210129 Funeral Sermon for Linda Meyer (Matt. 28:16-20) January 29, 2021

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Linda chose the hymns that we are singing today. She also made known a favorite bible passage of hers that I’d like to speak about. It was in our Gospel reading: Jesus said, “Surely, I am with you always until the end of the age.” It is important to take into account when Jesus spoke these words to properly understand their meaning.  They come at the very end of Matthew’s Gospel. In fact, they are the very last words of the book that the apostle Matthew wrote.

So prior to this Matthew had already written about many things that he saw and heard concerning Jesus. Already he has told of Jesus’s baptism, his casting out of demons, his healing of the sick, and his teachings. The last several chapters of this book speak about just one week of time—holy week. Jesus was arrested, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. On the third day he rose from the dead and appeared to his apostles on several different occasions.

The Gospel reading that you heard this morning is one of those occasions. The resurrected Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples (because Judas Iscariot was no more) on a mountain in Galilee. When they saw him they worshipped him, but they weren’t all so believing and certain as they would have liked to have been. These were strange and difficult times for the apostles.

Then Jesus said this to them: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.”

Sometimes these words are called the great commission. The reason why they are called that is because what Jesus says here is a nice summary of what the resurrected Lord Jesus would like his disciples to go do. He commissions them to make disciples, by baptizing in the name of the Triune God, by teaching people what Jesus had taught them.

Then we have those words that Linda said were her favorite: “Surely, I am with you always until the end of the age.” What these words indicate is that it was not as though Jesus were passing the baton to the disciples with this commission and now it was all up to them. Through that very baptizing and teaching whereby disciples are made, Jesus would be with those who did these things and with those who received these things.

It is also important that we understand the nature of these things that Jesus has commissioned his disciples to do. These things are truly unlike all other things. Jesus’s baptism is a washing of rebirth and renewal. It has divine power. Baptism communicates and delivers the forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this as Christ’s words and promises declare. For Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved. Whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Jesus’s teachings, also, are not just words or philosophies or even merely commandments. Jesus’s words have life and healing in them. Just as Jesus was able to heal and save and raise from the dead simply by speaking, so also his words have just as much divine power today. They deliver what they say. Those who hear him when he says to them that he is the good shepherd, have a good shepherd indeed. Those who hear and believe that he is the light of the world will never walk in darkness. Whoever lives and believes in him will never die.

So when Jesus says to his disciples, “Surely, I am with you always until the end of the age,” it is not merely a matter of someone being near, or someone holding one’s hand. This is the Son of God that we are talking about here. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. And all that power and authority is directed towards one thing—the salvation of sinners: sinners like Linda, sinners like you. The reason why God became man was so that he could suffer and die in the place of all sinners. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

So these words that Linda appreciated, “Surely, I am with you always until the end of the age,” have the greatest possible significance. It is more than we can think or even imagine. It is not a small presence, but an almighty presence. It is not a little aid to help a little bit just so that we can get through those difficult moments. Rather, it is absolutely everything, for what can possibly be greater than God? With his presence he is strong to save. Having defeated death, the devil, and our sin, he helps us completely with his presence. The words he has spoken, and continues to speak through his disciples, give eternal life.

It is important that we do not underestimate the significance of Jesus’s presence as we consider all of Linda’s life, but particularly the last year and a half or so. If Jesus was present as just a little help, a little comfort, whereas the rest was up to her, then there wouldn’t be much to thank and praise God for with his being present. But if we understand Jesus as powerful, that he saves with baptism, that he saves with the word that is implanted in Christian’s souls, then that is a different matter. Then it is like that old song goes: “I am weak but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me.”

Unfortunately, there wasn’t hardly a single part of Linda’s life that was left untouched by the disease she was afflicted with. It affected her physically, mentally, and emotionally. Her strength grew steadily less and less in all these areas. This was hard to see for all who loved her. But don’t you know that Jesus has loved her more than all of us combined?

Jesus tells us what he is like in one of his parables. He said that when there is a shepherd who has a hundred sheep, and suddenly discovers that one of them has gone astray, he leaves the ninety nine and goes looking for that poor, lost sheep until he has found it. Having found it he puts it on his shoulders and carries it back to the flock rejoicing. We know from the Gospels that Jesus came not to save those who are well and have no need of a physician, but for those who are sick. Linda became weaker. She became more dependent. But this is no trouble for the great physician. He came to seek and save the lost.

Let us all apply these favorites words of Linda’s also to ourselves today and going forward. According to Jesus’s promise, he most certainly is with us here today. We are not making these things up that we have spoken of today. They are Jesus’s own words. So, surely, Jesus is with us. And just like when Jesus appeared to the disciples on that mountain in Galilee, we might wonder if we should worship him. Matthew says that some doubted. They were living through difficult and dangerous times. We are living through difficult and dangerous times. This last year has been so difficult—especially for this family. Is Jesus strong enough to handle all this?

I assure you that he is. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. He was strong to save with his almighty presence for Linda. He will be the same for you. Jesus says, “Come unto me all you who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Then, through faith in Jesus, you will not fear, even if you should walk through the valley of the shadow of death, for Jesus is with you.

210124 Sermon on 2 Peter 1:16-21 (Transfiguration) January 24, 2021

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Our epistle reading today is from a letter that the apostle Peter wrote. No doubt the reason why this was chosen as the reading for today, Transfiguration, is because Peter speaks about his own experience when Jesus’s appearance was changed.

He says, “We weren’t making it up when we made known to you the powerful appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. We, Peter, James, and John, were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We heard this voice, Peter says, which came out of heaven when we were with Jesus on the holy mountain.”

Here we see one of the most important things that the apostles were given to do. They were to act as witnesses. They were witnesses of the signs that Jesus performed. They were witnesses of the words that Jesus spoke. In this portion of Peter’s letter he is giving witness both to what he saw and what he heard.

Perhaps the most important testimony that the apostles were to provide was that they saw the resurrected Jesus. This was after he had been crucified, died, and been buried. He did not stay dead. His appearance was changed when he was resurrected also. His divine nature was no longer as hidden as it was before Jesus had completed his redemptive work. Perhaps something of his appearance at the Mount of Transfiguration is now apparent in the glorified and resurrected Jesus.

The impression that Jesus made on these apostles was such that they were willing and eager to suffer the loss of everything just so that they could continue to tell people that Jesus is the Savior. Nearly all of these men died violent deaths because they refused to be quiet about what they had seen and heard.

The reason why they were put to death, though, was not merely because they witnessed something unusual or some spectacle. We are witnesses to things that happen every day, and nobody gets upset about our witnessing events. It is when meaning is attached to our witnessing of something—that is when things can get dangerous.

For example, if someone sees something that does not line up with the official story, then there can be trouble. If powerful people are saying one thing, and you witness something else, all of a sudden you are a threat to them. Their version of events is no longer taken for granted. Whistle blowers can end up dead, because their witness contradicts how powerful people might want the story to go.

There is no other way to explain the deaths of the apostles except that they were contradicting the official version of reality that others wanted to impose on people. Some powers that be wanted the people to think, to believe, and to live in a certain way. The apostles were teaching people that they should think, believe, and live in a different way. The powers that be wanted to stop this alternate view of reality, and it seemed good to them that stopping these witnesses from testifying by killing them was the best way to do that.

So what was the threat that Peter’s witness posed for the powers that be? Before we can answer this, we need to know what the meaning of Peter’s witness is. Our reading speaks to this. The whole letter of 2 Peter speaks to this. Right at the beginning of this letter Peter says, “[Jesus’s] divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. Through these he has given us his precious and great promises so that through them you may share in the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that sinful lust causes in the world.”

Let’s unpack this a little bit. Peter says that Jesus has divine power. Through that divine power he has given us everything we need for life and godliness. This is quite a claim, if you think about it and take it seriously. Salesmen, when they are trying to sell you something, might say that their product has power. They might say that their product harnesses the power of technology, or of some natural law. Peter says that Jesus has divine power, God’s power. The salesman might give you a pitch for how their product will improve this or that aspect of your life. Peter says that Jesus has given you everything you need not only for life, but also for godliness. Not only does Jesus make you survive, he also makes you thrive in the sense that you will be godly, pious, that is, a good person.

How does Jesus, with his divine power, give you everything that you need for life and godliness? Does he give us some new commandments? Some new sacrifices or worship practices? Some new strategy for how we can become our best selves? No. Peter says that Jesus gives you everything you need for life and godliness simply by a knowledge of Jesus. Knowing Jesus makes all the difference. By knowing him, by being told of Jesus, you have everything that is needed for life and godliness. For by knowing him, you are called to be one with him. That means that in your being exposed to the knowledge of Jesus, Jesus is saying, “Hey you, come here.” Then he gives you his own glory and excellence.

Now we have perhaps the most shocking statement, as well as the statement that has to do with Jesus’s transfiguration. Peter says that Jesus calls you and gives you everything that is needed for your life and godliness so that you may share in the divine nature. You—a poor, miserable sinner—have been and are called to share in the divine nature. Jesus shares everything with us. We hold all things in common with him. Therefore we even share in Jesus’s divine nature.

The glory of the transfiguration is not just for Jesus. You, too, will shine. When you see him, you will be like him. Your resurrected body will not be like the shriveled seed that we know of as our bodies in this life. In this life our flesh is grass and our glory is like the wildflower in the countryside. The grass withers, the flowers fall, when the breath of the Lord blows upon them. But when we are raised with our resurrected bodies, we will be transfigured. Having died to sin, having died to death, when our Lord Jesus Christ died, we will never die again.

This stands in the sharpest possible contrast to all other alternatives. In Jesus you share in the divine nature. Thus you are transfigured and incorruptible. Outside of Jesus there is only corruption, decay, rottenness, passing away. Peter puts it this way: “When you share in the divine nature, you escape from the corruption that sinful lust causes in the world.” That word, “corruption,” is important to understand. It means “to rot, to decay.” Outside of Jesus, outside of his promised resurrection to eternal life, there is only death. Folks might fight against this rottenness with all their might. In olden days the Egyptians made mummies. In modern times people design fancy grave stones. But we all know that mummies are dusty, moldy absurdities—far from being alive. Gravestones erode over time so that they become unreadable. Regardless, people quit visiting them. There is no way for us poor mortals to make a lasting mark on the world. All flesh is grass, but the Word of our God remains forever.

Now we have enough to know why Peter’s testimony about Jesus was so hated by the powers that be. They hated it so much that they thought it was best to silence this whistle blower. All that is needed for life and godliness is given with the knowledge of Jesus. By Jesus being made known we are called into his glory and into his excellence. We are made partakers of Jesus’s own divine nature. Everything else, inevitably, necessarily, is going to rot and pass away.

The powers that be will not tolerate the telling of these truths. The powers that be do not want you to believe that you already have everything that is needed for life and godliness in Jesus. They do not want you to believe that you have everything that you need because they want to sell you stuff. Who is going to buy all their stuff that is supposed to make the one who buys it happy? The advertising industry is built on the foundation of making you believe that you don’t have everything you need. What you need is to buy this or that—then you will be happy. Or, we could use the older, more religious way of saying that: “Then you will be blessed.”

The powers that be will not tolerate you believing that you have everything that you need in Jesus because then what would happen with all our progress? The powers that be openly acknowledge that we can’t stay on this old world forever, and so they say that we need to work towards colonizing the stars. We can achieve immortality for the human race in some sense, we can somewhat escape corruption, by hopping from solar system to solar system. But if someone believes that he or she has everything that is needed for life and godliness in Jesus, then they won’t be sufficiently motivated to sacrifice everything for the progress of mankind.

The powers that be will not tolerate you believing that you have life and godliness in Jesus because they want you to use their professors, their priests. They want you to learn from their textbooks, their bibles. They want you to support and affirm their way of life.

At the time of the apostles the Jews who refused to believe in Jesus could not stand the apostles’ testimony, because nobody but them was allowed be orthodox. Nobody but them was allowed to be right. And here there were Christians who knew the Scriptures better than them.

In our times there is a new ruling class, with a new ideology. Anybody who does not fall in line with what they say is true and false, right and wrong, will soon feel their wrath. They won’t be able to get a job. They won’t be able to get air time or to get their message out. They will be blocked. They will be cancelled.

All of these ways of thinking, believing, and living—ancient and modern—have something in common. (And, of course, we could give countless other manifestations of the same kind of thing.) What all these things have in common is that they do not believe that Jesus is the Christ and that there is life in his name. They do not believe that everything outside of Christ is subject to rottenness and decay. They demand recognition of the enduring power of whatever it is that they might believe in. They want to believe that something else besides Jesus shines eternally.

Peter, and all true Christians together with him, blow the whistle on this party line. Memories won’t last forever. Money won’t last forever. Even the heavenly bodies like the sun, moon, and stars, won’t last forever. They will melt as they burn. But the Word of God will last forever. What God has revealed to us, his will, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, will last forever.

And what God reveals to us is not burdensome or terrible. It is incredibly friendly. Nobody is excluded from the glad tidings of great joy. They are for all the people. God has revealed to us that he has sent his only begotten Son to redeem us from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil. Therefore, whoever believes in him, whoever gains knowledge of him, is saved. We are made partakers of the divine nature. We will shine with glory, just as Jesus shined before Peter, James, and John. We will live forever, because Jesus lives forever, and we and he are one.

210117 Sermon on John 2:1-11 (Epiphany 2) January 17, 2021

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Things weren’t going so well at this wedding banquet in Cana. It’s every host’s nightmare. They must have figured the numbers wrong. They should have ordered more wine. Now what are they going to do? Offer people a lukewarm glass of water? They don’t even have ice. Who goes to a wedding banquet and gets served water? This was going to be embarrassing.

We are not told what the connection is between Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the folks who were putting on the banquet. There must have been some connection—perhaps Mary was a relative. I don’t know how else she could have known this insider information. You don’t just tell anybody something embarrassing, but Mary knew.

We also don’t know exactly why it is that Mary comes to Jesus. What was Jesus supposed to do about it? His response seems to indicate that he was somewhat bewildered too. He says, “Woman,” (I’ve never called my mom “woman” by the way.) “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My time has not yet come.” Seemingly she goes off to help with whatever can be done. “Do whatever he tells you,” she says to the servants.

There were six large stone water jars there. The Jews washed quite a lot. They wanted to be clean. These were special jars—not the everyday buckets that might be used for chores. They also were not pottery, formed out of clay. They were hewn out of solid rock. Other materials are porous and absorb things. They cannot be fully sanitized according to Jewish standards. These stone jars didn’t allow anything to seep in or be absorbed like wood or pottery might. They were special and expensive. They also were large and heavy. Think of half a barrel here, for a full sized barrel holds 50 gallons. These were 20-30 gallons.

Jesus tells the servants to fill the jars with water. They filled them to the brim. Then he said, “Take some out and bring it to the master of the banquet.” The master of the banquet seems to have not known about the problems they were having in the kitchen. You can tell that by his response to the bridegroom. After tasting the water, now made wine, he says to the bridegroom that they’ve managed to pull out some new vintage that is even better than what they had served before. He was not expecting to drink water. He was expecting to drink wine. He was surprised by how good it was, since the banquet had gone on for some time already.

This was the beginning of Jesus’s miracles. Compared with other miracles that Jesus performed, this one is a little different. Jesus cast out demons, healed leprosy, gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. He raised the dead. All these miracles are practical answers to very pressing needs. Perhaps the miracles that would be most similar to this first miracle would be his feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000. He provided food to hungry people instead of wine to thirsty people.

But there is still a pretty big difference between the two. With the feeding of the 5,000 Jesus was concerned that the people would faint along the way if the disciples did not give them something to eat. There was no danger of fainting at this wedding banquet—at least not from a lack of wine. The master of the feast indicates that the people had already been drinking for some time before Jesus added more. Drinking water wouldn’t have done any of them any harm. It just wouldn’t have been as nice, and it would have been kind of embarrassing for the hosts. This miracle can seem a little luxurious. His other miracles look more practical.

But this way of looking at it says more about us, and the natural thoughts that we have when it comes to God, than correctly understanding what is going on. Take our prayers, for example. It is very common for people to do a little horse-trading with God in their prayers. When they want something very much they will try to be very practical with their requests. “If only you will give me this, God, I’ll take care of everything else. You needn’t trouble yourself more than this reasonable request.”

But suppose that little thing isn’t so little. Suppose you want God to cure some dread disease in some little tyke. I can’t imagine a heartache that would be worse than for a parent to go through something like that with a child. Then this practical mindset can take on a hard edge. “I don’t want no wine. I don’t want no luxuries. I want you to cure my child. Why can’t you be more practical and reasonable, God? Why don’t you use your powers for what is important?”

Here we see a deeply seated trait in sinful man. Although we have no right to do it, we can’t help but judge God. And if we should find that he doesn’t match up with our way of thinking we aren’t afraid to let anybody know it. Right away in the Garden of Eden when God asked Adam what happened he essentially said, “It wasn’t my fault. There was this fruit, and I ate it, but only because she gave it to me. And you! You are the one who gave her to be with me!” Ever since then everybody has their own ideas of how everybody and everything else should be. If only everybody would do as each of us think, we believe that the world would be a better place. Included in this everybody and everything else is even God himself. What we deem practical and reasonable miracles can be an indictment of the good things that God does otherwise.

Seeing the goodness in this miracle is the better way to understand it. God’s goodness is such that it is superabundant, gladdening the heart, making us joyful so that we can’t help but sing. He not only gives us just enough to get by, he gives us even more. Paul says in Ephesians that he does infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Indeed, He even gives us himself so that we are filled with the fullness of God.

Understanding the greatness, the superabundance, of God’s giving, is especially important when it comes to our justification before God. When it comes to us being judged before God we are in a situation similar to the folks in Cana with their supply of wine, but only worse. Who wouldn’t be deeply embarrassed if what they had done and left undone were made public? We all might try to give sufficient explanations for ourselves—why we did this and didn’t do that, but if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that these rationalizations aren’t very satisfying. They’re about as satisfying as lukewarm water at a banquet, where the occasion is calling for wine.

But don’t underestimate the lengths that we might go to in order to justify ourselves. We will try to make use of everything we possibly can so that we should not be found wanting. We’ll call upon the correctness of our political opinions. We’ll call upon the correctness of our religious opinions. It’s as though we’ve got 6 stone water jars of, expensive, the best that we can possibly come up with as human beings. The Jews, being just as human as the rest of mankind, wanted to be clean. They washed and washed. Gallons and gallons of water might be used. If they were successful they might fool themselves into thinking that they were pretty good people after all. But how do you wash away stains from the soul? Although that water sat in fancy pots, it was still just water. Although we might try to dress up our justifications in fancy clothes, our excuses are all too human. They satisfy like lukewarm water, when the occasion calls for wine.

But in Jesus there is a perfect justification before God. Jesus is righteous just as God is righteous, for Jesus is God. Jesus is perfectly justified before God, without wrinkle or blemish. This perfect justification is given out freely to everyone who hears and believes, to everyone who believes and is baptized. This is done without any merit or worthiness in us. Just as the folks who were putting on the banquet contributed nothing to the occasion, except being woefully unprepared and unjustified, but Jesus gave them the best wine they’d ever tasted, so also Jesus freely justifies the world with his perfect life and atoning death. This justification before God shows up out of nowhere, and it is better than anything that we could possibly do on our own even if we devoted everything we could to pursuing it.

It is important that all of you who believe in Jesus Christ understand how good, how superabundant, the gift that God gives you in Jesus Christ. It’s not like a little dab’ll do ya. It’s not that God gives you just enough justification so that you barely scrape by. He gives you Jesus’s own righteousness that completely swallows up and overcomes all that you otherwise lack. When you believe in Jesus you are perfectly righteous because of him. The Scriptures say, “Abraham believed, and it was accounted to him as righteousness.” You are justified in the same way. God is perfectly pleased with you when you are obedient to his Gospel. It’s not like you escape damnation by the skin of your teeth. It is unthinkable, completely unthinkable, that you should go to hell as a baptized believer. It’s simply impossible, for you possess God’s own righteousness.

As a preacher I spend a lot of time and a lot of energy to convince people that they are not righteous in themselves. All the things that people love and trust in besides Jesus have to be knocked down mercilessly and one after another. It is hard to make people understand that they are hopelessly deficient, hopeless devoid of good.

But all of that is true only outside of Christ and faith. When you believe in Christ all that lack is filled up completely and perfectly. But since preachers spend so much time and energy on convincing people that they are unrighteous in themselves, it can make Christians timid. Christians might believe that their salvation is not at all certain, that they might not be justified in God’s sight. That should not be.

There is a time and place for everything. There is a time and a place for us to be humbled and brought low. It is good for us to know our sins and God’s wrath for our sins. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But we are not meant to remain in this frame of mind forever. Once we know our sin, then that talk has done all that it can do. It’s time for a different talk to come and take its place.

It’s time to hear about the righteousness of God that God’s Son, Jesus, has achieved and distributes freely throughout the whole world with his Gospel and Sacraments. If you’ve heard the good news that Jesus is the Savior of sinners, if you’ve been baptized, and if you believe that God isn’t a fool or a liar, then you must know with absolute certainty that you are perfectly righteous and justified. You are perfectly righteous and justified for the sole reason that Jesus is perfectly righteous and justified, and he has given this to you. According to the Law, according to you own thoughts, words, and deeds, you are a damned sinner. According to the new covenant, the new testament in Jesus’s blood, you are something else entirely. If you do not believe that you are something else entirely, for Jesus’s sake, then you simply aren’t a Christian. You are refusing his wine and left with only water.

And so this first miracle of Jesus’s is quite appropriate for who he is and what he does. It is extravagant—after all he creates somewhere between 120 and 180 gallons of wine! It is impractical so far as mere survival is concerned. Our reason somewhat rebels against it. We think he could do better things with his powers. But it is also superabundantly good, rejoicing the heart. He gives us more than we can ask or even imagine. The wine is the best yet.

210110 Sermon on Matthew 3:13-17 (Baptism of our Lord) January 10, 2021

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The word “Christ” means “anointed one.” Anointing is to have a liquid poured over something. In the Old Testament there were a couple of anointings that were especially important. Being anointed was one of the things that was involved in becoming a priest—someone who could serve before God in the Temple at Jerusalem. Another important anointing was when someone became king. They were anointed with oil.

Anointing has not been important in our society’s culture. The way that someone is put into office among us is by an oath, perhaps while laying one’s hand on a bible. Before this our leaders were crowned—a metallic circle was placed on their head as a symbol of who they were.

Since anointing is such an unfamiliar practice among us, it might be helpful to think of Jesus’s baptism being like a coronation. Jesus is publicly made known as the Christ at the Jordan River. He becomes king, you might say. But his anointing was not just with water, nor even with oil, but he is anointed with the Holy Spirit. The Father speaks from heaven: “This is my Son whom I love. I am well pleased with him.” Having been crowned, Jesus then begins his reign.

Being crowned is a big deal. Everybody knows that. This is also how a person must understand baptism as well. Immediately after Jesus was baptized, he was kicked out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Then he came up into Galilee, the region where he grew up, and began to cast out demons from those who were possessed, healed the sick, and preached the Gospel. As you know, there are many other things that Jesus did; many other things that Jesus taught. It finally all culminated in Holy Week. Jesus once referred to what was going to happen to him at Golgotha as a baptism. He said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished.” With this baptism he would not be anointed with water, but with blood.

This second baptism of blood is a new phase of Jesus being the Christ. Perhaps you remember the splendid title on Jesus’s cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” The Jews wanted Pilate to change it so that it read, “This man said he was king of the Jews.” Pilate was already grumpy enough from his dealings with the blood thirsty crowd and said, “What I have written, I have written.” This was no accident. Although Jesus’s enemies were trying to mock him with that placard, it actually preached the Gospel to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Jesus is king. He is crowned with thorns. He is anointed, baptized, with blood. From his side come blood and water that cleanses the whole world from its sin. With this new phase of Jesus’s kingship his reign would go out into all the earth. He went from a local presence to a presence everywhere. After his baptism in the Jordan Jesus cast out the demons and healed the sick of those who came into contact with him as he went about that region. With his crucifixion, resurrection, and especially his ascension and Pentecost, his saving work extends to wherever and whenever the Gospel is preached. To those who believe in his name, he gives the right to become children of God.

Thus you can see that Jesus was not exaggerating when he said on Holy Week, “Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He was saying this to indicate what kind of death he was going to die. Jesus the king, anointed with the Holy Spirit at the Jordan, was going to use that kingship to defeat his enemy, the devil, the prince of this world, the one to whom all people have been enslaved after the fall into sin.

The way that he does this is by his baptism of blood on the cross. When he is lifted up on the cross, he draws all people to himself. He draws all people to himself already now, in time, through his pronouncement of peace and reconciliation between God and sinners. Thus you are drawn to him already now by faith. Soon we will be gathered, body and soul, from the ends of the earth to celebrate the marriage feast of the Lamb in his kingdom, which has no end. At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Thus you can see that the scope of Jesus’s baptism could not be grander. Heaven and earth, the universe, all that God has made, visible and invisible, are sept up and renewed when the Son of God is baptized in the Jordan. Thereby Jesus is set on his course with the approval of God the Father. The Father says from heaven, “This is my Son whom I love. I am well pleased with him.”

The Father was well pleased with everything that Jesus did. So he was pleased when Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised the dead. He was also pleased when Jesus did things that not everybody liked. He was pleased with Jesus when he spoke to the crowds about his life giving flesh and blood, that they must eat and drink, and they became disgusted and went away from him. The Father was well pleased with Jesus when he pronounced woes upon the church leaders and told them that the prostitutes and tax collectors would enter into the kingdom of God before they did. He was pleased with his beloved Son when he sweat blood, when he was covered with spit, when the soldiers and the Jewish leaders were laughing at him, and when he breathed his last on the cross. He was also pleased with Jesus when, after being silent for so long, he breathed again, when his cold, pale flesh got its color back, when he sat up in that tomb that was hewn out of the rock.

It wasn’t as though the Father did not know who Jesus was or what he would do when he spoke at the Jordan: “This is my Son whom I love. I am well pleased with him.” The Father knew all that Jesus would do, and approved of it, because thereby sinners would be redeemed and be made righteous.

You can see, therefore, that Jesus’s baptism was not an isolated, curious spectacle. In a way, it is the beginning of the story. It is when the work of Jesus being the Christ begins in earnest, even though this had already begun with his conception in the womb of the virgin Mary. At his baptism Jesus is recognized as the anointed one, the Christ, the King. As King he would renew all things. So there is a great deal of meaning to Jesus’s baptism.

The same thing is also true of your baptism. The significance of it cannot be overstated. When I spoke earlier about Jesus’s reign as king over the whole earth, drawing all people to himself—it is through baptism that this is accomplished. Baptism is not a human invention. It is God’s baptism. The apostles did not decide to baptize on their own because they thought it was a good idea. The Lord Jesus commanded them to baptize. “Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

The Scriptures say a great deal about what God does in baptism. It is said to be a new birth. Jesus calls it a birth from above by the water and the Spirit. Paul calls it a rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. A new birth, without entering a mother’s womb a second time, but just as real nonetheless, is perhaps the preferred way that the Scriptures talk about baptism.

But this is not a second birth that is off by the side, a mulligan, a do-over, where we wait and see whether you’ll screw it up a second time. This rebirth is one that takes place through death—Christ’s death. Paul says in Romans chapter 6 that when we were baptized we were baptized into Jesus’s death. We died. We were united with him in a death like his, so that we will be united with him in a resurrection like his.

In this way, through God’s baptizing of us, we die to our old selves. We die to our flesh. We die to sin. And we live to God. Those who are baptized are not free agents, free to construct their own values or meanings for life. Those who are baptized are set on the course of Jesus’s life. Christian disciples learn from their master’s teachings what is good, what is desirable, what we should live for.

And the answer is not that we should live for ourselves. Jesus came not be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many. The Gentiles like to be greatest and lord it over one another. “That’s not how it should be among you,” Jesus said. “Instead, let the one who wants to become great among you be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave.” The highest ambition anyone can have is to be like Jesus, the Son of God. And Jesus was one who loved, even unto death. The best thing that there is, is love. God is love. A life of love is the best life that can be lived.

Baptism is the only way that that life can be lived. It’s not as though God gives us the instructions, or that the Bible is a big manual that he slaps into our lap, and now we need to figure out for ourselves how to bend our will to doing these things. No, baptism actually works. It does things. Just as the Gospel does things. Just as the Lord Supper does things. These are not dead things, disconnected from God. The Holy Spirit is always in these things and works without fail every time.

Only see to it that you believe what God says about these things. That is to say, don’t think that God is a liar or full of hot air when he says, “I baptize you,” or “I forgive you,” or “This is my body given for you; this is my blood shed for you.” Indeed, if you think God is a liar or a fool, then these things will still do something to you, but it won’t be good for you. Your unbelief will be strengthened. Your heart will grow colder. You will hate God more and more, rather than loving God more and more. The Holy things of God are not play things. Nor are they empty signs or symbols. They are God’s own wills and testaments with the power of God behind them and in them.

But let’s not focus too much on unbelief. Unbelief happens, of course, but it is not what God has in mind when he makes known his will to mankind. Whether people believe or don’t believe is not the main thing. It’s not as though God is in a lab, conducting experiments on rats, seeing whether they will believe or not, whether they will take the bait or not. The Gospel, baptism, the Lord’s Supper—these things must be thought of more properly as love letters or the kindest and most gracious greetings there ever were. If ever you have tried to put someone at ease, if ever you have wanted someone to know that they are loved, then you have a small inkling of what God is saying in these things.

God grudges salvation to no one. He did not come to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. There is no one whose sins Jesus did not atone for. There is no one whose sins are not completely done away with and forgiven in Jesus. That’s what Jesus did as king. He kicked out the ruler of this world and draws all people to himself. All people may hear and believe. All people may be baptized and believe. Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved. Whoever does not believe, will be condemned.

210106 Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12 (Epiphany) January 6, 2021

 No audio (preached at Our Redeemer)

Note: This sermon was written without knowledge of what happened at the capitol during the day. I hadn't seen the news until just before the service.

In our Gospel reading this evening it says that when the wise men came from the east to Jerusalem they asked, “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this, he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him.

Being alarmed at such a statement is not surprising. We grow accustomed to the authorities that be. In our own land we have a very complex system in place for our governance. There are local authorities in the city and county. There are state authorities. There are federal authorities. Each has his or her own place and jurisdiction. When the wise men came asking where the king was, it seemed like all this law and order was suddenly pushed by the wayside.

As you know there are a lot of ambitious people who spend their whole lives trying to attain the most power and authority they can. They do not want to be brushed aside. King Herod falsely assumed that his position was threatened by this question from the wise men. You heard about the actions that Herod took as a response in our Gospel reading on Sunday. When the wise men didn’t come back to tell him  exactly where the Christ was, he ordered that all the baby boys in Bethlehem be killed. Jesus narrowly escaped because Joseph was warned to flee in a dream.

Herod need not have worried, though, about Jesus trying to take his place—at least not at that time. One day it will, indeed, be the case that Jesus will push aside all earthly authority when he comes in power and great glory on the last day. At that time there will no longer be a United States of America, nor a president of the United States. There won’t be any country or any ruler except Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

But until that time, Jesus reign on earth as a king is in a spiritual way, in people’s hearts. Jesus does not have ambitions of taking over the earthly government. He tells Pontius Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were of this world then his servants would fight, but my kingdom is not of this world.” Instead of ruling by the force of Law and of the sword, Jesus rules in his spiritual kingdom by force of Gospel, by the announcement of the forgiveness of sins.

In this way he warms up people’s cold, dead hearts, so that they begin to be renewed from the inside out. Christians, properly speaking, do not need the Law or the sword. Having been given new hearts by the Holy Spirit, they do what is right, not out of fear, but out of love for their heavenly Father. It is only insofar as we have not been renewed that we continue to sin, and one day, when our renewal is complete, we won’t sin anymore. The reason why the earthly government remains in place and must remain in place until the end of this world is that not everybody is converted to faith in Christ. These people must be ruled by fear of punishment. They don’t understand any other language with their sin-sick hearts.

In fact, Jesus and his apostles are very insistent that Christians obey the governing authorities. “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; render unto God the things that are God’s,” Jesus says. Paul says, “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities. For no authority exists except by God, and the authorities that do exist have been established by God.” Peter says, “Submit to every human authority because of the Lord.” So Herod need not have worried that Jesus was going to take away his authority.

Yet, in another way, Herod did need to worry that something was going to be taken away from him. There is a threat that Christianity poses to earthly rulers. Ambitious, sinful people are never satisfied with what they have been given. They always want more. And so it is also for those who God has placed in authority. They often are not satisfied with providing law and order so that people can leave peaceably with one another. Instead, they want to get into people’s souls. They want to tell people what they are supposed to believe. They want to mold and form people according to their particular view of the world. There is a great benefit to doing this. They are not stupid. They want fanatics on their side who will stick with them no matter what. Even if these authorities tell their followers to do things that are positively evil—such as murdering babies—they follow the orders. It is as though they become God and expect to be unquestionably followed accordingly.

The desire to be seen as God or to think of one’s self as God is deeply seated. It’s already there in that original temptation in the Garden: “When you eat of it, you will become like God, knowing good and evil.” Ever since that time people have wanted to believe that they were divine, subject to no one but themselves and their own whims. This is particularly something prevalent among those who are given great power and authority. Anybody who gets raised up even one notch above anybody else just loves to throw their weight around. Many kings, many generals, many presidents have believed that they were divine.

The Roman emperors at the time of Christ and the couple hundred years that followed all wanted to be worshipped as gods. This is the main reason why so many early Christians were killed by the Roman government. Patriotism to Rome demanded the worship of the state in the person of the emperor. The Christians wouldn’t do it. They wouldn’t burn incense to the statue of the emperor because the Lord God is one. There are no other gods besides him.

Christians must necessarily be a little standoffish when it comes to those things that our neighbors might give their whole heart, soul, and mind to. Our heart, soul, and mind already belongs to somebody. We can’t give it to some other entity or cause or ambition. We have a king. Him we will worship, just like the wise men said that they wanted to do. We also urge anybody who will listen to become obedient to this King, for in him is salvation. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. Therefore we make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that Jesus has commanded; and Jesus is with us always, even to the end of the age.

Him we love. Him we worship.

Until Christ comes again and sets aside all earthly authority, we will obey these authorities so long as they do not contradict God’s commandments. According to those commandments we won’t give them our heart. We won’t give them our minds. We won’t give them our souls. This spells trouble, because this appears unpatriotic to those who don’t understand true patriotism. Be that as it may, we will stay the course. “Take they our life, goods, fame, child, and wife. Though these all be gone, our victory has been won, the kingdom ours remaineth.”

210103 Sermon on 1 Peter 4:12-19 (Christmas 2) January 3, 2021

 Audio Recording

Sermon manuscript:

The way that we are saved as Christians is that we are united with Christ so that there is a sharing that takes place between him and us. We share what belongs to us. Christ shares what belongs to him. We hold all things in common. The result of this sharing is that Christ receives our sin so that it becomes his own. He dies in order to atone for the sin that we could never rid ourselves of otherwise. He shares with us his righteousness, life, and status. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. We receive the status of divine sonship when we are baptized into him.

All these thoughts are prominent during this Christmas season. At Christmas we think about how the Son of God became man and was born of the Virgin Mary. In this way he joins us in our condemnation and misery so that he could lift us up and help us. It is an amazing thing, that we don’t quite understand, how God intertwines himself with human beings so as to bring about their eternal happiness. Since God has joined himself with us human beings, and he will forever be intertwined with us in Jesus Christ, we may know that our salvation is certain.

Christians find hope and joy in this sharing that God does with us. Our Christmas songs all ring out with this message: Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Hark the herald angels sing. Away in a manger. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Go, tell it on the mountain. All these songs announce the Gospel, the good news, that in Jesus God and sinners are reconciled. Unto us a Savior is born. Immanuel, God is with us. Jesus is the best gift at Christmas. One thought of the shame of our sins or the punishments of hell must quickly convince us of that.

But it is good for us to see how this gift is different than other Christmas gifts. With all other gifts the recipient of the gift can choose to either take the gift or leave it. If you like some gift you can treasure it and be entertained with it. If you don’t like some gift you can toss it to the side. You can toss it in the trash. The one who receives the gift maintains absolute control.

That’s not how it is for those who receive the gift of Christ. First of all, for anyone to truly receive the gift of Christ, it is necessary for the Holy Spirit to perform the miracle of faith. If it were left up to any of us, as far as we are by nature, we would not welcome Christ the King, but would see him as a threat to our dark plans. All Christians are converted despite themselves by the power of Almighty God. Jesus says, “You did not choose me. I chose you.” So this is very different than any normal gift.

The gift of Christ is also different in the way that it does not allow those who truly receive him to remain unchanged. If the person remains unchanged, then that is proof that the gift was either not received, or the person believed for a while but then fell away.

Jesus’s parable of the sower of the seed helps us here. The seed that the farmer sows is the Gospel of salvation—the promise of sharing of all things together with Jesus. Some of it falls on the path and it never sprouts. Some of it falls on certain types of soil where the person believes, but then falls back into their old ways. Some of it falls in good soil and the life of that seed is transformed so that it bears much fruit.

God’s gift of salvation in Christ is such that it cannot be something that you tuck away in a cupboard somewhere, and you pull it out whenever it might be convenient for you to use it—at Judgment Day, for example. You cannot remain in your happy relationship with greed or lust or pride or lying or manipulating or domineering or ambition or any of the other things that seem to hold out promise for giving us happiness. The old values get overshadowed by the new values that we receive together with Christ so that the old values lose their glory entirely.

The new values that we receive in Christ are the ones that he teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere in the Gospels. Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Do not do your good works before others, to be seen by them. Do them in secret and your heavenly Father will reward you. Do not fear those who can only kill the body. Fear God who can throw body and soul into hell. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus. Do not resist evil. Do not return evil for evil, but bless those who persecute you. And so on.

Here you see that the sharing goes further than a mere pardon. We often, and rightly, emphasize the gift of pardon and peace that God gives us. He forgives us. All this he does without any merit or worthiness in me. But he also doesn’t leave us unchanged. He doesn’t leave us with our evil, unloving heart. He teaches us what is really good instead of what the world and our flesh regards as good. We share in the divine life of love. We share in the life of dying on the cross. We share in the sufferings of Christ. All this is done in love for the neighbor, and therefore in love toward God.

This is assuming, of course, that such a person actually wants to be a real Christian who shares in what God gives in Christ. There are a lot of people who are satisfied pretending that they are Christians. They claim allegiance to Christ. They go to Church. They follow the rules. But if ever they are faced with a decision between Christ and their friends, or Christ and their family members, or Christ and their livelihood, they go with whatever seems to offer more promise for happiness or success in this earthly life. They will not suffer.

Therefore Christ’s words apply to them: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Unbelievers declare such devotion to Christ fanatical and evil. How could anyone choose religion over flesh and blood? Unbelievers will also say that it is dangerous for people’s psychological wellbeing. The life of loving sacrifice supports and furthers victimization. The values Christ teaches hamper the progress that we should be making as a society. Jesus’s teachings can even be viewed as a threat to the successfulness of the church organization. People won’t want to become Christians if this kind of thing is taught. Congregations will shrink. Synods will lose their revenue.

Thus the Christian is opposed from within and from without. This is no surprise to Jesus. Jesus summed up his beatitudes this way: “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” Jesus knew that his divine life of love, shown forth in his Christians, would be opposed just as he was opposed.

It is Christians, and only Christians, whom the apostle Peter is comforting with our Epistle reading today. But he is inviting the rest of us along for the ride too, with our stubborn flesh that prefers not to suffer. He is teaching us a new grammar for our life. The basic rules for life that come naturally to us is that we have to look out for ourselves, that we should only do those things that will benefit ourselves, and we should carefully avoid anything that we might not like.

The new rules that Peter is teaching us is that we should not think that it is strange if we have a fire burning down on us. This is not something strange. It is something that is literally familiar to us, because we have become family with Jesus. We have all things in common with Jesus. Jesus is opposed by this unbelieving world, and so, of course, we will too. But just as Jesus overcame with his sufferings, so we will too. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, and only endured suffering, then those sufferings would have been stronger. But through that very suffering Jesus overcame and brought about a new and better world.

This is what happens when Christians join in and share in Jesus’s suffering. If there were no resurrection from the dead, then this would be the most foolish and miserable thing to do. Paul says in 1 Cor. 15 that if Christians are not raised from the dead, then they should be pitied above all people. If there is no resurrection from the dead, then of course it would be better to just live for yourself, making the most of every opportunity for happiness, and letting everybody else fend for themselves.

But since there is a resurrection from the dead we are dealing with a new grammar for life. As Peter says, when you suffer, do not think that something strange is happening to you. “Instead rejoice whenever you are sharing in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” When Jesus comes again we will see that our shared life in him was good not only for ourselves, but also for others who benefit from the evil that we are called patiently to endure and overcome.

“If you are insulted in connection with the name of Christ, you are blessed,” Peter says. That is something that we cannot know unless God teaches it to us by his Holy Spirit. We assume that being blessed is a matter of having good health, lots of money, and so on. Being insulted because of your devotion to the name of Jesus is not something we would naturally recognize as being a blessing.

However, again, it has to do with our shared life with Jesus. As you know, Jesus was insulted all the time. His own mother and brothers one time were trying to get him to stop. At Jesus’s trial and while he hung on the cross he was insulted viciously. They made fun of him without mercy while he hung in shame.

When this happens to us, then, as Peter says, “the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” Here again we have something that we won’t understand naturally. A naked man hanging on a piece of wood with nails pounded into his hands and feet does not appear glorious to our natural senses. Glory to us is winning in sports, winning in business, winning in life. God’s glory is being made lower than everybody else. Although Jesus was God he humbled himself and took on the form of a servant. He took the lowest place. And why? So that through him love would be poured out for the whole world.

This is what happens when Christians, likewise, are humbled. The Spirit of glory and of God rests on them. They, the disciples, are becoming like their master, Jesus. That, indeed, is a tremendous glory. In fact it has so much glory that all other glories will have no glory in comparison. This will be made clear when Jesus comes again. At the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. So, as Peter says, “If you suffer for being a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God in connection with this name.” The name of Jesus will be victorious.

You can see that Peter is not saying that we Christians should duck and cover. He is not saying that we should stoically put up with the suffering, as though it is something shameful, that will hopefully quickly go away. Just as Peter is not ashamed of the cross of Jesus Christ, so also he is not ashamed when he or any other Christian is reviled, persecuted, and all kinds of evil is spoken against them falsely for Jesus’s sake. Following Jesus, being a disciple of Jesus, is the path to victory. Jesus was victorious, so we will be too. Jesus was judged and vindicated. We are judged and vindicated too—not by unbelievers, but by God.

It is a blessed and holy thing when Jesus brings it about that you should suffer for the name of Jesus. It is a sharing in the suffering of Jesus. Not everybody is worthy of such an honor. Rejoice and be glad If God should choose this for you.