sign from heaven to prove that. . . not just this.  Excuses.  Why?  Why these excuses, why these false and idiotic reasons not to believe?  Jesus calls them on their stupid arguments – But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.  And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?  For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they will be your judges.”  Jesus calls them to the carpet.  We all know Satan is powerful, that Satan isn’t dumb, that his kingdom is doing fine and wicked right now.  If he were divided, it would have crumbled of itself long ago.  Besides, it’s sort of dangerous to say that I’m casting out demon in the name of Satan, because your own sons are casting out demons in My Name – attack Jesus, you attack your own sons.  Quit holding onto the idiotic ideas. 

          But why are they there in the first place?  A key point to note – Jesus knew their thoughts – Jesus knew what they were thinking.  There was something that made Jesus doing these miracles leave a bad taste in their mouth.  And then Jesus hits the nail upon the head.  “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”  There it is.  There’s the problem.  Whose kingdom?  God’s Kingdom.  You see, there is no neutrality spiritually, there are no undecided – the people who checked off no religion on that big survey that came out this past week aren’t really undecided – “Whoever is not with Me is against Me.”  We are not morally neutral – we are either with Christ, or we are against Him.

          That says something, doesn’t it?  It says something about sin.  We like to slough off sin, we like to make excuses for sin, we like to pretend that it doesn’t matter much.  It does.  Sin is wicked and vile and gross.  Your sin is wicked and vile and gross.  It’s not just Hitler, it’s not just Stalin who were sinners – you are as well.  That is something that Christ comes and shows – because all sin is against the will of God, because all sin pleases Satan.  When you sin, you make Satan rejoice and cackle with glee.

          And this is where too often our defense mechanisms kick in.  How dare you say that about me!  Why, I’m a good person!  How dare you accuse my little angel of doing something!  How dare you say it is my fault!  We don’t like hearing that.  We are like the people of Jeremiah’s time, hearing the Law preached in it’s full bluntness, hearing that we are sinners who by our sin bring folly upon our own head, and all too often we don’t like that.  We fuss, we fight against it, we blame the messenger as it were, we cry out kill the preacher, we cry out “that’s just your interpretation”, we cry out “don’t be so negative, we just need to think happy thoughts.” 

          Know this for what it is.  This is your old, sinful nature kicking in.  This is the Old Adam, this is your flesh wanting it’s own way – which since the fall is actually Satan’s way.  And Christ knows this – He knows the truth that since the fall you, along with every other naturally born human, have been stuck in Satan’s kingdom, fast bound in Satan’s chains.  And we hear the Law, and we are terrified, so terrified we try to deny it and avoid it.  The Law means by rights we should be destroyed, that we should be cast out, cast down, just like Satan.  It means by nature we are on the wrong side and God would be within His rights to smite us, and so our old sinful nature wants to find any reason, however lousy it is, to duck and dodge Jesus.  But Jesus has something else in mind, because He is good and loving.  Listen – “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, He takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.”  Christ doesn’t come to smite you – He comes to smite Satan and claim you, you who were fast bound in Satan’s chains; He comes to take you back from Satan. 

          Don’t you realize that Satan with his temptations, with his urging you to sin, is just trying to keep you trapped?  Satan is trying to keep you bound to sin, wrapped up in petty thoughts and jealousies, wrapped up in doubt and fear and misery, wrapped up in trying to pretend you’re perfect when you know you are anything but.  That’s his kingdom, where the best you can hope for is a vain, smug, false self-righteousness.  But Christ our Lord is not content to let mankind linger there in Satan’s clutches.  Instead, He bursts in – for He is the Stronger Man, and He takes up the contest against Satan, and He defeats Satan.  And you, dear friends, are the prize He seeks, the treasure our Lord would fight to reclaim – and He finds you, dented and bruised and dirty as you are, for being kept in Satan’s kingdom is a harsh thing, and He washes you clean – claims you as His own – takes you and brings you unto His own house. 

          That is what your Baptism is.  It is where the struggle that Christ fought against Satan upon the cross is made real in your life – it is where it is applied to you – where you are washed clean.  And dear friends, the life of Repentance, Confessing your sins, is nothing else than saying, “There, at the font, in my Baptism, is where I live.  I am Baptized, I am one whom Christ has claimed and washed clean and forgiven.”  As part of the baptismal rite, we ask the person being baptized if they renounce Satan and all his works and all his ways.  What is confessing your sin but merely once again renouncing Satan and all his works and all his ways, even the works and ways that pop up again and again in your sinful flesh in this life?  Confession is a return to baptism – and we need to return to our Baptism, we need to remember what Christ gave us there all of our days.  Christ tells us why.

          When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, “I will return to my house from which I came.”  And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order.  Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there.  And the last state of the person is worse than the first.  The idea of “once saved, always saved” just isn’t Scriptural.  People can fall away – people can renounce their baptism – and then things are worse than before.  When we abandon our Baptism, when we refuse to repent, when that font is no longer the Truth of our life, of who we are – we open ourselves up to great shame and vice and wickedness.  We say, Satan, have your way with me.

          Therefore, we are to repent, to see that we continually strive to live out our lives as the Baptized.  That is why Christ calls us to the Supper.  The house in the passage was empty – but Christ calls you to the Supper and He fills you with His own Body and Blood so that you are full, so that you are never empty – so that you are always ready to resist the lure of Satan.  This is the reality of life on this earth.  If we are not with Christ, we are against Him – but see that He calls you unto Himself, He fought to claim you as His own, and He provides His Word to keep you as His own – that is why those who hear the Word of God and keep it, who remain in the Word and in the blessings of life and salvation and forgiveness that the Word gives are indeed well and truly blessed.

          Dear friends, turn away from the false excuses you would raise for yourself.  They are false, and they only give Satan joy.  Rather this, call out to God for mercy, cry out that you know your sin and need rescue, and our Gracious and Loving God will create a clean heart in you, He will renew a right Spirit with you.  He does not desire to cast you away, but our Lord’s delight is in casting out and thrusting down Satan, so that you belong to Christ alone, so that He can restore you and uphold you.  This is what Christ does – He defeats sin, including your sin.  Do not fear to face down your sin, for Christ faces it down with you, indeed, for you.  This is the promise He made you at your baptism – this is His promise to you for life.  In the Name of Christ the Crucified +  

Lent 2 Sermon

Lent 2 – March 1^st, 2015 – Matthew 15

In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

          Our Lord’s attack against Satan takes place on an interesting battle ground today.  It’s not in the wilderness, it’s not out in public.  It’s in here, inside of us, and I’m not talking about possession. Just prior to our Gospel lesson, our Lord had been teaching, and our Lord had pointed out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and their laws.  He says, “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.  These are what defile a person.”  What we say, what we speak, shows our hearts.  And quite often the human heart can be a dark, wicked place.  Quite often our own hearts can be dark and wicked, quite often we are in need of repentance. 

          As an example of this, in our Gospel lesson our Lord shows His disciples their need to repent.  The disciples know why our Lord has come – that He has come to fight evil, that He has come to heal, to cast out demons, to take the battle to Satan.  And they rejoice in this, they delight in this.  They are the people who are following the Messiah!  How wondrous!  How glorious!  What great people these disciples are!  And then, what happens?  And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”  Do you know how fantastic the words are that flow from this woman’s mouth?  First of all – she’s not from Israel – she’s a Canaanite woman.  And what did the children of Israel do when they entered the holy land?  Took land from the Canaanites.  Fought them, warred with them, killed them.  And so here you have this woman approach Someone who should be her enemy, someone whom her own people should despise – and what does she do?  She calls out for mercy.  I need Your help, Jesus.  And more than just calling out for mercy, she calls Him LORD.  You are God, Jesus, I recognize that You are the LORD, God Almighty.  It’s fantastic.  Yes, Jesus is the Son of God!  Well spoken, Canaanite woman!  But even one more.  She calls Jesus Son of David.  I know, Jesus, that You are the King of my enemies – that You are by rights King of the people who have warred with mine for 1500 years.  But still, I humble myself before you – have mercy on me, for my daughter is being attacked by a demon.  Do you hear how wondrous this is – such a beautiful confession of faith and trust in Christ?  Excellence and beauty flow forth from this woman’s heart.

          But then we hear this – “But He did not answer her a  word.”  Well, this seems odd.  Or maybe it doesn’t seem so odd – perhaps you’ve offered up a prayer to God, and it seemed as though He was silent, that His answer was a long time in coming.  But why is Jesus silent here?  Our Lord is silent here for the disciples sake.  Our Lord is going to test the disciples, see what they have learned, see if they have grown.  So our Lord is silent – He doesn’t speak to this woman yet – first He is going to let the disciples speak first.  Now, this can be a lesson to us as well.  Sometimes our Lord doesn’t answer our prayers on our timetable, sometimes His answers don’t come in sudden spectacular displays of might – and in these situations we must remember that everything isn’t about us.  There is a time and a place for God to answer us, and if He delays, we can be sure that it is for our good, and especially for the good of the neighbor – that God has plans for us and for the lives of our neighbors that we, stuck in the moment, cannot see, won’t see until later in hindsight, or maybe we will never see.  Whatever the case, we are simply to continue in prayer and in trust of God, placing all things in His Hands; because, that is what Christians do – they place things in God’s hands – let Him do what He knows to be best.

          And then the disciples speak.  And His disciples came and begged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”  Oops.  Well, that’s a big old F in the gradebook if I’ve ever seen one.  Here you have this woman, continually crying out to the Lord, continually praying to God for mercy.  And what are the disciples thinking?  They beg – did you hear that?  They beg Jesus to send her away.  Not to heal her, not to please tend to her needs quickly. Just . . . send her away.  She’s loud and annoying, just get her out of here.  Why such contempt?  Because that is what the typical Jewish man of that time had for Canaanite women.  The Jews then grumbled about Canaanite women the way folks here might grumble about people of a different skin tone, or poorer folk, or what have you.  They couldn’t be bothered with her. So let me ask the question – and again, I want you to consider this carefully.  Consider your own life – are there times when you sound like the Disciples here?  Where you disparage someone?  Where you treat another human being, created in the image and likeness of God, as though they were beneath you, as though they were not worth your time?  Where you really cannot be bothered by someone with the likes of them?  That is the wickedness of the heart that our Lord speaks of, and we ought to repent of it.

          And yet, did you note one other thing?  Even as the disciples tell Jesus to send the woman away – she is still crying.  She is persistent – she is faithful.  She knows where to go for mercy, and so she goes there.  And then, Jesus will use her as a teaching example to put the disciples to shame.  He answered her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”  He throws her race in her face.  This would be good training for the Disciples, for they too would be despised by many for their race.  But it does not stop this woman.  But she came and knelt before Him, saying, “Lord, help me.”  I’m not here because I am of a good race, I’m not here because I’m from the good family and I deserve it.  I’m here because I need help.  What faithful words!  So Jesus will use her as an example again.  And He answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  Jesus insults her – for the disciples would be insulted for the Name of Christ.  Calls her a female dog.  Says that she is lowly and despised.  But this doesn’t rattle the woman at all.  She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  You are right – there is nothing in me that is worthy, nothing!  And yet, I know, Jesus, that You will care for me – that this great love that You will show me is easy for You – that for You healing my daughter would be as easy as brushing table scraps onto the floor.

          And then our Lord says it – “O woman, great is your faith!”  There, disciples!  Do you see this?   This is the right answer, this is how you should behave!  Not prideful, not begging Me to send people in need away.  But in the face of hatred and scorn you too should be tenacious, you too should continually cry for mercy – and not only for yourselves, but for others!  This woman seeks compassion for her daughter, why did you not likewise seek compassion!  You showed forth wickedness – she showed forth faith.  And the woman was right – handling this demon would be as simple for Jesus as brushing crumbs off a table.  “Be it done for you as you desire.”  And her daughter was healed instantly.  The time was right and proper for her prayer to be answered, and so Christ acts, and the daughter is healed.

          So, what do we learn from this text this Lenten Sunday?  Namely this.  We know that our Lord comes to battle wickedness, that He comes to defeat Satan, to cast down the prince of this world.  What we need to remember, though, is that evil and wickedness isn’t just out there – too often it is here, in our own hearts.  We are sinful people – and even though we know better, even though we are like the disciples and follow Jesus and strive to learn from Him, too often we let the wickedness of our hearts control what we say, what we do.  It is not just Satan that our Lord needs to break – He needs to break the sin of our hearts daily.  And do you know how He does this?  Imagine a piece of glass cookware, or a glass mug that has been heated to where it is hot and inflamed.  What happens when you poor cold water upon it?  It breaks, it cracks, it shatters.  This is what our Lord did to your sinful heart at Baptism.  Your heart was enflamed, enraged with wickedness and sin, and our Lord took water and His Word and poured it upon you to break your wicked heart.  Listen again to the catechism.  “What does such baptizing with water indicate?  It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”  God breaks your sinfulness, makes you contrite – that’s what contrite means, it means broken – God breaks your desire to sin.  And why?  So that the New Man, so that Christ’s own love might shine forth through you.  And so friends, I encourage you, do not be afraid to hear the Word of God which points out your sin.  Yes, it hurts, but when that sin is shattered, Christ’s love appears all the more in you.  And our Lord does not leave you then – He does not discard you or leave you to fend for yourself.  The sins of your heart will not drive Him away from you – for indeed, He came down from heaven precisely to win you salvation from those sins.  Rather, He will always care for you – He takes you who by rights are no better than a mangy, flea bitten dog, and He washes you clean, takes you and makes you His brother, His sister, calls you to the His own table and says, “This is what is yours, what belongs to you.  Take and eat, this is My Body, take and drink, this is My Blood, for the forgiveness of your sins.”  No scraps for you, you get the feast!  Do you see now the shape of the Christian life – that we are washed clean in Baptism, that the Word is applied to us to break our sin, that the Word is given to us to give us life, that the Supper is given to us to forgive, to give strength – all so that the words that come from our mouths would be Words of faith and life – and this not only for our sake and for our salvation, but so that by the Word of faith and life that flows from our lips others might be made to receive this love of Christ Jesus as well.

          This is the faith that Christ has called you to – a faith where insults and scorn may come, but where you are focused upon Christ, where you call out to Him to show love to your neighbors who are suffering, and where you delight in all that He gives to you, for He is generous, and He is gracious, and He is merciful.  He has come to break the power of Satan and to win salvation, and by His Word, by His Baptism, by His Supper, He gives this all to you in your life, to Him alone be the glory.  In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

Lent 1 Sermon

Lent 1 – February 22^nd, 2015 – Matthew 4

In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

          It sounds really strange to say, but I love Lent.  No, this isn’t because I love fasting or self-denial or any of the things that we may end up doing in Lent.  I love what Lent is right there in that Lectern, what Lent is in this pulpit.  While so often we think of the season of Lent as the season of *our* repentance, *our* giving something up – something else takes the focus on Sunday mornings.  Lent is the season where Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior, takes the battle to Satan.  Throughout these next six weeks we will see Jesus systematically destroy and break Satan’s power and authority.  There’s a reason why a Mighty Fortress is the Hymn of the Day for the first Sunday in Lent – because what we see this whole season is “But for us fights the Valiant One, Whom God Himself elected.”  It’s why in a few weeks we’ll end the 5^th Sunday in Lent singing “Sing My Tongue the Glorious Battle.”  In Lent we see that war is declared, and battle come down, that as the head of the Serpent was prophesized to be crushed, so it is.

          And it begins in a desert.  “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.  And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.”  Given how little rain and snow we’ve gotten, we don’t like any mention of desert.  But for the Jewish folks, the desert, the wilderness beyond the Jordan – that was a place they hated, they feared.  That was the place they suffered for 40 years when they disobeyed God and Moses.  It was the reminder of the fall – The Garden in which God had put Adam and Eve was off yonder east – now become a desert with scorching heat and wild, feral beasts.  The wilderness was the place of sin and punishment and death.  The Wilderness was the emblem of all of Satan’s power – it was Satan’s domain.  And Jesus, in the previous verses, has just been Baptized, has just taken His place with us fallen men.  And so, there He goes – right away.  God sends His army of One off into the wilderness, the place where so many men and women had fallen dead, where even Moses died – off to do battle against Satan.  And Jesus fasts, and is weakened.

          “And the Tempter came and said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’”  Of course the Tempter comes – that is what Satan does.  He tempted Adam and Eve – of course he will tempt Christ Jesus, the New Adam.  And in the Garden, the temptation was to get Adam and Eve to try to usurp God’s place.  Eat this fruit and you will be “like God”.  Don’t be content to be God’s creation, don’t be content to receive blessings from God – take charge, take over!  And it worked then.  The Garden crumbled, the flood swept its remains away, and now – wilderness, and men and women who die.  And so Satan recycles – he whips out the same sort of temptation.  When Satan says, “if you are the Son of God” it’s not a statement of doubt that Jesus is the Son of God… it’s a statement of disbelief that Jesus would suffer so.  You are the Son of God, you can make bread, good grief, go feed yourself.  It would almost be like me seeing one of you standing hungry with a fridge full of food, “If you’ve got a fridge filled with T-bones and Barbecue, don’t stand there hungry, fix something.” 

          Fix yourself bread, Jesus.  Did you note the insult Satan throws there?  Adam and Eve weren’t created to eat bread.  They had all of the trees of the garden but one to eat.  No, bread comes after the fall.  Bread is the food that Adam will wrest from the ground after working the crops, that Eve will have to grind and mill and kneed and cook.  No more just plucking the low hanging fruit – now you’re going to work for your supper, for your bread.  Go on Jesus, since You’re taking your place with the sinners – satisfy Your stomach with the sinners’ food – turn this stone to bread. 

          “But He answered, ‘It is written – Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God.”  No, Satan, let’s get one thing straight.  I’m not here to serve Myself, to serve My Belly.  I am here to see that Man, that My Adam and My Eve and My Abraham and My Jacob and My Moses and all of My Saints live – and they will live because of Me, because I am the Word of God, come to fulfill that Word spoken to you in the Garden about your own defeat.  I am going to suffer and die, I will have my heel bruised – and you will be crushed, and they will live.

          So Satan changes tactics a bit.  “Then the Devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written – He will command His angels concerning you – and – On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”  Okay, Jesus – I get that you don’t want to eat bread from a stone.  Fine.  You’re the Messiah; I can accept that.  But if you’ve got it, flaunt it.  Why be revealed to just a bunch of poor miserable scum out by the river Jordan when You could hop right this roof, and everyone would see the Angels coming to rescue You, and You’d be lauded and welcomed and recognized for who You are.  There’s the temptation.  Think on how often the Scriptures describe the Messiah as the Suffering Servant, the One who is abused by His own people.  That’s now Jesus saves us – by going to the Cross, by His Suffering and Death.  And Satan is offering another path – and Jesus smacks Him down.  “Jesus said to him, ‘Again, it is written – You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”  No, I’m not here to make My Father or the angels jump through hoops.  If I wanted, I could summon forth legions of angels right now, even without jumping.  But I’m not, because the point isn’t getting My way, or making My life easy, it is to save My people.  That’s what My Father has commanded, and that’s what I’m going to do.

          And now, Satan begins to panic a bit.  This is strange.  Temptations given by the Tempter tend to work.  And so Satan acts in desperation.  “Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’”  Satan knows defeat is coming, knows that a foe he can’t beat is coming.  And so he tries to cut a deal.  Alright Jesus, you can destroy my kingdom, I can accept that.  Let’s deal.  I will let You have all this world, all these people – but just let it be on my terms, let me be the top dog – and You can do with them whatever You want.  It’s so much easier my way, and it basically gets You everything thing You want.  And Jesus will have none of it.  “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written – You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.”  And with those words something happens that had never, ever happened before in the history of mankind.  A man, a human being, of flesh and blood – stood up to every single one of Satan’s temptations.  Adam, Eve.  They didn’t.  Nor did Cain or Abraham or Moses or David or any of them.  Satan had always been able to get them to mess up, to dance to his own tune.  Whether it was anger or slipping wickedness in under the best of intentions or corrupting with power – something had always worked.  And now, there stands Christ Jesus, True God but also True Man – a Man Satan can’t lure into sin.  And then, Satan does the only thing he can.  He flees in terror.  It will be war, and Satan will regroup, he will marshal his demons, he will send his false prophets, he will stir up hatred.  He will fight.  But for us stands, unmoved, the Valiant One – Christ Jesus.  In our place.  For just as Adam and Eve and Abraham and Moses and all the others gave into temptation, so too do we.  We are frail, miserable sinners.  With might of ours could naught be done.  And so there stands Christ, in our place, fighting the battle we couldn’t.

          And so now, what does Christ do for us today?  He knows.  He knows how Satan still hounds you, He knows that the Serpent is bound and bruised – but still has his little season until the Last Day when he will finally be thrown into the lake of fire will all his demons.  So what does Christ do for you today?

          “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  Do you see?  This verse isn’t just a bit of pious chit chat – this verse describes the reality of this place, of the Church, of worship, of the Divine Service.  We don’t live just by bread alone, by our toils out there in the world, by the sweat of our brow.  No, to live, and live forever, we are gathered here, where Christ Jesus comes to us in His Word.  Indeed, here, at this altar where He takes bread, the reminder of our sin, and makes it to be His own Body, given for you, to take away your sin.  The food of our shame is become the very medicine of immortality.  Do you see?

          What does Christ do for you today?  “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”  Do you see?  We sin, we seek and crave glory, we put God to the test over and over – and so Christ Jesus calls us here to this place, to His House which will be a House of Prayer.  And He bids us pray “Lead us not into temptation.”  He knows our struggles, He knows what life is like out there in the world, with Sin and Satan bugging and tempting us all the time – and so He gathers us, and He has us pray.  We pray over and over in this service – Lord have mercy.  Hear our pray.  Lead us not into temptation.  Think on all the times in the Gospel where Jesus has the disciples pray – because He knows we need prayer, that we need God to strengthen us – so He gathers us and prays for us and prays with us; Indeed, He intercedes for us constantly before the Father.  They are not putting You to the test, Father – for they are Mine, and I am with them and forgiven them, and the Spirit intercedes for them with groanings too deep for words.  Do you see?

          What does Christ do for you today?  “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.’”  Do you see?  You are the baptized.  You belong to God, not to Satan.  In fact, every one of you has undergone an exorcism – that is what Baptism is.  In fact, in Luther’s baptismal rite, Luther has us spell it out – “Depart, o unclean spirit, and make way for the Holy Spirit.”  Be gone, Satan.  You no longer belong to Satan.  You no longer belong to sin.  You no longer belong to death.  They may pester you, they may hound you.  But you aren’t theirs.  You belong to Christ Jesus, and You will worship the Lord your God for all eternity, and you will serve Him alone for all eternity – for you belong to Christ.  He has died and risen for you, He has fought all the battles that need be fought for you, and even though you die, yet shall you live, Risen again unto life everlasting.  God make us ever to see and know this more and more, even unto everlasting life.  In the Name of Christ… +

Ash Wednesday Sermon

Ash Wednesday, 2015 – “The Lamb: A Faithful Offering” – Genesis 4:1-5

In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

          Our Lenten theme this year is “Behold the Lamb of God” – those words of John we sing every communion service.  But John wasn’t just making up a cute term, he wasn’t spinning out something new.  No, this idea, this theme of the Savior being the Lamb of God was old, as old as the Scriptures, as old as mankind, indeed, laid out before the foundations of the world.  And so this Lent, we will get to look at various times in the Old Testament that we began to behold the Lamb of God, and tonight we will start at the beginning.  Our text is going to really center around Cain and Abel’s various sacrifices, but I want to start just a touch before that – Genesis 3:21 – immediately after the fall:  “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”  I want you to think on this for just a few moments.  The fall has just happened.  God has confronted Adam and Eve – he’s warned Satan that he will be crushed, he’s told Adam and Eve the consequences of their sin.  Pain in childbirth.  Friction between husband and wife.  Toil and labor, and then finally, a return to the dust.  And immediately after God says this… God clothes Adam and Eve.  Remember, they were hiding in the garden because they knew that they were naked.  Being naked, seeing their nakedness, was the sign, the emblem, the proof of their sin.  The reminder of the fact that they deserved every thing that God said was coming to them.  And while they are still standing there with shame and fear and regret – God clothes them.

          But did you note how God clothed them?  He didn’t whip up a nice cotton, he didn’t summon forth a spiffy polyester blend.  “Garments of skin.”  God kills an animal, and with the death of that animal, He makes clothes for Adam and Eve, He covers their shame.  This is lesson number 1 for sacrifice, for worship, for how things are going to be now between man and God.  The response for sin will be sacrifice made by God, a sacrifice that will cover and clothe and eventually, remove man’s sin and shame.  But right away – this is how it works.  Sacrifice to cover sin, to let us go about our day to day life until the Promised One comes and defeats Satan and Sin and Death for good.

          And now we move into Genesis 4, to Adam and Eve’s children engaging in Sacrifice.  “In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, [4] and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, [5] but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.”  Often I will hear people try to make excuses for Cain.  Well, why should he have known that his sacrifice wouldn’t have been deemed good?  Because God had already taught mankind what Sacrifice was to look like – indeed, Sacrifice was a holy thing, because not only did it cover our sin, but it echoed and mirrored what God had done for Adam and Eve after the fall; it sounded forth and proclaimed what God would do when He would send Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  And what does Cain do?  He just doesn’t care.  He goes through the motions – here, take something, take this, it ought to be good enough.  Sort of lackadaisical.  Do you see what Cain with his sacrifice is declaring?  His indifference to his sacrifice proclaims his indifference to God – indifference to what God had done and what God would do in sending the Messiah.  And Cain knew better – to sacrifice, to worship, all this is to confess the faith in God, to confess that God is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  To confess the sure and certain hopes of the Messiah, forgiveness, resurrection of the body, the life of the world to come.  Meh – here, have some of the low quality stuff, have some of the lousy produce that we have to suffer with because *Your* world doesn’t work right anymore God and I have to work by the sweat of my brow.  Of course God will have no regard for Cain’s disdainful sacrifice.

          Not so with Abel.  Abel makes a sacrifice in faith that confesses his faith.  He doesn’t just bring something.  The firstborn, that’s what Abel brings.  The fat portions – that’s the Hebrew way of saying the best of the best.  He doesn’t break out the cheapest stew meat on sale, he breaks out the Grade A Prime.  Why?  Because that is what His Heavenly Father would give in sending Christ Jesus.  This lamb that Abel sacrificed was a confession of faith, it was Abel declaring that God would indeed be merciful to Abel by giving His own Son, His most precious, His best for our sake.  And this becomes the issue, this is what all the sacrifices, the offerings, the ways in which the tabernacle and temple were decorated and endowed pointed to.  It’s not that God was greedy or needed sacrifice, it wasn’t a matter of trying to placate Him.  Abel wasn’t buttering up God - but rather his offering confessed his faith.  Likewise, the care of the tabernacle and temple was a confession of faith – The Ark of the Covenant was covered in gold, and why?  You don’t put tinfoil on the Ark because the Mercy Seat of God ain’t a tinfoil chair.  You don’t give God junk, because the Messiah whom God gives to us, Christ Jesus, isn’t junk.  Our actions, our approach to worship and reverence ought to declare and reflect who God is and what He has done.

          This holds through even into the New Testament.  There is a great example of this in Acts 5 that is informative for us.  “But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, [2] and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. [3] But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? [4] While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."   It’s not that God *needed* the money.  No, there was freedom – God had given Ananias and Sapphira that land, they were the stewards of it, they could use it as they saw fit.  Sell it or keep it – they were free.  Give part to the Church or give all – they were free.  But the problem comes in when they claim to give it all (like others were doing), but only give a part.  Is that how God treats us – Did you really mean to declare that God doesn’t really fulfill His Word, that the Lamb of God doesn’t really take away all the sins of the world but just a part?  And they both end up dying.  Rather than pointing to the glory of God, they were indifferent.

          It holds true even to this day.  I love the lintel beams around our door there in the back – fantastic wood.  When they built this church, it didn’t have to be like that, the ceiling didn’t have to be this high – it could have been done on the cheap… but instead it was a confession of faith that this place was to be set apart to declare the riches of God’s grace and mercy in Christ Jesus, and you don’t cut corners there.  And it still holds true.  When we were still doing the after school program here, I’d every once in a while bring the kids in here for opening devotion – and the ones who hadn’t been here before – their eyes would get big.  The building confesses the faith.  In fact, Pastor Nehrenz from down in Norman – the other week when I talked to him, when he had done Larry Gilchrist’s burial, he got driven by here, driven by Trinity, and he saw from the outside the stained glass, and he wants to come up one of these days just to look around, to see inside these churches, to see the confession of the greatness of God and His mercy that they make.

          This is precisely what is going on with Cain and Abel and their sacrifices.  While Cain really could care less, Abel is declaring what God would do for Him and for all mankind – that is what Abel’s sacrifice, what His worship does.  It points to Christ Jesus and no where else.  And now here we are tonight.  And all that we do here in this place, from the beginning to the end, from the opening address to the ashes to the hymns to the readings to the sermon (hopefully) to the Supper to the benediction – all of this is a confession of our faith that God Himself gives us full and rich salvation in Christ Jesus; that God holds nothing back and that He has covered all our guilt and shame and sin in Christ.  And let’s be honest – the world tries to run us down and make us forget God’s great love for us in Christ Jesus.  Satan tempts us away from this.  Our own sinful flesh wars against us.  Which is why we are gathered here in repentance tonight, gathered in repentance whenever there is service here, and we receive from God his mercy and declare the riches of what Christ Jesus, the very Lamb of God, has done for us.  Because of Christ and His death upon the Cross, God is well pleased with you, God has great regard for You, for Christ Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and with His Sacrifice for you, God is well pleased.  Amen.  In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

What's the Real Focus of Lent?

So, now we are coming to Lent - so what is it's point, what is its purpose?  Is it about suffering?  Is it about self-denial?  Is it about making sure we hear the Word more often (yea midweek services!)?

I hear a lot of things about Lent, and most of the time I think they hit on tangential issues.  Here is what I would submit - our seasons in the Church have themes.  Advent is about Christ's coming.  Christmas is about the incarnation, that God becomes Man for us.  Epiphany is about Christ revealing that He is True God.

And Lent - Lent is about Jesus.  Lent is the season where we focus most clearly on Jesus taking the battle to Satan - Jesus fighting against sin and death and the Devil.

Think on the upcoming readings - His temptation, He heals, He casts out demons, He takes on false doctrine, He fights against hunger and hardship... and He dies.  This is all saying, "Look at Jesus take the battle to Satan."  This is, as Luther would have us sing, "But for us fights the valiant one."

Lent is the battle season - it is the Son of God going forth to war for you.  That's the real focus of Lent.

Weekly Meditation - Transfiguration

Greetings in the Name of Christ Jesus, our Lord!

The epistle reading for Transfiguration is 2 Peter 1:16-21, and this morning let's ponder verse 19a, which reads, "And we have something more sure; the prophetic word."

Peter had just been recounting his own experiences at the Transfiguration.  He was there - he saw Christ transfigured, he heard the voice of God echo from the clouds.  And you and I - we weren't there.  We have not (yet) see Christ shining forth in glory, we have not (yet) heard with our own ears the voice of the Father.  So then, does Peter get to hold this over our head?  Does Peter point to his experiences and talk about how much better he is than us because of them?

No.  And **WE** have something more sure.  No, even with his mountaintop experience, Peter stays with us, remains with us - and we, Peter and you and I, have something even more wondrous that seeing the transfiguration in person.  We have the prophetic Word, the Holy Scriptures.  And I would have you ponder this - Peter values the Scriptures more than he values his own personal experience.

So often today, even in the Church, we will get all this experiential language, all this encounter language.  Exciting programs will even be called "mountain top experiences" to echo the transfiguration.  I think we would do well to listen to Peter - because he is right.  Our faith is never going to be built or remain steady because of encounters or experiences -- but the Word of God, the Spirit breathed Word of God which points to Christ - that is how the Holy Spirit works and gives and builds faith.  As we confess in the Small Catechism, "I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel..."  It's not my own reason, or strength, or even my own experiences.  Rather, it is the Holy Spirit who builds faith, and this He does working through the Word.

This week - don't bother looking for some sort of mystical encounter.  Don't' judge your faith on the basis of what you experience - I hope you have a good week, but it could be lousy.  That doesn't change the fact that Christ Jesus has died for you and that you are forgiven.  Rather, above all, be in His Word, cling to the love and mercy that He has declared for you, for that is something more sure than anything we face in this life.

Have a blessed week.

Transfiguration Sermon

(Note:  In the 1 year series, which we follow here, normally Transfiguration is four Sundays prior to Ash Wednesday, not the Sunday prior.  However, with the way saints days fell this year, I elected to omit pre-lent and continue with Epiphany readings, as we hadn't had any normal Epiphany Sundays)

Transfiguration Sunday – February 15^th, 2015 -

In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

          We can be so busy.  It seems as though we always have something to do, somewhere to go, full calendars, schedules packed.  In fact, it seems as though work dominates our life, our identity.  When you meet someone, you generally get asked, “So, what do you do?”  We define ourselves by action.  Now, this isn’t a completely bad thing – work is good, being productive is good.  As Christians we are called to show love to our neighbor, and that means doing things for our neighbor.  We have been given the various vocations in our life by God – so indeed, going and working is a good thing… but what we must remember is that it is not the only thing, or even the most important thing.  Our life, our existence, when it boils down to it, isn’t defined by our work, by what we do.  We are defined by Christ Jesus and what He does, by the fact that we have been Baptized into His Name and redeemed by His Blood shed upon the Cross.  What truly shapes you and me is the fact that we are those who have received salvation from Christ through the gift of faith which He gave and worked in us through His Word.

          We can forget this.  And when I say “we”, I’m not talking about the crass person who just stops going to church, who even basically stops believing.  No, I am referring to us here today – we who would be diligent and sincere Christians, who would be faithful – we can let our desire for busyness overshadow the simple reception of God’s gifts that truly shapes and defines our lives and faith.  We get an example of this trap in our Gospel lesson.  “And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light.  And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with Him.”  This is what we call the transfiguration – where the figure, the appearance of Christ Jesus is transformed – where the Light of the World begins to shine forth with His own light.  What this is, dear friends, is a picture of the life of the world to come.  What are things going to be like for eternity?  Well, Christ Jesus, shining forth perfection from His own Body, and the people of God gathered around Him and His Word.  We see a picture of salvation, of eternal life – this is Jesus revealing Himself as God almighty, perfect and holy – the Savior whom Moses and Elijah and all the patriarchs and prophets foretold, the God whom they worship.  Really awesome and profound stuff.

          And Peter understands that this is a wondrous thing – “Lord, it is good that we are here.”  Great observation – it is good, it is a wondrous thing – to see the glory of the Lord be revealed – this is what every pious Jew in the world had been waiting to see.  Peter’s words here even inspire hymns – Tis good Lord to be here – great hymn!  But, there is a problem.  Peter doesn’t just stop there, Peter isn’t content simply to be there, to behold Christ in His glory, to listen to Jesus and Moses and Elijah chatting back and forth.  Nope, like so many of us, Peter starts worrying about getting to work.  “If You wish, I will make three tents here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”  Peter doesn’t want to just sit and listen, Peter wants to get to work.  And what Peter suggests is very reasonable – they were around Sukkoth – the festival of booths where the Children of Israel would basically go camp out in order to remember their time in the wilderness – so Peter asks a very reasonable thing – shall I fix up a couple of tents so Moses and Elijah can observe this festival with us?  There’s only one problem – by offering to work, by wanting to snap to it and get to work, what would Peter miss?  Oh, yeah Jesus, You are shining forth in glory, and Moses and Elijah are there with you… um, how about I go over there and pitch a few tents.  Jesus, Moses, Elijah… I could listen to their conversation… nah, I’ll go get some work done.  When Christ Jesus is talking, when Moses and the Prophets are there speaking to and about Christ, that’s not the time to go get the chores done!

          But the point here is not that Peter is lousy, but we are so much better. We’re just as bad.  Here we are, gathered together in Trinity/Zion, gathered around the Word of God, we heard from Exodus, written by Moses, we hear the Spirit Inspired words of Peter recorded for us in His epistle, we hear the Gospel of Christ Jesus – yet I’m willing to bet that every one of us has had our thoughts drift off this morning onto worrying about getting something or other done.  And this isn’t Pastor Brown picking on you either, I’ll catch myself at least a dozen times a service worrying about what comes next, do I have this or that set up; I’ll let you in on a secret – when I mess up what I’m supposed to say or read, it’s normally because I’m worried about something else to come in the service.  We can get so focused on doing stuff that simply coming here, being here, simply hearing the Word of God can be so hard for us.  Americans are a hyper-active people, we value hard work, that is what we train ourselves to do… and sadly, we don’t really train ourselves to be simple hearers of the Word, not as much. 

          Well, Peter doesn’t get to build his tents.  “He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.’”  The Father cuts Peter off.  It’s not about putting up a tent, Peter.  It’s not about what you are going to do for Jesus – it’s about Jesus and what He does for you.  Jesus is the One who pleases the Father by living the perfect life, by going to the Cross, by wining salvation for all mankind.  Likewise, dear friends, whenever we want the focus in Church to shift on to what we do, how wonderful we are – we need to pause and listen to Christ, listen to His Word, hear what He has to say to us.

          Now, hearing the voice of the Father utter freaks out the disciples.  “When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.”  And you would be too.  Why?  Because as much as we like to hide behind our works, as much as we like to tell ourselves that we are good people and focus on all the nice things we do… not all of our works are good.  In fact, when it boils down to it, none of them are, not really.  All are tainted with sin.  We are sinners through and through, and everything, even the nicest, most wonderful thing you’ve ever done – tainted with sin.  Not one of us is perfect, not one of us is righteous – Peter, James, and John know that.  And there is the voice of the Father, there is the presence of God Almighty – and sinners in the presence of God die.  Get blotted out.  Bad things.  And so they hit the deck – and you know what, if the voice of the Father suddenly thundered forth in here, we all would be hitting the deck too.  Sinners do not stand brashly in the presence of God almighty.

          We do not stand, but there is One who stands for us.  “But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and have no fear.’”  Beautiful, absolutely beautiful and profound.  Christ Jesus, True God and True Man, the One whom pleases the Father comes to you, and He touches you, He joins Himself to you in the Waters of Baptism, gives Himself to You in His Holy Supper and says to you, “Rise, have no fear.”  This is forgiveness talk.  This is last day, the trumpet of God sounding forth and the Lord calling us forth from our graves saying, “Rise, have no fear” sort of talk.  Of our own strength, we cannot stand before the Father… and so the Father says listen to Jesus.  And what does Jesus say, what do we hear our Lord proclaim to us – the same thing we always hear from Him whenever we stop running around like chickens with our heads cut off, worrying about getting this or that done.  We hear Christ say, “You are forgiven.  I have done it all for you, I have even faced down death, and I have risen.  Now, you too rise, you too live, you too have life everlasting that the world and death and sin cannot take away from you.”

          “And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.”  The Christian life isn’t defined by what you do, by what you give.  Do you do things – well, sure, of course, Christ Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, we’re gonna end up bearing good fruit.  When its time to work, let us strive to work well.  But that’s not the heart, that’s not the center, that’s not what defines you as a Christian.  Rather this – Christ Jesus comes to you through His Word, physically touches you in Baptism, in His Supper, calls you away from sin, away from vain delight in your own action, and fixes your eyes upon Himself, so that you might pause, that you might be still and know the Lord, Christ Jesus; that you might know and see that because of Him your sin is forgiven, that because of Him Hell and death are overthrown and have no more hold upon you, that because of Him and His righteousness you are rescued from Satan.  This is what He does to you in your life through His Word, this is what He   makes you to see and understand and remember once again whenever He pulls you away from the troubles and burdens and busyness of the world here in His Church.  And here He always speaks to you, for you are His beloved for whom He died and rose again – Your sin is forgiven, rise and have no fear.  In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

Proclamation vs. Education vs Motivation/Manipulation

Yesterday at our Circuit Greek study, we had a nice discussion about preaching, about what it is.  And one of the things we noted and lamented is how rarely people think of preaching in terms of proclamation.

Think on what the word "proclamation" actually means.  It means you are proclaiming - speaking out - a truth, a great and glorious truth (or even a sad and horrific truth).  It's V-E and V-J Day announcing the end of World War II, it's "The British are coming!"  To proclaim is to announce and declare what has happened.

And that's what the sermon is meant to do.  A sermon declares reality - all have sinned.  X is wrong.  Satan attacks you this way.  A sermon is to declare what Christ Jesus has done for you.  He has died for your sins, He has forgiven you, He comes to you in His Word, He has baptized you and made you an heir of salvation, He has defeated sin, death, and the Devil for you.  He comes to you today in His Supper and brings you life and salvation.  These are all declarations of REALITY - of what is true.  It is a proclamation of Law and Gospel.

Now, some folks will think of sermons as being primarily educational - that is providing information and explaining it.  And there is some of that in a sermon -- but any explanation is in a sermon designed to assist the proclamation of Law and Gospel - to help us understand the immediate, current proclamation.  But a sermon will never be a Bible Study, it will never have the depth, the back and forth, the exploration of tangents that a Bible Study will have.  Education is good -- but it's necessarily not declaring the Gospel, it's not giving people Christ Crucified.

And then there are those who think the sermon should be motivation.  You know, manipulation.  Where I speak to make you do X, Y, and Z.  We'll have pastor preach and make that guy in the pew next to me stop being such a jerk.  We'll have pastor preach and those other cheap folks will give more in the offering.  Manipulating people into engaging in certain behaviors.  The only problem is this may harp on the Law... but never gets to Jesus... at least not a Jesus Crucified and Risen for you.

I proclaim the Good News, the Gospel of Christ Jesus.  And that's what every sermon I preach needs to do if it is to rightly be called a sermon.