Homily for The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 20)

(Audio)

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

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

To say that Jesus’ Parable of the Wedding Feast is perplexing might seem to be an understatement. Our Lord seemingly turns upside down our expectations and our understanding of the meaning of some fundamental terms concerning our Christian faith – invited, worthy, called, and chosen. To be invited is not necessarily to be worthy. To be called is not necessarily to be chosen. What then do these words mean? Jesus would have you see that your invitation to His wedding feast in heaven is not on account of your worth, your value, your merit, your decision, your choice, or anything in you at all. That you are invited is the gracious gift of the King, God the Father, and not an indication of your worthiness to be invited.

No, your worthiness is bound up in your host, your King and LORD, alone. Will you receive your host’s gracious invitation in Spirit-created and given faith and trust and bear forth its fruit of fear, love, and trust – that is, obedience, – or will you reject it in sinful, rebellious unbelief, demonstrating that your fear, love, and trust are in other things that you have set before your LORD, the stuff of His creation which you worship as false gods and idols? Similarly, Jesus would have you see that, simply because you are called is not the same thing as your being chosen. And, herein lies the mystery of predestination and election –  “Many are called, but few are chosen.” What does this mean? The LORD’s Gospel call goes out to all, to the Jew first, and then to the Gentile. Therefore, many, even all, are called. As in Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, the Sower scatters His Word/Seed everywhere, upon all kinds of soil/hearts, without discrimination. However, just as the seed only takes root, grows, and bears fruit in the good soil, so only those are chosen “who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” And so, it is the fruit that you bear – fear, love, and trust in the LORD, along with obedience – that makes you worthy and chosen and elect.

In Jesus’ Parable of the Wedding Feast, the King, His Father, sent His servants to call His invited guests to the feast, but those who were invited refused to come. The King, being good and kind, patient, and longsuffering, sent even more servants proclaiming that everything was prepared, that there was nothing they had to do but come and enjoy the feast, and still they refused to come, and some even treated the King’s servants shamefully and murdered them! Those invited who refused the King’s gracious invitation and murdered His servants were the religious leadership of the Jews, the Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers, and scribes. They were invited by their gracious King, but they refused the invitation and rejected Him. The King was angry and He destroyed the cities of those murderers. Those invited were called, but they were found not worthy. They did not fear, love, and trust in the LORD, and they did not bear the fruit of faith. They murdered the LORD’s servants who were sent to them with His gracious invitation, the Gospel, and, ultimately, they murdered the King’s Son, Jesus. It is no coincidence that this parable follows directly after the Parable of the Tenants in which the tenants of the Master’s Vineyard murdered His servants and, finally, His Son. Both of these parables occurred in the days following Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Jesus had the religious leadership of the Jews squarely in mind.

Still, the King sent out His servants yet a third time, this time “to the main roads,” to call and to invite “all whom they found, both bad and good.” You see, there it is, as clear as day – your invitation is not based upon your merit, your worth, your works, your faith, or anything else inside you, but your invitation is by the grace of your King and LORD alone. And so, the King’s hall was filled with the bad and the good regardless of anything attributed to themselves, just like this church today! For, only the sick can be healed. Only sinners can be forgiven. Only the dead can be raised. If you are a guest of the King, it is because of His gracious invitation. And, do not think saying, “Well, I still had to accept the invitation and come,” that you have contributed something. That’s sophistic nonsense. Before your accepting and coming was the LORD’s gracious invitation. Truly, you remain invited even if you reject His invitation. This is the LORD’s doing, alone, and it is glorious in our sight. Do not succumb to the devil’s temptation to reduce the LORD’s grace from a truly free and unconditional gift to a mere prod in the right direction. You are either saved by grace alone or you are not saved at all. You are either invited or you are not. But, all have been invited in Christ Jesus, therefore all are without excuse.

However, “when the King came in to look at the guests, He saw there a man who had no wedding garment.” Now, this was an impossible thing, for the host, the King, provided even the appropriate wedding garment for each invited guest. The only way that this one guest did not have a wedding garment was that he refused to wear it. He didn’t sneak in. He was one of those bad or good who were invited. However, now that he was in, he must have refused to wear the provided wedding garment. Now, much ink (or bytes) has been spilled attempting to explain what the wedding garment represents. However, the wedding garment is not what is essential here, for this unclothed man was already in, he was already a guest just like all the others, he was invited. So, the wedding garment cannot be baptism as many are want to claim, and neither can it be faith, for the unclothed man was already an invited and present guest. No, the wedding garment must be something else. What we must focus upon, however, is not what the wedding garment was, but how it came to be that this invited and present guest, who was most certainly provided a wedding garment, came to be found not wearing one. Again, he must have refused to wear it. If that is the case, then you can well see the disrespect and the irreverence this man showed toward his King. His refusal to wear the provided wedding garment was a display, even a confession, of his lack of fear, love, and trust in the LORD. Now, if the King were merely an earthly monarch, we might consider his reaction to be overly harsh and extreme. However, this King is the LORD God who alone is righteous and holy. He had provided everything for the feast and had graciously invited and clothed all present. To refuse His grace now and disrespect and dishonor Him so would be the height of rebellion and treason meriting the fullness of His wrath against the man’s sinful rebellion and unbelief. This is a parable of judgment, just like the Parables of the Tenants in the Vineyard and of the Wheat and the Tares. The King had the man bound hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. On the Day of Judgment, the tares, like the unclothed man at the wedding feast, and all who refuse the LORD’s gracious invitation in Jesus Christ, will be bound and thrown into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Once again, it must be stressed that it was the Jewish religious leadership whom Jesus had squarely in mind in this parable, though it has application for all of us. The LORD had sent them numerous servants bearing His gracious invitation through the prophets of old up to John the Baptist who pointed squarely at Jesus in their presence proclaiming, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” and they rejected them and murdered them, and, finally, they murdered God’s only-begotten Son. They were invited. They were in. But, their refusal to believe, in fact, their rejection of Jesus in spite of who they believed and knew Him to be, damned them to hell. They were invited, but they were not worthy. They were called, but they were not chosen. And, even worse, they were false shepherds, even wolves in sheep’s clothing, and they failed to tell their flock that the LORD’s invitation was for them as well. Therefore, because of their refusal and rejection of the King and His Son, the invitation went out to others, even to all, to the bad and the good, and the wedding feast was filled with guests.

The wedding feast is for your Bridegroom Jesus and for you, His Bride, the Church. God the Father is the King and host of the feast and He has graciously invited all the world in His Son. Many are called, indeed, all are called, but few are chosen. To be chosen, to be elect, is not only to be invited, but it is to hear the Word and “hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” The fruit you bear is obedience and good works. They are not the cause of your invitation, but they are consequence and confirmation of it. Thus, your Lord Jesus proclaims that He is the Vine and you are the branches saying, “remain in Me and I will remain in you, and you will bear much fruit.” Fruit bearing is not an option. Producing the fruit of obedience and good works is the living proof of your being chosen and elected. Therefore, St. James declares, “Faith without works is dead.” This is NOT works righteousness. Your righteousness is in Jesus and is the sole reason you have been invited. But, faith in Jesus is living, not dead, bearing the fruit of fear, love, and trust in the LORD, that is obedience, and love, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness for your neighbor without discrimination or exception.

Therefore, if you are concerned that you are not one of the chosen (the elect), know that the chosen are chosen through the call of the Gospel. Worldliness, hostility to the Word, and distractedness from the Word plague all Christians because of our sinful flesh. If this cuts you to the heart, this foretaste of the Great Wedding Feast to come is precisely for the purpose of binding up your hearts and comforting your troubled consciences. “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” You are invited, but only the life of the Vine Jesus flowing through you and bearing fruit makes you worthy. You are called, but only fear, love, and trust in the LORD above all else makes you chosen in Christ Jesus. Behold, the feast is prepared. Everything is ready. Come and eat. Come and drink. The life of Jesus the Vine is poured out for you to forgive your sins anew, to strengthen your faith, to equip you for good works, and to send you forth bearing good and much fruit in service of your neighbor to the glory of the LORD. Jesus’ blood and righteousness are your glorious dress, even your wedding garment. You are invited and worthy, you are called and chosen, that the world may see it. Go forth in peace.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Homily for The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 19)

(Audio)

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

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

Jacob’s dream was more like a revelation, an unveiling, in which he was granted to see something that had been present with him all along, but hidden, veiled as it were, so that he could not see it. What it was that had been there all along, hidden and veiled, was God Himself, present with Jacob, and with his fathers, but not seen. In his dream, the first thing Jacob saw was a ladder set up on earth with its top reaching into heaven. The ladder had been there all along too, hidden and veiled. It had been set up on the earth by God. Moreover, God’s holy angels were ascending and descending upon it. The scriptures say first that God’s holy angels were ascending, which means that they were already there with Jacob on earth too, even when he could not see them. Truly God’s holy angels, truly God Himself is present with you even now, and every day and moment of your life. Even in your darkest moments and your most uncertain days, your God is with you and His holy angels are with you, guarding, protecting, and defending you lest you strike your foot against a stone.

Then the LORD spoke to Jacob saying, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” This was, essentially, a repetition of the covenant promise God had made to Abraham and to Isaac, reiterated now to Jacob, and to you as well. The land that the LORD would give to Jacob and to his offspring, and to you, was not merely that little plot of ground upon which he laid his head, but it was the earth itself, for the entire earth and the universe in which it exists is Bethel, the House of God. The earth and everything in it is the LORD’s, even He who created it and sustains it. And, the LORD has given it to you. Though the LORD was already present in the world, hidden and veiled, what He was about to do would change everything. The LORD, Himself, would become Jacob’s offspring, incarnated in the womb of Jacob’s descendant Mary. The LORD would speak His creative Word once again into the virgin soil of Mary’s womb and raise up a New Adam, His own Son, the Son of God and the Son of Man, the Son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Son of David, the Lamb of God’s providing who would take away the sins of the world. Through Jesus, the LORD’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be fulfilled. In Jesus, all the nations and families of the earth have been blessed.

Moreover, in the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus, God has intimately and everlastingly joined Himself with humankind. To paraphrase Athanasius, God became man in Jesus that man might become God. “Behold, I am with you,” saith the LORD, “and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Rightly did Jacob awake from his dream and confess, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it,” and “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” In Jesus, God has visited and made His dwelling among His people. The promise is not only for sometime yet to come, but it is a promise that is fulfilled even now. The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, then, now, and always. Your LORD God, Creator, and Sustainer has penetrated this His creation, has taken up your flesh and redeemed and restored it in the holy, innocent shed blood of His Word and Son made flesh Jesus Christ. He has redeemed and restored the world and everyone in it – Yes! Everyone in it! And, you are redeemed and restored to proclaim this Good News to the world and to every human being in it, be he brother, sister, friend, neighbor, or enemy. This is the Truth, but your enemy would have you keep silent – and too often you are! Do not keep the Light that enlightens you hidden, but let it shine in and through you that those walking in darkness might see and glorify the LORD. You cannot be a light shining in the darkness if you blend in with the darkness of the world. Repent and return to your baptismal grace, and shine with the eternal, primordial Light of the world.

This is what the paralytic’s friends were doing in today’s Gospel – they were shining with the Light of Christ for all the world to see. When they brought their paralyzed brother to Jesus, Jesus saw their faith. What did Jesus see? What does faith look like? Faith bears forth the fruit of love. It was their fruit, it was their faith in action, that Jesus saw. By bringing their friend to Jesus they displayed their faith – their faith in Jesus, their faith in God, and their love for their neighbor – for all the world to see. Jesus “saw their faith.” That’s a remarkable statement! Then Jesus did something even more remarkable; He said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” Now, the man didn’t ask for forgiveness. He certainly didn’t confess any sins. His friends who brought him to Jesus didn’t ask for forgiveness either. Presumably, they wanted Jesus to heal their paralyzed friend.

Now, admittedly, this isn’t how we typically think of forgiveness, is it? Don’t we expect someone to repent first, to confess their sins, and then be absolved? Indeed, that’s the way it works in church, isn’t it? Each and every time we gather here we confess our sins together before we receive the Blessed Sacrament of Jesus’ body and blood. Then, why did Jesus simply pronounce the paralyzed man’s sins forgiven? If the man needed forgiveness, why didn’t Jesus first call him to repentance? Herein lies the beautiful and wonderful truth of Jesus’ incarnation: Jesus is forgiveness for all who trust in Him. Already then, at that very moment, even before His crucifixion, death, and resurrection for the sins of the world, Jesus is forgiveness, incarnate for all who believe. Jesus saw the faith of the friends of the paralytic, that they lovingly brought him before Jesus trusting that He would help. So, likewise, when you intercede for others, when you pray for them, when you love them and serve them and seek to help them, when you forgive them, they are forgiven. In the case of the paralytic, Jesus only pronounced what was already the case: “Your sins are forgiven.” And, that is what your pastors do. And, that is what you do for others – You proclaim what is already the case: The sins of the world are forgiven in Jesus Christ. This fact is received by all who trust in Him.

Why didn’t Jesus heal the man? Well, in fact, He did. Forgiveness is the healing that all of us sin-sick-unto-death souls are in need of. All physical ailments and suffering of any kind are but the external, physical, and emotional effects of sin. Sometimes Jesus heals physically, sometimes He does not, but Jesus always forgives those who trust in Him and cling to Him for life and salvation. Truly, even those whom Jesus did heal grew sick again later and died. And, those whom Jesus raised from the dead still died again, for the wages of sin is only, and always, death. Jesus would have you look beyond temporary healing to the one thing needful – to faith and forgiveness, which are the true healing, and to resurrection unto life that does not perish and die. In forgiving the sins of the paralytic, Jesus was simply proclaiming what was already a present fact – God’s gracious and merciful presence was in their midst, even as Jacob saw God’s holy angels ascending and descending a ladder set up upon the earth with its top in heaven. Forgiveness and true healing are here for you now in Jesus Christ. When you intercede for others and pray for them, and when you bring them to Jesus, as did the friends of the paralytic, you do a holy work for them, one that accomplishes infinitesimally more than physical healing, which will still, ultimately, end in death. When you pray for others and bring them to Jesus you extend to them the same grace, mercy, love, compassion, and forgiveness you yourself have received. And, Jesus’ grace, mercy, love, compassion, and forgiveness never fail to accomplish what they are poured out for – the forgiveness of sins, and the bestowal of life that cannot die.

But, the scribes were offended. “This man is blaspheming. No one can forgive sins except God.” Of course, they were right, but they didn’t know how right they were. Jesus is God, in the flesh, the Word and Son of God incarnate as a man, in our midst, even the Ladder set up upon the earth with its top in heaven. In Jesus, God dwells with men and brings the kingdom of heaven down to earth. Therefore, it was not Jesus, who is God, but the scribes who were blaspheming. However, what the scribes were truly upset with was that Jesus was taking authority away from them. There was a whole process and ritual by which sinners were forgiven, made clean, and restored and it involved sacrifices and repentance; it involved them. But, Jesus bypassed all of that and simply pronounced the man’s sins forgiven. All that is required to receive forgiveness is faith – not sacrifices, not penance, not a public confession or a priestly absolution, though these are gifts our Lord provides to comfort and confirm us in faith. Even our Lutheran Confessions state that, “repentance consists of two parts. One part is contrition, that is, terrors striking the conscience through the knowledge of sins. The other part is faith, which is born of the Gospel or the Absolution and believes that for Christ’s sake, sins are forgiven.” Jesus saw the faith of the paralytic’s friends borne out in their love for him and trust in Jesus. And, Jesus knew the heart of the paralytic and saw his own faith as well: “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus answered the scribes saying, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?” In this case, Jesus granted the physical healing, but this was but a foretaste of the true healing, which was hidden and veiled, the forgiveness of sins, and the greater physical healing that is yet to come in the resurrection of the body. As great as was the healing of the paralytic that day, that man would still pass through death. So much greater will be the day of his, and your, resurrection when the effects of sin and death will be healed forever. Truly, it is easier for Jesus to say your sins are forgiven, for that includes the healing from sin now, and the healing of the body for eternity on the day of the resurrection of all flesh.

Jesus is God’s forgiveness present among you now with His Words and His Wounds. Your God-given, Spirit-created faith receives His forgiveness in faith and trust and causes you to bear forth the fruit of faith, love, towards your neighbor to the glory of God. As Jesus healed the paralyzed man because of his faith, and the faith of his friends, so too does Jesus hear your prayers and intercessions for others and forgive them. Thus He has taught you to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” and, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” The whole earth is Bethel, the House of God, because God is present here with you in His Son Jesus. Jesus is the ladder that bridges heaven and earth. In Jesus, God has visited His people in mercy, love, and forgiveness and has made His dwelling with you. You are an extension of this Good News to all the nations and families of the world. Let them see your faith. Let them see Jesus in you. Surely the LORD is in this place for you. Your sins are forgiven. Rise and walk. Pray for your brother, your sister, your friend, your neighbor, and even your enemy, and bring them to Jesus. Your love covers a multitude of sins, not least of all your own.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

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

(Audio)

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

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

“Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Those were Jesus’ final words last Sunday, spoken to a bunch of Pharisees who wished to condemn Him for healing a man on the Sabbath. The Pharisees despised the man with dropsy because they were proud and self-righteous. They considered the man beneath them, socially and spiritually; therefore they thought themselves justified in not extending to him love, mercy, and compassion. The Pharisee’s pride had enslaved them, for pride is in continual need of maintenance to keep it high and lofty and full. Pride is insatiable and will not bear the slightest diminution. And, because pride must be maintained, satisfied, and protected, the proud are inhibited from loving others. Pride is the epitome of self-love, selfishness, and self-righteousness. The proud will not, and cannot, enter the kingdom of heaven, for the kingdom of heaven cannot be obtained by effort, decision, or choice, but it must be received as a free gift by grace through faith.

And so today we heard Jesus’ disciples question Him about greatness in heaven. It was a wrong-minded and backward, though innately human, question. Our fallen humanity’s predilection to selfish pride, self-justification, and a belief in the merit of our works is definitive of our fallen nature, the Old Adam in each of us. Try as we may, we simply cannot shake off the beast entirely or crucify our flesh and its desires and passions. And yet, that is precisely what Jesus calls you, exhorts you, and commands you to do, every day of your life. Every day you awake, remember your baptism by making the sign of the cross “In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Confess your faith by praying the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. And confess your sins and pray for God’s absolution and protection throughout the day using Luther’s Morning Prayer. And then, at the end of the day, before you retire, remember your baptism by making the sign of the cross once again, “In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit,” confess your faith and your sins, and pray for absolution and protection through the night using Luther’s Evening Prayer. Bookending each day of your life in remembrance of your baptism, in repentance for your sins, and in the confident assurance of God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ helps you to crucify your flesh and its sinful pride. It keeps you humble. It keeps you in Christ. It keeps you in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus answered His disciples’ wrong-minded and wrong-hearted question about greatness by teaching them about the necessary Christian virtue and fruit, humility. Jesus placed before them a child, a paidion, that is, a young child, a helpless child, maybe even an infant. Such a child, like the widow, the unclean, Gentiles, or known sinners had absolutely zero social standing in the first century Jewish culture and religious community. Such a child was the epitome of humility. And yet, Jesus taught His disciples that, if they did not become like that little child, they could never enter the kingdom of heaven. This was a continual theme in Jesus’ teaching. He told Nicodemus that he must be born again, and Nicodemus was confounded asking, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” However, Jesus was talking about baptism, being born again of water and the Holy Spirit. Truly, being born is the most humble human experience there is. You did not decide to be born. You did not deserve to be born. You had no right to be born. You did not choose your sex, your race, your parents, your nationality, your financial or social status. Being born is not a decision or a choice, but it is something that happens to you in which you are completely passive. Jesus would have you understand that this is how you are in relation to your God. This is how it is that you come to faith and are saved: Passive. God causes you to be born again by the creative work of His Holy Spirit through His Word made flesh Jesus Christ. No one comes to the Father except through Him – period.

You must humble yourself like a little culturally and socially and spiritually irrelevant child. You bring nothing to the table with God, not a one of you, which means that you are no better than anyone else when it comes to your standing before your Creator. Therefore, you must view your brother and sister in Christ, you must view your neighbor, the stranger, and even your enemy as being no less than yourself. You must receive them and respect them and love them and forgive them as God, in Christ, has received, respected, loved, and forgiven you. Only when you humble yourself and repent of your sinful pride, selfishness, and self-righteousness will God declare you great in the kingdom of heaven.

God’s holy angels look after His humble, repentant, little children. That is why there is rejoicing in heaven over a sinner who repents. God’s mighty, powerful, holy angels guard, protect, and defend His children from the Evil One and his demonic horde. And, woe to you, therefore, if you cause one of His little ones who believe in Him to sin. Woe to you if you present before them a stumbling block by your arrogant, prideful, selfish, and self-righteous treatment of them. So serious is the Lord about this that He says to you, “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away,” and “if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.” “See that you do not despise one of these little ones,” Jesus says, “For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”

Yes, God’s majestic angels, so mighty and powerful and holy, were created to serve Him and, perhaps surprisingly, they were created to serve you, His humble children. And, that was something one particular angel, Lucifer, could not handle. As I suggested last Sunday, Lucifer’s immense pride was, in large part, the cause of His fall. Lucifer could not accept the fact that God had placed Adam and Eve and all humanity above him and the holy angels. Lucifer perceived this as a slight to his pride and he was filled with anger and hatred for God, and for you whom God loves so very much. Therefore, since he could not harm God, his wrath was poured out against the object of God’s love, you His precious children. Truly, Satan hates you because he hates God. He doesn’t care if you worship him, but all he wants is for you to reject God and His Christ. He wants to destroy you, to murder you, to see you suffer the pain and eternal torment that he suffers. He knows that this is the only thing that can hurt God, to cause you to reject Him and burn in hell forever. Therefore, Satan tempts you. He tempts your pride, so that you look down upon others and judge and condemn them. He tempts you to selfishness and self-righteousness, to lovelessness and lack of mercy and compassion. He tempts you to justify yourself in your anger and hatred against others, to be merciless and unforgiving, to harden your heart so that you cannot love and, consequently cannot receive love or be forgiven. You will become like the hard packed soil of the path, and Satan will snatch the life-giving, faith-creating Word of the Gospel from you, and you will die.

There was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the great dragon Satan and defeated him. But he was thrown down to the earth in a great rage where he now afflicts the children of God. He is filled with great and desperate wrath because he knows that his time is short. He is a liar and a deceiver and a murderer. But he is defeated. His power to keep you in death was destroyed when the sinless Son of God Jesus Christ died in your place. Then the “Seed of the Woman” crushed the head of the seed of the serpent. Therefore, do not fear the one who can kill the body, but fear only the One who can kill both body and soul in hell. That One is NOT the devil, but that One is God.

There was a war in heaven, but now that war has come down to earth, and your soul is the battlefield. The truth is, your Enemy has been defeated, but still he tempts you and deceives you to despair that he is the victor and to destroy your faith in Christ. Do not give into him by being fearful and prideful and unmerciful and unforgiving. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Pray. And, repent, daily, in all humility. Return daily to your baptism and put on the armor of God by which you may withstand the fiery darts of Satan. Do not be afraid. You are not alone, but God’s holy angels watch over you, protect you, and defend you. God commands His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. And, do not, by your pride and arrogance, selfishness and self-righteousness, and lack of mercy, compassion, and forgiveness despise any of the LORD’s little ones who believe in Him. But, come, now, and be cleansed and forgiven, nourished, strengthened, equipped, and sent in the precious and holy body and blood of Jesus Christ that you may persevere and endure. To God alone be all glory, praise, and honor.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Christian Funeral for Lars Snellman

(Audio)

John 14:1-6; Romans 6:3-10; Isaiah 43:1-3a, 25

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

Nanny and Hassel, Anita and David, extended family and friends of our departed brother in Christ Lars Snellman: Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to remember and to give thanks for the life and faith of our brother Lars, and to give thanks to our Lord and God who purchased Lars from sin and death in the holy, innocent shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ, and has promised forgiveness and life everlasting to all who trust in Him: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

God redeemed Lars from sin and death when Jesus died on the cross for his sins, and for the sins of all men. But, Lars received that forgiveness and life personally when he was baptized fifty-seven years ago. Then the old evil nature he was conceived and born with was drowned in those cleansing and purifying waters and the Holy Spirit took up residence in Lars and created and sustained faith in him throughout his life until the day his soul was taken to Jesus. In Holy Baptism, God made His covenant with Lars personal, and He named him and claimed him as His own son with the promise, “I will never leave you or forsake you. I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. And, nothing can separate you from my love which is in Jesus Christ.” Therefore, you who grieve and mourn, take comfort and find peace, not in empty platitudes like, “Lars was a good man,” but in the rock-solid, objective love, mercy, grace, compassion, and forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ. God made a promise to Lars, even as He has promised you, that even a mustard seed of faith will receive sonship to the Father, the entirety of the Kingdom of Heaven, and life everlasting in Jesus Christ. God is good. God is love. God is truth. And, God is unchanging. Therefore, do not fear, but give thanks to the LORD and glorify His Name by trusting Him and clinging to Jesus in faith for forgiveness, life, and salvation, and show and share His love, mercy, grace, compassion, and forgiveness with others to the glory of His Most Holy Name.

Listen again to the words of the Prophet Isaiah from the Old Testament reading you heard just a moment ago: “But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine’.” Do you see how the LORD is not kidding here? What He has spoken in His Word, what He has promised you, cannot be revoked. The LORD’s Word and Promise is irrevocable, immutable, and eternal. The Word has truly gone out from His mouth and it will not, it can not return to Him void. For the Word of the LORD became flesh and Has made His dwelling with you. Jesus took up your flesh and blood as a man, was obedient to the LORD for you, as your brother, and has died for your sins, enduring in His own body the penalty of the world’s sin, death. And, He has been raised from death and the grave in His flesh and blood body and eternal soul, the sign, seal, and promise of your own flesh and blood bodily resurrection when He returns on the Last Day. This Word and Promise is for you, as it is for Lars. It is true. It will happen. You can take it to the bank and bet your life, now, and then, on it. For, He “is the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” He has blotted out your transgressions for His own sake, and He remembers not your sins.

Like His Lord Jesus, Lars was a carpenter. He used his hands to build, to serve. This was his vocation – His God-given, Spirit-equipped, vocation. Lars did excellent work! He restored antique barns from top to bottom. He labored carrying heavy wood and climbing to heights no one else wanted to. When David and Anita moved into their home in Wingdale, it was Lars who climbed a tall tree near the house to remove poison ivy so the family would be safe. Often his work was tedious and laborious, yet he did it patiently and carefully with much attention to detail. Lars was a carpenter. That was his God-given, Spirit-equipped, vocation.

However, Lars wasn’t perfect, was he? How about you? I recall that Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,” and that “There will be rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.” In truth, Lars struggled mightily with addiction to alcohol. What false gods and slaveries are you tempted to submit to enslave you? Beware of trying to take specks out of your brother’s eye while you have a log in your own eye. There’s another saying worth remembering: “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” Let us all humble ourselves before the uncompromising grace and mercy of our God in Jesus Christ. Lars was clumsy. He loved fishing, but would invariably end up in the water himself before taking his catch home. One time he bolted down his friends planter so that, the next time he tripped over it, he wouldn’t knock it over. There’s a man who knew his weakness and tried to do something about it. No, Lars wasn’t perfect. If he was, he wouldn’t need God’s mercy and forgiveness, he wouldn’t need Jesus’ blood to cleanse him of his sins. No, Lars wasn’t perfect, but he was forgiven. And, thanks be to God, so are you.

Dearly beloved, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” Lars believed in God, and Lars believed in his Savior, Jesus. Are you tempted to examine his fruits? That is fine, for Jesus taught that you will His people by their fruits. However, be careful to examine them in humility and in repentance at the paucity of your own fruit-bearing, and do not be tempted to examine them too critically or narrowly. Your LORD desires mercy, not sacrifice, and your love covers a multitude of sins, not least of all your own. Jesus went to heaven to prepare a place for Lars, even as He has prepared a place for you. And, Jesus will come again to take you and Lars to Himself that, where He is, you may also be. Remember that even faithful Thomas – you know him as Doubting Thomas; isn’t that comforting, since you undoubtedly have your doubts at times – remember that even faithful Thomas replied to the Lord, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus’ answer to Thomas is His answer to you and to Lars and to all men: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This is most certainly true, but it is not intended to exclude, but to encourage, for Jesus has blazed the way for all of His sheep to follow Him, and even now He leads the way through this valley of the shadow of death that is our lives in this world, guiding us with the rod and staff of His Word, leading us through the cool waters of Holy Baptism, and feeding us with His body and blood, even in the presence of our enemies. And, Jesus has destroyed the gate at the end of that valley that would keep us in death and has made it an open passageway into heaven for those who trust in Him. When He proclaimed from the cross, “It is finished!” it was. Believe it, for Jesus’ sake. If you have been united with Jesus in a death like His, you shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. This is our hope, our comfort, and our peace. This is why, along with the tears, there is also hope. We are not like those who have no hope. God keeps His promises. God will raise Lars from death to new and eternal life even as He will raise you who trust in Jesus.

Therefore, today we remember God’s promise made to Lars in Jesus Christ, a promise that He has kept. And, we look forward to that day when God will raise our bodies from death and the grave and reunite them with our eternal souls in heaven in life and joy and glory that never ends with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to whom be all glory and honor in our lives, in our deaths, and in our resurrection, world without end.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.