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Advent 3C – “Rejoice” (Zephaniah 3:14-20)

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 Old Testament, which was read earlier.

Are you depressed, feeling blue, stressed out or frustrated? Those are not words we use to describe a joyful time such as Christmas, yet some people feel this way at this time of year. Part of it comes from unrealistic expectations. Part of it comes from a misunderstanding of what this season is all about. Part of it comes from cramming too much activity into too little time.

Still, we come to church and hear God calling us to rejoice and be glad. That’s easy for Him to say! He’s up there in heaven, where everything’s safe and bright, unhurried, unhassled. Let Him come down here and see how it feels in this world. Then we’ll see who’s rejoicing and celebrating!

As we see in our text this morning, the prophet Zephaniah gives us God’s answer: God did come down here and God does celebrate and because of that, we can surely celebrate because the Lord came here and celebrates over us.

Today is the Third Sunday in Advent, what in Latin is called Gaudete, which means, “rejoice.” And that is what we do today and always, rejoice! But it would seem we have many reasons not to rejoice. We have sinned, and that is definitely not a reason to celebrate and rejoice. The people of Zephaniah’s time stood under the threat of judgment for their sinful rebellion. He begins this chapter by saying to the people, “Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city! She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD; she does not draw near to her God.” Zephaniah warns Jerusalem of God’s wrath and calls her to repent, that same warning we have received.

Heeding Zephaniah’s warning, we realize our own sinfulness and our ongoing failure to live up to the standards of God’s holy expectations. We are reminded of Jesus’ words: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” That is something we cannot be and so we are reminded that we are much like God’s rebellious people of old, able to do nothing to save ourselves.

We live in a sin-stained and sin-infested world, a fact that is not worth rejoicing over. Because of sin, we suffer physically, mentally, and spiritually. We face the effects of sin in the form of death, a death that manifests itself both physically and spiritually. We fight daily against evil. All one has to do is look at the world around them and see that Satan is still alive and well seeking to destroy God’s kingdom. There is no worth in rejoicing because all we are left to rejoice in is our sin.

God came here and causes us to celebrate. God does not treat us as our sins deserve. Rather, He cares for us as His own. Zephaniah writes, “Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!” God calls the Israelites the “daughter of Zion” and “daughter of Jerusalem.” They are the dear ones to Him, for they are His beloved children. That trickles down the ages to us as well. We are the beloved children of God, and for that reason, we are able to rejoice and be glad.

The reason why is because He came here and took away the judgment against our sins. In love, God came in the flesh in the birth of His Son to live among us, to live “in your midst” to save us from sin and death. That happened as Christ grew in stature of man and became our sacrifice upon the cross. And for that fact, we are forgiven all our sins, and that fact alone is cause for us to rejoice this day and always.

Zephaniah makes a point that Jerusalem failed to understand because of their limited thinking: “The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies.” Jerusalem was surround by enemies throughout her history, and because of that, they did not think that what Zephaniah declared was true. How has God cleared away Jerusalem’s enemies if they continued to attack Jerusalem time and time again? But what Zephaniah speaks of is beyond the temporal world. God defeats our enemies of sin, death, and the devil through the gift that He gives through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus knows our world’s enemies because He has been there and fought against them on our behalf. Therefore, we need fear no evil that would befall us because Christ has proven to be the Victor once and for all, causing us to rejoice.

Everything that Zephaniah writes of in our text is fulfilled in Christ, for Christ is the cause for us to rejoice. He gathers us unto Himself through His Word and Sacraments to forgive you your sins. He takes away all that keeps us separated from God and unites us to God the way God had intended from the beginning. That assurance is made for us by God through the words of His servant Zephaniah: “At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes.”

This is what the long-promised Messiah has done for us. He has gathered us unto Himself by the blood He pours out upon Calvary’s cross. He has gathered us unto Himself in the saving act of His death and resurrection.

We rejoice now for what Christ has come to do, just as we rejoice for what Christ has already done for us. We celebrate in anticipation of what we know is ours, a life that transcends this veil of tears in which we live in and grants to us a new life, a life united with Christ that grants forgiveness of sins and unites us to our heavenly Father once again.

What God promised through the prophet Zephaniah has been made ours. It is not something that requires our doing, but rather requires God to do all the work, and He does through Jesus.

He has come to do what Zephaniah and all the prophets of old foretold: be the Savior that God has promised. He has come to do for us what we could not do. He comes to forgive and make new what was once destroyed. He causes us to rejoice in all that He has done, just as today is meant to be: Gaudete, that is, rejoice. 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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Advent 2C – “Make Ready” (Luke 3:1-14)

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.

Imagine for a moment that your life is not your own. Whatever you do is not meant for you; rather, it’s meant for someone else. What would that life look like? Would it be a life worth living or is your life pointless, as you receive no gain in your life? We should ask John the Baptist about that, because his life was not his own – his being was to point to a promise God made ages and ages ago.

John the Baptist is a strange man in a strange time. He has one foot in the Old Testament while the other foot is ushering in the New Testament. He looks out of place because he is out of place. John is a man on a mission from God, literally. The question is: what is that mission?

John’s mission is not about living a life that’s all about him. His mission is not to make a mark in the pages of history because of what he did, though he does leave a mark. His mission is to step back, to take the back seat, all in order to tell people about a promise God made. That promise comes in Jesus, his cousin. That promise comes in Jesus, his Savior.

To teach people about this promise, John has to lay the ground work. His message is one of repentance. He proclaims a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. What a message John has to proclaim!

Unfortunately, John the Baptist has a problem. The problem is that no one wants to hear what he has to say. No one wants to hear about repentance. No one wants to hear of the promised Messiah. The people want things to be the way they are, to stay the status quo. But the status quo is not good enough for John, especially when the message he is proclaiming is a message that speaks of mankind’s salvation.

Quoted in our Gospel today is some prophecy about John the Baptist and what he will say and what will come about: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

John is the voice in the wilderness proclaiming, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” And John is going to make sure that everyone hears that message. He doesn’t want to leave anyone out. He wants to ensure that all hear of the coming of God’s promised Messiah. And why wouldn’t he? First, that’s his job as the herald of Jesus Christ. Second, who would not want to hear of God’s promise of salvation coming to the people in such a short amount of time? Everyone would want to hear that, unless you are a Pharisee. God’s Word and Pharisees don’t often tend to play well together. But John’s message was especially for the Pharisees, as they had determined there was a different way to earn salvation – through their own works and keeping of the Law.

John the Baptist comes in preaching very harsh words, words that the people didn’t want to hear then and words that we probably don’t want to hear now: “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” The sad truth is that more often than not, you and I don’t produce the good fruit that our Lord expects. We simply don’t love God with all our heart and soul and strength, much less love our neighbor as ourselves. Despite our best efforts, there are those we have hurt and those we have failed to help. Our thoughts and desires are soiled with sin and there is nothing good within us due to our sinful nature.

That’s where John’s message is so important. We hear the Law. We hear about our sinful nature and what that means for us. It means death and damnation. It means eternal separation from God. But that message that John is preaching about is the sweet sound of the Gospel that we need to hear: that there is One who is coming to save us from our sins. There is One who is coming to give us everlasting life. There is One coming who is forever bridging the gap between God and man, One who will trade His life so that we can have life. It is in John’s message of the Gospel of God’s grace in Christ Jesus that we are lifted up and comforted.

John’s warning was indeed sharp. When the message of love and grace fails to touch the heart, then the Law’s message of judgment upon sin must be proclaimed. And so John comes proclaiming a baptism of repentance, that the people would turn from their sinful ways and prepare for the arrival of The Messiah that was quickly approaching. And who heard that message but those troubled by their sins.

That’s the message of our text today. Our sin has separated us from God. That’s not a message we want to hear, and neither did those to whom John was preaching to. They had an answer for everything: “We have Abraham as our father.” What does that mean? Who cares if you have Abraham as your father. The bigger question is do you recognize your sin? Are you repentant of your sin? Will claiming Abraham as your father make your sins go away?

If you are sinful, then you need to hear this message. If you are repentant of your sins, then you need to hear this message. There is nothing you can do about your sins, but there is someone who can, and that someone is on His way. He is on His way to the manger to be born. He is on His way to Jerusalem to stand before Pilate to be judged. He is on His way to Golgotha to lay down His life for your sinful life. He’s going to give you all that He is so you may be declared righteous and holy before God. And in doing so, He is going to take all your sins upon Himself so that He may be judged sinful and die, all that you may live.

Even with all of that, that’s not enough for Jesus. He promises to come to you in His holy Word, a word that declares you forgiven for His sake. He comes to you in water so that God’s name may be placed upon you, marking you as God’s beloved and redeemed child. He comes to you in bread and wine, that you may feast upon His body and blood and receive His forgiveness, that you may be strengthened until life everlasting in heaven is yours.

All of this is at the heart of John the Baptist’s message. The message is not his own, but it is God’s message of a promise made a long time ago. John’s presence is to prepare for Christ’s arrival as the Messiah, the promised Savior of long ago. And with that message of John, we look not to ourselves but to only-begotten Son of God, as He comes in a manger, as He comes in Word and Sacrament…as He comes to forgive us our sins and lead us unto Himself. 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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Advent 1C – “Promised Peace” (Jeremiah 33:14-16)

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 Old Testament, which was read earlier.

What shakes up your world? What makes you uneasy and anxious? Is it an unstable stock market? Is it world events or natural disasters? What about a warning or report from your doctor? Each of us is no doubt shaken in different ways by different developments in our lives. For some, it’s the loss of a loved one at Christmas. It might be the possibility of losing ones job or mountains of debt that you never think you’ll get out from underneath. Whatever your anxieties, Jeremiah would understanding your condition. He was shaken by a number of things in his world.

First, God had called him to be a prophet and to speak God’s Word in a time when people refused and resented God’s messengers. (Not much has changed today with regards to that sentiment by the world). At least twice there were attempts on his life. The refusal and violent reactions to his messages caused him great anguish. Jeremiah shares his frustration as he prays to God: “O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.” Everything around Jeremiah was falling apart. The Babylonians were about to conquer Jerusalem and enslave its population. Jeremiah was at a crossroads: he was called to announce that this would all happen because the people had so completely rejected the God who had given them the land, the temple, Zion, and Jerusalem.

Regardless of all that was going on in Jeremiah’s life, no matter the fear of what tomorrow would bring, Jeremiah has words for God’s people: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’”

Here is a calming and healing word for God’s people. Here is a restoring and refreshing word for a people a people who had rejected God. This is a reiteration of the promise made to Adam and Eve. This is the promise of a Savior. This is the promise of Jesus. Jeremiah describes the coming of one who would reverse the curse of the people’s rejection of their faith and their idolatrous ways. The Jerusalem that would experience violence, bloodshed, anguish, and enslavement would once again dwell in security and enjoy wonderful prosperity. God’s blessings would be lavished upon her once again.

This great reversal would be brought about by the presence of the one who would bring justice and righteousness. David’s seed, Jesus of Nazareth, fulfills this wonderful word precisely as Jeremiah promised.

And so we see in our Gospel reading the same account as we do for Palm Sunday – the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. And what do the people shout: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” That is what we proclaim today, preparing for the arrival of the infant Jesus in the manger. Listen to what Luther writes when speaking of Christ’s triumphant entry: “This is what is meant by ‘Thy king cometh.’ You do not seek him, but he seeks you. You do not find him, he finds you. For preachers come from him, not from you; their sermons come from him, not from you; your faith comes from him, not from you; and where he does not come, you remain outside; and where there is no Gospel there is no God, but only sin and damnation, free will may do, suffer, work, and live as it may and can. Therefore you should not ask, where to begin to be godly; there is no beginning, except where the king enters and is proclaimed.”

You see, everything centers on the coming of Christ into our sinful and fallen world. You want to be sinless? You can’t. You want to be righteous? You can’t. You want to save yourself? You can’t. You want to be godly, as Luther says? You can’t. But with the coming of Christ, you are made sinless. With the coming of Christ you are declared righteous. With the coming of Christ, you have been saved. Everything centers on Christ and what He does.

Here in this House, the Branch of Righteousness also springs forth today. He comes to speak salvation from Satan and death. He comes to give out His righteousness through His mighty Word. All mankind needs this coming of the Branch. All men are sinful, and therefore need this Savior to come into their midst to give out His forgiveness. But many have given up hope. Many have stopped believing in the coming of Messiah among men through Word and Sacrament. Many think that Christ is far distant in heaven, and does not come among men. We forget that He is here, the King of the universe, the Son of David, in our midst. Our spirits are slow and cold too often, as if He does not come.

But He comes here indeed, since He has prophesied and promised it. He has said He would be here, and He does not break His promises, made some two thousand years ago. Here He is in His Body and Blood. Here He is speaking, since He who hears His servants is hearing Him. Here He is in the midst of us, where two or three gather together. He shall come in this way to be with us always, until the very end of the age. Although our sinful souls are not worthy of His coming, He comes anyway, to give us grace.

Jeremiah spoke that message to his contemporaries. He faithfully spoke God’s Holy Word. The majority rejected his message, but a significant minority listened and believed. They saw reality for what it was. They saw the beauty and wonder of the God who made a promise and reinforced that promise. They confessed their sins and rejoice in God’s forgiveness for the sake of David’s Seed, Jesus.

So today we rejoice with Jeremiah. Beyond the disappointment and challenges of this world, the Seed of David brings a peace that the world cannot replicate, for this peace is the peace that knows on account of Christ, our sins have been forgiven and we have life everlasting in the promised Messiah. 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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Funeral for + John E. Lavrenz +

LSB Icon_040The text that was chosen for John’s funeral was Psalm 139.

1 O LORD, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! 20 They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Here ends our text.

To the untrained eye, the scene today looks disturbing. Instead of gathering together for a joyful occasion, we gather today to mourn. Death has won again and taken a husband, father, brother, and friend. Or at least, that’s what the untrained eye sees. For the trained eye, we see something completely different.

Some of the facts remain the same: we gather today not just to mourn, but to also rejoice. Death has indeed taken a husband, father, brother and friend, but death has not won. As the hymn says, “Jesus lives! The vict’ry’s won! Death no longer can appall me; Jesus lives! Death’s reign is done! From the grave will Christ recall me. Brighter scenes will then commence; This shall be my confidence.”

I can’t take credit for selecting our text today; John did that, along with everything else. I can see why this psalm was such a favorite of his. This psalm is a psalm of thanks that praises God that He has provided for David so wonderfully and still reigns in all of His works, words, and thought. Whether David stands, walks, sleeps, or wakes – yes, even in his mother’s womb, before he was made – God has been with him as he was being formed and will be with him as long as he lives. John did as any of us should be able to do – substitute our name in the place of David, for God indeed watches over and provides for us from before we are born to our death and after. That fact held true for John as well. From the moment of his conception, God was watching over him. When he was brought to the waters of Holy Baptism, God was there. Throughout all the days of John’s life, God was there with him. And Friday, when John breathed his last breath, there stood God with open arms to receive His beloved child. The words John heard are words that all believers will hear on the day that God calls us home: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

If John were here right now, he would make the point himself that he wasn’t good. He might have been a good person to know, he might have done good things throughout his earthly life, but none of that mattered. All the good that John did in this life didn’t score him any brownie points with God. He never did anything “good” for personal gain, but rather to benefit his neighbor, whether he knew who his neighbor was or not. He knew that nothing he could ever do would get him brownie points with God. He knew that none of his good works would earn him an ounce of salvation and he would be the first to tell you that. In order for John to receive salvation, in order for any of us to receive salvation, it doesn’t depend a single bit on what we do. It depends solely on what Jesus Christ has done for us.

How fitting it is for John to have fallen asleep in Christ when he did. Right now, the Church observes the season of Lent, a penitential time where we reflect and prepare for what Christ does for us. In just a couple of weeks, we will see Jesus ride triumphantly into Jerusalem, with the people shouting praises as He enters. We will see Jesus give to His disciples, and in turn the entire Church, His very body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. And in just hours after that, we will see Jesus go to the cross. And while we cringe when we hear of His Passion and what Christ endured before His death, we look forward to what happened just three days later, when Christ burst from death’s tomb as the Victor over sin and death. With His death, He took with Him John’s sins, and there were many, as he would recount week after week in the Church’s confession. But he knew that he had forgiveness, not because of what he did, but because Christ had washed those sins away in Baptism, because Christ had taken any and all sins of John to the cross and gave to him the crown of eternal life.

David writes in his psalm, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your work; my soul knows it very well.” Those are words which meant something to John, words that were wonderful to hear, because by Jesus’ work was what saved John. He could be content in knowing that God sent His Son Jesus to save him from all his sins.

From some of the stories John told me and from the years that I knew John, he had a way of getting himself into trouble. Sometimes it meant receiving some sort of punishment from his father or running to his mother to avoid said punishment. He knew when he got in trouble and though he tried to avoid the punishment, it often caught up to him. So it was with his death. Death is inevitable for each and every one of us. St. Paul makes that clear when he says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” John knew that when he got in trouble with his sin, which was everyday of his life, he knew whom he needed to run to. He would run to Jesus, for he knew that only in the arms of Jesus would he be able to get out of his sinful trouble. He knew that the only thing he could do was sin and sin and sin some more. But through the blood of Jesus Christ that washed his sins away, He could emerge the victor.

Reflecting on St. Paul’s words, they ring ever true for John. He writes, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” Though John has died an earthly death, he enjoys a new life in Christ Jesus, one free from sin, one free from cancer. He has been transferred to the Church Triumphant, where he rests from his labors.

During the last few days of John’s life, he was plagued with worry, even doubt at times. He asked on more than one occasion why God hated him because he was still here. I told John that God did not hate him, but I didn’t know why he was still here, other than the fact that it was not time for God to call John home to heaven yet. David answers John’s question. He says, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.” John’s days were numbered, just as are each of ours. While God created us to live with Him forever in the Garden, through sin we now have death, cutting short those days of forever. But though we live a certain number of days on earth, through Christ will live with God forever in heaven.

David has a perfect ending for his psalm, an ending that asks for something from God. David could have asked for anything from God, and yet he doesn’t; he asks for something not of this life. He writes, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” For David, just as for John, and just as for you and me, there is a grievous way in us. That grievous way is called sin. Sin, as we see this morning, leads to death. But God did not leave David in that state, nor did He leave John in that state, nor does He leave us in that state. He leads us in the way of everlasting life.

For you, Lee and family, while you mourn today, there is cause for rejoicing, for John now rests in eternal glory, waiting for us all to join him and all who die in the faith. Amen.

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Lent 3 – Commandments Broken, Commandments Kept (Exodus 20:1-17)

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 Old Testament, which was read earlier.

Many times, it appears that God is silent, that He doesn’t have much to say, or least that He doesn’t have much to say to an individual personally. We want to hear God speak to us, but often times He remains silent. Or what is even worse, when God does speak to us, it isn’t how we want Him to speak. However, when God does speak, He has a lot to say. His words carry great importance, but we often fail to heed what He has to say. That changes in our Old Testament reading today, for God speaks words that cut deep to the individual.

We are all familiar to our text. We know it to be the Ten Commandments. God had called Abraham, promising to make out of him a people set apart. God gave him no rules, no guidance; He just asked Abraham to follow. What that people, now nearly one million in number, found itself delivered from Egyptian bondage, God made His radical will known.

What God sets forth is an excellent summary of His will for His people. They were intended not as threatening commands, but rather ten easy steps to follow for the smooth running of God’s people. At least, that’s what it seems like on the surface.

As God’s chosen people, they were often seen departing from God. They had turned to their own ways, they had turned to other gods time and time again, only to return to God when they realized that they were too far gone and they could not do anything to save themselves. And so God issues to them His First Commandment, one that would set the stage for the remaining Commandments: “You shall have no other gods before me.” God then goes on to expand just what that means: not having any idols or graven images, not bowing down to created things and worshipping only Him. Luther, in his Large Catechism writes this about the First Commandment: “A god is that to which one should look for all good things and to which one should take refuge in all needs.” It didn’t take long for the Israelites to break this commandment. In fact, before Moses had even descended the mountain, there were the Israelites at the foot of the mountain worshipping a golden calf.

As God continued to give His Commandments, it became clearer and clearer that Israel would not be able to keep them. Misusing the name of God? Broken. Sabbath day violations? Check. Honoring father and mother? Broken in the Garden, as Adam and Eve failed to honor their Father. Murder? Check. As God continued to give Moses His Law, it didn’t take long to see that the Israelites had already broken most, if not all, of these Commandments. And if they hadn’t, it wouldn’t take them long to do so.

What you have laid out before you is pure Law, God’s perfect and all-demanding Law. Its purpose was to make God’s people holy, keeping them faithful to God. God had continued to give to Moses instructions for worship and building of the Tabernacle, further laws for the governing of His people, and finally ending with details for the Sabbath. But once Moses made his way to the foot of the mountain, there was God’s people, worshipping an idol. They had erected for themselves a god, one they had fashioned out of gold. Aaron had declared to the people, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” And then, ironically, he declared, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” Even before receiving God’s Commandments, they had broken the very first. God sent Moses back to the people, threatening to consume them with His burning wrath.

So here’s a question: why make these Ten Commandments for the people of Israel to follow if they’re only going to break them? This was God’s people. He had seen them through thick and thin and promised that He would remain their God. In return, He asked that they would remain His people. God had asked the same thing to Adam and Eve. He created them; He was their loving Father. All they had to do was keep a single command of God – eat from all trees in the Garden except one. That single command of God proved to be too much for them and they were forever cast out of the Garden. Obviously if Adam and Eve couldn’t keep a single command of God, then there would be no hope for all of Israel to keep the Ten Commandments, let alone the total of 613 commandments every Jew should follow and keep. If you can’t keep one, you surely can’t keep ten and definitely you won’t be able to keep 613.

So with the Ten Commandments given to the people of Israel and their failure to keep the very First Commandment, let alone the remaining nine, all is doom and gloom for Israel. They will be forever lost to their failure of keeping God’s Law; they will be forever lost to their sin. It would easily appear that way, and at times for Israel, it seems as if God had completely abandoned them. If God had forsaken Israel, then that means there is no hope for you and I. And if that’s what you think, then you would be wrong. There is indeed hope for you and I; there is salvation for us. God did not completely abandon Israel to their sin. God has not abandoned you to your sin. He has sent to Israel and to the entirety of His creation a Deliverer, One that would keep the First Commandment in its entirety. And not only the First Commandment but also the other nine. And not only the Ten Commandments, but also the 613 commandments. And not only those, but One who has kept the entirety of God’s Word and His Law. There is for Israel and for you a Savior, one who goes to the extreme to atone for your sins, for each and every one of them, for every single time that you have broken God’s Law, for every time that you have not done as His Word has declared.

This Savior, this Jesus, is the One who has done for you all that you could never do yourself. In keeping every iota of God’s Law, He has done all that the Father desired of His creation. He has achieved for all those who trust and believe in Him full salvation. For all who have faith and call upon the name of the Lord, all those sins that would make you stand before God as a condemned sinner have been removed and God only sees that the holiness and righteousness that has been achieved by Jesus’ all-atoning sacrifice on the cross. God has promised salvation and that salvation comes through Jesus Christ, the One promised of long ago. As Jesus says in our Gospel for today, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Through His bodily temple, the Son of God lays down His life, only to take it up again three days later. In doing so, He proclaims eternal victory over sin and death for the sinner.

All of this is in keeping with what God speaks to Moses, “I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” We know these words as the Close of the Commandments. In short, for all who fail to call upon the name of the Lord, God will condemn. For those who believe, for those whom God has made His beloved child, God will show His steadfast love. And what greater steadfast love is there than granting to a person the forgiveness of sins, whereby eternal life is awarded to them?

With the giving of the Ten Commandments, it was not meant to punish or tie the hands of Israel. They were given as a response to whom God was, their creator, provider and protector. He had promised to be with them all the days of their life. In line with man’s breaking of God’s Word and commandments, One is sent for us who keeps these Commandments in order to grant to us everlasting life. We have failed time and time to keep these Commandments. Fortunately for us, there is One who has kept them, One who would give His life so that we would live. Christ has come, keeping these Commandments and more, to grant to you life and salvation. Steadfast love from God has been shown to you, all because Christ has kept these Commandments in your place. 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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Lent 2 – “Justified by Faith” (Romans 5:1-11)

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.

Say the word enemy and what image comes to mind? Secret agents, robbers, master criminals? We all know what an enemy is, but I’m sure there is one person whom we have not considered adding to that list. That person is… you! That person is… me. That person is all of creation, because we are enemies, enemies of God.

None of us would be considered an evil mastermind. None of us would be considered being put on the wanted posters that used to hang in post offices in the days of yesteryear. But for us to be considered God’s enemies, maybe that is a point that you would argue. However, arguing the point will not change the fact that we are indeed God’s enemies.

In today’s Epistle, Paul’s words follow on the previous chapters, where he laid the case that we were among the dead – the dead in our trespasses and sins. Twice, Paul states that apart from Jesus, we have no hope and can expect only death. In chapter 2, Paul announces: “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.” And again, Paul teaches us that “there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The result of both of these verses is the same: death.

Now here in our text, Paul continues to describe how desperate we were: weak. There is never a good time to be weak. Weak in sin, weak in moral fortitude, weak in faith. In other words, an apt description of you and me. Paul goes on to say that “we were still sinners.” We know this to be true, don’t we? We know this to still be true, that we still sin daily. Turn on the news, read the newspaper, what will you find? You will find stories of man’s sin, over and over and over again. Yes, we know we are still weak, we know that we are still sinners.

But for us, it gets even worse, for we are called enemies of God. Surely that doesn’t mean all of us, especially not me. Surely there has to be someone who is good, right? Not according to Paul, for he writes, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Paul is very clear, that no one is righteous, not even a single soul, that is, aside from Jesus. And so if we do not stand before God as righteous, then we stand before him as enemies.

The entirety of creation has been turned into enemies of God because of sin and there isn’t a single thing that we can do about it except keep on sinning, keep on being enemies of God. But fortunately for us, it isn’t up to us to do something about it. It is up to God to do something about it, and He does. He sends the only One who is righteous. He sends the only One who is not His enemy. He sends His Son, Jesus Christ. His sole purpose is to restore what was destroyed due to sin. The only way to do that is to live a life that is perfect, that conforms to God’s Word and upholds every single iota of it. But that isn’t enough. After He has led a perfect life, then He has to die so that His blood may be poured out on creation in order to redeem it, to buy it back from Satan. And even then, that isn’t enough. After He has died, He needs to be raised from the dead, for by His life, death, and resurrection do we have life. Because of the actions of Jesus Christ do we go from being declared enemies of God to being righteous, for everything is done just as Paul declares: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”

Christ died for the ungodly, for all people of all times. Jesus shed His holy Blood on the cross to pay the price for the sins of everyone from Adam to the last man standing at the end of the Day. Eternal freedom is not free. This is the Sacrifice and this Sacrifice is Love Incarnate. His eternal Life takes away our eternal death. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us and rose again for us. Those who have been given the gift of faith through this Good News of God are now recipients of the reconciliation.

Look at what the Incarnate Son of God accomplished. He saved not only for a day, but for all eternity. In order that no one might have to endure the wrath of God against sin in eternity, Jesus sacrificed Himself in time when He put Himself in harm’s way, placed Himself in the breech and mounted mankind’s leafless, lifeless, cursed cross. His Easter Resurrection is unto all eternity and His Ascension is for all time. Those who are His, that is, those who believe, teach and confess that He has died for them will be with Him both at the end of the Day and forever.

Listen again to what St. Paul says: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” You’ve been justified by faith. Rather than declare you guilty and punish you for your sin, God has declared Jesus guilty and punished Him on the cross for your sin. Because the judgment has already been carried out, God will not judge you for your sin. His wrath is gone, and all He has left for you is peace for Jesus’ sake. All He has left for you is forgiveness and comfort and help. Being justified by Jesus means the Law has been completely fulfilled by Him for you. Peace with God means the Lord Jesus Christ has taken away the discord of our sin.

God demonstrates His own love toward you in this: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God didn’t wait for us to make an effort before He gave His Son to redeem us. In your case, He gave His Son to die for you long before you were born, long before you even existed. He gave His Son to die for you long before you became His child through Holy Baptism—while you were still His enemy. And if God loved you so much then, how will He not love you now? Or, as the text goes on to say: if God loved you so much that He would save you by His only Son’s death, how much more will He love you now that His only Son lives again and intercedes for you?

The season of Lent presses on toward the cross of Jesus, where we see His death take place. There, His reconciliation of the world, of you and me, between the Father and you, takes place through the Son, with the result of justification, rejoicing, suffering, endurance, character, and hope. Through Jesus’ rest in a borrowed grace, you can find comfort in knowing that Jesus rested in perfect peace for you. As we confess, there is “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” These words are an ever gentle reminder of what Jesus has done for us. You have been justified by the blood of Christ. You are no longer an enemy, but His beloved child. You’re no longer unholy and impure, but cleansed and holy in His sight for Jesus’ sake. The cross is your assurance that your hope will not fail: for if you have been redeemed at the price of the Son’s blood, the Father will not forsake you now. 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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Lent 1 – “Defeating Temptation” (Mark 1:9-15)

B-30 Lent 1 (Mk 1.9-15)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.

The season of Lent is designated in the church as a season of preparation. How better to begin the journey on which we now embark than by pondering the beginning of the ministry of our Lord on earth. Mark leads us by the hand from scene to scene as Jesus heals people, casts out demons, forgives sins, and raises the dead. For Mark, things are done “immediately.” That word “immediately” is at the forefront of our text today, as He begins with the Baptism of Jesus. We hear the Father’s Words, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” As soon as His Baptism is concluded, we hear from Mark, “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” Why did the Spirit do this? What is the point? Jesus was driven into the wilderness to be tempted, and for good reason – because we are tempted. Jesus, who Himself was tempted, helps us when we are tempted.

Immediately, Jesus goes from water to wilderness. The Holy Spirit, who descended upon Jesus in His Baptism, now drives Him into the desert with the same urgency with which God took the children of Israel from the Egypt side of the Red Sea to the wilderness side of the Sinai Peninsula.

As we look at Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, Mark gives very few details, other than Jesus was tempted all forty days of His time there. The writer of Hebrews gives us this insight: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Just what kinds of temptations did Jesus face during those forty days? Mark doesn’t give us any details of the temptations, while Matthew and Luke give us three temptations that Jesus faced: turn stones into bread, bow down and worship Satan, and throw Himself off the pinnacle of the temple. Aside from those three, we don’t have a list of temptations that Jesus faced on each day in the wilderness. Suffice to say, the fact still stands that Jesus was tempted in every respect during the forty days and throughout His ministry.

The temptations that Jesus faced did not end in the wilderness. As I said, our Lord faced temptations throughout His life, all the way up to and including His crucifixion. For all the traps and snares the Pharisees put into place for Jesus, one couldn’t blame Jesus if He had a cursing thought towards them. Some would say that they deserved it. And while they might have deserved it, Jesus does nothing that would constitute revenge towards them. He has no cursing thought or word directed towards them, He doesn’t do anything that would be considered vengeful on His part. No, Jesus took every trap and snare placed before Him and sidestepped them with great ease. He prayed to His Father; He prayed for His enemies; He gave comfort to the repentant thief while the other tempted Jesus to remove Himself from the cross. By His complete and full temptation, without sin, without giving in a single time, Jesus has credited you righteous.

What good news it is for us that Christ has triumphed over temptation! We know that because Christ has triumphed over temptation, we too will triumph, for we have Christ with us, alongside us as we face each and every temptation to sin. Jesus has been and will continue to be by your tempted side until you are finally at peace and rest eternally with Him. Because of Christ’s victory over the devil, you have won. Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil is your victory over sin, death, and the devil. God sent His Son into the world to deal with all three of these. In the luscious, fruitful Garden of Eden, the serpent tempted the first man; in the bleak, barren wilderness he tried the same with the stronger Man. Jesus, the second Adam, would dispatch the devil, defeating Satan who had caused the fall of the first Adam. As a result of the first man’s sin, Adam could only lead his wife out from Paradise and into this land of disease, decay and death. As a result of Jesus’ victory over Satan in the desert, the Lord journeyed out from the desert in order to lead His bride, the Church, from this world and into Paradise. Jesus overcame all of Satan’s temptations so that He could pronounce you righteous and holy before His Father.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who carries away the sin of the world. Even though He carried the sin of the entire world into the desert, He Himself never sinned. He endured and triumphed over every temptation of the devil. Hebrews says, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus endured the temptations of the devil and triumphed. He not only endured the temptation in the wilderness, but He also endured all the other temptations that the devil threw at Him as He journeyed to the cross.

You see, if the devil could have gotten Jesus to sin just once, He would no longer be able to carry our sins. He would have sins of His own to carry. Never the less, Jesus did not sin. He continued to carry our sin. He carried it all the way to the cross.

It is important for us to know that Jesus endured all the hardships that we endure. He is our substitute. He doesn’t just know our lives academically, but He has experienced life as we know it. He was tempted just as we are tempted. He also experienced our pain, our sorrow, and our frustrations. He experienced it all except that He never sinned.

In spite of the fact that He never sinned, He was full of sin. 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.” Just as the High Priest placed the sin of Israel on the scapegoat, God has placed the sin of the world on Jesus. He became full of our sin – your sin, my sin, the sin of the entire world. Jesus has carried that sin to the cross. As we remember the cross, we will remember that our sin filled Him as He suffered and died to pay the penalty that God’s justice demanded – a payment that freed us from our slavery to sin.

For us during this Lententide, our focus is this: Christ has defeated Satan, once and for all, and because of that, salvation has been won for you and for me, through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 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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Epiphany 5 – “God Seeks” (Isaiah 40:21-31)

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 Old Testament, which was read earlier.

You get it, don’t you? You see the big picture, right? It should be obvious to everyone, and yet it is not. Isaiah doesn’t mince words in our text for today. He begins by saying, “Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?” Imagine what that would sound like today: “Have you not heard from the beginning? Have you not understood even though it has been sufficiently shown to you? Now you should know it. How are you going to excuse yourselves for your errors?” Plain preaching and teaching has been set forward for God’s people, and it’s God’s people who have missed the boat. These are things they obviously should know. Not only could God’s “eternal power and divine nature” be clearly perceived, but He also revealed Himself by His holy prophets.

Everything that Isaiah says is rhetorical. It should be answered with a resounding “yes,” and yet it is not. The people know God. They are His creation. They bear His name. And yet, they don’t understand. Isaiah seems to be beating his head against a brick wall, for if these people are indeed God’s people, then they wouldn’t be doing the things that they have done up to this point in their history. They would have followed God’s Law perfectly. They would not have had other gods and idols. They would not have turned their backs to God and His Word. But looking at Israel’s history, that is exactly what they had done, time and time again.

If you want to know who God is, Isaiah gives the perfect description of Him. He is the Creator. He is the Sustainer. He is the Supreme Ruler over all. Nothing exists that God did not create. Israel has tried to put God in a box, define Him according to human standards, but God does not and cannot fit in a human-defined box. Luther, in his lectures on Isaiah 40 says, “Why do you want to make God? Read what was said to you above. God already is, He sits in the dome above the earth. This God already exists, and He is incomprehensible, sitting at the same time in heaven and on earth. And you, ungodly one, will not hear. You try to confine Him to a little statue and to reconcile His immeasurable mercy and grace with a little piece of workmanship.”

Israel didn’t fully understand who God was; if they had, they would not have strayed so far from Him and His Word. One would think that given enough time and poor choices, God’s people would learn. However, that was not the case. They would repent when things got beyond their control, pray to God to rescue them and God would rescue. Once things got better, Israel went back doing their own thing.

It has been said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” That is indeed true, for we continue today to turn away from God, thinking that we can do whatever we want, whether it conforms to God’s Word or if it contradicts God’s Word.

Try as we might, regardless of what we think or say or do, God is the ultimate authority. His Word is the ultimate authority. God is what we are not, the Holy One. The fact that God is the Holy One separates Him from all His creatures. He is what we are not – perfect. Yet, that is what desires to share with us – perfection. When man was created, man was created in the image of God, to be holy and without sin. After the Fall, that is no longer the case. And so God sends forth His Son to restore what was destroyed by sin. Christ comes, not to destroy but to restore. We have already been destroyed through the work of sin. What is needed now is restoration, making whole again the relationship between God and man.

The reason God’s people of old exist and we continue to do so is only because of God’s great strength and mighty power. It is through that strength and mighty power that we see God sacrifice His only Son in order to make right what had been wronged through Satan’s temptation of man. All that was necessary for salvation would be accomplished through the giving of God’s Son. Through His life, death, and resurrection, all sin that separates us from God has been cleansed and purged. God no longer sees the utter depravity of man’s sin, but now sees the forgiveness won for us by Jesus Christ.

This was the promise made so long ago to God’s people and yet they had forgotten it, chose to ignore or whatever sinful man does that takes them away from God. When we are separated from God, when we want nothing to do with God, God does not share the same sentiment. God seeks us out, continuing to seek us out until we return to Him, for the will of God is that all men would be saved.

As Isaiah records his words, Israel had two burning questions that kept coming back to the forefront. The first question: Could God help them? The second question was a follow-up to the first: Would God help them? Yes, God could definitely help Israel. Would God help them? Absolutely, for they are His people, regardless of all the times they fell away from Him.

Those questions that Israel continued to ask are the same questions that we ask today. When we get in over our heads due to sin, we wonder if God could and would help us. We have God’s assurance that the answer is indeed yes, for we are God’s creation and He has promised to be our God through thick and thin. He promises to be our God when we fail to be His people. He promises to be our God even when we do not want Him.

That promise of God is assured in the words of Isaiah: “He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength…. But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” We have God’s promise that He will always be with us, to care and provide for us, not out of a sense of obligation, but from a loving nature of Father to child.

As Isaiah asked at the beginning of our text, “Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?” We need not wonder or question, for we have been told. We have God’s Word of assurance for us. We know that we do not have a God that is aloof, one that is distant from His people. Rather, we have a God who is as personal to us as He can be, for He has sent His Son into our flesh, to live and die for us, so that all would be restored. 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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Epiphany 4 – “Christ’s Authority” (Mark 1:21-28)

B-21 Epiphany 4 (Mk 1.21-28)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.

Authority. The dictionary has multiple definitions of the word. Some define authority as: the power to determine, adjudicate, or otherwise settle issues or disputes; the right to control, command, or determine; an accepted source of information, advice, etc.; or an expert on a subject. Authority commands something, is due something. Authority is often taken at face value and is declared to be true. The question today is this: who has true authority – Jesus or someone else?

As Mark begins our Gospel account today, Mark identifies who has authority and who does not. He writes, “They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath [Jesus] entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” Here was Jesus, the newcomer on the scene and He marches into the synagogue and starts teaching. By all rights, Jesus had no authority to teach. He was just another guy as far as outward appearances went. He wasn’t a member of the Pharisees or scribes. He wasn’t a teacher of the Law. He was just your average guy. But the manner in which Jesus taught sets Him apart from those who had the authority to teach, namely the scribes.

It wasn’t a far-fetched notion that we would find the man Jesus in synagogue. Even at the age of 30 or so, it would be quite common to find Jesus in the synagogue and temple, for it was there that the Word of God was taught to the people. Jesus’ role was merely to listen and to learn, just like every other Jewish male in attendance. But sitting and listening wasn’t Jesus’ style, especially when He had all the answers.

And so Mark records that Jesus began to teach “as one who had authority….” It meant that people sat up and listened to what He had to say. People took the words that Jesus spoke to be true, even truer than the words spoken by the scribes. His authority was different than the scribes. It demanded more than the scribes, and so Mark contrasts the authority of Jesus with that of the scribes. The people were amazed at His teaching, for there was a marked difference between what Jesus said and what the rabbis of the day said, for Jesus is the Son of God. What He delivered He received from the Father. John said, “In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He could speak as someone with authority because all authority had been given to Him, and so a noticeable difference between Jesus and the scribes could be expected. He knew the whole will of God from eternity. He knew how the promises of the Old Testament would be fulfilled in Him.

When you looked at what Jesus preached and taught throughout His ministry, what makes up His content? He wasn’t preaching about endless circumstances for choosing the right behavior, but rather sin and grace. His message wasn’t “What should I do?” but rather “What has God done for me?” This wasn’t a new teaching in Capernaum, but a timeless teaching of Scripture that had been replaced by man’s teaching. It was a teaching that says that man is not capable of keeping God’s Law. It was a teaching that through the coming and the work of the Messiah, forgiveness would be won for helpless man.

Authority for us equals God’s Word. This is God’s Word. What you see and hear and receive here today all comes to you in the stead, by the command, and with the authority of Christ Jesus Himself. Believe it or not, but there’s nothing new here. Just because you may not have heard it before doesn’t mean that it’s brand-new. It’s not brand new. Maybe you were never taught it. Maybe you never listened. The teaching—the doctrine of repentance and salvation by faith alone in God’s grace alone because of Christ Jesus alone is not new. In fact, this authoritative Law and Gospel message of the Word is eternal. It’s just brand-new to our sinful ears.

And that’s worth noting. Notice what the people say after Jesus heals the demon-possessed man: “A new teaching with authority.” Did you catch that? Not a new teacher, but a new teaching. The divine, healing authority wasn’t in the messenger, but in the message! At first glance, we see Jesus and think, “of course the demons responded to Jesus; He’s almighty God!” Guess what? This sort of thinking has a real sad way of working itself into today’s ministry. “That was then. That was with Jesus, in the flesh. Today is different. Jesus isn’t here. What makes you right and me wrong? What gives you the right or say-so over me?”

It is Christ’s authority—the authority of the Word of God Himself made flesh—that confronts you in your sin, calls you to repentance, and proclaims the joy and peace of complete forgiveness to you. Notice: We’re not called to teach anything other than what Christ has commanded and taught. “Repent! You are that man! You are in sin. What you are doing is sinful in the eyes of the Lord.” That’s not my opinion. That’s God’s authoritative Word. “Baptism now saves you.” That’s Christ’s authoritative Word. “This is My body. This is My blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sin.” That’s not my opinion or my take on a particular passage; rather, that’s Christ’s authoritative Word and promise. Let the Word do the talking. Let the Word work. It is this Word, and this Word alone, that has the authority to bring about repentance and salvation. This Word—this doctrine; this teaching—has the authority to kill and to make alive. God keeps His promises. His Word does not return to Him void and empty. It accomplishes that which He purposes.

Jesus still comes with the authority of His teaching even as His word shows up in churches all over the world. Even though the church is made up of people who are sinners, the Holy Spirit sanctifies us and makes us saints. While we still struggle as saints and sinners, Jesus has given His authority to His church on earth to proclaim and give His wonderful forgiveness to all nations in His Name. We have this authority because Jesus carried the uncleanness and captivity of all nations to the cross.

So, the authority of Jesus Christ comes to us even today as we hear the audible Word of God in our readings and preaching, as we feel the wet word of God in baptism, as we hear the forgiving word of God in the absolution, as we taste the forgiveness of sins as Jesus gives us His very body and blood in the bread and wine. This is the full power and authority of the cross applied to you. Here lies true authority: authority of Jesus Christ to forgive and to make holy. 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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Epiphany 3 – “Man’s No and God’s Yes” (Jonah 3:1-5, 10)

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 Old Testament, which was read earlier.

One of the first words a child learns is one that will stick with them throughout all of their life, a word more important than “mama” or “dada.” That word is “no.” And once they learn that word, they love to use it at every opportunity they can. As we get older, that word becomes ingrained in our everyday vocabulary, because we too like to use that word as much as we can. For the prophet Jonah, saying no was no different.

We all know the account of Jonah. To refresh your memory, God calls upon Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and deliver a message of repentance to them. Jonah felt that they were not worthy of God’s graciousness and so he refused. In order to get away from God, Jonah jumped into a boat that was heading the opposite direction, as if Jonah could really escape God. God sends a storm that threatens to destroy the boat he is on and so Jonah requests that the crew throw him overboard. The crew refuses to throw him overboard, knowing full well that he will drown. As the storm grew worse, the crew relented and threw Jonah overboard, but instead of drowning, he is swallowed by a big fish and kept alive in the fish’s belly for three days until he is spat out onto the shore. And that brings us to our Old Testament reading for today.

“Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD.” This time, Jonah was not about to take any chances. Even if he doesn’t feel that the people of Nineveh are worthy of God’s graciousness, he is going to go to Nineveh regardless of his personal feelings. He still doesn’t like the idea of going, he still doesn’t like the people, but he goes anyways because this is what God has commanded of him.

After everything that had happened to Jonah, it would be hard for him to say no a second time, and yet he still doesn’t have anything good to say about the Ninevites. He goes to Nineveh and declares God’s message: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” This time, Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh, to be God’s mouth in that city. This same word was used when God promised to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and God followed through with His threat of punishment for the unrepentant. That’s the same thing that Jonah wanted for Nineveh, for God to wipe them out as He had done earlier.

The Lord was calling Nineveh to repent. God is a serious God, with serious love and mercy for the repentant. But what do you think? Do you God is being too gracious, or are the billions of unbelievers out there today, or those of us gathered here, really worth His effort?

For as stern as God’s warning is to Nineveh, there’s reason for hope. For if God had decided to destroy the city, just for the fun of it, just because He’s a mean, angry, hateful God just looking for people and cities to destroy, if that’s who God really is, then there would be no real purpose for Him to ever send a preacher with His message. There would be no need for Jonah, no need for me. God detests sin because it kills those whom He loves, His creation. His earnest desire, what He wants most and has moved the ends of the world for, is salvation, salvation for Nineveh, salvation for you.

We are quick to say “no” to God, to think that we don’t need what He has to offer, to think that someone is beyond God’s salvation because of how bad they are. How great it must be, to be so good, to be someone who is so righteous of their own accord that they don’t need what God offers through Jesus Christ! How sad for everyone else who isn’t such a righteous person as this.

Fortunately for us, when we say “no,” God says “yes.” God says yes to us from the very beginning of man’s fall into sin. God says yes to us sinful human beings who don’t deserve His forgiveness. God says yes to us when our self-righteousness says that we don’t need God. Man’s “no” is God’s “yes,” and I am glad that’s the way it is.

Nineveh was spared because the Ninevites repented of their sins. God saw no reason to destroy them any more. When we repent, God sees no need to destroy us any more. We shout from the rooftops, “I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them.” And God joyfully shouts back to us, “I forgive you all of your sins.” What a wonderful thing to hear! We have God’s promise that all of our sins have been forgiven on account of Jesus Christ. We don’t have to guess and wonder if our sins have really been forgiven or not. We don’t have to guess and wonder if God will follow through with His threat of destroying us or if He will forgive us, for we already know the answer to that question.

God desired to save the wicked people of Nineveh, so He sent His preacher there and He saved. He had compassion and did not bring down the destruction that they deserved. God desires to save you, as well, sending forth preachers still today, preaching a message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. With that forgiveness, God spares you from eternal destruction, from hell and it’s torment, it’s absence from God.

As certainly as Jonah was swallowed up into the belly of the fish three days and was delivered, so Jesus was swallowed up by death and in the tomb for three days. His being raised on the third day has brought the kingdom of God now to you. Christ’s great death and resurrection have become the door to life for you through Christ and this He has given to you by His Word, Holy Baptism, and His Supper. Through these gifts, He has had compassion on you, drawing you near unto Him. Here, in His Means of Grace, does He pour out on you comfort and forgiveness in His blood instead of the Father’s wrath and anger. All is made well again, all has been forgiven you because your hearts have been turned and have repented. Death passes over you as you receive everlasting life. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.