The Second Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 2)

(Audio)

Luke 14:15-24; 1 John 13-18; Proverbs 9:1-10

 

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

The ironic thing about wisdom is that it is the seemingly foolish, the simple, and the humble that often are proven to be the most wise. Little children are often wise. The poor are often wise. The sick and the dying are often wise. Prisoners, pariahs, and social outcasts are often wise. In fact, these are the sorts of people that are continually raised up in the Holy Scriptures as icons of wisdom and faith. This begs the question: What is wisdom? For, certainly wisdom is not mere knowledge, as even unschooled children and the simplest and uneducated can be wise. Neither is wisdom worldly success or power, for the poor and the disenfranchised can be wise too. No, wisdom is neither knowledge, nor success, nor power, nor anything else that the world and humanity values, but wisdom has to do with a right relationship with the LORD – a relationship of fear, love, and trust in the LORD above all things – for, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

It should be no surprise then that the Wisdom of the LORD runs counter to the wisdom of the world and of men. “The foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom,” for the world and men count foolish things as wisdom, evil things as good, temporal things as eternal, and heretical and blasphemous things as valuable and virtuous. So it was that Jesus was reclining at a banquet when a foolish man bellowed out, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Just prior Jesus had chided the master of the feast for inviting affluent guests and those who could return the favor of his invitation someday, awarding to these people the best seats at the table. Instead, Jesus directed His host, and all present, to invite “the poor, the crippled, the lame, [and] the blind” who cannot repay. No doubt enthused by Jesus’ words, this man seems, now, to be relieved and secure in counting himself unequivocally among those “Blessed… who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.” However, knowing the man’s heart, Jesus began to teach again, this time about a banquet to which the invitees refused to attend. They each had wise-seeming excuses, common excuses, maybe excuses you might have made, but their refusal was foolish, unbelief, and damnation.

The banquet was ready. All had been prepared. The invitations had been sent. There was literally nothing to do but to come. However, this was no ordinary banquet – the kind you can refuse and expect to be invited again – but this was the banquet of eternal life in heaven with the Holy Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There was only one choice, and it wasn’t to say “yes” and to come – for the invitees were already in by the gracious work, preparation, and invitation of Jesus – but the only possible human choice, the foolish and damnable choice, was to say “no,” to reject the invitation and to refuse to come to the feast. But that is precisely the choice those first invited made, and “they all alike began to make excuses.” Oh, yes, they were most practical excuses, wise even! One man had just bought some real estate and had to care for it. The field needed planting. The grass needed mowing. The house needed power washing. There was dusting to do, and so much more. Another had just purchased some livestock. They needed to be groomed and trained and fed and bred, etc. And yet another had just gotten married. There was the honeymoon, and the picking out of window treatments, and both spouses working and commuting. And that’s not to mention the families with kids! With the football and wrestling and band and orchestra and homework and camping, etc., who has time for banquets and feasts? All very practical, don’tcha think? Great excuses too! No one can argue with them. Nevertheless, a choice had been made, the only choice that could be made, and it was a foolish choice.

The Master was angry. He ordered His servant to bring in all those who had not been invited, “the poor and crippled and blind and lame.” The servant did so, and still there was room. Then the Master ordered his servant to compel still more to come to the feast so that His house would be filled. The Servant did so, and He is still doing so, but the banquet hall is filling up, and time is running out. You see, the invitation to the LORD’s banquet is not an invitation that you should refuse, no matter how wise you believe your excuses to be. Of those original invitees who refused to come, none of those who were invited shall taste of the Master’s banquet, but they will find themselves locked outside where there is only weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

In Jesus Christ, all are invited to the Master’s banquet. All are in, no exceptions, through Jesus Christ. In truth, Jesus is the invitation, and Jesus is also the feast. God so loved the world in Him and through Him that He gave Him over into death that no one who believes in Him should perish. And still, so many refuse the invitation. God has reconciled the world to Himself in Jesus Christ, not holding our sins against us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us all. Wisdom has built her house, hewn her pillars, slaughtered her beasts, mixed her wine, and set her table – It is finished. And Wisdom has sent out her servants to call the invited to the feast – Come! Come, you simple. Come, you senseless. Come, you who have nothing. “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.” You are already invited. You are in. Only you can refuse and make yourself to be out.

Now, that would be foolish, don’t you agree? “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” But why is that? The fear of the LORD is the acknowledgement that He is the LORD, that He is God, and that you are not. The fear of the LORD is the acknowledgment that He is righteous and holy and just and that you are not. The fear of the LORD is the acknowledgment that you are a poor, miserable sinner deserving temporal and eternal punishment for your sin of thought, word, and deed. But, the fear of the LORD is also the acknowledgment that the LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and that for the sake of the bitter sufferings and death of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, He has reconciled you to Himself, He has invited you to His banquet, you are in – only you can make yourself to be out.

The fear of the LORD is terror before His holiness and righteousness, His just judgment, and wrath against your sin and rebellion. If you do not feel this then you need to wake up before it’s too late. However, the fear of the LORD is also amazement, wonder, and joy in the acknowledgement that the LORD is gracious and merciful and loving and that He forgives you all your sins for the sake of Jesus who suffered and died for you that you might live. And the fear of the LORD is lived out in your life when you readily and daily acknowledge your sin and unworthiness and humble yourself before the LORD and before your neighbor. And, the fear of the LORD is confessed in worship when you confess with your words and your actions that our holy, righteous, just, merciful, gracious, and loving God is really, truly, and actually present with us, as we receive His gifts in deep reverence and humility, listening attentively and actively to His Word, singing the liturgy and the hymns to each other in recognition that they are not mere and lifeless words, but they are His Words which He has spoken to us and which we now confess as good and true as we sing them and live our lives in accordance with them.

Wisdom has built her house. She has hewn her pillars, slaughtered her beasts, mixed her wine and set her table. It is finished. The feast is prepared, for you and for all. Come, eat and be satisfied. Come, drink and be sated. “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But will you come? Will you eat and drink? Will you be blessed by the LORD? Or will you make excuses? Will you deny that you have need? Will you refuse to submit yourself, to indebt yourself to Him? The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, because fear, love, and trust in the LORD confesses the truth about yourself, what the LORD has said about you: You are a sinner in need of forgiveness. You are dead and in need of life. And you are invited by the LORD to the feast that He has prepared in His Son – a feast at which He is both Host and Meal. Come, eat the Bread of Life and live. Come, drink the life-giving blood of Life Incarnate for the forgiveness of your sins, the strengthening of your faith, and for life everlasting. You are invited, but do not attempt to bring anything besides your wretched self. And do not try to buy or merit your way in. This feast is by invitation only, without cost, and with no expectation of reciprocation. However, do know this: If you eat and drink of the LORD’s banquet, you will not return home the same as you came. You will be changed. You will be filled. And you will be blessed. You will be blessed to be a blessing to all who will not refuse the LORD’s gracious invitation. You will be His servants and His messengers. You will be His hands, and His heart, and His voice, loving, not in word and talk, but in deed and in truth, to the glory of the Father, in the Name of the Son, and through His Most Holy Spirit.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The First Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 1)

(Audio)

Luke 16:19-31; 1 John 4:16-21; Genesis 15:1-6

 

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

“You shall have no other gods.” This is the First and the greatest Commandment. But what does it mean? “You shall fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” But what does that mean? Fear, love, and trust are incredibly common and unexceptional words used nearly every day by nearly everyone regardless of nationality or language. And because these words are so common they have become clichéd, they have changed, and they have lost much of their meaning. Therefore, let us reconsider what the words fear, love, and trust mean in relation to God and to our neighbors according to God’s intention and meaning in His use of these words.

Let us begin with the word fear. Everyone knows what it means to fear in terms of being afraid or worried. But is that the meaning that the LORD desires to connote in His use of the word fear? Well, yes, and no. Fear, anxiety, and terror are natural human responses when you become aware of your sin and guilt in the face of the LORD’s holiness and righteousness. However, you can see already that there is more to fear than just discomfort, anxiety, and terror, for you would not fear the LORD’s righteousness and holiness if you did not believe in the LORD in the first place, and did not believe that He is righteous and holy and that you are not. Therefore, there is a strong element of love and trust in your fear of the LORD as well.

Understanding the fear of the LORD as trust is precisely what King Solomon had in mind when he wrote, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” The fear of the LORD is a commixture of awe and reverence along with profound love and trust. Whenever one of the LORD’s holy angels appeared before men in the Scriptures they were sore afraid for their lives. Isaiah feared for his life because of his sinful uncleanness when he beheld a vision of the Almighty upon His throne. Likewise Zechariah, Mary, and the shepherds were all sore afraid when Gabriel and the LORD’s holy angels appeared to them. So also Abram was fearful when the Word of the LORD came to Him in a vision. Abram feared the LORD because he knew his own sinful and fruitless situation. He did not have a son, thus a servant from his household would be his heir. However, Abram also feared the goodness and the love of the LORD and he trusted in the LORD, and the LORD counted Abram’s trust, his faith, to him as righteousness. The LORD promised Abram that his offspring would be as countless as the stars in the heavens. And, truly those who fear the LORD like Abram and trust in Him, in His goodness, faithfulness, word, and promise, are as countless as the stars in the heavens and as the grains of sand upon the seashore.

Abram’s fear of the LORD was at once the result of his own humility and repentance, a confession of the LORD’s holiness and righteousness, and love for and trust in the goodness, mercy, love, forgiveness, and faithfulness of the LORD. This kind of fearof the LORD is truly the beginning of both knowledge and wisdom. It is the foundation of the Christian faith and obedience to the First Commandment. St. John links these elements together beautifully and profoundly in his first epistle saying, “God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. […] There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” Fear, love, and trust in God above all things are all bound up together. When you trust in the LORD that He is good and faithful and keeps His promises, then you will have fear before Him, not terror, but an awesome and reverential fear that loves the LORD because He first loved you. This kind of love casts out fear. For the Christian, there is no longer worry, anxiety, and terror before the LORD because of His holiness and righteousness, but there is great awe and reverence and love for Him, for He is love and He is good and He keeps His promises. Therefore, you can truly fear, love, and trust in God above all things and keep His Commandments, not out of fear of punishment, but out of love for the God who is love and who has loved you unto the end. Love is king. Love abides and is the greatest of virtues. Love is the fulfilling of the Law. You were created to Love God and to love your neighbor as God has loved you. You love God and you love your neighbor with God’s love, for God is love. “Whoever loves God must also love his brother,” for “if anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” And, that brings us to today’s Gospel reading, Jesus’ story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, which He told to the loveless Pharisees that they might be turned in repentance.

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.” Jesus does not condemn wealth and fine clothing, but as in the Parable of the Dishonest Manager, which immediately precedes this story, it is the love of mammon (worldly wealth and riches) before and above God and neighbor that is condemned. Not only did the rich man love his costly purple robes, but he even wore the finest linen underwear. Moreover, he feasted sumptuously every day, even on the Sabbath, demonstrating that he neither feared, loved, and trusted in God above all things nor kept the Sabbath Day holy. In this simple introduction, Jesus culturally communicated to the Pharisees that the rich man did not love God. And, because he did not love God, he did not, he could not love his brother and his neighbor. 

The rich man passed by his neighbor, his brother, Lazarus, laid at his gates, every day, and he did not help him in any way. He didn’t even give him the scraps from his bountiful feasts, but he fed them instead to the dogs. The rich man saw Lazarus, his brother, every day, but he had no love for him. In fact, the dogs showed more love for Lazarus, licking his sores clean, than did the man whom God had blessed with abundant wealth and riches. Jesus says that both men died, and the rich man found himself in Hades int torment while Lazarus was comforted at “Abraham’s side.” Do not conclude, however, that the rich man found himself in torment after death because of his riches, and the poor man comfort because of his poverty. Neither poverty nor riches bless nor condemn in and of themselves, but it is only faithlessness, mistrust, and unbelief that condemn. Truly, men can place their faith and trust in their poverty as much as in their riches. The rich man placed his fear, love, and trust in his riches, which he, undoubtedly, attributed to his own providence, whereas the poor man, Lazarus, whose symbolic name means “God is my help,” placed his fear, love, and trust in the LORD and in His means of providing for the lily and the sparrow and for His children whom He loves more than these.

Even in the afterlife, in torment in Hades, the rich man failed to love. He viewed Lazarus, still, as beneath him, a mere servant to be commanded to serve him. Though, he did begin to show some love for his brothers and for their eternal welfare, his love did not flow from fear, love, and trust in God above all things, but from his fear and terror of lost riches and eternal torment. As in life, so in death, the rich man feared, despised, and hated God and His Commandments, and so he feared, despised, and hated his neighbor and his brother. He could only see the LORD as a cruel and demanding master. He knew not the love of God nor the freedom, peace, and contentment that flow from it. “He who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

There was another rich man, however, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who feared, loved, and trusted His Father so that he willingly became poor, even a beggar, having no place to lay His head. Yet, He was at peace and content, having all that He required to sustain His body and soul. Moreover, because He received and returned love from His Father, He could freely love His neighbor and His brother without any resentment, holding back, or sense of loss. This Rich Man also suffered and died and went to Hades, not to suffer, but to proclaim the victory of God over sin, death, and Satan. Then He returned to His Father, the firstborn of those who will rise from the dead. Ironically, the final request of the rich man in Jesus’ story was that Abraham might send Lazarus back from the dead to his brothers so that they might believe and repent. However, Abraham told him, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. […] If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”

“You shall fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” To fear God is to love Him and to trust Him. To love God is to love your neighbor and your brother as God has loved you. “By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [… for] there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” Because God has loved you in Jesus Christ, you need not fear His wrath and punishment; these have been sated and taken away. Now you fear the LORD in awesome reverence at His amazing love, mercy, grace, and goodness. And, as you have been loved by the LORD, so do you love all. Love with His love. Give of His gifts. Forgive with His forgiveness, to the glory of His holy Name in Jesus Christ.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

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.

The Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord

(Audio)

Mark 16:14-20; Acts 1:1-11; 2 Kings 2:5-15

 

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

The Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord is the forgotten feast, no doubt because it falls on a Thursday. And yet, the Ascension is so important that all three of the Ecumenical Creeds confess it, many of our Lutheran congregations are named Ascension, and the image of Jesus Ascending is frequently depicted in statuary and in stained-glass in our churches, often above or within the reredos behind the altar. Yes, indeed, the Ascension of Our Lord is of supreme importance, for it indicates that Jesus’ self-sacrifice was accepted by His Father and that there is a place for us humans in the glorious presence of our Holy Triune God, for a human man now sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven.

Yes, Jesus ascended in His resurrected, glorified, fully human body and soul. This should go without saying, but I’ve found that a lot of well-meaning Christians do not realize this monumentally important truth. They simply haven’t thought about it, or they have wrongly believed that it was merely a spiritual ascension. St. Paul has written, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” Similarly, if Christ has not ascended bodily then we have no place in the presence of God in His glory. Additionally, if Christ has not ascended bodily, then the Holy Spirit could not have come to us and Christ could not be present in His Baptism, Supper, or in His Church proclaiming the Gospel and forgiving our sins.

Jesus taught His disciples that it was good for them that He return to His Father, for He would then send to them the Holy Spirit as a comforter, counselor, and guide. He did precisely that ten days after His Ascension, on the Feast of Pentecost. From Pentecost on, the Apostles no longer doubted or feared for their lives, but the Holy Spirit made them bold proclaimers of Christ and the forgiveness of sins and they died as martyrs for their confession of Him. It is the Holy Spirit who “has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” Apart from this work of the Holy Spirit I could not “by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him.”

Jesus has ascended to the right hand of His Father in Heaven. This is not a location so much as it is a relationship. The truth is, the right hand of the Lord is everywhere, and Jesus now fills all things bodily. It is for this very reason that we believe, teach, and confess that Jesus’ true body and true blood are in, with, and under the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper, just as He said. One of our catechetical hymns proclaims this confession (“Lord Jesus Christ, You Have Prepared” LSB 622): “Yet, Savior, You are not confined to any habitation; but You are present even now here with Your congregation;” “We eat this bread and drink this cup, Your precious Word believing that Your true body and Your blood our lips are here receiving;” “Though reason cannot understand, yet faith this truth embraces: Your body, Lord, is even now at once in many places. I leave to You how this can be; Your Word alone suffices me; I trust its truth unfailing.” 

From the right hand of His Father Jesus now reigns over everything. Jesus’ Ascension was His coronation as King over heaven and earth. St. Paul speaks of this truth in Ephesians chapter one: “[The LORD] raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Likewise, Jesus Himself taught in Matthew 28: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” and commissioned His Church saying, “Go therefore and 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.” Because of Jesus’ bodily ascension, this is most certainly true.

Truly, along with the Incarnation and Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection, the Ascension of Our Lord was God’s plan from the very beginning. The LORD’s desire is to dwell with His people, to commune with them. Our First Parents enjoyed a foretaste of this communion in the Garden before the Fall, but we all know the result of their tragic choices, for they are our own sin as well. Still the LORD desired to dwell with His people, so He instituted the Tabernacle and placed within it the Ark of the Covenant. The LORD gave His people the sacrifices to which He attached His Word of promise that He would overlook their sins until He would wash them away completely by the blood of the sacrifice He would make of His holy, righteous, and innocent Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The LORD’s plan was always to restore humankind to a right relationship with Himself. Through the Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, the LORD has done just that. A human man now resides at the right hand of God the Father, assuring that humankind has a place, a place of highest honor, in the glorious presence of our Holy Triune God. We have been baptized into Jesus and the Holy Spirit has taken up residence within us, and we have faith in Christ who fulfilled God’s Law for us, suffered and died in our place, was raised from death to life that cannot die, who now sits at the right hand of God the Father ruling and reigning over heaven and earth. He is the first of us to be raised, and the guarantee that we will be raised, for in Him we even now have passed over from death to life.

And He is coming again, soon. In the same way in which we saw Him go will He return upon the clouds. Every eye will see Him. Every knee will bow before Him, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. Every tongue will declare Him Lord, and God the Father will be glorified.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Specks, Logs, and Loving Our Brother

“Judge not,” you say? “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” – Inigo Montoya, “The Princess Bride”

Perhaps you recognize this little play on a catchphrase from the beloved film, “The Princess Bride?” The phrase “Judge not,” from Matthew 7:1, is at once one of the most quoted and abused verses in the Holy Scriptures. It’s an effective mouth-stopper when the mouth you wish to stop is claiming that some behavior or another is contrary to God’s Word and Commandments and therefore sinful. “Judge not!” is to say, “Shut up! You’re not supposed to judge anyone but yourself.”

But is that Jesus’ meaning? No, it is not. Context makes this clear as Jesus goes on to speak of “specks” and “logs” in our eyes, and how rightly to remove them: “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3). Both “speck” and “log” are metaphors for sin, the point being we are all sinners deserving judgment (Romans 3:10, 23).

The Greek word krino translated as “judge” in this passage can mean “to judge,” “to condemn,” or “to discern,” three related, but distinct, nuances in meaning. The context makes it clear that Jesus means “condemn not,” which is to say, don’t write anyone off as a lost cause or beyond forgiveness. Jesus elucidates this by saying, “First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). Jesus does not say that we should ignore or fail to notice the speck in our brother’s eye, and He most definitely does not say that we should affirm or bless it, but rather that we should help our brother to remove the speck that is in his eye. To do that, however, we must first acknowledge and confess the logs in our own eyes, our own sin, repent, and receive forgiveness, and so have that log removed. To recognize and call out a brother’s sin, therefore, is not to judge and condemn him, but it is to love and to help him so that he does not suffer harm or harm others, but this must be done in selfless humility, repentance, and love.

Someone will object, “Who can judge what is sin and sinful behavior?” Apart from the Holy Scriptures, the Word of God, there is no such authority, and the word sin is meaningless. But the Word of God is the authority, and the Ten Commandments are the Law, rule, measure, and standard over us all. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). Indeed, the Law still stands as Jesus makes clear in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21-22; 27-28). When something is fulfilled, it has not been abolished, but it has been changed. Jesus has fulfilled the Law; The Law is still there, but our relationship to it has changed. No longer need we obey it out of compulsion and fear of punishment, but we may obey the Law freely and without fear, even when we fail, out of love for Jesus and God our Father, and out of love for one another redeemed and forgiven by God in Jesus Christ. Yes, we may obey it freely and without fear when we fail and sin, for we have a loving Savior who has fulfilled the Law for us and has taken its condemnation and punishment upon Himself.

This is good news for sinners; this is the Gospel. But specks and logs must be removed. It will do no good to ignore them or to pretend they are not a problem. Jesus came to call, not the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). Sin isn’t something to be proud of, but to repent of. The good news is that sin is forgiven in Jesus for those who trust in Him, love His Word and Commandments, and strive to live accordingly. No, we are not to judge and condemn our brother, for we are forgiven sinners too, but forgiven sinners are to so love their brother that they do not leave them in their sin but exhort them to repent and receive forgiveness in Jesus.

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

Rogate - The Sixth Sunday of Easter (Easter 6)

(Audio)

John 16:23-33; James 1:22-27; Numbers 21:4-9

 

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

Praying does not come to you naturally. Often you do not know what to say. Undoubtedly, you have heard and you have seen others pray, and often you feel that you are not pious or eloquent enough in your prayers. And, be honest with yourself, sometimes you even feel ridiculous, muttering words into the air when you are alone, or even worse, when you are in the presence of others. And then, there are those times when you are filled with anger, resentment, and frustration, when you know that you should pray, but you just don’t feel like it, and you feel like a hypocrite and like it’s all so futile anyway.

Well, if it makes you feel any better, you are not in bad company, for Jesus’ disciples often found it difficult to pray as well. In fact, Jesus gave them the Lord’s Prayer as a model in answer to their asking Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” How to pray is something you have to learn, and I repeat, because prayer does not come to you naturally. The Lord’s Prayer is a master prayer, not so much due to its form or its structure, but because of its doctrine and its theology: It confesses God as God, and it confesses you to be His child, His creature and subject. Thus, any prayer that begins with an argument that you’ve done well, or that you’ve tried, or that at least you’re better than that poor schlep over there, is completely out of place and is, in fact, no prayer at all, but it is irreverent babbling or as a noisy gong or clanging cymbal.

Irreverent babbling? A noisy gong or clanging cymbal? Yes, I have felt that way about my prayers. How about you? The problem is that you and I too often pray from our need instead of from God’s promises. Do you bring a shopping list of needs to God in your prayers as if He doesn’t already know what you need, and more, and better, than you do? Do you pray out of your troubles and trials? Do you pray out of disaster and calamity? Do you pray out of guilt and shame? Do you pray out of fears and doubts? Do you pray out of despair and death? Do you believe that you know these needs better than anyone else? Is it often difficult for you to pray “as God wills”? Do you live with the haunting fear that God does not know your needs as you do and that God will not give you what you think and what you know you need? Do you find it a betrayal of prayer to lay out all that you have determined is needed and then to end it all “in accordance with God’s will”? Why is it so hard for you to let God be God, to let Him love you as He chooses to love you, to receive from Him what He knows is good and best for you and for those you love?

Jesus teaches you to pray “Our Father” because God is your Father and He loves you and will only give to you and permit to befall you what will work for your good. As your human father is your source of being, who was before you and who brought you into this life and world, so your heavenly Father is the source of all creation who has made and still sustains all things. Thus, there is nothing in this life and world that is outside of His knowledge and power and He works all things, even the terrible and horrible things, toward His good purpose for you. Likewise, your heavenly Father alone is holy and righteous and good. He is the source of all goodness and the measure of all righteousness, who never wavers or changes. You can trust in Him. You can count on Him. What He has promised He will most assuredly do.

You confess this when you pray “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” When you pray this petition, you are asking that your will would be realigned with God’s will, that you would want, seek, and desire what is in accordance with His good and perfect will. Again, you can trust that your heavenly Father seeks only what is good for you, even if that means your passing through times of trial and tribulation, for you will pass through, you will persevere and you will overcome, just as He has promised. In this is peace and contentment, for, the peace that the Father gives is radically different from the peace that the world offers. The Father’s peace is true peace, satisfaction and contentment with what He provides, while the world’s peace is a fleeting and insatiable peace that never satisfies, but only disappoints, leaving you longing for, desiring for, wanting and needing something more, something else, something different. Your heavenly Father knows what you need, even before you ask, even when you do not know, and He lovingly gives you and provides you all that you need to sustain and to support your body and life.

Indeed, this is what is meant by daily bread. Daily bread is bread sufficient for the day, replenished, as need be, each and every day that you live. It is like the manna with which God sustained Israel in the wilderness. God provided each person what they needed, which was not always what they thought they needed or wanted. Sometimes they did not trust in the LORD to provide, and they hoarded leftover bread for days to come, but it spoiled and stank and bred worms. God knows what you need and He gladly provides you food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like. All this is meant by daily bread. And yet, so much more than what preserves the body does your heavenly Father give you what is good for your soul: His living and life-giving Word and the precious body and holy blood of His Word made flesh, Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, eternal life, and salvation.

Do you pray to God for forgiveness? Do you pray to God for the will, the love, and the strength to forgive others as God has forgiven you in Jesus Christ? Indeed, these two are connected. You can only forgive others if you yourself have been forgiven. And, if you have been forgiven by God, and you most assuredly have, then you must forgive, for the freed slave cannot in turn hold another in bondage. By so doing, you remain yourself in bondage to sin and death. Give as you have been given to. Bless as you have been blessed. Forgive as you have been forgiven, even if you are repaid with evil, hatred, and violence.

Do you recognize prayer as a defense against temptation? God does not tempt you, but the devil, the world, and your own sinful nature seek to deceive you and mislead you into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Do you pray to your heavenly Father to preserve and to protect you from these? He has promised never to leave you or forsake you, but that He is always with you, in the valley of the shadow of death or in the depths of Hades, there is nowhere you can go that He is not there. And, do you pray for deliverance from the evil one? Or, do you believe that man is your only enemy? I tell you that no man is truly your enemy but that your enemy is one, the devil who desires only that you pray not, that you believe not, and that you die in sin and unbelief. For, he is a bitter and angry foe who knows that he is already defeated and that his power and influence is quickly coming to an end.

Do you pray from your need instead of from God’s promises? God has promised to hear and to answer your prayers through Christ Jesus so that whatever you ask in His Name, He will give it to you. To pray in Jesus’ Name is to pray in accordance with what pleases God, in accordance with His holiness, His goodness, and with His good and perfect will. He has promised to hear you and to answer you because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, for Jesus has ascended to the right hand of His Father in heaven, and He stands there as the doorway, the path, and the way through which men may pass and enter into the presence of God’s holiness. And this door, path, and way are very near to you, for they are as near to you as is Jesus Christ who fills all things.

Do you sometimes feel as if God does not have your best interest at heart or that He is reluctant to give you what you think you want and need? Though there are surely exceptions, even the most average of human fathers desire the best for their children. How much more does your heavenly Father desire what is good and beneficial for you and for all His children?

Julian of Norwich, a 15^th century Christian mystic, has written, “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. It is laying hold of God’s willingness.” God is willing to give you whatever you ask in Jesus’ Name that you will be strengthened in faith, in body and in soul, and that you will persevere against the temptations of the evil one, the world, and your own sinful nature. When you pray, pray not from your need, but from God’s promises. And, what has your heavenly Father promised you? He has promised to preserve and keep you from temptation and the assaults of the devil. He has promised to never leave or forsake you, but to be with you always. He has promised you forgiveness of your sins and eternal life with Him in the resurrection on the Last Day through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And, when you pray, do not worry so much about what to say or how you say it, but talk to God as a son or as a daughter would talk to their loving father, trusting that He loves you, that He loves having you talk to Him, that He wants to do for you all that is good and beneficial for you, and that, even when He disciplines you, He will never hurt or harm you out of malice or anger, but that He will keep you and preserve you through trial and tribulation, suffering, and even death, unto life everlasting.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.