The Second-Last Sunday of the Church Year (Trinity 26)

(Audio)

Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Peter 3:3-14; Daniel 7:9-14

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

The Church of Christ always has Her eyes set upon Her Lord Jesus. In Advent She is focused upon Her Lord in His coming as an infant child, the Babe of Bethlehem. Throughout the Epiphany, Easter, and Trinity seasons She is focused upon Her Lord who has come as the Lamb of Calvary. And now, at the end of the Church’s Year of Grace, She is focused upon His coming again as Redeemer, Judge, and King.

He has come. He comes. And, He is coming. Our Lord Jesus, Emmanuel, has been, is, and will be with us always, even to the end of the age. He was before the foundation of the world. He sustains the world in its present existence. And, He is coming again at the world’s end. And, throughout it all, He is a two-edged sword, He is a stone of stumbling and a cause of division amongst men. Indeed, the Prince of Peace did not come to bring peace, but a sword; that is to say, Jesus did not come to leave things as they are, but Jesus came to break hardened hearts of stone and to bring hope to the hopeless and despairing. But this world must, and it will, pass away; its very elements will burn and melt in fire.

And when He comes again, He will not come in lowliness and humility. He will not come in a scandalous manner that will be questioned and doubted. But, when He comes again, He will come in the fullness of the glory of God with a multitude of the heavenly host, and He will sit upon His glorious throne. Then all will be gathered before Him from all the nations and every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

But He was, and He is, and He will be the same Jesus, the same Lord. Those who believe know this and they can see His glory now through the eyes of faith. They can behold the same glory beheld by Mary and Joseph, by Moses, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, and by Adam and Eve after their fall. It is a glory that is hidden but, nevertheless, is real, like the mass of an iceberg below the surface of the water with just the peak exposed for all to see. He was Lord of Lords before there were men. He was Lord of Lords before there was a world. And, as it was in the beginning, so it is now, and so shall it ever be in the world that has no end.

And, this is the truth. He is the Truth. Jesus is the Truth incarnate; Jesus is the Truth in human flesh. He has always been the Truth, and He is the source of all things that are, the very Word of God, the Word of creation apart from whom nothing was, is, or ever shall be. But, at His Father’s bidding, He willingly laid aside His glory and became what we are so that we might become, in Him and through Him, what He is. And, here’s the really amazing thing – He has done this for everyone in all the world, for all of creation, He has done this for you, whether you accept it or not, whether you believe it or not. And, because of this, God the Father has given Him the Name that is above all names, the only name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

And so, when He comes, He will come as King and He will come as Judge. He will come with the fullness of His glory and with the fullness of His Kingdom, and no one, no one will be able to deny Him any longer. Then He will judge all men; then He will judge the world. He will judge the world in this way, like a shepherd separating His flock, dividing the sheep from the goats. He shepherded them both, cared for them both, fed and gave drink to them both, and He died for them both, laying His own sinless body into the jaws of the wolf, that both His sheep and His goats would be spared and live. But, though He did this for them all, though He died for them all, there is a key difference between His sheep and His goats, the goats believed that it was their good works that kept them in the Good Shepherd’s flock while the sheep truly believed that they were there by grace alone and thus they trusted in their Good Shepherd’s favor alone.

This difference is exhibited in the responses of the sheep and the goats to Jesus’ judgment concerning them. To the sheep on His right Jesus said, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” The sheep’s mystified and humble reply is, “When?” “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” They simply cannot imagine that they have done such a thing for anyone, least of all their Lord Jesus. And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

The sheep do not look to themselves for righteousness. They do not find righteousness within themselves. When the sheep look to themselves they  see only unworthiness and helplessness. But the Lord declares them blessed, inheritors, and righteous. Blessedness, inheritance, and righteousness are each things that come from outside of you; they are bestowed upon you by another. The righteous sheep are recipients of Christ’s righteousness. They are blessed by the Father for Jesus’ sake. They will inherit Christ’s kingdom because He died for them and has presented them pure, holy, and blameless before His Father in heaven. The sheep do not look to their works; they do not look to anything in themselves at all, but their eyes are set on Jesus and Him alone. When Jesus points out that they actually have done much good to others and that they have in fact done good to Him, they are amazed, they are stunned, they are incredulous. They cry out, “When, Lord?” But the truth and the reality is this, when they kept their eyes upon Jesus, gratefully receiving the gifts of forgiveness, love, and mercy He died to give them, then they were equipped to bear fruitful good works toward their neighbors in need who exemplify our Lord Jesus who, though He was rich, became poor and needy, low and humble, He suffered mockery and ridicule, suffering, pain, and even death for you and all His precious sheep and goats.

Yes, even for the goats. The goats belong to Jesus too. They too are the recipients of Jesus’ atoning life, suffering, and death. But the goats are shocked and stunned that Jesus could say that they abandoned him hungry and thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, and in prison. The goats are certain that there has never been a time that they did not serve Jesus when He was in need. That is because they were so focused upon serving Jesus and being recognized for their service that they neglected and ignored, perhaps even despised, the poor and the lowly, the sick, naked and imprisoned people who truly had needs and in whom Jesus is exemplified. For, when you are concerned and worried about earning and meriting favor with Jesus for yourself, how can you be concerned with and serve your neighbor in the selfless way of Jesus?

Jesus calls His sheep to Himself, to inherit the kingdom that was prepared for them before the foundation of the world, but to the goats Jesus says, “Depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Indeed, as much as the kingdom of heaven was prepared for the faithful even long before the foundation of the world, so the hell of fire was prepared for the devil and his angels, but not for people, not even for goat-like people. But, nevertheless, that is where some will find themselves, not because of Jesus’ judgment, but because of their rejection of Jesus’ gracious gift and their insistence that they be judged according to their works, their wisdom, and their reason. The sheep are those who listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice and follow Him, while the goats are those who stubbornly go their own way. Moreover, it is the nature of sheep to follow their shepherd’s voice, trusting Him to lead them to good pasture and cool water, while it is the nature of goats to walk along the cliffs and the precipices which represent sin and the temptation to sin.

But you must understand that the goats are every bit as much a part of the Good Shepherd’s flock as are the sheep. For each and every one of them has the Lord provided, cared for, protected, kept, and even laid down His life to save. In their goatishness, however, they have chosen to go their own way. They have actually chosen a damnation that was not intended for them at all. Their judgment is not the result of their failure to do good works, but their judgment is the result of their refusal to believe, and their faithlessness which made it impossible for them to do good works, to bear the fruits of faith.

And, what you must understand also, dear Christian, is that seeing Christ in everyone is the fulfillment of the great commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus has promised to be with you always, even to the end of the age. Because of His incarnation and ascension to the right hand of the Father He now fills all things in His humanity and in His divinity. Thus, Jesus is you neighbor, and He is seen and served most clearly in the poor, the hungry and the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, sick, and imprisoned. That is to say, Jesus is seen and served in the humble and lowly and in the despised of this world.

St. Peter warns that in these last days scoffers will come saying “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately overlook this fact, says Peter, “that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” That is to say, the earth and the world had a beginning; so too, will it have an end at a time that we do not know. The scoffers would have you believe that the world will continue onward perpetually evolving in a natural course under the authority and control of no God at all, therefore, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may die, but don’t worry about any accountability or judgment for your actions, for there is no one to judge, therefore judge for yourself what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil, what is moral, ethical, and virtuous.

“But the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done in it will be exposed.”

Therefore, “what sort of people ought you to be?” That is the question. Will you be a sheep or will you be a goat? Will you listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice and follow Him, or will you choose to go your own way and skirt the precipices of sin?

You do not have to gaze into the heavens to find Jesus. Nor do you have travel or send your gifts far away to serve Jesus, for He is right where He promised to be, with you, always. Jesus is in the face of your neighbor in need of kindness, charity, grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness. By loving your neighbor you love Jesus. And you love your neighbor only with Jesus’ love. There’s no need to calculate how much love you show, for there’s always more with Jesus. There’s no need to make certain you are seen in your charity, for Jesus knows the intents of your heart and the deeds that you do in secret. And the best place to begin in your charitable service is right in your own home, towards your husband or wife, your children, and the members of your church. Each and every one of them is the face of Jesus, hungry and thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, and in prison for you to serve with the love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness Jesus has show to you.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Third-Last Sunday of the Church Year (Trinity 25)

(Audio)

Matthew 24:15-28; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Exodus 32:1-20

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

Today’s Gospel is unquestionably about God’s judgment upon sinful mankind. The only question is “When?” Our Lord presents us with a myriad of signs and prophecies, some seemingly already fulfilled, others perhaps being fulfilled right now, and still others seemingly yet to be fulfilled. But, that is how things are with our Lord who is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, and everything in between. Our Lord is the Lord of History and the Lord of Time, and this is the nature of His Advent, His Coming: He has come. He comes. And, He is coming. Indeed, the end of the Church’s Year of Grace is much like its beginning in Advent:  We are to watch and to wait, always in faith, always in prayer, always prepared for His Parousia, the Day of His Coming. That He has come is the foundation of our faith. That He comes is the substance of our faith. That He is coming is our hope in faith for which we expectantly watch and wait. To do so is to be a Christian, a subject of Christ our King and recipients of His kingly reign on earth and in heaven. However, the kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed. You must see with your ears and not your eyes. For God’s kingdom in this world is one of faith, and faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ. Only on the Last Day, when the King returns, will our faith be turned to sight.

Indeed, it is our sin-corrupted vision and reason that hinder us from seeing, receiving, and sharing the kingdom of God, for, in our willful rebellion, our physical eyes and reason may have been opened to know good and evil, but our spiritual vision and certainty became blind. Where, once, long ago, God’s will and His ways seemed to us wise, true, and good, now they seem to us foolish, weak, and despicable. “Why should God prohibit the eating of that one particular fruit? It obviously looks good to eat.” That was the root of our fall from grace: man placing his vision and reason over and above God’s Word. Satan planted that seed of doubt, and then he leveled his masterstroke: “When you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Ever since that fateful day, man has no patience for God, His will, and His ways. Instead, man demands that God operate on man’s terms, according to man’s wisdom, and prove His existence by signs and wonders that men count as significant and wonderful.

When God first appeared to Israel on Mount Sinai, His Presence was accompanied by signs and wonders: “thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.” However, when Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, how quickly the people turned aside to idolatry, fashioning a god of their own making from the golden rings in their ears. When God did not act in the manner they considered wise and god-like, they took matters into their own hands and created a god of their own imagination, reason, and wisdom. They knew good and evil: They judged their own wisdom and reason to be good, and God’s wisdom to be foolishness and evil. In the golden calf, they created an abomination that resulted in their desolation before God, a desolating sacrilege.

The abomination is sin, and the abominable are sinners. The abomination of sin causes desolation, utter destruction of both the sin and the sinner because they are opposed and antithetical to God who is holy and righteous and just. The abomination of sin causes desolation by default, by definition, because sin and sinners cannot possibly stand in the presence of holy God anymore than darkness can exist in the presence of light. Therefore, sin must be dealt with, and sinners must be atoned for, if there is to be any hope of reunification. For this reason God gave His commandments and established the Levitical priesthood and the sacrificial system, that sins and sinners may be atoned for, covered over for a time, until the day when God would act to take away sin once and forever.

Until that day…. However, sinful, self-idolizing man won’t wait for that. Oh, no. Throughout the intervening years and centuries, men did not wait and watch for God’s mighty deliverance, but they continued to raise up and to worship creatures in the place of their Creator. They desired a king and a kingdom like the pagan nations, with wealth and military might that they might be glorious and strong in the eyes of men. They defiled themselves by comingling the pagan religions, with their multitudes of gods and goddesses, with their own, thus committing spiritual adultery and making themselves the whore, betraying their faithful God and Husband. Satan had lead them so far from the light of God’s Word into the darkness, ignorance, and foolishness of sin that, when the day in which God did act came, they were found not watching and waiting, but they were eating and drinking, planting and building, buying and selling, marrying and being given in marriage, and that day sprung upon them like a trap.

What day was that? It was the day that Jesus described in the Gospel when the abomination of desolation stood in the holy place. Yes, that day has already come! The abomination was Jesus, dead on the cross. The holy place was, not the temple, but Golgotha, the place of a skull. There, Jesus became what we are, a sinner, an abomination in the presence of God that cannot stand. However, Jesus was not merely one sinner among others, but in God’s eyes, He was the only sinner, a sacrilege to God. He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us. And, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.

But, this is the nature of the kingdom of God, and this is how King Jesus reigns. It is a reign of love, a reign of mercy, and a reign of sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins: Greater love is not possible than this – that the Son of Man should lay down His life in death for you. O, Kingly Love! Indeed, it is from the cross that King Jesus reigns. There He was crowned. There the title above His head read in Greek, Aramaic, and Latin: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. When Jesus died, the temple – His body – was destroyed. Then did the earth shake and rocks were split. Then were tombs opened and many of the saints who had died were raised. Then was there a mighty earthquake and everyone was filled with awe, and men had to confess, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

How many people experienced all of this? As it was the Passover, and Jewish pilgrims had come from all over the middle east to celebrate the feast, hundreds of thousands at the very least. All of the phenomena associated with Jesus’ crucifixion and death were experienced by hundreds of thousands of Jews, Romans, and other Gentiles. And, what about those saints said to have come out of their graves alive and were seen in the city? Truly, it is not fabrication or myth, but these things actually occurred – their truth was incontrovertible, for too many had experienced it and seen it with their own eyes. Further, after Jesus’ resurrection, the Scriptures record for us at least eleven post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, at least one time before more than five hundred, and in the Jewish way of counting that likely included only the men present.

With all this evidence and eyewitness testimony, preserved and handed down over the course of two millennia, why then do men today refuse to believe? Because, seeing is believing, they say. That is, seeing with your eyes, having no regard for the eyes of faith. But, this is nothing new. Indeed, it is the first sin repeated again and again – idolatry. Men are not satisfied and content with the Word of God, even when it is supported by facts, but prefer to go their own way, according to their own reason and wisdom, which is foolishness and the pathway to sin and death. Further, men cannot imagine that God would reign and rule in such seeming weakness, humility, and pathetic suffering unto death. Surely there must be another, a different god – or perhaps there is no god at all. Either is preferable to this God who hides Himself and veils Himself in lowliness. Where is the God of Sinai? Let Him appear before us, then we will believe; but do not tarry lest we become the whore and worship gods of our own making. Oh, He will appear in glory and great power and might, but woe to those who did not receive Him in His first appearing.

For, indeed, the Day of the Lord has come, on a Friday afternoon two thousand years ago. Then began the Last Days, the thousand-year reign of Christ, with His death, resurrection, and ascension. Now He reigns at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. Now are the days in which you are not to be enslaved to material things, but you are to be watching and waiting in faithful, expectant, hope for His second coming, His Parousia. Now are the days to remain vigilant in the Word of God that you may not be lead astray by false teachers and false christs who say, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There He is!” or “Look, He is in the wilderness.” If they tell you he is to be found in nature, do not believe it! If they tell you he is to be found in reason and science, do not believe it! And, if they tell you he is to be found in worship of yourself, do not believe it! No, when He returns, He will not come in meekness and humility, veiled so that you may only see with the eyes of faith. No, when He returns, He will come on the clouds with the sound of a trumpet and a cry from an archangel, and every eye will see Him, every tongue will confess Him, and every knee will bow before King Jesus, the Lord.

No, we do not need signs and wonders, but what we need now is mercy. We pray for mercy, and we receive mercy. “For the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” King Jesus reigns even now, for you, His Kingly reign of love, mercy, and sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. He blesses you and keeps you. He makes His face to shine upon you and is gracious to you. He lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you peace. He comes to you now on the clouds of heaven with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven to dine with you at His banquet, a foretaste of the Great Wedding Feast that is yet to come. Though you do not see Him with your eyes, through the eyes of faith you see and hear and believe, “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” And, as the Roman vultures gathered around the corpse of Jesus dead on the cross, so we, His faithful subjects, as eagles, gather around His resurrected and ascended body and blood for the strengthening of our faith, the forgiveness of our sins, and the hope of eternal life in His Name. “Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand; ponder nothing earthly minded, for with blessing in His hand Christ our God to earth descending comes our homage to demand.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Feast of All Saints (observed)

(Audio)

Matthew 5:1-12; 1 John 3:1-3; Revelation 7:2-17

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

The kingdom of heaven is not really a thing or a place in the proper sense, but it is more like an action: It is the power and the authority, the ruling and the reigning exercised by King Jesus. Thus, when Jesus preaches in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” He means to say that the poor in spirit are the recipients of His Kingly action: His forgiveness, mercy, and grace. Further, the kingdom of heaven is not something that they will receive at some later time, with the return of Christ and the resurrection, but it is something that they are receiving right now, and it is something that they will continue to receive until the fullness of Jesus’ kingdom comes. Thus, blessed is not something that the poor in spirit will be, but blessed is something that they are, right now. Indeed, all the other beatitudes our Lord speaks are founded in this first beatitude. Those who mourn, those who are meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, those who are merciful and pure in heart, those who are peacemakers, those who are persecuted and reviled for the sake of Jesus and His righteousness, they are blessed, right now, even though they surely do not appear to be so from the perspective of the world.

For, this is what the kingdom of heaven is like, and this is the kind of King our Jesus is, and this is the manner in which King Jesus rules and reigns. For, Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. When Pilate questioned Jesus about His being a king, this is what He answered saying, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” That dialogue occurred just before Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified, the ultimate and final expression of the kingdom King Jesus is King of. The kingdom of heaven reaches its point of culmination in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, but it will become visible to all when the Son of Man reveals Himself as the King on the Last Day.

For now, the kingdom is hidden under the guise of poverty, mourning, meekness, hunger and thirst for righteousness, peacefulness, and persecution for the sake of Jesus. However, when King Jesus returns, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Thus, when we pray in the Lord’s Prayer “Thy kingdom come,” we are praying for the Parousia, the second coming of King Jesus, even as we are praying that His kingdom, which has already come, and continues to come, would come amongst us now. Luther explains in the Small Catechism that “God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.” Therefore, we pray that King Jesus would reign upon us, and to us, and through us. As subjects of the King in His kingdom, we become His heart and His hands and His mouth, for the kingdom is not only nearyou, but it is in your midst through faith in Jesus Christ.

The kingdom of heaven is the ontologically real reign of King Jesus. Therefore, you are either His subject, or you are the subject of another king in another kingdom – Satan’s. This is why Jesus teaches that he who is not with Him is against Him, and that those who do not gather with Him scatter. For, King Jesus has penetrated the world of His creation – a world of time, of flesh and blood, of temptations to sin, and the penalty of sin, which is death. But, through His own incarnation, temptation, obedience, suffering and death He has done all things well. Now, as King, christened and crowned in blood on the cross, but recognized and qualified to be God’s King and enthroned in His resurrection from the dead, He has begun His reign and the recreation of this fallen world; He is making all things new, restoring it to life through mercy and forgiveness, love and grace. For, God’s kingdom is His redemptive activity in Jesus, but it extends itself in the preaching of its redemption through His body, the Church.

On this Feast of All Saints, we are given a glimpse of the totality of God’s kingdom on earth and in heaven. St. John first describes the saints on earth, you and I, and all believers, coming out of the Great Tribulation by virtue of Holy Baptism and faith, having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Then, he describes “a great multitude that no one can number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”

We must not succumb to the temptation to think that our goal is to pass from this life to the heavenly life only, or that the death of the body is the release of the soul to its final state in heaven; no, these are gnostic and false doctrines, despising the body and the earth that God has made good. Rather, our goal is, as the Scriptures consistently proclaim, the resurrection of our bodies and the real, true, and eternal flesh and blood life we will enjoy with our Lord in the new heaven and the new earth that will be revealed in Jesus’ return on the Last Day. For, in King Jesus heaven draws near to earth so that there is no longer any separation. Indeed, this is what John beheld in the Revelation saying: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away’.”

That is our goal: Eternal life in the new heaven and the new earth, in our resurrected flesh and blood bodies, with God. Indeed, this is yet the goal of the saints who have died whom we remember this day. For, while it is most certainly true that while “we feebly struggle, they in glory shine,” they are not yet complete and fulfilled, anymore than you or I. Their flesh and blood bodies lie in the earth. But, when Jesus returns, they will be raised first, and those who are living will be transformed. Therefore, we must remember this, and All Saints Day is a wonderful time to do it. For, too easily do we get caught up in the pious sentiment that this life is something to be thrown off like soiled clothing, and that death has become a blessed friend that enables us to do this. That doctrine is a lie, sown by the devil himself. The Scriptures do not speak of death as a blessed friend, but rather as an enemy, even the last enemy, that will be swallowed up in Jesus’ victory, not when He rose from the dead, but when He returns on the Last Day! That is our goal. That is what we, and the saints in heaven, are waiting for!

For, if Satan is successful in his deception, he will have taken our eyes off of Jesus and placed them upon some false idea of heaven, paradise, or anything else. Therefore, we must keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. We must keep our eyes and our faith on the whole Jesus, and not just a part of Him and His teaching. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn and destroy the world, but in order that the world might be saved and restored through Him. That was His work and ministry through His kingly reign, culminating in His death and resurrection, and that is His work, ministry, and kingly reign that He continues still through you, His body, the Church.

In His ministry, Jesus was the in-breaking of the reign of God. Wherever He went, He forgave sins, and He healed the sick, and He cast out demons, and He calmed deadly storms, and He raised the dead. Wherever He went, Satan's power and sin's effect were held at bay. Jesus’ miracles were not just proofs of His divine power, they were manifestations of the reign of God, and it was altogether fitting and necessary that the Bringer of the Reign of God should heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons. In Him, the reign of God is already present in anticipatory fashion, and when God's reign breaks in finally and completely, then He will heal our bodies and all creation and will raise us up forever.

Until that day, we await with all who have come out of the Great Tribulation, having washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. And, we take comfort that those who die in the Lord are blessed, at peace and at rest in the bosom of Abraham. Likewise, we take comfort that we are blessed too, right now, though we feebly struggle in poverty, mourning, meekness, persecution and reviling, for of such is the kingdom of heaven, the righteous reign of King Jesus through His subjects, His body, His Church.

For, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when King Jesus appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. This is His promise and our hope that makes us pure. Our hope is to be with Him in the new heavens and the new earth He will bring when He returns. That day there will be a great wedding feast, of which our feast today is but a foretaste. Now our King and Bridegroom comes to us hidden in, with, and under bread and wine; then we will see Him face to face. But, as we wait His coming, the sainted Church of Jesus Christ on earth joins with the saints of heaven - with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven – in singing the King’s praise: Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Hosanna. Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Festival of the Reformation (observed)

(Audio)

Matthew 11:12-19; Romans 4:19-28; Revelation 14:6-7

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

“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.” That’s a first century Judaic way of saying, “There’s no satisfying you. There’s nothing that can be done to make you content.” Jesus says that’s what the Jews of His day were like: They were like discontent and unsatisfied children. When John the Baptist came preaching to them, they thought he had a demon because he fasted and abstained from wine. And, when Jesus came preaching to them, they accused Him of being a glutton and drunkard, cavorting with tax collectors and sinners. However, Jesus says that such discontent and dissatisfaction with both John and Himself are indicative of a much more serious problem – the people and their religious leaders were inflicting violence upon the kingdom of heaven, attempting to take it by force.

What Jesus is speaking of is much less physical violence against John and Himself – though they violently opposed them and murdered them both – but Jesus was speaking of their violence against the Word of God. Both John and Jesus came preaching the Law and the Gospel of God, but like the prophets before them, and the evangelists after them, the people were discontent and unsatisfied. They reacted violently against the Word of God and the preachers of His Word. They sought to take God’s kingdom by violence, according to their own wisdom and judgment of what is right and wrong, good and evil. They would not tolerate God’s Word. They closed their ears and shut their eyes tight, making themselves to be spiritually deaf and blind. They set their wisdom and word above the Word of God. “The Word they still shall let remain nor any thanks have for it,” then, now, and always. 

This is the work of Satan, who continually inflicts violence upon the kingdom of heaven by inflicting violence upon the Word of God. Satan began his attack in the garden, tempting our First Parents to doubt the Word of God asking, “Did God really say?” Then he attacked and murdered those preachers of the Word, the Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists, and Martyrs who undauntedly called men to repentance through their faithful and persistent preaching of Law and Gospel. Satan tempts men to prideful self-righteousness, resulting in their resentment, fear, anger, and hatred of the LORD and His Word of Truth that continually shows our sin, guilt, and iniquity and stains our conscience and enslaves us. Willfully men close their ears and eyes and hearts to the Word of God still as Satan snatches the Goodly Seed from their hearts so that they do not and cannot believe. Generation after generation of men forgot the Word of God and sought to justify themselves by their works. Whereas Satan inflicts violence upon the Word of God by distorting it and tempting men to doubt it, men inflict equivalent violence upon the Word of God by trusting in their works to justify themselves. For four hundred years before Christ the Word had not been heard in Israel. No prophet called men to repentance nor proclaimed the Gospel of the Messiah. By the time the Word became flesh in Jesus Christ, there was but a remnant of faithful watchers upon the earth.  

Over millennia, men have forgotten the Word of the LORD. Today, we do not teach it to our children. We do not bring our children to Jesus. Generations come and go and the Word of the LORD seems now an alien word, a myth, a bigoted and hateful word, foolishness and something of which to be ashamed and to discard as the primitive superstitions of an unenlightened people. That is where we are today. That is where we were in Luther’s day. That is where we were throughout the four hundred years of silence before the coming of Jesus. We do not remember the Sabbath Day or keep it holy, and so we forget. When men hear the Word of God today they hate it, and they hate you who keep it, they hate Jesus, and they hate God. Is it any wonder that our congregations are in decline? Is it any wonder that our culture and government are embracing evil and godlessness? Is it any wonder that our schools teach that there is no God but that you are gods, or the government is god?

And so, today we do remember. Despite our sin and accommodation to the fallen world and our own sinful flesh we strive to remember. Today we remember the Word of God and we keep it sacred and holy amongst us. Today we remember the many reformations the Church has undergone throughout the millennia. Luther was hardly the first to cry for reform, and, God help us, he will not be the last. Ecclesia semper reformanda est – The Church is always being reformed. How do we remember? We remember by keeping the Sabbath Day holy. We remember by gathering here at this place and time to hear the Word of the LORD and to receive His gifts. And, how do we keep the Sabbath Day holy? We “fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” The Word of our LORD is our life, apart from which we die. The Word of the LORD is the bread of which we eat and live, a spring of living water of which we drink and never thirst. The Word of the LORD is not practical advice for living, though it is good and helpful for you. The Word of the LORD does not promise you happiness or success or prosperity or health, but faith, contentment, and strength to persevere and endure. For, this world and this life is not the fullness of your life, but it is the first baby-steps of your life that will never end. The things that you believe in this life and the works that you perform in this life matter, not as works that earn and merit you forgiveness and justification, but as fruit which are the proof and confirmation of your forgiveness and justification. Those who try to earn or merit the kingdom by their works despise the Word of God and attempt to take His kingdom by violence.

How do we remember? We remember by receiving God’s Word, and His Word made visible, touchable, and tasteable in the Blessed Sacraments, the Word made flesh, Jesus. Our Lord Jesus commands us to make disciples by baptizing and teaching all He has commanded. However, Christians have forgotten this Word of the LORD and seemingly despise it. They declare people to be Christian simply because they feel that they are, or say that they are, even while they willfully and defiantly live and act in disobedience to His commands and teach others to do the same. No, in place of a steady diet of holy things, things that are truly good for us and give us life, we have indulged ourselves upon garbage, a sewer of entertainment and corrupt media, not to mention the indoctrination of the public school system which actively seeks to destroy belief in God, in the Christian faith and its doctrines, in biblical morality, values, and ethics. We do not bring our children to the altar of Jesus, but we bring them to altars of football and soccer, of television and video games, or just sleeping in, and we wonder why they don’t believe in God, why they don’t behave like Christians, why they view pornography and engage in pre-marital sexual acts, and experiment with drugs, and have short attention spans and will not tolerate anything that demands patience and attention and analysis and critique, anything that does not gratify immediately but takes work and effort. We wonder why they don’t come to church, when we their parents don’t bring them, when we their parents don’t come to church. We wonder why people leave and others do not come. It is because we, as a people, even as a people who consider themselves to be Christian, do not remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy, but we despise preaching and the Word of God and crave and lust for the words of men.

And so, we despair and wring our hands and contemplate lowering our standards, modernizing, and becoming more friendly and welcoming to a culture that stands in direct opposition to the Word of God and His commandments and hates and despises them. God has given us an Ark, but we choose to stand outside its doors cursing His Name and drown in the flood of His wrath. Or, perhaps the problem is messenger? That is what Satan would have you believe. He causes your ears to itch and tempts you to find a false prophet who will scratch them preaching, “Peace, peace, where there is no peace.” Well, there is an easy and surefire way to tell if your pastor is a false teacher, but it requires your not despising and inflicting violence upon the Word of God. Check what he preaches and teaches against the Word of God – the real and true Word of God, and not some baloney you’ve heard elsewhere or made up yourself. The question that faces every Christian individually and every congregation corporately is this: Does the Word of God claim authority over me, or do I claim authority over Him? If your answer to this question is the former, then you are a Christian and God’s child. If your answer is the latter, then you are no Christian and you have made yourself to be your god.

This is my God (point to crucifix) – Christ crucified. This is your God. This is the God of all true Christians. Now, how does this look to the world, to man’s reason and vaunted wisdom, and to the culture? Weak, sad, pathetic, pitiable, humiliating, a disgrace. Well, as the world views Christ, so does it view you, O Christian. Satan tempts you to do violence to the Word of God, to do violence to Jesus Christ and Him crucified, to remove the offense and speak not of it, to hide it away in shame and speak of more seemly things. But, you are called, O Christian, to confess Christ before the world with the promise that He will confess you before His Father in heaven. But, if you deny Him before men, He will deny you saying, “Depart from me, you wicked; I never knew you.”

This time last year it was 500 years since Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, also known as the Castle Church, effectively beginning what we now commonly call the Reformation. Contrary to what many believe and claim, Luther was not protesting anything at all. Indeed, the subject of all 95 Theses was the singular practice of the selling of indulgences by which believers were told they could purchase the forgiveness of sins for their loved ones in purgatory. This idea that you can justify yourself by your works, by following the world’s word and wisdom or your own, is violence against the Word of the God. You cannot take the kingdom of heaven by violence and force. You cannot earn or merit it by your works. But, you must receive it as it comes to you from your merciful Father through His beloved and righteous Son whom He has put forward as a propitiation for your sins and for the sins of the world. Ecclesia semper reformanda est, the Church is always being reformed. I say to you that our church must be reformed still, and that reform starts right here, right now, in repentance, which is faith, and by remembering the Sabbath Day to keep it holy –not despising preaching and His Word, but holding it sacred and gladly hearing and learning it. “Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word; curb those who by deceit or sword would wrest the kingdom from Your Son and bring to naught all He has done.”

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 is a great temptation and pressure upon Christians today to think of the creation account of Genesis as figurative, metaphorical, or mythological, containing, perhaps, an overarching theme or lesson, but certainly not to be understood as literal, factual, and historical truth. And, sadly, too often, Christians today, influenced by the Enlightenment, Rationalism, and Post-Modern thinking, capitulate and agree and are quick to jettison the traditional understanding of Creation for renderings more compatible with the theory of Darwinistic Evolution and “billions of years” dating for the earth and the universe. Of course, that is for adults over the age of thirty or so. For their children in the public school systems, however, and, sadly, in even many parochial schools, they will simply have never have learned any differently unless you have taught them the truth yourselves.

Too many Christians believe that they are not losing anything essential by jettisoning a literal interpretation of the creation account and imbibing of the waters of the well of Darwinistic Evolution. After all, they will argue, a day to the LORD is as a thousand years, and a thousand year a day, right? Well, yes, that is true. The Holy Scriptures do indeed teach this. But, this passage does not say that a day IS a thousand years, but that to the LORD a day and a thousand years are no different. Thus, what this passage serves to teach is that the LORD sees all time at the same time, that He is outside of time, which He created, and that He is all knowing, unchanging, and ever-present – that is to say, the Lord is God.

You see, the creation account of Genesis communicates much, much more to us than merely the particulars of how all things came to be. The creation account of Genesis is God’s first Word of revelation about who He is, what He is like, and what we can expect from Him going forth. The first thing He reveals to us is that He is, quite simply and plainly, the beginning, the source, the origin, and the sustenance of everything. “In the beginning, God…,” period! What was before the beginning? What was before God? The claim of Genesis is, nothing. Is that preposterous? Well, it is no more preposterous than the Big Bang. Be you Christian, agnostic, atheist, or other, we all observe the same evidence. What colors our interpretation of the evidence are the presuppositions and worldviews we hold. The problem with those who insist that the Big Bang and Darwinistic Evolution are the only possible interpretation is that they hold to a presupposition and a worldview that will not allow for anything to exist in the universe that is not comprised of matter, atoms and their constituent particles. That means – no spirit, no supernatural, no soul, no God. Can that be proven? No, of course not. There were no eyewitness testimonies of the Big Bang. There is no way to reproduce and test the Big Bang or the formation of the first cell. And, so, those committed to Darwinistic Evolution and those holding to a strictly materialistic and naturalistic presupposition and worldview have no more certain ground upon which to stand than do Biblical Creationists. In truth, they have less, because Biblical Creationists do have an eyewitness testimony of creation – the LORD God, the Creator Himself.

So, let us consider just a few of the crucial and essential things our LORD God reveals about Himself in the creation account of Genesis. First, as I have already spoken of, the LORD God is the beginning, the source, the origin, and the sustenance of everything that is. Second, He created and He sustains all things by His spoken Word. These two things the Evangelist John writes of in His Gospel saying: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.” This is Scripture interpreting Scripture. Over four thousand or more years later, how did John understand the creation account? John understood the creation account literally, just as it plainly and naturally reads. Further, John makes it clear that the Word of God, by which He created all things, is Himself God; and a few verses later John states that “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling amongst us.” Here, John is referring to the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, becoming the man Jesus. And so, third of all, we see the fullness of our Holy Triune God revealed in the first three verses of Holy Scripture: In the beginning, God created, the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters, and God spoke His eternal Word saying, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Fourth, let us consider the question, “Why?” Why did God create anything at all? Surely, God has revealed the answer to this question as well in the account of creation: “In the beginning God created….” God created because He is a Creator. God’s creative work, and His creation, is a revelation of who He is and what He does. Thus, everything that is is a revelation of our Creator God, just as a son is a revelation of there being a father. There could be no son without a father; likewise, being a father necessitates there being a son. God’s being a Creator necessitates there being a creation. “In the beginning,” God did what God does…, He created.

As with being a father, being a Creator implies certain necessary truths: love, care, sustenance, protection, and preservation. Surely, sinful human fathers at times fail in these capacities, but not our holy, good, and righteous God. And so, in the LORD’s revelation of Himself as a Creator from the beginning we have a revelation of His Fatherhood, and of His love, care, sustenance, protection, and preservation. He will never leave you or forsake you.

Truly, there is much at stake in jettisoning a literal understanding of the account of creation. Not only is the LORD’s unique creation of individual species and His endowing them with the ability to reproduce their own kind at stake, along with the LORD’s establishment of humankind having dominion over all that He has made, but our faith and trust in the LORD God Himself and His creative Word is at stake. This is to say that the creation account of Genesis is the foundation upon which the Holy Scriptures are built and stand. The rest of the Scriptures flow out from and hearken back to creation. The rest of the Scriptures affirm and confirm creation. Scripture interprets Scripture. The truth is confirmed by truth. 

So, what has this to do with today’s Gospel account of an official’s faith? Indeed, everything! For, the official’s faith is in the creative power of the Word of God which is itself established in the opening verses of Genesis. The official confesses Jesus to be the Word of God incarnate by whom the heavens and the earth and everything that exists were made and are still sustained. The official came to Cana, the town where Jesus performed His first miracle, changing water into wine, because He believed that Jesus could heal his son who was near death. The official wanted Jesus to come to his home and heal his son. But, Jesus took this opportunity to direct the man’s faith to God’s creative Word as opposed to signs and miracles. Truly, the signs and miracles of creation are all that anyone should ever need! Thus, Jesus simply told the man to “Go,” with the promise, “your son will live.” The man went in faith at Jesus’ Word and, before he returned home, was met with the news that his son had recovered at the precise moment Jesus said “Your son will live.”

Christ’s Church is suffering from a crisis of faith – faith in the creative Word of God. But, apart from the Word of the LORD, we have no defense from the Enemy’s attacks. All that armor St. Paul describes in the Epistle lesson is defensive armor, designed to protect you against the devil’s assaults. The only offensive weapon is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of the Lord. This is why Satan attacks your faith in the Word of the Lord. He knows all too well that if he can shake your faith in the Word, then he can get you to believe all his lies and deceptions.

“Did God really say?” is still his question to you. Did God really say He is the beginning, the source, the origin, and the sustenance of everything? Yes, He really did! Did God really say He created everything that is in six days? Yes, He really did! Did God really say He created each species of plant and animal unique and distinct, having the capacity to reproduce its own kind? Yes, He really did! Did God really say that He would send the Seed of the woman to crush the seed of the serpent’s head? Yes, He really did! And God has kept His Word. God always keeps His Word.

God’s Word became flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary and made His dwelling amongst us as a man. God’s Word was conceived, born, suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. God’s Word is present with you and for you now, Word and Water, Body and Blood, to forgive your sins, strengthen your faith, clothe you and equip you with the defensive armor of God that you may withstand the flaming darts of the evil one. The Lord bless you and keep you steadfast in His Word.

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.

God is holy, and God commands that you must be holy as He is holy. But, what does it mean to be holy? For God to be holy means that He is not like you. God is wholly other than you; His holiness is the state of His being. And, for you to be holy is not what you think, it is not to be moral. Holiness is not morality, and sanctification is not moral improvement or self-improvement. Holiness is a state of being in which you share something of God’s holiness, for only God is holy. Your Holy God makes you holy in the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. The pre-requisite for sharing in God’s holiness is purity, being cleansed of stain of your sin guilt – it is to be justified, before being sanctified. Only God is holy. Thus, when He commands that you must be holy as He is holy, He is not commanding something for you to do, He is commanding something for you to be. In fact, He is declaring something about you that is true – you are holy – because God has made you holy in the atoning death and resurrection of His Son. In Christ, you are clean and you are holy, you are justified and you are sanctified. And this is entirely God’s work, done for you, done to you, in Jesus Christ your Lord.

To shed more light upon this truth, let us consider these very familiar words of Jesus: For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Now, this is not merely a description of God’s great affection for you, His love for you, though it is that, but, first and foremost, this is an explanation of the very way in which God has loved you – God has loved you like this: He gave His only Son for you. God gave His Son, not for His chosen people, not for the moral and the upright, not for the faithful and the good, but, God gave His Son for the world – that the world, and everyone in it, would be holy as He is holy.

This is the doctrine of objective justification – That is to say that the reason that you are pure and clean before God lies entirely outside of you in the objective death and resurrection of God’s Son Jesus Christ. Jesus, the Lamb of God, died for the sins of the entire world. This is the doctrine of Universal Atonement – That is to say that Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection was for the entire world and for everyone it. There is no one who has not been cleansed in the blood of the Lamb of God. Therefore, there is reconciliation with God the Father, there is forgiveness, there is cleanness from sins, there is purity and there is holiness for everyone. This is an objective fact for you, for everyone you know, and for everyone that has ever lived or will ever live. 

But, do not be confused, that Jesus Christ died for all, that all are cleansed in His holy blood, does not mean that all will join in the marriage feast of the Lamb and His Bride the Church, for, as Jesus said in the parable, many are called but few are chosen. That is to say that, though all are invited through the blood of Jesus, all are atoned for, cleansed, and made holy through the blood of Jesus, many still refuse to come to God, many still refuse to receive His gifts. In the parable, some persecute and kill the Lord’s servants sent to call them to the feast. Others try to come on their own terms, by their own worth and merit and they are cast out into utter darkness. Still, all were invited, the prominent land owners and business men first, then the commoner, then the strangers, sojourners, and outcasts from the highways and the byways. All were invited, all have been cleansed, purified, and sanctified in Jesus’ blood; still, so very many refuse. So, if you find yourself in the kingdom of heaven, that is entirely to God’s credit and glory, not yours; but, if you find yourself in darkness and damnation, well, that is entirely your fault.

For, that is what the kingdom of heaven is like. The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. They were invited, that was a fact, by the king’s love and grace; all they had to do was come and receive the gifts the king desired to bestow, but they refused. Some were simply disinterested. Others were too preoccupied, to busy with work, possessions, and play. Others were belligerent, angry, and violent; they mocked the king’s servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. They were in God’s grace, but now they have incurred God’s wrath. Jesus says that they were not worthy, but that is only because they despised the Lord’s gracious invitation. They counted their own affairs of greater value than the Lord’s invitation. Therefore, they are judged according to their own works and merits and worth, and they are condemned. The King orders the destruction of those murderers and the burning of their cities. They will be as stubble.

But, then the king sent his servants, amazingly,  to gather both the good and the bad and to invite them to the feast, for, the good and the bad, alike, are holy in Jesus’ blood, and the wedding hall was full of guests. Yet, there was one man who did not have a wedding garment. Now, you must remember that none of these guests was prepared to attend a great wedding banquet; just moments earlier they were out and about their business, presumably in their normal day to day attire. So, it was the king who provided his guests with the proper wedding attire upon entering his hall. This, in fact, was a custom in Jesus’ day. Then, how is it that this one invited guest does not have on a proper wedding garment. He was an invited guest. The king addresses him as friend. He was provided clothing just like all the other guests, but he refused to wear it; he rejected the king’s provided clothing. Again, the king is angry; He commanded his servants to “Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Perhaps the weeping and the gnashing is due to the fact that the souls there were invited guests, they had everything, and they willfully chose to reject it because of their pride, envy, sloth, or whatever. It was their own damned fault.

For, God is holy, and God commands that you must be holy as He is holy. And, God has made you holy in the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. You are invited to the wedding feast and you have been clothed in Christ’s righteousness that covers all you sins. If you refuse God’s gracious invitation and do not come to Him, if you reject the garment of Christ’s righteousness, then you stand only with what you have to offer, your sin-tainted works, your sin-corrupted flesh and blood. God is holy, and God commands that you must be holy as He is holy. And, God has made you holy in the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus. But, you are not holy on your own. And, to accept God’s invitation and His garment of righteousness is not a choice that you make or a work that you do, but, it is the way things are, a true and present reality, by God’s grace, mercy, love, and holy will. The only choice that you make is to say “No”, to reject God’s grace, mercy, and justification. God has already judged you holy and righteous in Jesus Christ, to reject this is to stand in His condemnation and wrath. All persons in the parables that end up being judged were first chosen.

God is not like you, He is wholly other. God is holy, but He is not remote. God is with you, and He has invited you to this foretaste of His wedding feast now. For, the Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel, enlightened you with His gifts, sanctified and kept you in the true faith. He has clothed you in the baptismal garments of Christ’s righteousness and you are clean. And, now He feeds you with the choicest of meats and the finest of wines in the holy body and the precious blood of the Son of God become Man, Jesus Christ, your Savior. The invitation reads: Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 19)

(Audio)

Matthew 9:1-8; Ephesians 4:22-28; Genesis 28:10-17

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

Throughout the Old Testament, in many and various ways, God dwelt among His people. In the beginning, Adam and Eve had a special relationship with God. They enjoyed communion with God primarily through the eating of the fruit of the Tree of Life and though abstaining from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Scriptures state that God walked and talked personally with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, though the first mention of this occurs shortly after their Fall, when they hid themselves in fear of God, knowing their sin, shame, and nakedness, and that they could no longer abide in God’s holy presence.

In Divine Mercy and Holy Love, God took action to right man’s wrong. He made a promise to the devil, to our First Parents, and to all mankind that He would send one from woman’s seed, one that would crush the devil’s head and break the curse that had enshrouded the world. From that point on, there was a sharp distinction between those who believed God, whose faith He counted to them as righteousness, and those who disbelieved. And, great, though imperfect, men of faith marked God’s faithfulness throughout the centuries and millennia, men like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and David.

In the days of Moses, Aaron, and Joshua, God dwelt amongst His people as a Pillar of Cloud by day and as a Pillar of Fire by night. The same Cloud and Fire that had enshrouded Mt. Sinai went before His people as they made their way to the Promised Land, enshrouding the Tabernacle when the people stopped and made camp and lifting up and moving on when they broke. It was the same Shekinah Glory, the presence of God, which filled the Holy of Holies in King Solomon’s temple, the Glory of God’s Real Presence, though veiled, in the midst of His people.

Because men could not come into His holy presence, God came to men in veiled forms. But, in the Incarnation, God took on the veil of human flesh and became a man: The Word became flesh and made His dwelling amongst us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

It is the Incarnation of the Son of God that is prefigured in Jacob’s ladder extending from heaven to earth. For, Jesus is the bridge between God and man. Jesus is the very gate of heaven. God’s holy angels rejoice to serve us for the sake of the Son of God become the Son of Man. Wherever Jesus is present, there God is present, and there the entire kingdom of heaven is present. For the baptized into Christ, that is everywhere! For, Christ fills all things and the whole earth proclaims the glory of the Lord! Where Christ is really present in flesh, blood, and spirit, there the angels of God ascend and descend, there life reigns over death, there darkness is dispelled by light, there is eternity now and forevermore! Truly we must confess and glorify God with Jacob, the Patriarchs, Prophets, and Apostles, with all Saints and God’s holy angels, “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

The Incarnation of the Son of God changed everything! This is why Jesus says to the paralytic “Your sins are forgiven”prior to healing the man of his paralysis. In the Incarnation of the Son of God, the Word of God made flesh and dwelling amongst us as one of us, Jesus is forgiveness. Jesus is life, Jesus is salvation, Jesus is healing, and Jesus is the resurrection now. This He teaches by forgiving sins before healing. This He teaches by forgiving sins in place of healing. “Which is easier, to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?” It is easier to say that your sins are forgiven, for they are! That is the fundamental reality! Any healing is but a physical sign of a spiritual reality. If the physical healing is not granted, that does not change the fact that you are forgiven. Yes, of course, healing is good, healing is desirable, but even the healed die in the end. Even those whom Jesus raised from the dead died again. But physical death is not spiritual death anymore than physical life is spiritual life. You have spiritual life because you have spiritual forgiveness through the Incarnation, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of the Son of God and Son of Man Jesus Christ, and that is the Truth that no one can take away from you.

The scribes were right, no one has the authority to forgive sins except God. For a man to claim otherwise is blasphemy. But, Jesus Christ is God in human flesh. And, He didn’t become human to forgive sins, He is the forgiveness of sins in human flesh. Jesus Christ is Peace between God and men, He is the bridge, the ladder between heaven and earth. Thus, it is blasphemy to say that Jesus cannot forgive sins. Jesus is the Gospel, the Good News come into our world of spiritual paralysis. Jesus is the Good News that we are set free from all that, we are forgiven! The scribes, in their zeal for the Law, desiring to protect God, actually deny that God forgives sins. That is blasphemy!

But, Jesus doesn’t hate the scribes. And, they weren’t the only ones who were confused and wrong. So, Jesus gives them the sign. He says to the paralyzed man “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And, he rose and went home. The crowds were astonished! They were afraid. And, they glorified God. But, the great Truth that they walked away with that day was the Gospel, the Good News, that God had visited His people in forgiveness and mercy and they did not perish, and, that God had given this authority to forgive sins to the man Jesus Christ.

To give such authority to Jesus is to give it to all men, for Jesus is not simply a man unto Himself, but He is all flesh, He is all men. He is the New and Greater Adam, the Father of us all, David’s Lord, and He is our brother and our neighbor, David’s Son – Son of God and Son of Man. He is Immanuel, God with us. And, He has come to grant us forgiveness, to release from the paralysis of sin and death. He has come to bring us spiritual healing now and physical healing now in accordance with His will, but perfect healing and life in the resurrection of the body on the Last Day.

Christ has come to you this day and has raised up your New Man once again in the forgiveness of your sins, and, your forgiveness is as certain on earth as it is in heaven. Now your Lord says to you, “Come, eat my flesh and drink my blood, and live; for, whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the Last Day.” This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven! For, the Incarnate Son of God Himself is present in Word, Water, Body, and Blood, and, where Christ is there is forgiveness; and where there is forgiveness, there is eternal life and salvation.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.