{"id":3340,"date":"2017-05-05T09:13:50","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T16:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/?p=3340"},"modified":"2017-05-05T09:13:50","modified_gmt":"2017-05-05T16:13:50","slug":"easter-3-rite-confirmation-ransomed-god-1-peter-117-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/?p=3340","title":{"rendered":"Easter 3 & Rite of Confirmation – “Ransomed by God” (1 Peter 1:17-25)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>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.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 resurrection changed everything. When you\u2019ve been rescued from a lethal situation or restored to health, there\u2019s a new sense of life. The psalmist writes, \u201cI love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.\u201d<\/em><\/span> The psalmist delights in the Lord because \u201cwhen I was brought low, he saved me.\u201d<\/em><\/span> In today\u2019s Epistle, Peter revels in the kindness of our Father. He rescued us from our dire predicament. Not only did He pour out His Son\u2019s blood to ransom us, but He raised Him from the dead, changing everything for us. Peter proclaims to us that the resurrected Jesus makes you eternally free.<\/p>\n

Peter says, \u201cyou were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.\u201d<\/em><\/span> From our forefathers, from our first parents, we inherited a disease, one that cannot be cured by conventional means. We inherited the curse of sin and there is nothing that you or I could do about it. Sadly, there are many that think they can do something to purge their sinfulness. They will use such things as silver or gold and they will find themselves unable to ultimately do anything for their sins.<\/p>\n

But silver or gold or things of this world cannot and will not do anything to cure the curse of sin. Peter\u2019s words here serve as part of Luther\u2019s Explanation to the Second Article: \u201cnot with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death\u2026.\u201d<\/em> <\/span>Things such as silver and gold are here today and gone tomorrow. They are temporal things and will eventually wear out. But Jesus is forever. Jesus is eternal. Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection are the only means of salvation, that through His blood shed upon Calvary\u2019s cross, sin is defeated.<\/p>\n

St. Peter is very specific with his words and with good reason. He speaks of God\u2019s people being \u201cransomed.\u201d It means they were redeemed and delivered from the punishment of sin. When we speak of terms of ransom, it usually means something is paid in order to redeem or buy back. And in the case of our sins, the price paid is none other than the life of Jesus Christ. His blood was shed, \u201clike that of a lamb without blemish or spot.\u201d<\/em> <\/span>And so we sing that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, doing so by His blood shed upon Calvary\u2019s cross.<\/p>\n

That would be great if everyone thought like that but they don\u2019t. As we see at the time of Christ, salvation did not come through the Messiah but by man\u2019s adherence to the Law of God. This would be fine if it were possible for us to keep God\u2019s Law but we can\u2019t. In order to keep the Law of God, one must be like God, meaning perfect and holy. But man is the furthest from being perfect and holy. Man is the complete opposite of who and what God is, therefore making any attempt by man of keeping the Law impossible. But that\u2019s not what was taught by the religious leaders of the day. It was taught by the Pharisees that you could keep God\u2019s Law, or rather, they could keep God\u2019s Law perfectly.<\/p>\n

That thinking is alive and well today. Many think that salvation is based on what they can do. But if that were the case, then Jesus would be pointless. Jesus is what brings about salvation, and if you can earn salvation yourself, then Jesus is nothing more than a figurehead. Luther dealt with that thinking. He was taught by the Church that salvation is achieved by Jesus and your own actions. The more he tried, the more he found that he was further away from salvation by his own works. And so Luther says, \u201cI believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Apart from Christ, there is no hope. If Christ is not risen from the dead, then the world\u2019s thinking make sense. It can be no other way. But our Epistle does not end there. It says, \u201cAll flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.\u201d <\/em><\/span>To put it another way: Christ is risen from the dead.<\/p>\n

My dear confirmands, heed these words: \u201c<\/em>the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.\u201d<\/em><\/span> You have heard me preach the same thing for more than the last two years: You are a damned sinner, but Christ has come to forgive you your sins. That\u2019s the basis of my sermons week in and week out. You might be tempted to think to yourself that you don\u2019t need to hear that sermon anymore because you already know what will be preached. But I urge you to reconsider. Yes, the message is the same, but it is a message that you and I need to hear, not just every Sunday, but every day of our lives. We need to hear of our sin and what that means for us \u2013 death and the wrath of God. We need to hear of Christ and the lengths He goes to forgive us our sins and make restitution with God so that we may stand before Him as forgiven children.<\/p>\n

Right now, you are wearing a robe. This robe marks that you have been covered in Christ\u2019s righteousness and that you have been forgiven all of your sins. But for many, when you wear a robe, you think of one thing: graduation. You will wear a robe when you graduate high school. That robe signifies that you will be leaving high school and moving on to other things. When you graduate college, once again you will wear a robe, signifying that all of your hard work has led up to that day called graduation. But in the church, confirmation is not graduation. Looking out into the congregation, I see a congregation full of people who, like you, went through confirmation and probably wore a robe on the day they were confirmed. But here they sit, many, many years following their confirmation. Do not think of confirmation as graduation, for there is only one that a person \u201cgraduates\u201d from church \u2013 that is, when Christ calls us home to be with Him forever. And even then, you only \u201cgraduate\u201d from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant, but you remain part of the Church.<\/p>\n

For all of us, young and old, sin reduced you to grass, withering and falling to death. But that is not for you anymore. Jesus Christ became flesh just like you. He was born, He lived and He died: but His body did not see corruption. He rose again three days later. By His life and death and resurrection, He reversed the curse of sin. He restored to you everlasting life. In other words, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us\u2014and now the Word of the Lord remains forever.<\/p>\n

Christ is risen from the dead! Therefore, while life in this world is temporary, it is not the end. Death remains the enemy, yes; but it remains the conquered enemy under your Savior\u2019s feet. Hear this news: you have been ransomed. The price has been paid for your sins: \u201cnot with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of lamb without spot or blemish.\u201d<\/em><\/span> Because of sin, your lot was a temporary life in this world, followed by an eternal death far worse than you could imagine. But the eternal Son of God, foreknown before the foundation of the world, came into this world and paid the price for your sin. He redeemed you at the cost of His own blood. And having paid that price to redeem you, He will not leave you or forsake you. That is His promise, His Word: and the Word of the Lord remains forever.<\/p>\n

Our holiness comes in the forgiveness of sins, which is nothing other than living our Baptism.\u00a0 We are to be holy; so God makes us holy. He has set us apart, that we would receive His gifts with thanksgiving.\u00a0 To this end He has raised His Son Jesus from the dead, so that our faith and our hope are in God.\u00a0 God gives us this faith and hope as He has given us His Holy Spirit at our Baptism, who creates in us saving faith in Jesus Christ, the faith He strengthens through the preaching of the Gospel and through Holy Absolution, the same faith He feeds and nourishes through the body and blood of the Lord.\u00a0 By the work of the Holy Spirit, we are holy, made holy through the Word and Sacraments, for in these Means of Grace our risen Lord has attached Himself, to give His gifts to you and for you!<\/p>\n

Today, the same Savior comes to you. He speaks His Word to you. He is the Host of the meal, giving you His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. He has died and He is risen, so that He might wash you clean, purify you with His own blood. He lives forever; and because He lives forever, so will you. You\u2019re not grass anymore: in Christ, eternal life is yours. This is the Good News that is preached to you, the Word of the Lord that endures forever: you are forgiven for all of your sins. In Jesus\u2019 name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. Jesus\u2019 resurrection changed everything. When you\u2019ve been rescued from a lethal situation or restored to health, there\u2019s a new sense of life. The psalmist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[163669,18653,9016],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-confirmation","category-easter","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3340"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3342,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3340\/revisions\/3342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}