Monthly Archives: June 2020

Lost & Found – Sermon on Luke 15:1-10 for the Third Sunday after Trinity

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Luke 15:1-10

1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Our text shows one scene and that is Jesus sitting with the lowlifes, the riff-raff, the notorious sinners. Not only is Jesus sitting and talking with them, He is eating with them. In the Jewish mind, eating with someone was like putting a rubber stamp with big, red letters “APPROVED” upon their behavior and life. Our text reveals this one scene, but there are two very different reactions to it.

The first reaction is from the Pharisees and scribes. So just imagine the worst of the worst – the burn-outs, the promiscuous, the hoodlums, the rioters, you name it – Jesus is right in there with them. He’s not even shy about it. The scribes and Pharisees see this, and they are triggered. They grumble and murmur. That’s the first reaction.

The second reaction is not something that we see. It isn’t part of Luke’s narration which is only the first three verses. But we know this second reaction is going on because of the parables. The reaction is in heaven. The angels look down on this same scene, and they throw a party. When heaven sees Jesus receiving lost sinners, it sees God keeping His Word and promise. Heaven looks down and sees the holy, eternal, almighty Son of God in the flesh eating with the most despicable people you could imagine, and heaven rejoices.

Now, it is easy to get mad at the scribes and Pharisees. Our tendency is to point the finger at them and say, “They shouldn’t be so hard-nosed. They think they are so good and holy and better than everyone. They should understand no one’s perfect.”

Repent. As soon as you say that, you’ve become just like them. Because when Jesus tells these parables to the scribes and Pharisees, heaven continues to rejoice because He is still doing what God always does. He is seeking after His lost sheep, and in this case the lost sheep are the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus wants to save them as well. He wants to rescue them, bind them up, bring them into the fold, and be their Shepherd. With these two parables Jesus is doing that very seeking.

Now, these parables make sense, but only to a certain point. After that, they become extremely odd. A shepherd certainly might leave 99 sheep to search for the one that is lost. The shepherd has a connection to the sheep and doesn’t want it to die. Even thinking strictly in a business sense, a 1% loss isn’t a huge deal, but it hurts. We’ve probably all looked for something longer than is reasonable. But there comes a point where you have to just cut your losses and move on. Spending all the time and effort just isn’t worth it.

Notice the language Jesus uses in the parable. The shepherd goes after the one that is lost “until he finds it.” That’s a good translation. This is an exhaustive, continual, unending search. The shepherd doesn’t go out for a while, return to make sure the other 99 are cared for, and head back out again. No. The shepherd doesn’t stop, doesn’t rest, doesn’t take a break until he finds that one lost, wandering sheep.

And when he finds the silly animal, the hard work really begins. The shepherd hefts that sheep up onto his shoulders. But he isn’t grunting and complaining, “Dumb sheep.” No! The shepherd is rejoicing while he lugs the 60-pound, wooly, hairy beast back home. Can you imagine how hot that would be around your neck? And instead of collapsing in exhaustion, putting up his feet in his recliner, and complaining to his buddies about the stupid animal, he invites the whole town over for a party that he’s going to have to do more work to prepare.

Think about that. What is it going to take to have a party? Food. What do shepherds serve for food? Sheep.

The same thing is true in the parable of the lost coin. The woman loses one coin and begins her search. To put this in perspective, imagine you had a bunch of errands to run. Your first stop is the bank to get ten $5 bills to send out in birthday cards. You head over to Target to get the cards. You make a trip the Sam’s Club, then run to Hugo’s, and finally buy stamps at the post office. When you get back home, you realize that you only have 9 $5’s. It doesn’t make any sense because you used your debit card at all the other stops. It’s not in your purse or wallet and not in your car. You must have lost that $5 somewhere in your running around. It’s frustrating, but it doesn’t make a lick of sense to drive all around town to go and find a single $5 bill. Once you’ve driven a handful of miles from your home, the IRS says that you’ve spent more in mileage than it’s worth, and someone has probably already found it and put it in their wallet. It makes a lot more sense to just get another $5 later. But not to the woman in this parable.

She lights a lamp. And, you have to understand, this is a costly endeavor. We take light for granted today. In Jesus’ day, you didn’t just light a lamp whenever the sun went down. When it gets dark, you go to bed. The phrase “burning the midnight oil” is economically costly. The olive oil used in those lamps was expensive. Every minute of light is money out the window. Why didn’t she just wait until the morning and start her search again? But she doesn’t do that. She burns that oil and sweeps the house, again, “until she finds” that one lost coin.

And, just like the shepherd, what does she do when she finds it? She throws a party. And her party, just like the shepherd’s party, is going to cost her. That party is going to cost more than the value of the coin that had been lost.

Here is the point: When God seeks after lost sinners, He is spending and sacrificing more than what the prize is worth. It cost God the Father more than you or I are worth to redeem you and me. But God spares no expense to find you lost sinners. Jesus goes to the cross and suffers in your place. He goes to death and the grave. Jesus pays the heavy price for you.

It’s easy to say, “Well, this is what God does. Should we really be surprised at this?” Yes, we should! That’s the point!

Jesus drives it home in the third parable which we didn’t read today. God goes after lost children who tell Him to drop dead, which is what the younger son basically says when he asks for his inheritance.

Today, please, please, please don’t see these parables about others. Many people online and on social media have taken the parable about the lost sheep and turned it to mean things it doesn’t mean. The parables are about you who are lost and Christ who finds you.

After both of these parables, Jesus says, “There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.” That word ‘repents’ is in a specific form. It is a present active participle, and if you aren’t a grammar nut like I, I’ll explain it. A participle sounds like a verb but doesn’t function as a verb. In English, you can put ‘ing’ after it. You could translate Jesus here as saying, “There is joy in heaven over one repenting sinner.”

The fact that this is in the present tense is important because it means that this repenting is continual. No matter how many times you wander from the 99, no matter how many times you get lost in a dusty crack in the floor, no matter how many times you say to God, “I wish you were dead,” all of heaven rejoices with Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who finds you, with God who is like the persnickety woman, when your heavenly Father restores you.

With these parables, Jesus is redefining repentance. Too often, we think that repentance is the least we can do to earn God’s forgiveness. We think repentance is our trump card that we play and say to God, “Here is my repentance. You have to be good to me now because of this repentance.” That’s not how repentance works.

Instead, Jesus pictures repentance in these parables as being found. What did the sheep contribute to its being found? All it did was wander off and get lost. Same with the coin. All it did was lay in a dark crack gathering dust. But both are found and restored. And the restoration of both is cause for rejoicing.

Again, Jesus says, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who is repenting than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” You know what? There aren’t ninety-nine who need no repentance. But there is One who needs no repentance.

Remember how the multitude of angels came down the night Jesus was born and rejoiced? Do you hear what Jesus is saying when He says, “There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who is repenting than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance”? Jesus is saying that heaven rejoices more over you when Jesus finds you than if ninety-nine Jesuses came who needed no repentance. Jesus finding a lost sinner causes heaven to rejoice more than it did at the birth of Jesus because you are the fruit of Jesus’ labor.

Dear sinner, there is joy in heaven over you. You lost have been found. You have been brought to repentance, back into the fold, by your Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Room for You – Sermon on Luke 14:15-23 for the Second Sunday after Trinity & Father’s Day

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Luke 14:15-23

15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Last week, we heard the parable of poor, hungry Lazarus who wanted to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table (Lk. 16:19-31). What Lazarus lacked in life made him trust in and long for God’s eternal promises. Now, this week, we hear a parable of people who are not hungry and don’t desire food. They have been invited to a great banquet that is ready, but they are full of excuses.

Those who make excuses to escape going to the banquet treat the invitation like it isn’t a big deal. They simply aren’t interested in going to the banquet because they each thought they had something better to do. And they don’t care about the repercussions if they are absent. They are comfortable insulting the invitation, the feast, and the master because they have treasures on earth. They don’t realize that, unlike the feast, the invitation is not eternal.

Because it ends on such a depressing note, the point of the parable is easy to see. Hell and eternal damnation are real things. Not everyone goes to heaven. Those who do not think they need God’s grace will find that, outside of His grace, there is only eternal loneliness and torment. As we just sang in our hymn:

But they who have … resisted His grace
and on their own virtue depended,
Shall then be condemned and cast out from His face,
eternally lost and unfriended.
Have mercy upon us, O Jesus![1]

At the time of death or when Jesus returns, the invitation to the feast will be withdrawn. Those who have rejected the invitation will get exactly what they want. They won’t have to offer any more excuses to the master and his messengers. Those who persist in their rejection of God’s invitation will one day be free of God, but they will find that they are eternal prisoners of themselves and their sin.

What we want to notice today is that the people who make excuses aren’t ‘big’ sinners. The guy who had to look at his field, the guy who had to stare at his ox, and the guy who had just gotten married, none of them are skipping the banquet because they had to be murderous, rebellious, thieving hedons. They aren’t skipping the banquet to go commit a lot of sins. Instead, they were skipping the feast because they had too much work to do. They were more interested in their blessings. In the end, they missed the feast because of their earthly goodness, and they didn’t properly estimate the eternal greatness of the banquet. The master had invited them, but they weren’t looking for a banquet because they figured they could get enough for themselves in this world.

I’m going to slightly change gears because today is Father’s Day. Fathers, you have important tasks. God has placed you in your role as a father so that you can take time to teach your child how to throw a ball, bait a hook, shoot a gun, clean a deer, mow the lawn, and drive a car. All those things are important to teach your children. Those skills need to be passed on to the next generation. But if you haven’t taught your child about Jesus, teaching your children all those other things is not enough.

Fathers, you need to provide for your family – economically, emotionally, and most importantly spiritually. Yes, you need to teach your children (both sons and daughters) how to buy and manage fields and property. You need to teach your children how to work and take care of the blessings God has given you. You need to teach your children how to properly evaluate relationships and spend time with your wife. Your kids need to see you do all of that.

But on this Father’s Day, we need to be reminded that this world needs men – real men. We need fathers, husbands, grandfathers, brothers, and sons to be men. Our society desperately needs men to model and teach their sons, daughters, wives, and grandchildren what the essence of being a man is. And here is the essence of being a man – to give.

Real men see themselves as instruments for the good of others. Real men sacrifice themselves to love others in a Christ-like way.

Jesus loves us as the perfect Man. He held nothing back and gave everything for us as He shed His holy and precious blood on the cross so that we can be His guests at God’s banquet.

So, men, be the Christ figure in your family. Be givers. Lay down your personal pursuits, and put your family first. Yes, provide for your family and teach your kids the skills and abilities they will need in this life. But make sure that everything is in the correct order of importance. Fostering faith, establishing the importance of God’s invitation, in your wife and children comes first. Everything, and I mean everything, everything else comes second.

Dads, you can become a great Christian father. You can point your children to the Savior. You can, by the Spirit’s power, keep your promises to your family even when it is inconvenient for you. You can be a great Christian father by bringing your family to church and having daily time in God’s Word and prayer as a family with Your Savior.

You should know there is no job you will ever tackle, no position you will ever fill, that is more important or more eternal than pointing your children to Jesus and bringing them with you to the eternal banquet because you have been invited. You have been invited to God’s feast, and there is room for you, for your family, and for all.

And, dear saints, here is the good news. You aren’t waiting for the feast to come sometime in the distant future. You have come to it. Right here, right now, God prepares a table for you in the presence of your enemies in this world. Here God anoints your head with oil and pours His forgiveness into your cup so that it overflows. God invites you to turn in here to come eat of His bread and drink of the wine He has mixed. Come and receive, leave your simple ways and live, and walk in the way of insight (Prov. 9:4-6). There is room for you now at the table of God’s feast. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] There Many Shall Come v. 2. Magnus Brostrup Landstad.

Differences – Sermon on Luke 16:19-31 for the First Sunday after Trinity

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Luke 16:19–31

19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.Lazarus and the Rich Man Graphic 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

We’re all familiar with the phrase, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Well, the same could be said about characters in a parable. Jesus tells this parable with two main characters. On the one hand there is a rich man who is clothed in royal purple linens and ate the best food and on the other hand is the beggar Lazarus who was poor and had dogs licking his sores. The two men die. The rich man ends up tormented in Hades while Lazarus is comforted in heaven. The only thing these two men have in common is that they both die, so the differences between the two couldn’t be more stark. But we run into a danger if we only focus on the different economic statuses of these two. Does the rich man end up in hell because he got to enjoy blessings during his earthly life and Lazarus end up in heaven because he didn’t? Nope!

In the parable, Abraham says to the suffering rich man, “Remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.” With this parable, is Jesus trying to teach us that blessings in this life mean torment for eternity? Are people saved because of their poor status in this life? Na ah.

So, we have to dig a little further to find the real difference between these two. And if we pay attention to the whole parable, the difference is as clear as the air in this sanctuary.

Nothing in the parable says the rich man is an evil, greedy glutton. There is no indication that he is a jerk who fires people all the time and is always looking for a way to maximize his profits without any consideration for others. The parable doesn’t say that. Jesus doesn’t say that that the rich man is selfish or uncharitable.

And, on the same note, nothing in the parable says that poor Lazarus was humble and virtuous. The text just says that he is poor. There are plenty of causes of poverty. Some people are poor because of an addiction. And, yes, of course, sometimes people are poor because of things outside of their control like sickness, disease, or disability. But none of those things earn eternal life for a person.

lazarus-dogsNow in the parable, Jesus does say that Lazarus is there at the man’s gate begging and desiring to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Absolutely, I’ll give you that. Maybe, the rich man should be helping more and being more generous. But, why do you think Lazarus chooses to beg at this man’s gate? Could it be that Lazarus knows he has a better chance to receive something at that gate than if he went to a different gate? And let’s be brutally honest here. If you had a Lazarus camped outside your house begging day after day wouldn’t you find a way to make them move on? How long before you’d be embarrassed about that poor person asking for money when visitors came to your house?

The main point is simply this: Don’t be deceived into thinking that the reason the rich man ends up in hell and poor Lazarus in heaven is economic status. Don’t ignore your sin of coveting by thinking, “That rich jerk got what he deserved.” Being rich, having blessings, and enjoying the good things God has given you is not a sin. Whatever you have is a gift from God, and God wants you to have it. That is why God gave the 7thCommandment, “Thou shalt not steal.” God gave that commandment to protect the blessings that He has given to you.

Yes, of course, some people get rich because they are evil and wicked and greedy. But being rich is not in and of itself a sin. Don’t fall into the trap – which is so common today – don’t fall into the trap of condemning the rich simply because they are rich and praising the poor simply because they are poor. Remember, Abraham was one of, if not the, wealthiest man in the world in his day. And where does he end up in the parable? In heaven.

Now, I’ve spent a significant amount of time on this today because we are all quick to make decisions about a person by looking only at the outward aspects of individuals. The social unrest and problems we are currently seeing in our society and country are exacerbated (and please note I’m saying ‘exacerbated’) because we will look at a person outwardly – their wealth, their poverty, their skin color, their job – we look at those external things and decide what that person is worth and how we should interact with them. That needs to stop.

How we treat someone should not depend on our perception of that person. No one’s virtue or worth or value is based on their economic status, their race, their occupation, or anything like that.

Listen carefully. Everything has a price – even people. All of us are slaves to sin. In John 8:34, Jesus says, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin,” and Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned.” Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the wolrdSo, put two and two together and that means everyone is a slave to sin. But you and every person that you will ever meet, every person that has been or ever will be, every individual has been bought from slavery to sin. Every individual has been deemed and valued by God to be worth the blood of His own Son, Jesus. So, whether someone is rich or poor; whether someone is white, black, yellow, or brown; whether someone is a police officer or a rioter; whether someone is a capitalist or a Marxist; whether someone is conservative, liberal, Republican, or Democrat, remember God has paid the blood of Jesus to redeem that person from his or her slavery to sin. Amen?

I’ve taken this angle on the parable to make that point, and it is an important point for all of us to remember. But that is not the most important point for us today – not even close.

The most important point is to see the real difference between the rich man and Lazarus. The real difference is only revealed after they have both died. The rich man is over there in hell and Lazarus is over there in heaven. The rich man asks Abraham to have Lazarus raised from the dead to warn his five brothers. And Abraham says, “They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them.” In other words, Abraham says, “Listen rich dude, your brothers have the Bible. They don’t need someone to rise from the dead to warn them about the pain and torment you are suffering.”

And here is where the difference, the real difference between the rich man and Lazarus, comes out. The rich man says, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” In other words, the rich man is saying, “The active, effective, powerful, living, life-giving, life-creating Word of God isn’t good enough.”

The rich man rejected the Scriptures. He did it during his earthly life, and he continues to reject the Scriptures in eternal damnation. Even in hell, he has no remorse or repentance. By rejecting the Scriptures, the rich man had rejected and continued to reject the Savior who is revealed in the Scriptures.

The rich man had a lot of things in his earthly life, but the one thing he didn’t have was Jesus. So, please reconsider, who was more blessed in their earthly life? Was it the rich man or Lazarus? When Abraham says that all the five brothers need is the Bible, by default, what does that mean that Lazarus had in his poor, miserable life? Lazarus had the Word of God. Lazarus had true riches because he has faith if Christ. It doesn’t matter what things he did or didn’t have on earth because Lazarus had Jesus.

That is the real difference between these two.

Dear saints, you have the Scriptures. You have the true, eternal treasure that cannot be taken from you. If you have more than that (and all of us do), we can, of course, be generous with those things because we already have what is most important. We have Jesus.

In light of that, because you have Jesus, dear saints, go and be different. In a world full of fear because of pandemic, racism, riots, and anarchy, be different. Have no fear. No one and nothing can take from you what is most important.

So, live without fear. Live generously. Live with outrageous love, gratuitous generosity, and reckless compassion for those around you. Because neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate you from God’s love for you in Christ Jesus your Lord (Ro. 8:38-39). Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

When You Want to Know the Unknowable God – Sermon on Romans 11:33-35 for Trinity Sunday

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Romans 11:33–36

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”

35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

If someone asked you to summarize who God is, how would you do that? How long would it take; how many words would you need? Maybe you would answer with one of the three Creeds. Hopefully you have at least one (the Apostles’) or two (the Nicene) of them memorized. The Athanasian Creed, which we just confessed, is probably the best summarization of who God is according the Scriptures, but I don’t know anyone who has that beast memorized. To answer the question, “Who is God?” with one of the three Creeds is probably the most concise way, and still, to be honest, it is only arrogance that says, “I can tell you exactly who God is.”

God’s judgements are unsearchable and His ways are inscrutable, or, as one of my favorite characters from The Princess Bride would say, “Inconceivable.” Thanks, Vizzini. 1 Timothy 6:16 says that God dwells in unapproachable light. So, to say we have a handle on Him is nothing short of arrogance.

We heard in our Old Testament text (Is. 6:1-7) when Isaiah saw God in the Temple the day he was called to be God’s prophet. Later, in Isaiah 40[:22], Isaiah gives us another image of what God is like. In that text, God isn’t high on the throne surrounded by seraphim and glorious in His holiness. No, there Isaiah tells us that God sits on the circle of the earth, and all the inhabitants are like grasshoppers.

As a kid, I remember catching many grasshoppers during recess on the playground at Rickard Elementary in Williston. Back then, my fourth-grade mind wasn’t very philosophical, but I wonder what those grasshoppers knew about me. At best, they knew two things. First, that I was strong and powerful enough to hold them, and second, that I could – if I wanted to – crush and destroy them. No, I didn’t do that. How much more can we, who are like grasshoppers before the triune God, know about the nature of God?

Isaiah continues on about us grasshoppers in ch 40, “Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created [everything; God has] brought out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of His might and because He is strong in power, not one is missing” (Is. 40:26).

The God who spoke into the void and created the universe bringing light and life is much more vast and powerful and complex than we could possibly imagine. One glance at the night sky shows God’s power; one peer at a blade of grass shows His intricacy. It’s no wonder that Isaiah concluded about God, “The nations are like a drop from a bucket and are accounted as dust in the scales…. All nations are as nothing before Him, they are accounted by Him as less than nothing and emptiness” (Is. 40:15, 17).

If this is true of all the powerful nations, vast kingdoms, and mighty empires of history, how much less significant are we singular individuals who get pushed and pulled along in the crowds and throngs of people throughout history? For most of us, the past three months have been the biggest reminder that our lives are constantly threatened. We have always guarded ourselves against things that would overwhelm us. When the threats of war, a global pandemic, murder hornets, riots, and random, violent acts are part of the daily and hourly news, we are reminded that our times are not in our own hands. Our times are in God’s hands.

Every person knows that there is a higher power (Ro. 1:20-21), and that we will have to give an account to our Creator. Our conscience constantly reminds us that we are answerable to our Maker, and before Him we all stand guilty. We rightly have every reason to be afraid of God because He expects more from us than we can ever give. God calls us to be holy as He is holy (Lev. 19:2). When we hear that, we, like Isaiah, cry out, “Woe is me; for I am lost!” Repent. Repent, but do not despair.

My fellow grasshoppers, God became a grasshopper just like you. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, shows you who God is and how God is. He came claiming to be God. He said things only God can say, did things only God can do, and accepted worship that belongs only to God. The Son of God came and confronted you as a Man. “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14). The eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere-present God was seen and heard and touched (1 Jn. 1:1-2).

So, fellow grasshoppers, to know Jesus is to know God and to know what God is like – at least as best as we can possibly know Him. God became a man, went to the cross, and took the wrath and punishment that you deserve. Jesus died for the ungodly; He died for you.

In Jesus, we see best what God is like. He loves you. Even though there was nothing lovable in you and me as sinners, He loved you so that He gave His only-begotten Son. That is love. God loves the sinful and unlovable who could do nothing in return is the truest and purest form of love. God died so that your sin, which separated you from Him would be set aside and forgiven so that you could be His own children.

Through Jesus, and through Him alone, God is your Father. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to God the Father except through Christ (Jn. 14:6). God is not your Father because He is your Creator. Even though atheists reject Him as Father and Creator, they still have Him as their Creator.

The good news for us grasshoppers is that God only has forgiven children. And through Jesus, the Son of God, we have forgiveness. To reveal this knowledge to us, God the Father and God the Son have given and sent God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn’t point you to Himself. He gets behind you and swings you around to behold Jesus in faith. As 1 Cor. 12:3 says, “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit does His work through the Scriptures. Through the Word of God, the Holy Spirit is always active, getting hold of you, pointing you to Jesus, and making you the children of the Father.

So, to know God and know what the Holy Trinity is like is to see what God does. If you want to know the unknowable God, look to His actions. That’s the best way to get to know Him. See His actions, and most importantly see His action of redeeming you through Christ.

God is bigger than our understanding and bigger than His revelation of Himself to us. We understand Him even less than grasshoppers understand the fourth grader who holds them. Even though we are often confused and baffled by God, we are not in complete and fearful ignorance. Even though God has not shown us all of Himself – how could He? – He has shown us enough of Himself to show us that there is mercy and forgiveness for us sinners.

God makes Himself known to us through His Word and delivers Himself to us in His Sacrament. There He shows us what He is like and gives to us what we need because He gives us what Christ won and purchased for us.

Even though we cannot fathom all that He is, He has shows us enough of Himself and His nature that we can know that we have been saved through and by Him. God has shown us that in Him is mercy and forgiveness for us sinners. God is only found by His revealing of Himself. We cannot go to Him, but He comes to us – to you. He shows us what He is like and gives us what Christ has achieved. And we receive Him with thankful and faithful hearts. From Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.