Gentle, Reasonable Rejoicing – Sermon on Philippians 4:4-7 for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

Philippians 4:4-7

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Before I share a quote with you, I want to be clear on something: I am a Vikings fan, through and through. Have been and will be all my life. I feel like I need to say that because the quote comes from the former Green Bay Packers coach, Vince Lombardi. In 1967, the Packers’ kick returner, Travis Williams, scored a touchdown and danced in the endzone to celebrate. As he returned to the sideline, Lombardi told his excited rookie, “Travis, the next time you make it to the endzone, act like you’ve been there before.”

Now, I share that quote to help us get to the meaning of one particular word in this text; it’s in v. 5, “Let your reasonableness (the Greek word there is pronounced epieikēs) be known to everyone.” There really isn’t a good English equivalent for epieikēs, which is utterly unfortunate. Other translations will use words like gentleness, graciousness, and moderation, but each of those only convey one part of the word’s meaning. Epieikēs – refers to a strength that doesn’t need to prove anything to other people because that strength is accompanied with gentleness, meekness, and humility. We could compare it to scoring a touchdown, calmly handing the ball to the ref, and heading to the sidelines to get ready for the next play. A player who does that is confident enough to know that he has the strength and ability to find his way into the endzone again so he can be humble.

Now, all of that was to simply convey the meaning of epieikēs. When Paul wrote Philippians, he wasn’t writing to a football team, so let’s get to what this means for us Christians.

Dear saints, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” The life of a Christian is a life of rejoicing. Why can you be joyful always? Because you are a sinner who deserves nothing but God’s punishment, but that is not what God has given you. Instead, you have a Savior. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, has come in the flesh. He has taken your place. He lived a perfect, sinless life for you. He is the Lamb of God who takes away your sin (Jn. 1:29) and brings it to the cross where He endured the punishment that you deserved because of your sin (2 Cor. 5:21).

And in place of your sin, Jesus has fully forgiven you and has given you His perfect righteousness. When God looks at you, He sees His holy, beloved Son (Gal. 3:27). Nothing can take that away from you – not sickness, not financial troubles, not pesky relatives, not greedy politicians. Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus your Lord (Ro. 8:38-39). Now, that is reason to rejoice.

In your rejoicing, let that epieikēs – that confident, humble, gentle strength – be evident to everyone you encounter because Jesus, your Savior, is at hand. Christian, Jesus is coming back, and He will bring justice and righteousness. You don’t have to prove or assert yourself. You don’t have to make everything right in a fallen world. Jesus will come and do that. Just a few verses before our text, we are told that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from [heaven] we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Php. 3:20). So, when you face any type of adversity in this world, you can have a moderated, calm kindness and gentleness because you stand in the strength of Jesus who is going to fix everything that is broken and make everything right.

Yes, this world is going to throw all sorts of trials, tribulations, and adversities at you that will make you worried and anxious. But this text tells us what to do with those worries so our humble, gentle strength – our epieikēs – continues to be known to everyone. Turn those anxieties into your prayers. Whatever makes you worried and anxious, doesn’t need to dictate how you act. Instead, hand that thing over to God in prayer. God promises to take care of that thing in the way that is best for you and for those around you (Ro. 8:28).

Christian, the almighty, all-powerful God and Creator of all things is also your Redeemer. Rejoice! He freely gives you His salvation. In Isaiah 30:15, God makes a promise to you that explains why you can have this epieikēs; He says, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”

Dear saints, in Jesus you are sons and daughters of God and have the victory over every evil because His death on the cross has delivered you (1 Cor. 15:57). “Christ’s resurrection guarantees the victory of [you,] His brothers and sisters. Christ’s second coming brings the final fulfillment. And Christ, [your] Lord, is at hand.”^[1] Amen.

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

Today’s sermon was abbreviated due to our Sunday School Christmas program.

^[1] Rev. Dr. Normal Nagel. Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel. Concordia Publishing House, 2004. p. 27

Patience – Sermon on Matthew 11:2-11 for the Third Sunday of Advent

Dec11

Matthew 11:2-11

² Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples ³ and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵ the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

⁷ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. ⁹ What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.’

¹¹ Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

For a long time, John the Baptizer stood on the banks of the Jordan preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. 3:2). Massive crowds were going out to John confessing their sins and being baptized by him (Mt. 3:5). But not anymore. Now, John is sitting in the dungeon of Herod’s palace, and all he can hear are the sounds of Herod and his nobles partying, feasting, getting drunk, and doing all sorts of debaucherous things (Mt. 14:6-7).

The reason John sends his disciples to Jesus here is not entirely clear. Some suggest that John was trying to get his few remaining disciples to leave him and follow Jesus. That could be, I suppose, but my guess is that the theologians who promote that theory don’t preach very often. The devil and his demons love to torment preachers after they’ve left the pulpit by whispering, “No one is listening. No one cares. All your words and work have amounted to nothing.” Satan and his minions try to convince preachers that the Word of God is ineffective and weak. But that is a total, complete lie. The opposite is true. All flesh is like grass that withers and fades, but the Word of our God stands forever (Is. 40:6-8).

John had clearly confessed that Jesus was the One who was greater than he was (Jn. 1:15). John confessed that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29). There is no doubt that John knew Jesus was the Christ who was coming to save His people from their sins. But it seems – and know this is my opinion, but it’s an opinion that is shared with many others as well – it seems that John’s state of mind was being affected by his imprisonment. Jesus sure appeared to be taking His sweet time in ushering in the kingdom of God. Jesus hadn’t done anything to get John out of prison, and He didn’t appear to be delivering His people. So, John longed for reassurance, “Are you the Coming One, or shall we look for another?”

John’s question is on the edge of being rude. Basically, John is complaining that Jesus is taking too long and isn’t being the Messiah that John imagined He would be. We could almost translate John’s words, “If You’re the Coming One, hurry up and get going, or we’re going to look for another.” Jesus is patient with His answer. He doesn’t say, “Yes, I am the Coming One. Just wait.” Instead, Jesus tells John how He is coming. “The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.”

Jesus knows what He is doing. He will work all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Ro. 8:28). Christ comforts John with the only comfort there is for those who wait, either patiently or impatiently, and that comfort comes solely from the Word of God. The salvation Jesus came to bring was more than just to save John from imprisonment and martyrdom. Jesus came to save all humanity from their sins. So, if John must wait, it will be worth it. Christ’s grace will be sufficient for John – even if he must remain in prison until he is martyred, which he will (Mt. 14:1-12).

Dear saints, just like He is with John here, Jesus is gentle with us, His children, even when we grow impatient and angry. Jesus didn’t give up on John, and He doesn’t give up on you. In our suffering, we need to look to and find comfort in the Word and promises of God which stand forever.

In the Scriptures, John doesn’t get to see Jesus perform any miracles. John simply has to trust the reports of the miracles. Here, John doesn’t get a detailed plan or timeline of how and when Jesus is going to bring about the long-promised salvation. John simply has to trust. Sitting there in prison, he has nothing more than the Word and promise of Jesus. Even John the Baptizer, the forerunner and herald of the Messiah, must live by faith given in and through the Word. The same is true for us.

In this life, we often have to face tribulation, sickness, instability, and uncertainty. We are imprisoned in a world where the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking to devour us (1 Pet. 5:8). We pray that God would remove the trials we face, but there are times when the only answer we get is, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).

Dear saints, be patient as you wait for Jesus and his deliverance. Even if it seems as though Christ is taking His sweet time, He is doing what is right and good and best. Our nation might continue to crumble and even fall. The wicked might appear to prosper and grow even more evil (Jer. 12:1). You might watch as your loved ones go through sickness and even to death. I hope and pray that isn’t the case, but it may be. Even in the midst of those things, rejoice and remember what God has promised, “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Ro. 8:18).

As painful as your sufferings are, they are temporary. Have patience. Your Savior knows what He is doing. And as you wait for Him, arm yourself now with the Word of God and His promises which stand forever.

Dear saints, rejoice and have patience. God is for you, and no one can stand against you. And you know that God is for you because He has already given up His Son to save you. God has already given you His Son, Jesus, to die and rise again for you, so He will, without a doubt, give you all good things (Ro. 8:31-32).

Rejoice and be comforted by the words of your God. He promises that your warfare is ended. Your iniquity is pardoned. Jesus has come and paid double for your sins. He has removed those sins from you as far as the east is from the west, and He has given you His perfect righteousness. This same Jesus is coming again for you. Amen.

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

The Trap that Liberates – Sermon on Luke 21:25-36 for the Second Sunday of Advent

Dec4

Luke 21:25-36

²⁵ [Jesus says,] “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶ people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

²⁹ And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. ³⁰ As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. ³¹ So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

³⁴ “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. ³⁵ For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Dear saints, it is Advent, so we consider and prepare for the coming of Jesus. Advent prepares to remember and celebrate His first coming in our flesh to die, rise again, and save us from our sin. In Advent, we also recognize that Christ regularly comes to us as we gather together around His Word and Sacrament. But we also prepare for Jesus’ second coming in power and glory to judge the living and the dead. That is the focus today.

Jesus came once, and He is coming again. This does take faith, but Christ’s return does is not difficult to believe. Jesus has already come once to pay for your sins and redeem you. So, there is no doubt that He’s going to come back to retrieve you.

Imagine if someone went to Rydell’s, requested the most expensive car on the lot, and paid for it in cash. (I looked and, right now, it’s a ’22 Cadillac Escalade that costs $112,000.) If that buyer told the dealer, “Hold on to it for me. I’ll be back to pick it up.” If he is delayed a few days, a week, even a month, the employees would know; he’s coming back. He paid for it, so he’ll be back to get it. Well, your Savior, Jesus has ransomed you from this dark and fallen world. He purchased you not with silver or gold, but with His holy and precious blood (1 Pet. 1:18-19). There is no doubt: He will come back to claim you as His own.

Now, of all the passages of Scripture describing Christ’s return, this one might be the most encouraging and reassuring – even with all those horrific signs. It is comforting because it puts perspective on all the evil that surrounds you. The signs Jesus mentions – the powers of the heavens and the entire world being shaken, the distress of nations and perplexity at the roaring of the sea and waves – all those, according to Jesus, are signs for you to straighten up. In other words, while the world and all creation crumbles around you, you are to raise up your heads because your redemption is drawing near.

But you do need to watch yourselves. Don’t be consumed by the signs and get weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the cares of this life. That day will come upon many like a trap that snaps shut and kills its prey. So, be very aware of how you are reacting to the things you see even now.

All the things going on in the world – the politicization of absolutely everything, pandemic, violence, division, descension, natural disasters, economic difficulties, and even the sorrows we endure in this world – all these things are signs that this world can not and will not endure. So, watch yourself now and consider what those things do to you. Jesus doesn’t want you running around in a panic like Chicken Little now, and He doesn’t want you falling into a trap then. All of these signs point, not to your destruction, but to your redemption. You’ve heard me use this illustration before, but it is too good to not regularly use, and it can be easy to forget this.

Imagine that you are in a castle at night, and suddenly all the guards and soldiers start running to the walls of the castle. They suit up in their armor; grab their swords, battle axes, bows, and arrows; and take their positions on the wall because, outside the castle walls, an army is marching to attack the castle. The boots of the attacking army stop, and you hear the shouts of captains telling the troops to load the catapults and start banging away at the castle gate with the battering ram. Then you hear it. BOOM! The battering ram hits the castle doors, and the walls shake. BOOM! A rock launched from a catapult hits its target. Windows break, glass comes crashing to the floor, and dust falls from the ceiling. Again, and again, and again. BOOM!

Normally, you would be terrified in a situation like that. But not now. Not now because you are in the prison of that castle and are being held captive. The commander who is leading the attack on the castle is Jesus coming to save you. Knowing that, every crash, every clang, every shout of battle, every wall that crumbles around you means that your release and rescue is getting closer and closer. You see the morning sunlight breaking on the horizon, and you know that the day of your redemption is dawning.

Jesus says, “Your redemption is drawing near.” Now, you might be thinking, “Wait a minute! I thought Jesus already brought redemption.” As long as we’ve been Christians, we have been taught that Jesus has redeemed us – bought and freed us from sin, death, and the power of the devil with His holy and precious blood and with His innocent sufferings and death. 1 Peter 1:18-19 says that Christ is the Lamb without blemish or spot who has redeemed us. Hebrews 9:12 says that Jesus entered once into the Holy Place by means of His own blood and secured for us an eternal redemption. Jesus said so Himself on the cross, “It is finished”(Jn. 19:30). Christ has made full satisfaction for all your sins. So, why does Jesus, when He is talking about the end of the world, why does He talk about your redemption drawing near as though it is something in the future?

Christ does it to encourage, comfort, and teach you that in His second coming, everything that He has already accomplished for you in His first coming will be fully yours when He returns. It is yours now by faith, and it will be yours by experience when He returns. Yes, your redemption is complete. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, left to be done. Jesus has purchased you. The transaction is complete. You belong to Him. And all the signs that Jesus mentions here are like tracking updates for a package you are waiting for, and the goods will be delivered soon.

Dear saints, this fallen, sinful world is walking straight into a trap that will devour them and be their end. But not you. For you, Christian, you who have been redeemed by Christ, Jesus’ return is no trap. It is your great hope and expectation. It is your liberation. It is the day of your deliverance and eternal freedom.

We don’t like it when the world seems to be coming apart at the seams. Our fear probably lies in the fact that this world is all we have experienced and known. So, when we see it falling apart at an alarming rate, we get anxious. Repent. This world is not all there is.

This world is ending. Good riddance. Every sign pointing to the end of this world is a sign of your rescue. Those signs are pointing you to the return of your Deliverer, your King, your Savior. Come quickly, Lord Jesus (Rev. 22:20). Amen.

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

The Door – Sermon on Matthew 25:1-13 for the Last Sunday of the Church Year

Nov20

Matthew 25:1-13

¹ [Jesus says,] “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³ For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵ As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ⁶ But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. ¹¹Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹² But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ ¹³ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

One year ago, I preached on this text. After that service, we decorated the sanctuary for the Advent and Christmas season just like we will today. The following Sunday, Lindsay, Siobhan, and Stephanie came up to do our Advent candle lighting. After they did the readings and prayer, Lindsay went to light the first candle. The wick held the flame for a fraction of a second then went out because… there was no oil in that candle. And the wick would not hold a flame.

I bring that up for two reasons: First, whoever brings out the Advent candles today, please check the oil levels so we don’t repeat that this year. The second reason I bring that up is that this parable can seem so trivial. Last year, we were perfectly capable of having our worship service without that candle being lit. We didn’t need its light or the heat created by it. We just moved on. Not having oil seems like such a minor thing. In the parable, five girls are unable to light lamps because they didn’t have oil. Did all ten virgins need to have lit lamps? Was it really that important?

Apparently, yes. In the parable, not having oil to keep a lamp lit makes the difference between being in the feast and being left out. In fact, according to Jesus, having oil makes a person wise, while not having oil makes a person a moron. That’s literally the word Jesus uses; the word translated ‘foolish’ in our text is the Greek word μωρός where we get our word ‘moron.’

Now, we don’t know enough about wedding customs in Jesus’ day to know why it was so important for all the ten virgins to have enough oil to keep a lamp lit. The groom didn’t need those lamps to be able to see his way into the marriage feast. He had already made his way through the town to get to the location. All we know is that once the groom arrives, the lamp must be lit.

Jesus teaches that there will be a final cut off point. There is a moment when your status of being in or out will not and can not change. While the five morons are off trying to buy oil from the sellers – and remember this is at midnight, so those sellers would have closed up their shops and had probably gone to bed hours earlier – while the five morons are off on their futile errand, the groom arrives. The feast starts. The door is shut. And that door will not open again. Those who aren’t ready will be left outside forever.

The coming of the groom made a division. Those who were prepared poured oil in their lamps and went into the wedding feast with him. But the morons start scrambling around trying to find oil, and when they return, they find they are out in the darkness where there is only weeping and gnashing of teeth. And the last words they hear from their Savior, the groom, are, “I don’t know you.”

Let’s consider a few things about that door that gives entrance to the wise and excludes the morons.

First, notice that when the groom arrives, those who were ready go through that door immediately (v. 10). When Jesus returns, you won’t have to do any convincing or proving of yourself. You won’t have to go somewhere to be purified. Your worthiness to enter is established. There is nothing left for you to do. Christian, your entrance is immediate. If you die today, you will be escorted by the angels directly into Jesus’ presence where your soul will await the resurrection. And if Jesus comes before you die, you will go straight into the banquet of the eternal wedding feast.

That brings me to the second thought about the door. Remember what is behind that door. It’s a wedding feast. Wedding feasts are fun. At your wedding feast, you had family, friends, classmates, and coworkers – a bunch of people who are special and important to you – they all were in the same room mingling, eating, laughing, dancing, and celebrating with you. Your wedding reception was filled with people who will probably never be in the same room again – at least not in this life. Your cousin from Nebraska, your college roommate from California, and your boss will never be in the same room again, but at your wedding feast, they all enjoyed each other’s company. Now imagine that laughter, joy, and merriment times infinity.

The third thought about this door is that it gets shut. Normally, we think about this as a horrifying thing, and for the unbeliever it is. Absolutely, it is. For those outside there will be no entering once the door is shut. But you, Christian, are not left outside. You are inside. How do you suppose Noah and his family felt about God shutting the door and closing them in the ark as the rains came down and the floods went up? They would have felt safe and secure. It’s the same for you. When God shuts that door, He will close out any bit of danger or evil so that it will never touch you.

Finally, the door being shut means that you, Christian, will be forever with Jesus. In the parable, how many entered into the wedding feast? It wasn’t just the five wise virgins. There are six. The bridegroom is inside with them, with the five wise virgins. The groom doesn’t say, “Go on in.” No, they go in with him. It’s so obvious, but don’t miss that.

Dear saints, now is the time to fill your flasks with oil! You do not know how much you will need. The five morons knew they needed oil all along. As soon as the cry went out, that was their only focus, but it was too late. Everyone knows they need oil. Get it now. Why, why would you ever think you have enough oil?

The oil isn’t expensive – in fact it’s free! But you don’t have eternity to get the oil. There is a deadline, and you do not know when that deadline will come. Don’t procrastinate. Receive the gift of faith through the ways God has promised to give it. Go ahead and hoard it. Why would you become complacent and think you don’t need more of God’s Word, God’s mercy, God’s grace, and God’s Sacraments?

Jesus is coming. The Bridegroom said He would return to take you to where He is. But you do not know when. Today feels like a lot like yesterday, and yesterday felt like the day before. And because Jesus didn’t come yesterday or the day before, it can be easy to think that Christ is not coming today. Don’t become a moron, repent! It is easy to fall asleep. It is easy to get distracted with many things and think the time to get oil will last forever. But it won’t.

Yes, this parable is a warning. Yes, it is a call to endure and persevere because being left outside would be horrific. But. But at the same time let’s all take a deep breath and laugh because we are waiting for a party where there is gladness, peace, and joy.

When Jesus warns about His coming, He doesn’t tell a parable about ten soldiers – five wise who always kept their swords within reach and five morons who couldn’t remember where they set their weapons down. Then, the enemy attacked, and the five morons were utterly defeated. No. It’s the parable of the ten virgins waiting for a party.

Jesus is coming, and we wait for that day with expectation, hope, and joy. And, now, Jesus your Savior comes to you to meet you at this altar to have a feast of forgiveness and mercy. Communion is the closest we will get to the party before Jesus returns. It’s a foretaste of the feast to come.

So, dear saints, come. Your bridegroom is here with you now. Trim your lamps because you have the oil of salvation. Amen.

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

Living Forgiveness – Sermon on Matthew 18:21-35 for the Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity

Nov13

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. 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.

Jesus said to Peter, “No, forgiving seven times isn’t enough. Instead, seventy-seven (or it could also be translated ‘seventy multiplied by seven’) times.” Now, Jesus doesn’t mean that you forgive and forgive and forgive, but when you get either to 76 or 489 forgivings (sic) you warn the other person, “Listen buster, you’ve only got one left.” Nope, let the forgiveness flow freely.

Before we consider the parable, we have to do some conversions. Two different servants have two different debts. Servant 1 owes the king 10,000 talents. A talent was originally a unit of weight that later became a unit of coinage, and the value of that coinage would change a lot. Most resources say that one talent is equal to twenty years of pay for the average worker. So, imagine your annual income, double it, and slap five zeros on the end of it. That’s what the first servant owed the king. Even if he lived and worked every day for 2,000 years giving every penny to the king, it would only shave off a 1% sliver off his debt.

Servant 2 owed a debt to servant 1 to the tune of 100 denarii. Now, this is still a significant amount of money. The average worker earned one denarius per day. So, we’re talking about a little over 3 months’ worth of pay. Significant yes, but a manageable amount. It is totally conceivable and reasonable that someone can pay off a debt of 100 denarii.

Now, the three main characters in the parable are obvious: the king, servant 1, and servant 2. But as we consider the parable today, I want you to imagine yourself in the roll of one of the minor characters. Imagine you are one of the other servants.

The king has called you and all the servants who owe him money to the castle. You are standing in line outside the king’s office. You compare debts with the other servants. You are a little nervous because you don’t know what the king is going to do about your debt. Now, imagine you are standing in line behind servant 1 who owed the 10,000 talents, and you know how large his debt is. He goes into the king’s office, but you don’t know what is happening behind that door. You want to catch a glimpse of servant 1 as he comes out because his demeanor will give you an indication of how it is going to go for you. If he’s smiling or skipping, you’d have a sense of relief because you’d know that the king is in a good mood and your meeting with the king might not be so bad.

Finally, the door opens. Servant 1 comes out of the king’s office, he immediately runs over to servant 2, wrings his neck, and demands that the guy pay him everything. What are you going to conclude about how his meeting with the king went? He didn’t come out in shackles to be led to the prison, but he wasn’t happy. Seeing his treatment of servant 2, you would probably assume that the king had not forgiven his debt and demanded full payment. You would probably deduce that the king gave him some time – maybe a couple of weeks or months – to pay off the debt.

Dear saints, that’s the problem of refusing to forgive.

If people don’t know what happens here in this sanctuary, the only clues they have would be to watch how you act when you aren’t here. So, as others watch you, what will they conclude about what has happened here? What would they think about your king? Would they figure that He demanded that you pay? Would they think He is gracious and merciful, or would they assume that He is a King who demands that all debts get paid?

Dear saints, God wants to be known for His goodness. God wants to be known by His mercy. God wants to be known for His willingness to freely forgive. And if you refuse to forgive those who have sinned against you, what does that say about your God and King?

All this is to say, dear saints, that you, as forgiven servants of the King, are called to live out the forgiveness you have in Christ. This can be a difficult thing because it goes against our nature to forgive. But the cure of our unforgiveness doesn’t come from being beaten down by calls to forgive. The cure for our unforgiveness is to have a right understanding the massive debt that each of us owe to God. When we wrongly think that have only a little debt of sin, we can only have a little Savior. Jesus didn’t go to the cross because you were a few bucks short of your heavenly entrance fee. He went to the cross because your sin was so great that you are too dead to even see the gates.

Sin – all sin – is against God (Ps. 51:4; 1 Cor. 8:12). Every day, you and I rack up an unimaginable, incalculable debt of sin. And when God calls you in to settle accounts what does He do? Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, God simply wipes it out. Because of Jesus, as far as God is concerned, your debt of sin never existed.

Jesus completely erased your debt by the shedding of His blood. He went to Calvary, not so you would have enough time to get your act together and become a better person. He went to raise you from your deadness in sin. When you were lost, powerless, and dead, Jesus made all – not just a portion – all of your debt His own. And on the cross, He killed and cancelled that debt. Jesus who knew no sin became sin for you (2 Cor. 5:21) and He bore all your sins in His body upon the cross (1 Pet. 2:24). And now the grave is empty. Your debt of sin has been erased in the death and resurrection of your Savior.

You are forgiven. Jesus didn’t die just to get you to a zero balance; He came to erase your debt and fill your account with His righteousness. His mercy is complete. He has paid and absorbed all your debt, and you owe Him nothing. There is absolutely nothing left for you to pay, and there is nothing you could do to even begin to pay Him back. Even the thought of paying Him back is offensive because what He has done is so complete, so wonderful, and so merciful.

Now, when your neighbor sins against you and you feel the hurt and pain of those transgressions against you, don’t reach out your hands to grab your neighbor by the throat. Instead, let the nail-scarred hands of Jesus remove your hands from around your neighbor’s throat and make you right and at peace with Him and your neighbor.

There is no denying the fact that forgiving others is a difficult thing to do. Sin is a debt, and that debt must be paid. Forgiving others is absorbing the debt that is owed to you. The pain that comes from the sins of others is real and often terrible. It is always tempting to our old nature to hold a grudge, to make them pay, to construct a prison in our minds, and to put the offender into it. But the only thing that prison will ever hold is you. Unforgiveness imprisons you in a space where there is only judgment. Dear saints, unforgiveness is hell.

To forgive means ‘to send away.’ The only way to be freed from the pain and hurt of sin that others commit against you is to forgive it, release it, and send it away.

Forgiving others does not mean you approve what they have done. Forgiveness means that the offense has hurt you, but you won’t return the pain upon them with judgment. And forgiveness isn’t a license for the other person to continue sinning. The biggest lie the devil will ever tell you is that forgiving someone will just encourage them keep sinning against you, taking advantage of you, and making you a doormat. That satanic lie is a sneaky attack on God’s forgiveness. Is God worried about His forgiveness encouraging you to sin? Nope! Absolutely not. He forgives you fully and freely.

Dear saints, God’s forgiveness of you is a living, life-giving thing. No matter how much and how often you come under His debt with your sin, God gives you His mercy and forgiveness. God remembers your sins no more (Jer. 31:34). Because of Jesus, your sins are released from you as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). God has shown you, what is good and what He requires of you. Do justice, and love mercy, and walk humbly with your God (Mic. 6:8). Let that full, free forgiveness that God has given you in Christ be the key that opens the gates of your forgiveness toward others. Amen.

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

Blessed, Now and Forever – Sermon on Matthew 5:1-12 for All Saints’ Day (Observed)

Nov6

Matthew 5:1-12

¹ Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. ²And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
⁵ “Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.
⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
⁷ “Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall receive mercy.
⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.
⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called sons of God.
¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
¹¹ “Blessed are you
when others revile you and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
¹² “Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward is great in heaven,
for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Just to let you know, this sermon is on the Beatitudes. It might not seem like it at first, though, because we’re going to take a round-about way of getting into it.

Dear saints and holy ones. That’s you, Christian. You are a saint; you are a holy one. That’s what the word ‘saint’ means – it simply means ‘holy one.’ You are not holy because you have lived a holy life, done enough good works, and performed at least two verifiable miracles. No. You are holy because God has made you holy through Jesus who died and rose again for you. He shed His holy and precious blood on the cross, and you have washed your robes white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14). If Jesus is holy (and He is), then you are holy because you have been Baptized into Christ and have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27).

This also means that you are God’s holy, beloved children now (1 Jn. 3:2). “Behold what manner of love the Father has given to [you], that [you] should be called children of God; and so [you] are” (1 Jn. 3:1). That Epistle lesson today (1 Jn. 3:1-3) invites us to behold, to see, this great love of God the Father.

So, picture a great, mighty, wealthy, powerful king. This king is unimaginably strong. His family is large. His servants are devoted. His castle is breathtaking. His kingdom is magnificent and awesome. This king has huge armies with formidable soldiers who defeat every enemy they face, and he is brilliant when it comes to war strategy.

This king is fighting against his enemy, and into his camp is brought a lowly, pitiful servant of the enemy. This servant had been fighting against and trying to usurp the king. This pathetic servant is bloodied, clothed in rags, and injured so badly that he looks like he’s about to die. This servant has been captured and is thrown on the ground before the king. The king should just put him to death. Maybe, if the king wanted to be nice, he could throw the servant into a dungeon to live out the rest of his miserable days. But the king doesn’t do that.

Instead, the king walks over to this poor wretch, kneels next to him, and gently lifts his head to look at his face. Finally, the king speaks. He pardons and forgives the servant for his rebellion. Then, the king takes the man’s hand and helps him stand up. He tends to his wounds, puts him in the best tent, and feeds him the finest food. The king gives him an office in his kingdom and even adopts this servant as his own child. That man was an enemy and good as dead. But now, he is the royal heir of the king.

Behold, what manner of love the Father has given you, that you should be called a child of God. Dear saints and holy ones, that is your story. But that isn’t the end of your story. Yes, you are God’s children now, but what you will be has not yet appeared, but it has been described and promised. Now, this brings us to the Beatitudes.

Our translation of each of the Beatitudes, begins with the word ‘blessed.’ It’s a good translation, but it might leave us with a superficial and limited understanding because people speak about being ‘blessed’ in very shallow ways. Today, when people talk about being blessed, they typically mean good things are happening to them, and those good things are obvious to everyone. But the status of those whom Jesus declares to be ‘blessed’ are not things that we usually consider to be blessings. The first four are needs and lacks; things that we think of as deficiencies – poor, mourning, meek/humble, and being hungry and thirsty. And the next four are virtues – merciful, pure, peacemaker, and enduring persecution.

The word Jesus uses that gets translated as ‘blessed’ refers a state of being that is happy (in fact the word Jesus uses here is how the Greek translation of the Old Testament translates the Hebrew word for ‘happy’). But even the word ‘happy’ falls short because the word also means joyful, at peace with God and the world, and content. This blessedness ultimately refers to being what you are meant to be because you are reconciled to God.

So, think back to the picture of the mighty, powerful king who adopts that servant. Imagine that adopted servant kept going out with the king to fight in battles. He might question some of the king’s strategies. He probably thinks the king is taking risks that are too great or retreating and giving up territory that should be defended. Sometimes, the newly adopted servant might think that the king is out of his mind and that the kingdom is crumbling or even already fallen. But the king keeps putting everything into perspective. He reveals his plan and assures the servant that what he is doing is intentional and that the victory is soon to come.

The Beatitudes are just that. They are Jesus putting everything into perspective and telling you that the evil and sorrowful things you see and experience in this world are not a danger to the kingdom because the war has already been won and the kingdom is fully secured by Jesus’ death and resurrection. Satan is defeated. The devilish head of the serpent has been crushed. The light of Christ will always drive away the darkness.

Just take one of the Beatitudes as an example. Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Typically, our experience tells us the opposite. We normally think that it is the strong, proud, type-A personalities who are blessed because they always seem to get ahead and have the most influence over what takes place in the world. But consider Jesus, the meekest human ever. Though He was God in the flesh and Creator of the universe, He was meek and submitted to His earthly parents, Joseph and Mary (Lk. 2:51). King Jesus entered Jerusalem meek and mounted on a donkey (Mt. 21:5). Christ could have called twelve legions of angels to deliver Him from being arrested, beaten, and crucified (Mt. 26:53), but He didn’t. In every aspect of His life Jesus was meek and humble. Now, He is risen and seated at God’s right hand on the throne of the universe with all authority in heaven and on earth (Mt. 28:18).

So, when Jesus says, “The meek will inherit the earth,” you can trust Him. Psalm 37 expands on what Jesus says in this Beatitude. In summary, Psalm 37 says to not worry about people who do evil, they will soon fade like the grass. Be still before the Lord, wait patiently for Him, and don’t worry about it when evil people seem to be prospering because they will be cut off. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more. The meek shall inherit the land and delight in the abundant peace that God will give to them. I would encourage you to read Psalm 37 before you read or watch any news. Then, read it again afterward. Let God’s Word and promises put everything into perspective.

As Jesus speaks the Beatitudes to you, you are like Abraham. You stand in the Promised Land without an army, weak, and surrounded by enemies, but Christ promises, “This is all yours.” And, like Abraham, you believe and trust God’s promise and that faith is counted to you as righteousness (Gen. 15:5-7).

Again, when Jesus repeatedly tells you that you are blessed here, He is saying that you are exactly what you are meant to be. In a world that is still tainted with sin, it is right and good for you to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be meek, and to hunger and thirst for righteousness. It shows that you recognize that things are not now as they were created to be. It is also proper for you as a child of the king to have those virtues – merciful, pure, peacemaker, and enduring persecution. Jesus uses the Beatitudes to encourage and remind you that the brokenness surrounding you has already been fixed by His death and resurrection.

Here Jesus comforts you by telling you that all your suffering is temporary, and in that suffering, you are following in the same footsteps that He walked. If the world treats you badly, know that you are not alone. That is how the world treated the saints who came before you, and if Jesus continues to delay, it is how it will treat the saints who come after you. If the kingdom of heaven is anything, it is a kingdom of hope. And you can have this hope because you have these blessings now and in the future.

Dear saints, the kingdom of heaven is yours. Your pain, your loneliness, and even your suffering is not random or accidental. Your mourning will cease, and you will be comforted. Some of your loved ones have gone to heaven and have already come to their reward. They are now before the throne of God and sheltered in His presence. Jesus, the Lamb, has shepherded them and wiped away every tear from their eyes (Rev. 7:15-18).

And even though you are separated from them now, that separation is temporary and a lot less distant than it seems to be. Those saints in glory join us here because we have come to Mt. Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. We are surrounded by innumerable angels in festal gathering and surrounded by the assembly of all the saints who are enrolled in heaven (Heb. 12:22-23). This is true because we have come to Jesus. This is the hope that surpasses all understanding (Php. 4:7). When the fight is fierce and warfare long, listen and hear the distant triumph song. Then your hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.

Dear saints, you are blessed by Jesus, now and forever. Amen.

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

Salvation unto Us Has Come – Sermon for Reformation Sunday (Observed) 2022

Oct30

The Scripture readings for our service today were Revelation 14:6-7; Romans 3:19-28; and John 8:31-36.

A sheet with Scripture verses that were used to compose the hymn “Salvation unto Us Has Come” can be found here.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

We are all slaves – every one of us. Romans 3:23 says, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” And here in v. 34, Jesus says, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” And don’t misunderstand the word ‘practice’ there. It is a fine translation, but we might get the wrong idea if we think the word ‘practice’ means someone who does something over and over to get better at it. I don’t think anyone here is actively trying to get better at lying, stealing, cheating, etc. The word Jesus uses here that gets translated as ‘practice’ is simply the word ‘do’ or ‘does.’ We will say that a doctor ‘practices’ medicine because medicine is simply what the doctor does. Literally, Jesus’ statement here could read, “All who do sin are slaves to sin.” And because “all have sinned,” (Ro. 3:23), we all are slaves to sin.

Slaves do not remain in the house. Only sons do. That is why you need Jesus – the eternal Son of God – to set you free. Christ sets you free through His Word because His Word delivers to you everything that He has done and accomplished on the cross. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, you are delivered from your slavery, you are freed, you become God’s child, and, as God’s children, you remain in the house forever with Jesus.

Now, that’s a full sermon right there, but we’ve still got some time. So, I want to bring in a guest preacher to teach us the same thing. The name of the preacher is Pastor Paul Speratus. Pastor Speratus wrote the hymn that you have in your Scripture insert. This hymn, “Salvation unto Us Has Come,” ends up being a complete summary of the theology of the Reformation, and since today is Reformation Sunday, we’re going to sing it and let it preach to us. I know some of you will find this boring, but please give me just a minute to set the stage for how this hymn came to be written.

Speratus was a Catholic priest in Salzburg, Austria. You probably know Salzburg because of the movie The Sound of Music. Well, Speratus had read Luther’s writings that came after the 95 Thesis, and Speratus recognized how far the church had wandered from the teaching of the Scriptures. So, Speratus starts preaching Law and Gospel in Salzburg. Luther got condemned for his writings in 1521, but Luther was protected from that sentence of death – basically, by being kidnapped and hidden in a castle where he spends 300 days translating the Bible into German. Well, Speratus also ends up being sentenced to death for heresy in 1523 and was sentenced to be burned at the stake. Like Luther, Speratus gets rescued from execution. But during his time in prison, Speratus writes this hymn.

You might think that sitting in prison and waiting for execution, Speratus would write a hymn about God’s protection and provision. But no. Speratus writes a hymn about the theology of salvation. Speratus wrote this hymn because Luther had just started conducting services in German and called on German-speakers to write hymns that taught the truths of Scripture in the German language so the people would have good songs to use in worship. This hymn is one of those. Apparently, when Luther first heard it, he offered the singer all the money he had in his pocket for the lyrics. And the hymn ended up being included in the first German hymnal which only had eight songs in it. The history lesson on the hymn is now over.

Personally, I love how clearly this hymn teaches what the Bible teaches, and according to Scripture, that is what Christian songs should do (Col. 3:16). The nice thing about this hymn is that Speratus included the Scripture passages he had in mind when he wrote the hymn. Those passages are included on the insert in your bulletin. This hymn would be a good addition to your devotional time. If you don’t have a regular devotional, my suggestion would be to read the passages for the first verse then sing it. The next day sing the first verse, then read the passages for the second verse and sing it. The third day, sing the first two verses, then read the Scriptures for the third and sing it. Do that for ten days adding a new verse each day.

By the time you finish, you will be a great theologian because this hymn so clearly teaches Law, Gospel, and holy living. It clearly teaches how our good works don’t help or save us, which is what the church of Rome was falsely teaching. Instead, faith produces the fruit of good works which are good because they serve our neighbor.

So, we’re going to let the hymn preach to us. Because it’s a long hymn, we won’t sing all ten verses at once. I’ll give your voices a break and make brief comments here and there. Feel free to sing it from the insert, but if you would like to have the music, it is #410 in your hymnal. Let’s start with the first verse.

1. Salvation unto us has come
by God’s free grace and favor;
Good works cannot avert our doom,
they help and save us never.
Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone,
Who did for all the world atone;
He is our one Redeemer.

This verse summarizes everything that will come after it. God, by His free grace and favor given through Jesus, has set you free. Through faith in Jesus, you are a child of God. The last two lines of that verse tell us what Jesus has done. He made the payment for you. He is the one and only Redeemer.

Now, because the hymn was written in German then translated into English, some of the wording is slightly changed from the original to make the poetry work in English. But those last two lines in German say that Jesus, “has done enough for us all. He has become our Mediator.” Jesus has done everything you needed to be saved, and now He sits at God’s right hand interceding for you and governing all things for your good.

Now, the hymn goes on to elaborate what Jesus needed to do. Let’s sing verses 2-3.

2. What God did in His Law demand
and none to Him could render
Caused wrath and woe on ev’ry hand
for man, the vile offender,
Our flesh has not those pure desires
The spirit of the Law requires,
and lost is our condition.

3. It was a false, misleading dream
that God His Law had given
That sinners could themselves redeem
and by their works gain heaven.
The Law is but a mirror bright
To bring the inbred sin to light
that lurks within our nature.

Because of our sinful nature, we don’t even begin to do what God requires of us through the Law. And even though we falsely think that we’re better than others, the Law is a bright mirror that shows our desperately lost and sinful condition. Let’s sing verse 4.

4. From sin our flesh could not abstain,
sin held its sway unceasing;
The task was useless and in vain,
our guilt was e’er increasing.
None can remove sin’s poisoned dart
Or purify our guileful heart—
so deep is our corruption.

Apart from Jesus, we have no hope of salvation. The poison of sin continues to slowly kill and destroy us. The Law leaves us dead in sin. But that does not mean that we are without hope. We’ll sing verse 5.

5. Yet as the Law must be fulfilled
or we must die despairing,
Christ came and hath God’s anger stilled,
our human nature sharing.
He hath for us the Law obeyed
And thus, the Father’s vengeance stayed
which over us impended.

Jesus has fulfilled the Law for you. He is your substitute. The eternal Son of God took on your flesh to do all this for you. He perfectly obeyed the Law for you. He suffered the punishment your sins deserved. And because of that, God sees Jesus’ perfection when He looks at you, believer. God has no anger left for your sins because Jesus has taken it all. Verse 6.

6. Since Christ hath full atonement made
and brought to us salvation,
Each Christian therefore may be glad
and build on this foundation.
Thy grace alone, dear Lord, I plead,
Thy death is now my life indeed,
for Thou hast paid my ransom.

There is nothing left for you to do to be saved. Everything is done; it is finished (Jn. 19:30). The hymn takes a turn in that verse and addresses God directly. We ask God to apply everything Jesus has done to us. His death is your life. He has fully paid the ransom for your soul. Verses 7-8.

7. Let me not doubt, but trust in Thee,
Thy Word cannot be broken;
Thy call rings out, “Come unto Me!”
no falsehood hast Thou spoken.
Baptized into Thy precious name,
My faith cannot be put to shame,
and I shall never perish.

8. The Law reveals the guilt of sin
and makes men conscience-stricken;
The Gospel then doth enter in
the sinful soul to quicken.
Come to the cross, trust Christ, and live;
The Law no peace can ever give,
no comfort and no blessing.

Jesus calls to you, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Trusting in that call, you will never ever be put to shame. Jesus has come so that you have eternal, abundant life. Verse 9.

9. Faith clings to Jesus’ cross alone
and rests in Him unceasing;
And by its fruits true faith is known.
with love and hope increasing.
Yet faith alone doth justify,
Works serve thy neighbor and supply
the proof that faith is living.

Faith in Jesus is the only thing that saves you, but faith is never alone. Christian, you do good works, but those works never save you. Those works are simply the fruit of the Spirit that serves your neighbor and shows that your faith is alive and well.

Now, the hymn closes with a doxology. We get swept up into the liturgy of heaven and join all the saints who have gone before us by praising God for what He has done for us in Christ. Let’s sing the final verse.

10. All blessing, honor, thanks, and praise
to Father, Son, and Spirit,
The God that saved us by His grace—
all glory to His merit!
O Triune God in heaven above,
Who hast revealed Thy saving love,
Thy blessed name be hallowed.

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

Diagnosed – Sermon on Matthew 9:1-8 for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity

Oct23

Matthew 9:1-8

¹ And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. ² And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” ³ And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” ⁴But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ⁶ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – he then said to the paralytic – “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he rose and went home. ⁸ When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

When you go to the doctor, you have certain expectations of what is going to happen. You know that you will fill out forms and provide information about your health history and habits. You expect to have your weight, heart, lungs, blood pressure, and reflexes checked. Depending on the reason for your visit, you also anticipate other tests – bloodwork or other lab work; an x-ray, ultrasound, or MRI; maybe a stress test or sleep study. Depending on the results of all of that, you expect more tests might get ordered. Only after all those results are studied and considered will the doctor call you in to present a diagnosis and offer a treatment plan.

Well, in our Gospel text today, this paralytic is brought to Jesus, and by all appearances, Jesus skips right over the testing and diagnosis process and goes straight to the treatment saying, “Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven.”

For a moment, use your sanctified imagination to consider this from the perspective of the paralytic’s friends. Matthew has condensed the story in his Gospel. Here in v. 2, he tells us that ‘some people’ brought this paralytic to Jesus. But Mark and Luke give a fuller picture of this event, filling in some of the details (Mk. 2:1-12; Lk. 5:17-26). They let us know that it was four men (Mk. 2:3) who carried this paralytic to Jesus, and they had a difficult time getting their friend there. People from the whole region had heard that Jesus was in town, and so many people had gathered to hear Him preach (Lk. 5:17) that there was no room to even get in the door (Mk. 2:2). So, these four friends lug their paralyzed buddy on top of the house, punch a hole in the roof, and lower him down to get him in front of Jesus (Mk. 2:4).

Now, this is just an aside. As a preacher, I have, what I hope is, a godly and pious curiosity about this. At what point does Jesus stop preaching? Is it when He hears the scuffle of eight feet on the roof above Him? I think that would distract me enough that I’d stop preaching, but, please, don’t test that hypothesis. Is it when the pounding starts or until bits of dirt and debris start falling from the ceiling? Maybe, Jesus preached straight through all of that until the paralytic was being lowered through the new skylight above Him. I guess I’ll just have to go rent the video at heaven’s Blockbuster. Maybe all of heaven’s Blockbusters have closed and everything is available through streaming services. Anyway…

These four friends go through all that work and effort knowing that they would have more work later to fix the hole they made. They had brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus to be healed (Lk. 5:17-18). But, to their perspective, Jesus skips right over the diagnosis and says, “Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven.”The worst thing is that it looks like the wrong treatment! Imagine you had a friend with a badly sprained ankle, so you bring him to a new doctor in town. The doctor watches your friend limp in, but before your friend even says why he is there, and before asking any questions or doing any tests, the doctor says to your friend, “Here is a prescription for Lipitor for your high cholesterol.” You’d probably report the doctor to have his license revoked. Well, that is essentially what Jesus does.

We might think that the healing of this paralytic is a lesson that the most important thing we need is the forgiveness of sins. Above money, security, food, house, or health we need forgiveness. Once Jesus forgives this paralytic of his sins, he has everything he needs. If the text had stopped there and Jesus hadn’t miraculously given this man the ability to walk, it wouldn’t be too bad. He could have lived the rest of his life paralyzed because he had everything he needed for eternal life. In fact, the physical healing seems to take the back seat in this text. Jesus only heals him after the grumbling of the scribes. You could even conclude that Jesus never intended to heal the guy and only does so as an afterthought.

Now, to be sure, the most important thing that everyone needs is the forgiveness of sins. But if the main thing you take away from this text is that physical healing isn’t important, you’re wrong. This isn’t Jesus’ first miracle. There were many others that He healed before and after this. Just before this, Jesus healed a leper (Mt. 8:1-4), but Jesus didn’t forgive him before He healed him. Right after that, a centurion asks Jesus to heal his paralyzed servant (Mt. 8:5-13), but no absolution. Then, Matthew records that Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law who had a fever, Christ heals a whole slew of other people and casts out demons (Mt. 8:14-17), but no mention of Jesus proclaiming forgiveness there either. All over the Gospels, Jesus will heal people, but there is no mention of absolution. In fact, most of the time when Jesus mentions forgiveness and salvation, it’s only after He heals. We don’t take those instances to mean that Jesus cares more about physical healing more than forgiveness.

Now, where am I going with all of this? Jesus is a Pastor – in fact Jesus is the Pastor. The word ‘pastor’ simply means ‘shepherd.’ Jesus is the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10:11), the Good Pastor. Christ knows when His sheep need to be fed by green pastures or led beside still waters, and He knows when His sheep need to have their soul restored with forgiveness and mercy (Ps. 23:1-3). Jesus doesn’t need to run a bunch of diagnostic tests to figure out what His sheep need. He always knows and gives the right treatment, and He always perfectly gives what His sheep need. Jesus, the Good Pastor, so intimately knows you and all your actions, thoughts, and ways that you are always diagnosed and receive the care you need.

The reason Jesus forgives this paralytic before healing his paralysis is that is what the man needed. The man’s friends – maybe even the man himself – figured what he needed most was to be able to use his limbs again. But Jesus, the Good Shepherd and Pastor, knows best. So, Christ forgives the man. “Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven.” And those words deliver to the paralytic exactly what he needed.

I’m going to change gears here for just a minute. It’s October, and I’m aware that October, among other things, is Pastor Appreciation month. First of all, I want to thank you all for how good you’ve been to me, your pastor, for the past twelve years and ten plus months. I can’t imagine being called by God to shepherd a better flock. Last week, I preached about stewardship and tithing and mentioned how I don’t particularly like to preach about that. Well, preaching about the duties of a pastor is low on my preference list as well. But Scripture teaches about the duties of pastors, so preaching the full council of God requires me to preach about what I’m supposed to do as a pastor. So, here we go.

Every pastor is an under-shepherd of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. And I confess to you that I am a very flawed shepherd. Jesus shepherded this paralytic man exactly as he needed. But I know that there are times where I have not shepherded rightly. I don’t always know what is needed in any given situation.

God has given pastors one tool to use and apply to the flocks entrusted to their care – His Word of Law and Gospel. There have been times where I have given Law when you needed comfort and forgiveness, which results in you being further discouraged and dismayed. And there are times when I gave the Gospel of comfort and forgiveness when the Law should have been proclaimed, and that can lead to a boldness to continue in sin. This is a long way around for me to say, “I’m not as good of a pastor as Jesus is.”

First of all, please forgive me for my shortcomings as your pastor. And second, please pray for me that God would give me the wisdom and words that are needed in each interaction I have as your pastor. But I take great comfort in God’s promise that whenever His Word goes forth it always accomplishes the purpose for which God sends it (Is. 55:10-11). I am also comforted by the fact that God can always shut my mouth if I am doing more harm than good. But again, please pray for me.

I want to close by pointing you back to Jesus, my Boss, and your perfect Shepherd. Notice how Christ is always perfectly in tune with His sheep. Jesus sees the faith of the people who brought the paralytic to Him, so He immediately applies the Gospel of forgiveness. He knows the grumbling of the scribes after He absolves the paralytic and applies the Law to them. And notice how Jesus’ perfect diagnosing and shepherding results in the crowds glorifying God.

Those crowds glorify God because God had given authority to forgive sins to men (Mt. 9:8). That line struck me this week. Notice, it’s plural – to men, not to ‘a man,’ not just to Jesus, but to men. Dear saints, as those who have been redeemed, restored, and forgiven by Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jesus has given you the authority to forgive the sins of others. Jesus says in John 20:23, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.”

My fellow Christians, Jesus invites you to join with Him in proclaiming to a broken creation the forgiveness and eternal life He has won by His death and resurrection. May we carry that treatment and soul-saving medicine to a hurting world. Amen.

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

To Your God Belongs All – Sermon on Deuteronomy 10:12-21 for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

Oct16

Deuteronomy 10:12-21

¹² “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good? ¹⁴ Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. ¹⁵ Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. ¹⁶ Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. ¹⁷ For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. ¹⁸ He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. ¹⁹ Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. ²¹ He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Don’t put the cart before the horse. When we hear this text, it is very easy to focus on all the things we are called to do because the text opens with the question: “What does the Lord your God require of you?” Then all these directives come. Fear God. Walk in His ways. Love Him. Serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Keep His commandments and statutes. Don’t be stubborn. Love the sojourner. Hold fast to Him. There is a lot to do there – so much, in fact, that we recognize that we have not even begun to do what God requires of us. Right away we find that we have a lot of repenting to do, and repent we should. But, again, don’t put the cart before the horse.

Notice who wants you to do all these things – the Lord your God. Six times in this text, that is God’s title – the Lord your God. And just to make sure you get it drilled into your head, you are reminded in the final verse that He is your God (v. 21).

Know, dear saints, this God of gods and Lord of lords – the One who owns heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it – He is your God. He has chosen you. He could have chosen anyone, but He chose you. He did not choose you because you were bigger, stronger, smarter, more obedient, or more faithful than others. He has not chosen you because of anything you have thought, said, or done. You belong to God. You, dear saints, according to 1 Pet. 2:9, are His chosen people, His royal priesthood, His holy nation, and a people for His own possession. You are these things because the Lord God of heaven and earth has chosen you and set His heart in love on you (v. 15). He is your God because He has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. And the Lord your God has done all of this because of what Jesus has done for you.

Jesus, your Savior, lived a perfect life. He was perfectly obedient to God. He took all your sin to the cross (1 Pet. 2:24) where God poured out all His wrath upon your sin, and not one bit of that wrath is left for you. Jesus paid it all, and He paid it all for you. Your sin had left a crimson stain, but Jesus has washed you white as snow. To God belongs heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth and all that is in it, and Jesus has restored you to your proper place – your proper place before God and your proper place in His creation. That’s the horse that pulls the cart, and now we can turn to the cart.

As this text lays out all the things the Lord your God requires of you, it is nothing more than a call for you to be like Him and follow after His image. In other words, if we boil down all these things God calls us to be, it is a call for us to be the stewards He has created us to be.^[1]

So, think back to the creation. God created Adam and Eve in His image and blessed His image-bearers saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Because of our sinful nature, we hear those instructions “have dominion” and “subdue” and think that we get to call all the shots and beat creation into submission so that it conforms to our will. But that wasn’t the case originally. Because Adam and Eve were created in God’s image and perfectly reflected the will and heart of the God who created and owns all things, they were simply stewards of everything God created.

As Genesis 2 closes, Adam and Eve were doing exactly what God had created them to do. They were perfectly stewarding God’s creation. They were receiving from God all that He wanted to give to them. God had created the entire universe to bless mankind, the crown of His creation. God designed them to have open hands that received all the blessings they needed for life. But then, in Genesis 3, the serpent comes slithering into the picture. He lies and convinces them that God was holding out on them and not giving them everything He had to give. After hearing this lie, Eve begins to look at things differently. Watch what her hands do. Instead of having an open hand to receive all of God’s blessings, her hand turns over to take. Both Adam and Eve take and eat. This taking betrays their identity. Instead of being stewards, they wrongly thought they were the owners, but there had been no transfer of ownership.

The creature cannot be the Creator, and the steward cannot be the Owner. Adam and Eve’s attempt to change their identity ends up destroying the perfect relationship that existed between Creator, steward, and creation. Because of that, life became hard. All creation, which God designed to be a blessing that supported life, will cause them pain and suffering. Now their work, will be filled with sweat, toil, pain, and, ultimately, death.

The interesting thing in all of this, though, is that God did not remove them from their calling and duty of being stewards. And this is where you come into the story. You, as God’s creature, are still a steward of God’s creation. Even though you daily and regularly fail in this role, it is still yours. Even though your hands turn over to reach out and take what is not yours, Jesus has come to redeem you and forgive you of all your sins. On the cross, your debt was paid. The empty tomb on Easter is the receipt (Ro. 4:25).

This means, dear saints, that you are a new creation; the old has passed away and the new has come. And now, God has entrusted you with being a steward of the Gospel which is the message of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17-20). With an open hand, you receive God’s forgiveness and mercy, and that open hand allows that forgiveness and mercy to also flow to others. And it is those same open hands that freely receive and freely give all of God’s other gifts too. And one of the ways that you continue in your role as a steward is by giving to the work of God’s church.

On the back of your Scripture insert, I’ve included two passages about Christian stewardship (1 Cor. 16:2 and 2 Cor. 9:6-8) and four points to consider about how to give.^[2] I would encourage each of you to read through those texts and points as you consider how you steward what God has given to you. In the Old Testament, the stewardship of tithing was set at a certain amount, 10%. Now I want to be clear: there is no New Testament command on what percentage you should give to the work of God’s kingdom. Let that be between you and God. But I do want to highlight one thing from those verses.

2 Cor. 9:6 says, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” If you plant one tomato plant, you can only expect so many tomatoes. If you plant ten, fifty, or one hundred plants, well, you’ll get a lot more. The text goes on to tie that analogy to what you give to the church. And the interesting thing about this is what the Old Testament has to say about where those tithes end up.

Just a few chapters after our text, God talks about what was to be done with the tithes. In Dt. 14:22-26, God says that the tithes given to Him are given back to the one who brought that tithe, and it is given back as a feast. God tells His people to bring the tithe of their crops, their wine, their oil, and their herds to the Temple.^[3]If the trip to the Temple was too far to bring all of it, they should sell those things and turn them into money. Then, they would go to Jerusalem and purchase whatever things they wanted to eat. Then, they would offer their tithe and eat it before God with rejoicing.

Dear saints, the gifts, offerings, and tithes you give to God are returned back to you as gifts from the Lord your God. Those gifts bless you as you come here and receive God’s mercy, and they also bless your neighbor who needs to receive that mercy and love. The offerings and gifts that you have placed on the Lord’s table will be used by God to continue to further His kingdom.

And now, Jesus, your God, invites you to come and receive a priceless treasure that could never be bought with money. He invites you to come to His table and receive His Body and blood given and shed for the forgiveness of all your sin. Come into the presence of the Lord your God. Receive and rejoice. Amen.

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

Christian Stewardship

1 Corinthians 16:2

²On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

2 Corinthians 9:6–8

⁶The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

From these two texts, we see that Christians are to give…

…voluntarily & cheerfully. Giving should not be done under compulsion or grudgingly. Giving is God’s gracious call to join Him in His work.

…of our first-fruits. Giving should be from the first-fruits of our labor. Our giving is what we do on the first day of the week before our other expenses are due.

…proportionately. Giving is not to be an arbitrary set dollar amount each week. Instead, it is to be in accordance with ‘how we have prospered’ each week. In other words, setting aside a certain proportion (percentage) of our income for God’s work through the Church.

…faithfully. We have God’s promise that He will take care of all our needs in this body and life. As we give, we are trusting God to keep that promise.

^[1] The following five paragraphs are an adaptation of chapter 2 of the book Stewardship: For the Care of Souls by Pr. Nathan Meador and Pr. Heath R. Curtis.

^[2] I’ve included those below under the title “Christian Stewardship.”

^[3] The text says to bring the tithe to “the place that He will choose, to make His name dwell there.” I am simply condensing that because the Temple is where God chose to make His name dwell (2 Chron. 6:16-20).

One – Sermon on Ephesians 4:1-6 for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

Oct9

Ephesians 4:1-6

¹ I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

What is your impression of or reaction to the following words: unity; inclusion; oneness; togetherness?

They are all good words and concepts, but those words probably throw up some red flags for you. Who doesn’t want unity? Wouldn’t it be great if our country was really the United States of America? No one wants to be excluded and left on the outside. It’s true that the team that plays together wins together. But would you say that we live in a time of unity? Probably not. We’ve gotten used to hearing that we are more divided now than at almost any other point in our nation’s brief history. Some even speculate that we may be on the verge of another civil war. Who knows?

But the more divided, fractured, and fragmented we become, the higher the desire there is for unity. The biggest obstacle to unity in this world, though, just might be the desire and calls for unity. For there to be unity, there needs to be something people are united on. And because the world is full of sinners who all want our own way, we are going to have a difficult time finding a point of unity. The selfishness, pride, and greed around and within us – yes, even in us Christians who still wrestle with our old Adam – will continue to cause division.

Well, this text doesn’t give us any suggestions for bringing unity to our culture or nation. There is nothing here to help us mend the political, economic, racial, and other divisions that we face in our society and culture today. Sorry. There are other passages of Scripture deal with that. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Strive for peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” And Philippians 2:4 probably gives us the best advice in achieving peace in our culture when it says to not look only to your own interest but to the interest of others.

Our text today, when it talks about unity and being one, refers to the unity that exists between Christians, and this unity between Christians is twofold.

First, there is a unity that all Christians simply have. We could call this a ‘vertical unity,’ and this unity consists of how sinners are made one with God. All Christians are sinners who by nature were children of wrath (Eph. 2:3). Christians of all time and in all places are united by the one faith in Jesus who is our Savior, the only Savior. Because Jesus is the only Savior, we are united in Christ who is the Way, the Truth, the Life, and the only access we have to God the Father (Jn. 14:6). When the Holy Spirit works faith in us, this unity simply exists.

All Christians believe that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29). Through Him, every Christian of every tribe, language, race, and even denomination is united on the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Mt. 16:16). Through that Holy Spirit-wrought faith, every Christian is joined to the one holy Christian Church confessing the one hope of forgiveness and eternal life. That means that every Christian is part of the one body with Christ as the head (Eph. 4:15). This unity exists, but we also recognize that this unity is invisible.

This brings us to the second unity, and that is the unity that all Christians are to strive for. We can call this a ‘horizontal unity’ of how we as Christians are united with one another. This unity is of conviction and true confession. We rejoice in the unity we have here in our congregation, and we have been rejoicing in the unity we have with our sister congregation on the other side of the river as we gather together on Wednesdays. But we also rejoice in the unity we have with Christians of other denominations: Lutheran Brethren, AALC, Missouri Synod, ELS, ELCA, Evangelical Free, Covenant, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Assembly of God, Catholic, and I could go on and on.

Now, even as I mention all those different church bodies, you are probably thinking, “Pastor, aren’t all the different denominations a sign that we Christians are not united?” To a degree, yes. But there is also something counterintuitive about all the different denominations is actually a sign of our unity.

Now, please bear with me as I flesh this out. Go back to the first unity, our vertical unity. All Christians have one Lord, one faith, one Baptism. But one of the things that divides the various Christian denominations and disrupts that horizontal unity is what the different church bodies believe and teach about Baptism. Here at Christ the King, we teach that Baptism is God’s work where He forgives sins (Act. 2:38), joins us to Jesus’ death and resurrection (Ro. 6:3-11), gives us the new birth (Jn. 3:5), and saves us (1 Pet. 3:21). Many Christians (and please note that I am calling them ‘Christians’) who attend other churches do not believe that is what the Bible teaches about Baptism. They will say that Baptism is something a believer does for God as an outward expression of an inward change.

The Bible does not teach both of those things. Those two doctrines cannot both be true. One is right, and the other is wrong. And it would be wrong and even sinful for either us or other Christians who believe differently to say, “Well, it doesn’t really matter what we believe about Baptism.” It does matter. What we believe about Baptism matters because Scriptures teach us about Baptism. And Jesus tells Christians to keep and observe all that He has said to us in and through the Scriptures (Mt. 28:20). Just a few verses after our text, Paul tells us to “not be tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14). God wants us to be rooted and grounded so that we rightly handle His Word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15).

Christians want to stay true to what the Scriptures teach. The only way we can stay true to what the Scriptures teach is to continue to grow in our knowledge of the Scriptures. That is why it is important for you, Christian, to keep learning and diving into the Scriptures that are inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16). So, dear saints, be in the Scriptures. Read and meditate on them daily. Come to Bible study and Sunday School to continue being equipped by and through God’s Word. The best way to maintain and strengthen the horizontal unity between Christians is to be grounded in the Bible.

This brings us back around to the differences between Christian church bodies: The silver lining in the doctrinal differences that exist between the various denominations is that we are all trying to be true to what the Bible teaches. In other words, we are taking what Jesus teaches in the Bible seriously. We take it seriously enough that we recognize when those differences exist and when we are not united in doctrine. We don’t rejoice in that horizontal disunity, but we love each other enough to be honest about it because what the Bible teaches is important. That is why we – with humility, gentleness, and patience – point those who believe differently than we do to what Jesus has said. We don’t pridefully lambast them saying, “You aren’t a Christian if you don’t believe just like I do.” No!

Instead, we do what our text calls us to do. We work to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We can’t maintain or keep the unity of the Spirit unless that unity already exists, and it does. The unity of the one holy Christian Church is a gift given by God Himself through faith in Christ.

The unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, the oneness that God has given all Christians, is a precious thing. We hold on to this unity as we hold onto Christ and His Word in humility. Jesus was glorified after He humbled Himself by being obedient to His death on the cross (Php. 2:8). That act of humiliation was rewarded by God the Father. And because of Christ’s obedience, the entire Christian Church is washed clean of sin. Christ’s humiliation is the glory of every Christian. So, let us imitate His humility by bearing with our brothers and sisters in Christ in love and forgiving as we have been forgiven. And we rejoice in God’s promise that we are now, right now, united in Him and are one with all our fellow Christians in a unity that is real whether or not we see of feel it.

And we patiently await the day when Christ will return and bring His one holy Christian and apostolic Church to live forever with Him as one. Amen.

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

Pastorsamwise

"Don't the great tales never end?"

Category Archives: Historic One Year Lectionary

Gentle, Reasonable Rejoicing – Sermon on Philippians 4:4-7 for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

Patience – Sermon on Matthew 11:2-11 for the Third Sunday of Advent

The Trap that Liberates – Sermon on Luke 21:25-36 for the Second Sunday of Advent

The Door – Sermon on Matthew 25:1-13 for the Last Sunday of the Church Year

Living Forgiveness – Sermon on Matthew 18:21-35 for the Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity

Blessed, Now and Forever – Sermon on Matthew 5:1-12 for All Saints’ Day (Observed)

Salvation unto Us Has Come – Sermon for Reformation Sunday (Observed) 2022

Diagnosed – Sermon on Matthew 9:1-8 for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity

To Your God Belongs All – Sermon on Deuteronomy 10:12-21 for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

One – Sermon on Ephesians 4:1-6 for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity