The Festival of the Reformation (observed)

(Audio)

Matthew 11:12-19; Romans 3:19-28; Revelation 14:6-7

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

In his vision, St. John saw an angel soaring through the heavens proclaiming an eternal Gospel. Think about that for a moment: an eternal Gospel; a Gospel that has no beginning and no end; indeed, a Gospel that exists before, after, and outside of time, creation, and men. It is this Gospel that God proclaimed to Adam and Eve and the serpent moments after their fall from grace, that the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. It is this Gospel that God proclaimed to Abraham promising him that he would have a son and an heir through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed. It was this Gospel that was re-confirmed to Isaac and Jacob and Moses, to David and Isaiah. It was this Gospel, proclaimed continually by the Prophets right up until St. John the Baptist, that prepared the way for the revealing of the fulfillment of that Gospel in the death and resurrection of the eternal Gospel made flesh, Jesus Christ – the lamb who was slain before the foundations of the world. An eternal Gospel that is to be proclaimed to all “those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.”

The eternal Gospel is the LORD’s work, proclaimed and offered to everyone without exception as a free and perfect gift, pure grace. But men stubbornly, sinfully, rebelliously refuse and reject it. The Gospel seems foolish to our perverted wisdom, weak and pitiful to our false conception of strength and glory. “It can’t be that easy.” “Surely it can’t be that universal and equitable; after all, some people are better than others, right?” And so, we try to change the Gospel to say what we want it to say: “You have to make a decision, to accept Jesus into your heart.” “You have to behave in a certain way, dress in a certain way, pray so many times a day, and never sin.” We twist and bend and misconstrue the Gospel. We pile human traditions and commandments upon the Gospel. We obscure it. We cover it up. We bury it. Or we so transform it that it is not the Gospel at all any longer.

That is what had happened leading up to the Reformation. No, it did not happen all of a sudden, culminating in the 16^thcentury, but it had been building over hundreds, even thousands of years. There had been many attempts at reform before Martin Luther. Some had been successful to a point, but most had ended in failure and martyrdom. And yet, since the Gospel is eternal, predating creation and humankind, it cannot and will not be buried forever, thanks and glory be to God alone. In His time and in His way, through the preaching and teaching of His Word, inspired and guided by His Holy Spirit, the LORD graciously and mercifully works His will and His way and accomplishes His purposes despite our best and worst efforts to obfuscate it.

The LORD gave His written Law, not that we might do it and live, but rather that our mouths would be stopped – that we would be forced to shut up – that the whole world would be held accountable to God. No one can be justified by obedience and works of the Law – that is not its purpose – but the purpose of he Law is to show our sin that we might despair of our justification and salvation and receive the eternal Gospel by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, whom God has put forward as the propitiation for our sins. Therefore, just as all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, so also are all justified by His grace as a gift through Jesus’ blood. Thus, the LORD is both just and the justifier of all who have faith in Jesus. There can be no boasting of works or merit, inheritance or bloodline, for the Law of the eternal Gospel is God’s work and gift alone, given freely, that can be received by grace through faith, or rejected in unbelief. There is no other option.

But the flesh hates this and always wants another way. Thus did our Lord compare this generation to fickle children who are never satisfied. Men rejected John the Baptist because he preached the Law, and they rejected Jesus who fulfilled the Law and proclaimed the Gospel. We want things our own way. We want to be our own gods and to justify ourselves.

Jesus said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” This ought to be a shocking statement! How can the kingdom of heaven suffer violence? And how could anyone think that they might take heaven by force? Yet is that not we attempt to do when refuse God’s gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation in Jesus Christ and attempt to justify ourselves in some other way? “No, God, I will not enter through the Way and Door you have provided, but I will enter on my own terms and in my own way.” That is what the man found at the King’s wedding banquet not wearing the provided wedding garment sought to do. He was bound hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and the gnashing of teeth. No, you cannot justify yourself, nor can you take or enter the kingdom of heaven in any way. But you must receive it as a gift, by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. This, once again, is the eternal Gospel proclaimed by the angel of Revelation, the same Gospel proclaimed by the prophets and John the Baptist and by the faithful preachers and undershepherds of the Reformation and by the same still today and tomorrow until the Lord returns.

Grace. Amazing grace. The sweetest sound to ring in the ears of those who rightly hear by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. This eternal Gospel, this amazing grace, was what the Reformation dusted off and set free from the chains of manmade traditions, misconstrual, commandments, and obfuscation. And the Reformation must continue ever that the eternal Gospel may continue to be proclaimed “to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.”

The eternal Gospel is this: “The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” Lord, keep us steadfast in this, Your Word, for it is life and salvation for all who will believe. My dear Lutheran Christians, you are the heirs of this amazing grace. But it is not a treasure to keep to yourself, but it is a beacon light of hope to all who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Therefore, you must strive always to hear this Gospel in its truth and purity and, receiving it daily in Word and Sacrament, live, breathe, and share it with all in your lives, words, and deeds to the glory of God. For, you are called to be angels, that is messengers of this amazing grace to all the world. However, you can only give to others of what you first have yourself. Therefore, come and be filled with the LORD’s grace: Word and water, body and blood, for the forgiveness of your sins, for life, and for everlasting salvation. You are blessed to be a blessing to the glory of God’s holy Name.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 22)

(Audio)

Matthew 18:21-35; Philippians 1:3-11; Malachi 6:6-8

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

“With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” The Prophet Micah gets it. The answer to all his rhetorical questions is an unequivocal “No! Nothing!” All that the LORD requires of you is that you do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. But what does this mean?

This means, don’t try to offer the LORD anything. It’s all already His anyway. Truly, it’s not even thanks and praise that pleases Him, but the thing that pleases the LORD is when you sacrifice of yourself and give to others on account of His sacrifice and love for you. Then you confess the LORD to be God and yourself to be the recipient of His gracious gifts. Then you confess that you fear, love, and trust the Giver of the gifts more than the gifts themselves, when you willingly and freely give them away. Likewise, don’t try to offer anything to the LORD for your sin. You don’t have enough to pay, even if you could, not even your body, soul, and life. Rather, let Him forgive you in His love, mercy, and grace, and then live with Him and walk humbly with Him, always aware that you don’t deserve it or merit it, but that you have your life because God is love and He loves you.

You see, it’s impossible for you to be shorted or cheated, particularly with the LORD’s spiritual gifts, but, truly, with anything at all. Everything is His: Your body and soul, eyes, ears, and all your members, your reason and all your senses; clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all that you have; everything that you need to support your body and life. And this is especially true with the LORD’s spiritual gifts: grace, mercy, love, peace, kindness, gentleness, charity, self-control, and forgiveness. These are the selfless gifts given to you by your selfless God for you to selflessly share and give away to others as you selflessly received them. When you give of these gifts you lose nothing at all, for you are giving of the LORD’s gifts that you yourself have freely received. More than that, you show mercy with the LORD’s mercy, grace with the LORD’s grace, love with the LORD’s love, and forgiveness with the LORD’s forgiveness. Moreover still, you have this promise: With the measure you use will it be measured back to you; a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, filled to overflowing will be poured into your lap. It’s grace upon grace without limit.

That’s what the servant in Jesus’ parable received. The master forgave him his enormous debt because he pitied him – period. The master had compassion on his servant and he released him, he forgave him. The servant was a debtor and had nothing to offer to the Master, just like you before the LORD, but the master had pity on him and showed him mercy, just as the LORD has done for you, and he forgave his servant who could not pay him back, just as the LORD forgives sinners like you who are indebted to Him with your life and your soul and have nothing with which to pay Him back for your trespasses – the LORD has pity for you, He loves you and He shows you mercy; more than that, He showers you with His grace and forgives you completely, even paying the debt you owe Himself, in the innocent shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.

However, the gifts that the LORD gives you are living gifts; they are gifts that literally give life, the LORD’s life. That means, the LORD’s gifts do not remain stagnant and lifeless, but they change you and they make you fruitful. When the LORD blesses you with His gifts of life, love, and forgiveness, you will not remain the same. As our Lord Jesus teaches, “I am the vine and you are the branches; remain in me, and I will remain in you, and you will bear much fruit.” That means that you must give of the LORD’s gifts, love with the LORD’s love, and forgive with the LORD’s forgiveness. Not “must” in the sense of works that merit forgiveness, but of works that are the fruit of forgiveness.

The forgiven servant in Jesus’ parable failed to produce the fruits of forgiveness. He took the gift of his master’s forgiveness, but he refused to forgive another who was indebted to himself. He received the seed, but the seed did not produce fruit. There was nothing wrong with the seed, the problem was the soil. The servant’s heart was hard; the soil of his heart was fruitless. The master was angry and he had his pitiless and merciless servant thrown in jail. Jesus concludes His parable with the warning, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Does that sound harsh? It is harsh. Jesus pulls no punches with the Law of God. He expects there to be fruit: Those who have been loved are expected to love. Those who have been given to are expected to give. Those who have been forgiven are expected to forgive. Remember, Jesus told this parable in response to Peter’s question, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him: As many as seven times?” Jesus means to teach you, “Don’t ask such a question.” You simply forgive because you are forgiven. You simply forgive with Jesus’ forgiveness. You bear the fruit of forgiveness because you are a branch connected to the True Vine, Jesus. Bearing fruit is not an option, neither is it something that has a limit. Moreover, you are never out anything, for the forgiveness you give to others is the LORD’s forgiveness. The same is true with anything that you give or show to another. If you are receiving, then you will be giving. This is what James means when he writes, “Faith without works is dead” and “Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” However, the works are always, and only, fruit. An apple tree produces apples because it is an apple tree. A grapevine produces grapes because it is a grapevine.

Still, you must resist the temptation – and that is precisely what it is, a temptation – to attempt to name and quantify your works or the works of another. One of our Synod’s theologians, Norman Nagel, has written: “Good works do not have a name, […]The moment we honor good works with a name, they are no longer good works, that is, they are no longer done in faith. They are no longer within and from the giving hands of the Lord. They are slipping towards becoming a basis for boasting and making demands.” All good works are the LORD’s, thus there is no place for boasting. All good works are the LORD’s, thus He alone, not you, or I, or anyone else, is the measure of the fruitfulness of His branches. “What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Nothing. There is nothing additional that the LORD requires of you through faith in Christ Jesus who has done all things well.

Thus, St. Paul exhorts you saying, “I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” St. Paul’s prayer for you is “that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

The LORD who created you to be fruitful and multiply has redeemed you and forgiven you that you may be fruitful once again, bearing His fruit of love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness, giving His life to others to the glory of His Name. He who has begun this good work in you in Holy Baptism and faith is, even now, bringing it to completion. You are a fruitful branch, and a work in progress. But, the harvest is coming, the day of Jesus Christ, when you will be complete in Him. Until then, you have the fruits of the True Vine Jesus Christ – His Word and Absolution, Baptism, and Supper – through which He fills you to overflowing with His gifts, that you may freely give to others without counting the cost. Go, and be fruitful.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 21)

(Audio)

John 4:46-54; Ephesians 6:10-17; Genesis 1:1 – 2:3

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

There’s a lot of talking going on in that first chapter of Genesis. There’s a lot of talking going on, but, there’s no people, it’s all God. And, yet, look at all the stuff that happens: The heavens and the earth are created. There is light. There are oceans, seas, and land. There are stars, the moon and the sun, and all the celestial bodies. And, then there are living things, first grass, plants, and trees, but, then, birds and fish, and, finally, land animals of all kinds --- all this from God, and from God alone, talking, speaking His creative and life-giving Word, bringing all things out of nothing. As St. John the Evangelist writes in the Prologue to His Gospel, “All things were made through [the Word], and without [the Word] was not anything made that was made.” All things were made through the Word of God, the Word that was with God in the beginning, the Word that was God and is God still.

It was that Word that became flesh and, in the person of Jesus, made His dwelling amongst us. So, God continued to talk, God continued to speak His creative and life-giving Word, and creation continued to happen, through the Words of Jesus, who is the Word of God become flesh. The people of Israel understood that God created all things out of nothing by His powerful and creative Word, but they did not understand that God’s creative and life-giving Word could possibly stand right there in their very midst to re-create His fallen creation. Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, was able to turn water into wine, to heal the sick, and to raise the dead by His Word alone, still the people demanded signs and wonders in order to believe. Sometimes Jesus granted them signs and wonders, but ultimately He invited them to believe that He was the Word of God incarnate, the glory of God and His Word of creation, present in their very midst. It’s still all God, and it’s still all by God’s Word. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

When Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out demons it was by the power of the Word of God. In all such cases it was God’s creative Word re-creating His creation ruined by sin and the temptations of the devil. Each and every case was a confrontation between the Word of Life and the powers of darkness. When Jesus Himself was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, Jesus drove away the devil by the Word of God alone. In His death on the cross, the Word of God, Jesus, was triumphant over the devil, destroying his power forever.

Your old evil foe is defeated, but still he tempts you, and often convinces you, to believe that this is not so. Each day of your life, therefore, you are under siege from his temptations. Yet, still, for you, now, the Word of God alone can drive away the devil. Thus, Paul instructs you to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Such armor is defensive, not offensive, for, it is not you who will be doing the fighting. Indeed, the fight is already over and the victory is won for God through Christ’s death and resurrection. But, you need protecting, still, from the temptations of the evil one; you need defensive armor. God supplies you that armor in Jesus Christ: He supplies you with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace as shoes for your feet, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation. These are defensive armor; they will protect you from the assaults of the devil if you trust in them. Indeed, the only offensive weapon that is given you is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. It is the Word alone that heals the sick, that raises the dead, that casts away demons, that drives off the devil.

So, it was not necessary that Jesus go to the official’s dying son, but for Him only to speak His Word. The official sought out Jesus because he believed Him to be a healer, otherwise he would not have come to Jesus. The official believed that Jesus could and would heal his dying son, but he wrongly believed that it was necessary for Jesus to be physically present. “Unless you see signs and wonders,” Jesus says to him, “you will not believe.”  Jesus was not sent to receive glory for Himself but to glorify His Father who sent Him by restoring His fallen creation and by redeeming men who He created in His own image.

There is a similar account in St. Matthew’s Gospel of a Roman centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant who was tortured with palsy. In that account, Jesus answers straightway “I will come and heal him.” But, the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof, but only speak Your Word and my servant will be healed.” Why is it that when the official asks Him to come to his son Jesus refuses to go their bodily, while, though not asked to come to the servant of the centurion, He offers to go there at once? Is it not to rebuke man’s sinful pride? Is it not to show that the ways of men are not the ways of God? Is it not to strengthen men’s faith in the Word of God alone and to demonstrate that the Word of God made flesh in Jesus is everywhere present as He fills all things? Is it not to show that faith that demands signs and wonders to believe is a little faith or no faith at all? The official came to Jesus seeking healing for his son; he went home that day with so much more, true, unshakable, unwavering faith. He who had faith to come needed a greater faith to go away, faith that believes without seeing, faith that finds peace in the Word of God alone.

“All things were made through [the Word], and without [the Word] was not anything made that was made.” Jesus is the Word of God made flesh and dwelling amongst. Forty days after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus ascended to the right hand of His Father in Heaven. In Christ’s Ascension, it was not that Jesus was taken away from His disciples and that He was no longer with them, but it was simply that they would no longer see Him in the same way. Indeed, during those forty days after His resurrection, Jesus willfully appeared and disappeared before the presence of His disciples, first at His empty tomb, then in the upper room behind closed doors, with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and with his disciples on the shores of the lake. Though He has now ascended to the right hand of the Father, in so doing He fills all things and is present everywhere as He promised, “I will be with you always, even unto the end of the age.”

So, the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, is with you, now, to forgive, to nourish and strengthen, and to feed you, His disciples, with His creative and life-giving Word and His precious body and holy blood that you may believe and have peace and live to the glory of His Father in His most Holy Spirit.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 20)

(Audio)

Matthew 22:1-14; Ephesians 5:15-21; Isaiah 55:1-9

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

“A theology of glory calls evil good and good evil. A theology of the cross calls the thing what it actually is.” Martin Luther penned those words in twenty-eight theses known as the Heidelberg Disputation in April of 1518. In many ways, the Heidelberg theses were more important for the reformation of the Church than were the ninety-five theses Luther nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg five months earlier. For, in the Heidelberg Disputation, Luther drew the Church back to the unchanging Truth of God’s Word, regardless of its making sense to human reason or whether men truly like what it says or not. The theologian of the cross believes and trusts in God’s Word no matter what, acknowledging that God’s thoughts are not man’s thoughts and that man’s ways are not God’s ways; for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God’s ways higher than man’s ways and His thoughts than man’s thoughts. In contrast, the theologian of glory often has great difficulty with God’s thoughts and ways. When God’s thoughts and ways seem foolish, backward, or simply wrong according to man’s reason and wisdom, the theologian of glory bends God’s Word to make it more comfortable, omits part of it to make it more doable, and reinterprets it to make it more acceptable. And, often, God’s Word is denied and rejected altogether in favor of man’s word to the effect that the theologian of glory calls God’s good thoughts, ways, Word, and deeds evil, while calling man’s evil thoughts, ways, Word, and deeds good.

David’s father Jesse considered it foolishness that his young and ruddy shepherd son could be the LORD’s anointed, so he didn’t even bother to bring him before Samuel for consideration. Yet, as strong son, after wise son, after mighty son, was passed over, the Holy Spirit fell upon the LORD’s chosen David, “for the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” The Prophet Isaiah prophesied of Jesus’ humble and unexpected appearance saying, “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” When Jesus began to preach and teach, the people were amazed saying, “Is this not the carpenter’s son from backwater Nazareth?” Because He did not meet the expectations of what men consider powerful, great, virtuous, and valuable, most rejected Jesus and refused to listen to Him and trust in Him. The Pharisees and scribes and the leaders of Israel even called Jesus’ preaching, teaching, and works blasphemy and the work of Beelzebub, the devil – for, a theologian of glory calls evil good and good evil.

Truly, God has chosen what is foolish in this world to shame the wise; God has chosen what is weak in this world to shame the strong; God has chosen what is low and despised in this world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are. Look at yourselves! Take a look around at your brothers and sisters in Christ sitting next to you and all around you. Any one-percenters out there? Any of you live in a mansion, made the Forbes 500, drive a Maserati, eat steak and lobster and drink the finest wines every night? No, I didn’t think so. Most of you aren’t truly poor, but few of you are truly rich; and none of you are truly famous, so far as I know. The best of you, by worldly standards, are likely considered quite average and unremarkable to your fellow man. Under the theology of the cross, that’s actually a great blessing. You see, maybe they don’t call you evil, but they certainly don’t think much of you, do they? They look at you and yawn; nothing to see here, move along. In Jesus’ day they would have “wagged their heads.” But not your God; not your heavenly Father. When He looks at you, He beams with joy and godly pride. When God your Father looks at you He sees someone rich in spirit, exalted in their meekness and humility, satisfied in righteousness, rich in mercy, and pure in heart; that is to say, when God your Father looks at you He sees His Son Jesus, into whom you have been baptized, purified, cleansed, forgiven, and restored to a right relationship with your heavenly Father, God, and LORD.

Truly, one of the most difficult things for the theologian of glory to understand – indeed, they cannot understand it, for their eyes and their mind are blinded to this Truth – is that we are all poor and helpless, that we are all dead in our trespasses and sin and cannot believe in Jesus Christ or make any movement towards Him. The theologian of glory cannot, will not believe this Truth. To him it seems supreme foolishness and is a detestable and evil thought. Believing themselves to be rich in knowledge and wisdom and righteousness, the theologian of glory rejects the invitation to come to the waters having no money, to come buy and eat wine and milk without money and without price. “I am not poor!” they insist. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch!” “I will not be indebted to anyone.” And so, they reject the free gift of God – which is the only way – and put their trust in their own righteousness, which is no righteousness at all but filthy rags. Like the invitees to the King’s wedding banquet for his son, they refuse to come, they reject the King’s gracious invitation. When the King, in supreme patience and mercy, sends His servants to call them a second time, they react violently in anger, treating the King’s servants badly and murdering some. The theologian of glory, while feigning to praise God, truly despises and hates Him for continually exposing his sins, unrighteousness, and inability to help himself in His unchanging Word proclaimed by His servants whom He has sent to call them to repentance and faith.

Still, the LORD’s kingdom will be full. The invitation goes out to all, both the bad and the good, “Come.” The feast is prepared. Everything is ready. There is nothing to do. It is finished. “Come.” Even the wedding garment is provided, the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covers all your sins. Yes! Even that is provided you! In Jesus’ parable, there is one man in the King’s wedding hall found not wearing the provided wedding garment. Though he responded to the invitation, this theologian of glory refused to put on the provided wedding garment; he refused to be covered in Christ’s righteousness, and so he remained naked and exposed in his sin and guilt before the LORD. Undoubtedly, he did not think of himself as sinful and guilty; indeed, he called his evil sin good and the LORD’s good gift evil. The King had His servants bind him hand and foot and cast him out into the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth: weeping, because of the now undeniable, irrevocable, and eternal judgment; gnashing of teeth because of hatred of God’s righteousness and justice. Lord Jesus, send us Your Holy Spirit and change our hearts and renew our minds that we see with new eyes the truth of our sinful condition and the truth of your gracious forgiveness. Make us to be theologians of the cross who call a thing what it is, what You say it is in Your Word. Amen.

Another attribute of being a theologian of the cross is being prepared for the Lord’s coming in judgment at any time. In this regard St. Paul exhorts you in today’s Epistle to “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” You are blessed by the Holy Spirit through God’s Word and Holy Baptism to be able to see things are they truly are, not calling evil good and good evil. Therefore, you do not put your trust in material wealth and possessions, and you do not permit yourself to be ruled by your fleshly passions and desires, but you receive all things as gifts from the LORD and use them for His glory. Likewise, your attitude towards your fellow man, particularly those of the family of faith, is one of mutual submission and love out of reverence for Christ, as we address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with our hearts, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And now, everything is ready. The feast is prepared. Come to the wedding feast of the Lamb in His kingdom that has no end. Come, eat and drink without money and without price. God has chosen these lowly things – Word, water, bread, and wine – to call, clothe, feed, keep, equip, and send you bearing His grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness to others to the glory of His Name.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (observed)

(Audio)

Matthew 18:1-11; Revelation 12:7-12; Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

“Now there was war in heaven.” Now, there’s a remarkable statement! Do we not typically think of heaven as a serene and peaceful place? And, of course, this statement evokes the question, “When did this war happen?” Well, there is a clear answer to that question if we only consider the passages immediately preceding today’s Epistle: 

“And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.”

The woman is the Church of all time and all places, the spiritual Mother of all Christians. The child is the LORD’s Anointed, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, conceived and born of woman for the redemption of humankind. And the dragon? Well, that is clear enough. He is the devil, Satan, the old evil foe who means us deadly woe. His desire was to destroy the Christ child. But, since he could not do that, he pursues the Church, and he pours out his furious rage against Her. Thus, when did the war in heaven occur? It occurred in conjunction with Jesus’ death on the cross and His subsequent resurrection. That was the moment the promised Seed of the Woman crushed the serpent’s head. In Jesus’ death, Satan’s power was destroyed and he and his fallen angels, his demons, were thrown out of heaven by St. Michael and his holy angelic army. St. Michael was simply the enforcer of the judgment upon Satan that occurred when Jesus died and was raised: Satan is guilty and can no longer accuse mankind before God’s presence.

But, woe to the earth and to the sea! For the devil has come down in great wrath, knowing that his time is short. Satan knows that he has been defeated, but in his hatred for God and in his hatred for you, Christ’s Church, whom God loves so dearly that He gave His only Son as a sacrifice to make you holy, through lies and deceptions Satan strives furiously and ceaselessly to lead you away from faith in Christ and life and salvation. Satan knows that he only has a little time before Christ returns and will send him and his demons to hell forever, therefore he is always on the prowl like a roaring lion seeking to devour its prey. Though he is defeated, Satan is still dangerous. In some ways he is more dangerous than ever. As a wounded or rabid beast is more dangerous than a healthy one, so is Satan even more dangerous because of his wrath and fury and hatred, knowing that he has nothing left to lose. Moreover, in a culture like ours today, he doesn’t even have to hide or work in stealth, for we have embraced godless wickedness and labeled it freedom, rights, and tolerance. Thus, has it often been said, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince us that he doesn’t exist.”

But that is a terrible and deadly mistake. It is in vogue today to dismiss traditional Christianity as unenlightened, superstitious, intolerant, bigoted, and worse. Many people like to think that they can dismiss both Christ and the devil and just live their lives, live and let live, and be a good person. They are dead wrong, and if they do not repent and receive the free gift of forgiveness through faith and trust in Christ Jesus, they will join the devil in hell when Christ returns on the Last Day. There is no neutral ground, no gray area, and no fence straddling: You either belong to God in Christ Jesus, or you belong to the devil. Satan could care less if you acknowledge him, believe in him, or worship him; all he wants is for you to not put your trust in Jesus – then you are his and you are lost. The aftermath of the war continues, even though Satan has been defeated, and countless many, tragically, will become the casualties of a war that has already been won.

But not you baptized into Christ. In Holy Baptism you were literally snatched out of the lion’s jaws and back into your heavenly Father’s arms. Moreover, Jesus says that God’s holy angels watch over and protect His little ones who believe in Him, just as Gabriel was watching over Daniel. Yes, there are guardian angels! Whether or not each of us is assigned one specific angel, I do not know, but the Scriptures clearly teach that God’s holy angels watch over us, defend and protect us. Thus does Martin Luther teach us to pray in the morning and evening, “Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me.” However, the LORD’s holy angels are no Precious Moments or Willow House figurines, but they are fierce and mighty warriors deserving of respect and honor and reverent fear, for they are the LORD’s servants, and they always see the face of God. That is why every mortal who beheld an angel in the Scriptures trembled with fear and expected only to die. Truly, we mock God and treat Him with contempt when we trivialize His holy servants.

The war is over. The victory is won. Jesus lives! But, our defeated enemy, in supreme hatred, is still trying to take down as many souls as he possibly can. You must never let down your guard! Jesus’ victory has been given to you in Holy Baptism, but the new life you received that day must be fed, nourished, clothed, and protected, for Satan is even now seeking to steal you back. Therefore, understand this: More than offering praise and thanksgiving to God, the reason you come to the Divine Service every week is to be served by God – to have your sins forgiven anew, to be fed and nourished by His Holy Word, to be strengthened in faith, and to be equipped with the armor of God that you may withstand the assaults of the evil one as you fulfill your vocations in loving service of your neighbor, through which you serve and glorify God in Jesus Christ. This church is not a memorial for saints, but a hospital for sinners. This church is no holy club, but it is a spiritual triage and bootcamp. There must be no confusion whatsoever that Christ is present here with His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. Anything that obscures that Truth must be removed. Things that support that Truth and cause it to shine forth more clearly should be practiced.

Each and every Sunday Divine Service is an opportunity to return to God in repentance and renew your Baptismal purity and vows. When you confess your sins and receive the Lord’s Absolution, Satan has been exorcised from you once again. “Do you renounce the devil?” “Yes, I renounce him.” “Do you renounce all his works?” Yes, I renounce them.” “Do you renounce all his ways?” “Yes, I renounce them.” “Be gone thou unclean spirit, and make way for the Holy Spirit. In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” Then the Lord feeds you and strengthens and equips you with His Word. Then He invites you to commune with Him as His holy and pure Bride, His flesh and blood united with yours, His righteousness, innocence, holiness, and Sonship with the Father shared with you as you join your voices with His holy angels and all the saints that have gone before us in the faith singing praise to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the song of heaven that never ends. My brothers and sisters in Christ: This is what it means to be a Christian – to receive His gifts and to share in His life, and then to share that life with others to the glory of His Name. Humble yourselves before the LORD and before your fellow man and keep yourself strong by receiving His gifts. Do not fear the devil, but do not become lukewarm, comfortable, and complacent. The LORD commands His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. Trusting in Him, they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone.

In the Name of our victorious Lord and Savior + Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

(Audio)

Matthew 9:9-13; Ephesians 4:7-16; Ezekiel 2:8 – 3:11

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew was a tax collector. We all know that. So what? Well, a lot! That Matthew was a tax collector is to say that he was the worst of the worst in first century Jewish culture. Why were tax collectors so bad and so despised and hated by the people? Because they were Jews who collected taxes from their Jewish brothers, sisters, and neighbors for the hated, occupying, imperialistic Romans, that’s why! And, more than that, tax collectors notoriously over-collected and kept the extra for themselves. Today we call that extortion! So, tax collectors were living high-on-the-hog at the expense of their countrymen. They were hated and they were despised and, I suspect you would agree that they earned the reputation they had, and for good reason!

So, why did Jesus choose and call Matthew to be a disciple. Well, truly only the Lord knows! But, we could ask the same question concerning any of the disciples, even the prophets and the patriarchs. Why did Jesus call Peter? Why did God call Isaiah, Elijah, Moses, or Abraham? Why has Jesus called you? To be sure, there was nothing in Matthew that men would account as virtuous or meritorious. Surely even Matthew would confess the same. But, that’s precisely the point Jesus was making. After all, who was looking on when Jesus called Matthew but the self-righteous Pharisees? I can almost imagine our Lord scanning the crowd looking for just the right soul to make the Pharisees squirm and stumble. “Ah! The tax collector! Matthew, come hear my son! Follow me!” And, Matthew got up immediately at the Word of Jesus and followed Him. Then Jesus went with Matthew to his home and He ate a meal with him. And, who was there at Matthew’s house but many other tax collectors and sinners. Well, the Pharisees got the message, and they were furious. They asked Jesus’ disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And, hearing of this, Jesus made His point more clearly saying, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”

And, so, the answer to the question, “Why Matthew?” is the same as to the questions, “Why Isaiah? Why Elijah? Why Moses and Abraham? Why you?” Jesus means to make the point that tax collectors and sinners are no different than prophets and patriarchs or even you. And Jesus means to make the point to the Pharisees that they also are sin-sick unto death and need the healing of the Great Physician – forgiveness. But, since they will not admit and confess that they are sick, that they are sinners in need of forgiveness, they will not receive healing forgiveness, because they will not receive the Great Physician – they will not receive Jesus.

Matthew held no belief that he had any worth, value, or merit to Jesus. He knew his sinful shortcomings all too well. Indeed, they were on display in the public square for all the world to see. Thus, when the Great Physician called him saying, “Follow me!” Matthew gladly left all that behind. Moreover, Matthew himself had to be stunned, as were the Pharisees, when Jesus came to his own home to dine with him. There, in the midst of Mathew’s sin-filled life, his sin-filled home, filled with his sin-filled friends, Jesus comes to forgive and heal. In fact, Jesus’ dining with the tax collectors and sinners was a demonstration of their justification, that Jesus had made them right with God again. Jesus forgave them and made them clean. Only the unclean can be made clean. Only sinners can be forgiven. Only the sick can be healed. Only the dead can be raised. The truth is that we are all sin-sick unto death – every last Pharisee of us all! – but Jesus has come to heal and to forgive us, and He gives us the meal of His body and blood as a sign of our justification and restoration, and even more, He communes with us, His Bride, flesh and blood in a one-flesh union.

Matthew was empty. He was empty of Himself. Therefore, the Lord saw fit to fill him with His Spirit, His Word, His mercy and His grace. “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” In the same way the LORD said to Ezekiel, “Open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Then the LORD gave Ezekiel a scroll of a book and commanded him to eat it and then go and speak to the house of Israel. The Word that was given to Ezekiel was a Word of lamentation and mourning and woe, for it was a Word of Law against the hard foreheads and the stubborn hearts of Israel. Still, this Word was sweet in Ezekiel’s mouth, for the Law of God, just as the Gospel, is sweet and good and righteous and true. But the LORD promised to equip Ezekiel for this work. The LORD said, “Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks.” And, the Lord likewise equipped Matthew and all the Apostles; and so does He equip His pastors and preachers today. And so does He equip you who “trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”

Matthew, who had nothing, received everything from the Lord. He was given the Word of the Lord to proclaim in His Gospel which tells the coming of the true King of Israel, and of heaven and earth, who rules in grace, mercy, and righteousness, forgiving the sins of the repentant and terrified and healing their sin-sickness unto death and its ravaging effects upon humanity and all creation. Of King Jesus, the Psalmist writes, “When He ascended on high He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” King Jesus descended from the throne of God to the earth, humbling Himself to be born of a virgin. He was obedient even unto death upon the cross. Being well pleased with His Son, God the Father raised Him from the dead and gave Him the Name that is above every Name – a Name to which every knee must necessarily bow and every tongue confess as Lord and King to the glory of God the Father. Having ascended back to the Father, the first fruits of all who will be raised in Him, He has sent forth His Spirit to equip the saints “for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” He has given His Church “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers” to proclaim the Word of the LORD in its truth and purity and to faithfully administer the Sacraments our Lord instituted for the benefit of His people until He returns. This Word He gives to you that you may not be “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, and by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” This Word He gives to you that you may speak the truth in love and so build up the whole body of Christ in love.

The same love Christ showed to Matthew and the other tax collectors and sinners, to prostitutes, lepers, and the unclean, He shows to you again, and again, and again that you may know His love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and peace and share it and show it with those who have not known and who have not heard. “Follow me,” your Lord Jesus says to you. Even now He is present to recline at table with you. Only tax collectors and sinners, liars and cheats, and those who struggle with anger, the unforgiving and the unmerciful, the lustful and the adulterous, the slothful and the gluttonous, and those who are sick need come. This feast is for you. It is the medicine of immortality for your soul, even the Great Physician of body and soul Himself. Our Lord, who is mercy and sacrifice, desires mercy and not sacrifice from you. This means, He does not desire your ritual obedience, but the LORD desires that you show and share His mercy to others. Jesus “came not to call the righteous,” thanks be to God, “but sinners.” Jesus has come to call Matthew, Isaiah, Elijah, Moses, Abraham, and even you. “Follow me,” Jesus says, “And I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Assassination of Charlie Kirk: Murdered for Speaking the Truth

I wrote this article for my scheduled submission to the local newspaper. They refused to run it saying: "we have decided that this topic is too volatile for us to run now."

 

Waverly Democrat – July 18, 2025: “Pastor’s Pen” Submission

 

The Assassination of Charlie Kirk: Murdered for Speaking the Truth

The assassination of Charlie Kirk marks a turning point in our nation. Charlie held traditional, conservative, Christian values and was remarkably effective in communicating them—persuading many, especially young college students, to examine and even change their beliefs. He was winning converts from radical leftist indoctrination. Many believe this is precisely why he was targeted.

Tragically, and unsurprisingly, many on the far left are celebrating Kirk’s murder. This reveals a sickness deeper than politics. It is hateful, evil, even demonic. And in a twisted irony, those who cheer his death accuse Kirk and his supporters of the very hatred they themselves display. They insist that traditional Christian teaching is itself hateful. They are patently wrong.

To understand why Kirk was targeted, one must understand what he believed. He confessed the timeless truths of Scripture: that God created the universe, the earth, and humankind in two distinct and complementary sexes, male and female; that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, blessed by God to be fruitful and multiply; that every human life is sacred, a gift of God made in His image. He believed that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became man, died for all, and rose again to reconcile humanity to God. Kirk believed this good news must be proclaimed to all and that Christians are called to love one another without affirming practices contrary to God’s will. These convictions are not hateful. They are historic, orthodox, biblical Christianity—once embraced by the vast majority of Americans.

Kirk’s political views were inseparable from his faith. He ordered his world in this way: God, Family, Nation. He believed government exists chiefly to protect the other two estates—the church and the family—by guarding borders, upholding law, and defending life, liberty, and property. Government is the servant of the family, not the other way around.

He championed freedom: free markets, free speech, freedom of religion, the right to own property, the right to bear arms. He emphasized individual responsibility and believed Western civilization has produced unparalleled human flourishing. He opposed globalism, identity politics, and every form of Marxism. None of this was hate speech—though some hated it.

On college campuses, Kirk welcomed debate. He invited those who disagreed to make their case. He listened, responded with truth, and often did so respectfully and compassionately. Sometimes he persuaded; sometimes he faced hostility. But never did he engage in hate speech. He simply spoke words that some could not bear to hear.

And for that, he was silenced. Not by argument, not by persuasion, but by violence. Charlie Kirk was assassinated because his opponents could not defeat him in the public square. They had to kill him there instead.

But in death, as in life, Charlie Kirk speaks still. His voice echoes louder now, calling America to remember that truth is not hate, and that silencing truth by violence is the surest sign of its power.

Rev. Jon M. Ellingworth, Pastor
St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church – Waverly, IA

The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 13)

(Audio)

Luke 10:23-37; Galatians 3:15-22; 2 Chronicles 28:8-15

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Three weeks ago, a young woman was murdered on a commuter train in Charlotte, NC. The attacker stabbed her three times in the neck and exited the train. There were witnesses, no fewer than five, right there on the train sitting next to her. Each of them saw what happened. Each of them saw the attacker flee. Each of them saw the poor young woman in distress, dying, and they did nothing. They did absolutely nothing. One by one they exited the train and left the young woman to die alone on the floor in a pool of her own blood. Her name was Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who was simply going home from work. She didn’t speak to anyone; she didn’t make eye contact with anyone; she didn’t confront anyone in any way, and yet she was senselessly and violently murdered for reasons, or for no reason, God only knows. I don’t know much about her other than that, but that’s enough. I don’t know what her religion was, if she even had one. I don’t know if she was conservative or liberal, and I don’t care, it doesn’t matter. And notice, I haven’t said anything about the murderer or those witnesses who did absolutely nothing. I’ve said nothing about their race, their nationality, their political affiliation, their religious beliefs, or anything else, because I don’t know, I don’t care, and it doesn’t matter. But I can’t help seeing the similarity between the murder of Iryna Zarutska and the man in our Gospel lesson today, “who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.” There were two men who walked by who could have helped him, but they didn’t. And there was another man who walked by who did help. Why did they not help? Why did the other help? Let’s talk about that.

First, why did Jesus tell this story? Well, a law student, that is a student of the Mosaic law, asked Jesus a question seeking to entrap him: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The question exposes the fallacy in Jewish thinking concerning the law in the first century: You can’t do anything to inherit, and particularly, eternal life cannot be gained by works but it must be received as a gift of God’s grace through faith. But, since the lawyer asked a law question, Jesus directed him to the law: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” That was the correct answer. After all, he was a lawyer, and the Mosaic law doesn’t get more fundamental than that. “Do this, and you will live,” Jesus answered. And now the lawyer had a problem, for he didn’t keep the law perfectly, and he knew it, and that made him feel uncomfortable. So, he thought to himself, if I can make the law more do-able, then I’ll be able to justify myself. He was more concerned with justifying himself than with loving his neighbor. “And who is my neighbor?” he asked Jesus. He wrongly thought that if he could somehow pare down the number of people he had to love then he’d do pretty good. In response, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, forcing the lawyer to answer his own question, “Who is my neighbor?” Everyone placed before you to extend God’s love to.

The priest came to where the man was. He saw the man, and he passed on by. He was more concerned with his obedience to the letter of the law (as opposed to the spirit of the law), ability to perform his duties at the temple, and his reputation than he was about the dying man who was before him. “After all, he might be a Samaritan. There might be blood. He might be dead. Then I would be unclean. I can’t take the risk.” These reasons are rooted in race, religion, self-interest, and general apathy, likely some of the reasons the other passengers and witnesses on the train failed to act when Iryana Zarutska was murdered. Similarly, the Levite came to where the man was and passed on by, undoubtedly for the very same reasons.

But then a third man approached, and Jesus tells us that he was a Samaritan. Jews viewed the Samaritans as racially and religiously impure "half-breeds" because of their historic intermarriage with Assyrian colonists during the Assyrian conquest in the 8^th century BC. Though both groups believed in God and revered the Torah, they worshipped in different places and were deeply suspicious and prejudiced toward each other. In the context of Jesus’ parable, the Samaritan did not feel the coercion of the Mosaic law quite the way the priest and the Levite likely did. He was already an outcast and unclean in the eyes of the Jews, and he had not duty to perform in the Jerusalem temple. In a very real sense, he was free from the law’s coercion to do it freely and without fear of punishment or loss. So he went directly to the man, poured his own wine upon his wounds, bandaged him up, put him on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and paid for his keep, promising to return and pay any additional expense for the man’s care and shelter.

I hope that you can see that Jesus’ parable isn’t about the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law is love. The priest and the Levite were so concerned about the letter of the law that they completely neglected the spirit of the law, and they did not, they could not show love to their neighbor. Ironically, they didn’t really love the letter of the law either, but they considered it hard and coercive, and they obeyed it reluctantly and with fear. The Samaritan had no fear in helping the dying man. So what if he was a Jew, a Samaritan, or even a Roman? So what if he worshipped in Jerusalem, in Samaria, or even if he worshipped Zeus? Your neighbor is literally everyone, but most especially the one who is before you with a need you have been particularly gifted to give. In other words, you don’t have to go out and find your neighbor, and your neighbor is not chiefly someone in another state or another country, but your neighbor is in your family, your church, your neighborhood, your place of employment, and maybe even on the bench in front of you on a train or a bus.

The priest and the Levite permitted the Mosaic law to keep them from helping, from showing God’s love. We all have laws that we make up for ourselves that keep us from helping those whom the Lord has put before us. And I’m not talking so much about homeless people on the street, some of whom are quite likely shysters, but I’m talking your about elderly parents, your non-religious sibling, a rebellious son our daughter who’s made some bad choices, the Republican or Democrat who lives next door to you that you can’t stand, the homosexual couple across the street, etc. It doesn’t matter. That’s the point. It simply doesn’t matter if you like them or not, if you approve of their behavior or not, if you think them foolish or not, what they believe, the color of their skin, what language they speak: It just doesn’t matter. If they are before you, and you can help, they are your neighbor; help them. You’re not endorsing their bad behavior. You’re not blessing their lifestyle or choices. You’re not voting for their candidate or worshipping their god. You are extending the love, charity, grace, mercy, and forgiveness to them that you yourself have received from your loving, charitable, gracious, merciful, and forgiving God through Jesus Christ. Don’t worry, you won’t run out. God won’t let you.

A wise pastor and professor, John Kleinig, teaches, “No man is your enemy. We all share one and the same enemy.” Our enemy, of course, is Satan. Satan seeks to divide us and for us to view each other as “other,” as enemy, to dehumanize them so that we do not see them as fellow human creatures made by God in his image, people for whom Jesus suffered and died to forgive that they may live with him in his kingdom forever. Don’t hear me wrong; I’m not saying that we are to condone and bless their sinful behavior, whatever it may be. Quite the contrary; if you love them, then your desire for them is to repent and receive forgiveness, so help them with that. But, even if they don’t, still you must love them. And if you can help them, you should. Why? Because the law has been fulfilled by our Good Samaritan Jesus. Jesus suffered and died for the Jew, the Gentile, and for all human beings, regardless of race, religion, political persuasion, sexual identity, or anything else. You have been set free from the law’s coercion and threat. You have been set free from the law by Jesus to truly do it out of love for God and for neighbor without fear, resentment, loss, or any such thing. Do not let race or religion, politics, identity, or anything else keep you from loving your neighbor whom Jesus loved enough to die for along with you, especially those who are near to you, in your family, your church, your neighborhood, or on the seat next to you on the train or bus.

“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 12)

(Audio)

Mark 7:31-37; 2 Corinthians 3:4-11; Isaiah 29:17-24

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

“O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” These words of King David from Psalm 51, the Christian Church has spoken, sung, and chanted in the liturgies of Matins and Vespers since at least the sixth century. For centuries, Christians have prayed these words in the morning and in the evening and so have book-ended their daily lives with the confession that, unless the Lord opens our lips, not to mention our ears and our eyes, they are, and they will remain, utterly closed and unable to sing His praise, to confess His Name, or even to hear His life-giving and faith-creating Word at all. For, apart from the Lord’s gracious action, that is our state: spiritually deaf, dumb, blind, and dead towards God – just like Adam before God breathed His living breath into him; just like the blind man begging by the roadside; just like Lazarus before Jesus’ creative and life-giving Word called him to life; and just like the deaf-mute man in today’s Gospel. However, when the Lord opens our lips, our ears, and our eyes, then we will most certainly praise Him, not only in our direct and intentional prayers and praise, but also in our casual and day to day conversations with our families, with our neighbors, and with our co-workers, just as branches joined to the life-giving vine most certainly produce good fruit.

Yet, opening our ears and our eyes and our lips to speak, sing, and chant His Father’s praise is not all that our Lord does or can do. No. But, by His Word, He makes the lame to walk and lepers to be clean; He makes barren lands and barren wombs to be fruitful even as He once spoke light into the darkness and brought forth everything out of nothing, by the power of His life-giving and creative Word, His Word of life which is life, apart from which is only death. Thus, even now, by His same life-giving and creative Word He opens your ears to hear His Word and He creates faith within you through the preaching of His Word, He raises you from death to life in Holy Baptism, He forgives you and makes you clean through His Holy Absolution, and He feeds and nourishes you, His life communes with you, in the Holy Supper of His body and blood with the promise that He who has begun this good work in you will see it to completion in the Day of the Lord, and Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Therefore, as your mouth has been opened by the Lord to speak and sing His praise, you must not keep it closed and remain silent. For, your Lord has promised that He who confesses Him before men, He will confess before His Father in heaven, but He who denies Him before men, He will deny before His Father in heaven. Indeed, the Holy Spirit is working in you and with you to make of you bubbling spring and a fruitful vine of His prayer and praise, mercy, and compassion. You can no more “tell no one” than could Jesus’ disciples and the crowds after witnessing the healing of the deaf-mute. And yet, you do not, but you remain silent, just like the women at Jesus’ empty tomb, because you are afraid. Like St. Paul, you know what you want to do, but you do not do it, and the things that you do not want to do, that is what you continually find yourself doing, for indeed, your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak.

Therefore, you must not listen to your flesh. You must not obey your flesh. Rather, you must, as Jesus teaches, die to yourself and live to Christ in His righteousness. And, this is the fruit, not of the Law of God, but of the Law of God fulfilled, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because He has done all things well, making even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak, He has fulfilled the Law’s demands and has set you free to do it without fear of condemnation, to do it, not to earn salvation, but to do it because you have been saved. Where the Law of God, because of your sin, left you deaf, dumb, blind, and dead, a barren wasteland and a fruitless field, the Gospel has given you a confidence and a sufficiency, not from yourselves, but from God. It is precisely because your righteousness comes from outside of you, not from inside of you, and because your righteousness is found in Jesus’ works, not in your works, that you can be confident and without fear, that you can stand before God and receive His gifts, open your lips and sing His praise, and tell everyone what He has done. Apart from Jesus, your words and your deeds are nothing, even filthy rags, but because of Jesus, in His Holy Spirit, that which once had no glory – your works – has been made to be glorious in His sight.

Jesus did some rather strange things in the healing of the deaf-mute. While His Word was sufficient to open his ears and to loosen his tongue, Jesus also accompanied His Word with symbolic actions: He put His fingers into the man’s ears, and after spitting His touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” Was this all for show, to draw attention to Himself? No, not at all, for, indeed, Jesus first took the man aside from the crowd privately. Further, even after healing the man, Jesus told him, His disciples, and the crowds not to tell anyone. No, Jesus never seeks to glorify Himself. But then, what was the purpose of His actions? Truly, it may have been only compassion. Jesus often utilized touch in connection with His Word of forgiveness and healing. However, St. Mark’s use of the specific word “finger” brings to mind the Old Testament usage of “the Finger of God” which Pharaoh’s magicians recognized was at work through Moses and Aaron. Jesus Himself used this figure in St. Luke’s Gospel saying, “But if it is by the Finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Perhaps Jesus placed His fingers into the deaf-mute’s ears to communicate that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” Additionally, the use of spit and touching the man’s tongue may have a symbolic connection to Holy Baptism where common water is sanctified by the Word of Jesus’ mouth so that it becomes a lavish washing for the forgiveness of sins and the bestowal of the Holy Spirit. Now, some may say that this is allegorizing, and perhaps it is. However, following these actions, Jesus looked up to heaven, sighed, and said to the man, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened,” making a clear connection between His actions and the blessing of His Father, that the deaf-mute would know the source of His healing through the Word of Jesus.

When you and I sigh, it is usually because of a sense of exasperation, futility, hopelessness, or despair. That is because we are sinners. We know that our best efforts fail and are soiled by our sin, and we daily suffer the effects of other sinners directly and indirectly. But this is not why Jesus sighs. When Jesus sighs He breathes in our curse and He breathes out our cure, the blessing of His Word, the impartation of His Spirit, which gives life. For looking up to heaven, Jesus sighed and said, “It is finished.” He breathed His last and handed over His Spirit. He gave His life into death so that you will live. He took the curse into Himself, your sin into Himself, He suffered in your place, died in your stead and was raised from death, out of the tomb so that you who trust in Him are forgiven your sins, rescued from death, have eternal salvation. And now He gives you His Body and His Blood. He gives you Himself, the embodiment of His Father’s Word, to make it embodied in yours, taking away your sin and giving you His righteousness, His holiness, His purity, His life. Indeed, He does all things well. And in Him, so do you.

Pray that the Father will continue to open your ears and to loosen your tongues by the Holy Spirit delivered through His proclaimed Word again and again. And do not remain silent, but sing His praise in word and deed; tell everyone what He has done! For, you were deaf, and now you hear; you were blind, and now you see; you were mute, and now your lips have been opened, your tongue has been loosed; you were dead, but now you are alive in Christ. For you, to live is Christ, to die is gain. Therefore, die to yourself and live to Christ by laying down your life for your brother and sister, for your neighbor, for the Lord. Your sufficiency is not in yourself, but in the Lord. It is not of the letter, but of the Spirit. The Law indeed was, and is, glorious, therefore, how much more glorious will be ministry of the Spirit be?

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.