Matthew 18:21-35

²¹ Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

²³ “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵ And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. H-76 Trinity 22 (Mt 18.21-35) ²⁸But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹ When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. ³² Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³ And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. ³⁵ So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today, our Lord Jesus wants us to consider forgiveness – both the forgiveness we receive and the forgiveness we extend. Slow down and consider the first four verses of the parable (v. 23-26).

A king wishes to settle accounts with his servants. In other words, the king wants his books to be clean, so all the servants who owe him money are brought in. Picture them standing in a line to appear before the king one-by-one. In this line is a particular servant. Let’s give him a name, shall we? We’ll call him Owen (pun intended). Owen knows why he is there. He patiently awaits his turn and slowly moves forward as the other servants have their audience with the king. Finally, it’s Owen’s turn. The bookkeeper asks for his name, turns a few pages, and announces, “Your highness, this is Owen who owes you ten thousand talents.”

Now this is an absurd amount of debt. One talent is equivalent to twenty-years’ pay. Owen owes two-hundred-thousand years’ wages. “Your highness, this is Owen who owes you ten thousand talents.” All eyes turn to him, but Owen doesn’t fall to his knees to beg or plead yet. The picture Jesus gives in the parable is that Owen simply says, “Yeah, I don’t have it.” The parable simply states, “he could not pay.” No kidding! He couldn’t pay? Of course he couldn’t pay!

So, the king orders that Owen be sold. He will no longer be the king’s problem. Sell off Owen, his wife, his children, and everything that Owen has will belong to the king. Then, and only then, does Owen fall to his knees and beg.

Why wasn’t Owen begging from the moment he was brought into the room? Did he think that the king didn’t mind about all that debt? Was Owen unaware of how much he owed the king? If this parable were about money, there is no question that Owen would have at least had an idea about the enormity of his debt. But remember, dear saints, this parable is about forgiveness. In the end, this debt of Owen isn’t about money; it is about sin.

Stop and consider this. When we remember the fact that the debt in this parable is sin, we can see how this kind of debt is possible, and we start to get a bit of a handle on our own sinful condition and indebtedness before God. So, buckle up and consider this for a moment:

Children are a gift from God, but we daily take them for granted, ignore them, and snap at them out of irritation. God does not want it to be that way.

Ponder how you spend your time at work. When you aren’t concentrated on your tasks, you aren’t just robbing your boss or the company. Your coworkers know that you are a Christian, and they see how you dishonor God’s name by loafing.

Think about the number of times you have come into this sanctuary and dropped a $20 bill into the offering plate. God knows your income. He knows your priorities and how you have spent what He has given you on vehicles, clothes, cell phones, and travel to kids’ sporting tournaments.

Kids, listen up. Think about how you act at school. Do you give your best effort on your assignments? Do you say hurtful things to your classmates? Do you not help and befriend the kids who are being bullied? Do you try to get attention by using language or jokes that you wouldn’t dare use in front of your parents? Think about how rudely and disrespectfully you talk to your parents or your attitude toward them when they ask you to do something. Think about how you don’t recognize or acknowledge how much they have done and sacrificed for you.

Everyone, think about the times you have told your friends about the mistakes of others. Or, maybe you have been hurt by someone, and you think it will make you feel better to tell other people about it. You see something on Facebook or Twitter, and your response there will do nothing more than stir up strife. But you do it anyway.

Remember the times you were on vacation and you thought it wouldn’t hurt to skip church that Sunday morning. It did hurt. It hurt God. He wanted you to hear again how He loves you and sent Jesus to pay the price for your soul. When you aren’t in church, you lose something, your children lose something, and God loses something.

Jesus takes and becomes sin Think about the other night. You were watching that show. Men, that woman wasn’t your wife; she was sitting next to you. But God knew your lusts. Women, that handsome, considerate, compassionate character wasn’t your husband. You know what? That’s lust too.

Or think about the time you had sex outside of marriage. Nothing came of it – no pregnancy, no infections or diseases – you weren’t “caught.” But you did get caught. God knew about it. And it hurt the other person.

Think about all the times God has given you a golden opportunity to invite someone to church and receive the forgiveness of sins in the Absolution and Lord’s Supper. They are hurting and lonely because of their sins, and we have the fellowship and community here to heal them. But you were too embarrassed to bring them with you.

Think about that little comment that embarrassed your spouse or your friend. Or think about that time you got something new for your house, but you didn’t thank God for it. Think of how you lost your temper watching the game or the news. Your kids saw that, but even if they didn’t, God did.

Think too, about how each of these sins harms your neighbor. Your neighbor, hurt by that sin, goes and harms someone else. While you aren’t directly responsible for their actions, you end up being an accomplice to their sin.

We could go on and on all day like this. And, maybe, you think this is all nit-picking. The point of all this is to recognize that it isn’t just those particular sins that bother your conscience that rack up a debt of sin. All these little things count toward your debt. It all accumulates. Your sin grows and multiplies and expands. Yet, we go on day after day blissfully unaware of the debt we have racked up.

Remember David? After his sin with Bathsheba – Uriah is dead, his child doesn’t survive, his kingdom is torn to pieces, and there is all sorts of carnage left in the wake of that sin – David rightly confesses to God in Ps. 51:4, “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight.” Repent. Repent, and see the mercy of God.

Back to the parable. Maybe Owen was so casual about his audit because he figured the king didn’t mind the debt. Or that there aren’t jailors or punishment or a day of reckoning or that his family isn’t harmed by his debt. He only begs after the sentence is read. Owen’s debt has cost him and those closest to him. Only when he sees that does Owen plead with the king.

But, to see the greatness of God’s mercy, notice what Owen begs for. He doesn’t beg for mercy. He begs for time. “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” But the king, God, out of pity doesn’t give Owen what he asks for. No, the king is more merciful than that. He releases Owen and forgives him the debt.

The first verses of Scripture in our service today from Ps. 130[:3-4, 1-2, 7-8] are so beautiful. Hear them again, “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. O Lord, hear my voice! Isaiah 53_6 - Sin Bearer Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! [W]ith the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”

Dear saints, God’s ears are more attentive in mercy to forgive your sins than your tongue is willing to confess. Because of Christ and what He has done for you on the cross, God erases your entire debt, completely and absolutely. Today, come to this altar and receive Christ’s forgiveness in this Sacrament. Then, go from here as God’s children ready to forgive the inexcusable in others because He has forgiven the inexcusable in you. Amen.

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

When Gifts Become Idols – Sermon on John 4:46-54 for the Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity

Nov10

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John 4:46-54

⁴⁶ So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. ⁵¹ As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. ⁵² So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” ⁵³ The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and all his household. ⁵⁴ This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

God loves to give us gifts. He has given us life. He has given us our families, our homes, our jobs, our cars, our money, our talents, everything. God graciously and happily gives us these things because He loves us and wants us to have good things.

Where Your Treasure Is However, because we are sinful and corrupt to our core, we have a tendency to turn God’s good gifts into idols. This happens all over in the Scriptures. God has given beautiful trees and precious metals and stones, but people would take those things and make images out of them into false gods and bow down and worship them. In Isaiah 44[:9-20], God mocks the people for the foolishness of idols. God says, “You foolish people will cut down a tree and take some of the wood and make a bonfire to warm yourself and bake bread. Then, you take other parts of that same tree and carve it into an idol, bow down to it, and worship it saying, ‘Deliver me, for you are my god!’” What folly to say to a hunk of wood, “You are my god.”

Well, we fallen, sinful humans do this with more than just wood and gold and jewels. We do this with our careers, our homes, our bank accounts. And – I’m going to step on some toes here – we can even do this with our family and children. That is what seems to be going on in this text before us today.

To set this all up, I need to give a summary of what has been going on from John 2 up to our text, so please stay with me (I promise it’ll be quick). This text ends with John telling us that this is the second sign recorded for us in his Gospel. The first sign was Jesus turning water into wine. After that miracle, Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover, and while He was there, Jesus did other signs. But John doesn’t tell us what those miracles were. John simply says that many people believed in Jesus’ name when they saw those signs (Jn. 2:23). While He is in Jerusalem, Jesus talks with Nicodemus (Jn. 3:1-21). Then, He goes out to where John had been baptizing (Jn. 3:22-36). Jesus travels into Samaria where He talks with the woman at the well, and she believes in Him because of what He says to her (Jn. 4:26, 29). And, even though Jesus doesn’t do any miracles there, the Samaritans also believe in Jesus because they heard His teaching and believed that He is the Savior of the world (Jn. 4:42). They heard Jesus teach and believed in Him as the Messiah without seeing any miracles.

Finally, in the three verses leading up to our text, John tells us that Jesus returns to Galilee, and the people welcome Him because they had seen the signs that He had done in Jerusalem. Through all of this, John is setting up two different responses to the miracles Jesus is doing. On the one hand, you have people who see the signs and recognize that those miracles of Jesus point to the fact that He is the Savior of the world. And, on the other hand, you have people who see the signs but just want the miracle worker to do something for them. For this second group, Jesus is nothing more than a good luck charm. That context is the only way Jesus’ response to this official makes sense. Now, to our text.

Jesus returns to Cana in Galilee and an official, a nobleman – he is likely some higher-up bureaucrat in Herod’s court – he comes to Jesus because his son is desperately sick and at the point of death. The official asks Jesus to come and heal his son. But, again, John’s Gospel has set us up to see that this official is part of that second group. The official sees Jesus only as a means to an end – a way to save his son from death. This official has taken God’s good gift of a child and turned that gift into an idol. The official doesn’t care one lick about Jesus except that Christ might be able to heal his son. Once Jesus heals his son, sure he might be thankful, but that’s all. His son is everything and Jesus is nothing more than a magic pill to preserve his son’s life.

Again, I think that’s the only way Jesus’ response there in v. 48 makes any sense. Our Lord says, “Unless you people,” the pronoun there is plural. It’s directed to this nobleman, but also to the other people there who want a miracle worker instead of a Savior from their sins. Jesus says, “Unless you people see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

The conversation gets more heated and confrontational from there. The official isn’t happy with what Jesus said. He commands Jesus, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” His words don’t appear to be begging and pleading; instead, they are firm and demanding. Stop and ponder that for a minute. This official was used to giving orders and having people obey. And here he has the audacity, pride, and hubris to give Jesus, God in the flesh, a command.

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’ve done this too. Most of you, maybe all of you, know that I was born blind in my left eye. Two years ago, I needed cataract surgery for my right eye which meant the only vision I had left was in jeopardy. When I was praying for a successful cataract surgery, my prayers were just as demanding as this official’s request. They were basically, “God, You’ve taken half my sight, and I still trust You. Now, I’m having this procedure done, and You’d better guide the surgeon so I can watch my children grow up because if I lose my sight completely…” And I’d guess you have made similar demands of God as well. Repent.

Jesus doesn’t bow to our idols and demands. If He did, it would do nothing more than reinforce our false faith in those idols. Our heart would keep going after something that can’t save us and is, in fact, harming us. God wants us to have good things, but when His gifts become idols, God has no other course of action than to bash those idols into dust to turn us back to Him. C.S. Lewis Pain Quote There is a quote from C. S. Lewis in your Scripture insert from his book The Problem of Pain, which I’d encourage you to read. Here’s the quote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain; [pain] is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” In other words, in His mercy, God gets our attention by allowing pain to bring us back to Him for mercy and grace.

And that is precisely what Jesus does here. He doesn’t obey or meet the official’s demands. Instead, Jesus commands him, “Go.” It’s not quite so harsh as though Jesus is saying, “Get outa here,” but Jesus makes it clear that He isn’t going to be ordered around by this man. Jesus is saying, “Listen, I’m not going to bow to your commands. You, go. Your son lives,” present tense, and it is intentionally ambiguous. Jesus says, “Your son is living; he is alive right now.” The official could interpret this as though Jesus is saying, “Go home and spend the final hours of your son’s life with him.” But John tells us that the official interprets this in a different way. He sees this as a promise. He believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way (Jn. 4:50).

Here’s the point: the official initially had his son, his own flesh and blood, as an idol. And Jesus won’t and can’t condone that official’s worship of his son. But Jesus deeply loves both the official and his son. Christ will be crucified and shed His blood for the official and that boy. So, Jesus doesn’t endorse the idolatry that the official has for his son, but neither does Jesus take away the good gift of his son. Instead, Jesus restores all things.

He heals the official’s son without bowing to the official’s demands to protect his idol. Christ removes the idol, gives a promise for faith to the official. This promise even gives the official’s entire family faith that Jesus is the Messiah. In other words, Jesus removes the idol even as He restores His gift of the son. The official has his family in a new and better way than the he had ever had before. Jesus gives the official his son as a good gift and as a brother in faith.

So, what does this mean for you? Well, a few things to take note of today:

First, always remember that Jesus can help from a distance. Yes, Christ has ascended into heaven and sits at God’s right hand with all authority in heaven and on earth given to Him. And Scripture promises that all things work together for good for those who love Him (Ro. 8:28). Christ knows your troubles and trials, and He sends His love, mercy, and forgiveness. He still saves you, forgives you, and gives you His mercy. And on the last day, He will give you everlasting life.

easte-jesus-brings-us-out-of-death Second, God will not leave you alone with your idols. Know that, even when you make an idol of God’s good gifts, God wants you to have what He has given you in a way that is better than you deserve or know. Even in those moments when your pain is acute and severe, God is good and is working all things together for good for those who love and trust Him. So, trust Him because He is completely worthy of your trust.

Finally, the son lives. This official’s son lives today, because his Savior, Jesus, the Son of God, lives. Dear saints, Jesus, the Son, lives, and because He lives, you do to – now and forever. Amen.

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

Saints – Sermon on Revelation 7:9-17 for the Observation of All Saints’ Day

Nov3

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Revelation 7:9-17

⁹ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice,

“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb!”

¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying,

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving
and honor and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me,

“These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation.
They have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵ “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
¹⁶ They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷ For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Dear saints, the Apostle John wants you to see what he saw. The text says, “Behold,” so, get this picture in your mind. You see a huge crowd, so many people that you can’t begin count them. Even though there are too many to count, you can see thousands of faces and notice that they are not all the same. They have different skin colors and facial features. They come from all the different tribes and peoples and languages. You want diversity? This is diversity.

Yet, despite their different upbringings every member of that throng is doing the same thing. They are all standing before the throne of God and the Lamb. They are all clothed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. And they are all crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!”

The myriads of angels are there, and they cry out with that multitude, “Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

The elder asks John, “Who are these clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” John simply responds, “Sir, you know.” It doesn’t seem as though John had no idea who the crowd was. It isn’t as though he throws up his hands and responds, “I have no idea.” Instead, it’s as though John is so overcome with wonder and amazement that he can’t put words together to answer the question. You know how you want your grandpa or one of your friends to tell a story that you were involved in because they can tell it so well? It might be something like that.

The angel, the elder, says, “These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” There is no question or debate that John here is seeing the saints, Christians who have died and are with God. But people will debate if John is seeing the Christians who have died during his time or if John was transported into the future and given a glimpse of all the saints after the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead.

Well, we have a clue to answer this debate in the text. (But I would like to note that, even if the interpretation of this particular phrase of v. 14 is incorrect, everything else I will preach could be shown from a variety of other Scripture passages.) The elder there says, “These are the ones who are coming,” present tense and there is a sense that this is a continual thing, “the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation.” The picture is that there is a constant, steady stream of people continually being added to this great multitude. Of all the things that could be said about these saints, the elder mentions they are coming out of the great tribulation.

Imagine the comfort that this must have been for John. At this point in his life, he is likely the last living apostle of Jesus when he sees this vision. John was the bishop of the entire region of Asia. He has been exiled to the island of Patmos because there was a persecution of Christians at that time. He had at least heard of – and, more likely, had seen with his own eyes – all sorts of men, women, and children who died for their confession of faith in Christ. Like you, John saw and experienced the fact that Christians leave earth. They breathe their last and are buried. And John knows the sadness and mourning that comes along with that.

But here John gets a glimpse of the heavenly view of what happens when Christians depart this earth. He sees the same ones who leave this earth filled with sorrow, difficulty, and tears now entering heaven in victory and glory. Stop and consider this for a minute:

When Christians die and leave this world, it is grievous, sudden, and often unexpected. Even if someone has been sick for a long time and you know they are going to die, there is an abruptness to death – like running into a wall. But that is how it is for us from the perspective of earth. Here, we get the picture of the same thing from the perspective of heaven.

All Saints While death may come suddenly and abruptly here, those who die in the faith are not surprise arrivals in heaven. The company in heaven is not startled or shocked by those who show up at the doors of glory. The gates are open, and the believers who arrive there have been anticipated and are welcomed into the great multitude to be with the Lamb who shepherds them. Their arrival into glory is no shock to the residents of heaven. It is perfectly ordinary and on time.

Consider as well that this multitude has come out of the great tribulation. They have come out of corrupted cultures and depraved societies. They endured the same disappointments and failures that you do.Like you, they struggled to balance their faith with their experiences. Like you, their families were hurt and torn apart because of sin. Like you, they wept for family and friends who abandoned faith in Christ. Like you, they served and supported others in ways that went unrecognized and unthanked. Like you, they were ridiculed and mocked for their faith. Like you, they knew the sorrow of pain, sickness, heart attacks, strokes, cancer, and dementia. Like you, they worried about the future. Like you, they feared as they walked through the valley of the shadow of death. Like you, they sinned and fell short of the glory of God. And like you, they pressed on in the midst of it all.

They pressed on and persisted in the faith while Jesus held them in His hand, just as He even now holds you. Jesus, their Shepherd, tenderly spoke to them as He speaks to you right now in His Word. Jesus gave them eternal life, and they will never perish (Jn. 10:28), just as He has given you eternal life and you will never perish.

Here is the point of all of this; here is the comfort for you: No one who believes in Jesus dies. This is a promise directly from the mouth of Jesus. Christ says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (Jn. 11:25-26).

This year, as a congregation, we have mourned the deaths of Sonia Link, Ken Malm, and Verdie Pederson. You can add the names of others as well – friends and family members who either weren’t known to our congregation or who died years ago. These brothers and sisters in Christ have safely passed through death into life because whoever believes in Jesus lives. You can find comfort and solace in the fact that whoever believes in Jesus is of eternal significance and that person’s faith is of eternal consequence.

All Saints 1 Because of this, we can have joy in the midst of sorrow. Here and now, as we are gathered together in God’s house and are invited to God’s table, we come to what is described in Hebrews 12(:22-24). This very morning in a small church on the north end of East Grand Forks, MN, we 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.”

There are more here with us today than we can see or count. The saints of all time – those who are famous and known, those whom we don’t know yet, and our loved ones who preceded us in faith – they are all here with us as we gather together at the Lord’s Table.

Those who have departed this world with faith in Jesus are still united to us in Jesus because they are redeemed in the same Blood of Christ. They have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. And, dear saints, you who have been made holy, so have you. Amen.

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

God’s Righteousness – Sermon on Romans 3:19-28 for Reformation Sunday

Oct27

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Note:
The last Sunday in October is the day when most Lutheran churches (and other churches for that matter) will remember the Reformation. This coming Thursday, October 31^st will mark the anniversary of five-hundred-two years ago when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg Germany. This event was just the beginning of what would take place over the next few decades which is the rediscovery of the Gospel that God saves us by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone.
This isn’t a day when we thank and praise Luther. No. Instead, we thank and praise God for using sinful people who are faithful to the Scriptures to call us back to the eternal truths of God’s Word so that we repent of our sins and believe the Gospel. May we, as God’s people, be faithful to the life-giving Word of God.

Romans 3:19-28

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. Christ of St John on the Cross Salvador Dali

²¹ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷ Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸ For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

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

This text is centered around righteousness and justification. There is one Greek root in this text that is used ten times in this text and gets translated as righteous, righteousness, just, justified, and justifier. When you look at the text in the Greek, that root word is constantly popping up. It’s harder to see in English because of the various ways it gets translated (which overall, I think are good and helpful; it just is a little more hidden in English). Anyway, the sermon is going to be centered around the second sentence of v. 25, “This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins.”

So, to begin: Imagine that you have been caught after robbing a bank and are in a courtroom being tried for robbery, shooting a security guard, and fleeing police. The prosecution has presented a monumental case against you. They presented security footage from inside the bank with a clear picture of your face. Witnesses who were there all pointed to you as the one who demanded the money and fired at the security guard. The attorney produced the gun you used which was registered to you and had your fingerprints all over it. The police identified that it was your car that fled the scene. Bank records show that you deposited the exact amount of cash that was stolen into your own account, and the serial numbers of the bills match the numbers taken from the bank. They even produced text messages of you bragging to your friend about how you took the money and escaped. Every bit of evidence points to your guilt.

Now, you stand before a judge who is about to announce the verdict. Nothing you could say will change the facts. You did it, and nothing can excuse what you have done. It doesn’t matter that the reason you stole the money is that you lost your job and needed to feed your family.

Judge banging gavel on bench in courtroom. CU, slow motion.

You have taken what was not yours. You harmed and endangered others in the process. But you stand before the judge and say, “I am sorry, and I need forgiveness.”

Imagine that the judge, after considering all the evidence says, “I find the defendant not guilty.” He pounds his gavel, your handcuffs are removed, and you are free to go.

The whole courtroom would erupt. The prosecutors would shake their heads. The witnesses, the security guard’s family, and police would be enraged. The judge would probably soon be facing impeachment. That verdict of innocence would be seen as a travesty of justice because that is precisely what it is.

The fact is that this scenario had played out countless times through history – or at least scenarios very much like it. Moses murdered an Egyptian and fled his punishment; yet, God used him to lead Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Samson was a womanizing braggart, but God used Samson to deliver His people from their enemies, the Philistines. And think of David. David used the power and influence God had given him as king to commit adultery, steal another man’s wife, and, in an act of total cowardice, to murder that man by the hands of another. But, when David is confronted by his many and great sins and confesses them, the prophet Nathen simply forgives him and says, “The Lord has put away your sin” (2 Sam. 12:13).

Imagine being Uriah’s father. Your son is dead; his wife was violated and stolen. And the man who did it is simply forgiven? It is egregious, scandalous, shocking, and abhorrent.

I’m going to change gears, so please stay with me. One of the most common criticisms of Christians and Christianity today is people who say that God’s wrath against sin is unjust. Unbelievers will say things like, “How can you believe in a god who destroys all but eight people in a flood, rains down fire and sulphur on Sodom and Gomorrah, and condemns all humanity for eating a piece of fruit?” Unbelievers typically think that the wrath of God is unrighteous and unjust. But it isn’t just unbelievers who think this way.

In fact, God’s kindness and mercy is so prominent in the Scriptures that, when we see God being nice and patient, we start to think that is how He should act. Then, when God is angry, wrathful, and demands death as a punishment for sin, well, we get uncomfortable with that. God's Wrath against Sin I have to confess, as I was doing my devotions this week, even when I had this sermon running through my mind, I got uncomfortable with some of the punishments God commanded for certain sins. But God does not owe us an explanation for His anger and wrath.

The reason God doesn’t owe us an explanation for His anger and wrath is given in this text. It is probably one of the verses you know by heart Ro. 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We all believe that, but it doesn’t have the bite that it should. We have a tendency to turn the phrase, “all have sinned,” into a trite and simple, “Nobody’s perfect.” And the phrase, “fall short of the glory of God,” what does that mean? It doesn’t sound so bad. Maybe, if we have fallen short, maybe we got kinda close.

Well, first of all “have fallen short” is a slightly weak translation; the word there means ‘lack.’ We lack the glory of God. But still, what’s the big deal? Are we supposed to have an equal amount of God’s glory? Did Adam and Eve match God’s glory before they fell into sin? Well, God did create us in His image, but even still we are the creature and do not and could match or equal the glory of our Creator.

To lack the glory of God means something different. And we can be thankful that Romans tells us what this means back in Ro. 1:23. There, Paul describes our fall into wickedness and sin, and he makes this statement we, “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images.” We lack the glory of God because we knew about God’s glory – it had been given to us in nature and creation, it had been given to us in our conscience before we fell into sin – and though we knew it, we traded it away for idols. Our sin is that we would rather find our contentment and joy and fulfillment in the things God has given us than in God Himself. We took what should be our greatest joy and happiness and exchanged it for trinkets and crumbs.

This is a silly analogy, but… Imagine you gave your grown child a new house, a fancy car, and got him an easy, secure, high-paying job in a stable company. But imagine that your child went and traded every last bit of it away for one of those packets of salt that you can get at Culver’s so he could sprinkle it over his scrambled eggs. As egregious and wasteful as that would be, it still pales in comparison to us exchanging the glory of the immortal God for our sinful desires.

God’s wrath and anger against sin are assumed in the Scripture. And God doesn’t need to explain His punishment of our deep and damnable sins. But this text does say that God did need to explain something else. God did find it necessary to show, explain, and manifest His righteousness, but not because of His anger against or His punishment of our sin. Instead, God needed to manifest and show His righteousness because of His mercy.

Romans 3_24-25 Remember, I told you that this sermon was going to be an explanation of that sentence in v. 25, “This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins.” What is it that showed God’s righteousness in giving us mercy? Nothing but Jesus Christ. Nothing but Jesus shedding His blood and dying on the cross. Nothing but Jesus being our propitiation – the atoning sacrifice, the mercy seat, the place where God forgives us and meets with us sinners.

Jesus’ death in our place, His suffering for our sins, shows God’s righteousness and proves that God is just when He justifies us and declares us innocent through faith in Jesus.

Think back to that analogy of the judge declaring you innocent of robbing the bank. Imagine that, as the judge was being questioned to be impeached, he said, “Yes, all the evidence pointed to guilt. But trust me, I’m going to make it all right. I’m going to repay everyone who lost money in the robbery. I’m going to completely heal and restore the security guard who was shot. I’m going to take away all the fatigue of the police who chased him. I’m going to remove every last fear of all the people who were put in danger. Everything will be put back to right.”

Christian, Jesus has removed your sin and has put everything back in its proper place. C. S. Lewis expresses this in a beautiful analogy in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with the character that represents Jesus, Aslan the lion. “Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight. At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more. When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death. And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” Jesus has done all of this and more on the cross, and it will again be manifested when He returns in glory.

Dear saints, God has justly proclaimed and declared that you are righteous and just in His court because of Christ. Because of what Jesus has done, you are justified. This means you are exactly what you ought to be in God’s sight by His verdict of innocence. You are holy, perfect, and just through God-given faith in Christ. When He looks at you, God does not find the tiniest speck of sin in you. He sees you and treats you as completely and wholly worthy. He does this not because you are sinless or without guilt. No, He does this because of the perfect completeness of Christ’s finished work on the cross.

This is all of God’s just mercy. It leaves no room for us to boast. For this, may God alone be praised, now and forever. Amen.

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

Dependence – Sermon on Matthew 22:34-46 for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

Oct20

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Matthew 22:34-46

³⁴ But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵ And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

⁴¹ Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, ⁴² saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” ⁴³ He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, Jesus and the religious leaders in the Temple

⁴⁴ “The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet’?

⁴⁵ “If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” ⁴⁶ And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

You’ve maybe heard the acronym about the Bible: “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” Sure, it’s cute, but honestly, it’s horrible because it turns God’s holy and precious Word into a manual of what we must do. If the Bible is about what we need to do and not what God has done for us in Christ Jesus, we’re sunk because we simply cannot do what God commands us to do even if we wanted to, which we don’t.

That is why, when you read the Bible (which I encourage you to do), it is extremely helpful to look for two things – Law and Gospel. Look for God’s commands and His promises. Look for the threats and the blessings. Look for the instruction and for the forgiveness of sins. This Gospel text is a great place to practice this and see how both Law and Gospel depend on each other.

The text has two parts. First, the question the Pharisees ask Jesus along with His answer which is Law. Second, the question or riddle that Jesus gives to the Pharisees which is all Gospel. The text takes place on Holy Tuesday, merely three days before Jesus is crucified. And this day, this Tuesday, was the last day of Jesus’ public teaching. After Jesus silences the Pharisees here, His teaching is only directed to the disciples.

In order to trip Jesus up and get Him in trouble, the religious leaders, the Pharisees and Sadducees, had asked Him several questions. First, He had been asked by the Pharisees about paying taxes to Caesar. Then, the Sadducees asked Him a question about marriage and the resurrection, and He answers it in a way that dumbfounded the Sadducees. And here, in our text, we get the third question.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And Jesus responds, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

For centuries, the rabbis had been talking, debating, and arguing about this question. They didn’t know how to answer it. But Jesus rattles off an answer quick as you please. If you want a summary of the all Commandments and condense them down into two statements, it is to love God and love your neighbor – on these two commandments depend (or ‘hang’) all the Law and the prophets. If you want, you can boil the Law down even further to one word, love. Paul says in Ro. 13:10, “Love is the fulfilling of the Law.”

A lot could be said here about the Law, but I’m going to keep it to six simple points.

Holy Spirit open eyes new hearts First, love is a beautiful summary of the Law, but that one word, love, does not replace the Law. Many people will say that since we have these two great commandments to love God and love our neighbor that we don’t need the rest of the Law. But that is false. Just because you think you are motivated by love does not mean that you are doing the right thing. We are so fallen that sometimes we try to pit love against the Commandments. Love is never an excuse to sin or an excuse to overlook sin. Instead, the Commandments define the shape of love, which is the second point about the Law.

Love takes shape according to the Commandments. Love is more than a feeling (thank you Boston). Love gives. Love serves. Love dies – greater love has no one than this, that one lays down his life for his friends (Jn. 15:13). If you want to love your neighbor, here is what it looks like: honor your father and mother; don’t murder; don’t commit adultery; don’t steal; don’t bear false witness; don’t covet. If you want to love God, don’t have other gods, keep His name holy, and keep the Sabbath holy. It doesn’t matter if what you do is motivated by love; if it violates or falls outside of these Commands, it is not love. In fact, we could go further and say that, when your actions fall outside of the Ten Commandments, they are motivated by selfishness and hatred toward both God and neighbor.

Third, love is defined by the Commandments, but it also finds and meets your neighbor’s need. What help and service can you give to your neighbor according to the Commandments? If your neighbor is hungry, feed him. If your neighbor is lonely, hang out with him or visit her. If your neighbor is trapped in sin, exhort them and encourage them to repent and ask God for mercy and forgiveness. If your neighbor is not a Christian and suffering spiritually, invite them to church.

Fourth, we love God by loving our neighbor. This is so important. 1 John 4:20 says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” If you want to demonstrate your love for God, you do that by loving your neighbor according to the Commandments and your neighbor’s need. And this starts with those closest to you. Love your spouse first because that is the closest neighbor God has given you. Then, love your children, then your brothers and sisters in Christ, then your friends and coworkers, and so on and so forth.

Fifth, the command to love shows us our sin. There is no time in your life that you can say that you have loved God and neighbor enough. According to the Law, all of us are guilty lawbreakers and sinners. We constantly need to hear the Law tell us that we are sinners so that we are always repentant.

Sixth, and finally on the Law, the Law always shows us our sin, but beware of the temptation to not attempt good works because you are going to fail. When Jesus says, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48), don’t just throw up your hands thinking, “Well, that’s impossible so I’m not even going to try.” Get after it. Work. Try. Attempt. And, yes, fail. Then pray. Ask God for forgiveness and mercy. Pray for strength to try again. Pray for wisdom to see your neighbor’s need and how to love them knowing that you are dependent on God’s Law to shape your love for Him and your neighbor.

Now, the Gospel. Jesus silences the Pharisees with His answer, but now He is going to ask them a question. “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

They answer correctly. In 2 Sam. 7, God had promised David to raise up one of David’s sons who would sit on his throne forever. There God promised that David’s offspring would be the Messiah, the one to crush the devil’s head, and the one to deliver God’s people. And the Pharisees know it. But Jesus asks a second question based on Ps. 110:1, which is one of the most quoted Old Testament verses in the New Testament, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’? If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

The Pharisees cannot figure out the riddle from Scripture. How can the Messiah be David’s Son and David’s Lord? The Pharisees were unable to answer this because they didn’t believe that the Messiah would be both God and man. They figured the Messiah would be a man who would get things right and save them.

incarnation of Jesus But, Christian, you know the answer. In fact, you have been taught this and have believed it for so long that you hardly think about it too much. But it is the most amazing thing. Jesus is man, born of His mother. And Jesus is God, begotten of His Father before all worlds. Jesus is man so that He can die, and He is God so that His death can be an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Because of Christ, the Law has been fulfilled. Yes, it is impossible for you to keep the two great Commandments, but Jesus has done it for you. He has taken on your flesh and blood to deliver you from sin, death, and the devil and give to you everlasting life. This is the Gospel.

Yes, the Law to love God and neighbor is important; on that depend all the Scriptures. But the Gospel is importanter [sic.]. Christian, the Gospel is how and why you will be able to stand before God on the Last Day. Jesus has died for you and put all of your enemies under His feet triumphing over them on the cross (Eph. 1:21-23). On this mercy and grace of God in Christ Jesus you depend. Amen.

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

Easter in October – Sermon on Luke 7:11-17 for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

Oct6

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Luke 7:11-17

¹¹ Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. ¹²As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. ¹³ And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴ Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” ¹⁵ And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” ¹⁷ And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The Resurrection of the Widow's Son at Nain If Menards can have Christmas decorations out already and if the Hallmark Channel can do nonstop Christmas movies in July, then the Church can certainly have Easter in October. In fact, we have to celebrate Easter because this text screams Easter – loud and clear. But always before Easter, there is Good Friday. Before resurrection, there must be death. Good Friday sadness is a prerequisite to Easter joy. We have to see that first.

Yes, Easter joy is the climax of this text, but Good Friday sadness gets more words. Yes, the young son of this woman is raised, but Luke spends much more time telling us about the sad estate of his mother. She was a widow, but now she is really alone. This son of hers that has died is her only-begotten (μονογενής same word used in Jn. 3:16) son. A great crowd follows her sharing in her grief. Jesus sees her and speaks to her first. This woman is drowning in Good Friday grief. But Jesus He won’t allow it.

Jesus isn’t very good at funerals. He always ruins them. Remember when Jairus’ little girl died (Mt. 9:18-26; Mk. 5:22-43; Lk. 8:41-56), Jesus sees all the mourners weeping and wailing and tells them, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping,” and everyone laughs at Him. But then Jesus goes into the house, takes the girl by the hand, and says, “Little girl, get up” (Mk. 541:). And she does. Or, remember when Lazarus died. Jesus came when Lazarus’ corpse would have been ripe and stinky. Then, Christ tells them to roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb and says, “Lazarus, come out” (Jn. 11:43). And out He comes. Finally, remember Jesus’ own funeral. Our Lord didn’t behave properly then either. Jesus leaves before His funeral is finished. He didn’t stick around in the grave long enough to have a proper burial.

Well, here in this text, Jesus ruins another funeral. Jesus is leading a great crowd. And as they reach the city of Nain, they meet another crowd who were going out of the city to bury the boy. These two throngs of people meet at the gate. Imagine this. One crowd is leaving the city and following death, and another crowd is entering the city lead by the Life of the world (Jn. 11:25, 14:6). And these two crowds get mixed up together in this bottle neck.

Proper etiquette and manners would dictate that Jesus and His crowd would step aside and allow the funeral procession to pass by. But, remember, Jesus is no good at funerals. Instead, Jesus marches right up to the front of the funeral procession. He does this, Luke tells us, because when He saw the mother He had compassion on her. Literally, Jesus’ guts were being wrenched and all twisted up inside.

He walks up to the woman and says, “Do not weep.” This sounds absolutely callous. Weeping is the right thing for this woman to be doing – her son has died. When you are saddened by the death of someone and find yourself weeping, you are doing what is right. Your actions line up with how God feels about death. Jesus, who never sinned, Himself cried when He was at the tomb of Lazarus (Jn. 11:35). Now, the text doesn’t tell us this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Jesus had tears in His eyes as He approached the widow. Remember His guts are wrenched. But He tells her to stop crying because He is about to intervene. Jesus could have reversed the order. He could have raised the young man first, then told the mother to stop crying. But He doesn’t. He tells her to stop crying because it isn’t going to be necessary in a moment. This command to stop crying is a call for her to trust in Him.

H-70 Trinity 16 (Lu 7.11-17) Then, Jesus walks past the pallbearers, straight up to the bier, touches it, and says, “Young man, I say to you, arise,” as though He was waking up a sleepy teenager late on a Saturday morning. The boy gets up and begins to speak. I wonder what he said.

Jesus gives the boy back to his mother and everyone glorifies God saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” And, “God has visited His people!” They were right. God had visited His people. God had taken on flesh to deliver His people from death and sin, the sting of death (1 Cor. 15:54-56).

Dear saints, today is October 6^th, but today we celebrate Easter; we celebrate the resurrection. Yes, we await the resurrection on the final day when Christ returns and raises up the dead and grants eternal life to all who believe in Him. But the resurrection has already begun. Jesus, your Savior died, but He lives. He is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor. 15:20). Whenever Jesus contends with death, death looses.

And that is what you need because this morning, you were part of a funeral procession. Because you are a sinner, the stink of death hangs around you. Young and old – man, woman, and child – we all dragged some dead thing here with us today.

Is it your relationship with your spouse that is slowly dying? Is it the skeleton of disobedience to parents? What dead thing have you brought with you?

Is it the rotting remains of your finances that cause you to worry and doubt, or simply discontentment with what God has given you? Is it the cadaver of lust that flames within you? Is it the carcass of pride that is so inwardly focused that you do not notice the needs of others? What dead thing have you brought here with you?

Maybe it isn’t even your fault. Maybe it is just the fear of what might happen in the future. Maybe it is anger for how you have been wronged in the past. Maybe your dead thing is your own sick, crumbling body. What dead thing have you brought here with you?

Body of Christ Communion Jesus marches toward your funeral procession, and He does not stop or yield. Jesus does not give way or defer to death. Instead, Jesus defeats death with His death and resurrection, each and every time He meets it. Jesus meets you here today as you plod along in your personal funeral procession and gives you life. Jesus meets you at this altar to give you His living Body and His life-giving Blood.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Amen.

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

Expelled – Sermon on Luke 10:17-20 and Revelation 12:7-12 for the feast of St. Michael & All angels

Sep29

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Luke 10:17-20

¹⁷ The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” ¹⁸ And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. ²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the service, our texts today would have us consider the work of God’s holy angels. Now, there are some who, when they talk about angels, say all sorts of things that are not biblical. And I have to admit that because there is so much false teaching and beliefs about angels that I have had a tendency to not preach or teach about them very much. So, let’s fix that by first considering what the Scriptures do teach about the angels.

The word “angel” means “messenger” in both Hebrew and Greek (מַלְאָךְ, ἄγγελος). Angels are spiritual beings who were created during the first six days of creation. We know this because before the six days of creation there was only God (Jn. 1:1-3) and after the sixth day, God rested from all His work. There is good evidence that the angels were created in the first three days because of what God says in Job 38:4-7. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? … Who determined its measurements? … On what were its bases sunk or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” God seems to be talking about the third day of creation when He created the land and sea, and the singing of the morning stars and shouting of the sons of God was the angels (see also Job 1:6).

We know that God created a huge number of angels; Heb. 12:22 says they are innumerable. The angels were all created good by God (Gen. 1:31), but at some point before the devil tempted Adam and Eve, Satan led a significant number of angels in rebellion against God and they fell. Those fallen angels, we now call demons. More on that later, but from here on, know that if I use the term ‘demons’ I am simply referring to those fallen angels.

There are orders and classes of angels – Cherubim (Gen. 3:24; Ps. 80:1), Seraphim (Is. 6:2), archangels (1 Th. 4:16). There are also greater and lesser demons (Lk. 11:15, 18-19).

Even though angels are spirits, they can move and manipulate material things. They are able to take Lot and his family by the hand to get them out of Sodom before God destroyed it (Gen. 19:16). So, when you or someone you love has a close call, it very well may be that God’s angels have protected you.

Scripture teaches that angels have power and strength (Ps. 103:20; 2 Th. 1:7) which is greater than ours, and they use their strength to guard and protect us from things that would overpower us (Ps. 91:11-13). Demons are also strong. Scripture says that the devil holds unbelievers securely captive in his kingdom (Lk. 11:21-22), and believers can only withstand the attacks of Satan in the power of God (Eph. 6:10-17).

The angels’ work is to sing praises to God (Is. 6:3; Lk. 2:13) and to fight on our behalf (Ps. 104:4; Heb. 1:14); in other words, their tools are the song and the sword. A fantastic text about angels fighting on behalf of God’s people is found in 2 Kgs. 6[:8-23] where Elisha and his servant get surrounded by the army of Syria during the night. Elisha’s servant gets up early in the morning (maybe to get the newspaper or the milk or something) and sees this army surrounding the entire city. He runs inside to tell Elisha and says, “Alas, my master! What are we going to do?” But Elisha calmly says, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Elisha asks God to open the eyes of his servant so that he can see what is going on. 2 Kings 6_15-17 Angels Elisha And the young servant sees a huge host of angels with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. The Syrian army rushes in toward them. Elisha simply prays that the entire army would be struck with blindness, and they are. Then Elisha leads this blinded army straight into the capitol of Israel where they are all captured. In this account, we see the unfolding of what is said in Ps. 34:7, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.”

Scripture teaches that angels are sent in particular to serve children (Mt. 18:10), believers in their vocations (Ps. 91:11-12), and those who are dying (Lk. 16:22). It is very possible that each believer has an angel or squad of angels for protection. In Mt. 18:10, Jesus says, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (see also Act. 12:15). And Heb. 1:14 says that the angels are “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.”

Scripture teaches that angels were present at the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai (Dt. 33:2; Gal. 3:19). Angels are sent to proclaim the conception (Lk. 1:26), birth (Lk. 2:11), and resurrection of Christ (Lk. 24:5-7). In fact, angels remain at the empty tomb even after Jesus left.

We should not pray to angels as though they are the ones responding to our prayers. Every time in Scripture that someone begins to worship an angel, the angel protests and directs worship to God (esp. Rev. 22:8-9). Also, we shouldn’t listen to angels unless they are pointing us to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul plainly says in Gal. 1:8, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”

Many Christians have stories about being helped in a particular situation by someone who suddenly appeared and wasn’t seen again. It may indeed be that God sent an angel to help and defend. Also, there are times when Christians have helped someone who was in trouble, and they have a sense that something was different about that encounter. It may be than an angel appeared to give an opportunity to the Christian to serve in a particular way. Heb. 13:2 says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

Finally, and maybe most importantly, we should realize that angels are present with us right here and now as we are gathered in worship. Wedding Feast of the Lamb Hebrews 12:22-24 says that in church we have “come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering…” Jesus says that the angels in heaven are joyful over one sinner who repents (Lk. 15:7, 10). As we confessed our sins earlier, a whole host of angels whom we cannot see or hear rejoiced as they heard Christ absolve and free us from our sins. In fact, Heb. 1:14 calls angles ‘liturgizing’ spirits (the ESV translates λειτουργικός as ‘ministering’). Using the liturgy is a way that we connect our worship with the worship of the angels in heaven, which is why we draw the words and order of our liturgy from the words of Scripture.

So, there is a quick overview of the Scriptural teaching of angels. Now, to our texts. First this Gospel lesson:

Jesus had sent these seventy-two ahead of Him to preach and heal in every town He was about to go Himself (see Lk. 10:1-12). And Jesus didn’t beat around the bush; He plainly tells them, “Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” Their mission was already dangerous, but to top it all off, Jesus tells these lambs to march out in the midst of wolves with no resources – no moneybag, knapsack, or sandals. They would be housed and nurtured by the people who welcomed them. Jesus told them to heal the sick and say to the people, “The reign (βασιλεία) of God has come near to you.”

We hear them joyfully report that the demons – the evil, fallen angels – were subject to them in Jesus’ name. They saw victories in their various spiritual battles. But then Jesus says that something even greater was going on that they couldn’t see. While those seventy-two were proclaiming the reign of Jesus, Christ says, “I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven.” More was going on than these seventy-two could see. It was more than just isolated, individual battles.

And in our Epistle text (Rev. 12:7-12), we heard how the archangel Michael was given the privilege of throwing Satan (‘Satan,’ by the way, means ‘accuser’), the deceiver of the whole world, Michael casts down Satan down and out of heaven. How was Satan cast down? The text is clear. Satan was cast out by the blood of the Lamb.

Now, there are Christians who would disagree with what I am about to say here, but I think we should see Jesus’ proclamation to the seventy-two of seeing Satan falling from heaven and the text in Rev. 12:7-12 as confirmation that the shedding of Christ’s blood and the preaching of the Gospel of the reign of Christ was what cast Satan down from heaven.

This means that Satan is no longer able to accuse you before God which is what he was constantly doing day and night before God in heaven (Rev. 12:10). Remember the book of Job? Satan was there in heaven accusing Job of Job’s sins before God by saying that the only reason Job loved God was because God was nice to Job (Job 1:8-11, 2:1-5). But now, Satan has been expelled from heaven, and that is good news.

However, there is also a warning at the end of that Epistle text. Satan is no longer able to accuse you before God because he has been expelled from God’s presence. But that doesn’t mean he is done accusing. The devil can’t accuse you before God anymore, but he can and does try to accuse you in your conscience, and he is very good at that. He will say that your sins are too many or too great to be forgiven. The accuser now roams about like a roaring lion seeking to devour you (1 Pet. 5:8), constantly whispering in your ear, “Did God really say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’?”

Dear saints, when the devil does this, he needs to be expelled from your conscience. How is this done? It is done with the same weapons that Michael and the angels used – the blood of the Lamb, and the word of your testimony (Rev. 12:11).

Dear saints, when you confess your faith that Christ has been crucified and shed His blood for you, you expel Satan from your conscience. When the devil whispers his accusations, confess that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29). Tell Satan, “Christ has taken my sins. So, if you want to talk to someone about my sins, you can’t talk to me about them anymore. Jesus has taken them as His own. Christ owns them now. He has died and shed His blood for them.” And the devil has no reply to that testimony.

Church Militant and Triumphant So today, dear saints, come to Jesus’ table and receive His body given for you. Receive His blood which was shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins knowing that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus your Lord (Ro. 8:38-39).

Satan has been expelled from heaven, and he is expelled from your conscience by the blood of your Savior. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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

On the Road Again – Sermon on Luke 17:11-19 for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Sep22

Listen here.

Luke 17:11-19

¹¹ On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance ¹³ and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴ When he saw them he said to H-68 Trinity 14 (Lu 17.11-19) them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”And as they went they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This text is so full of movement, it’s like a carousel. Jesus is traveling on His way to Jerusalem between Samaria and Galilee. Jesus tells the ten lepers to hit the road and travel to the priests and the Temple. The Samaritan leper turns back interrupting his trip to the priest to make his way back to Jesus. And Jesus tells the thankful Samaritan to go his way in health and salvation (more on that later). This is a moving text in more than one way.

Now, the first verse of our text is what the commentators will call a “travel notice.” We tend to skip over these travel notices when we read because we aren’t that familiar with the geography of Israel in Jesus’ day, but they are important. However, describing where places are on a map doesn’t work well in a sermon. The important thing is this: Back at the end of Luke 9, Jesus foretells His death and resurrection (9:44-45) then Luke gives us an important turning point in his Gospel. Luke says, “When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, [Jesus] set His face to go to Jerusalem” (9:51). In other words, this miracle takes place while Jesus is on His way to the cross.

The interesting thing is that Jesus isn’t taking the direct route. Instead, Luke mentions is that Jesus is traveling between the regions of Samaria and Galilee which mainly east-west instead of from Galilee in the north directly south toward Jerusalem. Instead, He is taking His time to preach, heal, and minister to the needs of as many people as possible with His mercy and grace.

As Jesus enters a village, He is met by ten lepers. Now, leprosy still exists today, though it is commonly called ‘Hansen’s disease.’ There are actually cases of it in the US today, but it is treatable by modern medicine and not easily transferred anymore. But in Jesus day, leprosy was a terrible problem. The disease makes your skin rot away while you are still alive. Leprosy would make the nerve endings of the effected areas grow numb. A leper could have oozing blisters all over their feet, cut their arm, or burn their hand and they wouldn’t even now it. This is why, so often throughout the history of the church, sin is described as leprosy. Our sin makes us so sick, we don’t even realize how wounded we are.

Now, in Jesus’ day, leprosy was highly contagious. So, lepers had to live apart from everyone else. If you had leprosy and somebody got near you, you would have to yell out, “Unclean! Unclean!” so they wouldn’t get near you. Because of this, lepers would form their own communities to help take care of each other, and that is what we see in this text. These ten lepers have formed a little community and, because of their common disease, it was a very inclusive community. Most of these lepers are Jews, but at least one of them is a Samaritan. Normally, the Jews and Samaritans didn’t deal with each other at all (Jn. 4:9). For a Jew to eat with a Samaritan made the Jew unclean. But these ten lepers formed a little community of the desperate.

They cry out to Jesus, but instead of yelling, “Unclean! Unclean!” they cry out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” They pray the Kyrie just like do each week. But Jesus’ response to their cry for mercy isn’t to wave His hand over their bodies and speak them clean. He doesn’t make mud with His spit and put it on their diseased skin to heal them. Jesus simply tells them to go show themselves to the priest.

Now, as lepers, this is something they would have done when they first contracted their leprosy. Through Moses (Lev. 13:2ff), God commanded that people who had a problem with their skin to go to the priest. The priest would examine the effected area, and, if it was indeed leprosy, the priest would declare them to be unclean. Then, if the area would clear up, the person was to go back for a second appointment with the priest and be declared clean (Lev. 14:1-32) so they could go back and live with their family and return to work. But here, Jesus simply tells them to go show themselves to the priest.

Think of that for a minute. Before anything has changed, while their skin is still rotting, Jesus tells them to go to the priest. Now, they wouldn’t be let into the streets of Jerusalem let alone be allowed into the Temple. But in this command of Jesus, there is an implicit promise. And by leaving Jesus, they act in faith.

There is a little lesson here for us about prayer. Probably most of our lives as Christians, we are waiting for an answer to a prayer. How often do we pray for something and are left to wait? But, Christian, take heart, God will answer. As these lepers journey to the Temple, they are cleansed.

Now, presumably, the nine lepers do continue to Jerusalem. They make their way through the streets to the Temple. They find the priest and are declared to be cleansed of their disease and allowed back into their families and community once gain. But only one of them actually obeys Jesus.

ten-lepers This Samaritan who returns to the true Temple and true High Priest. He returns to Jesus to give thanks. Did you catch what Jesus said there, “Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” In other words, the nine went onto the Temple and God’s house, but God wasn’t there. He was walking in the flesh between Samaria and Galilee where the Samaritan falls at His human feet giving Him thanks. Some people will read the Gospels and say that Jesus never claimed to be God. Well, sorry, they are wrong. He does right here.

And this Samaritan receives from God, from Jesus, not just a declaration of cleanliness from his flesh-eating disease, but from his leprosy of sin. Jesus’ final recorded words to this man are, “Rise and go your way, your faith has saved (σῴζω) you,” (not just ‘made you well’), “your faith has saved you.”

The Samaritan is more than just a cleansed man, he is now our Christian brother. In fact, he shows the fruits of the Spirit that we heard about in our Epistle lesson (Gal. 5:16-24). He has love for God, joy in his healing, and peace that only comes through faith in Christ. He exhibited patience as he walked away from Jesus with the promise of healing. We can imagine his kindness toward the other nine who might have thought he was silly to go back to Jesus instead of going to the Temple in Jerusalem. His goodness is visible. Jesus encourages his faith. His has gentleness and self-control can be seen in his thankfulness to God; let me quickly explain that.

The word that gets translated ‘gentleness’ is a noun and has the idea of being humble or meek. Jesus uses the same word as an adjective in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Mt. 5:5). The Samaritan humbles himself in meekness before Jesus falling at His feet. And instead of running off to his restored life, the man exercises self-control to turn back and first give thanks to God, to Jesus.

As we, like this Samaritan, rise from here and go on our way, let us turn back to give thanks to Jesus. Thankfulness requires a turning back. If we are thinking of what is going to happen next, we can’t give thanks. If we are always thinking about the future, we cannot give thanks because there is nothing there to give thanks for – at least not yet. We don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Jesus could return before we get to our cars to leave. As long as we’re thinking about tomorrow, we can’t give thanks. Blessings from the Cross

Instead, turn back. Turn back to what Jesus has done for you. Most importantly, He has died and risen for you. Because of His blood shed for you, He has declared you free and forgiven of all your sins here and now. Dear saints, rise and go your way. Get on the road again in thankfulness for what Christ has done, your faith has saved you. Amen.

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

No Conflict – Sermon on Luke 10:23-37 for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Sep15

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Today, at Christ the King, we had our first Stewardship Sunday. This sermon is slightly shorter for that reason. The presentation/catechesis on Biblical Stewardship will be available later.

Luke 10:23-37

²³Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! ²⁴For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

²⁵And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” ²⁹But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³²So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Too often, when we hear the summary of the Law, “Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself,” we see it as setting up an order of operations. First, love God; then second, love neighbor so long as it doesn’t conflict with loving God. That is the attitude the priest and the Levite had in the parable.

According the laws of Moses, they needed to protect themselves from becoming unclean. If they helped the man in the ditch, they might defile themselves by touching a dead person and not be able to do their priestly functions. They are essentially saying to themselves, “I feel bad for this poor guy. I will pray for him. But if I go over there and help him, I won’t be able to do the sacrifices or declare people clean and free from sin. And I have been called by God to be faithful in those works. So, if I go help this guy, I might become unable to do those things, I will be unfaithful to God.”

The priest and Levite were convinced that they couldn’t help their neighbor because they had a higher obligation to love God. Too often, we think the same way.

We avoid people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol because Scripture tells us to avoid the appearance of evil (1 Thess. 5:22), and we don’t want to tarnish our reputation as a good Christian by being around people who have vices. When people are cruel and angry because they have been absolutely broken, we avoid them because they bring out the worst in ourselves. However, we should be going out of our way to love and befriend them and earn their trust. But we don’t do that because we think we have a higher duty to God to keep ourselves righteous so we try to maintain a safe distance from people who might make us to become unrighteous and jaded.

But one of the things Jesus shows us in the parable of the Good Samaritan is this misunderstanding between loving God and loving our neighbor. This parable is a nice explanation of what we are told in 1 John 4:20 which says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” Love of God and love of neighbor are never in conflict with each other. God wants us to show our love for Him by loving our neighbor.

We have called today “Stewardship Sunday,” and we have had a lot of focus on what God’s Word has to say about our tithes and offerings. And this text has something to say about our giving to the church as well. Just as loving our neighbor does not conflict with loving God, loving God does not conflict with loving our neighbor either.

I might be wrong on this, but I would venture to guess that the prevailing attitude about giving to the church is seen as fulfilling the first of the two great commandments – to love God. And very often, we think giving to the church is not seen as fulfilling the second – to love our neighbor. At least, this is a common accusation of the world against the church, and I don’t think we are immune to those accusations.

Maybe, you have seen different threads on social media that pop up from time to time which basically say, “If money is the root of all evil, why do they keep asking for it in church?” Never mind the fact that they aren’t quoting Scripture correctly. The verse (1 Tim. 6:10), says, “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evils…”

But also, the world will say that Christians are hypocrites because giving to the church means they don’t care about the hungry and poor. They’ll say that Christians are so busy loving God by giving money to the church that they are refusing to love their neighbor. But there is no conflict between the two.

Scripture says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Every neighbor you come into contact with is a sinner. And what do sinners need most? Even if they are naked and starving, sinners’ greatest need to hear the Gospel. They need to hear the Word preached. They need the Sacraments. They need to be pointed to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In other words, they need the Church.

So, Christian, see what you are doing when you give to the church. You are doing exactly what the Good Samaritan did in the parable. You are providing for the continual care of those whom Christ has redeemed. Remember, the Good Samaritan gave the innkeeper money to care for the robbed man and promised to return and pay off any expenses that weren’t covered by his initial two denarii.

After the parable concluded, Jesus asked the lawyer, “Who proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”And the lawyer rightly responded, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said, “You go, and do likewise.”

Have mercy and compassion on your neighbor by making sure that they have the blessing of seeing what you see and hearing what you hear. Make sure they have a place where they can go to hear of Jesus. Where they can have their wounds bound up by Christ’s absolution. Where they can have the oil and wine of the Sacraments poured on their sinful scars. Where they can recover in the inn of the church.

Christian, you go, and do likewise. Do this, but don’t ever draw strength and assurance by how well you have loved your neighbor. Instead, draw strength to love your neighbor by how God Himself has loved and cared for you.

Because, first and foremost, the parable of the Good Samaritan is a picture of what Jesus has done for you. Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the Good Samaritan who has compassion. He left His throne in the glory of heaven to become your neighbor. He risks His own safety while scoundrels and robbers are roaming about. He stops to give you aid. He pours on you oil and wine. He gives up His own comfort and convenience to bring you to the inn of the holy Christian Church. And Jesus sets up an all-expenses-paid stay there promising to return. Jesus is the one who has and continues to show you mercy. Amen.

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

Additional thoughts on the text that were removed from the sermon:

You can’t do something to gain an inheritance. All Scripture shows that God’s people do not inherit eternal life by doing something. As our Epistle Text (Gal. 3:15-22) said, the inheritance of eternal life has always and will always come through the promise of God. The lawyer knew this. He knew exactly what he must do to have eternal life. Love God perfectly and love his neighbor perfectly which is exactly how Jesus Himself sums up the Law (Mt. 22:34-40). Jesus tells the lawyer, “Bingo! Do this, and you will live.”But Jesus might just as well have said, “Yup. Go to hell.”

And the lawyer gets it. He sees how he is stuck in his sin. The Law has exposed him for the wretched sinner that he is. The Law has left him scared and confused because he doesn’t know the Gospel. He wants an out and clamors for a loophole. He asks, “Well, who is my neighbor? Whom should I love?”

But every Sunday school student knows the answer. “Who is my neighbor?” Everyone. “Whom should I love?” Everyone and without fail. But Jesus doesn’t tell the parable to answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus tells the parable to change the question to get the answer He wants. The point of the parable is not to teach us to love everyone. Scripture teaches that all over the place but here, not in this parable.

Instead, Jesus tells the parable because He wants to show the lawyer and you hope. Jesus wants to show you what God mercifully does for you. He wants your eyes to see and your ears to hear the Gospel.

Shut, Spit, Open, Shut – Sermon on Mark 7:31-37 for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

Sep8

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Mark 7:31-37

³¹Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. H-66 Trinity 12 (Mk 7.31-37).jpeg ³²And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. ³³And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. ³⁴And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,”that is, “Be opened.” ³⁵And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. ³⁶And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. ³⁷And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

If this healing sounds strange, you are reading it right. In fact, this miracle sounds even stranger in Greek. The strangeness starts with the location. Jesus is in the region of the Decapolis; in other words, He is outside of Israel and among Greek-speaking Gentiles. That is important later; keep that in mind.

While Jesus is there, a man is brought to our Lord who is deaf and has a speech impediment. I’ll probably just say ‘mute’ through the rest of the sermon since it fits with the crowd’s reaction (v. 37), and it’s one syllable instead of five. Jesus takes this man with shut ears and a shut mouth off to the side privately. He throws His fingers into the man’s ears. (It’s the same word Thomas uses after the resurrection when Thomas refuses to believe until he throws his fingers and hand into Jesus’ hands and side. It doesn’t just mean to carefully and politely poke around.) Jesus throws his fingers into the man’s ears. Jesus spits. He touches the guy’s tongue. Our text says Jesus sighs (more on that in a minute) and says one word. The man’s ears and mouth are opened. Then, Jesus immediately tells them to not say anything.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on why Jesus tells them to not say anything. Jesus repeatedly does this in the Gospel of Mark. It isn’t reverse psychology. When people disobeyed Jesus’ commands to not publicize their miraculous healings, Jesus’ ministry is hindered (see Mk. 1:38-45).

The whole thing is strange, odd, and weird. Shut, spit, open, shut. But two other components make this whole thing strange.

First, our text says that Jesus ‘sighs.’ The Greek word that gets translated as ‘sigh’ is stronger. This is the only place where the ESV translates the word as ‘sigh.’ Elsewhere it is translated ‘groan.’ And, yes, it’s an important difference. Sighing is a usually an intentional thing. We sigh when we are weary or frustrated. Groaning, however, is an involuntary response to being hurt or wounded. Every time the New Testament uses this word ‘groan’ it is from sorrow or suffering because of sin. And, in the New Testament, only four things groan – creation groans, believers groan, the Holy Spirit groans, and Jesus groans twice.

When the deaf man is brought to Jesus, our Lord does this odd ceremony of shoving His fingers into the man’s ears, spitting, touching the man’s tongue, and then He groans in pain.

What this teaches us is that these miraculous healings were not simple tricks for Jesus. They cost Him and caused Him pain. Remember Isaiah (53:4-5) says that Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yes, Jesus’ main work – His main miracle – His death and resurrection cost Him and caused Him pain, but so do these other miracles. When Jesus does any miracle, He is committing Himself to the cross. These miracles are not a raw display of divine power, they are all redemptive. Jesus changes places with the cripple, the lame, the blind, the dead, and here the mute and the deaf.

The second thing that is strange is the one word Jesus says, “Ephphatha.”And there are two strange things about this word. Mark translates it for us into Greek – it means ‘be opened.’ But Jesus says, “Ephphatha,”in Aramaic. Consider that. Not only do these ears not hear, but they also wouldn’t understand Aramaic. If they worked, they would have understood Greek words, not Aramaic.

The second strange thing about this word from Jesus has to do with grammar. Jesus doesn’t speak words of prayer to His Father asking Him to open the man’s ears. Jesus speaks to ears that don’t to ‘ear-y’ [sic.] things. They don’t hear. And (for you other grammar nuts) Jesus speaks a passive imperative.

We can’t hardly do this in English. After our dishwasher has run and cleaned our dishes, I can’t command it, “Be emptied.” No. I have to command my kids, “Empty the dishwasher.” Think about the last time you were stressed and worried about something and someone told you, “Calm down.” It’s a command, and it is helpful. But you need to do something. You need to take a breath, collect your thoughts, and relax. Imagine, instead of someone telling you to calm down, they just said, “Be calmed,” and you were. That’s what’s going on here.

Jesus speaks to deaf ears in a language they wouldn’t understand to be passively opened. And they are. What had been broken because of sin is put back into place by Jesus. Some rough touches, saliva, a groan, and one word is all it takes from Jesus to restore this man’s hearing and speech.

Jesus still does this. He’s doing it now. Just like in the creation, God acts by speaking. God’s words are His actions. Now, Jesus isn’t here among us in His body fixing all our physical problems. No, but we’ve got something better. Jesus is among us loosening our tongues to sing His praises. He is here opening our sin-stuffed, deaf ears to hear His absolution. easte-jesus-brings-us-out-of-death And He no longer groans in pain when He does it. The price has been paid. Your forgiveness has been purchased and won on the cross.

“Be forgiven,” says Jesus to you here. And in His speaking, it is done. So, dear saints, go out in confidence not trusting in your own sufficiency, but in the sufficiency of God’s declaration, God’s proclamation, and Christ’s absolution. Amen.

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

Pastorsamwise

"Don't the great tales never end?"

Author Archives: pastorsamwise

Attentive Ears – Sermon on Matthew 18:21-35 for the Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity

When Gifts Become Idols – Sermon on John 4:46-54 for the Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity

Saints – Sermon on Revelation 7:9-17 for the Observation of All Saints’ Day

God’s Righteousness – Sermon on Romans 3:19-28 for Reformation Sunday

Dependence – Sermon on Matthew 22:34-46 for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

Easter in October – Sermon on Luke 7:11-17 for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

Expelled – Sermon on Luke 10:17-20 and Revelation 12:7-12 for the feast of St. Michael & All angels

On the Road Again – Sermon on Luke 17:11-19 for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

No Conflict – Sermon on Luke 10:23-37 for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Shut, Spit, Open, Shut – Sermon on Mark 7:31-37 for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity