The Feast of the Holy Trinity

(Audio)

John 3:1-17; Romans 11:33-36; Isaiah 6:1-7

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

Today we made confession of our Christian faith in the Holy Triune God in the words of the Athanasian Creed. For most of you, however, this faith was created in you by the Holy Spirit long ago when you were baptized in the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Whether you received this faith as an infant, as an older child, or as an adult, there will be no new, fuller, or more complete bestowal of the Holy Spirit and His gifts, for each of you received the fullness of the Spirit when you were baptized. The LORD does not dispense His Spirit in dribs and drabs, but He pours out His Spirit fully upon those whom He has chosen in Jesus Christ.

Indeed, faith itself is the creative handiwork of the Holy Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is what it means to be “born again.” That word “again,” however, is a rather unfortunate translation of the Greek word anōthen which truly means “from above.” Thus, what Jesus truly says to Nicodemus is, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Clearly, Nicodemus missed Jesus’ point – as do many today – and thought that it was necessary for him to be physically born again of his mother, just as many believe that they must do something, understand something, believe something, or confess something in order to receive the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Jesus elaborated and emphasized the spiritual nature of His words saying, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The “birth from above” of which Jesus speaks is a spiritual birth, a birth caused and gifted by the Holy Triune God. This truth is emphasized and clarified in Jesus’ choice of being born as an analogy for justification and spiritual regeneration, for being born is a passive act, it is something that happens to you, wholly apart from your will and choice, even apart from your knowledge and faith. You do not choose to be born. Being born is something that happens to youwholly apart from your choosing.

Thus, Jesus continued teaching Nicodemus saying, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” And, here, Jesus plays on the Greek word pneuma, which means wind, breath, and spirit all at once. Jesus’ point is that the Holy Spirit blows upon and causes the birth from above, justification, and the creation of faith in the hearts of those whom the LORD chooses in Jesus Christ. That is what happens in Holy Baptism. Faith is created. The Holy Spirit is given. You are adopted into God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ in communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Holy Trinity first revealed Himself in His first words recounting creation through His prophet Moses in Genesis chapter one: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light.” God the Father created through His Son, His creative Word, and God the Holy Spirit hovered over the face of the waters. The same three persons were present and working at Jesus’ baptism as the Father spoke His word, the Holy Spirit descended, and the Son was baptized and anointed in the Jordan River. So also did Jesus command His Apostles to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” You do not choose to be a disciple, but disciples are made by the LORD through Holy Baptism, a work of the Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This is the Name of the LORD. This is the Name that was placed upon your forehead and upon your heart when you were baptized. This is the Name and the promise that you remember and confess when you make the sign of the cross in remembrance of your baptism. This the Name that marks you and seals you as a child of God, a member of God’s family in Jesus Christ, that protects you from the assaults of the Evil One, and blesses you all your days, even through death unto life everlasting. The Name of our Holy Triune God is invoked at the beginning of the Divine Service, and you are sent out with its blessing at its end. You should remember and take comfort in that Name when you rise up in the morning and when you lie down at night.

For, the Father loved the world in this way: He “gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” And as the LORD commanded Moses to raise up the bronze serpent on a pole so that all who were bitten by poisonous serpents might look to the bronze serpent and live, so, Jesus taught, “must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” You are baptized into the Triune Name of God. God has become your Father, Christ has become your Brother, and the Holy Spirit has become your Comforter.

Therefore, you must, like Isaiah before you, confess your uncleanness in heart and word and deed. For, even the six-winged holy seraphim veil their faces and their humble parts before the thrice-holy LORD. How much more, then, must you enter His presence in humility and repentance, in faith and trust in the Son, Jesus Christ, lifted up on the tree of the cross for the sins of the world. You may do so in humble repentance and confidence, for your lips have been touched by the blood of Jesus, who drank the cup of the LORD’s wrath against your sin until it was finished upon the cross. You are clean, your guilt has been taken away. However, yours is a borrowed righteousness. Jesus’ blood cleanses you of your guilt and uncleanness. Jesus’ righteousness covers your sins. Jesus presents you to His Father radiant and holy, innocent and without blemish.

And so, to preserve you and keep you in your baptismal grace until He comes, today a servant of God's Word, without wings, at God's direction, will take from this altar the fiery sacrifice of God and touch its fire to your lips once again that your guilt may be taken away and your sin atoned for. For, you partake of that which was sacrificed in your place: Jesus' Body and Blood. It is put into your mouth and it makes you clean. That which has appeased God's wrath on your behalf is joined to you. Thus you, too, can sing: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Sabaoth, heaven and earth are full of your glory. For, like the seraphim, like Isaiah and Nicodemus, you are holy. You have been redeemed. You call the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnate God of Moses and of Abraham, the only-begotten of His Father from whom the Spirit does proceed, Brother. You belong to God. You have been spared. You have been Named by Him. You belong to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. You have been born from above through water and the Word by the intervention of Love. Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the undivided Unity. Let us give glory to Him because He has shown His mercy to us.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Holy Matrimony of Sarah Emily Frank and Grant Paul Tapken

(Audio)

John 2:1-11; Ephesians 5:1-2, 22-33; Genesis 2:7, 18-24

 

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

Our Lord simply loves weddings! After crowning His six-day’s work with the creation of man – male and female He created them – He joined them together in the one-flesh union of marriage and blessed them that they should be fruitful and multiply. It was at a wedding that Jesus performed His first miracle and manifested His glory, turning the water of purification into the finest of wines. In the Revelation we are given to see our glorified Lord, a Lamb standing as though slain, wedded to His Bride the Church. From the very beginning, it has been God who joins together; and from shortly thereafter, it has been man who separates.

Thus, Jesus blessed the wedding at Cana with His presence. He wanted to be there as two of His beloved children were made to be one. Our Lord simply loves weddings! But the wedding party had run out of wine. How many marriages today are at risk of running out of wine? What God created as holy and a fruitful blessing has become bittersweet and fraught with lies, deception, sorrow and pain because of man’s sin. What was to be a brilliant image of the union God would have with man has become but a dim reflection. For, more than our fragmented marriages between husbands and wives, it is our marriage with God that has run out of wine. This Jesus came to restore, but His hour had not yet come.

Jesus’ hour, in John’s Gospel, is the appointed time of His passion and death on the cross. It is a time that will not be forced upon Jesus apart from His will: His life is His to lay down, no one takes it from Him. When His mother informed Him that the wedding party had run out of wine, Jesus replied that it was not a matter of concern between them now, for it was not yet the time for the shedding of His blood. Nevertheless, Mary instructed the servants to do whatever Jesus told them. It seems that Mary, who pondered the mystery of her son in her heart all her days, urged her son along His destined path to the cross so that He would perform this first sign and manifest His glory.

For, Jesus’ glory was manifested, not primarily in the miracle of changing water into wine, but Jesus’ glory was manifested in this first glimpse of His hour of passion that was yet to come. The water in those six stone jars was for the Jewish rites of purification. It was water that had been set aside to purify the wedding party from their uncleanness that Jesus changed into wine. Amongst the sadness and the shame of this wedding party that had run out of wine, Jesus began to take the curse of man’s great divorce from God upon Himself and to fill its place with joy and life, the finest of wine. For, the glory of Jesus is not manifested primarily in wonders and miracles, but the glory of Jesus is manifested in the Lamb of God’s self-offering on the cross.

The wedding of Adam and Eve was an image of man’s wedding with God. That was the first day. Succumbing to temptation, tasting the forbidden fruit, man became the whore and divorced God in adultery. That was the second day. But, on the third day, there was a wedding. The third day is the day of resurrection, the Lord’s Day, a day upon which the sun will never set. Jesus came to turn man’s sorrow and death into joy and life. He came to fill what the Law demands of us to the very brim, and not with mediocrity, but with the finest works, obedience, and love. He came to lay down His life for His friends, the greatest expression of love possible, that they might be restored unto God and live.

Jesus’ first sign at the wedding of Cana points us squarely to the greatest sign, the sign of Jonah, that is Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection on the third day. For, it was from Jesus’ riven side upon the cross that was brought forth His Bride the Church. From the side of the New Adam was brought forth the New Eve in water and blood.

Grant and Sarah, it is still the Third Day, the Day of Resurrection, as we gather here to celebrate, give thanks, and to ask the LORD for His blessing upon your marriage. This is the New Cana, where the Lamb of God stands as though slain, still bearing the marks of His Calvary as glorious life-giving scars. And, the master of the feast, Satan, is stunned, knowing not from whence this precious wine comes (though you know) saying, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Marriage is not easy, but it is blessed by God, and it is an image of one flesh union the LORD desires to have with you, His Bride, the Church. In marriage you have the opportunity to attempt to love unconditionally, agape, even as you have the opportunity to forgive, and to receive forgiveness, when the best you can muster is eros or phileo. That’s ok. Draw your love, your mercy, your forgiveness, your patience, your hope, your peace, and your joy from the everlasting source of all those good things, Jesus Christ. Our Lord simply loves weddings! And He will bless your wedding, He will bless your union, and He will make you a blessing to others to the glory of His Holy Name.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Feast of Pentecost

(Audio)

John 14:23-31; Acts 2:1-21; Genesis 11:1-9

 

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

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word, and my Father will love Him, and We will come to Him and make Our home with him.” In these words, Jesus promises that God will dwell with and make His home with those who love Him and keep His Word. This is nothing other than a description of the Church. The Church of Jesus Christ consists of those who love God and keep His Word. Now, surely someone will ask, “What about faith? Does not the Church consist of those who believe in Jesus?” Yes, indeed it does! But what do you mean by faith and belief? After all, Satan and his demons believe in Jesus, yet they do not have faith. Likewise, Jesus also teaches that many will say to Him “Lord, Lord,” and will even perform miracles and cast out demons, and yet the Lord will say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from Me you workers of lawlessness.” Indeed, C.F.W. Walther once explained in a Pentecost sermon, “In our text Christ wishes to impress that only a faith which is not a dead head knowledge makes one a member of His Church. His faith must be a divine power, which changes the heart of man, melts it, and fills it with holy fear of every sin and impurity.” Truly, this is what Jesus means when He says that you must both love Him and keep His Word. It is not enough to merely believe facts about Jesus that even Satan and unbelievers affirm, but you must believe with your heart so that you are changed by His Holy Spirit and love Him and keep His Word in humility and repentance, even when it demands hard things of you, exposes your sin and unworthiness, and convicts you.

Truly, there are many who claim to believe in Jesus, and even to love Him, who demonstrate in their words and deeds that they do not love Jesus, for they do not keep His Word. Indeed, St. Peter demonstrated precisely that when He answered Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” with his great confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Then, Jesus commended Peter for his confession, even proclaiming that the confession of Jesus Christ would be the rock upon which He would build His Church. However, when Jesus began to teach His disciples concerning His suffering, death, and resurrection, Peter refused to accept and believe this Word of the Lord. Then, Jesus rebuked Peter with the harshest words saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” At that point, Peter had neither true and saving faith, nor did he truly love his Lord Jesus, for He rejected and refused to keep His Word.

How sadly ironic it is that, on this very day, many sermons will be preached in many places bearing the name “Christian” that will laud and celebrate the great unity we enjoy in Christ, when those very same congregations and denominations actively reject and refuse Jesus’ Word and teach others to do the same. Many actively and officially reject and refuse Jesus’ Words concerning women pastors, homosexuality, and abortion, just for starters. Many actively reject and refuse Jesus’ Word concerning our justification by grace, through faith, in Jesus Christ, apart from any works, merit, or love in us. One cannot love Jesus and refuse and reject His Word at the same time. Those who attempt to do so may prosper in this world, but they have only the peace that the world gives and not the peace that Jesus gives those who love Him and keep His Word.

Now, I do not mean to say this of all who attend heterodox fellowships, for all wheat fields, even our own, regrettably, have weeds and tares sown in their midst. Indeed, outwardly, the weeds often look and appear very much like wheat – saying and doing the right things and earning the favor, respect, and praise of men. We cannot tell what a man believes in his heart. However, the Lord of the harvest knows, and, on the glorious day of His reaping, He will gather His precious wheat into His heavenly barns, while the weeds He will burn with unquenchable fire. No, merely believing in Jesus does not make you part of His body, His Church, but faith does. And, faith is not mere belief, but faith is trust, which is always accompanied by love and obedience. Surely St. James said it the best: “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works,” and “so also faith apart from works is dead,” and “be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Thus, Jesus teaches, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word.” Again, Walther proclaims, “So according to Christ’s own words only they belong to the Church of the new covenant who not only know Christ, speak much and often of Him, and believe that He is a Teacher of the truth, but who also love Him. Moreover, only those who not only have Christ’s word, diligently hear it, and seek and search in it, but who also keep it.”

Jesus taught these things that you might have peace – true peace that flows from love and communion with God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Therefore, be careful not to become like those who claim to love Jesus with their lips, but view His Word with fear and rebellion as an oppressive tyrant in their hearts. Such people go through the motions of being a Christian and often deceive many, even themselves, but their peace is a fleeting and worldly peace that provides no lasting comfort or security, and they will be cut off from the gracious presence of the LORD in the next life as they refused to love Him and rejected His Word in this one.

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word.” Love. All the LORD’s commandments, the Law of God, are fulfilled in this word: Love God, and love your neighbor. And, if you need a refresher on what true love is, then take a read through First Corinthians, Chapter Thirteen, where St. Paul writes: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” Remember also Jesus’ words: “Greater love has no man than this, that he would lay down his life for his friends.” Thus, love is selfless and sacrificial, always concerned more with the welfare of others than the self. Moreover, love does not fear, but it trusts. In this sense, love is faith, love is trust, love is obedience, and love is peace.

The Jews understood the Feast of Pentecost as the marriage feast of God and His people, the conclusion of the Passover cycle of sacrifice and redemption. The word Pentecost, meaning “fiftieth,” was the Greek word given in translation of the Hebrew Shavuot, or, Feast of Weeks. Shavuot / Pentecost came seven weeks after the celebration of the Passover, or Easter Sunday. Seven cycles of seven were observed, plus one day, thus fifty days later, the Feast of Shavuot / Pentecost was observed – the commemoration of the Spirit of God appearing to Moses on Mt. Sinai and the giving of the Torah, the Word of the LORD. As in that momentous occasion when God came to His people and made His home with them, sealing them with His Spirit and giving them His Word, so at Pentecost was the Holy Spirit breathed out upon Christ’s Church and His Word was given for the life of the world. The Jews tend to think of Shavuot as the birthday of Judaism, even as Christians often consider Pentecost the birthday of the Church. The significance of this festival, coming forty-nine days plus one after Easter, must not be missed: This day is the Eighth Day following the completion of the LORD’s work of re-creation and redemption, a day upon which the sun will never set. This is why Jesus taught His disciples before His Passion that they should rejoice that He was going to the Father, for He would send His Spirit, and He and the Father would make their home with them, if they would love Him and keep His Word.

Another important connection to Pentecost is, of course, the undoing of the curse of Babel. In our Old Testament reading today you heard the account of the Tower of Babel. In their sinful pride, the men of the world gathered together to make themselves to be god. It was an act, not of punishment or vengeance, but of mercy, that the LORD confused their language so that they left off their plans for the tower and were scattered. “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do,” said the LORD, “And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” The LORD was not jealous of man’s power, but He knew that they were under the influence of Satan and that, if they continued, there would be no hope of turning them back in repentance and restoration. Thus, on the Day of Pentecost, the LORD gave His Church His Word, that they would speak, confess, and proclaim it together in the many languages of men to the ends of the earth. Though we speak many languages, together the Church of Jesus Christ believes, teaches, and confesses “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

This is the peace that Jesus gives – the peace of unity and communion with God and with one another in Jesus Christ. Peace is communion in love and in Jesus’ Word. That Word matters, and what we believe, teach, and confess concerning that Word matters. Just as the LORD spoke to Moses in the bush that burned but was not consumed, so on the Day of Pentecost did the LORD speak to His Church accompanied by non-consuming fire. Though they were many, and they spoke in many different languages, the Word they proclaimed was one and the same. In this way, all could see and hear that the LORD was present and active. That is why keeping Jesus’ Word, all of it, at all times, even when it seems difficult and demanding, even when it convicts us and exposes our sin, is crucial to our life together in the body of Christ, the Church, for in loving Jesus and keeping His Word is the only source of peace.

Jesus knew that, in order for us to love Him and to keep His Word, we would need His help, and so He promised to send the Helper, the Paraclete, His Holy Spirit to teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that He has said to you. On that very night, in conjunction with these words, Jesus celebrated one last Passover with His disciples, a Passover which He transformed and reinterpreted in terms of His own sacrificial death that would cause the LORD’s wrath against our sin to pass over us. And He commanded us to do this in remembrance of Him – not merely to remember Him, but that we may have peace in Him through this Sacrament of His body and blood, knowing that we are at peace with God, and that God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, has made His home with us. Then, as a sign of His promised presence among us, He sent forth His Holy Spirit and united His Church in one faith, one confession, and one doctrine, that we might have peace in Him. Where Jesus’ Word is not kept, there is confusion and doubt, but where Jesus is loved and His Word is kept, there is indescribable peace, peace which passes all human understanding, peace which the world cannot give. That we might have that peace always until He returns, Jesus has sent us His Holy Spirit that might have a right understanding in all things and rejoice in His holy consolation – that is to say, that we might love Jesus and keep His Word.

“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in us the fire of Your love.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Exaudi - The Seventh Sunday of Easter

(Audio)

John 15:26 – 16:4; 1 Peter 4:7-14; Ezekiel 36:22-28

 

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

Was the cross of Jesus a good thing, or a bad thing? Careful, now, I know that you want to say it was a bad thing. After all, how can you gaze upon the tortured, pierced, torn, and bloodied body of Jesus on the cross and not see the evil, the wickedness, and the hatred that nailed Him there? How could anyone call the cross a good thing? Well, God calls it good. Thus, perhaps you need to consider the possibility that you are not seeing things correctly. You see, you often mistake a good thing for a bad thing, and a bad thing for a good thing. In contrast to yourself, however, God simply calls a thing what it is. God calls Jesus’ crucified body on the cross a good thing, for it was the means through which you, His prodigal son, His prodigal daughter, were restored to Him, and by which Satan, your enemy and the cause of your sin-wrecked relationship with God, was defeated and lost all claim upon you. Jesus’ suffering, crucifixion, and death upon the cross were a good thing – they were good for you. Therefore, do not dare to gaze upon the cross, the crucifix, and call it bad.

God calls a thing what it is, and so should you. God calls your deviant, rebellious thoughts, words, and deeds sin, and so should you. God calls your separation from Him death, and so should you. And, God calls His Son Jesus, dead upon the cross, satisfaction and redemption, paid in full for all your sins so that, through faith and trust in Him alone, He now calls you what you are in Him – holy, pure, and innocent – and, so should you.

However, you must understand that it was not for your sake that your LORD gave all for you, but it was for the sake of the His holy Name, which you had profaned, and which you continue to profane when you sin. Does this sound odd to you, that “it is not for your sake” that God acted, but “for the sake of [His] holy Name?” It is understandable if it does, for popular Christian thought is much more you-centered than it is God-centered or Christ-centered. Further, I am not at all convinced that most Christians have a clue what God’s Name is or means. Because of that, I really appreciate this comment in the Lutheran Study Bible: “God’s Name is a capsule-word for everything He is and has revealed about Himself. Its essential characteristic is ‘holiness,’ i.e., transcendence above all limited human concepts, definitions, and comprehension.”

This is why I preached to you last week about Jesus’ Name, and what it means to ask anything of the Father in Jesus’ Name, in the assurance that He will give it to you. The Name of Jesus, the Name of God, is so very much more than a proper noun, a title, or a designation. God’s Name is holy. It is everything that holiness is and must be, and the only holy thing through which other persons and things may be made to be holy. And so, no, it is not for your sake that the LORD acted, but it was for the sake of His holy Name. However, you were once a part of the LORD’s holy Name, and it is His will and love for you that you be restored to His holy Name once again. This, Jesus has done for you in the good thing of His suffering, crucifixion, and death. And, the LORD raised Him up again on the third day, that in Jesus, His Name, He might raise you up and restore you to a right relationship with Him once again.

Despite what your eyes see, this is a good thing. You must learn to see with your ears. Indeed, faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ. Jesus Christ is the Name and the Word of God made flesh. No one could know this simply by gazing upon Jesus with his eyes. To the eyes of men, Jesus looked to be the son of a carpenter from backwater Nazareth, a young rabbi with a somewhat radical interpretation of scripture, a zealot seeking to gather a following presumably to begin an overthrow of their Roman occupiers, etc. Yet, there were a few who could see the Truth with their ears and, thus, with the eyes of faith, most notably John the Baptist who pointed to Jesus proclaiming, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” John judged not by what his eyes saw, but by what his ears saw. He called Jesus what He was, the Paschal Lamb of God for the forgiveness of sins. St. Peter had a similar experience when he confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And, also the centurion stationed at the cross as Jesus died who confessed, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” And also, St. Thomas on the Sunday following Easter who confessed of Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”

It is a good thing that Jesus died for you, even as it is a good thing that He was raised for you, and it is also a good thing that Jesus has ascended back to His Father for you. Do not overlook or neglect the importance of Jesus’ ascension. Jesus’ ascension back into the holy presence of God is also your ascension, reconciliation, and restoration to God. It was your flesh and blood that Jesus took up when He was conceived of the Virgin Mary, was obedient under the Law of God, suffered and died for your sins, guilt, and transgressions, was raised from death on the third day, and, lastly, ascended back to His Father in heaven, guaranteeing a place for you there through baptism and faith in Him. A human Man now sits in the presence and glory of God, and that Man is Jesus, and through your baptism into Him and faith, that Man is you. You must see with your ears by hearkening to this Word of the LORD, and you must call a thing, not as it appears, but what it truly is. In Christ, you have an audience with the King of Creation, the LORD and Holy Triune God. You have the same audience as His eternal Son, Jesus – full access, the King’s ear, and His promise to bless you and keep you in and through all things.

Jesus has said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. You must not be deceived by mere appearances. The mighty works of the LORD are often accomplished through the humblest and most unassuming means. Moses was but a stuttering shepherd. David was young, inexperienced, and mild. Jesus’ disciples were fishermen, a tax collector, and women, among the least in their community. Your pastor is but a sinful man like you vacillating between pride and humility, anger and gentleness, condemnation and forgiveness, hardness and compassion. And the most powerful works of the LORD are accomplished through the Word spoken, water applied, bread and wine given. Through these means sins are forgiven, faith is created, nourished, and strengthened, and disciples are equipped for service to the neighbor and for battle against Satan and his demonic forces. Though you are nothing to look at, you are God’s children and Jesus’ body, the Church, militant in warfare against Satan for the life of the world. Do not be deceived by the humble, weak, and even sinful appearance, but call a thing what it is, what God in His Word says it is: You are the Church, the called and chosen of the LORD in Jesus Christ, holy, pure, and righteous as Jesus Himself before God and man.

But, the world doesn’t see you for what you are. Men do not consider you holy, pure, and righteous, but evil, hypocrites, bigots, and worse. You must not be surprised at this. The world and men do not keep the Word of the LORD or have any care for it. Therefore, they call evil good, and good evil. But, you must simply call a thing what it is. Let your yes by yes, and let your no be no. And, because you are God’s yes, you must be yes to your brother and sister in Christ, you must be yes to your neighbor, and you must be yes to the world. That is to say, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” This does not mean that you bless what God has condemned, but that you bear with and show love to all, even to those who hate God and who hate you and consider you to be evil. You must discern between right and wrong, good and evil, yes and no according to the light of God’s Word and the counsel of the Holy Spirit, but it is not your place to judge and condemn. You must be merciful, as your LORD and God has been merciful to you. You must love with His love, bear with one another with His patience and longsuffering, and forgive with His forgiveness, “that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

Do not be deceived. Things are not as they appear. Open your ears to the Word of the LORD and see in the way that He sees. Do not be surprised at the fiery trial you often encounter in your lives these days in this world that is not your home, but rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the Name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. The Helper has come and is with you. The Holy Spirit bears witness in Word and Sacrament and in your own hearts to Jesus Christ to keep you from falling away. Next, we will celebrate the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Through the Spirit of God poured out in Christ Jesus you are His people and you will dwell with Him forever as His people, with the LORD as your God.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.