Category Archives: Pentecost

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Pentecost 21 – “Jesus For You” (Mark 10:23-31)

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.
Today’s text is the continuation of the encounter of the rich young man from last week’s Gospel reading. As we left that man, Mark records, “Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” That’s the last we see or hear about this rich young man, for the man went away sorrowful because he was not able to fulfill Jesus’ command. How sad it must have been for the young man, but what is even more sad is how many more people are just like him. ;
As sad as the interaction was with the man, Jesus continues teaching the disciples, saying, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” This was not only a problem for the man who left Jesus, but it is an important lesson for us today as well. Jesus explains how wealth makes it difficult to enter God’s kindgom. He then generalizes this statement to include all people. While there is nothing wrong with being wealthy or having lots of possessions, our riches cannot and will not earn us entry into heaven, nor will they earn us everlasting life. This is the point that Jesus was trying to make to the disciples and to the rich young man a few verses earlier who went away sorrowful. Our earthly riches will do us no good when it comes to the gift of salvation, for this gift cannot be bought or purchased for any amount, other than the blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
To stress the point of just how hard it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of heaven, Jesus tells them that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” So just how does one go about making a camel go through the eye of a needle? Imagine pulling hair by hair out of the camel through the eye of the needle, then someone disassembling the camel on one end, pulling the camel through and somehow reassembling the camel back together and giving it life again. Obviously, it is a ridiculous notion that Jesus is putting before them, making something so huge go through a hole so small. The disciples knew this and were left with the same question that we all have: “Then who can be saved?”

We go back to the question that the man asked last week, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Right away, we’re saying that there must be something that we can do. But sadly, even though the question is wrong, there are plenty of people who will be happy to give you an answer, albeit a wrong answer.
In more than one church and from more than one pastor, the answer is that you must do good works in order to inherit eternal life. You must lead a good life. You must keep all the commandments of God, or at least as well as you can, and the Lord will graciously open the gates of heaven to you. This is such a popular doctrine among us today, that as long as we go to church x number of times a year, we’ve done enough and eternal life is ours. Or better yet is the notion that as long as we do our best each day, what more can God ask for from us. Doing the best you can isn’t good enough in God’s book, for Jesus says, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” ;
These answers are appealing to our sinful nature – it means that we can do this on our own. It means that we don’t have to get it all right and God won’t punish us. It means whatever you want it to mean and God will grant you everlasting life regardless of what you have done or haven’t done. The easy answer is good works. But how many good works are necessary? What constitutes a good work? Can you ever do enough good works? The answer to this question is that good works will not earn you salvation.
When Jesus turns His full attention to the disciples, His words are centered around salvation, but the disciples focus on some sort of human-achieved salvation. Jesus has just explained about the camel and the needle and Peter is quick to respond that they have left everything and have now chosen to follow Jesus. In his thinking and logic, they have done exactly what Jesus told the rich man to do: go and sell all their possessions and to follow Him. Yet again, the disciples miss the point of Jesus’ teaching.
It is humanly impossible for a rich man to enter heaven. It is humanly impossible for the poor man to enter heaven. It is humanly impossible for any man to enter heaven on their own accord. To gain heaven by our works, we must walk that tightrope of God’s Law, without wavering and without breaking any of His commands. Because of that reason, St. Paul writes in Romans, “No one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
We as God’s people would do well to remember that also; that we all have turned aside from God and that we are not capable of doing good. Only by fulfilling the Law of God are we saved. However, there is one problem with that: we can’t keep God’s Law. Paul tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That includes you and I. We have all failed in keeping God’s Law. Our salvation could never rely upon us. Paul continues by saying, “[we are] justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus….”

So where does that leave us? How is it then that we able to be saved? We’re left asking the same question that Peter asked. The answer is Jesus. It is Jesus who died for our sins. It is Jesus who gives eternal life. This isn’t about what we do, but it is about what Jesus does for us. It’s not about you – it’s about Jesus for you! What is impossible for us is completely possible for Jesus. ;
Through our Baptism, we are joined to Christ. His perfect life, His suffering, and His death all become ours. That means that when we stand in judgment, we stand not in our sin, but in Christ’s righteousness. We receive full credit for what Christ has done. Because of Christ’s work, we will rise again to new life. ;
Nothing in us is capable of our salvation and so we rest solely on Christ and what He has done for us. Eternal life is impossible when left to us, but all things are possible with God; and because we have Christ, we have the One who sacrificed Himself because He was and is and will always be about us. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen. ;
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Pentecost 20–“Eternal Life” (Mark 10:17-22)

B-90 Proper 23 (LHP) (Mk 10.17-22)Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Today’s Gospel tells us about a man who came to Jesus for advice. He wanted something very good – eternal life. He thought he knew how to get eternal life, but he wanted some assurance, some sign that he was on the right trail. From all outward appearances, this man seemed to be an example of righteous living, but something was still nagging at him. Something about eternal life still left him uneasy. He wanted Jesus to tell him what was missing.

How many of us ask that same question that the rich young man asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Our society today has any number of answers to that question and the answer always involves us. It requires that we do something or that some sort of contribution on our part be made and then, if by magic, eternal life is ours. It’s one of those “If this, then that” equations. The equation reads, “If I do this, then I receive that.” It sounds good, doesn’t it? It sounds good that you do something to inherit eternal life. The problem is using the words “I do” with the word “inherit.” You do not inherit anything because of what you do. You inherit something because of what someone else did. You inherit something because someone else included you in their will. The heirs really have no say in the inheritance. The person who makes the will determines who inherits what.
The problem this man had was that he thought that if he dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s, he could force God to love him enough to put him in the heavenly will. This man felt he had done everything he was supposed to do, but he still felt uncertain. He wanted Jesus to assure him either that he had already done enough or tell him what sort of task or behavior he still needed to do to guarantee eternal life. Like many people, this man thought that he just needed some special knowledge or that he needed to do some special task. If he could just learn the secret, he could guarantee his place in eternity.

Herein lies the problem. There is nothing that we can do to inherit eternal life. To go back to the earlier equation, “If this, then that,” we need to fill in the variables to see how the equation works out. If we fill it in where it reads, “If I do this, then I inherit that,” what is the “that” that we inherit? The “that” that we inherit is hell, because there is nothing that we can do to inherit eternal life. Everything we do is tainted by sin and so we can do nothing to earn eternal life. The rich young man deceived himself into thinking that there was something that he could. In fact, he had done everything that Jesus had said. Jesus had laid out Commandments 4-10 as that which needed to be upheld. There is God’s Law clearly presented, something that none of us are capable of keeping. However, the rich young man is the exception, as he has kept them from his youth.

It must have been good to be this man, since he had done something that no one since before the Fall has done – keep God’s Law perfectly; in other words, not sin. When we properly understand the full meaning of these commands, the proper response is to realize that we have broken them all. When we understand that the Bible considers hatred to be a form of murder, we must admit that we are all murderers. When we realize that even the smallest lustful thought about someone who is not our spouse amounts to adultery, we must admit that we are all adulterers. The least bit of laziness makes us into thieves. Even if all we do is listen to gossip, we are liars. The number of ways that we can break these commands is limited only by our creativity. As God Himself said, “The intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”

The man in today’s Gospel did not understand that. For when he heard Jesus’ response, he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” The context of this passage leads us to believe that this man truly believed these words. Jesus had piled up a collection of commands that should have had this man begging for mercy. Instead, this man actually thought he had kept these commands.

It is at this point in the conversation that Jesus pointed out the man’s true failure. Jesus said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” With these words, Jesus revealed the man’s heart. He did not fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Instead, his fear, love, and trust were all based on his money and possessions. In spite of all his good works, this young man had gold for a god.

When we come to the honest understanding that there is nothing that we can do, then we hear these words from God: “In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” “The blood of Jesus [God’s] Son cleanses us from all sin.” We are justified by faith apart from works of the law. This is the central teaching of the Christian faith. All the doctrines of the Bible depend on the doctrine of justification. Everything in the Bible points to the fact that we do not inherit heaven based on what we do. Instead, we inherit heaven based on what God has already done.

Through that faith we constantly receive the forgiveness of our sins, God declares us holy in his eyes, and we inherit eternal life. We stop asking the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Instead, the Holy Spirit points us to Jesus and declares, “Look what God has done to give you eternal life.”

For us, the equation is and always will be “If Jesus died for us, then we inherit eternal life.” What we do know is that we – like the rich young man – have an empty place inside of us. We hunger for the assurance that we have eternal life. If we try to find that assurance on our own, we will fail. Only the Holy Spirit can fill that empty space inside of us. Only the Holy Spirit can give us the faith that receives the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation that Jesus earned for us on the cross. He does this by convicting us of our sin with the Law and then comforting us with the good news of the Gospel. In this way, the Holy Spirit makes us children of God and heirs of eternal life.

For us, we don’t have to ask the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” because it’s the wrong thing to ask. For us, it’s not about what we must do, but it’s about what has been done for us, all because of Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Pentecost 19–“Let the Children Come” (Mark 10:2-16)

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Once again, we see Jesus on His way to Jerusalem. There, He was about to shed His lifeblood as the sacrifice for our sins and for the sins of the world. Prophesied by the inspired prophets of God for years and years, the fulfillment must have been on our Lord’s mind.

His reputation had been well-established by this time. His miracles attested to His power, His teaching to His gracious wisdom. People flocked to see Him wherever He went. His popularity had also increased among the people of Israel and so had the opposition and hatred of the religious establishment, the scribes and the Pharisees. The Pharisees followed Him and tried again and again to challenge Him and His work. In our text, Jesus taught them and answered their questions – He tells that God brings couples together; He guides their lives together that they might live their lives for God. And with the disciples He urged the sanctity of marriage. Then He teaches us that God not only loves husbands and wives, but that He loves the products of these marriages, their children. They are indeed beloved by God, and they are important to our Lord, for Scripture is clear that Jesus came for all.

All of this was prompted by people bring little children to Jesus in order for Him to touch them, to receive a blessing from Him. This was not necessarily a bad thing. This was actually a good thing, because it showed the love of the Savior that they had. They recognized that Jesus had come not only for them but also for their little children. They went to have their children receive the blessing and love of the Savior.

This is one of the most delightful and comforting, and at the same time saddest stories in the synoptic Gospels. By preventing people from bringing their children to Jesus, the disciples revealed that they considered children too immature to profit from the Lord’s attention and were not yet in need of a Savior. If anything, they were a bother to Him. But Jesus took the side of the people who brought their children, not that of the disciples.

In Mark’s Gospel, only one other time does he record that Jesus became indignant or angry. That time, it was directed against the Pharisees. This time, it is directed against His own disciples. It is hard to believe that Jesus was angry at His disciples, but here He was, angry at them for what they had done. Jesus had righteous anger and proceeded to show the disciples how wrong they were in their actions.

The reason why Jesus was so angry towards His disciples was because they were turning away those whom Jesus had come for. Jesus came for all people. His life, death, and resurrection would earn salvation for all peoples, whether they were young or old. Jesus indeed came to seek and to the save the lost, and here in this instance, it included the little ones. He showed that even the little children were precious in the eyes of His heavenly Father and they were precious in His eyes as well.

For the disciples, they saw the children being brought to Jesus as a bother because they were just that, children. Jesus was intended for the adults, for it is only the adults who could believe and have faith, or so the disciples thought.

What a sad thing for the disciples to believe. With that mindset, all children are outside of the grace of God. All children are excluded from the blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation. In short, children are excluded from the forgiveness that Jesus Christ has won for them and for all people.

Unfortunately, that same school of thought continues even today. Baptism is excluded for children, especially for infants, because they are either born sinless or they are incapable of making that decision for Jesus and choosing to be baptized on their own. But here’s the truth that they don’t want to admit: children are born sinful. We are all born sinful and remain sinful until our Lord calls us to Himself. That is our original sin at work, that sin which we are born with. But the other thing to acknowledge is that children, if left to their own devices, would not choose to come to Jesus. If that isn’t shocking enough, I’ll let you in on a secret: if left to your own devices, you wouldn’t come to Jesus either. None of us ever would because we are born enemies of God and want nothing to do with Him. Martin Luther wrote, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him….” It’s not us who comes to Jesus but it is Jesus who comes to us.

Ultimately, the disciples failed to understand why Jesus came and what His kingdom was all about. So Jesus proceeded to teach His disciples and us adults two important lessons.

First, God’s kingdom is also for children. Faith is not a matter of the intellect or will, but a matter of trust in Jesus and in the promises of our gracious Father. That trust in Jesus and God’s promises is granted to us by the Holy Spirit, who works saving faith in us, granted to us in our Baptism. That is why we practice infant Baptism, because children are born sinners and need the forgiveness of sins just as much as you and I do as adults. The Holy Spirit can work saving faith in the heart of an infant or child, just as it does for adults. We heed the words of Jesus, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder for them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.”

The second point that our Lord teaches His disciples is not only are children part of God’s kingdom through faith in Him, but also, it is precisely that kind of faith that God looks for in all of His believers: simple, humble, trusting faith that looks only to Him. By nature, just like little children, we’re unable to save ourselves. We truly are dependent on God; we can’t make a decision to follow Christ, but the Holy Spirit comes and creates this faith in us. This faith is a gift of God and it is by this faith that we receive the kingdom of God, Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Despite what others teach, the truth remains that there is original sin. Children receive the guilt of their parents by nature and need salvation. Children inherit that sin from our first parents, Adam and Eve. They need forgiveness and that is why Jesus bids them to come to Him. Through Baptism, He gives His gracious forgiveness of sins to everyone, from the youngest of the young to the oldest of the old.

In the gift of Baptism, God graciously welcomes all into His saving faith, bestowing upon them the Holy Spirit. He grants them forgiveness through this gracious gift of water and the Word. He bids us all to come to Him, to trust in Him as a child, with a faith that takes His Word to heart, completely trusting in Him and His love. In Jesus name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Pentecost 18 – “Hell or Heaven” (Mark 9:38-50)

        Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.
When it all comes down to it, you are either for something or against something. We can’t toe the line, walking that fine line of neither agreeing nor disagreeing about something. At some point, we will be required to give an answer, either in the affirmative or in the negative. In looking at our Gospel for today, the disciples are in for a rude awakening when it comes to the work of Christ’s kingdom.
Everything starts out with John, one of the disciples, tells Jesus they saw someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name and they tried to stop him because he was not a follower of Jesus. More than likely, the disciples probably felt pretty good about what they had done, knowing they had done the right thing. However, that is not how Jesus interprets their actions. Instead of praising them for what they had done, He chastises them. That the man drove out demons in Jesus’ name proved he was a believer, unless of course there would have been specific evidence to the contrary. Such a man would be rewarded by the Lord even if a person’s deed was no greater than giving a cup of water in Jesus’ name to those who were His.
What this means is that we will never seek to prevent others from preaching and proclaiming Christ, even if they are not Lutheran. We must leave the final judgment to Christ Himself. However, we must be watchful lest by word or deed we lead anyone astray, or we are led astray by someone else’s preaching and teaching. Christ here even includes the little ones who believe in Him in this category. We must always ask ourselves: does my word and deeds lead others to Christ or lead them into sin? If it is the latter case, then Jesus gives a strong warning to us: it will be better that before we ever lead anyone into sin that we forfeit our lives. To sin is indeed dreadful with consequences all of their own, but to lead someone else into sin is far greater.
Our Lord uses very graphic expressions to teach His disciples and us how important it is to fight sin. Sin leads to death, just as it did for Adam and Eve; just as it does for all of us. Death is that eternal separation of man from God. Sin leads to hell, and that is what Jesus tells the disciples. He gives them graphic displays of how it would be better to be maimed, crippled, and half-blind than to be thrown in hell.
There are no words in any earthly language that can exaggerate the horrors of hell. Language, while it can be very descriptive in defining emotions, people, places, and things, also has it short comings when defining emotions, people, places, and things as well. The limits of language mean that any description of hell must be an understatement. That is the reason that Jesus is so serious about sin. Sin is more serious than simple death on this earth. Sin leads to eternal death in hell, a hell that Jesus describes with horrible words: “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” It is a wretched existence where death never ends and an eternity without God. And as horrible as this all sounds, it is an understatement of the eternal tortures of hell.
As Jesus is describing hell as the results of sin and the disfiguring of limbs, we ask ourselves if hacking off body parts really keep us from sinning. Does sin really originate in the hand, foot, or eye? Can we prevent sin by drowning in the sea? The answer to those questions are no. There is nothing that we can do this side of heaven to prevent ourselves from sinning. Sin does not originate in our limbs. Sin originates at our very conception. The psalmist David writes, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” There is nothing that you and I can do about our sin. We were doomed from the moment of our conception to a life of sin and ultimately death as a result of our sin. Our only hope must come from outside of ourselves, for we are not capable of saving ourselves from our sins.
That’s where Jesus comes in to the picture. It is through Jesus taking on human form and living that perfect life in our place that we are able to have life. It is by Jesus and His death and resurrection that you and I are able to stand before God with sins forgiven. St. Paul writes, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” You see, it was Jesus who did the work of salvation, not you. Praise be to God that it’s not us who does the work of salvation or else hell would be a very crowded place, as that would be where we all would be. 
Jesus carried our sins to the cross. Through His perfect life without sin, His sacrifice means something. It means that He could offer Himself up to God for our sins and that sacrifice would be accepted. It means that through His death we have forgiveness. It means that by His resurrection, we have everlasting life with God in heaven. 
Christ Jesus went to the cross for you. He went to the cross and died to atone for all of your weaknesses and all of your failings. He took all of your poor behavioral examples, all of your indifference, all of your lacking, and nailed it to that cross. He hung a great millstone around all the things you do as a sinner to cause His little ones to sin, and has cast them into the deep.
Our Lord not only sacrificed Himself to save us from hell, but He also promises a new eternal life with Him in His resurrection. Even though Jesus said that it was better to enter heaven crippled than to enter hell with all our body parts, He promises to raise our bodies in perfection. He promises to raise our bodies so that sin is the only thing that will be missing.
Try as we might, we cannot fully understand the total depravity from God that hell is. What we do understand is that hell is a destination to be avoided at all costs. Because of our sin, we have done everything we could to earn an eternity in hell. We were conceived in sin. We were born in sin. Every day of our lives we sin. We die as a result of our sin, but we are not left in our sin. For us, we have a Savior. For us, we have Jesus, the One who took our sins upon Himself in order to give us everlasting life in heaven. We are justified by God alone; that is, declared righteous and holy by God, because of Christ alone. He has promised to raise us and He alone is the only one who can keep such a promise.
Rejoice this day and always in the joy that comes in knowing that you are a baptized and redeemed child of God, and that because of Christ and His sacrifice, you have the gift of everlasting life in heaven. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.
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Pentecost 17–“Who is Great?” (Mark 9:30-37)

B-87 Proper 20 (Mk 9.30-37)Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

This summer, our eyes were glued on our televisions as we watched the Summer Olympics in London. We watched as athletes competed to earn the gold medal in their respective events. Each athlete would jump as far as they could jump, swim as fast as they could swim, run as fast as they could run, all in order to have that gold medal placed around their neck. It indicated that they were the best athlete in the world in their respective sport.

As we see in our text for today, the disciples are arguing amongst themselves who is the greatest. On the way to Capernaum, Jesus noticed the disciples had been arguing among themselves. Because He knew that something was amiss with them, He wanted them to put the question to Him, to ask it out loud rather than discuss it amongst themselves. When He approached them, they at first remained silent and felt guilty. But urged by the Lord, they put the question to Him.

Why were they concerned about the matter of greatness? Not only was it very human, but perhaps Jesus’ own actions suggested it. For the second time, He had taken three of them aside as special witnesses – first when He had healed Jairus’ daughter and then on the mountain of Transfiguration. This must have intrigued the remaining nine disciples, since the three did not report what had happened there. And then there were Jesus’ own words to Simon, calling him Peter, a rock. All of this was puzzling to the disciples who did not yet know the full story as we do. At the same time, it also revealed their sinful hearts, and Jesus was concerned about that.

You and I are not all that different than the disciples of old. We like to think of ourselves as better than the next person, that we’re greater than they are or that we’re more special than the next person is. And really, aren’t we greater than the next person? All you have to do is ask us and we’ll tell you how much better we are or how much more important we are than the next guy.

What the disciples failed to realize is that there is no one who is greater than another in the kingdom of God. Jesus gives them an answer entirely different than what they had expected. In the kingdom of heaven, greatness is not a matter of titles and authority. To be first means to be last, to be a servant. That was what Jesus was trying to tell the disciples earlier, but they did not hear him. Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” They didn’t understand what Jesus was saying. They didn’t understand that He was speaking of His death and resurrection, the greatest act off self-sacrifice. Jesus wasn’t great in the eyes of the people. He was seen solely for who He was, the son of a carpenter. He wasn’t anything more than that, definitely not the Messiah. Even for being with Him, the disciples didn’t grasp what it was He had been saying all along, and this conversation is no different.

Instead of focusing on the words which Jesus had just spoke with regards to His being betrayed and His impending death, all the disciples cared about was who was going to be the greatest among them. They were afraid to ask the specific questions. The answers might get them in too deep. They needed to ask questions for their sake so that they would be able to understand what they had seen and heard Jesus do. Was Jesus really the Son of God? What happened to the idea of Jesus being the kingly Messiah on whom the people and the disciples had pegged their hopes for the restoration of Israel? Could He really do what He has promised to do? If He is the Messiah that He says He is, then why is He speaking about His death?

Instead of focusing on the teaching that Jesus had presented to them, all the disciples were focused upon was greatness, namely their own. None of the disciples were willing to share with Jesus the subject of their conversation because they were ashamed. Their discussion had wandered into a very distant place from the area which He had suggested. Jesus had hoped that they would reflect upon His death and resurrection. Instead, they were conversing about greatness without reference to the cross. True greatness would not be found in what the disciples had done or were going to do; rather, true greatness is found in what our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross.

By nature, the almighty God of heaven and earth is a servant. He created Adam and Eve so that He might care for them. He created them in His own image to be servants to one another, to creation and to their children. When they sinned, He did not respond with raw power and blot them out. Instead, He promised a Savior; in other words, He promised that He would serve them by doing all the work to deliver them from sin and hell to grace and everlasting life. Therefore, it was in service to all that Jesus was born to Mary. God continues to serve by providing all we need for this body and life. He also continues to serve by making sure that His Word is still proclaimed and His Sacraments are still administered, because that is where He gives the forgiveness that His Son Jesus has won.

The idea of what Jesus was saying is completely contrary to everything our selfish world is about. How are we to get ahead, how can we progress, how can we win this way, serving all, settling for last place in order to help others be first? How are we going to get to work on time pushing through crowded roads and streets, giving place to others? We shall be late and we shall be last.

For the disciples and for us, greatness is not about what you and I do, but about what has been done for us. For us, Christ lived. For us, Christ died. For us, Christ rose again. Solely because of the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are granted “greatness.” It is not greatness as the world sees it but it is greatness as God sees it: we are great because we are baptized and redeemed children of God, made holy by the blood of Christ shed for us.

Jesus Christ, our Savior who was once dead, but now lives forevermore, serves us today. He serves us with the forgiveness of our sins. He serves us with His Word, the Holy Scriptures. He serves us with His life giving body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine of the sacrament. He continually serves us with His living presence.

Ultimately, it is the desire of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ to serve us with new, holy bodies that will rise from the dead just as He rose and then our service will be perfect as we serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. In that place, it won’t even cross our minds to ask who is the greatest. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Pentecost 16 – "Faith and Unbelief" (Mark 9:14-29)

B-85 Proper 19 (LHP) (Mk 9.14-29)Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

What do you suppose it would be like to have to witness your child suffer from demon possession? The thought itself is chilling, isn’t it? The demon periodically throws your child into the fire trying to burn him to death. It throws him into the water trying to drown him. Destruction, death, of course, is the goal! Your son or daughter rolls around on the ground and foams at the mouth. The demon has taken away his ability to hear and to speak. You awaken each day wondering what the day will be like. Despite all of your previous disappointments, your hope remains because you are a child of God by grace. Not only are you His by grace, your child is His too by grace too. Though God seems to have forgotten His child, your child, you continue to believe that He has loved him unto death, even death on the cross.

That is what we see in Mark’s account of Jesus casting out a demon of a young boy. The father of the child goes to the disciples but they are unable to cast out the demon. The father then goes to Jesus in hopes that He would be able to free his son from the grasp of the demon. The request that the father makes is not one that shows great faith. He says, “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” The father’s faith had taken a nose-dive because the disciples had been unable to help him. By the time Jesus and three of the disciples returned to the village, the man was spent. Frustrated and disappointed, this father was losing hope, losing his faith.

The troubled faith that the father experiences is no different than the troubled faith that you and I experience. When we receive bad news from our doctor, we wonder how that could happen to me, an every-Sunday church goer. When a loved one is taken away from us, we blame God for not keeping that person in our life. But just as Jesus encourages the man, so He encourages us as well. Jesus tells the man and us, “All things are possible for one who believes.”

Without skipping a beat, the response of the man is one of anxiousness and great anxiety: “I believe; help my unbelief!” Such desperation like that of this father, if not answered, can lead to unbelief, taking many forms. There are many explanations to a person’s unbelief, but few if any are good excuses for lack of faith and unbelief. Unbelief is no respecter of persons and it doesn’t play favorites. It plagues all kinds of people, even that of Jesus’ disciples.

One the best examples of this is Judas. After following Jesus for three years, he was enticed to betray his Lord, our Lord, for thirty pieces of silver. As Christians, we do confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord of all, that He can do anything, and that He will always provide us our daily bread. Do we believe it though—wholeheartedly? Does our faith waver like that of the father or is our faith steadfast in the Lord, 24/7? Don’t be too quick on your answer, for your fruits of faith betray your confession of faith. You can fool everyone else, including yourself, but you can’t fool God.

We are helpless without God. The Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to say it this way, “You were dead in the trespasses and sins.” Dead people can’t do anything. They can’t even believe for themselves. Jesus Himself said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

As we see this scene play out, this scene is the greatest help, for this is where our Lord comes upon a situation and takes command. In whatever dire circumstances, desperate and frustrating, we are never out of reach of our Lord, never beyond His presence. In other instances, we see that the disciples had cast out demons, but not today. It seems that the disciples may have slipped out of faith into unbelief at the fact they were not successful. The disciples asked Jesus in private why they could not cast out the demon out. After all, Jesus had given them authority to do just that when He sent them out and they had in fact driven out demons before, but why not now? Jesus responds by saying, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” When the disciples’ first attempts had proved futile, they should have realized they needed to seek the Lord in prayer. This was not a power that was inherent to them, and it is not a power that is inherent to us either.

Our faith is not a gift that is inherent to us. It is a gift that is given to us, not something that we are born with, not something that we earn. It is faith in Jesus that gives us this hope. At another time and place, Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” From this we learn that only faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ Himself, saves us from condemnation. Any other faith condemns us to eternity in hell.

Just as Jesus was the only solution for the demon-possessed son, so also Jesus is the only solution for us. Just as Jesus dealt with the demon in today’s Gospel, He also deals with the sin in us. He does not ask us to work off our own sin. Instead, He worked off our sins for us. He took our sins onto Himself and then carried them to the cross. He took the punishment of our sins on Himself so that we do not have to suffer for them. He conquered sin with His suffering and death and then conquered death by rising from the grave. Now He offers the cure for sin to all mankind.

We receive this cure by faith, but even here, the forces of sin try to deceive us. The devil, the world, and our own sinful nature try to convince us that this faith is something we produce in ourselves. Unfortunately, there is a popular song that starts with the words: “I have decided to follow Jesus.” Just think how detrimental that is to our salvation. We are the ones doing the work. What is worse is if you haven’t decided to follow Jesus, then what?

For us, we pray as did the father: “I believe; help my unbelief!” When we Christians pray this prayer, we acknowledge that our faith is weak and we can do nothing to maintain it, let alone strengthen it. We are crying out to God from our utter helplessness and begging Him to keep us in the one, true faith until He comes to take us home to Himself in heaven.

You have been given faith. This faith is yours as a gift, not because you earned it but because God has granted it to you through the Holy Spirit. It is your means of coming to God, in the sure and certain truth that because of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, your sins have been forgiven. It is your promise that in times of doubt and despair, God has not forsaken you but has placed His name upon you in the waters of Holy Baptism. Through this faith, He calls you to believe in Christ, who has earned for you the gift of everlasting life. Even in those times where you feel that you are far from God or that God has abandoned you, you have nothing to fear because your Lord has promised you, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Pentecost 15 – “Partiality and Works” (James 2:1-10, 14-18)

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Epistle, which was read earlier.

For as long as we have been a people, we have shown partiality to others. Often times, partiality is shown to men over women in the workplace. Our own nation showed great partiality with regards to Caucasians over African Americans in the 1950s and ‘60s. As we look at our text today, the words of James indicate that we should not look down upon people of any group as being inferior or inherently bad. This includes preference based on gender, age, or in the example James refers to, preference based on how rich a person is.

As sinful people, we look up to others, almost at times making them gods, while we look down upon others because of their sex, color, vocation, or any number of things. That’s where man and God have a problem. In God’s eyes, no one is inherently inferior. All were created in His image. All have equally fallen from that image into sin and guilt. All who are redeemed are justified by the same holy blood of Jesus, and are equally forgiven. Even those whom we find disgusting may be the saints of God.

God’s Word shows that He is no respecter of persons, that He shows no favoritism, no partiality, no bias, and no preferences. His loving Gospel proclamation embraces all nations, tribes, races, languages, social classes, economic classes and both genders alike, and so should Christianity.

As we see in our text, James zeroes in on the issue of money and favoritism, how a congregation might shower wealthy members with attention, flattery, and other perks while treating the poor with contempt and making them less than second class citizens of the congregation.

In our modern society, the way of the world is to rub shoulders with those who can do things for you, to be nice to those who are nice and to brush off those who need your help or cannot contribute anything to you and your well-being.

James, in writing his letter to the twelve tribes, reminds them that we should not promote the wealthy to a better position over the one who is poor. Rather, we see how God Himself has shown special honor to those of lower estates. Jesus says in Luke 6: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom of God…. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.” St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” The point is that our salvation is based not on any human achievement, human wealth, or human power but on God’s grace and mercy in the blood of Jesus.

If that were the only problem that James was having, then this would be a very simple thing to resolve: everyone has equal status in the eyes of God as His baptized and redeemed children. However, there was more going on that James addresses, something that is even more at stake than showing favoritism in the church. The bigger issue here is works.

James writes, “But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” We see here an ongoing debate that has plagued the Church throughout her history: is a person saved by their works?

Many a denomination today says just that, that a person is saved by Christ AND their works. That debate is one that fueled the Reformation. The Roman Catholic Church taught that a person is saved by the work of Christ and the works that they do. Luther, in his studies of the Scriptures, could not find anything that justified the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching. Rather, what Luther did find was this: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

For us Lutherans, ours is a tradition based on faith alone, grace alone, and Scripture alone. Works do not count for our salvation. We are saved only through the righteousness of Christ, a righteousness that is carried out in His suffering, death, and resurrection and given to us by the grace of God in our Baptisms.

Sometimes when people hear the Gospel for the first time, the good news that Jesus Christ gives comfort, forgiveness, and everlasting life to all who repent and believe in Him sound too easy. They think that all they have to do is come to church or call themselves a baptized Christian gives them the right to live anyway they want. It is this false notion that James speaks of.

Our own attempts at good works are nothing but filthy rags in the sight of God and do nothing to earn our salvation. However, the good works we do are intended not for God but for our neighbor. We do our good works as our “thank you” for what God has done for us in Christ Jesus.

Our faith and our works cannot have a separate existence. They are bound together. Faith always produces good works; works that are good in God’s eyes always come from faith. James is writing to those who are self-secure and lazy, those who say they have faith yet feel no need to do good works. They say that salvation is free, so good works do not matter at all. In reality, good works are necessary for the Christian life, even though they do not earn you salvation. The life we live is the life God has worked for us in Christ. He is the content of our works.

So, we do good works. Not because we have to, but because Jesus has set us free to.

Once again, we are to beware of favoritism. Out there, God gives people different gifts and stations, and some people need more help than others. We’ll always want to help those who are friendly, nice, clean and able to return the favor. We’ll want to help those who can help us. Our Lord would have us help those in need, even as He has helped us undesirable sinners in our greatest need.

For this is true: God shows no favoritism, but has given His Son to die for all; you can be certain, then, that you are not excluded from that redemption. When you were baptized as one among all nations, Jesus said, “I baptize you.” When you heard the Absolution today, Jesus said, “I forgive you all of your sins.” And still today, He gives His body and blood for you, for the forgiveness of sins. And so your Savior shows no partiality or partial forgiveness. For His sake, you are His child. For His sake, you are forgiven for all of your sins. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Pentecost 14 – “God’s Armor” (Ephesians 6:10-20)

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Epistle, which was read earlier.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, Christianity is no picnic. It is not for the faint of heart. It does not guarantee a life of riches and success—of peace and tranquility. In fact, here Paul is preparing the Baptized of God for quite the opposite. Every day we face a battle with an unholy trinity: the devil, who loves nothing more than to wrest us away from our loving Father; the world, that wants company in its misery and separation from God to justify itself with numbers and to avoid seeing its own guilt; and our own sinful flesh, that wants what it wants when it wants it, no matter the harm it may do to others or even itself. If you are going into battle, you need to make sure that you are properly armed or else you will find that you quickly become a casualty of war.

Our text can be summed up in two words today: “Be strong.” The Christian life will always be a struggle. Attacks on the faith will take the form of temptations and moral lapses. There will be temptations to yield on points of doctrine. There will be temptations to judge those who do not meet your holy standards. The list could go on and on, but the point is clear: we need to be strong against temptations. However, this is something that children of God cannot do by themselves. They need help, God’s help. That is why Paul writes, “Put on the whole armor of God.” Notice who is the one who is providing the armor and strength. It’s not you and me. It can’t be you and me because we don’t have the means to clothe ourselves in righteousness.

This is an epic battle that we are engaged in as Christians. Just who are we fighting in the war? Paul says, “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.” We are battling spiritual forces bent on doing us harm, forces that seek death for the Christian.

William Tecumseh Sherman, in his address to the graduating class of the Michigan Military Academy in 1879 was quoted saying, “War is hell.” Anyone who has fought in battle would most likely agree with Sherman’s statement. However, this war is truly hell, as it is the battle between heaven and hell, good and evil, life and death, God and Satan.

We are at war with none other than Satan himself, and truth be told, Satan likes the way that the war is going. When Satan started the war back in the Garden of Eden, it was the shot heard around the cosmos because at that very moment, Satan started and ended a war with a single piece of fruit. He rejoiced in his victory because he forever separated man from God. As far as Satan was concerned, this was a well-fought war; however, God was ready to begin His own war to regain His creation.

While the war has ultimately ended with Satan being defeated by Jesus’ death and resurrection, the battles still rage on today in all of our lives. That is why Paul tells us to “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” We continue to be assaulted by Satan and his evil ways every day. It can be very easy to surrender in our daily battle, but this is why Paul tells us why we need the full armor of God and not just bits and pieces of it.

God instructs us to put on the armor of God that He has provided. What is this armor? First there is the belt of truth. No matter how bad the situation gets, we remain grounded in the truth of who Jesus Christ is, our Lord, our Savior, the true divine person of God come down to earth in the body of a man to offer Himself up for our salvation. Together as true God and true man Jesus reigns today from heaven over His church.

The next piece of armor is the breastplate of righteousness. The key to this is that it is not our righteousness. If it were our righteousness, then we could never stand against Satan because our righteousness, our works, the best we can do, is nothing but filthy rags. We cannot rely upon ourselves, but that is what we hear from the world. We hear how we are capable of achieving or earning our own salvation through our own works or other merits. The truth is we cannot rely upon ourselves; we must rely solely upon Christ. Christ’s death upon the cross and His laying down His life and His ultimate resurrection gives us that protection from whatever Satan can throw at us because we are no longer children of Satan but we have been made children of God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

For our feet, we have nothing short than the gospel of peace. God is at peace with us, and we are at peace with one another. Our sins are forgiven, so we know that whatever rocks and sharp things underfoot we encounter in the battle, God is not against us, nor are things out of control and hopeless, but we are at peace with God and He with us.

We next arm ourselves with “the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the faming darts of the evil one.” These flaming darts are constantly around us. They are in our thoughts, our words, and our deeds. The shield of faith is God’s gift which gives to us salvation, effects the forgiveness of sins, grants access to God, and assures eternal life by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Again, this is not our shield, but the shield that is given to us by God. No shield that we bring to the battlefield can defend us. It is trust in God and in His promises that can extinguish all the flaming arrows of doubt, of guilt and of fear that the devil can send against us. We can shout, in faith, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

The helmet of salvation that we wear is salvation that has been won for us. In the ultimate battle of the cross and the grave, Jesus defeated the devil and broke Satan’s power over God’s creation. Satan fired all his fiery arrows and spent all his weapons and has nothing left. Christ has given us the victory of His death and resurrection.

Our armor against Satan is complete, minus one thing: a weapon, the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Only the Word of God, which is Jesus Christ made flesh, could defeat Satan. It was He would come into this world, not at our asking, but of the Father’s will. It was Jesus Christ who lived a life without sin for all of us who are sinful. It was Jesus Christ who died a death that no one else could die on our behalf. It was Jesus Christ, by His resurrection from the grave that defeated Satan, not us.

God has given us the armor, and He has given us the power, and He has given us the weapon for the battle. We must also remember that He also has given us the ultimate victory as well, in Jesus Christ, so we have no need for fear. If we belong to Christ, we will not be able to avoid the battle, for the enemy will bring it to us. But the victory is ours if we stand with Christ and stand ready. So, be prepared: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Eighth Sunday after Pentecost–“Lord, Save Me” (Matthew 14:22-33)

A-71 Proper 14 (Mt 14.22-33)Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Have you ever got in over your head before? It seems as if all of a sudden, you’re drowning under whatever it is you’re doing. Try as you might, you can’t seem to get yourself out of whatever you got yourself into. What else is there left to do than to throw your hands up in the air and shout, “Lord, save me.”

That is precisely what Peter did. The events in today’s Gospel take place right after Jesus fed the 5,000 men plus additional women and children. Jesus used five loaves of bread and two fish to feed all those people. You would think that after this sign, the people would begin to understand who this man was. But they didn’t. Not yet.

The Apostle John tells us: “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” Instead of seeing the Messiah who came to take away the sins of the world, they saw a potential king who could give them a free lunch. They saw an earthly king of power instead of a heavenly savior from sin.

Jesus had to act quickly in order to defuse this situation. The text tells us: “Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat.” The words “immediately” and “made” mean that Jesus really hustled the disciples in to the boat. Then He acted quickly to dismiss the crowds.  He not only dismissed the crowds, but He also left the scene so that no one could find Him. He went up into the mountain to pray.

When Jesus hustled the disciples into the boat, He sent them on a voyage that should have lasted only a few hours. Instead, while Jesus prayed on the mountain, the disciples struggled for their lives on the Sea of Galilee. It seemed as if the wind and the sea had come to life and were determined to torment them. If they tried for the shore, they would probably break apart on the rocks and die. As far as they were concerned, their only hope was to battle the wind and the waves and hope they survived until the storm blew over.

The only problem is that the storm lasted all night. The reading tells us that Jesus came to the disciples during the fourth watch – the watch that ended at dawn. The disciples must have been exhausted and operating on pure adrenalin.

Out of nowhere, a Man appears on the scene. It wasn’t someone on the boat, but instead it was a Man who appeared to be walking on water. Matthew records for us their reaction after being out on the water in the tumultuous storm: “they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.” Up until this point, although their boat is being tormented by the waves and wind, there is no mention of fear or alarm on the part of the disciples – until they see Jesus walking on the water.

This amazing being who has mastery over the sea and who comes to them in a fearful epiphany is none other than Jesus, their Master. Because it is He, they can know that Jesus is coming for them. They do not have to be afraid. In this, His reassuring word, He has given them everything, and it is enough.

If it were only that easy for us. How many times have we been in the boat with the waves and the wind swirling around us, fearful of what is going to happen next? We cry out in fear, but more often than not, we fail to heed the words of Jesus, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” We turn to God when we are in need, but do we do as Luther says, “call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.” We are quick to go to God when we need help, but it tends to be a rarity when we go to God and give Him thanks for the many blessings He has showered upon us.

For the disciples, no one said a word, except Peter. Peter, as we see throughout the Gospels, tends to be the spokesman for the disciples. Even after Jesus tells the disciples who He is, Peter says, “Lord, if it is you….” Even after being assured that Jesus is who He says He is, Peter has doubts. Peter does not consider Jesus’ word to be enough and he asks for something bizarre: to command him to go to Him on the water.

Peter does just as Jesus says – He gets out of the boat and begins walking to Jesus. But instead of keeping his eyes fixed on Jesus, Peter turns his attention to what is going on around him and begins to sink. For all of his demands and his braggadocios attitude, Peter ended up like the other disciples, crying out in fear. It was Jesus’ power, not Peter’s faith, that had kept Peter from sinking, but his doubts momentarily separated him from Jesus’ power. We too often miss out on blessings that our Lord would be happy to give us because we don’t quite believe He will really keep all of His promises. We too need to ask our Lord to increase our faith. But then we must not sit idly back and wait for something wonderful to happen to our faith. The Scriptures clearly tell us that the Holy Spirit increases our faith through the power of the Gospel of Christ in Word and Sacrament, the means of grace. So any sincere prayer for a stronger faith will surely be followed by faithful use of the means our Lord has provided for that purpose.

Jesus’ words that He spoke to the disciples and to Peter, He speaks to you as well: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” Look at Jesus. Was there ever a Master more patient and gracious than Jesus, whose power and authority go out to all who call upon Him in their need, even when they themselves have created their fatal situation of need? Regardless of whatever situation we get ourselves into, regardless of the fact that we may have turned our back on God, Jesus is there ready to welcome you back and give you His welcoming presence.

The next words of Jesus to Peter are words that are spoken to us throughout our lives as well: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Jesus answers Peter’s prayer. The hand of God takes hold of the man of little faith. Mercifully and graciously the hand of Jesus rescues one who not only believes a little by hearing, but also doubts when seeing. Jesus’ hand is sufficient to save. That hand, which resurrected Peter from certain death, will soon be, and surely was, pierced by a man-made spike when Jesus was crucified. Your salvation was wrought when the innocent blood from the hand of God flowed forth for the remission of all your sins.

The sin-atoning suffering of Jesus and His sacrificial death is for you. By the water and Word of Baptism you infants share in the death of Christ, are brought into His Church and offer perfect praise unto the Lord. At the same time, you men of little faith, despite the doubts, remain in God’s gracious Presence.

We cry out, “Lord, save me” and that is exactly what He has done. And so, we say with Peter and all the disciples, “Truly you are the Son of God,” because it is only Jesus who could forgive our sins. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

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Sixth Sunday after Pentecost–“God for You” (Romans 8:28-39)

A-69 Proper 12 (Mt 13.44-52)Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon this morning is the Epistle, which was read earlier.

True or false: “all things work together for good?” Everything works for good? Really, everything? That’s hard to believe. Everything includes earthquakes and natural disasters, sickness and disease, human failures, ruined lives, and death. Those things really work for good? It sounds like there is in every cloud a silver lining. It often reminds us of the statement that suffering builds character.

Paul tells us “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good.” Sometimes it may be hard for us to see the good in the evil that happens. Paul doesn’t say “we hope” or “we wish”, but instead says “we know.” It indicates the knowledge that comes from revelation rather than personal experience. We believe it because the Holy Spirit has convinced us that these things are true. And we love God because we have come to understand how He first loved us. We see the love that God has for us in that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to come into the world and to live and die in your place.

God did something great and wonderful for His people. Paul says that He foreknew them, He predestined them, He justified them, and ultimately He glorified them. All of that, God did for you. He foreknew you from the beginning of time. He made you to be in His image, the image of perfection and holiness. Unfortunately, that image didn’t last long, but to restore that image, He sent His Son. Through Jesus, you were justified by His grace, and because of His death and resurrection for you, you were glorified. You were glorified because you received the holiness and perfection that belongs to Christ.

All of that leads to one thing: God is for us. That’s what Paul is saying. There is no “if” about it: therefore, he says, who can be against us? No one can overpower the Lord or trump His authority: if He is for you, who can stand against you? No one. There will be those that try, namely the usual suspects of the devil, the world and your sinful flesh; and among those we need to include all sorts of people who – whether they have the best or worst of intentions – seek to lead you from God, and thus lead you to stand against God.

God is for us. But how do you know for sure? How do you that you’re among the “us” rather than the “them”? The next few questions in the text tell you how you can be certain.

“He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” There’s your certainty – it’s Jesus and His cross, a theme that you find again and again throughout the epistle to the Romans. God has already given up His Son for us all: He didn’t spare Him, but rather condemned Him on the cross so that He might spare you – spare you the judgment of hell for your sin. Having already done the far more difficult thing – the damning of His own Son to give you life, why would the Lord not do the comparatively easier thing of caring for you and preserving your life in Him? The price has been paid for your sin, so God no longer calls in the debt from you; and since your sin is gone for Jesus’ sake, what would keep God from helping you? Nothing. That’s why you can be sure that He will graciously give you all things.

God has judged you and you have been judged to be not guilty. All of your sins which you have committed or will ever commit have been forgiven. When the Law is broken, the transgression must be punished. Normally, it is the guilty one who suffers; that is only fair. But what if an innocent man suffered your sentence? If the sentence was already carried out, would it be right to carry it out again?

I have news for you: Jesus Christ is innocent. With His full consent, God has already declared Him guilty of your crimes. In fact, God has already punished Him for your crimes and sentenced Him to death instead of you! The sentence for your guilt has already been carried out upon Jesus; and for His sake, God has no intention of carrying out the sentence again on you. That is the grace of God. He has declared you to be innocent.

If you are innocent, then you are free to go. No one can accuse you before God, who has chosen you to be His own and made you His own through faith in Jesus Christ. That being said, Satan will continually try to tempt you and make you doubt the love and forgiveness that God has shown to you. Satan will tell you that you still sin, and for someone who says that God is for you, some of your sins are downright wicked. He’s right; your sins are downright wicked, every last sin, from the greatest to the least of them. He will use God’s Word to make you doubt. God says that He is for you; but he will tell you that you’re not for God. You’re still sinful. You’re still guilty. He is right, you are still sinful because you never cease to commit sins this side of heaven. However, you’re still “not guilty,” regardless of what Satan says.

Paul gives to you the question and answer to send Satan packing: “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” Keep that in mind for those times that you are tempted to believe that your sins and failures are too much for God to forgive, that you have to be more faithful before He can forgive you. It sounds noble, but it’s not. It means that Satan has brought a charge against you: but knowing that it won’t hold before God, he’s told you instead. He’s said that you’re too sinful to be forgiven, that you’ve forfeited your standing as a child of God. Thus Paul’s question: “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” In other words, the Lord declares to you that though Satan charges you that you’re guilty before God, Satan cannot back that up, because it is God and God alone who justifies and declares you to be not guilty.

Your verdict of “not guilty” stands because of Jesus and His life, death and resurrection. It is by Jesus and His sinless life in your place that you are able to stand before God, sins forgiven. For all of your sins, you have Jesus Christ who intercedes on your behalf. Your sins are damnable. Your sins bring only death. Your sins bring eternal separation from God. Jesus intercedes on your behalf so that you are not damned, but instead receive the keys to heaven. Jesus intercedes on your behalf so that instead of death, you receive everlasting life. Jesus intercedes on your behalf so that instead of eternal separation from God, you have direct access to God because of Christ’s righteousness given to you.

Paul asks the final question to the Romans, a question that he should not need to ask to those who believe, for they already know the answer. He asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” The question was not meant to be theoretical. In times of trouble Christians ask this question. Paul is writing about his own troubles as well as those of other Christians. The earthly pilgrimage of the saints of God is accompanied by the adversity Paul lists in this verse as well as in verses 38 and 39. When Christians suffer physical harm it outwardly seems as though Christ has separated Himself from His people and has abandoned them. On the contrary, none of the above things “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God is for you because Christ has died for you. And because Christ is risen from the dead, God is here for you. Troubles will come, but you are not forsaken. In Christ, you are more than conquerors; because you are forgiven for all of your sins. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.