Eve of the National Day of Thanksgiving

(Audio)

Luke 12:13-21; 2 Corinthians 9:6-15; Deuteronomy 8:1-10

 

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

Giving thanks is the natural fruit of justification, trust and faith in God for forgiveness, life, and salvation. Thanksgiving blooms naturally from a Christian, the way plump and juicy bunches of grapes burst forth from the vine. Yet, there are many things that will hinder a Christian from giving thanks, amongst them being covetousness and greed.

These are no minor sins. Indeed, God has given no less than two Commandments against covetousness and greed, the Ninth and Tenth – three, if you count the Seventh Commandment, “You shall not steal.” These, like all sins, are ultimately sins against God, a transgression of the First Commandment, as the covetous and the greedy place their fear, love, and trust in some material or worldly created thing over and above the Creator of all things. Thus, in book two of The Divine Comedy, Purgatory, Dante described the covetous and the greedy as being bound and laid face down upon the ground for having concentrated too much on earthly thoughts.

We are all susceptible to covetousness and greed. Indeed, these were present and active in the Garden when our First Parents desired what God had forbidden, not only to eat the forbidden fruit, but to be their own gods, producing no fruitful thanksgiving and praise to God their Creator, but only the fruit of sin, which is death. We transgress the Ninth, Tenth, Seventh, and First Commandments, and probably others too, when we are anxious and worried about what we will eat and wear, and when we place our trust in our own works, wealth, and prosperity as did the man in Jesus’ parable.

In answer to two men in the crowd who were disputing over an inheritance, Jesus said, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Then He told them a parable about a rich man whose land produced plentiful crops so that his barns were filled, and he had no more room to store his grain. After considering, the man decided to tear down his existing barns and build larger ones to store all his grain and his goods. Then the man said to himself, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”

To our American, independence-idolizing ears, the man’s reasoning likely sounds good, even praiseworthy. After all, it’s his grain, his barns, his land; he should be able to do whatever he likes with what is his. That’s the American dream, right? That’s what we all hope to achieve in our retirement, if not sooner – independence, the freedom to not depend on anyone: parents, children, neighbors, government, God. Relax, eat, drink, and be merry. Sounds good, right? In fact, most of us will be doing just that tomorrow on the day we, as a nation, have designated a Day of National Thanksgiving. But how many will be giving thanks? What will they be thankful for? And who will they be thanking? How many will thank no one but themselves?

The rich man who tore down his barns and built bigger ones trusted only in himself. He was pleased with himself and thankful to himself for his own efforts. Was the land really his? No. Did he produce the seed that grew into crops? Did he make the rain to fall and the sun to shine that the seed might grow and be fruitful? No. No, truly, even the man’s life was not his own, just as your life is not your own, and that very night God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”

Relax, eat, drink, and be merry, for I have ample goods laid up for many years? Today, you are more likely to hear this adaptation: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. For, this is the common tomorrow that all men face, sooner or later. Therefore, since we will not live forever in this life as it is, and we all know that hearses don’t pull U-Hauls – that is to say, “You can’t take it with you.” – the question is, “How, then, shall we live?” However, this isn’t so much a decision that you need to make as it is fruit that you will bear when you have faith and trust in God, the Creator and giver of all things, even your life. Better, then is the way J.R.R. Tolkien put it in The Lord of the Rings: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

St. Paul explains saying, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” For, Paul continues, “[The LORD] has distributed freely, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” And, the result of this is that “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”

This is to say that your life, possessions, wealth, time, talents, and treasure are all precious gifts to you of God’s most loving grace. He gives them to you to use, for yourself and your family, and He makes you a steward and manager of His gifts to use for others. This is, in part, how you give thanks to God for His love, faithfulness, and providence – by being generous with His gifts, you bear the fruits of faith, which are living proof that you love the Giver more than the gifts. This is your confession in action of your faith in the LORD, who graciously provides you all that you need to sustain your body and life.

No man is an island, but we are all conceived and born into families, communities, villages, and nations. We are our brother’s keepers, and they are ours. Recognition of this fact does not make us socialists, but Christians. The most important fruit that is born of such faith and trust in God is freedom from the slavery of idolatry. Because you are a slave to Christ, you are free to live in His grace and receive His gifts, no strings attached. Therefore, you are free to freely share His gifts and give them to others, knowing that you are losing nothing, for your God who graciously gives you all things will not withhold from you all that is needful and good.

On this National Day of Thanksgiving, we remember the pilgrims who came to the New World with little but the clothing on their backs. After much toil, tribulation, and suffering, they were thankful; they were thankful for the land, for food, for shelter, for friendly neighbors, and for their own lives. They were also thankful for freedom: religious freedom, political freedom, freedom to be taxed only with representation, and freedom to a fair trial and justice. Jesus taught that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Indeed, because of our prosperity and wealth, we take much for granted and falsely believe that all we have is the fruit of our labors and rightfully ours alone. As a result, we are not thankful, and if we give, we often do so with somewhat less than a cheerful heart.

Well, charity does begin at home, and thanksgiving begins at the altar. We gather here today to receive God’s gifts and to offer Him thanks and praise. He graciously forgives our sins, strengthens our faith, and gives us eternal life that we can live and worship and share His gifts without fear of not having enough or running out. He fills you until you are overflowing, then He keeps on pouring and giving that you may be both blessed and a blessing. “For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Last Sunday of the Church Year / Sunday of the Fulfillment (Trinity 27)

(Audio)

Matthew 25:1-13; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Isaiah 65:17-25

 

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

You are stewards of a great treasure, a precious pearl of great price. I am not talking about your health, or your wealth, your family, your possessions, your church, or even your life – I’m talking about your faith. Your faith, you see, is not something that you can create, or earn, or choose, or purchase, or anything of the sort – your faith is a gift of the LORD that is created in you by the Holy Spirit through the Word of the LORD. And like anything that is valuable and precious, you must protect your faith and tend to it and care for it. That is what it means to be prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom Jesus Christ. That is what it means to have oil in your lamps and oil to spare should the Bridegroom be delayed. If you care about your faith, if it is precious to you and you treasure it, then you will be diligent to protect it, tend to it, care for it, and keep yourself full of it. For the Bridegroom is coming at a day and hour you cannot know. And when he comes, will he find faith on earth? Will he find you in faith? Yes, yes, he will, if you care enough about it to protect it, tend to it, care for it, and keep it.

The ten virgins were all the same. They were ten young women who were given the privilege and honor of welcoming the Bridegroom by carrying light-producing oil lamps in procession before him as he entered the wedding hall. To fail in this task would bring shame and dishonor upon themselves, their family, and the Bridegroom as well, similar to the shame and dishonor of running out of wine at first century Jewish wedding. Thus, the virgins took their task very seriously and planned to stay up to await the Bridegroom’s arrival. Five of the virgins even took the precaution of bringing extra oil along with them, just in case. All ten virgins fell asleep while awaiting the Bridegroom’s arrival. Again, they were all the same; none of them were perfect; all of them failed to stay awake. And yet, there was something that was different with some of them. Five of the virgins brought extra oil. The extra oil didn’t make them more righteous, or more watchful; they still fell asleep. Nevertheless, it was the oil that made the difference. In the end, when the Bridegroom finally arrived, the five wise virgins still had oil for their lamps, while the five foolish virgins had run out and could not light their lamps.

I think there’s a temptation here to credit the wise virgins with some superior quality and to assume that the foolish virgins were deficient in some way. But that is not the case at all; they were the same. If we are going to assign blame and deficiency, then all ten virgins deserve that judgment, for they all fell asleep. No, there was no difference between the ten except for the oil; five of the virgins still had oil. You see, this parable isn’t about the virgins at all; it’s all about the oil, and the oil represents faith. It’s not about how much oily faith you have. Nor is it about the good works you produce. Nor is it about how charitable you are, what people think about you, your past sins, current failings, or anything else. It’s all about the oil; it’s all about faith. And, when it comes to faith, you either have it, or you don’t – period.

That is why Jesus teaches that the faith of a mustard seed could move a mountain. That is why Jesus sometimes chided his disciples saying, “You of little faith.” Their faith may have been weak or small, but they still had it. Faith isn’t a work. Faith isn’t reason or understanding. Faith is not a choice or a decision. Faith is trust, and faith is a work and gift of the Holy Spirit. If you have faith, thanks be to God. If you don’t have faith, there’s nothing you can do to earn it, merit it, deserve, choose it, or get it. Faith must be given to you. Faith must be created in you. And that happens by the work of the Holy Spirit through the word of God, and in no other way. If you have faith in Jesus Christ, then you have Jesus. That is to say, you have everything that Jesus has: blessedness, holiness, righteousness, sonship with the Father, life that cannot and will ever die.

The five foolish virgins had run out of oil. They asked the wise virgins for some of their oil, but that cannot be for, the oil is faith, and you must have faith of your own, no one can believe for another. So, off into the darkness the foolish virgins go, seeking to purchase oil for their lamps. But the effort is futile; faith cannot be purchased or earned, borrowed, or anything else. Faith is a gift – period; you either have it, or you don’t.

Now, I know that this troubles you, because you are wondering, “Do I have enough faith?” “How can I be certain?” Well, if you’re concerned about not having faith, that’s a sure sign that you have it. If you didn’t have faith, you wouldn’t be concerned about losing it. How much faith? That’s not even a relevant question, for even the smallest amount of faith is saving faith – remember the mustard seed? For one thing, you’re here today: You’ve called upon the LORD to be present, and he is present. You’ve confessed your sins and have received his absolution. He has fed you with his word, strengthening your faith and equipping you for service. Even now he is speaking to you through his servant, who is, at the same time, a proclaimer and a hearer. Soon he will commune with you, flesh with your flesh, blood with your blood, in a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb in his kingdom. This absolution, this word, this meal is sustenance as you make your pilgrim way through the valley of the shadow of death that is this life and world into the promised land of the Father’s house forevermore.

How do you keep oil in your lamp? How is it possible that you will be found in faith when the Bridegroom Jesus Christ comes, be you wake or sleeping? Tend to your faith. Care for it. Protect it. It is a precious gift – the most precious gift. Now, I know that I’m preaching to the choir, but that’s alright. Don’t keep it to yourself! Tell someone you know who isn’t here that should be. And outside of Sunday morning, stay in the word: pray before meals, giving thanks; prayer is good for you, for when you pray, you pray to God, you honor and keep the First Commandment; read the Scriptures whether from the Bible directly, from Portals of Prayer, or any number of resources; attend Bible study when you can; whatever works for you. The point is, to tend your lamps, maintain your oil, care for, protect, and nurture the precious treasure and gift that is your faith.

And so, the end of the Church’s year of grace is much like its beginning in Advent: The Bridegroom is coming. Be ready. Be prepared. For, he is coming at a day and hour you cannot know. But don’t be afraid; rather, be in the Lord’s word and his gifts. If you are receiving from him, then you have nothing to be worried about and nothing to fear. The highest worship of the LORD is to receive his gifts. The gift you have is the most precious gift possible, eternal life and salvation. Treat your faith that way. Care for it, protect it, and preserve it at all costs. It is the wise thing to do.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

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

(Audio)

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

 

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

Dearly beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, we have entered hereunto the last days of the Church’s Year of Grace wherein, as we prepare for the annual commemoration of the nativity of our Lord at Christmas, we, simultaneously, prepare for His second coming as King and Judge. Indeed, the last three Sundays of the Church Year, and the four Sundays of Advent, serve together as a time for such preparation not unlike our Lenten preparation for Holy Week and Easter. In northern European tradition, these six weeks have been known as St. Martin’s Lent, named for the fourth century Father of the Church, St. Martin of Tours, who is commemorated on November 11^th and for whom our more recent Father and namesake Martin Luther, whose birthday we celebrated on November 10^th, was named.

Why does the Church set aside so much time for preparation? Why all the waiting for something to happen? Because preparation, waiting, and patience are what the Christian faith and life are all about – waiting on the Lord, trusting Him in patience, preparing for His return. When St. Peter warns of Christ’s return and judgment, he rhetorically asks “What sort of people ought you to be?” Then, he answers, live lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God. Here, the Biblical metaphor of leaven is useful for understanding. Leaven is put in place by the baker and then the dough is set aside for a while to rise. It is during this set aside time that the leaven does its work of causing the dough to rise – and, as we know, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. The leaven simply does what leaven does, it leavens. Slowly, and in an unseen way, the whole lump of dough is affected and is transformed.

This is what the kingdom of God is like. To unbelievers, it seems like foolishness, for the world appears to go on as it always has, filled with evil and wickedness, wars, disease, and death as the sun rises and sets day after day. And, this is true, in many ways it is the same old world filled with the same kinds of sinful men. But, slowly, patiently, in a hidden and unseen way, change has been taking place, beginning with God’s first promise of a savior after the fall of Adam and Eve, all the way to the death of the Son of God on a Friday afternoon two thousand years ago, to today, and tomorrow, and as many tomorrows as the Lord may grant us. A transformation is taking place, a leavening, and it is God who is doing the work, in God’s way, in God’s time, patiently, that all should reach repentance.

Now, waiting in patience is only reasonable if you expect that something is going to happen. Most of you would not wait an hour and a half in the doctor’s office if you didn’t believe that you were going to get to see the doctor. In a similar way, we wait patiently for the coming of the Lord, trusting in God’s promise that He will come. And, the question, then, for us, is not “What do we do while we wait?” but, it is “What sort of people ought we to be?” For, the Son of Man is coming in glory, and all the angels with Him. Then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.

This judgment and separation is going to happen, that’s a bonafide guarantee. All people are either sheep or goats, and the Lord, and only the Lord, knows who’s which. And, moreover, it has nothing to do with people being either good or bad, and it has nothing to do with their works. For, the sheep and the goats co-exist in the one flock of the Good Shepherd just as the wheat and the tares are permitted to grow together in the same field until the harvest. But, then the sorting, then the judgment, and that is done only by the Lord. So, again, it is not being good or being bad that makes one a sheep or a goat, a stalk of wheat or a tare, and, it is not about works, but, it is about what you are – are you righteous? And no one can make themselves righteous, no one can work their way into righteousness anymore than a goat can make itself into a sheep or a tare into wheat. If you are righteous, that is because you have been made to be, declared to be righteous by God. And, God has already declared, already judged all men to be righteous in Jesus’ blood. So, if you are not righteous, if you are a goat or a tare, then you have rejected God’s external righteousness for yourself. For, righteousness comes by grace through faith in Christ alone, just as it came to Abraham: And, Abraham believed God, and God counted that to Abraham as righteousness.

But doesn’t Jesus credit the righteous for their good works, that they gave Him food and drink, welcomed Him, clothed Him, and visited Him? Sure He does! But, their good works did not make them righteous, God did! Their works were the fruit of their righteousness, and the righteous ones didn’t even know they were doing them, let alone did they know that they were doing them to Jesus. They are like leaven that leavens because it is leaven, placed in the world, but not of the world, by God, to leaven it. Furthermore, their blessedness and inheritance, and, do take note of the passiveness of those words, was prepared for them before the foundation of the world. Thus, the good works of the sheep are counted to them as righteousness – they are not righteousness, but Jesus treats them that way! The righteous sheep are praised, not for their good works, but for their faith, their trust in Jesus all along, throughout their lives.

But, what about the goats? Well, the terrible truth is that they, too, have been declared righteous in Jesus Christ, they are in the flock of the Good Shepherd, but they do not trust in Christ but in their works. They cry out “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?” And Jesus will answer them, “As you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”  You see, the goats put their trust in their works, not in Jesus, therefore they are judged by their works, and, necessarily, they come up short. But, again, the terrible truth is that they, like the sheep, have been declared to be, made to be righteous in the blood of Jesus. But, because of the blindness of their unbelief, they will have cut themselves off from the salvation they already had – from the favorable judgment that, but for the noise of their own works, they would otherwise have heard.

For, in the end, salvation is not about works, it’s not even about being good or bad, sheep or goats, but salvation is about faith, faith in Christ Jesus, blind trust in His acceptance: The one who believes in Him is not judged: but the one who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. The goats on the left are not bad people loaded down with sins of omission. The sheep on the right are not do-gooders. Jesus habitually avoids depicting badness as an obstacle to the kingdom, just as he carefully steers clear of making goodness one of its entrance requirements. The kingdom is not taken by force and violence, nor is it merited by works, but, rather, it is received in faith and is entered in no other way.

Thus, the Church, in Her wisdom, has established times of waiting and preparation so that all will have the opportunity to stop focusing so much upon what they do and to focus, instead, upon what God, in Christ, has done, that, when He comes, we might be found patiently waiting, without spot or blemish, and at peace – waiting and trusting, not in our works, but in Christ alone, that in His suffering and death, He has made us to be righteous and His holy sheep. This is the time to stop all doing and to recommence being– being blessed, being righteous, being godly, begin holy, being a sheep, being leaven in the world but not of the world. God has put you here, and, yes, He has a purpose for you, but, you don’t have to discover it, chose it, experience it, or wrangle over it, anymore than a sheep wrangles over what it means to be a sheep. Sheep eat and sheep drink, sheep walk and sheep rest – sheep do sheepythings. Sheep do not worry or think too much about what they’re doing, but sheep trust, sheep believe, and sheep have faith in their Good Shepherd to lead them, feed them, guard them, and protect them. And, this, your Good Shepherd does for you here, today, now, with His Word and His Wounds – His holy body and His precious blood – that you may be well prepared for His return and may inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

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

(Audio)

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

 

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

The abomination that causes desolation is not a statue of a pagan god, or even of the Roman emperor, set up in the Jewish temple, but the abomination of desolation is the One True God hanging dead upon a Roman cross. Thus, there’s no need to speculate when it’s going to happen, or if it’s already happened, or what, or when, or where it was or will be, because that’s it: God, dead upon the cross, is the abomination above and beyond all abominations. And to the wise and to the strong, to those whose unbelieving eyes, ears, and hearts see Jesus’ crucified corpse as weakness and defeat, this is a cause for stumbling and for desolation. However, for the perishing, for those with eyes, ears, and hearts of faith, it is a cause for strength, and peace, and comfort.

The people of Jesus’ day lived under Roman rule. The Romans demonstrated this by placing their insignia, the eagle, upon the lands they ruled. This eagle insignia was called an aquila, and it was carried before a legion of soldiers by a standard bearer. The Romans even affixed an aquila upon the temple in Jerusalem, thus reminding the Jews that “even the temple, the center of their worship and the assurance of God’s presence among them, belonged not to them but to the Roman emperor, whose guards kept a watchful eye on it.” For the Jew, this was an abomination. It was idolatry. It was outrageous that a man like the Roman emperor, who claimed to be a god, would set his insignia upon the place where the true God dwelt on earth. The temple doesn’t belong to Rome, it belongs to the Lord.

Understandably, the children of Israel were angry and upset, even desolate at what they perceived to be the abomination the Roman’s had placed upon God’s temple. Also, in the face of subjugation, taxation, the limiting and controlling of their religious freedom, not to mention the ridicule, mocking, and degrading they suffered under the Roman occupiers, the people became impatient, wanting to be free of Rome, and their faith and trust in God to provide and protect waned, and they drifted off into idolatry just as their ancestors had done in the days they waited for Moses to come down from the mountain with God’s Commandments. They recast the temple into their own image. They used the temple as a way for them to take power, seize control, and make money. They made it into a den of robbers. They used it as a way to enslave. They created an idol, an abomination.

Yet, God, dead upon the cross, is the abomination that causes desolation. The abomination created by the Jews of Jesus’ day was but the fruit of their desolation. God gave His only-begotten Son to be the Messiah, the anointed Savior of all mankind. He had made this covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and had kept it throughout years of want and years of plenty, years of captivity and exile, and years of prosperity and peace. But they rejected God’s Christ, and made for themselves a salvation by works according to the laws of men, just as they rejected God’s commandments long ago, and made for themselves a god of gold in the form of a calf. They chose for themselves man’s religion, the religion of the Pharisee, scribes, and Sadducees, and they rejected the Good News of man’s redemption in Jesus Christ. They worshiped the temple, and they sent the Temple of God in human flesh, Jesus, to a Roman cross to suffer and die. There, upon the cross, the Roman standard and insignia, the eagle, encircled His mutilated corpse, just as Jesus had prophesied, “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

Indeed, vultures is a satisfactory translation of the Greek ἀετοί, but eagles is better. When God died on the cross, His corpse was surrounded by the eagle insignia of the Roman Empire. For, this was the true abomination: The Christ of God, betrayed into Roman hands, crucified and dead upon a Roman cross. This was the true abomination that brings desolation to those who do not see in Jesus’ death the victory of Christ over sin and death and Satan. Thus, Jesus squarely placed His prophetic warning of tribulation and suffering after His own death and resurrection. However, He did connect it to an event in the future, though not far off, when tribulation such as the world had never experienced before, or would ever experience again, fell upon Jerusalem and upon all of Israel. For, within forty years of Jesus’ death and resurrection, within the time of that present generation of men, the Romans would lay siege to Jerusalem and then invade and utterly destroy her, her walls and her temple, and leave her utterly desolate like a corpse.

When Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D., the Jews, and the Romans, indeed, all the world, thought that God had abandoned His people. But the truth was, not that God had abandoned His people, but that the people had abandoned their God. They left God’s Word behind for a god, an idol, of their own making. They worshiped a building, they worshiped men and their laws and commands, they worshiped their occupiers by placing their fear and their trust in them. But God had not abandoned them. In fact, in Jesus’ death upon the cross, God was most for His people. For, upon the cross, Jesus atoned for man’s sins, suffered in man’s place, was obedient under God’s Law, and substituted for man’s death. And, though He died, our God is not dead, but He has destroyed the power of death and set us free from sin. And He has made you to be His temples in which He dwells. He feeds you with the fruits of His cross. He marks you with His own insignia, the sign of His cross. And He places upon you His Name and covers you with His righteousness.

You look around the world today and you imagine that it is filled with abomination, things and people and deeds that are so outrageous that you recoil in horror at the sight of them. But, when you look to the cross, you see God’s true power to overcome your real problems: sin and death. When you see the cross, you see God’s wisdom. When you see the cross, you see God’s true love for you. See God, therefore, where He may be truly found. For false prophets will say “Look, the Christ is here!” or “Look, the Christ is there!” But if they point you away from the Means of Grace, away from Baptism, Absolution, the Lord’s Supper, they point you where He has not promised to be. They point you to idolatry, an abomination that will leave you desolate.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Feast of All Saints (observed)

(Audio)

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

 

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

The Feast of All Saints is not what you think it is. Let me rephrase that: The Feast of All Saints is not merely what you think it is. For, you think that the Feast of All Saints is about those who have died in the Lord and are with Him now. Well, you are right! It most certainly is about that! However, that is not all that The Feast of All Saints is about, nor even, I would posit, the most important thing. For, The Feast of All Saints is about you, also. This Feast is your Feast. For, you are among the saints in the Lord that the Church celebrates and gives thanks and praise for to our Triune God for this day.

You know this because of the present blessedness that Jesus calls you to through faith in Him and His Word. For, the blessings of the Beatitudes are all in the present tense. They read, “Blessed are,” not “Blessed were,” or even “Blessed will be.” Jesus teaches that there is blessedness, right now, for those who are poor in spirit, for those who mourn, for those who are meek, for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, etc. Now, it is not natural for our fallen world, our fallen flesh, and our fallen reason to count such things as blessedness. But, your Lord Jesus calls you through these Beatitudes, through His Word, to see and to hear things differently.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This first beatitude has absolutely nothing to do with material wealth and possessions. It is addressed to the spiritually poor, to those who acknowledge and confess their moral bankruptcy. Blessed are those who confess that they are poor, miserable sinners and that they cannot help themselves out of their derelict condition. The spiritually poor are blessed now, in their spiritual poverty, for their treasure is not on earth, but in heaven. Their treasure is not in their works and their merit, but their treausure is God’s gift of Jesus Christ. They are blessed, they are forgiven, in His holy, innocent shed blood for them. Likewise, those who mourn over their sin and the damage it has caused in their relationships with both God and with their neighbor are blessed, and they are comforted in the knowledge that their sins are forgiven, that the breach has been healed, and that even death, which they truly merit, has been defeated, its sting taken away. And, this blessedness results in the blessed state of meekness for the spiritually poor – meekness which is truly humility and gentleness and consideration for your neighbor, and especially for those who are poor in spirit, mourning, and humble themselves.

And so, the first three beatitudes describe the repentant life of the Christian now. All that you experience in your life now is truly preparation for the life that is to come. And yet, you must not strike a harsh distinction between the two, for the life you live now in Jesus Christ will never end. Though your body will die and perish, your born again spirit will not. Your spirit, indeed, knows the blessedness Jesus describes in the beatitudes, the blessedness of poverty of spirit, of mourning over sin, and of meekness and humility, for this is the blessedness of the saints who have come out from the great tribulation that is life in this world, having washed their robes, making them white in the blood of the Lamb.

St. John reemphasizes Jesus’ teaching concerning the present reality of the blessedness of His saints saying, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared.” Moreover, in this passage, St. John speaks of the now / not yettension in which the Church Militant exists and lives on earth. Truly, the Church of Jesus Christ is victorious in Him and is blessed now, but this reality has not yet been fully revealed. And so, the world looks upon the Church and Her members and sees only weakness and hypocrisy, brokenness, infighting, and irrelevancy, even while Jesus looks upon Her and proclaims, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” My Bride.

And so, Jesus continues to proclaim the blessed state of His faithful, now, saying, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for ritheousness,” “Blessed are the merciful,” “Blessed are the pure in heart,” “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,” and “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” “Rejoice and be glad,” Jesus says, “for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Each of these beatitudes make it clear that unbelievers will not see your blessedness, that even the faithful will be tempted to view these blessed traits as anything but blessed. For, the LORD’s ways are not man’s ways, and the foolishness of the LORD is wiser than man’s wisdom. Your Lord Jesus did not come to establish a kingdom of glory on earth, but He came to ransom you out of this world that is passing away because of sin and death. Even now, He is making all things new, even you, by turning your hearts and minds by His Spirit through His Word that you might see and hear differently.

Therefore, the Lord granted John, and you, His Church, this revelation of the Church Triumphant in heaven – 144,000 saints, representing the Old Testament and the New Testament Church together as one fellowship in Jesus Christ. And, beyond them, “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” Combined, these two images represent the Church catholic, both in heaven and on earth, both triumphant and militant, of all times and of all places. This Church is revealed for St. John and for you so that you might have hope as you continue your pilgrimage through this valley of the shadow of death, surrounded by enemies – hope that the victory is already yours in Christ Jesus, and comfort that your victorious Lord walks with you, even now, through that valley as your Good Shepherd, your Reedeemer, your Lord, and your God. You tend to look at this revelation as if it were something far off and yet to come, but the truth is that it is something that is very real for you right now. In fact, the English word Revelation is a translation of the Greek word ἀποκάλυψις, which means unveiling. Thus, this vision of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church of all times and of all places is but an unveiling, a revealing, of the Church that exists even now, but is seen in the fullness of Her glory not yet.

The Feast of All Saints is your feast, for you are numbered among that “great multitude that no one could number” who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” When did you do this? Well, you didn’t, but it was something that was done to you when you were baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection. Then, you were claimed, spiritually, out of this Great Tribulation as was Noah and his family from the flood of God’s wrath, and you were sealed in the promise by faith that your body will be raised up from death too that you may join that countless host in your glorified flesh and blood body and serve God day and night where you shall hunger and thirst no more, where the sun and scorching heat shall strike you no more, where there is no more sorrow or tears, for God Himself will have wiped every tear from your eyes and taken away every reason for tears and sorrow.

The Feast of All Saints is your Feast, for God has knit together His faithful people of all times and of all places into one Holy Communion, the mystical body of His Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, you are invited to come to this foretaste of that Great Feast in heaven in order that you might be refreshed, renewed, and sustained that you might persevere during your pilgrimage through this life, through death, into eternal life and the Great Feast itself, the Wedding Feast of the Bridegroom Jesus Christ and His Holy Bride, the Church. This is not merely a meal of remembrance, but this is your spiritual food and drink in the wilderness on which you abide until you are delivered into the Promised Land of heaven.

More than that, your Lord and Bridegroom Jesus Christ Himself is present at this Festal Board as both gracious Host and life-giving Meal, “with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven.” That “company of heaven” includes all the saints of the Lord who have died in faith in Him, who are with Him now, with whom you will stand in the resurrection, not yet, in your glorified flesh and blood bodies and holy souls. This is His gracious gift to you now, that you, who cannot ascend to heaven, might join with heaven in this Feast as heaven graciously descends to you. Thus, you are invited to come and join in the heavenly chorus around the throne of God and the Lamb singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy LORD God of Sabaoth; Heaven and earth art full of Thy glory! Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He, blessed is He, blessed is He who cometh in the Name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest!”

Because God has reconciled Himself with all humanity in the holy innocent shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, St. Paul exhorts you to no longer regard anyone according to the flesh. Indeed, you must regard each and every human being as a soul created by God and redeemed and reconciled to Him in Jesus Christ. Thus, no man or woman is your enemy, but we each and all have but one enemy, God’s enemy, the devil, Satan, the Great Deceiver and Accuser of men.

Therefore, I exhort you to see this Feast of All Saints differently – to see yourself among the saints of God, but also to see your brother and sister and your neighbor as saints, or would-be saints needing only to hear and believe the Good News that God was in Christ Jesus reconciling the world to Himself. This is the Good News, the Gospel, that you have been rescued from death to proclaim in your words, life, and deeds. This Feast of All Saints, let the unveiling of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church of all times and of all places enable you to see with new eyes your life and purpose in Christ and in His Body the Church. You are not alone, but you are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses! And, your very life is bound up with Christ and all His saints as a witness to the world of God’s boundless love and mercy, and His desire that all men be saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. You are not alone, but you are part of God’s mission to the world in Christ Jesus. Come to the feast and be forgiven, nourished, and strengthened in faith. Then, go, as He sends you, into the world in your vocations and let Christ’s light and love shine in all you say and do, to the glory of God the Father, in His Son Jesus Christ, through the gracious workings of His Holy Spirit.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Festival of the Reformation (observed)

(Audio)

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's been 507 years since Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, also known as the Castle Church, effectively beginning what we now commonly call the Reformation. Contrary to what many believe and claim, Luther was not protesting anything at all. Indeed, the subject of all 95 Theses was the singular practice of the selling of indulgences by which believers were told they could purchase the forgiveness of sins for their loved ones in purgatory. This idea that you can justify yourself by your works, by following the world’s word and wisdom or your own, is violence against the Word of the God. You cannot take the kingdom of heaven by violence and force. You cannot earn or merit it by your works. But, you must receive it as it comes to you from your merciful Father through His beloved and righteous Son whom He has put forward as a propitiation for your sins and for the sins of the world. Ecclesia semper reformanda est, the Church is always being reformed. I say to you that our church must be reformed still, and that reform starts right here, right now, in repentance, which is faith, and by remembering the Sabbath Day to keep it holy – not despising preaching and His Word, but holding it sacred and gladly hearing and learning it. “Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word; curb those who by deceit or sword would wrest the kingdom from Your Son and bring to naught all He has done.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Mission Festival (LWML Sunday) at Immanuel Lutheran Church - St. Ansgar, Iowa

I was invited to preach at Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Ansgar, IA for a Mission Festival / LWML Sunday as part of the congregation's year-long celebration of their 150th anniversary. Here is the sermon.

(Audio)

Luke 24:1-12, 36-49; Romans 10:9-17; Isaiah 62:1-7

 

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

Today’s Gospel is the account of the faithful women arriving at Jesus’ tomb early Sunday morning. What I think we tend to forget, however, is that the women did not expect to find the tomb empty, the stone rolled away, and their Lord Jesus’ body gone. They did not come in hopeful expectation of Jesus’ resurrection, but they came to complete the unfinished work of preparing his dead body for burial. They did not come seeking the living but the dead. However, they were greeted by two angels, holy messengers of God’s Word, who proclaimed to them, “He is not here, but has risen!” The messengers called them to remember Jesus’ words, that “the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” At their word they did remember, and they ran at once to the eleven and to all the others to tell them the Good News!

All four of the Gospels record the account of the women at the tomb, and all four accounts agree that the women did not initially believe that Jesus would rise. But that is not a slight on the women uniquely, for no one believed, hoped, or anticipated that Jesus would rise. Apart from the life-giving and faith-creating Word of God we are all like Lazarus, spiritually dead and unable to believe. However, once that Word has been proclaimed to us, the Lord willing, we are resurrected to faith and life, and our all-consuming desire and passion is to go and tell anyone who will listen to the Good News!

The Scriptures attest to this in numerous places. For example, when Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, some Pharisees wanted Jesus to rebuke his disciples for praising him with the Messianic titles, “Hosanna, Son of David” and “Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the LORD.” But Jesus answered them saying, “If they remain silent, the very stones will cry out!” Often when Jesus healed people, he exhorted them to remain silent and to not tell, yet they could not contain their joy and went and told everyone they could. When the man born blind was healed, he went and told everyone how Jesus had restored his sight. The ostracized Samaritan woman at the well went and told everyone in her village about the man she had spoken with, and she proclaimed that he could be the Christ. You see, faith is never silent, but it is always active, speaking, singing, praising, serving, confessing the Good News of forgiveness, life, and salvation in Jesus.

We often wrongly think of mission work as sort of a vocational specialization that only certain people having certain skills and abilities are called to do, while the rest of us support them financially and with our prayers. While it is a wonderful gift and blessing that the Lord has raised up such missionaries in his church, it is not true that mission work is, can, or should be done only by such professionals. All who have received the gift of faith are bound, blessed, equipped, and sent to share what the Lord has done to the glory of God. St. Paul has written, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Similarly, Jesus has said, “Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven.” Every Christian is a missionary, indeed a little Christ, proclaiming the Good News of what the Lord has done in word and deed. “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim the good news!”

So, the women came to the tomb that Easter morning seeking the dead, spiritually dead in terms of their faithful hope and living joy. But after hearing the Word of the holy messengers, they ran, their hearts full of fear, love, and trust, and perplexed hope and joy, to tell the others! Truly, it was not only their Lord who was raised, just as he said, but they too were resurrected, and their mission became that joyful message in their lives, words, and deeds! This is the mission to which you have been called, my Christian brothers and sisters! And that is the mission of Immanuel Lutheran Church of St. Ansgar, Iowa today, even as it has been your mission these past 150 years. You have been blessed, and you ARE blessed to be a blessing! “Thank the Lord and sing his praise; tell everyone what he has done!”

Now, I was asked to speak to you this day concerning the service of Christian women in the Church. The reason I am here specifically is because I am the senior pastoral counselor for the Iowa East District of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. I was elected pastoral counselor back in 2022 and have served the District LWML two full years and am now in my third year. I will confess that I didn’t know exactly what I was getting into back then. Sure, I knew about the work of the LWML and have worked with my congregations’ local societies and zones, but what I have experienced the past two-plus years has been nothing short of revelatory and a great blessing to me personally. The LWML is truly a mission society. What I mean is that the entire organization in its mission and vision, organization, and service is mission-minded through and through.

Here’s some boilerplate background for you: The Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) is an official auxiliary of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Since 1942, the LWML has focused on affirming each woman’s relationship with Christ, encouraging and equipping women to live out their Christian lives in active mission ministries and to support global missions. Mission Statement: As Lutheran Women in Mission, we joyfully proclaim Christ, support missions, and equip women to honor God by serving others. Vision Statement: The LWML is the leading group for LCMS women where each woman is welcomed and encouraged to use her unique God-given gifts as she supports global missions and serves the Lord with gladness. Now, if this sounds a bit corporate, well, that’s ok, it is. Nevertheless, it’s a pretty good guiding position statement that serves to keep the organization grounded and centered in the Gospel nationally, district-wide, and locally in both zones and congregation societies.

I suspect that most everyone knows about the LWML’s chief fundraising program, the Mite. LWML Mite Boxes are inspired, of course, by the Gospel account of the poor widow who put her two last pennies (mites) into the offering box. Jesus praised her for her faith and trust in the Lord in giving, out of her poverty, want, and need, everything she had. Now, it is of course true that the pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters that typically find their way into a mite box are rarely anyone’s last two pennies, but they are more likely the change left in our pockets at the end of the day or week. Nevertheless, those mites, when combined with hundreds and thousands of other gifts from zone, district, and national LWML offerings provide hundreds of thousands of dollars which serve to support vocational missionaries and mission work, to provide scholarships for Lutheran pastors, deaconesses, DCEs, teachers, and other church workers, along with missionary efforts in our districts, zones, and congregations.

However, it’s not just the mites and the money, but women in the LWML regularly serve with their hands, hearts, voices, and prayers by collecting needed items for food pantries, schools, pro-life women’s support organizations, and much, much more. They also make quilts, shawls, and other useful items, they write letters of encouragement, make crafts that proclaim the Good News of Jesus to others and encourage them to share their faith, and, it goes without saying, prepare countless meals for funerals and congregation celebrations throughout our Synod. In the Iowa East District, our LWML has pledged to support thirteen unique mission endeavors along with several scholarships and grants totaling $90,000 over the next biennium. One of those mission grants supports the campus ministry that I and my congregation at St. John provide to students attending Wartburg College in Waverly. Others include Lutheran Family Services, Lutheran Disaster Relief, Mission Central, Lutherans for Life, and Word of Hope Suicide Prevention for Post-Abortive Women, among others.

Here at Immanuel, your Lutheran Ladies Society was first organized in 1917 under the pastorate of Rev. Paul Brammer. In 1947 your society joined the LWML. Over the years the Immanuel Lutheran Ladies Society has cared for altar paraments, banners, and vestments, altar flowers, the church kitchen and its appointments, and much, much more. Members of the society regularly visit church members, particularly shut-ins, and provide for the welfare of church members in need. A church history book ends its section on the LWML with these words: “What is the LWML all about? Being missionaries where we are! We pray the Lord’s blessings attend our efforts for Him and His church as we continue to Serve the Lord with Gladness.”

Two thousand years later, your missionary work is not really all that different than those women who ministered to Jesus and supported his ministry, the same women who sought to care for his body that first Easter morning. Those women have come to be known in Christendom as the Holy Myrrhbearers for bringing myrrh and aloes to anoint Jesus’ body in loving service and devotion. The Myrrhbearers were women who followed Jesus, served him, and witnessed his crucifixion. They were with him throughout his ministry and accompanied his body to the tomb. The Myrrhbearers represent the good and holy in the Christian faith. In loving devotion, thanksgiving, and fear, love, and trust they served their Lord in life and in death. After the angels’ announcement they served the Lord and glorified him by telling all that he was risen and all that he had done. This remains the mission of God’s people until he comes again on the Last Day.

“For Zion's sake we cannot keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake we cannot be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory” […] “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.” Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! And Christ is present with his words and wounds to forgive you anew, to strengthen your faith, to equip you for every good work, and to send you forth as his hands, feet, mouth, and voice, as little Christ’s, serving your neighbor and glorifying his name until he comes. The tomb is empty, the stone forever rolled away. Death has died and life lives, and you get to be the messengers of Jesus’ victory in your lives, words, and deeds. God bless you saints of Immanuel Lutheran Church, and the LORD continue to make you a blessing.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 21)

(Audio)

John 4:46-54; Ephesians 6:10-17; Genesis 1:1 – 2:3

 

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

Genesis chapter one is the account of God’s creation of the universe, “In the beginning….” God created everything ex nihilo, that is, out of nothing, by the life-giving, creative power of his Word alone: “And God said…; and it was so.” In his Gospel, St. John takes us back to the beginning to make it clear that the Word of God is not like a word spoken by men, but is in fact God’s eternally begotten Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity: “In the beginning,” writes John, “was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” It was the life-giving, creative Word of God, through whom God created everything that has been created, His only begotten Son, who became flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary and made his dwelling amongst us: “and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

That was Genesis chapter one. In Genesis chapter two we hear of the unique creation of humankind, male and female. God created the man, not by speaking, but from the earth he had made, and then he breathed his own life-giving breath into him and the man became a living being. It was to this first and only human man that God spoke his Word and Commandment concerning the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Then God put that man under a deep sleep and removed from his side a rib. God made from the rib of the man a woman and brought her to the man who immediately recognized her to be flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. The man then proclaimed to the woman, his wife, the Word that God had spoken to him before she was made.

Genesis chapter three is the account of our First Parent’s rebellion and fall from grace. The serpent tempted the woman to question and doubt the Word that God had spoken which she had heard from her husband. You must note that the enemy didn't tempt Adam & Eve to murder, to steal, or even to tell a lie, but he tempted them to question and to doubt the Word of God: “Did God actually say…?” Up until that moment they had never known or considered another word. They were completely and perfectly content and at peace with the Word that God had spoken. The temptation was not immediately to disobey God, but it was to question and doubt what he has spoken, his Word. You must understand, his tactics haven't changed.

It's all about the Word of God, always and forever. In the beginning there was God, period. And then God spoke; God spoke his creative and life-giving Word, his Son. Everything that is, is because of him, the Word, and everything continues to be and is sustained by that very Word. The first temptation was to question and doubt what God had spoken, and ever since that first sinful rebellion humankind has been at enmity with God and with creation and with each other. God’s Word is good, orderly, creative, and life-giving; any and every other word is evil, chaotic, destructive, and brings death. The woman was deceived, but the man chose freely and willfully against his better knowledge to rebel against the God who made him and who spoke to him his Word and so plunged humanity and all of creation into darkness, sin, and death.

God could have destroyed it all and wiped the slate clean. By all right he should have. But he didn’t; that’s not God’s proper nature. Instead, God proclaimed a Gospel promise: A seed from the woman who was first deceived – not from the man who willfully and intentionally rebelled – would crush the serpent’s head. This covenant promise was restated again and again, though men continued to reject God’s Word and rebel, and it was believed and trusted in by the patriarchs, and was proclaimed by the prophets, until it was fulfilled in Jesus Christ: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Though men rejected, mistreated, and killed the prophets of God’s Word, surely they would receive God’s Son. But no, they thought, this is the Son, the heir, if we kill him then the kingdom will be ours. And so they crucified the incarnate Son of God. But the Word of God cannot die. Jesus rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, reigns at the right hand of God, and is coming again as King and Judge on a day no man can know. The righteous One died for the transgressors, the innocent for the guilty. Jesus fulfilled the Law that Adam and his children failed to keep, and he suffered and died in their place. He rose again triumphant over sin and death, having crushed the serpent’s head, the firstborn of all who will believe and trust in him.

Still, the enemy tempts you to disbelieve God’s Word. His tactics haven’t changed. What is a Christian to do? Well, only the Word of God is good. Only the word of God gives life. You must stand firm in the Word of God. You must be clothed in the Word of God. You must trust in the Word of God, no matter how tempting the deceiver’s voice might be, how much your sinful flesh desires to seek pleasure in that which is contrary to God’s Word, how much the words of godless men seem like wisdom to your fallen reason. Thus does St. Paul exhort you: “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Paul speaks of armor. Armor is like clothing, something you put on. Armor is not part of you, but it comes from outside of you. Moreover, armor is defensive, not offensive; armor is not used to attack, but its purpose is to defend you from attack, the fiery darts of the evil one. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the readiness of the gospel as shoes for your feet, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation: This armor will protect you from the attack of the evil one. It is nothing other than being clothed and armored by the Word of God. How do you acquire this armor? Well, you cannot buy it, that’s for certain. Neither do you deserve it, nor can you earn or merit it, but you must receive it as a free gift of God’s grace for the sake of the Word made flesh Jesus Christ who suffered and died and shed his holy, righteous, innocent blood for you. This armor is Christ’s righteousness which covers you, his blood which cleanses you and speaks a better Word concerning you than the blood of righteous Abel. You receive it when you are baptized and believe, and you maintain it by returning to your baptism through repentance, confession, and absolution. You keep it clean and strong by regularly hearing the Word of God, by taking Sabbath rest in his Word and Sacraments, just as you are doing this day.

You are at war, dear Christian. To be more accurate, you are under spiritual attack, and the devil will use deceit and lies, and he will tempt your fallen reason, corrupted desires, and weak flesh to question and doubt God’s Word. But God’s Word is the only thing that can protect and shield you from his attack. The last piece of armor Paul names is the sword of the spirit. Now, I know that a sword seems like an offensive weapon, but it is not; the sword of the spirit is the Word of God itself, and it is a defensive weapon by which you can stand against the devil’s attack. This is precisely what Jesus did when he was tempted by the devil forty days and nights in the wilderness. The devil tempted Jesus to question and doubt the Word of God. The devil even used the Word of God as a weapon against Jesus, taking it out of context, omitting parts he didn’t like, twisting its interpretation and meaning in order to lead Jesus astray. But Jesus stood firm on the Word of God and nothing else. He leaned not on his own reason, wisdom, strength, and understanding, but put all his fear, love, and trust in God and His Word. The devil fled from him and angels came and ministered to him. No, you cannot fight the devil using the Word of God as an offensive weapon; the devil knows God’s Word better than you do and he will use it to deceive you. But you must trust in God’s Word and in the Word made flesh Jesus Christ and flee to him for refuge when you are under attack. Do not despise the preaching of God’s Word but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.”

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.