Monthly Archives: June 2022

Love in Deed & Truth – Sermon on 1 John 3:13-18 for Second Sunday after Trinity

1 John 3:13-18

13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This world is broken. Infected with sin and death, all creation longs to be set free from its corruption and continual decline (Ro. 8:19-22). Everyone looks for an escape from this brokenness. Ever since humanity’s Fall into sin, there has only been one solution to sin, death, and evil, and that solution is found in God’s promise of mercy which He freely gives through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only One who can set us free from the chains of sin, death, and the devil. And yet, people try to offer alternatives.

In 1969, The Beatles offered their solution to the world’s problems, “All you need is love; all you need is love; all you need is love, love; love is all you need.” If you read through the lyrics to that whole song, they really are saying human love can fix everything. Just a few years earlier, the band The Youngbloods had tried rally everyone behind the same platform. “Come on, people now; smile on your brother; everybody get together; try to love one another right now.” Both of those songs sound similar to what is being offered in this text, but they couldn’t be more different. They are different because the world is so broken, fallen, and lost that even the concept of love is twisted.

Love is not simply what makes you or someone else feel good. The world wants you to think that love can be redefined in all sorts of different ways. But the world’s attempts at love are only empty words and talk. Behind the world’s efforts at love is this creepy, demented delusion that if we simply ignore sinful things or dress them up in nicer terms, then the nastiness will go away. The world doesn’t want to hear about murdering babies in the womb, so it will call it ‘choice’ over a ‘clump of cells.’ The world doesn’t want to hear about fornication and adultery, so the world will talk about ‘alternative lifestyles,’ or ‘equality’ – sounds much nicer. The world tries to convince everyone that we can stop the pain of gender dysphoria by simply using a person’s preferred pronouns.

Now, please know that I picked each of those specifics because they have been staring us in the face all month. The same is true for any number of sins. But in each of those cases, the world’s proposed solutions might bring slight, momentary comfort, but that is all. Those petty solutions, which are only talk, always end long-term pain.

You cannot love a drug addict by feeding their addiction. It is not loving to continually give money to a druggie and never encourage them to get help for their addiction. If someone is continually hitting themself over the head with an iron skillet, you have to tell them, “Stop doing that.” And if they say, “I was born this way,” you tell them, “No, you weren’t.” And take the skillet away. Both that drug addict and person who is harming himself might see your actions and words as unloving. They might accuse you of hating them and the way they were born. But that’s complete nonsense.

Now apply that same logic to the various sins that are so rampant in our culture. The world’s solutions to those sins that are dressed up in a false, fallen idea of ‘love’ do nothing more than allow those who are harming themselves and others to continue doing so.  Scripture is clear, Pr. 12:10 says, “The [love] of the wicked is cruel.” (And when Scripture uses the term ‘wicked’ there don’t think of only a few, select, especially bad sinners. The ‘wicked’ are all of us apart from faith in Christ.) Pointing out the harm and pain that sin causes is loving. Dear saints, please use your God-given wisdom to say it in the most loving way possible.

Now, before you start patting yourself on the back, Christian, don’t think that you are guiltless when it comes to loving only in word and talk. How many times have you responded to someone who is hurting by saying, “You’re in my thoughts and prayers” heart emoji, heart emoji, heart emoji, and press the ‘care’ button, then go about your day? We’re all guilty when it comes to this. Repent.

It can be hard (especially on social media) to love in ways that extend beyond word and talk. The hurting person may be hundreds of miles or half a world away, so how can you love them in deed and truth? Well, one of the best lessons I learned during my pastoral internship came from an elderly German woman named Ruth. Many of you have heard me mention her before. Several times I would greet Ruth after the service, and she would tell me about her medical problems or appointments coming up. I would listen and say, “I’ll be praying for you,” and dear little five-foot Ruth would look up at me and say in her deep German accent, “Do it now,” and I would. I was too intimidated not to. It took months her regular reminders for me to go straight to prayer.

Dear saints, your prayers are not merely words and talk. They are you, as God’s beloved child, requesting your loving heavenly Father to spring into action. Remember that, especially on social media, but also in your daily conversations. Write or say a prayer then and there and continue upholding that person in prayer.

The only way we can know what love is, is to look to Jesus and what He has done for us on the cross. “By this we know love, that [Jesus] laid down His life for us” (1 Jn. 3:16). We know love only in knowing Jesus crucified for us. You can’t find this love anywhere else, and you can’t produce this love apart from fellowship with God through faith in Christ.

The Holy Spirit works faith into your heart and pours God’s love into you. By filling you with that love, the Holy Spirit also enables you to love others. Faith and love go together. The love of God that we receive through faith is the very love we show our neighbor by our deeds. Yes, sin remains in us as long as we live in this world, but God continues to pour His love into us and delivering His forgiveness. God’s love for you is so great that you cannot contain it all, so it spills out of you to your neighbor.

Yes, we fall short in our love, and when we do we repent. We repent and God springs into action. He points us to Christ who laid down His life for us. Jesus’ death conquered hate and death once and for all. Christ has laid down His life for you. He forgives you of all your sin, cleanses your guilty conscience, and delivers you from Satan’s power.

This is what His love does and will continue to do all the days of your life. And that, dear saints, is the source and strength of every act of love you and I will ever do. Amen.

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

Triune Forgiveness – Sermon on Isaiah 6:1-7 for Holy Trinity Sunday

Isaiah 6:1-7

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: 

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; 
the whole earth is full of his glory!” 

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today, I have five observations to consider from this text.

1. What Isaiah sees is remarkable but not unique. Isaiah had this vision of God when he was in the Temple. But it’s important to note that Isaiah was not the high priest, so this vision didn’t take place while Isaiah was in the Most Holy Place. Isaiah wasn’t even a priest, so this vision couldn’t have been when Isaiah was in the Holy Place either. Isaiah was a prophet called by God, but he was normal guy. In other words, Isaiah would have been in the courtyard of the Temple with all the other regular worshippers. You can basically think of this vision as what Isaiah sees when he goes to Church. He’s normal guy in a normal place at a normal time, but what he sees is extraordinary. 

Dear saints, there are things going on around us right now that we cannot see or hear. But just because our senses don’t pick them up doesn’t mean they are any less real than the things we can perceive with our senses. The Bible teaches that there are angels all around us all the time protecting us and ministering to us. Jesus Himself teaches us that He is present with us and seated on His throne with all authority in heaven and earth (Mt. 28:18, 20; 18:20). And that is always true whether you are at church or not. 

But when you are in church, the same things Isaiah saw in this vision are here and present with you. Hebrews 12:22-24 says, “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.” In other words, here in this sanctuary you are in God’s domain. The angels and archangels, the seraphim and cherubim are all here. Surrounding you are all God’s people, Christians from every time and age, present here worshipping, glorifying, and praising God with you. You can’t see them, but that doesn’t make their presence any less real.

What Isaiah sees here is always true when God’s people gather together. In other words, it isn’t as though God was normally far, far away, but then, one time, He came close enough for Isaiah to see Him. No Isaiah simply is allowed to see the reality of God’s presence which was and is normally invisible. Dear saints, when you come into this place, see with your ears. The triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – along with all the angels and all the saints of all time are present right here with us.

2. Notice this reality that Isaiah sees. Isaiah sees the Lord sitting upon a throne. And Scripture leaves us no doubt. Isaiah sees Jesus. The Gospel of John spells it out. Isaiah sees Jesus, the eternal Son of God and the second Person of the Trinity (Jn. 12:36-41). Above Jesus, Isaiah sees the seraphim. These are one of the types of angels that Scripture tells us about. Their name means ‘burning ones.’ These angels have six wings. Two of the wings are used to cover the seraph’s face; two cover the seraph’s feet; and two are used to fly. Now, the interesting thing is that these seraphim are already holy. The don’t have any sin, but even they need to cover their creatureliness before the awesome holiness of God.

That brings us to their song. The seraphs sing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of armies; the whole earth is full of His glory.” Their song is repetitive, three holy’s. It is true that the Hebrew language will use repetition for emphasis. God is holy, holy, holy. But those three holies could also be translated as, “Holy One, Holy One, Holy One.” Three holy Ones – again, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The angels are praising one God, but three distinct holy Ones. Now, Isaiah can only see the Son, but he hears the praise of each Person of the Trinity. And we know that all three persons of the Trinity are there because just after our text, the triune God asks, “Whom shall I [sg.] send, and who will go for Us [pl.]?”

3. Look at Isaiah’s response. Standing in the presence of the holy Trinity, Isaiah is terrified. Isaiah says, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” We need to dissect this a little bit. Notice that Isaiah starts with a conclusion before moving to his confession. Isaiah’s conclusion is, “Woe is me! For I am lost.” That’s his understanding of the situation and what he thinks is going to happen to him. But his conclusion is wrong. It’s wrong not only because that isn’t what happens, but it’s also wrong because it is a denial of who God is.

When Isaiah says, “I am lost,” thinks he is about to be cut off and damned. He figures God has finally come to judge him and condemn him to hell. This is wrong and, frankly, disappointing. Remember Isaiah was in the Temple. The Scriptures clearly teach that the whole purpose of the Temple, the reason it was there, was so God could dwell among His people and forgive their sins (2 Chr. 6:21, 27). God had defined Himself as the God who is merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness… forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin (Ex. 34:6-7).

Imagine coming to church. You hear the absolution. In the sermon, you are pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away your sin. You receive the Body and Blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. Then, you have a vision like Isaiah’s and your response is, “Well, I’m going to hell.” That’s ludicrous, but that’s Isaiah’s conclusion here! Dear saints, the whole point of everything we do here at church is to remove any doubt and increase your faith that God has forgiven all of your sins – every last one of them – for the sake of Jesus’ death and resurrection. As disappointing as Isaiah’s conclusion is, we would probably do the same. Repent. God isn’t lying to you when He delivers His grace and mercy to you here in this place. You are forgiven, made holy, continually given the perfect righteousness of Christ. Amen?

Now, Isaiah’s confession and recognition is right. He is a sinner. He does have unclean lips, and the people around him have unclean lips. This means he deserves God’s wrath and judgment, but His conclusion is still false.

4. Isaiah’s guilt has a location. Sin isn’t just floating around as some nebulous, philosophical idea. No. Isaiah recognizes his sinful lips. But didn’t Isaiah have sinful feet? What about corrupt eyes? A lustful groin? An idolatrous heart? So, why does Isaiah focus on his lips?

The best guess is that the devil somehow knew God was about to call Isaiah to be a prophet. To be a prophet requires the use of your lips and mouth to speak the Word of God. So, Satan probably made extra effort that day to point Isaiah to how he sinfully used his lips to make Isaiah feel guilt and shame with the very instrument God would use Isaiah to minister.

The devil does this all the time. He will point out the sin and iniquity of the very gifts God wants us to use in fulfilling our callings and vocations in service to Him and our neighbor. This is true for all Christians, but today I want to address you fathers since I won’t be here next week.

Fathers, first of all, happy Fathers’ Day a week early. You fathers, the devil will do this to you. Satan will try to point you to your failures as a husband and father. And it will be easy for him to do this because you do fail. Sometimes, you are too harsh; other times you have been too lax in disciplining your children. You don’t show the kindness and love you should, and you have not been the father God intends you to be. But those sins do not disqualify you from being a father to your children. One of the most important things fathers can teach their children is confessing when you sin and asking for forgiveness. Again, your failures do notdisqualify you from being a father. Fathers, if you are still alive and still have children, God calls you to be a father. And God will equip and enable you to be exactly the father that your children need. Which brings us to the fifth and final observation.

5. The glory of the triune God is His forgiveness and mercy. Because there is one God and three Persons – because God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – God is both just and merciful, both just and loving. If God were only one, this couldn’t be the case. But because God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God the Son can satisfy God’s just demands, and He has. Jesus has done for you what you could not do for God. Jesus renders His perfect obedience to the Father, and the Holy Spirit delivers to you the peace of forgiveness in Christ as He works on you through the Scriptures. Just don’t think that the Father is the only member of the Trinity who is just, that the Son is the only member who is loving and merciful, and that the Holy Spirit is the only member who works out your salvation. That isn’t the case either.

Dear saints, what God did for Isaiah, He does for you as well. It wasn’t the coal that removed Isaiah’s sin. It was God’s promise. Yes, God attached that promise to the coal which made it the instrument that delivered that promise to Isaiah. But God’s promise is attached to more things than that one coal that burned up millennia ago. God has attached His promise of mercy and forgiveness to the water of your Baptism. When those waters touched your body, your guilt was taken away, and your sin atoned for. When you heard the absolution earlier, those words entered your ear, and your guilt was taken away, and your sin atoned for. When you eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ, your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.

God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is here today to bring you His mercy and grace freely given because of Christ. You are clean, and God sends you from here back out into the world with a free, spotless conscience (Heb. 10:19-25). Amen.

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

The Holy Spirit’s Work – Sermon on Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21; and John 14:23-31 for the Day of Pentecost

Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21; & John 14:23-31

23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.”

Before I officially begin the sermon, I’d just like to ‘let you in’ a little bit on sermon preparation. There are times when preaching is similar to athletic events. For example, in competitive diving, your final score is dependent on two factors: degree of difficulty and execution. Certain dives that score only 7’s and 8’s on execution but have a high degree of difficulty will get that competitor a higher score than another competitor who scores 9’s and 10’s on a dive with a lower degree of difficulty. What I’m attempting to do in today’s sermon is, in my estimation, a high degree of difficulty. I know my execution of today’s sermon will probably only score 7’s, but I hope and pray the payoff will be worth it. I’ll need your assistance though with an attentive ear, so help a preacher out.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

To help us get a better handle on Jesus’ remarkable teaching about the Holy Spirit in this Gospel lesson, we need to make some observations from our Old Testament (Gen. 11:1-9) and Epistle lessons (Act. 2:1-21). First, from the Old Testament lesson:

There is a theory about what the people of Babel were doing that dates back to several centuries before Jesus was born. Please know that this isn’t drawn directly from Scripture, but it does help us understand what was going on a little better. Babel wasn’t just a bunch of people who decided to live together in a big tower. Instead, the mighty man, Nimrod (Gen. 10:8-10), has gathered people and said that together they could make a name for themselves and be greater than God who had judged the world with the flood just two generations prior. In other words, they want to be their own little ‘g’ god. They figured they could build a tower so high that the true God could not drown them again. God had already promised that He would never repeat that kind of judgment, but they didn’t trust God’s promise. Instead, they are going to try and make themselves safe from God’s wrath.

Again, the Holy Spirit didn’t inspire this theory, but it is still a very good theory. First, it clearly explains what the people were trying to accomplish. They weren’t trying to build a tower to get closer to God; rather, they were trying to establish an earthly, man-made peace by shielding themselves from God and His anger over their sin. This theory also explains why God saw their plan with such hostility and put a swift end to their work. But notice how God put an end to their work. He didn’t destroy the tower with a tornado or earthquake. Instead, God came down (I love how that phrase is used twice [v. 5, 7]). God had to come down to see this great tower which was going to have its top in the heavens. And God confused their languages so that they dispersed over the face of the earth. Now, God did this as a curse, but He also did it so they wouldn’t continue to live in their sin. Even God’s punishment turns into a blessing.

Now, when we come to the day of Pentecost and giving of the Holy Spirit in the Epistle lesson, God doesn’t quite undo the curse of Babel. He doesn’t reunite all the languages of the earth and make all mankind into one nation again. Instead, God had gathered His people together to celebrate the feast of Pentecost which is also called the Feast of Weeks. God’s people had come to Jerusalem, our text says, from every nation under heaven (Act. 2:5). They would have been daily listening to God’s Word in the Temple, and the Temple had strict rules that the Bible was only read in Hebrew. It didn’t matter if some, or even, most of the people didn’t even understand Hebrew, that’s just how it was.

But then on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples. Back in Act. 1:15, we are told that the number of faithful believers was only about 120. The Holy Spirit arrived with the sound of a mighty, rushing wind, and the people from all over the world who were visiting Jerusalem for the feast were brought even closer together. They heard that sound which made them gather in one place. But the sound of the wind was not the most important thing they heard that day. The most important thing they heard is the disciples speaking the mighty works of God in their own languages (Act. 2:11).

Here’s the interesting part: for these visitors to be able to get around in Jerusalem, they would have had to be able to communicate in at least one of four languages: Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, or Latin. But here’s the beautiful thing, the Holy Spirit didn’t limit the number of languages that proclaimed those mighty works of God. Those 120 believers were filled by the Holy Spirit in such a way that they were able to speak in every language that existed even though it would only have been necessary for Him to have the Gospel preached in only four languages. In other words, the Holy Spirit sanctifies and makes holy every language on earth to carry the Gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection to every nation on the day of Pentecost. Now, keep all of that tucked in the back of your mind as we move to this Gospel lesson.

The night Jesus was betrayed and arrested He taught His disciples a lot of things about the Holy Spirit; chapters 14-16 of John’s Gospel is probably the fullest, clearest teaching we have about the Holy Spirit. But, basically, all of this teaching boils down to the fact that the Holy Spirit’s work is to point us sinners to Jesus (Jn. 15:26). Whenever you hear Jesus proclaimed as the Savior of sinners, you can know without a doubt that the Holy Spirit is actively working in your life.

Specifically in this text, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will teach the disciples all things and bring to their remembrance all that Jesus has said to them (Jn. 14:26). Then, notice the first word Jesus says after that is ‘peace.’ “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” And please notice that Jesus, the eternal Son of God, gives His own peace. This means your situation, Christian, is that there is nothing to disturb your relation to God. On the cross, Jesus has won and established this peace between you and God by His death and resurrection.

The only way for this peace to be undone, you would have to do two things. First, you would need to create a time machine and travel 2,000 years back in history and go to Mt. Calvary when Jesus hung on the cross. And that would be the easy part. Second, you would have to somehow pry Jesus off of the cross and undo God’s plan of salvation that He had prepared before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:19-20). So, according to Jesus, the Holy Spirit’s job is to continually proclaim to you the message of the peace that Christ has won.

Jesus goes on to say, “Not as the world gives do I give to you.” The question I have there is this: Is Jesus talking about the motivation of giving (the ‘how’ the world gives), or is He talking about the content of what He gives verses the content of what the world gives? In other words, when we sinful people give something, we always have wrong motivations. We often give and have some expectation of getting something in return. Think of the phrase, “I’ll scratch your back and you scratch mine.” The false notions of karma and luck are also related to this. Deep down, that’s always the motivation behind the world’s giving.

Or is Jesus saying that the peace He gives is different than the peace the world gives. So many times, the world will offer all sorts of ideas that they think will bring peace to this fallen, broken world. Politicians, celebrities, beauty pageant contestants, musicians, etc. all do this. But none of their policies or ideas will bring peace because they are not able to bring true peace. The only thing that can bring true peace is the atoning blood of Jesus. Now, the Holy Spirit is the one who reminds and points you to Christ’s peace which surpasses all understanding (Php. 4:7).

Over the last week, we have heard a lot of talk about how to solve the evil of mass shootings in our country. I’m not going to preach on that because mass shootings are not the problem – they are only a symptom of a spiritual and moral problem. Even if you got a giant gun magnet and got rid of every gun in the world, evil people would figure out a way to kill and harm others. A lot of politicians are saying things like, “We need to come together and fix this.” The problem is that when sinners work together, it is generally in service to evil. Babel in our Old Testament lesson is just one example, but Scripture is filled with more. Any attempt to bring about a unity that isn’t centered around the forgiveness of sins in Christ is going to turn evil quickly.

The Holy Spirit brings something better. He unites people from every tribe under heaven in the faith. He brings us together to hear the Gospel, receive forgiveness for all our sins, and places us in the Church. And that same Holy Spirit leads you to this altar, to this table, to receive the true Body and Blood of your Savior Jesus Christ. Through this meal, the Holy Spirit strengthens and empowers you to be His instrument in this dark, evil world.

Again, Jesus says, “Not as the world gives do I give to you.” All the world has to offer you is trouble and tribulation. Jesus says, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).

So come; receive what Christ freely gives. Let the Holy Spirit do His work in you so that He may also do His work through you as you go back out into a world full of evil. And you can do that work and navigate all that evil with confidence because the Holy Spirit will continually point you to your true peace which Christ has won for you. Amen.

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