The congregation read the quotes from all the characters (with the exception of Jesus) in the Passion narrative this year.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

That Gospel reading is a lot to take in – all the injustice, betrayal, brutality, and morbidity. But the whole reason Jesus rode on into Jerusalem was to endure all of this for you. Even though we might wish to turn away from it, we can’t. We must hear, see, look, and ponder because in this reading we see who we truly are.

We are the chief priests who want to get rid of God secretly and stealthily. We are the disciples who think it is possible to give too much to God. We are Judas wanting to gain something earthly from our relationship with Jesus – even though it ends up being less than thirty pieces of silver. We are Peter bragging about our commitment to Jesus, but when the heat gets turned up, we deny. We are the disciples who cannot stay awake while we watch and pray with Jesus.

We are Caiaphas who demands a sign from Jesus and refuses to take Christ at His Word. And when Jesus says something we don’t like, we pass judgment on Him. We are the chief priests who tell those who are crushed under the weight of their sins to go away and figure it out on their own instead of pointing them to God’s mercy. We are Pilate who is given every chance to do the right thing but fails. We are the soldiers who insult and strike Jesus, but we don’t do it with a reed. We do it with our continual sins. And we are the crowds to pass by Jesus and mock Him.

Repent. Repent but do not despair because you are also the centurion who rightly confesses, “Truly this is the Son of God!” (Mt. 27:54). You are the crowds who cry out, “Hosanna,” which means, “Save us now.” You are also the crowds who cry out, “His blood be on us and on our children” (Mt. 27:25). The crowds who shouted those words in our text thought God didn’t see or didn’t care if they put His only begotten Son to death. But, dear saint, you know better. You know that Jesus’ blood is what cleanses you from your sin.

You are Barabbas, a notorious sinner who gets off scot free. You are the thief on the cross who will be with Jesus in paradise. You are Peter who gets restored. You are Simon of Cyrene who lives a life of carrying Jesus’ cross enduring the weight and suffering, but doing it willingly and joyfully because you know that to live is Christ and to die is gain (Php. 1:21). And, God be praised, you will be those who rise from your grave when Christ returns.

Yes, dear saints, this text is some of the most difficult Scripture to read, but at the same time it is the most beautiful because in it you see Jesus’ love for you. Scripture says, for the joy – think of that, for the joy! – that was set before Him, He endured the cross despising its shame, and now, He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2).

Christ’s joy and delight is to redeem and save you by dying on the cross. So, ride on, King Jesus. Ride on and save us. Hosanna in the highest! Amen.

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

Greater & More Perfect – Sermon on Hebrews 9:11-15 for the Fifth Sunday of Lent

Mar29

Listen here.

Hebrews 9:11–15

¹¹ But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) ¹² he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. ¹⁵ Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

In the name of Jesus, our great High Priest. Amen.

Jesus has shed His blood for you. He offered Himself without blemish to the Father to purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Because Christ has shed His blood for you, you have been called to be God’s children and receive the promised eternal inheritance. God be praised!

Imagine for a moment that you made plans to take your family to Great Wolf Lodge in Bloomington. (In case you don’t know, that’s a hotel with a huge indoor water park similar to what we have at the CanAd Inn and Splashers, but many, many times bigger.) You show your kids the pictures of the water park and all the waterslides and splash pads, and your kids are raring to go. But then, when you arrive, instead of wanting to go to the water park, your kids say they would rather splash around in the bathtub of your hotel room. You plead and urge them to put on their swimsuits, try the waterslides, the lazy river, and all the different attractions. But your kids insist they would rather sit in the tub with their rubber duck.

Well, there was a similar thing going on when this text was written.

The letter of Hebrews was basically a sermon written to a largely Jewish congregation. The way that the book is written, it seems as though some of these Jewish believers were beginning to wonder if they had made a mistake by becoming Christians. It appears as though they were wondering if they should return to their old, Jewish religion with the high priest, the Temple, the altar overlaid with gold, the festivals, the sacrifices, and the blood of goats and bulls. They were wondering if they had left the true worship of God for a much humbler, simpler religion of Christianity.

The whole book of Hebrews, but especially these verses and the surrounding context, serves as a resounding, “No! Don’t do it!” Throughout the book of Hebrews, these Christians are pointed to the fact that what they had in Jesus, and what we have today is better, greater, and more perfect.

Hebrews 9_24 Great High Priest Holy Places In fact, if you go back to Hebrews 8[:5], we are told that all the instructions that Moses received about the services, sacrifices, and festivals even the Tabernacle itself all served as copies and shadows of the heavenly things. A few verses after our text here (Heb. 9:23), we are told that the earthly copies of the heavenly things were given by God, but they needed to be purified with all those rites and rituals that God gave to Moses and Aaron.

So, here’s the picture this text is painting for us. The purpose of all the Old Testament ritual and ceremony – the daily sacrifices, the buildings, the furniture, the washings – all of it served, for a time, as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. The earthly tabernacle was given to God’s people as a picture of what is going on in heaven. God’s people could see the details going on before them, but they were to know that it was just a shadow of the reality of what is going on in heaven before God.

And now, because of Jesus, the shadow of the Tabernacle and Temple is no longer needed. Still today, we Christians, we people of God, have the reality. I hope and pray that this results in two things for you.

First, I hope that when you read those passages from Exodus and Leviticus, when you read about the construction of the Tabernacle with the vessels and different colors of fine twined linen, when you read about the priests and their vestments and their activities, when you read about the feasts and the sacrifices, I hope that you now read them with a little more interest because, again, they are copies and shadows of the heavenly reality.

But second, and more importantly, I hope you see that all of it points you to what Jesus, your Savior and Great High Priest, has done and accomplished once for all and once for you! Because now the reality in heaven has been perfected by the blood of Jesus, your Savior.

In the Tabernacle, the altar of incense served as a copy. The people were to look at the smoke of the incense rising into heaven and know that the prayers they made on earth were also rising up to God. In the Tabernacle, the bread of the presence served as an earthly shadow reminding the people that God was present with them. In the Tabernacle, the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies served as an earthly copy and shadow that preached to the people 364 days each year that access to the holy God was closed. And on the Day of Atonement, when the high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies, that curtain preached that access to God was possible when the blood of atonement was sprinkled there.

Hebrews 9-14 - Christ Offered Himself And now that Jesus, our Savior and Great High Priest, has come, all the shadows and copies are done away with. Now, because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we know that our prayers are acceptable and rise up to God. Now, when we don’t know how to pray as we ought, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Ro. 8:26). Now that Jesus has come, we don’t need the bread of the presence because the Holy Spirit has taken up residence and dwells in your heart (1 Cor. 6:19). Now that Christ has come and shed His blood and brought His blood into the heavenly Holy of Holies, your conscience has been cleansed and purified to serve the living God (Heb. 9:14).

This book of Hebrews is telling the people who are tempted to go back to the earthly copy of the heavenly reality to forget shadow and look at Jesus, who is the real thing! To go back to the Tabernacle and priests and sacrifices would be like choosing to play in the hotel bathtub instead of spending the afternoon at the water park. Brady and Leah, I know you’re watching, you wouldn’t do that, would you? Of course not! It would be foolish! It would be like driving to visit the Grand Canyon, but instead of looking around at the beautiful scenery and take it all in, you look at a couple pictures of the Grand Canyon. Sure, the pictures may be wonderful and beautiful, but you’re there at the real thing! Experience it! Take it in!

So, dear saints, I have two closing thoughts.

First, as we gather together at church (and even as we gather together virtually), we have the fulfillment. We have the purification and holiness that God delivers through Christ. Yes, it is best when we can gather together and receive the blessings of God’s purifying Word and Sacrament in person together, but we can still receive it now in this way. This is also why we use the liturgy (the order of our service). All of it is taken from Scripture to deliver to you the promises that Christ has won and given. And I am so excited for the time when we can again receive those things in this house of God together.

And second, know that everything Christ has done as your High Priest is to deliver to you His redemption from your sins. Because of Jesus, you have a pure conscience.

So, pay attention. Look at me because I want to ask you something right now:

What is troubling your conscience? Is it something you have done in the past? Is it some new sin? Is it your fears? Is it your worry about the future? Is it some sin against God or against your neighbor? What is troubling your conscience right now?

Whatever it is, know that Jesus has carried that sin that is bothering your conscience to the cross. He suffered. He bled. He died for that sin. And He has risen again to present His atoning blood in the courtroom of heaven as the unassailable, unquestionable evidence of your innocence. And in that courtroom of heaven, the verdict has been spoken. You have been declared by God, the righteous Judge in heaven, to be not guilty because of Jesus.

So, what has been spoken by God in heaven, I speak to you now on earth. You have, right now, an eternal redemption. Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for (Is. 6:7) by Jesus. Christ has removed your sin from you as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). Because of Christ, your Greater and more Perfect High Priest, you have the entire forgiveness of all your sins. Amen.

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

Distributed – Sermon on John 6:1-15 for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

Mar22

Listen here.

John 6:1–15

¹ After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. ² And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. ³ Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. ⁴ Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. ⁵ Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” ⁶ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. ⁷ Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” ⁸ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ⁹ “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. ¹¹Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹² And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” ¹³ So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. ¹⁴ When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

¹⁵ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The details of this text are so vivid and wonderful. Jesus and His disciples sit down near the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The Passover was near, so we know that it is a spring day and there was “much grass in the place” (v. 10). Everyone had been enjoying nice, sunny weather during this beautiful time of the year. We know that because Mark’s Gospel tells us that the grass was green (Mk. 6:39). As Jesus looks up, He sees a large crowd – five thousand men plus women and children – coming toward Him. And Jesus has this little conversation with Philip and Andrew while the crowd gathers around them.

“Philip, where are we going to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” But Philip balks at the suggestion. “Seven months’ worth of wages won’t buy enough for them to get even a little.” Andrew joins the conversation, “This kid has five loaves of barley bread and two fish, but big deal.”

So, Jesus has the people sit down, and the boy gives Jesus his little lunch. Jesus takes the loaves, gives thanks for them, and blesses them. Christ does the same with the fish. The other Gospels tell us that Jesus has the disciples distribute the food to the crowd (Mt. 14:19; Mk. 6:41; Lk. 9:16). John tells us that each person in the crowd is served, and everyone has as much bread and fish as they could eat. But neither John nor the other three Gospels, give us the details of exactly how this distribution took place. Where did the food come from? Of course, it came from Jesus. Of course, it was a miracle. But what did the miracle look like?

While Jesus was blessing the food, did the loaves and fish grow and expand and become a huge mountain of food, because that is what it would take to feed this massive crowd? Did the loaves keep multiplying so the people could see where there had been one loaf, but now there are two? Did the fish keep plopping down from the sky into the disciples’ hands as they walked through the crowd? The Scriptures don’t say.

Personally, I like to think – as some have suggested – that the disciples each go out with a basket that has some of the bread and fish inside (since we know they had twelve baskets). They walk around to the people and each person reaches in to take some of the food. And while it appears to each individual that they are depleting the amount of food in the basket, when the next person reaches in, there is still enough. And more than enough. Maybe each person was a little cautious at first and takes just a little bit, but then the disciples say, “If anyone wants more, let me know. I’ve still got some.” And they go around again.

It could be that each person took some food from the disciples, and as they take a bite every now and then, they look down and there is still more.

Maybe you have been to a camp or something where a large number of people are going to eat, and you see a sign that says, “Take all you want. Eat all you take.” Well, Jesus and the disciples didn’t have a sign like that. Because every last person in that crowd – again five thousand men plus women and children, so this is likely ten to twenty thousand people or more – everyone eats their fill. And, as the last man unbuckles his belt and as the stuffed women and children lick their fingers, Jesus sends the disciples out again. And they gather up the leftovers and fill those twelve baskets full of food.

This is a miracle, but this is also how God always works even today. Every day, you deplete things, which is something that you are probably more aware of today. You write a check or swipe your card, and you can look at your bank account and see that there is less. Think of your fridge, freezer, cupboards, and pantry. You prepare some food and eat it, and there is less then there was before.

We can see how we are consuming and depleting things, and it is easy to focus on that and worry. But what we can’t always see is how things are delivered and distributed to us.

Yes, we have jobs. We work and toil. Our paycheck is deposited, or the social security check, our tax return comes. And we notice that. But I hear people tell me of times when the logic of what they have and what is available to them simply doesn’t add up or make any sense. I have experienced this too.

In seminary, the fourth year of our learning was to do a pastoral internship, and my placement was in Salinas, CA. The congregation provided us with a place to live along with a monthly stipend that was generous, but it was the seminary’s intent that we interns would have just enough to get by. We were out in California when gas prices were extremely high (it was almost $5/gallon for a long time). During that time, we were still paying my student loans, and we had our second child. My car was broken into. All sorts of things happened that were crazy expensive. But when it was time to move back to Minnesota, my loan was completely paid off. I had purchased a new laptop to use for work. We had been blessed to be able to travel to beautiful places like Yosemite. I was able to go to a couple baseball games in Oakland and San Francisco. And just before we left California, we looked at our bank account, and had more, significantly more, in our account than when we moved there.

Yes, we had been given gifts from the members out there, and we accounted for that. But the math didn’t work. And I know how to use a calculator! There was no reason or explanation for how greatly we had been blessed except – the Lord had provided. God provided more than we could make sense or logic of.

Here’s the point: God does let us see how we use His resources and deplete them. But He doesn’talways let us see how He gives and distributes them.

Now, a lot could be said here about how you give to the church. And if things were different in our country and world right now, I would take the opportunity of this text to do so. But I don’t want to put any unneeded pressure on you. Even though this is being video-recorded, I am not some TV preacher asking for seed money for a Learjet or something ridiculous like that. But know that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7), and He will not let you go hungry or lose your house because you give money to support the work of His church.

Instead today, I’d like to encourage you. You might find it easy to act like Philip or Andrew did in this text. Philip is looking to money as the solution to the problem of feeding the crowd, and he concludes that they don’t have enough. And even if they did have enough, there’s no store that would be able to supply food for a crowd this size. And Andrew mockingly looks to how little they have out there in the wilderness.

The problem with both of them is not that they didn’t know Jesus or that they didn’t trust Him. They have left everything to follow Jesus and be His disciples. Their real problem is that they are sinners, just like you and me. Their problem is that they acted the same way that we often act even though we know the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. And because they are sinners, they, just like us, give in to the temptation to focus on various idols instead of focusing on the gracious giving of God.

And even still, Jesus provides for them. He provides what they could not buy, bake, grow, earn, or deserve. He provides them this meal and enough to last for days afterward. But most importantly, Jesus lavishly pours out on His sinful disciples His mercy and grace. We see it here as He doesn’t scold them for their sin. It will happen again. In fact, after this Jesus will feed another crowd – four thousand that time (Mk. 8:1-10). And right after that the disciples are with Jesus in a boat, and they realize they only have one loaf of bread, and they will worry again (Mk. 8:14-21). And still loving Jesus goes to the cross to shed His blood for them and for you.

Dear saints, Jesus still provides for you. May we be wise with the temporal, First Article gifts He freely gives. And may we be confident with the eternal gifts of His mercy and grace which cannot be taken away no matter what may come. Amen.

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

No Empty Houses – Sermon on Luke 11:14-28 for the Third Sunday of Lent

Mar15

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Luke 11:14-28

¹⁴ Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” ¹⁶ while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. ¹⁷ But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. ¹⁸And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. ¹⁹ And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²¹ When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; ²² but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. ²³ Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

²⁴ “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

²⁷ As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” ²⁸ But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

In 2014, it had been about two years of me waking up feeling more tired than when I had gone to bed. At my loving wife’s urging, I went to the doctor to request a referral for a sleep study. I remember the doctor saying, “Well, you’re not old, and you’re not overweight. I don’t think you have apnea, but I’ll refer you for the sleep study.” A couple weeks later, I went down to Altru Specialty Center to spend the night. When I checked in, the nurse who would be monitoring me met me and said, “You’re not old, and you’re not overweight. I doubt you have apnea.” But she dutifully brought me to a room and proceeded to put all the little sensors on my body, head, and beard. A couple hours later, I went to sleep. Less than an hour after that, she woke me up and said, “Put this on.” It was a cushion that covered my nose and blasted air into my nostrils. I hated it. It took me about an hour to figure out how to breathe with it and another hour to fall asleep once again. I only slept for four more hours, but it was the best sleep I had had in years.

The next morning, she unhooked the wires from my head and body. The nurse said I could expect to hear from the doctor in a few days. When I went to that appointment, this new doctor said to me, “Well, you’re not old and you’re not overweight, but you definitely have sleep apnea. We will write things up and get everything to your insurance so you can have a CPAP machine.”

Finally, two weeks after that appointment, I was told I could go to Yorhom and get the machine. The technician who instructed me on its usage said, “You’re not old and you’re not overweight, but this should help you feel better.”

CPAP Mask The CPAP means that a hose dictates how I can move when I turn at night. It means that, when I lie on my side, I have to adjust how the mask fits on my face and doesn’t get moved off my nose by my pillow. It means that I can’t fall asleep having a conversation with my wife. There are mornings that I wake up and have to unwrap the hose from around my neck. But in the six years since I started using that machine, there have only been just over a handful of nights that I have slept without that mask blasting air into my nostrils. I still don’t always like to use it. I wish there were some sort of medicine or a shot I could take, but such a thing doesn’t exist. Sometimes, I wish I could use the machine one night a month or one night a week and be fine, but it doesn’t work that way. I know that if I don’t use that mask and machine each night, I won’t rest or be able to function like I should.

Sorry for the long story, but there is a point and it is connected to the text. Here’s how:

Imagine how frustrated Jesus gets with us when we think that we can simply get a dose of His grace and mercy and then move on with our lives until we recognize or feel the need to take another dose. Imagine how frustrated Jesus gets with us when we think all we need is an occasional shot of the Holy Spirit when He desires that we have the daily and eternal presence of the Holy Spirit in our heart.

You see, your problem is not that you sin every now and then. Your problem is that the devil has essentially taken up residence in your heart. That’s what Jesus means when He says, “When an unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it seeks but finds no rest it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’” The devil has led you into sin and possesses you. That problem can, obviously, be solved. Jesus, the one who is stronger than the strong man devil, expels Satan. And Jesus doesn’t leave you simply as an empty vessel because the house of your heart won’t stay empty. Instead, the Holy Spirit comes and resides within you, and this means that you need to continually receive the Holy Spirit because He can be pushed out. You can neglect God’s good gifts, and the Holy Spirit can be resisted so that He leaves.

Assailed by Demons When this happens, your last state is worse than your first because as Jesus says, the demons come, it finds the house (you) swept and put in order. Then that evil spirit brings seven other spirits more evil than itself.

Throughout your lives, you find yourself in the position of thinking that it would be enough if God would just drive out the devil. And praise God that He does. However, that isn’t the end of the matter. Don’t forget that your house won’t stay empty. If you turn away from the Word that fills you with the Holy Spirit, the devil is going to come back worse then he was before. Don’t think that because you believe today that you will tomorrow.

Read. Study. Meditate on the Scriptures. Make the Bible more important to you today than it was yesterday. Don’t think that you can bring your kids to Sunday School and Confirmation and think they’ll be ok. Don’t be lulled into thinking that is enough Jesus for them.

The greatest threat to you and your children isn’t from terrorism, war, or a virus. The thousands of kids who grow up thinking that they were raised to be Christian because they were taken to church a few times a year. Those same people then go and read five out-of-context verses from some atheist blog thinking they know everything about what Christians believe. They are the very ones who are going to be the most likely to draw your children away from the faith.

But also be comforted because that is much less likely to happen if you train your children now to be in the Scriptures. To be in the very place that the Holy Spirit continues to work in their hearts and lives. That very Word of God is where God fills the house of your heart and theirs with the Holy Spirit and with treasures that cannot be spoiled.

You need to hear this today. There is a lot of uncertainty in our world and country right now. And while there are no plans to stop holding regular services here, it is possible that option might be taken from us. The devil is working very hard to bring enough uncertainty and fear to our society – and to Christians especially – that they would be tempted to think being at church and within the fellowship of the Body of Christ is not essential.

All Saints gathered around the throne Right now, we Christians need one another. Those who do not have faith in Christ need us as well. They need us to comfort them with the very same that we have in Christ. They need to know there is something more than this life. They need to know that Christ is coming back. They need to know that the One who is returning is the very one who shed His holy and precious blood for them. That very blood of Christ is the medicine they need to be freed from the devil’s tyranny over the house of their heart. They need to know that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away their sin.

Dear saints, today know that the house of your heart won’t stay empty. Know that the stronger man is on your side. And know that He desires all to be saved, and this may be the time He uses to call them to repentance and faith. Amen.

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

The Anatomy of Sin – Sermon on Genesis 3:1-21 & Matthew 4:1-11 for the First Sunday of Lent

Mar1

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Matthew 4:1-11

¹ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple ⁶ and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

In any sport, a good coach will watch tape of the opponent or will notice how the other team is playing. The coach will use his skill and knowledge to figure out how to minimize the opponent’s strengths and take advantage of and exploit their weaknesses. That is what we are going to do today.

The devil is our enemy who will tempt us to sin. But just getting us to sin is not his ultimate goal. Satan’s ultimate goal is to get us to hate the God who loves us, who created us, who shed His blood and died to forgive us, and who desires to sanctify us and make us sacred.

Look at the back of your Scripture insert because I printed James 1:13–15 for you there: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one.” Now, pay very close attention, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” This is how sin goes – this is the anatomy of sin. Temptation Lured and Enticed by Desires James 1_14-17 Your heart has a wrong desire, and that false desire is conceived and eventually gives birth to sin. Then, when sin grows up, it brings forth death. Knowing this, we know Satan’s game plan. But it is helpful for us to see how the devil’s game plan plays out in real time, and we saw it in our Old Testament text (Gen. 3:1-21).

Satan asked Eve, “Did God really say, ‘You shouldn’t eat from any of the trees of the garden’?” Notice what Satan is doing. He is trying to put Eve above God’s Word so that she thinks she can be the judge of what God said. Satan, that liar and deceiver, is trying to get Eve and Adam to think that God doesn’t want them to have something that is good and is holding out on them.

When Eve responds to the devil’s question, she adds to God’s Word. She repeats the command to not eat of the tree but she also wrongly puts an additional command in God’s mouth to not touch the tree.

There’s a whole sermon right there, but let me say this just briefly. It is true that if Adam and Eve never touched the tree they wouldn’t eat the fruit of the tree. You would have to touch the fruit that is on the tree and pluck it in order to eat it. But adding to God’s command didn’t keep Adam and Eve from sinning. It didn’t work for them in the perfection and bliss of Eden, and it won’t work for us in this fallen, broken world. We could consider all sorts of examples, but try this one: The 8^th Commandment tells us to not lie, but it does notcommand us to never speak. If we add to God’s command against lying an additional prohibition against speaking, what happens then? I know this example is absurd, but play it out. If you never speak, you might not lie with your tongue, but you also can’t confess Jesus’ name, can’t declare God’s praise, can’t love your neighbor by saying, “I love you.” And if you never speak, you would likely think, “I’m keeping the 8^thCommandment,” and that thought would be lying to yourself by saying you have no 8^th Commandment sin (1 Jn. 1:8). See? You still sin!

Anyway, back to observing the devil’s tactics. Eve adds to God’s command, and the devil knows she’s added to God’s Word. Satan sees that his attack is working, and he presses on by telling her a bold-faced lie, “You will not surely die!” Catch that – the devil, while lying, calls God a liar. Then, that snake accuses God of false motives, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened.” He says the reason God is lying is to keep them blind to something. Finally, he entices Eve by saying, “You will be like God, knowing good and evil.” And that, right there, is the essence, the anatomy, of temptation and sin. Satan sees where your desires are different than God’s desires for you. And the devil arouses those desires and tries to get you to bridge the gap between what you want and what God wants. Satan tempts you to be the judge of God.

Temptation in the Garden of Eden When Eve looked at that fruit, she should have recognized, “That fruit is death.” Instead, she wrongly sees that it is to be desired to make one wise. This is the danger for us. There are things that are put in front of us and God says, “That’s bad, and it leads to death.” But instead of regarding those things according to God’s Word, we regard them according to how we see and think. We put ourselves over and above God and judge Him to be wrong. The devil entices us to think that God is the bad guy who is holding out on us, keeping us from having our heart’s desires. Then, we think we know better than God, and we fall for the temptation and into sin.

Now, not all of these steps play out every time you sin. The more you fall into a particular sin, the more you silence your conscience. Think again of the 8^th Commandment about lying. Whenever you lie, gossip, spread rumors, or stretch the truth, you are putting yourself in the place of God. You want reality to match up with what makes you look good or better than others. When you go behind someone’s back to complain about a situation instead of addressing the problem directly with the person, you are putting yourself in the place of God. If you have a problem with an individual, do not talk about those problems with anyone else. The more you do that, the more you open yourself to sin. Repent.

My fellow sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, be wise. The devil attacks you. He comes to whisper lies in your head that God is not good and that you know better than God does. The devil’s game plan worked in the bliss of the Garden of Eden when he tempted our first parents. How much easier is it for him to attack you now when your desires are already stained with original sin? But, now, let us watch the devil use the same tactics but fail when he tempted our Savior and our Brother, Jesus, the Son of God.

The context of Jesus’ temptation is immediately after He is Baptized by John in the Jordan (Mk. 1:9-13). There is no forbidden tree anymore, so the devil is going to attack a different Word from God. With the first two temptations, the devil begins by saying to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God…” (Mt. 4:3, 6). Remember what God said about Jesus just as He was Baptized, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:17). It’s in the verse immediately before this Gospel text.

Christ in the Wilderness (Temptation) Ivan Kramskoi 1872 Jesus has been fasting forty days and nights. I remember as a kid being hungry forty minutes after dinner. Jesus is famished. He is weakened by this fast. So, this temptation to turn stones into bread is a real temptation. The tempter again tries to exploit the gap between Jesus’ desires and what God has given. Jesus wanted food. Because He is man just like you and me, His stomach and His brain would have been screaming at Him, “Feed us!” But God has not yet given Jesus food. So Satan tries to get Jesus to take for Himself what God has not given.

But Jesus responds beautifully. He responds with God’s Word, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Now, this does not mean that we don’t have to eat. It does not mean that every time you get hungry you just take out your Bible and read. Instead, it is a reminder that there is more to our life than bread. Listen to the whole verse from Dt. 8:3 – Moses is preaching his farewell sermon to God’s people who had been led through the wilderness for forty years saying – “[The Lord] humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” In short, God might withhold something from you so that He can provide for you in a way that increases your faith in Him. While you wait for God to provide, don’t fall for the temptation to reach out and take what God hasn’t given. Jesus resists the temptation to take for Himself what God had not yet provided.

So, the devil comes with a second temptation. The tempter puts Jesus on the pinnacle of the Temple and tries to use Scripture against Jesus. Basically, Satan says, “Throw Yourself down. God has promised to protect You.” From Ps. 91:11, the devil quotes, “He will command His angels concerning you,” but Satan leaves out a phrase. The rest of the verse reads, Temptation of Jesus “to guard you in all your ways.” God the Father will protect Jesus in all His ways. But God didn’t send Jesus to earth to be some X-Games-temple-pinnacle jumper.

And there is great comfort for you in this as well. God will protect you in all the ways and paths and vocations to which He has called you. No harm will come to you until God is ready to receive you into His heavenly kingdom. Everything you do, you can do without fear because God will protect you.

Jesus knows this and responds again from the book of Deuteronomy (6:16), “You shall not put the Lord your God to the text.” The devil’s temptation fails again.

So, the devil tries one more. The tempter shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and all their glory in one moment (Lk. 4:5) and says, “All these I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

This offer of Satan is absurd. The earth already belongs to Jesus. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” But the devil isn’t offering Jesus creation and the universe because he can’t – it doesn’t belong to him. Instead, the devil is offering Jesus the dominion of fallen mankind. Remember, that God told Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over… every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28). But when Adam and Eve fell, their dominion also fell. And that is what Jesus has come to restore and recover. He came to be the New Adam who has perfect dominion over creation.

Again, Jesus resists the temptation saying, “Be gone Satan,” and quotes from Deuteronomy. Maybe we should be reading Deuteronomy more. If you’re reading through Scripture, don’t stop if Deuteronomy seems sluggish. But, most importantly, know and love God’s Word. The promises of Scripture are your best weapon against temptation and sin. God’s Word is the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). Anyway Jesus quotes Dt. 6:13, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” And the devil is beaten back and defeated.

1 John 2_16 - Temptation Desire Weapons So, dear saints, be wise. Know the devil’s attacks and tactics. The devil is going to use those tactics against you, but God has given you weapons against the devil, your flesh, and the world (1 Jn. 2:15-16). When the devil comes to tempt you, take up the weapon of prayer. Pray God’s Word and watch the devils flee. When your flesh tempts you, take up the weapon of fasting. If you are tempted to certain desires of your flesh, fast from those things. Tell your body, “Body, you aren’t in control.” And when the world tempts you with its vain riches, give. Be generous to the point that it makes you unable to afford falling into the temptations of this world.

And when you are tempted, find comfort in this and in nothing else: Our Epistle lesson (Heb. 4:14-16) invites us who fall into temptation and sin to come confidently as we approach the throne of grace. Come to Jesus because He is our great High Priest who knows our weakness and gives us His mercy and grace to help in time of need.

Now, what does Jesus, the Son of God, say to you? He says, “Come back to the Garden. Be guiltless again. Here, eat this. To undo the curse of sin and the curse of the Fall, take, eat. This is My Body given unto death for you. Take, drink. This is My Blood shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.” Amen.

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

Holy Deliverance – Sermon on Luke 18:31-43 for Quinquagesima

Feb23

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Luke 18:31-43

³¹ And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. ³² For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. ³³ And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” ³⁴ But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

³⁵ As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶ And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. ³⁷ They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” ³⁸ And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹ And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁰ And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” ⁴² And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” ⁴³ And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Christ is on His way to Jerusalem. He plainly says that He is going there to fulfill everything that was written about Him in the Scriptures. He is going there to be delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, shamefully treated, spit upon, flogged, and killed. But on the third day He will rise. Jesus says this plainly and clearly. But notice how carefully Luke records the reaction of the disciples. They understood none of these things. The saying was hidden from them. And they did not grasp what was said. That’s the long, emphatic way to say, “They didn’t get it.” The text then notes that Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem takes Him through Jericho where a crowd was waiting to meet Him.

Now, Christ’s name in Greek is Ἰησοῦς and it gets brought into English as ‘Jesus.’ But if you said Jesus’ name in Hebrew it would be יְהוֹשׁוּעַ, and when that gets brought into English it is ‘Joshua.’ If I asked you what city most goes with the name Joshua, I would bet you would say Jericho. It was Joshua who “fit [sic.] the battle of Jericho.” When Joshua went to Jericho, it was to destroy and kill. Joshua and the Battle of Jericho Joshua lead God’s people marching around those thick, fortified walls for six days, and on the seventh day, the people shouted and “the walls came a-tumbilin’ down.” Afterward, they burned the fallen rubble and reduced the city to ashes.

But Joshua wasn’t done yet. He stood over the smoke and ruins of that city and pronounced a curse, “Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates” (Josh. 6:26). Those ruins were to be a perpetual sign of God’s displeasure with the wicked inhabitants of that city. But about 500 years later, a man named Hiel, began to rebuild Jericho. And you don’t have to guess what happened. The foundation of the city was laid, and his firstborn died. And when the gates were raised, his youngest son died (1 Kgs. 16:34). It should serve as a warning to us not to mess around with what is cursed by God.

We need to remember that, as blessed as our country is, we live in a modern-day Jericho. Most people do not believe in God. Today, sins that would have caused our parents to blush with shame are celebrated. People worship their bank accounts, their careers, and their livelihood. In our land, nearly one million babies are sacrificed in abortions every year. But, while that should cause us to weep and mourn, how many more are sacrificed spiritually?

Kids are programmed by parents to aim for success in this life by getting good grades, playing hard in sports, and finding a good job. None of those things are evil by themselves. But how often are those things promoted to the neglect of teaching those children the fear and love of God? What good is any of that if those same children end up in hell? Yes, parents, give your children those good things, but make sure are secondary to faith in Jesus, the true, merciful God. No, you may not be trying to rebuild Jericho, but too often Christian parents are raising their children on cursed foundations that are protected only by cursed gates.

Repent. Repent, and know that if you are feeling the curse of your sins that the New Joshua draws near to Jericho.

The first Joshua came to curse and destroy the sinful city of Jericho, but Jesus, the new Joshua, comes to bless. Joshua came to hurt, but Jesus comes to heal. Joshua came to march around Jericho, but Jesus came to walk straight through it. Jesus came to rescue from the ruins and curse of sin and bring His holy deliverance into His heavenly kingdom. That holy deliverance will come as His own body is wrecked and the curse of our sin is laid upon Him.

So, the Lamb of God travels through Jericho. It would make sense if Jesus went through the city quickly passing by beggars on the street. Jesus is marching to do something bigger than to simply help a miserable beggar. And that is exactly what seems to be in the minds of some who are walking with Jesus. They tell one of those beggars to sit down and leave Jesus alone. But even though His eyes focused on the cross, Jesus doesn’t pass by this blind man. Jesus stands still, and He stands still to deliver holy mercy.

It is as though Jesus can’t help Himself. He never ignores cries for mercy because He is mercy embodied. Jesus stands still and tells them to bring the blind beggar to Him. And notice how Jesus treats the blind man with dignity and respect. Jesus knows he can’t see, but He goes to the blind man’s level and gives him something for his ears. He asks, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man answers, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus delivers him from his blindness.

This morning, Jesus passes through your Jericho. Christ has heard your cries for mercy too. In fact, this same scene played out today just as it does every Sunday you gather here. We beggars come into the presence of Jesus, and we cry for mercy. Jesus doesn’t turn away. Instead, He hears you. He stops and stands still. You confessed your sins, you cried out for mercy, and Christ answered you by absolving you.

Notice what Jesus does not say to the blind man. Jesus does not say, “I have made you well and restored your sight.” Instead, Jesus says, “Your faith has made you well,” or better, “Your faith has (lit.) saved you.” Yes, it was Jesus who saved him, but Jesus points the man to his God-given faith.

Remember, dear saints, that your salvation was won and purchased by Jesus on the cross some two-thousand years ago, but your salvation is not distributed there. Thank the good Lord that it isn’t distributed there because you and I weren’t there. Even if we were to go to Jerusalem today, we couldn’t be at the foot of the cross because there isn’t anything there anymore. Salvation Won and Delivered On the cross, Jesus did everything for your salvation. On the cross, Jesus won the victory over sin, death, and the devil. But God delivers what Jesus did on the cross to you here and now. God delivers the mercy, grace, life, and salvation of Jesus through the preaching of His Word (Ro. 10:17), through your Baptism (Ro. 6:3-11), and through the Lord’s Supper (Lk. 22:14-20). God brings His holy deliverance to you through all those things, and as you receive those gifts of God through faith, you are saved.

Finally, notice the blind man’s response. He follows Jesus. The blind man leaves his Jericho home and follows Jesus to Jerusalem. As we begin Lent this Wednesday, let us do the same as we follow Jesus by listening to His Word. Let us abandon our cursed state and follow Jesus to Jerusalem this Lent. He leads, and we follow with grateful hearts. Let Jesus lead you to Jerusalem, to the cross, and to the empty tomb on Easter. Amen.

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

Holy Rest – Sermon on Hebrews 4:9-13 for Sexagesima

Feb16

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Hebrews 4:9-13

⁹ So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, ¹⁰ for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. ¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

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

This text has two things that, at first glance, don’t seem to go together – striving and rest. Striving is effort. Hebrews 4_13 - God's Rest Striving means that you work hard because you aren’t sure if you are going to make it. That’s why you strive. And rest? Well, rest is rest. It’s the opposite of striving. Typically, striving and rest only go together when the later follows the former. People strive so they can go home and rest for the evening or the weekend, or they work for decades so that eventually they can retire and rest. But that is only how things are in this fallen world.

Christians rest from their works just as God did from His. Genesis 1-2 records how God created all things. Each day of creation follows a pattern. God spoke and created light, and there was evening and morning day one. God spoke and created the sky, and there was evening and morning day two. God spoke and created land, seas, and plants, and there was evening and morning day three. God spoke and created the sun, moon, and stars, and there was evening and morning day four. God spoke and created birds and fish, and there was evening and morning day five. God spoke and created animals and people, and there was evening and morning day six. The pattern breaks there. But Scripture does tell us about the seventh day.

Genesis 2:1-3 says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.” Notice that two things are missing. First, God doesn’t speak. God is silent on the seventh day because He is done creating. And second, there is no mention of evening and morning. In the text, the seventh day, the holy day of rest, doesn’t end.

God rested from His work. God didn’t rest because He was tired. He rested because everything was completed. The beautiful thing that happens here in Hebrews is the declaration that you, Christian, enter into the same eternal, holy Sabbath rest that God had on that seventh day (Heb. 4:10). But what works do you rest from?

There are two options. Some might suggest that it is the work you have to do while living in a fallen world. But that rest only comes after you die, and you only have to go back to Heb. 4:3 to see that the Scriptures say believers have already now entered into God’s rest. So, it can’t be the rest that comes only after death. Instead believer, you rest from the work of self-justification and self-salvation (Ro. 3:20 and Eph 2:9).

Hebrews 4_12 - Word of God Sharp Sword Christian, you have entered into the rest of God. You find your rest as you simply allow God’s Word to do its work in your heart as it pierces to the division of soul and spirit and discerns the thoughts and intentions of your heart. That Word of God convicts you of your sin revealing that your thoughts, words, and deeds are sinful in God’s sight. And that same Word invites you to faith in Christ who says, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” or better translated, “I will rest you” Mt. 11:28).

Now, none of this is to say that Christian life is easy. No, the Christian life is hard work and full of danger. We all need to realize that we could stumble and fall away from the faith. In fact, that is what the first eight verses of Hebrews 4 warn us about. God’s people, the Israelites, did not enter the rest of the Promised Land because they did not believe God. They fell away. They were the soil on the path, the rocky soil, and the thorny soil (Lk. 8:4-15). They failed to enter into God’s rest. Scripture is very clear about the dangers of falling away.

We need to hold fast, keep our eyes on Jesus, and not stray away. That is striving. But that striving is only possible because of the rest that has already been won for us. It is a rest that has already been given by God. So, the Christian life can be a restful striving.

Your rest has already been won by Jesus. Jesus came into the world to do the work that you and I could not do. He came to battle against sin, death, and the devil. Jesus’ faithful striving led Him to the cross where He endured the wrath of God because of our sin. Jesus faithfully walked all the way to the cross for you. Jesus Rested on the Sabbath And on a Friday, the sixth day from the cross, Jesus cried out as He died, “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30). His striving for your salvation was done. Jesus was laid to rest in a tomb on the Sabbath, the seventh day because all His work to redeem you was complete. And Christ rises on the first day of the week, the first day of the new creation.

Now, Jesus is ascended to His and your heavenly Father. So when you strive, you do it with Jesus on your side. Jesus knows your weaknesses and fears. And because of His work, He pours out His forgiveness every moment of every day. The rest He won and purchased for you is guaranteed, perfect, and stored up for you ready to be revealed at the Last Day (1 Pet. 1:5). You can rest because of Jesus.

Bella, today you are Baptized. Today, you have been joined to Jesus your Savior (Ro. 6:3-11) and have been clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27). That means, dear Bella, that today you have entered into your rest with God. Jesus has done absolutely, positively everything that needed to be done for your salvation. You are wholly and completely given over into holy rest.

Baptism 2 Bella, and all you saints, because you and I are always tempted to think there is something left for us to do to be saved, God desires that you continue to be pointed to the holy, eternal rest that Christ has given you. Here, assembled in God’s presence with your brothers and sisters in Christ, God reminds you of the holy rest you have now. There is nothing left for you to do. Every time you come here, you receive that rest by listening to God’s life-giving Word and letting that Word do God’s work in you.

That is why we use our liturgy. It is one of the best ways to deliver the holy rest that comes only through God’s Word. We enter God’s presence by hearing His Word and singing His praise. We confess our sins and receive His forgiveness. We hear His Word and confess our faith that is taught in that Word. We receive instruction from that Word and pray to Him as His beloved children. We are fed Christ’s body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. And we receive His blessing and benediction as we depart so we can carry that blessing with us through the week.

Bella, and all you saints, keep listening to the Word faithfully and diligently as it is preached and enacted in the service because your present access to God’s eternal, holy rest depends upon that Word. And that Word will never fail you. Amen.

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

Holy Work – Sermon on Matthew 20:1-16 for Septuagesima

Feb9

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Matthew 20:1-16

¹ “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ ⁵ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ⁸ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ ⁹ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. ¹⁰ Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹² saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ ¹³ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ¹⁵ Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ ¹⁶ So the last will be first, and the first last.” Laborers in the Vineyard getting paid

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

To get at the main point of this parable, I’m going to borrow an analogy. Imagine two waitresses working at a small cafe by themselves. Suddenly, a man brings in eighty of his family members to celebrate an occasion, and those two waitresses have to serve this massive, unexpected crowd. One of the waitresses works hard the whole time. She does her best to get all the drinks and orders. She puts in the effort to make sure all the plates are served to the correct spots. She attempts to keep the glasses full of refills. She promptly comes to wipe up a spill. And even though she is flustered, she does all of this with a friendly smile on her face.

The other waitress is angry about the whole ordeal. She’s mad that such a large party didn’t call ahead to let them know they were coming so the restaurant could be properly staffed. She grumbles when extra napkins are requested. She intentionally lets some of the food sit for several minutes after it was prepared so that it isn’t hot when it is delivered to the table. And she interacts with the party as little as possible and pretends not to hear certain requests. This second waitress actually made the evening more difficult for the first, so difficult, in fact, that it would have been easier for the first waitress to do the whole thing herself.

When the party is ready to leave, the man who brought everyone in walks up to both waitresses and hands each of them a handsome 30% tip. Which of the two is going to complain? Right. The first. She would have preferred for the man to give her a 15 or even 10% tip so long as the second waitress got stiffed. She would rather get less if it meant that all her effort was recognized and appreciated.

Jesus Laid in the Tomb 1 Dear saints, welcome to the kingdom of heaven. In the kingdom of heaven, you are never rewarded based on your works or efforts because, if you received what you deserved, you would be sent straight to hell. In the kingdom of heaven, there are no formulas or set, hourly wages. You are given to based solely on the merits of Christ’s work for you. He is the only one who can say that He bore the burden of the day and the scorching heat. His atonement, His mercy, His grace is what you get, nothing less. Because of God’s unmerited, unearned, undeserved, unconditional love freely given to you for the sake of Christ, you are an heir of the kingdom of heaven. God be praised!

That’s the main point of the parable. The sermon could end here, but it won’t. There are other points in the parable. Yes, they are minor points, but I have four that I know will be helpful and comforting to you today. So, I’d like to draw them out a little bit. And these points all come from a small phrase in the parable from v. 6that never jumped out at me before. Notice in that verse that when the master goes out at the eleventh hour, just before the sun begins to set and working day is ending, the master finds more people standing there in the marketplace waiting to be hired and asks them, “Why do you stand here idle all day?” Did you catch it?

“All day.” It means the guys hired at the very end of the day had been there all along. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve studied, taught, and preached on this parable, but I kept missing that phrase. I had figured these guys were lazy. I thought maybe they slept in, maybe they were trying to avoid working during the hot part of the day. But that’s not the case! They were there early in the morning, at dawn, when the master first went out to hire workers. And they were there at the third and the sixth and the ninth hour when he came. Most people would have given up and gone home around the sixth hour (which is noon). But no. When the master asks why they have been standing there idle all day, they say, “Because no one has hired us.”

Here’s the first point we can draw from that: no one who got paid their denarius at the end of the day decided on their own to go work for the master. Every one of them was called and sent only by the initiative of the vineyard owner. No one volunteered themselves for labor when he came, and no one went to knock at his door to ask, “Would you hire me to work in your vineyard?” Nope. good-friday-jesus-comes-to-rescue Each of them was called, and each of them was called at the precise time the owner called them. He went and retrieved them.

So, if you are a worker in the Lord’s vineyard, if you have been called into the service of the kingdom of heaven, i.e. if you are a Christian, you were called by God. Period. He came. He gave you work to do. You didn’t seek to work for Him. God called you into His service when it pleased Him. Some, God brings in early and has them work the whole day, but for some reason – a reason known only to God – He brings others in a later, at the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hour. If it had pleased the master to hire all of them at dawn, he could have.

Which brings us to second point. if you think that you are one of the early hires, if you have been a Christian your whole life and faithfully carried out your vocations, if you have been tempted at times to grumble for all your hard work or tempted to pat yourself on the back for what you have accomplished, be careful. Remember that it was not you who offered up yourself to work. You were called by the grace of God. “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. You are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that you should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10).

Know this. God is pleased with your work. He designed all those works for you, and He laid them all out before you to serve those who needed God’s work offered through your hands. You will be rewarded, and you will be rewarded far better than you deserve.

The third point: Maybe you think that you are one of those who were called to work late. Maybe you are saddened by how much time you wasted pursuing a life of pleasure for yourself. If you think, “How much more good could have I done if I hadn’t been so foolish? If I had been studying Scripture earlier, I could have been of better service.” Dear saint, don’t get discouraged. easte-jesus-brings-us-out-of-death God had a reason for bringing you in when He did. Trust His timing. He brought you into His vineyard exactly when He wanted you.

The fourth point is also along those lines, and I know it will be comforting to many of you, so listen up! If you have been praying for someone who is not in God’s vineyard, or if you have been aching for someone who was once in the vineyard but left – maybe it is a friend or relative. If it seems like your prayers and efforts have been wasted, take courage. Don’t stop praying for them. Yes, God calls some early, but some aren’t called into the vineyard until later. Some are called so late that they only arrive in time to get paid which means they do no more than receive their gracious reward. Be comforted. God has His own timing. Keep praying.

One more thing. I know the most common way the different hours that the workers get hired is understood to be a time in each individual’s life. When it is interpreted this way, the workers hired first represent people who have been Christians their entire lives. They were given faith in baptism and continued in that faith until they died. Those who were hired at the third, sixth, and ninth hour are commonly viewed as those who came to faith later in life – as youth, adults, and seniors. And those hired at the eleventh hour are the deathbed converts. That seems to be a legitimate way to understand that detail of the parable, in fact, that is how this sermon has interpreted that detail up to now.

However, remember this parable is about the kingdom of heaven. 1 John 2:18, written almost two-thousand years ago, says that it is the last hour. In the book of Revelation, we get repeated pictures of the saints who have died and entered into glory, and they are still working by praying for us (Rev. 6:9-11). Also, consider Hebrews 11 that uses the faith and deeds of the Old Testament saints to encourage us. Then, Hebrews 12[:1-2] gives us a picture of the great cloud of saints surrounding us and cheering us on to keep walking in faith. And Revelation 14:13 says that those who die in Christ are blessed because they now rest from their labors, but – and this is the point – their deeds follow them.

Considering all of that, none of us can claim to be those who worked through the heat of the day. Rejoice that God is merciful and has and will continue to give to you far better than you deserve. But also, be encouraged because this means that your labor in Christ is never wasted and is valuable work that lives on after you are gone. Think of the labor done by the authors of Scripture – Moses, David, Isaiah, Matthew, John, and Paul– their labor continues to reap results for the kingdom of God today.

Great Multitude with white robes washed in the blood of the lamb And it isn’t just their work. Your work, done as a Christian, is holy work. Fathers and mothers, the work you do day in and day out will reap results in the lives in your children, grandchildren, and great-great-great-great grandchildren if Christ tarries. But it will also reap results in the lives of others whom you will never meet because you have shined the light of Christ to those you have met, and they will shine that light elsewhere. You Sunday school teachers, you who are praying for and encouraging our youth, you trustees who are caring for our facility, and everyone who is here encouraging another person is offering holy work that will be used by God until Christ returns. Everyone has a story of being impacted by someone else long after that person has entered into glory. So, take heart, and keep working. The labor that God has called you to is fruitful, holy work. It is holy work that God will multiply and expand. For that, God be praised. Amen.

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

Resurrection Mode – Sermon on Matthew 17:1-9 for the Transfiguration of Our Lord

Feb2

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Matthew 17:1-9

¹ And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ² And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. ³ And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. ⁴ And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁵ He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. ⁷ But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” ⁸ And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. ⁹ And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Chapter and verse breaks are helpful for us to find the same passage of Scripture, but they can also get in the way of important context. Our text, which begins a new chapter of Matthew, starts with the phrase “And after six days….” So, before we get to the Transfiguration, we need to see what was happening that week prior to Jesus getting shiny up on the mountain.

Matthew’ context for the Transfiguration starts back in Matthew 16[:13ff]. Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The disciples report that some say that the Son of Man is John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. But then Jesus turns the question to them, “But who do you say that I am?” and Peter has his great confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus had been proving that all along with His miracles and teaching. So, Jesus praises and blesses Peter even while He states that Peter didn’t come up with this confession on his own. Instead, God the Father had revealed this to Peter.

Then, Matthew tells us from that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, be killed, and on the third day be raised (Mt. 16:21). Transfiguration & Christ Forsaken And from this point, things get a little crazy and awkward. It is almost as though Peter didn’t hear Jesus say that He would rise from the dead because Peter rebukes Jesus – the very one he just confessed is the Son of the living God. Peter says, “Far be it from You, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” It would be easy to sling mud at Peter here for telling God that what He says is going to happen won’t ever happen. But you do it all the time – more on that in a bit.

Now, when Peter confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, it meant something for him. What exactly Peter had in mind that Jesus would do as the Messiah is a bit hard to pin down. But basically, Peter figured that Jesus, the Messiah, had come to fix problems. Exactly what those problems were we can’t say with certainty. But whatever Peter had in mind, one thing is sure, it would be difficult for Jesus the Messiah and Great Problem Solver to fix those problems if He was dead.

So, Peter rebukes Jesus, and Jesus rebukes Peter. “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Mt. 16:23). And this is the sharpest rebuke Jesus ever gave an individual.

You know how it can be after you have an argument with someone. You try to avoid the other person for fear that a fight will break out at any moment. When you have to talk with them, you feel uncomfortable during every conversation. You carefully word everything in order to avoid the issue flaring up again. Imagine how Peter must have felt during those six days between this rebuke and the Transfiguration.

Now, let’s ascend the mountain. Jesus invites Peter, James, and John to come up the mountain with Him. Maybe this summons made Peter figure the whole issue was over and done with. Anyway, while they are there, Jesus is transfigured. Christ’s face shines like the sun. His clothes become white as light. Moses and Elijah appear and talk with Jesus. Luke tells us that conversation centered around Jesus’ exodus (usually translated as “departure” but the word is ἔξοδος) which Jesus was about to accomplish at Jerusalem (Lk. 9:30). In other words, they were discussing the very thing that Peter said should never happen just a week ago.

To summarize: Six days prior, Jesus told the disciples about His suffering, death, and resurrection. And Peter didn’t like it then, and Peter doesn’t like it now even in the presence of shiny Jesus. Instead, Peter likes being there on the mountain basking in Jesus’ unveiled glory. But even more than that, Peter doesn’t want Jesus to walk down that mountain, down to Jerusalem, down to be arrested, down to be tried, down to suffer, and down to die on a cross – which would appear to be a complete waste. So, Peter pips up and says, “Lord, it is good that we are here.” And the word that receives the most emphasis in Peter’s statement is ‘here.’ It is nice to be there on the mountain away from where Jesus says He will die, so Peter says, “Let’s stay here. I can build some tents so we can stay here!”

In a few weeks, we are going to hear the account of Jesus’ temptation. After Jesus resists the devil’s temptations in the wilderness, Luke tells us that the devil left Jesus to tempt Him at a more opportune time (Lk. 4:13). This, right here, is a more opportune time. In other words, this statement by Peter is a real temptation for Jesus to stay there with Peter, James, John, Moses, and Elijah on that mountain of glory.

But while Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and God the Father speaks the same words He spoke over Jesus at His Baptism, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” But then the Father has one more thing to say – a command to give – “Listen to Him.” That’s not just friendly advice. The previous week, Peter had been rebuked by Jesus Himself for saying that Jesus shouldn’t die, “Get behind me Satan.” Now, Peter is rebuked again by God the Father for telling Jesus to stay away from Jerusalem and death. God says, “Listen to Him!” And the disciples hear this and are terrified.

Now, which of us does not have the same kind of weakness that Peter had? How often do you think you know better than God? You sin, but instead of confessing it for the rebellion that it is, you try to self-justify your actions. You judge God for being hard-nosed because of the things He has declared are evil. You think you know better than God how to raise your children, run your bank account, drive your car, and what to look at on the internet. Every time you complain, covet, and get angry, you are bucking God’s commands and setting yourself above God. It’s all idolatry, and we are all guilty. Stay in your lane. You don’t know better than God. You don’t get to tell God how things should be. Stay in your lane, and repent.

The voice of the Father from heaven says, “Listen to Him,” and crushes Peter’s conscience along with yours and mine.

Transfiguration - Rise and Have No Fear But here is where all of this is leading: Jesus comes to Peter, James, and John cowering in their sins and touches them. And notice what He says. He doesn’t continue to rebuke Peter. Jesus doesn’t say, “See I told you so.” Instead, Jesus says, “Rise,” the same word Jesus used when He spoke about His resurrection.“Rise, and have no fear.” Of all the things our Lord could have said, He says, “Rise, and have no fear.” Jesus is resurrecting Peter from his sin.

And Jesus stays in resurrection mode. As they are coming down the mountain, Jesus says, “Don’t tell anyone about what you saw until I rise from the dead.” There, Jesus speaks about His death. But it almost seems as though this is the first time the disciples realize Jesus says that as the Messiah that He will die and rise again. Christ will rise again.

Despite your objections; despite your idolatrous thinking that you know better than God; despite your continual, obstinate, insubordination against God; Jesus knows what you need. You need His suffering, the shedding of His blood, His death, and His resurrection. You need exactly what Jesus is here to provide for you right now. Here is His body, given for you. Here is His blood, shed for the forgiveness of all your sins. Here, Jesus gives you Himself to be your Savior. Amen.

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

Marvel – Sermon on Matthew 8:1-13 for the Third Sunday after Epiphany

Jan26

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Matthew 8:1-13

¹ When [Jesus] came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. ² And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” ³ And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴ And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

⁵ When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, ⁶ “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” ⁷ And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” ⁸ But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. ¹¹ I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, ¹² while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹³ And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today we have two very different people approaching Jesus. The first is a leper (people with leprosy are called ‘lepers’ not ‘leopards’ as some seem to think – kids and adults alike). This leper has absolutely nothing. Leprosy was a terrible skin infection that would eat away at a person’s flesh and destroy the nerves. One of the worst things about leprosy was that you could cut or burn or injure yourself and not even know it.

Leprosy did damage to a person’s body, but even worse, it damaged society. Lepers would live separately from everyone else to avoid infecting others. Even while leprosy ate away at a person’s flesh, it also ripped apart relationships – husbands and wives, parents and children. And if a leper did encounter someone who was uninfected, they would have to cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” to avoid spreading the disease. If you heard a leper warning you of his presence, you would get out of the way to avoid becoming leprous yourself.

Contrast all of that with the second person who approaches Jesus, the centurion. Roman Centurion Armor and Shield “Centurion” was his title and meant he was a commander over one-hundred soldiers. Centurions wore impressive armor including a helmet with all the feathers sticking out of the top, a shiny breastplate, a metal skirt, and a huge shield. Like a leper, a centurion’s command was also obeyed, but not to avoid becoming one of them. A centurion could say, “Go,” and the soldier would go. “Destroy,” and they would destroy. “Kill,” and they would kill.

Roman centurions were also very religious. The Romans believed in many pagan gods, but their chief god was Jupiter, the god of the sky. They believed that Jupiter threw lightning bolts when he was angry. Romans, like many other pagan religions, believed that if you wanted something from your god, you had to offer a gift or bribe to get that god on your side like Naaman did with his silver, gold, and cloths in our Old Testament text (2 Kgs. 5:1-15). But here in this text, the centurion approaches Jesus in Capernaum with completely empty hands. His beloved servant is paralyzed and dying at home, and he can’t do anything about it. He recognizes that he has no strength, no authority, no power over the condition of his servant.

Don’t miss the significance of this. A man with his power, influence, and strength could easily replace a measly servant. All he had to do was say the word, and the soldiers under his command would find another person with better skills or more strength to be his slave. For this centurion to go to Jesus would have been a despicable display of weakness not only in the eyes of his peers but also for the soldiers under his command. More on this later. And now he approaches Jesus with no gifts, no bribes, no promises. This centurion comes with nothing but a plea, “My servant is lying at home and dying. Don’t come to my house because I am not worthy to have You under my roof. Just say the word, and he will be healed.”

Jesus marvels. And if Jesus marveled at this man’s faith, so should we. Here is “a man of strength coming in weakness, a man of wealth coming in poverty, a Gentile coming in faith” (Rev. David Petersen). With no attempt to bribe, he simply trusts in the mercy of Jesus, God in the flesh, the One with real authority and power, full of mercy and compassion.

It is no marvel that Jesus found no such faith in Israel. But instead of casting stones at them, we should ask ourselves: would Jesus find such faith among us? How often are our prayers attached to promises of living a better life, being more obedient or more faithful? How often do we try to bargain with God in order to gain His favor? Repent.

Even if from this moment on, you promised to be perfectly obedient (which is impossible), without God’s mercy you and I are still unworthy for the Lord to come under our roof. The only thing we are worthy of is to be cast into the outer darkness of hell for all eternity.

Christ of St John on the Cross Salvador Dali Repent, but do not despair. Jesus, God in the flesh, comes down from the mountain in order to save us. He is a God of mercy and grace. He comes to make the unworthy worthy and the unholy sacred. Jesus willingly approaches the untouchable leper to touch and heal. And Christ has compassion upon a centurion who appeared to have everything, but in reality, had nothing.

May we also have such faith as we approach our compassionate God who willingly and marvelously went to the cross to bear our sins. Christ was cast out of society with nothing but a cross and a crown of thorns. Though Jesus is the Lord of hosts, He did not call the angels to deliver Him as He was pinned to the cross. Instead, in love He shed His holy and precious blood to heal our souls. He bears all our sin in His body on the cross and proves that He is stronger than the devil. He shuts Satan’s mouth and triumphs over sin, death, and hell by His resurrection. He says, “Go,” to your sins and they go. He says, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden,” and you come and find rest for your soul (Mt. 11:28).

Remember, for this centurion to come to Jesus was an act of humility. He could have simply found another servant, but the centurion humbles himself to seek Jesus’ help because of his love for his servant. The centurion becomes a picture of what it means to be a Christian. His faith in Christ is manifested in love for his neighbor in a marvelous way.

The centurion is a Christ figure for his servant. Though he had power and authority, the centurion humbles himself to serve his servant. And, Christian, so do we. Through faith, we have everything since we are children of the Most High God. Yet, through love, we use our access to God in order to serve our neighbor by interceding on their behalf. Through faith, we receive treasures from above, from God. Through love we release those treasures below to our neighbors (Luther).

May our faith in Christ manifest itself in love for our neighbor so that the earth may know the mercies of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 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

Ride on – Sermon on Matthew 26:1-27:66 for Palm or Passion Sunday

Greater & More Perfect – Sermon on Hebrews 9:11-15 for the Fifth Sunday of Lent

Distributed – Sermon on John 6:1-15 for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

No Empty Houses – Sermon on Luke 11:14-28 for the Third Sunday of Lent

The Anatomy of Sin – Sermon on Genesis 3:1-21 & Matthew 4:1-11 for the First Sunday of Lent

Holy Deliverance – Sermon on Luke 18:31-43 for Quinquagesima

Holy Rest – Sermon on Hebrews 4:9-13 for Sexagesima

Holy Work – Sermon on Matthew 20:1-16 for Septuagesima

Resurrection Mode – Sermon on Matthew 17:1-9 for the Transfiguration of Our Lord

Marvel – Sermon on Matthew 8:1-13 for the Third Sunday after Epiphany