Tag Archives: Pentecost

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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 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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Pentecost 13–“On That Day” (Isaiah 29:11-19)

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

Last week, I finally watched a movie that I had wanted to see for a while: 2012. The premise of the movie is this: according to the Mayan calendar, the end of the world will be December 21, 2012. Scientists had discovered that the end of the world as we know it is quickly coming and they have just a matter of a few years to figure out how to save the human race. Unfortunately, the end of the world comes sooner than December 21 and the beginning of the end of the world commences.

Now, if you are wondering, the end of the world will not come on December 21, 2012. We do not know when the end of the world will be, not even Jesus Christ. That is information that only God the Father knows. However, this movie is a good reminder for us that we are living in the last days, that period of time that we await the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

As we look at our text, Isaiah is doing what Isaiah does best: prophesying. Prior to our text, Isaiah tells the people of Israel of how God mercifully delivered His people from Assyria. Those in Jerusalem lived to see the dramatic events and rescue, but failed to see beyond the disappearance of the Assyrian armies. They failed to recognize the work of God in all of this and instead continued in their rebellion and unbelief. He revealed to them the unhappy truth about the spiritual blindness of the people of Jerusalem. For those people who were spiritually blind and drunk, the message of God was a sealed book they could not understand. For all who remained in unbelief, the book was sealed. Those who could read couldn’t, because the message was sealed, that is, it was impossible to understand. Those who could not read could not penetrate the meaning of the words.

Why would God cause His Word to be sealed for His people? Isaiah tells them it because their hearts were far from the Lord. They would speak the right words, go through the motions, but at the end of the day, their hearts were as far from God as could be. They had lost the essence of God and His revelation to His people. They did not understand His grace and the promises of the coming Messiah. They were a people who had more or less developed a religion made up only of rules taught by men.

How fortunate for us today living in these last days that we are a people solely centered upon God and His Word, focused on the salvation won for us by Jesus Christ. Oh wait, we’re not that people. Instead, we are a people that are fractured when it comes to who God is. We are a people who say that God can be anyone or anything. We are a people who say that you can have your god, lowercase g, and I can have my god, lowercase g, but even though they have different names, we’re talking about the same god and that both are equal in stature.

Instead of focusing on the salvation won for us by Jesus Christ, we focus on the salvation that our works earn for us. Instead of focusing on the salvation won for us by Jesus Christ, we look to the various other avenues in which we can be saved, all just as equal or greater to the salvation accomplished for us by Jesus Christ on the cross.

The prophesying words of Isaiah not only speak of people whose hearts are not in their religion, but also speak of those whose hearts are sincere and devout, but whose beliefs are wrong and without Christ. Such people believe that they are worshiping the true God when they follow rules taught by men. Many are devout and zealous in their beliefs, but they are without Christ.

Even those within the visible Church of Christ can have hearts that are far from the Lord. When they abandon the message of the cross and adopt social issues, they begin to adhere to rules taught by men. Whenever the free and gracious gifts of God become rewards earned by man, worship and religion become hollow and we find ourselves separated from that communion with God.

Isaiah speaks to those who know they oppose God and who persist in their unbelief and rebellion. Such people sought to hide their evil and perversion from the Lord, just as Adam and Eve tried to. Unfortunately, we cannot hide our evil from the Lord because our God is an all-knowing God and knows all that we do, including our evil acts. Instead of hiding our evil from God, as if He would not be able to see what we have done, we must confess our sins and repent of them in order to receive that blessed forgiveness our Lord desires to grant to us.

However, there is good news for us and for all people. Even though we still sin and even though we still die, our Lord has sought to grant to us a Savior. Jesus Christ has redeemed us from sin and death and hell. His death on the cross is our death, and His resurrection is our resurrection, shown to us in advance, to comfort us in the face of the dangers of life and the terror of death. God addresses those truths through Isaiah. He says, “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.”

We live in that day, spoken of by the prophet. We are the deaf. We are the blind. In and of ourselves, we cannot hear the Word of God. We can physically hear it, but without the working of the Holy Spirit in us, we automatically reject it as false, old-fashioned, or absurd superstition.

Our Lord rescues, redeems, and reconciles us to Himself, not out of our worthiness but out of His grace. He turns our sins into salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. This message that the deaf shall hear is none other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of His life, death, and resurrection for us. It is the story of how He atoned for the sins of the whole world in order that you and I might have the free gift of everlasting life. It is the story of how you have become one of God’s beloved children.

We rejoice in our forgiveness. When all else fails, we have eternal life ahead. We shall rise from our graves and live with the Lord forever! But even while we live here, our sufferings are not pointless and endless and hopeless. God is with us, and He has a plan. He will guide us and keep us, and He will not allow us to bear more than we are able, but will provide us with a way of escape and bring us through. That is His promise, and that is our faith and our hope. And believing that we can rejoice, and increase in our gladness in the Lord.

We live in that day spoken of by Isaiah. And on that day, the promise is true, and it still brings comfort and hope to the chosen people of God! On that day we do hear the words of a book that we are not naturally able to hear, and we do see though the gloom and darkness of a fallen and utterly corrupt pagan world. Our gladness is increased because we who are needy have our needs met: our sins are forgiven, and we have received that gift of 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.

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Pentecost 12–“Children of Light” (Ephesians 5:6-21)

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.

Have you ever been deceived before, whether it is by purchasing something or buying into something that someone has said? It’s not a good feeling when you realize you have been deceived and often times, there’s nothing you can do to undo it. You are left feeling jaded and disappointed at what has happened. Once you have been deceived by a particular person or company, you learn not to associate with them again, for fear of being deceived in the future.

As we look at our text today, that is the warning that St. Paul gives to the Ephesians. The old Adam in sinful man will try to deceive us with “empty words,” those things that we may want to hear or that sound good to our itching ears, but are none the less false and deceiving, going against God and His Word. These arguments will not hold up before God’s final judgment. Paul’s message is clear for all: “do not associate with them.” The reason is because in associating with them comes the danger that we too will fall into the lies and deception and fall away from God and revert to our pagan ways.

Paul’s call for us Christians is clear: “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light….” This is both good and bad, for it reminds the Ephesians just what kind of people they used to be. Not only were they misled and under the influence of wicked paganism, they themselves were a bad influence. They were the darkness that misled others to practice and even enjoy gross immorality and wickedness.

What a sad and unfortunate time it must have been for the Ephesians before they came to know Christ. They were led to believe and practice the popular things of the day, without questioning as to whether or not this was God-pleasing. They were deceived into thinking that what they were doing was ok and that there were no consequences to their actions. However, St. Paul knew better. He knew from his own life that his actions indeed had consequences, and they weren’t earthly consequences. He knew that because of who he was and what it was that he was doing, he was separated from Christ and His forgiveness and glory. He knew that eternal death was his when his eyes were opened on the Damascus Road. He did not want the Ephesians to face the same eternal spiritual consequences that he was going to face. Because of this, St. Paul set out to make sure that the Ephesians knew Christ and knew Him to the fullest extent possible.

The Ephesians were not only enlightened by knowing Christ; they themselves have become light. Not only were they influenced by the Gospel of Christ, but they themselves are now the influence that builds up their brothers in the church and wins new converts for Christ.

Lest we get too far ahead of ourselves, these words ring true for us as well. At one time in our lives, we were the ones who were both deceived and doing the deceiving. Before we became God’s children through Holy Baptism, we were deceived by the father of lies, Satan. We brought into his lies that it didn’t matter what we did, that there would be no consequences. However, there are eternal consequences to our actions, namely death. St. Paul writes to the Romans, “For the wages of sin is death.” You and I are sinners in the darkness. We deserve nothing but death, but because of what Christ has done for us, we have been redeemed.

Because of what Christ has done for us, we are able to “walk as children of light.” The light that we reflect is that light of Jesus Christ. By virtue of being light, God’s people are both a positive influence toward those things that please God and also a strong deterrent against those things that do not please God, namely, the unfruitful works of darkness.

So that we might know the truth about sin, God gave us His Law. The Ten Commandments reveal that because of sin we become idolaters, counting other things as more important than the one true God. Because of sin, we use God’s name only to condemn others or justify ourselves. Because of sin, we ignore, even despise, God’s Word and do not worship Him as we should. Because of sin, our relationships with others – mother and father, wife and husband, enemies and friends, coworkers and strangers – all these are disrupted and destroyed.

We live in a world still entangled and deceived, enslaved by sin. For as many ways as people have tried to redefine it, excuse it, redecorate or hide it, the fact of the matter is sin is still at the bottom of what makes life and relationships difficult, breakable, sick and dying. It is that sin that separates us from one another and from God, but it is Christ that unites us with our Father.

Because of the slavery of sin and our inability to free ourselves, God in His infinite mercy determined to save us. His mercy shone line a bright beacon of light, of hope, just as He had promised to Adam and Eve a Savior from sin. This light of salvation burned as hope in God’s people through the centuries until “the Word became flesh.”

Jesus said of His followers, “You are the light of the world.” By our Baptism into Christ, He lives in us, enlightening the eyes of our hearts, awakening us to be able to walk in newness of life. And so Paul is now able to say in our text, “Now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”

Suddenly, we see things in a whole new way. We see God for who He really is: not distant, way up in heaven, disinterested in or irrelevant to our lives, but here, present, eager to have a relationship with each one of us. That’s what Jesus lets us see in His light. God is not angry and keeping score on how well we keep His Commandments, but rather is forgiving, not counting our sins against us, because Jesus took them upon Himself on the cross. That’s what we see as children of light.

As children of light, we are to avoid sin and evil. However, that is hard to do since we are sinful to the core. Even as children of light, our sins become exposed. When it is exposed in us, we return to the promise of our Baptism in daily repentance and faith. When sin is exposed around us in others, then we have the opportunity to extend the same forgiveness and salvation we ourselves have received from God.

Walking in the light of Christ is to walk as children of God with purpose; it is the walk of repentance and faith. We live in the forgiveness of all our deeds done in darkness, with no wholesome purpose, and we invite the world to the glorious light of salvation in Jesus Christ, just as we have received. 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 11–“Bread of Life” (John 6:35-51)

B-77 Proper 14 (Jn 6.35-51)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 my boys wake up every morning, they often play downstairs, maybe play a little upstairs and then this is what I hear, “Dad, I want some supper.” Aside from saying the wrong meal of the deal, I know what they want: food. So after you feed them breakfast and not supper, a little while goes by before I hear this next line: “I want a snack.” How could they really want a snack after just eating not that long before?

Things are not all that different for us, are they? We eat a meal and the next thing you know we are looking in the fridge or pantry for something else to eat all because we’re hungry. Our problem is we are focused on earthly food, but what we fail to focus on is the heavenly food which we receive.

In looking at our text, Jesus begins with the words He ended last week’s text with: “I am the bread of the life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

In his ongoing conversation with the Jews, Jesus repeats the theme of his teaching—“I am the bread of life.” Already, we have heard that this bread of life is superior to the manna bread that God gave the Israelites, for it is bread for the soul and not the body. Furthermore, Jesus has declared the good news that the bread of life is given to man as a divine gift and not a result of his own efforts.

Today, Jesus further expounds on his bread of life theme for us, telling His hearers that he who eats this bread will live forever. And while the people had expressed desire for such bread, you don’t exactly see them falling over themselves to worship Jesus when He reveals that He is that bread. Instead, we get a lot of confused looks and grumbling. This is because the sinful heart of man does not receive the Gospel of Christ joyfully with open arms. It questions the Lord and is disappointed because Christ Jesus is not someone we can mold into whoever we want Him to be.

When it comes to the bread of life that grants life eternal, Jesus’ words themselves give life. Jesus tells us what is in the bread of life, namely Himself, and tells us what it does for us. But it is interesting to observe how Jesus’ words are treated in our day, when health, fitness, and nutrition are given so much prominence. We check labels on almost everything we buy—often under doctor’s orders—the calories, sodium, trans fats and the carbs! We become obsessed with monitoring everything that we and our children take into our bodies, but such vigilance is lacking when it comes to what we take into our souls.

Jesus is the bread of life because He is the one thing we need. All of the other things we think we need, we can live without, at least for a time. Food—you can fast for a time. You won’t die. The company of other people—you can have a time of solitude. Sometimes it’s even helpful to be alone. Money—it’s an illusion to think you will be happy if you have enough of it. Sex—people can go their whole lives as virgins and be content and happy. But a relationship with God is the one thing we can’t really live without. We can’t find peace, we can’t have a lasting purpose, and we can’t know who we truly are. And the only way to approach God is through Jesus Christ.

Through Jesus’ gracious invitation, He bids us to come to Him and be fed with food that will never pass away, with food that will never cause us to be hungry again. Listen to the words of Jesus: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” This eternal life comes from the bread of life, from Jesus Christ, and from nothing else.

Jesus’ message is clear: if you eat of the bread of life, you will have life and you won’t hunger spiritually because you will have what you’ve been looking for. If you refuse to eat, you won’t enjoy the benefits of eternal life and you’ll be among the walking dead. The Word of God, made flesh, who dwells among us, is giving Himself to feed us. We need that food; we couldn’t purchase that kind of bread. Earthly food is all we can buy; God gives freely eternal life and I pray we never lose the hunger for that.

Unfortunately, there are those that see no need for that eternal life and the bread of life that our Lord gives. They think that there are other ways to achieve eternal life or another source as the bread of life. However, there is only way to receive eternal life and there is only one bread of life, Jesus Christ. We don’t work our way to heaven and get there by being good or leading mostly good lives. We know we don’t ever belong there on our merits, but God invites us to believe in Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. We shouldn’t follow Christ, acting like our lives might go better if we follow Him. If anything, we can expect challenges to our faith to increase. We do not follow our next meal of loaves of bread to fill the stomach for one day, but to believe in Jesus as the very bread of life Himself. 

In all these things, God gives you the bread of life that came down from heaven, your Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is the bread that nourishes your soul. He alone is the sustenance that also gives life. For this reason, Jesus tells you today that when you eat of the bread of life you will live forever. He gives you His own flesh, which is for the life of the entire world.

What better place is there for you to receive the bread of life than here at the Lord’s altar, where you receive His body and His blood? The true bread from heaven is here for you, for Jesus Himself is present. Jesus bids you to come, all who are weary and heavy laden, and He will give you rest. He will strengthen you in faith and draw you closer to Himself. He promises to forgive you your sins and to remember them no more. And He sanctifies you with His gifts, that you might live a Christian and God-pleasing life. In so doing, He empowers you to live in the way that Paul described in today’s epistle: putting away all bitterness, and wrath, and anger; being kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you!

The invitation has been extended to you by your heavenly Father to come and to feast on the bread of life, for “if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.” 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 10–“One” (Ephesians 4:1-16)

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 Epistle, which was read earlier.

When we look at our text, there is a common trend that goes throughout it and Paul’s thought process: one. In looking at three verses of our text, we see exactly what the focus is all about: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” The word “one” appears seven times. St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is all about the Church; and because it is all about the Church, it is all about being one. While the world makes all sorts of prejudicial distinctions and divisions, in Christ we are all one. Now, in chapter 4, we hear of all that the Lord does to make and keep us united, one, as the Church—the body of Christ.

That is why Paul makes such the emphasis of “one” in our text. There in Ephesus and throughout the New Testament world, there was not that sense of oneness in the Church. There was the Church that followed the teachings of Christ. There was the Church that followed the teachings of the ruling Jewish leadership. There was the church that followed the teaching of what was relevant of the day. Each taught and practiced very similarly but also very differently. There could be no salvation found outside of the true Church, that of Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus Himself tells us, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Notice that Jesus doesn’t say that you can come to the Father through other teachings, or other persons, or anything else for that matter. Salvation can only be found in Jesus Christ and that is what the Church is founded upon: Jesus Christ and His life, death, and resurrection for us.

There is one body—there is one Church. That Church is made up of all who believe in Jesus Christ. That Church does not bear the name of “Lutheran” or “Baptist” or “Roman Catholic.” Do not misunderstand: we hold firmly to our doctrine here, because we believe that it purely confesses our Lord, Jesus Christ. Otherwise, why hold to it? However we also condemn the false teaching that “only Lutherans are going to heaven.” People are not saved by the name on a church sign; they are saved because, by the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, they trust that Jesus has died for their sins.

There is one Spirit who gathers us in. It is through the work of the Holy Spirit that you are given faith and brought into the Church. It’s not by your actions because your actions and everything about you are sinful. It is the Holy Spirit who has gathered you and keeps you in the Church. If we were saved by our own actions, then it would be a free for all to God, with no wrong way to get there and everyone would be saved, regardless of what they believed or didn’t believe. However, that is not salvation that is found in the Church.

There is one hope. This is the hope that is found in Jesus Christ. This is hope of eternal life for Jesus’ sake. This is hope that the world cannot give, hope that is sure and certain and not because of us.

There is one Lord – Jesus Christ. This is the only-begotten Son of God. This is the One who would live a sinless life, the One who makes the sacrifice for your sins. This is the One whom we find our salvation, salvation that He offers to all.

There is one faith. The Christian faith is one faith, not many faiths. We sing in our hymnody, “I know my faith is founded/On Jesus Christ, my God and Lord;/And this my faith confessing,/Unmoved I stand on His sure Word.” Notice what our faith is centered on. It is centered on Jesus Christ and His Word. This one faith has nothing to do with us but everything to do with Jesus. That is what Paul impressed upon the Ephesians and that is what he continues to impress upon the Church even today.

There is one Baptism. It is Baptism by water and the Word “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Through this Baptism, you die to your sin and are born again in Christ, with sins forgiven. Through this Baptism, You are made a child of God. You are adopted into the family of God through the blood of Christ. Through this Baptism, you are united with all Christians in the one, holy, Christian and apostolic Church.

Finally, there is “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” There are not many gods, but one God in three Persons. This one God has created us, redeemed us, and sanctified us. Only in Him do we find our salvation. The Church is united by what our God has done for us, is doing for us now, and will continue to do for us.

One. One body. One Spirit. One hope. One Lord. One faith. One baptism. One God and Father of all. This is what the Church is founded upon. This is what the Church is all about. This is what the Church gives to you. These are the gifts Christ gave to man. These are the keys to your salvation and that salvation is yours because the price has been paid in full by Christ, once for all.

Where do we find these gifts? We don’t find them in the things of this world. We don’t find them in our own merits or achievements. We find these gifts where we are told they will be found: in the Word and in the Sacraments. It is through the preached Word, by rightly dividing the Word of truth. It is by administering the Lord’s Sacraments according to His Word; the Word uniting us in faith and knowledge of the Son of God. It gives us spiritual maturity as we grow in that faith and knowledge. It further unites us to Christ, our Savior.

With the Church focused on being one, what is left for it to do? As Paul closes this portion of his letter to the Ephesians, he gives to us that answer. He says, “We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

That is why we speak the truth in love about the one faith God gives: it unites His people in His Word. Pure doctrine is not a barrier to Christian unity: it is the basis for Christian unity. We look forward to heaven, where the Church, united in Christ, is seen in the glory of Christ, singing praise around His throne. By Jesus Christ, you are united with Him, with sins forgiven. That is the joy you have in Christ’s Church. 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 9–“Willing and Able” (Ephesians 3:14-21)

(I also had the pleasure of baptizing my nephew today as well).

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 Epistle which was read earlier.

A willingness to do good is a wonderful attribute. Combined with the ability to do good, we’ve got the complete package. We, of course, are not that package. Often we’d like to do good and can’t. Other times, we could do something but don’t because we just want to. In our text for today, the apostle Paul recognizes that God is willing and able to do good for us, specifically, to strengthen the one Holy Christian Church.

God’s willingness and ability are well documented in Scripture. John writes, “For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” Added to this creative will is God’s re-creative will: God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Equal to God’s willingness is God’s ability. “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him.” God’s ability to save and strengthen is absolute: “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Yet nowhere is Scripture more emphatic about God’s willingness and ability to help us than in our text for today. Paul says that God’s love surpasses knowledge and that He “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.” What we see is that God is both willing and able to strengthen His Church.

Paul says at the beginning of the letter to the Ephesians that God has set forth in Christ “a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” Our heavenly Father sets out to accomplish His plan through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for it is Christ and Christ alone who is able to restore the created order: for “he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him”

The reason for all of this, the reason why we need God to strengthen His Church is because of what the world throws at us. The world applies heat to our spiritual lives. We are heavy with the weight of our sin. Our sins make us miserable and alone. The world will tell us that we are not “a poor, miserable sinner.” The world will tell us that even little Jesse is not a sinner. But that is not what David says. He says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” We are told that there is nothing for us to confess because we didn’t sin; we are a good person. As much as we don’t want to admit it, we are “a poor, miserable sinner.” We are not good because we are sinful. The world is wrong, yet we continue to buy into what the world has to say.

Instead of showing to the Ephesian Church what the world will and can do to forgive sins, rather, Paul points them to the source of willingness and ability to strengthen us: our triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Through all of this, though, God is willing, ready, and able to strengthen us. He is willing, ready, and able to forgive us of our sins. It is God, our heavenly Father, who chose to make us His family. It is in our Baptism that we receive God’s name. It is from God Himself that we receive our name as His children, for He made us in His own image – that of being perfect and holy. While our sin has destroyed that image of God upon us, we still receive our name from Him and continue to receive “the riches of his glory.” That is accomplished for us through what our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has done.

Jesus Christ is willing, ready, and able to strengthen us. He dwells in our hearts through faith, as the apostle Paul says. Christ loves us beyond what our minds can fathom. It is beyond our human understanding why Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, would be born into a sinful world to die for sinful people like us. For a reason unknown to us, He was willing to go to the cross for us and for our sins. Because He is man, He was able to substitute for us. Because He is God, His sacrifice was able to satisfy God’s demand for justice, to do what we could not do. Without the saving work of Jesus Christ, everything we have would be worthless. In fact, everything that we do have is worthless unless we have Christ. We can have everything that the world can offer, but without Christ, nothing we have is worth anything, because everything pails in comparison to the gifts which Christ has bestowed upon us: forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

Not only does God the Father and God the Son strengthen us, God the Holy Spirit also strengthens us. Our inner being is strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, saving faith is created in us. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, saving faith is nurtured in us. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, saving faith is strengthened in us. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, saving faith brings to us the salvation given to us by Jesus Christ.

The work of the Holy Spirit goes beyond that. Luther says that “the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” He also “calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth.” “He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.” “He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.” Do these words sound familiar? They should, for these are words which we all studied at one time or another in our lives – these are words from the explanation of the Third Article of the Creed. These are all things which are done for us, not by us. These are things which the Holy Spirit does for us, things which we cannot do for ourselves.

In many and various ways, we see how God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is able, ready, and willing to strengthen us. For the Church, this means several things. First, it means that we are renewed in our identity as God’s children and in the unity of the Church. We are God’s and we are connected to Him. We have that sense of belonging: belonging to God, belonging to a heavenly family with all believers. We are renewed in our knowledge of Christ’s love – love that is for us, even though we are sinners. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Think about what that means. While we were detestable and revolting in the eyes of God, Christ still came into the world to live and die to redeem us, even though there was nothing about us that was worthy of being saved. Despite our limited knowledge, we are renewed in our confidence that God is willing and able to strengthen us. Daily we are strengthened in the promise of our Baptism. When we hear the Word of God preached, we are strengthened. When we are fed with the life-giving body and blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we are strengthened. Recognizing God’s willingness and ability to do for us far more than we know and even ask, we find strength to grow in grace and see the importance which God has placed upon us: the fact that He has sent His Son to die in our place; the fact that He has sent the Holy Spirit to create saving faith in us and to sanctify us; and the fact that through the saving act of Holy Baptism, we have been given a name – a name which can only be given to us through the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; a name which makes us God’s own child. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.