Wednesday in Laetare - The Fourth Week of Lent (Lent 4)

(Audio)

John 12:20-36; Ephesians 2:1-10; Jonah 2:1-10; Psalm 103

 

Jesus Christ, My Lord: From Death to Life – Creator / Life-Giver

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

There is a fundamental Christian truth that is the most difficult for us to admit and to confess, while being the most liberating at the same time: “We are all conceived and born sinful and are under the power of the devil until Christ claims us as His own.” What that means is that when we are conceived and born, before we’ve even had a thought, inclination, or desire, before we’ve learned language or spoken a word or done anything at all, we are dead, spiritually dead, D-E-A-D DEAD, dead like Lazarus, we “stinketh.” And yet it’s worse than that! Not only are we spiritually dead, but we are hostile and opposed to God and His Word, Commandments, and Will. Using our own reason and strength we cannot believe in, trust in, or make any movement towards the LORD or His Christ. All we can do is rot and decay in our sin, iniquity, and death, because that’s what dead things do.

It is so very difficult for us to admit and to confess that we are spiritually dead; and yet, it is the most liberating thing we can do. For, only those who have nothing of their own can truly appreciate the value of a gift, of grace. Only sinners can be forgiven, only slaves can be set free, and only the dead can be raised to life. Moreover, that’s why Jesus became a man. Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. Jesus came to call dead sinners like you and me and all of us to new and forever life in Him.

The scribes and the Pharisees demanded a sign from Jesus, but Jesus answered them saying, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” What is the “sign of the prophet Jonah”? Jesus continued, “Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Now, it’s entirely clear to us that Jesus is referring to His death, burial, and resurrection. However, there is more to the “sign of Jonah” than that. The “sign of Jonah” means the death of the perfect man for all sinful men. This is nothing less than the harrowing of hell. As Jonah was swallowed up by the great fish and was in its belly three days and three nights in the depths of the sea, at the very root and foundation of the mountains, so Jesus was swallowed up by death and truly experienced its thrall, but death could not hold the righteous Son of Man and was burst open and destroyed, foreshadowed by the great fish expelling Jonah safely onto dry land.

In His Incarnation, Jesus not only took on human flesh, He took on all humanity. “God became man, so that man might become God.” When Jesus died, you died, I died, all humankind died. And when He rose, the promise and hope of your resurrection, my resurrection, and the resurrection of all who trust and believe on Him rose. St. Peter writes, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared.” Jesus did not go to hell to suffer; indeed, all suffering was fulfilled, completed, and finished on the cross. What we confess in the Creed is that Jesus descended into hell to proclaim His victory over sin, death, and the devil, a death which affected salvation for those who believed in the promise of the Seed before the Incarnation every bit as much as for those thereafter.

Our resurrected Lord was still Jesus, the same Jesus the Apostles had known, but clearly more. While He passed through the stone that sealed His tomb as easily as through the locked door of the upper room, and He could appear and disappear at will and ascend bodily into the heavens, still the fullness of His glory remains yet to unveiled and revealed until His return, the day of resurrection and the judgment of all humankind. Now, and forever, Jesus is the “Lamb standing as though slain,” even now leading a host of captives back to Paradise through death into life that cannot die.

Jesus compared Himself to a grain of wheat sown in the soil of this Earth. A grain of wheat does nothing and is of no value unless it splits open and dies. “Truly, truly,” Jesus says, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Jesus is the grain of wheat who died, and you, dear Christian, are the fruit. Because Jesus died, you live. And because Jesus died, you live even though you die. Indeed, you must follow Jesus through death, first dying to yourself in this life and world, and living to God through Jesus, and then rising from death in and through Jesus who is the resurrection and the life.

Only sinners can be forgiven. Only the dead can be raised. In Jesus, the Greater Jonah, you are forgiven, death has been defeated, and you have already been raised to new life that cannot die through faith in Him and baptism into Him. You have literally, spiritually, been born into a new life, a new creation. Your new life in Jesus is nourished and sustained by the spiritual food of God’s Word and Sacraments, and it is lived in daily repentance through faith and trust in the Father’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ. You are a part of Jesus, a branch grafted into the True Vine, and the fruit you bear is Jesus’ fruit, good works which serve our neighbor and glorify God.

Our Lord heard Jonah’s cries. He forgave him his sins. God rescued him from the womb of hell itself. Like Jonah, we can remember with thanksgiving that God has brought us up from the bottomless pit and seated us in a safe place. The radical problem, our being dead, is solved by the radical solution, Jesus’ death and resurrection. Our sanctification is not just a change of attitudes or the introduction of certain habits, but it is a product of our being alive in Christ. Our new life in Christ is shaped to do good works. This too is the Lord’s doing.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Laetare - The Fourth Sunday in Lent (Lent 4)

(Audio)

John 6:1-15; Galatians 4:21-31; Exodus 16:2-21

 

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

You’ve heard the saying, “Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and he’ll eat forever.” In case you’re wondering, however, that isn’t in the Bible. In fact, it’s really a very non-Christian saying. Knowing how to fish won’t keep you eating, or living, for a single day or longer than the LORD wills to grant you life, let alone forever. It’s a very humanistic saying, focusing the individual back to herself and her efforts, knowledge, and wisdom. It’s actually very similar to another popular saying that’s not in the Bible: “God helps those who help themselves.” Nothing could be further from the teaching of the Scriptures, the teaching of Jesus, and the teaching of the Apostles thereafter. You are not called to become more and more self-reliant, but you are called to become less and less selfish and more and more selfless. The chief way in which you make this regression, which is really progress, is by dying to yourself and living in Christ. That is to say, by realizing your spiritual (and physical!) helplessness and dependence upon God in Christ, you become ever more receptive to His gifts, life, and spirit lived in and through you, for man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Thus, your Lord teaches you to pray for daily bread – literally, bread for the present day. This was the lesson of the manna in the wilderness. The children of Israel were commanded to collect only enough manna for their families for one day. If they collected less, providentially they had enough for all to eat and be satisfied. And, if they collected more, the surplus spoiled and bred worms. What about tomorrow, then? Pray again for daily bread, if the LORD should grant you a tomorrow. The lesson is this: Trust in the LORD who provides bread for the day, namely all that you need to sustain your body and your life each and every day He grants them to you.

“But, Pastor, you’ve still got to do something, right? You’ve got to collect the manna, right? You’ve got to work and earn money and buy your bread, right?” Yes, of course you do. Adam and Eve were created to work the Garden. Yet, still, the LORD provided them fruit from the trees, crops from the field, water from the stream, and all else they needed for their bodies and their lives. The point is that the LORD provides what you need through the hands and the hearts, the labor, and the efforts of the creatures He has created and given you as a gift. Thus, you are a vital and necessary part of the system the LORD has created to provide for and to sustain His creatures. You must do what you have been given to do – this is your vocation, – but do not put your faith and trust in your efforts, your work, your merit, and in your presumed independence, for this is a lie of the devil and it leads you away from God to death for yourself and for others who suffer for your failure to live your vocation in service of others to the glory of God.

The feeding of the five thousand was a test of faith, faith in God’s Word of Promise, faith in God’s providence despite what the natural eyes see and human reason and wisdom think. The great crowds that followed Jesus were not there because of faith but because of the wondrous signs He had performed. They were like the children of Israel, who were mighty impressed by the LORD after the wondrous signs of the Exodus, but when they found themselves in the wilderness without food and hungry, how quickly their disposition changed. “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” Jesus asked Philip. He said this to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” That was merely a statement of fact. Philip had no delusion that they could provide bread for the crowds in a natural manner. So far, so good. But then, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” That was also a statement of fact, but there was a just a twinge of despair in it. Contrast Andrew’s statement to Mary’s, the Mother of our Lord, when they ran out of wine at the Wedding In Cana – Mary simply stated that they had run out of wine. However, she fully believed that Jesus could fix the problem. Andrew? Not so much.

Similarly, the children of Israel grumbled in the wilderness. Despite the wondrous signs they had witnessed by the LORD in their Exodus out of Egypt, when they began to be hungry and their resources and resourcefulness were depleted, how quickly they began to despair and disbelieve. The crowds on the mountaintop were no different. And, sadly, we are often no different either. When we have plenty, and things are going well in our families, our nation, and our church, we tend to credit ourselves for our success. But, when things begin to go south, someone or something else is to blame – maybe even God.

Thus, the feeding of the five thousand is not just another wondrous sign. That’s what the unbelieving crowds wanted. It is likely that, if that was all there was to it, our Lord Jesus would not have granted the sign at all. But what is key here is that it was just before the Passover. Though the Passover involved the children of Israel eating and being sustained throughout their time of pilgrimage, its central purpose was to foreshadow the atoning work and sacrifice the LORD would make in the death of His Son Jesus for the sins of the world. The visible reality was that there was not enough bread for every man, woman, and child to get a crumb. But the greater reality was that the Bread of Life, whom the manna in the wilderness represented, was among them to care for and to provide for them. As the LORD provided the children of Israel daily bread throughout their wilderness pilgrimage to the Promised Land, so the LORD has provided His Son, Jesus, the Bread of Life and the Passover Lamb of God to sustain and redeem all the world in body, soul, and everlasting life.

Jesus blessed the bread and the fish and had His disciples distribute them to the crowds. There were only five loaves and two fish. That’s all there was. According to physical reality, what the eyes could see, what human reason could understand, the situation was hopeless. Yet, as the food was distributed, there was enough – there was simply enough. Just as Elijah promised the widow of Zarephath, “The jar of flour shall not be spent and the jug of oil shall not be empty.” No one saw it happen. Jesus didn’t make a big scene, waving His hands in the air, speaking in tongues. He simply blessed the food, giving thanks to His Father, and had the disciples distribute the goods in their normal, vocational way. The LORD continues to provide for and sustain you today in the same way. In fact, you are an important, necessary, and essential part of His means of distribution.

The lesson is that things are not always what they appear. What we value according to the flesh and world is not always truly valuable. What appears to be weak and humble, even despised, can be pressed into service to do wondrous things. Very soon, Jesus would go to the cross for the sins of the world. He would look weak, helpless, and pathetic. The religious leaders of the Jews, the Romans, even Satan and his demons would think they had won. His disciples would despair saying, “We had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel.” Thus, the feeding of the five thousand is a test, training, and preparation for that day and the days that would follow. We walk by faith and not by sight. We must have eyes that hear and ears that see. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.

Like Moses in the Exodus, Jesus has come to lead you out of slavery and into freedom. That is what St. Paul would teach you in his Epistle to the Galatians. The two women, Hagar and Sarah, are like two covenants, the Law and the Gospel, and two mountains, Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. “Abraham had two sons, one by [Hagar] a slave woman and one by [Sarah] a free woman.” St. Paul says that these women can be understood allegorically as two covenants, “One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar,” and “she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.” The other, Sarah, corresponds to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, and is free. It is Sarah, the new covenant, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Gospel that St. Paul says is our mother.

Your life comes from the Gospel, not from the Law. But your flesh both loves and hates the Law, at once boastfully believing that it can keep it and do it but then cursing it when you fail. The temptation you continually face is to strive to fulfill the Law like the slave children of Hagar, Mount Sinai, rather than to live in the Gospel freedom of the children of Sarah, Mount Zion. Your temptation is to put your fear, love, and trust in signs and wonders and in your own works rather than in the Word and Promise of the LORD fulfilled and kept for you in Jesus Christ. Signs and wonders are fine and good, should the LORD choose to grant them. But your faith and trust must not be in these. As our resurrected Lord spoke to Thomas the Sunday after Easter, “Have you believed because you have seen? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Your Lord Jesus calls you by His Spirit to a living faith – a faith that lives, not by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. This is the Gospel, and it brings true and lasting freedom, for you are saved, not by works, and not by signs and wonders, but by faith in the Gospel Word and Promise of God fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Yet, because of your flesh and humanity, which God created good and redeemed from sin and death, He also gives you bread and wine and water that you may eat and drink and be forgiven. These elements, when the Word of God is attached to them, deliver what His Word of Promise says: They give the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation to those who believe these words, “Given and shed for you.” Receive and believe what the LORD gives, provides, and delivers, and you will remain free in His grace and live.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday in Oculi - The Third Week of Lent

(Audio)

John 8:31-38; Galatians 4:1-7; Exodus 6:1-8; Psalm 130

 

Jesus Christ, My Lord: From Slave to Son - Redeemer

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

When I was in college post-modernism was all the rage. Simply put, post-modernism is the theory that “truth” is subjective because all people perceive the world from their own unique perspective and are generally unable to perceive it any other way. Thus, the person born into poverty or oppression perceives the world in one way, while the person born into affluence and privilege perceives the world in another way. Further, since we can only perceive the world according to the unique conditions and limitations of our perceptions, we can never know the world “as it truly is,” but only as we perceive it. Therefore, according to the theory, no one can make the claim that their perception of the world is the “true” one, for how could you “truly” know? And, as a result, the theory concludes, no one can judge another person’s perception of “truth” as being valid or invalid, superior or inferior, or truly True. Thus, truth is subjective, and what is true is what’s true for you.

Now, if you’re thinking that this is a modern problem, that no one truly questioned truth until truly recently, I will remind you of the infamous words of Pontius Pilate to our Lord Jesus, “What is truth?” Ironically, Pilate was literally staring Truth in the face. And before our Lord’s Passion was the Enemy’s temptation of our First Parents in the Garden, “Did God actually say…?” So, no, the subjectivity and denial of truth has been with us since the very beginning.

John chapter six records for us the very moment that many of Jesus’ disciples stopped believing in the Truth; That is to say, they stopped believing in Jesus. They were attracted to His teaching, because He taught with authority, not like the scribes and the Pharisees. They were intrigued by his miracles and signs – the blind see, the lame walk, the hungry are fed, the forces of nature obey Him, He even raises the dead to life! But then in John chapter six He said something they wouldn’t accept, and they wouldn’t believe. He said, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John tells us, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”

The questioning of truth is a uniquely human phenomena. I’m fairly certain other lifeforms do not question truth. The antelope being ripped apart and devoured by a pride of lions does not question the fairness of its death, the dialectic between the oppressed and the oppressor, or any notion of privilege on behalf of the alpha predators presently feasting on its living flesh. We humans live with the delusion of our independence and autonomy. We have truly convinced ourselves that we are free and that we are the masters of our own destinies. We are no different than those who came before us a century ago, a millennia ago, or even our First Parents who were tempted by Satan’s lies, “your eyes will be opened” and “you will be like God.”

“Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’.” That was it. They simply could not process, accept, or believe in Jesus, the Truth, any longer. “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

“Never been enslaved to anyone?” Can you feel the cognitive dissonance? Did they forget about their 430 years in Egypt, 70 years in Babylon, and their current Roman occupation? But that’s exactly the point – the spiritual point: We were enslaved by sin, and we didn’t know it. We couldn’t feel it or see it because, that simply was our perception, our “truth.” There’s no more enslavement than believing that your current sinful condition and perception is the truth, and the only truth there is. They truly believed that they were free, simply because they were offspring of Abraham. They didn’t obey God’s law. They didn’t love God, they didn’t love their neighbor, and they certainly didn’t love Jesus, at least not anymore. But why?

Because that’s the nature of sin. Sin promises enlightenment, knowledge, and freedom, but it delivers the exact opposite. Consider the first sin, eating the forbidden fruit. The serpent made that sin look good. It promised enlightenment, knowledge, and freedom; but it brought only sin, suffering, and death. And, all too quickly our First Parents realized the mistake they’d made, but it was too late and, try as they might, they had become slaves to sin’s thrall. Instead of confessing their sin, they blamed each other, they blamed the serpent, and they blamed God, just like their progeny after them, even those Jews who condemned Jesus.

That’s the nature of sin. That’s the nature of a sinner. You are a slave. You are a slave in every way. The good you might want to do, you don’t do; the evil you don’t want to do, you continually find yourself doing. The slavery of sin blinds you to the truth. Even your perceptions are corrupted, so that you cannot see the world as it is, you cannot know the truth. That is what slavery is like. It is complete and total thrall. You are right and everyone else is wrong. God is wrong. And yet, you’re miserable. The fruit was not good, though your eyes and reason perceived it so. You’re dying, a little more each day, and there is no escape, no hope. And so, you give yourself over to the lie, to the deception, to the misperception, to death.

Hence the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Some part of you knows better, for you are still God’s good creation, though corrupted. That fallen, broken, sin-corrupted image of God within you knows the truth, but the lie has you captive. Jesus is the Truth. Only Jesus can set you free. But the thrall of sin keeps you from the Truth, makes you fear the Truth and hate the Truth. I’m not beating up on you. I’m beating up on me, and you, and St. Paul, and David, Moses, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Adam and Eve, the whole lot of us.

The Son of God became us, we, you, and me. He stepped into our flesh, knew the Truth, pursued the Truth, was the Truth, and He died for us who fear the Truth, hide the Truth, and hate the Truth. He was free, but He became a servant to set us free who were slaves. Through baptism and faith in Him we are sons of the Free Woman and thus heirs with him, not sons of the slave woman. But what do we do with our freedom? Do we live in the freedom of the Truth, God’s word and commandments? Or do we return to the slavery of sin and death. The truth is that you are free, for the Son has set you free and you are free indeed. Why would you submit yourself to a yoke of slavery again?

Because you are free, you are free to do God’s will without fear. The Enemy, however, would have you hate that freedom and return to slavery. And, sadly, your flesh and its desires too often agree with the Enemy. As long as there are pleasures and sensuality – “If it feels good, do it!” – then we are too often willing to submit to just about anything. No one – at least no one with any sense – ever said that living free would be easy. No, living free is a daily challenge, for the forces that would enslave you will never give up, and there’s still a part of you that is complicit with them. No, freedom isn’t free. Your freedom cost God everything; it cost Jesus His life. And living in Jesus’ freedom means listening to Him and trusting in Him, for He is Truth, all the while resisting the siren’s call of Satan, the world, and your own sinful flesh and desires.

Today, post-modernism is still all the rage, only no one calls it by that name anymore. Today we call it higher criticism and literary criticism. Today we call it historical revisionism. Today we call it diversity, equity, and inclusion. Today we call it identity politics. Today we call it anti-racism. Whatever we call it, however, it’s still the same thing it’s always been: It’s not the truth, but a lie. How can you tell when you’re being lied to? By knowing the Truth, and the Truth incarnate, Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. If you know Jesus, then you know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Oculi - The Third Sunday in Lent (Lent 3)

(Audio)

Luke 11:14-28; Ephesians 5:1-9; Exodus 8:16-24

 

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

The people wanted to know by what power and by what authority Jesus was able to cast demons out of men. The only possible choices that they would allow Jesus, however, were that He cast out demons by the power of Beelzebul (Satan), or that He needed to produce a sign from heaven to prove otherwise. In other words, they considered Jesus guilty unless He could prove Himself to be innocent. But, knowing their thoughts, Jesus was not going to play their little game. Instead, He responded, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?”In other words, Jesus was saying, “If I cast out demons by the power of Beelzebul, then Satan is working against himself and his kingdom will surely fall. That doesn’t make any sense.” But then He turned the light upon their darkness and exposed their hypocrisy, for they readily accepted that their own sons could cast our demons.

Jesus’ power and authority came, not from Satan, or from any worldly power or authority, but it came from the finger of God, the Holy Spirit. This same power and authority was wielded by Aaron at God’s command and brought plagues of gnats and flies upon the whole land of Egypt that Pharaoh’s magicians could not reproduce. This same power and authority was wielded by the faithful sons of Israel at God’s command for the good of His people and the glorification of His Name. And, this same power and authority is wielded by His pastors and priests in His stead and by His command yet today in the preaching of the Gospel and in the forgiveness of sins through the divinely appointed Means of Grace. In each case the kingdom of God comes upon His people, a kingdom of power and of grace and of mercy that is for the whole world, but a kingdom that Pharaoh and too many others have chosen to reject.

Jesus compares Satan and his powers of darkness to a strongman, fully armed, guarding his palace; he feels secure and comfortable that his defense is strong and that his goods are safe. But Jesus is stronger than he, though He appears to be weak and lowly, and He attacks Satan and overcomes him and He takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. Perhaps Jesus is reflecting back upon His battle with Satan in the desert wilderness following His baptism and anointing with the Holy Spirit. There, in Satan’s third attempt to tempt Jesus to exercise His divine power according to His own will, and not the will of His Father, Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if He would bow down and worship him. Jesus’ response to Satan was “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve’.”  There, too, Jesus cast out Satan by the power and by the authority of the finger of God, the Holy Spirit, and He exposed Satan’s weakness and the weakness of all fallen men, Misplaced fear, love, and trust.

The strong man, Satan, put his trust in his armor. His armor, of course, is not physical armor, but it is a trust in one’s self and one’s abilities, one’s reason and understanding, one’s works over and against God and His Word. When it comes to God’s Word, Satan is always looking for a loophole or he twists God’s Word so that it appears to say something that it does not or to permit something that it does not. Jesus, in His humanity, as a man, with the Word of God, the only armor that men have, resisted Satan’s temptations and cast him out. Then later, on the cross, Jesus willingly laid down His life in death, the wage for our sin, and set us free from sin, and death, and Satan, to his great surprise, because God’s Word really said.

But we are guilty of the same misplaced fear, love, and trust as is Satan. We do not believe in the Word of God but subject it to our fallen reason and understanding and place our trust in our own abilities and works as protecting armor. But we see in our First Parents and in the record of Holy Scripture, and even in modern centuries unto our present day, that men who put their fear, love, and trust in themselves over and against God and His Word fall prey to Satan’s temptations again and again. Indeed, even the wielding of God’s Word itself, without faith, is a misplaced trust as Eve demonstrated by adding to God’s prohibition regarding the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is why the divine armor that St. Paul describes in his letter to the Church in Ephesus is all defensive armor. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, these are all defensive armor, given to you by God that you may stand against the schemes of Satan. God, His Word, and His gifts are what you must trust in at all times. It is only the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God that is an offensive weapon, and it is a weapon that, though wielded by men, receives its power and authority from the finger of God, the Holy Spirit.

Thus, Jesus said to the people, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Here Jesus masterfully addresses two different but related issues. In the first case, He addresses the question asked of Him by the people regarding the power and authority by which He cast out demons. Having already indicated that His power and authority came by the finger of God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus is further indicating that the Holy Spirit is the only power and authority by which this work is accomplished. Thus, even the faithful sons of Israel, and priests and pastors, exorcise Satan and the powers of darkness by the finger of God, the Holy Spirit. In the second case, Jesus indicates that apart from Him, apart from trust in God and His Word, there is no defense from Satan and that the works of those who put their faith and trust in themselves or in anyone or anything other than God and His Word are evil and against Jesus.

In the Old Testament lesson from Exodus, even though Pharaoh’s own magicians recognized that Aaron’s power and authority to send the plagues of gnats and flies upon the Egyptians came from the finger of God, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he would not listen to them. So also in the New Testament Gospel lesson, the people that heard Jesus would not listen to what Jesus taught them. A woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” The woman’s cry was a confession of fear, love, and trust in the fallen flesh of men, not in the spiritual Word of God. Jesus’ response to her is a fitting conclusion to this pericope about where fear, love, and trust are properly placed, “Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!”

Though it is most certainly true that if you are not with Jesus, then you are against Him, God the Father has called you and the whole world through His Son by the power and authority of the finger of God, the Holy Spirit to be with Jesus. So, you are only at risk of not being with Jesus by placing your fear, love, and trust in anything other than God and His Word. However, having been called by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel, and having been enlightened and sanctified by the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism, the Holy Spirit now keeps you and the whole Christian Church on earth, with Jesus in the one true faith. And you can place your fear, love, and trust in God that His finger, the Holy Spirit, is present and active to defend and to keep you now by the preaching of the Gospel and by the forgiveness of sins given you though the Spirit’s Means of Grace for your life today, and tomorrow, and for eternity, to the glory of God the Father, through Jesus Christ His Son, in the power of His most Holy Spirit.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday in Reminiscere - The Second Week of Lent

(Audio)

Luke 15:11-32; Romans 5:1-11; Genesis 3:1-21; Psalm 85

 

Jesus Christ, My Lord: From Enmity to Peace - Reconciliation

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

The call of Lent is to return. But why do we return? We return because there is someone to return to. That’s what the so-called Prodigal Son realized when he hit rock bottom. He had dishonored his father and treated him as though he were dead to him, squandered his inheritance in reckless living, and found himself starving and desiring to eat the food intended for pigs. Truly, you can’t get any lower than that for a young Jewish man. However, that was what it took, for there, in the pigsty, is when he remembered: “My father’s servants have more than enough bread, and here I am starving and eating the food of pigs.” So, he began making plans to return.

“I’ll offer to work for him, as a hired servant. At least I’ll have bread on my table, a roof over my head, and clothing on my back. He shouldn’t give it to me; I don’t deserve any of it; but I’ll work for it, I’ll earn it. He’ll pay me for my labor. I can live with that. At least I’ll have some self-respect, honor, and dignity.” Those were his plans.

What he didn’t plan on, however, is that his father had been looking for him, watching for him to return all those weeks and months and years. When the father saw his prodigal son coming – Yes, he saw him coming; How long had he been watching, waiting for his return? – his father ran to the boy and embraced him. He put the family ring on his finger, sandals on his feet, a robe over his shoulders. And he commanded his servant to slaughter the best fattened calf and to prepare a feast, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found’.”

Now, we could spend some time discussing the symbolism in this story: How the Father is God; The fattened calf is Jesus; the younger brother is your average sinner; The older brother is the self-righteous, unrepentant religious leadership of the Jews. We could do that, but none of that is really the point. For, this parable is about the Father and his prodigal mercy, grace, and forgiveness; everything else is secondary or tertiary or of less importance. Yes, the true prodigal in this parable is the Father. What kind of father would distribute his estate to his sons at the impudent request of the youngest? No father would do that! What kind of father would spend his days and nights watching and waiting for any sign of his impudent son’s return? No father would do that! What kind of father would fully restore his impudent son to full sonship with all rights and privileges upon his return without exacting punishment and demanding repayment and restitution in full or more? No father would do that. Then, what father would humbly plead with his older son when he showed his true colors, remaining at home while resenting his father and waiting for his demise? No father would do that. No father, save OUR FATHER, our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer.

Truly, the parable of the Prodigal Son says much less about us than it says about our God and Father. He is truly “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love”, and he relents over our disaster, the disaster that we have made for ourselves. And that is why we return to him, because there is someone to return to. More than that, there is our God and Father, not only to return to, but who is watching and waiting for us to return to him with arms wide open, robe, sandals, and ring to bestow upon us, ready to restore us to full sonship with him and the inheritance we forsook, because he has slaughtered the fattened calf of his Son Jesus to redeem us, to purchase us back, because he loves us with a selfless and sacrificial love.

The call of Lent is to return. But why do we return? We return because there is someone to return to. To return is to repent, period. We return, not because we have something to offer to our Father, not because we can earn or merit his forgiveness, not because we can change his mind – we do not return to him because of anything about us, what we can do, or anything other than because of who he is, period. We return because there is someone to return to, because he is there, and that’s our best hope, our last hope, our only hope. To return, to repent, means to let it all out, to risk everything on our Father’s mercy and grace, period. “Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him?” Who knows? God knows, and that’s enough.

What is God’s response to our returning, to our repentance, when we have wandered far from His house and slowly made our way back? “Bring the best robe and put it on him.” What is God’s response to our moral failings when we confess that our sins were not only against our neighbor, but against the God of heaven? “Put a ring on his hand.” What is God’s response to our prodigious lifestyle when we confess that we are not worthy to be called His sons? “Put shoes on his feet.” What is God’s response when we squander all the good gifts He gives us with evil living, only to recognize our filth and go groveling back to Him? “Bring the fattened calf.”

The fattened calf is Jesus, God’s only-begotten Son, whom he loves. Your Father literally gave all he had, all he loved, to have you back. Even though you strayed, and still often stray, dishonored, disrespected, and disobeyed him, still he is always watching, waiting for you to return to him, to repent, and to throw yourself into his open arms of mercy, grace, forgiveness, and life, that you may live with him and the Son and the Holy Spirit forevermore.

It's never too late to return, until it’s too late. Today is the day of salvation. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Reminiscere - The Second Sunday in Lent (Lent 2)

(Audio)

Matthew 15:21-28; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7; Genesis 32:22-32

 

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

The woman who cried out to Jesus asked only for mercy. Moreover, she asked on behalf of her demon-possessed daughter, not for herself. But Jesus did not answer her a word. This was a test, but Jesus was not testing the woman and her faith, He knew that well enough already, rather, Jesus was testing His disciples’ faith and their understanding of who He was and of what He was sent to do. Would they approve of Jesus’ showing mercy to this Canaanite dog? No, they would not. For, though the woman cried out only for mercy, the disciples, in turn, begged Jesus for justice saying, “Send her away.”

But they were right. It would have been just to send her away. She was, after all, a Canaanite, the offspring of Canaan, the son of Ham who uncovered his father Noah’s nakedness. The Canaanites were the pagan occupiers of the land that God promised to give into the hand of Abraham and his descendents. They were perpetual deniers of God’s grace, whose history included child sacrifice, divination, sorcery, and other occult activity, and sexual depravity. So, yes, the disciples were right, Jesus would have been just in sending her away. But then, of course, He would have been just as just to send the disciples away too. Be careful what you ask for!

But Jesus did not come to judge the world but to save it; He did not come to send anyone away, but to call all men to Himself. Indeed, it would be through the greatest injustice imaginable, the selfless, sacrificial death of our holy, sinless, and innocent Lord Jesus, that all people would finally be set free from the demonic possession that is sin and death.

Still, the disciples were right, Jesus was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, initially, and it would not be right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. Send her away and be done with the matter. Case closed. Justice is served.

But, again, the woman was not seeking justice, but mercy. On her knees in humility before Jesus she accepted His judgment confessing, “Yes, Lord, You are right, I am an unworthy dog. It is wrong of me to ask for or to expect that the bread intended for Your children be given to me. But, even still, the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” And here was what Jesus wanted His disciples to hear and to see, true and tenacious faith. The Canaanite woman placed her faith – her fear, love, and trust – in Jesus, no matter what. She placed her faith in Him by pleading, not for justice, but for mercy. She placed her faith in him by clinging to Him even when He did not answer her. She placed her faith in Him even when He seemed to reject her. And, finally, she placed her faith in Him even to the point of completely divesting herself, confessing her sin, guilt, and shame, while believing Jesus to be merciful, no matter what. Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

After this, Jesus began a great ministry of healing, healing that flowed from God’s mercy and the forgiveness of sins. Crowds of Canaanites and Israelites came to Jesus on a mountainside and there He healed them all. Then, after a few days, having compassion on them, men, women, children, Canaanites, and Jews, Jesus fed them, over 4,000 in all, with bread until they were full and satisfied.

It is no coincidence that Jesus compared the woman’s plea for mercy to a plea for bread, for Jesus is the Bread of Life for all the world, that whoever eats of His flesh will have eternal life. For, Jesus was the Bread from heaven, the manna that the children of Israel ate during their wandering in the wilderness. It is not outside the realm of likelihood that the nearby Canaanites scooped up some of that mysterious bread, that was left behind by the children of Israel, for themselves, just like dogs under the children’s table. Likewise, it is no coincidence that this exchange with the Canaanite woman occurred just before Jesus miraculously fed a multitude from many places with bread until they were satisfied. Jesus is the Bread of Life given for the life of all the world.

Thus, what the disciples learned that day was that being a true Israelite, a true child of God, is not about belonging to a certain bloodline nor of being of Abrahamic descent, but what makes one a true Israelite and a true child of God is faith in Jesus, God’s Son and His gift of life, no matter what. That means trusting in Jesus even when He doesn’t seem to answer. That means trusting in Jesus even when He seems to reject you. That means trusting in Jesus even when He seems to be the one who is causing you affliction!

We see this last point most clearly in Jacob, who wrestled with a Man until the breaking of the day, and when the Man saw that He did not prevail against Jacob, He put Jacob’s hip socket out of joint! Many theologians and Fathers of the Church understand that Man who wrestled with Jacob, and who fought dirty, to be the pre-incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ. Even though the Man put Jacob’s hip socket out of place and caused him excruciating pain, Jacob refused to let Him go until He gave Him a blessing. Was Jacob stubborn, thick headed, or a fool? Undoubtedly. But did he have faith that the Man could and would bless him? Yes, most definitely, yes! Then, in response to Jacob’s tenacious faith, the Man changed Jacob’s name to Israel, meaning one who has striven with God and has overcome.

For, that is what faith is like; faith is a struggle with God. But faith clings to God and His promises no matter what and so overcomes. Faith believes that God is good and merciful and that He will answer in the way He knows best, no matter what. Even if what you pray for is not given to you or relieved of you, God is still merciful and good, no matter what. It’s hard to believe sometimes, but no one ever said it would be easy, least of all Jesus. The world, the devil, and your own flesh conspire against you, daily, so that you will lose faith and fall into unbelief and despair.

But, when you wrestle with God, do not let go of Him, but cling to Him in stubborn, thick headed, and foolish faith. Don’t let go of Him until He blesses you. And, while you struggle and wrestle with God in faith, make use of the means through which He blesses you: His Word; His Baptism; His Absolution; His Supper – for these are all Bread, the Bread of Life, of which a man may eat and be strengthened in faith and live.

And don’t consider what’s just, but plead for mercy, likewise being merciful to others – all others – as God is merciful to you in Christ Jesus. For, you will overcome, you will persevere, and even now you are more than conquerors through Him has loved you and who loves you now, even Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday in Invocabit - The First Week of Lent

(Audio)

John 8:1-11; Romans 3:1-31; Isaiah 45:18-25; Psalm 32

 

Jesus Christ, My Lord: From Guilt to Innocence - Legal

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

“If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death” (Lev. 10:20). That’s what justice under the law of Moses requires. Thus, when the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery into the temple before Jesus, it was not justice they were seeking according to the law, but it was to trap Jesus. How do we know this? Where was the man? The law of Moses required that the adulterous man also be brought to justice, nor just the woman.

Ah, but there was a man present, and he was not an adulterer, but he was innocent. That man was Jesus, the true husband of an adulterous bride, Israel, the Church, you and me. Jesus submitted himself to the law, kept it, and fulfilled it. And then he suffered and died for his adulterous bride so that she could live and be free. The scribes and the Pharisees were not seeking justice but entrapment. They desired to judge, condemn, and kill Jesus. But they had nothing on him, no violation of the law. They suspected, however, that Jesus would break the law, as they interpreted it, and let the adulterous woman go free. So, they set him up. If Jesus let her go, they had him. If he upheld the charge, then they still had him, for Jews were not permitted to execute anyone under Roman law. The law of Moses was handed down to curb and expose wickedness and protect the innocent, but they used it as a tool to trap an innocent man.

Knowing it was a trap, Jesus sprung it – He sprung it on the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus knelt and wrote something in the dirt. While the Scriptures are silent regarding what Jesus wrote in the dirt, it seems likely that he wrote his verdict: “Guilty. Stone her.” Then he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” While they were considering Jesus’ words, Jesus knelt once again and wrote in the dirt. Once again, Scripture is silent concerning what he wrote. Perhaps he wrote: “Guilty. You too should die,” or something to that effect. Whatever he wrote, we do know the result: “they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones.” They all left in shame, and the only innocent and just man stood before the guilty woman. He alone had the right to condemn the adulteress woman, but rather than condemn her he said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

Jesus is the lawgiver, and Jesus is the fulfillment of the law. The woman had been caught in the act of adultery; she truly was guilty and deserved death. But the scribes and the Pharisees were also guilty. They were guilty of using the law, not for justice, but for evil. They were guilty of injustice in bringing only the woman for trial. And they were guilty for who knows how many secret sins plaguing them with guilt in their hearts, just like you and me. The woman was guilty. The scribes and the Pharisees were guilty. You and I are guilty. Indeed, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” so that there is “none who is righteous; not even one” – except for Jesus. Jesus is the lawgiver, and Jesus is the fulfillment of the law; and if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed.

“Go and sin no more.” Is that law? Yes, it is, to those enslaved to sin. But to those washed clean in the blood of Jesus, “Go and sin no more” is a proclamation of freedom from sin. You are free! You don’t have to fear the law anymore. Jesus is the lawgiver. Jesus is the law. Jesus was the law of God written on tablets of stone given to Moses. Jesus is the law now in human flesh. Jesus is the one who has fulfilled the law for you in his own perfect obedience, suffering, and death. And Jesus is the one who has declared you innocent, not guilty, and has set you free. There is no one left to accuse you. Do you believe this? Do you trust this? Faith in this declaration, this promise, not guilty through Jesus, is what makes you free.

You are free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous all the days of your lives. You are free to keep and do the law in love for God and for each other, and to not fear when you slip up and sin, for you are free to return in contrition and repentance in the full knowledge that you are forgiven in the one innocent and righteous man who was convicted, found guilty, condemned, executed, and died for you, in your place. And moreover, Jesus was raised to new life that cannot die, a life he invites you to believe in and to trust in; a life into which you have been baptized; a covenant made by God in the blood of his Son; a covenant that cannot be broken.

Jesus is the friend of sinners. He was not sent to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. This is good news for you and me! This is the Gospel! God has so loved the world in this way: He gave his only Son over to death in our place upon the cross. There is no safer or better place for a guilty, contrite, and repentant sinner than at the feet of Jesus. He has taken all of Satan’s accusations upon himself and he shields you with his innocent blood and righteousness. Satan is forced to drop his stone and walk away defeated; nah, that’s too good for him, but he will spend eternity in hell with his demons and those who, tragically, believed his lies and rejected Jesus.

The law of God was written on tablets of stone because that is what our hearts are like. Jesus, who is the law of God incarnate, wrote the judgment of the law in the dirt of which we were made, that is, he wrote it upon our hearts. We were created in accordance and agreement with the law. The law is not our death, but our life, when our life is Jesus. We do not gain life by fulfilling the law, but through Jesus who has fulfilled the law for us, and suffered its penalty for our failing to keep it, thus removing its sting forever. Go and sin no more, for “the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Invocabit - The First Sunday in Lent (Lent 1)

(Audio)

Matthew 4:1-11; 2 Corinthians 6:1-10; Genesis 3:1-21

 

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

Jesus was not tempted in the wilderness by the devil so that He might provide you an example of how you can resist temptation. On the contrary, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the devil for you, in the place of Adam, in your place, for Adam’s failure to resist temptation in the Garden, and for your failure to resist temptation every day since. Thus, Jesus is not your sensei, but He is your substitute. He is not your mentor, but He is your mediator. Jesus is not demonstrating for you how to wield the Word of God as a weapon, but He is the Word of God become flesh demonstrating that He has won the victory for you. Therefore, do not take away from today’s Propers encouragement and confidence that you have the weapons and the skill to fight the devil with the Word of God. You fool! Satan knows the Scriptures exceedingly well, exceedingly better than you ever will, and he uses them against you in such a way that you don’t know which end is up! Rather, take away from today’s Propers this comforting and encouraging fact: Jesus has won the battle that Adam lost, the battle that you lose daily still. He has won this battle for you who trust in Him and are baptized into Him. And so, His victory is your victory. You are victorious over sin, death, Satan, and hell, already, now, not because you can wield the Word of God like a weapon and defend yourself, but because the Word of God made flesh, Jesus Christ, has defeated the devil in the wilderness in obedience to God the Father for you and for all humanity. Jesus’ victory over Satan in the wilderness demonstrated His trust and obedience to the LORD for you so that His victory on the cross would be payment for the debt you owe because of your sin, your failure to trust and obey God the Father, His Word, and His commandments.

Jesus was led into this temptation, this confrontation, and this battle with the devil by the Holy Spirit immediately following His baptism by John in the Jordan. St. Mark, in his Gospel, states that the Spirit literally threw Jesus out into the wilderness like a lamb breakfast for a hungry lion. This was the LORD’s will for His Son Jesus, that He face temptation by Satan, in hunger and in thirst, stripped of all physical, mental, and emotional strength, relying upon nothing but the Word of the LORD alone for you. In this way, Jesus became the Second Adam and was victorious where the First Adam failed. In fact, the scene and situation were completely the opposite: The First Adam had plenty to eat and to drink, was in a lush and perfect paradise garden, was physically, mentally, and emotionally strong, and had never suffered in any way nor faced any temptation of any kind. And yet, at the first word he heard that was not from God, he rebelled, he sinned, and he fell. In contrast, Jesus, the Second Adam, had fasted for forty days and He was hungry and tired and weak when He faced temptation by Satan. Yet, Jesus overcame Satan because He refused to trust the word of the devil over the Word of His Father and LORD. Further, Jesus’ victory over Satan was not in His fighting him offensively, wielding the Word of the LORD like a weapon, but Jesus’ victory was in the fact that He took refuge and defense in the mighty fortress that is the Word of the LORD.

Jesus did not choose this battle any more than He chose His cross, but the Holy Spirit chose this battle for Him as well as the cross He would bear for you. Likewise, you do not choose the temptations and the spiritual battles you face, nor the crosses you bear, but the LORD, by His Spirit, chooses them for you. The Christian’s life from baptism to the grave is nothing other than a daily duel and battle with the devil, the world, and the flesh. Immediately after Baptism, you were placed by the Holy Spirit into the wild, wanton world and subjected to all manner of temptation, trial, and tribulation. Again, Jesus was tempted, not that He might provide you an example of how to resist temptation and overcome, but Jesus was tempted for you, in your place, and was victorious that you might bear temptation more easily.

The LORD tempts no one, but He does permit temptation to befall you with the promise that, with the temptation, He will always provide a way of escape that you will be able to endure it. Sometimes the way of escape is easy, a simple choice that you make. Other times, as with the martyrs, the way of escape may be your death. But, always, always, the way of escape is faith and trust in Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, who has suffered Satan’s greatest temptations as a man and persevered through them, even through death, and emerged victorious. He did not do this as an example for you that you should go and do likewise, but He did this for you, in your place, as your scapegoat and Passover Lamb, as your champion, your victor, your Redeemer, and your Lord. You can endure all things through faith in Him who is your strength.

Temptation, affliction, trial, tribulation – This is a painful reality that is all too near for the life of Christian saints in this fallen world. The Germans have a great word for it – anfechtung, which means spiritual attack. Thus, St. Peter exhorts you saying, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” In your temptation, affliction, trial, and tribulation – in your anfechtung and spiritual attack – you “share Christ’s sufferings.” Moreover, Christ shares and shoulders your sufferings with you. You can endure all things through faith in Him who is your strength. And, do not forget that, as the Holy Spirit threw Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, so is your baptized life lived in the spiritual wilderness of this fallen, sin-infected, broken, and cursed world. The LORD knows the anfectung you suffer and He permits it, He wills it to befall you. However, “He who knows all your woes knows how best to end them.” He uses all your trials and tribulations for a good you cannot know, a good that He promises you in His Word and has sealed you in through your baptism into Christ and faith.

St. Peter also warns you that, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” But why does he roar? No lion roars as he stalks his prey; they would hear and be alerted and run from the danger. Ah, but the lion, the devil, roars because he is mortally wounded. Jesus our champion and victor has already defeated him in the wilderness and on the cross! Now Satan roars and rages in furious, blinding rage and hatred attempting to take down any, and all, that he can. But he can only do this by means of lies and deceptions. For the truth is that he is already defeated, he is a toothless and clawless lion. Do not fear him, but fear God, trust in His Word, cling to Christ and your baptism into him and do not let go. The worst the devil can do to you is kill you, but even then, the victory belongs to Christ who has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who trust in Him.

Truly, the chief temptation you face at the hands of the devil is the same temptation our First Parent’s faced in the Garden: Will you listen to God, or will you listen to Satan? Will you trust in God’s Word and do His will, or will you trust in your reason and your will and be your own god? You know what Adam and Eve’s choice was. They wanted knowledge and wisdom, they wanted to be better than God created them, they wanted to be gods. But they rejected the Word of Truth and they believed in a lie. The knowledge they gained, the knowledge of good and evil, was only the knowledge of a choice other than good, other than God. Freely they chose evil, and they did not become gods, but their god became Satan, and they began to die. The temptation you face at the hands of the devil is the same: Will you listen to God, or will you listen to Satan? Will you trust in God’s Word and do His will, or will you trust in your reason and your will and be your own god? Don’t believe the lie, but hold fast the Truth. Jesus lives! The victory’s won! Believe it and own it and live.

And, to aid you in your pilgrimage through the barren wilderness of this fallen, broken, and cursed world, your heavenly Father provides you the cleansing water of Holy Baptism and His Word of Absolution, His faith-creating and sustaining Word of Life, and the life-giving body and blood of your champion, your victor, and your Redeemer Jesus Christ in bread and wine. Truly you have greater gifts and providence than did our First Parents in paradise! Moreover, you have the gift of the Holy Spirit of God who counsels and comforts you as you go. Remain in His gifts. Receive His gifts and keep your lamps full of the Spirit-given gift of faith and you will persevere and endure through the worst your adversary can visit upon you.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Ash Wednesday

(Audio)

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21; 2 Peter 1:2-11; Joel 2:12-19

 

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

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a forty-day period of preparation for The Feast of the Lord’s Resurrection, Easter Sunday. The forty days of Lent are patterned after Jesus’ forty days of fasting in the wilderness, resisting the temptations of the devil by His trust and reliance upon the Word of God. Thus, you already begin to see what your preparation is to be like. For, you also must learn to trust and to rely upon the Word of God and not your self or your own works. Indeed, your Lord’s Word to you this day is “Beware,” “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.”

But what does Jesus mean? Truly, we often hear of our being made righteous by God’s decree on account of the innocent shed blood of Jesus, but what does Jesus mean by “practicing your righteousness?” Well, just as no one will call you a runner if you do not run, and no one will call you a singer if you do not sing, so you are not righteous if you do not practice righteousness. That is to say, if you do not bear the fruit of righteousness in your life, words, and deeds, then you are not righteous. That is what St. James means when he says that “faith without works is dead.” And that is what Jesus means when He says, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And then, Jesus goes on to exhort you to three very specific ways in which you practice your righteousness: Fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. These have come down to us as the traditional Three Pillars of Lent.

Now, typically, Protestants, and even some Lutherans, have been quick to call the observance of the Three Pillars man-made Popish tradition. While it is true that the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church are the largest Christian fellowships that still encourage and practice the Three Pillars, it is simply false to conclude that the Three Pillars are merely the doctrines and traditions of men. They are not, but they are Biblical, even taught by our Lord Jesus Himself, which you heard for yourself in today’s Gospel. Additionally, Jesus doesn’t make these disciplines optional. He doesn’t say, “If you give to the needy,” but He says, “When you give to the needy,” “Whenyou pray,” and “When you fast.” However, while they are not optional, Jesus also teaches that they do not constitute righteousness, but rather, they are the practice of righteousness. Thus, you do not give alms, pray, and fast in order to earn or merit righteousness – for, you could never give, pray, or fast enough to make even a small movement towards righteousness – but you give alms, pray, and fast because you are declared righteous by God in the innocent shed blood of Jesus Christ.

That is why Jesus warns you to “Beware,” “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.” But note, the warning is not to beware practicing your righteousness, but the warning is in regard to the reason you are practicing your righteousness. If you are practicing your righteousness in order to be seen by other people so that they will think you righteous, then, Jesus says, you already have your reward; you have the admiration and praise of men. In that case, even though your righteousness comes from God alone through Jesus Christ, you give men the impression that righteousness comes from yourself, or from other men.

And, so, you can easily see why giving alms, praying, and fasting have become traditional Lenten disciplines, for, they are selfless acts, that is to say, they are not turned inward upon oneself, but they are turned outward towards both God and neighbor. Moreover, these disciplines place you in a receptive mode, in a mode in which you are receptive to what God freely provides and gives to you. These works of yours are not your righteousness, for, that comes from the LORD alone, but they are the fruit of your God-given righteousness and, thus, the practice of your God-given righteousness.

The Lenten disciplines serve to reorient you to the two tables of the Law and the Great Commandment: “Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” For, you cannot obey the second table, about loving your neighbor, until you obey the first table about loving God. Consequently, if you obey the first table, then obedience to the second will follow naturally as fruit. You will, without even having to work at it, be laying up treasure for yourself in heaven. And, where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.

God knows that you have strayed. I have strayed too. But do not despair. Rather, take heart and return to the LORD. For, your LORD still says to you, “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and nor your garments.” “Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster.” Truly, this is what Lent is all about – repentance. Repentance means, “to turn back,” and repentance, turning back to the LORD, is what it means to prepare for Easter. Lent is an opportunity to reorient yourself in relation to your God. It’s a First Commandment opportunity to return to having no other gods before Him, not even yourself, and to fearing, loving, and trusting in Him above all things.

For, the LORD remains jealous for you. He will not share you with another god, not that there is another. Therefore, “He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” In fact, what He desires for you is “that you may become partakers of His divine nature.” Thus, because you could not become what He is, divine God, He became what you are, a human being, in the incarnation of His Son Jesus Christ – God became man, that man might become God. And, the Lenten disciplines of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, along with other forms of selflessness and self-sacrifice – faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love – “keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But you must practice these disciplines, and do so with this promise, “if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Yes, practice righteousness, but always recognize and remember that righteousness comes from outside of you, the free gift of God in and through Jesus Christ. So, whatever you give away, whatever you pray, and whatever you abstain from, do these things, not because you believe that they please the LORD or merit His favor, but do them because of the righteousness you have received as a free and perfect gift in Jesus Christ. Sacrifice yourself now because of the sacrifice God has made for you in His Son Jesus, who gave up all things rightfully His out of love for His Father and for you, believing, knowing, and trusting that the LORD who made all things and who gave us life is able and willing to give you all things.

And, so, when you give, pray, and fast, you lose nothing at all, but you gain more of what your LORD graciously desires to pour into you. But He will pour into you and fill you to overflowing so that you will have much to share. Thus, Jesus teaches “when,” not “if.” “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” This is true all the year round. But, during Lent, it will be a blessing to you to be intentional about believing and trusting in the LORD and His Word. He desires to bless you. May you receive His blessing and be a rich blessing to others to the glory of His Name.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.