Coming – Sermon on Matthew 21:1-9 for the First Sunday of Advent

Matthew 21:1–9

¹ Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” ⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

⁵ “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸ Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Dear saints, welcome to Advent. ‘Advent’ means ‘coming.’ One of my goals with this sermon and the rest of the sermons leading up to our Christmas Eve service is to deepen your appreciation for the season of Advent and cultivate the attitude Advent gives us. And I want to be clear: I’m not going to chide you if you put up your Christmas tree and decorations immediately after putting the Thanksgiving leftovers in your fridge, and I’m not going to call you to repent if you started watching Hallmark Christmas movies or listening to Christmas music weeks ago. Don’t worry about that.

So, about Advent. Yes, Advent precedes Christmas, but Advent isn’t “pre-Christmas.” The season of Advent isn’t meant to only prepare us to celebrate that Jesus was born. The dominant idea of Advent is the thought of our Lord’s coming in three ways. First, God has come in the flesh of Jesus. Second, God will come again; Jesus will return in His body to judge the living and the dead. And third – and maybe most importantly – God continually comes to us now in grace in His Body and Blood given in Holy Communion, in the preaching and hearing of His Word, and in the fellowship of the Church which is His body (Col. 1:24).

Dear saints, God came, God is coming, and God comes. And this is exceptionally Good News because, as Psalm 16:11 says, “In Your presence there is fullness of joy.” God’s coming brings joy. But too often, we prefer to substitute the joy of God’s presence with other things.

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “[H]uman history… [is] the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy” (p. 49). We see this playing out at the beginning of human history. I know you know all of this, but it’s good to hear it again. The devil enticed Adam and the woman to take what God had forbidden. Rather than trusting God’s promise that gaining the knowledge of good and evil would turn out badly, the couple took the fruit and ate. They got the knowledge of evil, but it didn’t make them happy.

Instead, they realized their nakedness and shame, so they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. Their own attempt at finding an answer to their sin and guilt apart from God providing a solution didn’t make them happy either. But something made the first couple even more unhappy. They heard God coming into the Garden. The all-powerful Creator of the universe was coming, and they thought He was coming for their destruction. Rather than running toward God, they ran away from Him. God was coming with power, but He was coming in mercy and grace to give them chance after chance to repent. This is why we need Advent; it helps us see that God’s coming is Good News because He comes to restore sinners unto Himself.

God asks, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). God knew where they were, but God was coming in peace and love, begging them to confess and be forgiven. But Adam responded that he was afraid because he was naked. So, God asks, “Who told you were naked? Have you eaten the forbidden fruit?” (Gen. 3:11). In other words, “Adam, repent.” But Adam starts pointing his finger, “The woman, whom You gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit, and I ate” (Gen. 3:12). Basically, Adam is saying, “God, it’s all Your fault.” So, God turns to the bone of Adam’s bones and the flesh of Adam’s flesh, and asks her, “What did you do?” which is yet another call for repentance. But the woman also passes the buck, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Gen. 3:13). All of this running from God, passing the blame for our own sin, and blaming God is, sadly, how we sinners naturally react to God’s coming.

In a real sense, the rest of Genesis 3 along with the rest of the Bible is God promising to restore the fullness of joy in His presence (Ps. 16:11). Yet still, we fallen sinners seek happiness apart from God and His coming because we wrongly think that God’s coming means our judgment and condemnation. Now, yes, on the Last Day when Jesus returns that will be true for unbelievers who keep seeking a false, temporary happiness apart from God’s gracious presence. But for you, while you still breathe, God comes in grace and mercy. That is why we read this Gospel text today to open the season of Advent. It occurred on Palm Sunday just days before Jesus’ crucifixion. Look how God comes:

King Jesus comes to His royal city, and there is power in His coming. The cattle on a thousand hills are His (Ps. 50:10), so is the donkey and its colt. If He needs them, they are His to use. This crowd of people welcomes Him as the King without anyone telling them what to do. Yes, His coming is an unstoppable force. But, unlike other kings, He comes humbly. He didn’t ride into the city as a regal conqueror on an impressive war horse. He came riding on a colt. He didn’t come with legions of armies. He came with crowds of lowly, common people crying out, “Hosanna,” which means, “Save us.” He didn’t enter a lavish palace with a high and lofty throne. His battered, beaten, bloodied body hiked up a hill carrying His own cross to the place where He gave His life for sinners. Even when Jesus came as King, He came to give His life for sinners to bring them back into the joy of His presence (Ps. 16:11).

And this kind of humble coming marked His entire life. During His ministry, Jesus dined and associated with tax collectors and sinners (Lk. 15:1-2, 7:39). He surrounded Himself with an entourage of fishermen. And, of course, His arrival in the flesh was also meek, lowly, and gracious. Conceived by a young fiancée of a carpenter from Nazareth, born in a barn, and laid in a feeding trough, God came in the flesh of a swaddled infant.

Until He comes again in glory, God comes to forgive, redeem, and purchase you from all your sins and trespasses against Him. God comes to you to restore you back into a right relationship with Himself.

Believer, in a sense, you have always been living in Advent. Until Jesus returns, you are always looking, waiting, and watching for His coming even as He comes to You now in His Word and Sacrament. Yes, He always comes in power, but He humbly uses His power to forgive, redeem, restore, and save you.

Christ came, He is coming, and Christ comes now inviting you to His table where He will show you His steadfast love and grant you His salvation (Ps. 85:7). Dear saints, Christ doesn’t to judge you. He comes to bring you forgiveness, life, salvation, and the joy of His presence. Amen.

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

Ready Now; Ready Later – Sermon on Matthew 25:1-13 for the Last Sunday of the Church Year

Nov26

Matthew 25:1–13

¹ “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. ⁸And 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. ¹¹ Afterward 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.

The older I get, the more realize the truth that time is relative. Don’t get me wrong. There are still 60 seconds in a minute; 60 minutes in an hour; 24 hours in a day; and 365 days in a year. That doesn’t change. But sixty minutes is nothing when you are doing something you enjoy compared to sixty minutes of something you don’t. One day at work could fly by, while the next might seem to drag on for an eternity even though you clocked in at 9 AM and out at 5 PM both days.

Our Gospel text today is about Jesus’ return, and Jesus plainly tells you what your attitude and approach to His return should be, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Jesus is returning on the Last Day, but we don’t know when the Last Day is.

We do know that Scripture teaches that we are – currently, right now – in the last days. At Pentecost, Peter preaches that humanity is living in the last days (Act. 2:17). The many signs that Jesus says will mark His return are seen in our time (2 Tim. 3:1-9; Heb. 1:1-2; 2 Pet. 3:3). The Bible says that the end of all things and Jesus’ return is at hand (Jam. 5:8; 1 Pet 4:7). The Apostle John even says that we are living in “the last hour” in his first letter, which was written before 100 AD (1 Jn. 2:18). On top of this, Jesus repeatedly tells us that He is coming ‘soon’ (Rev. 22:7, 12, 20). Soon. What does He mean by ‘soon’? ‘Soon’ is a bit vague especially when with the Lord a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day (1 Pet. 3:8). Come on, Jesus, can’t You give us a little better timeline than that? But His only response is, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Jesus could come today – even before I’m done preaching this sermon. He could come before your Thanksgiving leftovers go bad or need to be frozen. Christ could return before you need to do your Christmas shopping and wrapping. Wouldn’t that be great! But Jesus could also come in twenty years, five-hundred years, or thousands of years from now. We only know two things about Christ’s return: 1) He is coming again soon so we need to be ready now, and 2) because we don’t how soon ‘soon’ is, we need to be ready if He delays and comes later.

That is why Jesus wants us to have the wisdom of the five wise virgins who go into the marriage feast. They are doubly ready. By being at the door of the banquet hall, they are ready if the bridegroom comes now. And by having enough oil to light their lamps, they are ready if the bridegroom comes later.

We should be excited and ready for Jesus to come now. If you are, that’s good. But we also need to be ready to wait. We can’t be so obsessed with what is happening right now that we do not plant and build up God’s kingdom for the next generation and the one after that and the one after that and the one fifty generations from now. In other words, we need to have enough oil for later.

But Jesus doesn’t tell us what the oil is. Is the oil God’s Word, faith, grace, the Holy Spirit, or the Sacraments? Jesus doesn’t say. But the Scriptures teach that we can think of the oil as all of those. My guess is that Jesus doesn’t tell us exactly what the oil is so that we seek after all those things because each of them – the Bible, faith, grace, absolution, and the Sacraments – are kingdom of heaven things. And Christ tells us to, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Mt. 6:33).

Here, today, right now, you are storing up oil. You don’t have to save up your money, go to the marketplace, and find the best deal on oil. It’s given away here for free. In this place, you hear God’s Word, are absolved of all your sins, and receive Christ’s risen Body and Blood. In this place, you are supported by your brothers and sisters in Christ, and your presence ministers to them. Here, you unite in prayer making intercessions for yourselves and others, for our nation and this world. This is how faith is given, sustained, and strengthened.

But also, don’t be a fool and think that a couple hours at church each week (or two to three times each month) is enough. You need more. And parents, listen up: your children can’t share your oil and can’t walk in the light of your lamp. Each one needs his or her own lamp lit. So, if it hasn’t been your family’s practice in the past, make the reading of Scripture, prayer, and fellowship around God’s Word together as a family your top priority each day. Start today. Fathers, God calls you to take the lead on this. Wives, if he doesn’t do it on his own, pester and nag him until he does.

Family time in the Bible doesn’t need to be complicated or fancy. Start simple. Start with the Gospel of John and read one paragraph each day. After you read, pray for your friends and family. It can be as simple as, “Bless grandma and help uncle Phil. Amen.” Then, pray the Lord’s Prayer. That will take five minutes. You can do that. You have the time to do that.

If you don’t have enough time, eliminate something from your schedule. If your job makes it impossible, quit. Find a new career – even if it means a pay cut and you have to get a smaller, cheaper house. This is eternally serious. Your salvation and the salvation of your children, grandchildren, and great-great-great-great-grandchildren depends on it. If you miss a day, don’t give up. Start again the next. Make it a habit for you and your kids to pray together on the way to school or practice or wherever. All of this will fill your oil reserves and make God’s Word part of your regular conversations as you watch and remain ready for His return. It will help make you ready now and later.

Then, as soon as you have worked yourself into a tizzy about the dire urgency of Christ’s return, step back, take a breath, and remember: Christ’s return is not something scary or horrific that you need to fear. No, Jesus’ return means that you will be in eternal bliss, happiness, contentment, and joy. There will be no more pain, tears, or sorrow. Christ’s return is something to anticipate – more than a child anticipates the arrival of her favorite aunt and cousins. That excited expectation is what Jesus is highlighting with this parable.

Yes, this parable is a warning. Our lamps can run dry. Faith must be continually fed by God’s Word and the Sacraments. Repent. Believe. Have faith in Christ. Sure, Scripture teaches that as the end draws near the signs of Jesus’ return become more and more alarming (1 Th. 5:1-11). There will be wars and rumors of wars, nation rising up against nation, earthquakes, persecution, hatred, false teaching, and love growing cold (Mt. 24:4-12).

But, when you see those things, remember what that means for you. Christ says it means your redemption is drawing near (Lk. 21:28). The bridegroom is coming, and you are His bride without spot, wrinkle, or blemish (Eph. 5:27).

Dear saints, this world is ending. Good riddance. You have Christ. Your redemption is secure and your eternity certain. So, look forward to that day. Stay awake. Keep eagerly anticipating and looking for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

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

Transferred – Sermon on Matthew 9:18-26 for the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity

Nov19

Matthew 9:18–26

¹⁸ While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” ¹⁹ And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. ²⁰And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, ²¹ for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” ²² Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. ²³ And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, ²⁴ he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. ²⁵ But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶ And the report of this went through all that district.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This world is filled with sin and uncleanness. But Jesus, the Lamb of God, has come and taken the sins of the world into Himself (Jn. 1:29). Christ has shed His holy and precious blood to wash away all the uncleanness of this sin-stained world, and He has done that to transfer you from the domain of darkness to His eternal kingdom (Col. 1:13).

To understand this Gospel text, it is important to have a basic understanding of the Old Testament’s teachings on the concept of uncleanness. Through Moses, God declared that if you engaged in certain behaviors, if your body was sick, or if you were going through different natural processes, you were unclean and couldn’t be around other people or the things of God because that uncleanness is like a virus that spreads from one person to another.

Both degree of uncleanness and the length uncleanness depended on certain factors. For instance (because these things are related to this Gospel text), a dead body was unclean, and if someone touched a dead body, that person would be unclean for seven days (Num. 19:11). When a woman was in her “womanly cycle,” she was unclean for seven days, and if someone touched her while she was in that uncleanness, that person would be unclean for one day (Lev. 15:19).

So, when this father asks Jesus to help him by laying His hand on his dead daughter, he is asking Jesus to become unclean for seven days according to God’s law given through Moses. And even though this woman needs Jesus’ help because she has been bleeding non-stop for twelve years, she is too timid to ask Jesus to become unclean by touching her. But she knows who Jesus is. So, she thinks it’s worth a shot to try to sneak a healing from Jesus by touching just the fringe of His garment in order to secretly get relief. Her plan works, but it doesn’t stay secret.

Now, the difference between the father’s boldness and the woman’s timidity is something to meditate on. The next time I preach this text, we might consider how the ruler – his name is Jairus (Mk. 8:22) – Jairus is desperate enough to boldly ask Jesus to become unclean while this woman isn’t confident enough to ask. And yet both Jairus and this woman get help and relief from Jesus – the results end up being identical. Well, that will have to be its own sermon.

Anyway, back to this idea of uncleanness transferring to and defiling things that are clean. Ponder these questions: does Jesus become unclean when He shows mercy to this man by grabbing the dead hand of the daughter? And does Jesus catch uncleanness from that woman when she touches Him? Well, the answer to these questions is both ‘yes’ and ‘no.’

First, the ‘yes.’ Strictly speaking, the Law of Moses says Jesus becomes unclean. He has contact with both a corpse and an unclean woman. In both instances, the uncleanness of the dead girl and the woman are both eliminated because Jesus takes them into Himself. Jesus absorbs the illness of the woman, and He takes death out of the girl and into Himself. On Good Friday, Jesus suffered all of God’s punishment, judgment, and wrath against sin and uncleanness. But Jesus starts loading Himself up with that sin and uncleanness long before He goes to the cross.

It was shortly after Jesus’ Baptism that John the Baptizer says that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29). Also, just a few verses before our text, Jesus heals a bunch of people of their sickness and demonic possession, and Matthew tells us that Jesus did this to fulfill Isaiah 53:4, “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases” (Mt. 8:17). In His miracles and ministry, Jesus takes the illness, disease, and uncleanness of those He encounters. So, yes. Strictly speaking, according to the ritual laws of God about cleanness and uncleanness, Jesus becomes unclean.

But also, no, Jesus doesn’t become unclean because He can’t become unclean. Jesus is God in the flesh and the source of all cleanness, health, and life who has come to drive all sin and uncleanness out of this world. Jesus can’t be defiled. Just like how you don’t wash a bar of soap by the sink or in the shower after you use it so that bar will be clean for the next person. You don’t do that because it is the very thing that cleanses. Infinitely more, Jesus’ purity can’t be corrupted because He is purity embodied. Light cannot be overpowered by darkness. Darkness always loses its battle with light (Jn. 1:5, 12:46).

In a very real way, Jesus isn’t able to touch a dead body because whatever lifeless corpse He touches is restored to life the moment His clean, pure fingers touch it. Christ is Life embodied (Jn. 14:6), and He transfers from death to life. In a real way, Jesus can’t touch an unclean person because at the moment of contact, the things that are categorized as unclean are transferred to clean. Christ came into this world to take away the sin and sorrow that fills this world.

So, dear saints, know that when you feel your uncleanness; when you know the vile, evil things you have done; when you recognize the sins that have utterly defiled you in body and soul; know that Christ has come for you (Mt. 9:13). When you are filled with guilt and shame and begin to doubt that God could actually love and forgive you, remember that Christ came to save you who sit in the filthy, mucky darkness (Is. 9:2) and to bring His light to banish the darkness and obscenity around you and in you.

On the cross, Jesus stretched out His hands, which could not be defiled by sin, and those nail-pierced hands ripped all your sin and corruption from you. Because Jesus never became unclean when He did this for you, He promises that no matter how filthy you have made yourself, you can come to Him and plead for His touch which gives you the mercy you need.

In this Gospel text, you see two examples of the “Great Exchange.” Jesus absorbs this woman’s uncleanness, and in its place, she receives Christ’s healing love. Jesus gives His life to this girl and takes her death upon Himself. And while seeing these things is helpful and encouraging, Jesus has more for you today. Today, you also receive the transfer.

You confessed earlier that you are, by your fallen, human nature, sinful and unclean, and that is completely true. Scripture teaches that because all of us are descended from Adam. But Jesus, the new Adam (1 Co. 15:45) is here. He comes to you today with His Body and Blood which He gave and shed for you. The resurrected Jesus who has defeated sin, death, and the devil comes to touch you and drive away all your uncleanness and death with His purity and life. He comes to you who still live in the domain of darkness to transfer you into His eternal kingdom (Col. 1:13). Amen.

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

Citizenship – Sermon on Philippians 3:17-21 for the Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity

Nov12

Philippians 3:17–21

¹⁷ Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. ¹⁸For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. ²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Imagine that you get a phone call telling you that your great-uncle Bob has died. Bob was incredibly wealthy, he didn’t have any kids, so he named you as the sole heir of his massive estate because you played catch with him at a family reunion years ago. Congratulations. Now, Bob’s mansion with all of his groundskeepers, a personal chef, butlers, and maids is all yours. You’ve never been to that mansion, but you are given a couple aerial pictures of the massive estate and a partial list of everything you’re going to get. That list is incomplete only because there was too much include everything.

Your great-uncle Bob would travel to that estate by helicopter, but Bob’s helicopter was left at the mansion. So, the only way you can get there is by hiking a path. That path is straight and clearly marked, but you can only enter that path at the beginning. No map of this path exists, and you can’t use a GPS to help you. You know where to start, you know what the path looks like, but you don’t know how long the path is. The hike could take you a few minutes, or it could take you weeks. You just don’t know. So, while you journey on this path, you keep taking out the pictures of the mansion and the partial list of everything you will get to enjoy. Those pictures and list of things motivate you to keep you putting one foot in front of another when the path gets tough.

Tuck that analogy in the back of your mind as we consider this text. What Paul is doing in these verses is encouraging you to keep looking at, to keep longing for, and to keep expecting the joys of what lies ahead (see Php. 3:12-16). Paul wants you to do that so you don’t stray off the path that leads you to your eternal inheritance with Christ, your Savior.

Paul starts this text by saying that we should imitate him and other Christians like him. When we celebrated All Saints’ Day last week, I mentioned how Scripture wants us to remember the saints who have gone before us so we can be encouraged by their life and walk of faith. This is one of those places. And Paul isn’t just being boastful here; don’t get that impression. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this, so that means God Himself wants us to imitate Paul (and other Christians) and walk according to his example. But also know, that doesn’t mean you here today are supposed to take Paul’s biography and make it the story of your life. God isn’t calling you to be a persecutor of the church, go around arresting Christians, be blinded on the road to Damascus, get Baptized, and become a missionary who gets beaten and arrested almost everywhere he goes. Instead, go back to what Paul has said in the verses leading up to this text.

If you look back in Philippians 3, you’ll see exactly how Paul wants you to imitate him. I’ll just list a few of them here:

Paul says that he counts everything as loss for the sake of knowing Christ as his Lord (Php. 3:7-8). Paul recognizes he doesn’t have a righteousness that comes from himself; instead, his righteousness is given and imputed to him only through faith in Christ (Php. 3:9). Paul shares in Christ’s sufferings (Php. 3:10). He recognizes that he hasn’t been resurrected yet, so he presses on in life because Christ has claimed him (Php. 3:12-13a). Paul forgets what lies behind and strains forward to what lies ahead (Php. 3:13b-14). And Paul says that he holds on to what he already has been given by God (Php. 3:16). Those are the ways God wants you to imitate Paul. Walk according to that example.

Now contrast Paul’s walk with those that he, with tears in his eyes, calls “enemies of the cross of Christ” and how they walk. Those enemies of Jesus walk in the way of destruction because the only god they serve is their belly, they glory in their shame, and their minds are set on earthly things. All three of those things are closely related to each other because, when people think this world is their home, they set their mind only on things of this world. They end up serving the god of their sinful, carnal desires. And they wrongly find “glory in their shame.”

There are myriads of examples of finding glory in shame today. Unbelievers celebrate their sins. Heathens ‘shout their abortions’ and label brutal, horrific murder as ‘choice.’ It’s no coincidence they have ‘Pride Month.’ Pagans steal, loot, and riot, and they call it ‘mostly peaceful protesting.’ I could go on and on. All of those sins of murder, fornication, and robbery should bring them shame, but they rebrand those things to try to make them sound glorious.

Now, don’t dislocate your shoulder because you want to pat yourself on the back. While unbelievers find glory in things that should cause them shame, you and I do the same thing in the opposite direction. We are ashamed of things that actually bring us glory. In Psalm 4, which is my favorite Psalm and one that I recommend you read when/if you are having trouble falling asleep, David asks pagans (Ps. 4:2), “O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?” Too often we are persuaded by popular opinion and are embarrassed by the most glorious things about us. The devil likes to try to turn things on their heads. He wants to pagans to boast in what is sinful and shameful as though it is glorious, and he wants believers to think that the most glorious things are shameful.

Scripture repeatedly says, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord,” (1 Cor. 1:31; 2 Cor. 10:17; Jer. 9:23-24). How often are you talking to someone who would be blessed by hearing you quote a Bible passage or offer some comfort from God’s Word but you are afraid to do it? I know it happens to me, and it’s my job. We all fall into the temptation to be ashamed of the very things that bring us glory and should be most proud of. You are a child of God, but do you boast about that?

If you’re at a fancy party surrounded by important, powerful people, do you say, “I don’t mean to brag, but I’m saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9). God has written my name in the Book of Life (Php. 4:3; Rev. 3:5). Each week, I go to this place, and God Himself sends someone to tell me that I’m entirely forgiven of all my sins’ (Jn. 20:23). I’m Baptized. Yeah, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19). I am a regular a guest at feast of the Creator of the universe, and He gives me life and salvation through His Body and Blood (Mt. 26:26-28)”? Probably not.

Yes, it’s sinful and dreadful when unbelievers try to turn their sin into glory, but it’s equally wretched when we fall into the temptation to turn our glory into shame. Repent.

This is why the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this text and remind us that our citizenship is in heaven (Php. 3:20). Notice that. It doesn’t say, “your citizenship will be in heaven,” it is. Now. That’s something to hold on to when the path of your Christian walk gets long and hard.

Dear saints, you are, right now, citizens of the kingdom of God. Your driver’s license might have ‘Minnesota’ printed on it. You might pay income taxes to the state of North Dakota. (Living in a border town makes this part of the sermon a little more difficult.) Your passport might be issued by the United States of America. But, Christian, you are not home here. You have a better home. So, back to the great-uncle Bob analogy, stay on the path. You don’t know how long this path is going to be, but you do know what lies at the end of it. When you are tempted to quit hiking, pull out the pictures and lists of what Scripture promises are yours when you arrive at your inheritance, and keep putting one foot in front of the other. When you are enticed to stray from the path, remember the glory that is yours because you are, right now, a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

And whenever you find things in this world that bring you joy and pleasure, know that they will fade, because heaven and earth will pass away (Mt. 24:35). The best things here on earth, yes, they are good gifts from God, but those things are only echoes and incomplete copies of the joys and pleasures that await you when you arrive home when Christ returns. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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

Blessed Wages – Sermon on Matthew 5:1-12 for All Saints’ Day (Observed)

Nov5

Matthew 5:1–12

¹ Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. ² And 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.

Dear saints, that’s you. If you are a Christian, you are a saint. A saint is nothing more than a holy person. I don’t imagine you think that you are holy in and of yourself. If you think you are, that is nothing more than pride, which is evidence that you are not holy. No, you are a saint because you belong to Jesus. He has made you holy by shedding His blood and dying for you. Christ has purchased and redeemed you and has made you holy.

Now, that brings us to the Beatitudes, but we’re going to start at the end so we can better understand the whole thing. In the last two verses, Jesus says, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”

Jesus commands us to do something here, but it might be one of the most difficult commands in Scripture. Your Lord commands you to rejoice and be glad when you are reviled, when you are persecuted, and when people utter all kinds of evil against you falsely. This command doesn’t have to do with how you use your body. We’re used to those kinds of commands – don’t use your mouth, tongue, and lips to lie; don’t use your arms and hands to kill or steal. We can do those things at least outwardly – even though we don’t perfectly keep those commands when we don’t lie, kill, or steal. But with this command, Jesus demands that you have certain feelings. Be joyful and glad. Yes, Jesus commands even your emotions and feelings, and Christ gives the reason we are to have those feelings.

“Rejoice and be glad for,” in other words, ‘because,’ or ‘here’s why,’ “your reward is great in heaven.”This is so helpful. The reason you are to rejoice is your heavenly reward is great. If you looked up the Greek word that gets translated as ‘reward,’ the first definition you would see is ‘wage.’ In fact, it’s the same word Jesus uses in the parable about the workers in the vineyard who all get paid the same wage of a denarius, no matter how many hours they worked (Mt. 20:1-16).

We do use the word ‘reward’ in a similar way. If you win a game or a race, your reward is a trophy or medal – it’s what you’ve earned for all your work before and during the contest. But ‘wage’ puts a little more of an edge to it. Wages are what you get paid for doing something, and Jesus promises great, heavenly wages.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus lets you know that things are going to be difficult in this life, at least for a while. You will be poor in spirit. Many things will cause you to mourn. You will be meek and humble. You will constantly hunger and thirst for righteousness. You will be merciful instead of vengeful. You will be pure in heart. You will seek to make peace instead of demanding your rights. And when you do all of that, Jesus says, people will persecute you because of it. But Christ wants you to endure all of that with rejoicing because He will pay you. And He will pay you well.

And to be clear, this isn’t the only time Jesus says something like this. In Luke 14:12-14, Jesus says, and I’ll paraphrase: “When you give a feast, don’t invite your friends, family, or rich neighbors because they will invite you to repay you. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind who cannot repay you. Do this because you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” There, Jesus says that one of the reasons or motivations for you to treat people well – even those who can’t repay you – is that you will be repaid by God at the resurrection.

Shouldn’t you just do this because Jesus has been so kind and merciful to you? Yes, you should. God’s mercy freely given to you is all the motivation you should need. But Jesus gives another motivation here in the Beatitudes and in Lk. 14:14, and that motivation is that God Himself will repay you.

This is a great promise, and we should use it more often. So, take this promise, and keep it in your back pocket so you can pull it out regularly. The next time you are mistreated, pull this promise out of your pocket. When you spend hours planning, shopping, chopping, and cooking a nice meal for your kid and you place that that healthy food in front of him, but he says, “I don’t like that!” and slides it off the table so it spills all over the floor, take a breath. Remind yourself, “Jesus promises that I will be repaid.” When you are waiting in a long line and someone rudely and budges in front of you, take comfort in the fact that you will be repaid. When someone dominates the conversation and constantly interrupts you, don’t be impolite back and take your vengeance. Instead, think about those heavenly wages that Christ promises.

Of course, none of this – not one bit of it – is the basis for your salvation. You aren’t earning God’s favor or pleasure because of these works. But, again, this promise of blessed, heavenly wages can give you patience and motivate you toward good works. This is simply doing what you are called to do in Colossians 3:1-4, “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your Life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

So, to go through the Beatitudes quickly:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You are the subject of a king who isn’t going anywhere. He won’t ever be unseated. This world is not your home. You have a better one now and forever.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. That’s a heavenly reward. You will be comforted by Jesus. Yes, you have this comfort now through the Gospel and forgiveness of your sins, but there is even more and greater comfort yet to come in heaven.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The new creation will be yours. You, dear saint, will be co-owners of the new heavens and earth. It belongs to you.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. You already have the righteousness of Christ. You don’t hunger and thirst for that. But you do hunger and thirst for the righteousness that will be yours when your sinful nature is finally done away with. That will come, and it will be paid to you as your blessed wage.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Yes, you have mercy now, but there’s still more to come. And you will be given this mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. You will behold Him and His face forever. The closest you get to that here is in the Lord’s Supper where you get to eat and drink His Body and Blood. But here, He is still veiled. Eventually, that veil will be removed.

Finally, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Yes, you are God’s children now, but what you will be has not yet appeared. But know that when He appears, you will be like Him because you will see Him as He is (1 Jn. 3:2).

The treasures of earth are going to fade and pass away (Mt. 6:19), but your blessed wages will not. Dear saints, blessed are you. Jesus promises. Amen.

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

Slaves & Sons – Sermon on John 8:31-36 for Reformation Sunday

Oct29

John 8:31–36

³¹ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ³³ They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵ The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus says, “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Those words of our Lord have been rolling around in my mind this past month. What Jesus says there has a lot of implications both for individuals and, by extension, for congregations. To be a disciple of Jesus – in other words to be a Christian – means abiding, remaining, and staying in Jesus’ Word. Those who are saved love to hear their Savior’s words. And that does not only refer to the red-letter words in our Bibles. It’s the whole thing. From the words, “In the beginning,” in Gen. 1:1 through the final, “Amen,” of Rev. 22:21 are all Jesus’ Words.

And notice to whom Jesus says this – this is so important. Jesus is speaking to “the Jews who had believed in Him.” In other words, Christ is speaking to Christians (Ro. 10:17) – people who believe His words. So, what Jesus is calling them to do is to continue abiding and remaining in His Words because if they do notremain in Jesus’ Words, they will not be His disciples, they will not know the truth, and they will not be free. Dear saints, your life as a Christian is to continue to learn and grow in your knowledge and understanding of the Bible. To be a Christian is to be a student of the Scriptures.

Now, all of that is important to ponder and consider, but there is something even more profound here that I want us to consider today. Again, as Jesus speaks to people who believe in Him, He calls them to abide in His Word so that they will (future tense) be set free. In other words, those who believe in Jesus are waiting for a freedom that is still to come. That freedom is promised, and that freedom is the hope of every Christian, but it is still in the future.

Today, as Jesus’ disciples, let’s abide in these words of Jesus here for a moment because many other passages in Scripture say that we are free when we believe. Romans 6:22 says that you, believer, have been set free from sin. A little later in Romans 8:2, Scripture says that the Spirit of Life has set you free in Christ Jesus. Galatians 5:1 says that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Just like the people in this reading did, we might want to ask Jesus, “How is it that You say, ‘You will become free’? Aren’t we free already?” Well, Jesus is clear. “Truly, truly. Amen, amen, I say to you everyone who practices,” probably a better way to translate this would be ‘does,’ “everyone who does sin is a slave to sin.” To do sin is to be a slave to sin.

So, dear saints, consider this: Are you a Christian? Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe His Word? Yes. Then Scripture is clear, you are free – right now.

But also consider this: Are you perfect? Do you do things that God forbids? Do you not do things that God demands? In other words, do you sin? Yes. Then, your Lord is also clear – you are a slave to sin. And you can’t wiggle out of this. It isn’t just that you make mistakes or that you are programmed to do things that aren’t quite right. No. All of us deliberately sin. We sin on purpose, with full knowledge, and repeatedly. And by sinning, we place ourselves under slavery to sin and put our faith in danger. Repent.

Jesus knows when He says that those who do sin are slaves to sin is a devastating judgment. That’s why He continues speaking and offers us hope saying that even though, “the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Jesus doesn’t just leave you in slavery to sin. He is the Son who sets you free – both now and in the future. Romans 6 says that you have been joined to Jesus’ death and resurrection in your Baptism, and it goes on to say, “our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin may be brought to nothing, so that,” and listen carefully here, “so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin” (Ro. 6:6-7).

Jesus tells us the truth. The one who does sin is a slave to sin, and He sets us free from the evil master of sin. These two clear truths from Scripture have to be one of the most difficult tensions in all the world. You are, for a time, both slaves (because you sin) and sons (because you believe and are redeemed). You are free, and at the same time you are a slave to sin. You aren’t one or the other or bounce back and forth. At the same time, you are sons of God and still slaves to sin. The last half of Romans 7 talks about this tension (Ro. 7:14-25).

You are simultaneously saint and sinner, or, as Jesus puts it here, simultaneously slaves and sons. The tension between those two teachings isn’t understandable or comprehensible. But that’s ok. The Bible teaches all sorts of things that are beyond our understanding like the Trinity; the two natures of Jesus, that He is both God and man; etc. We don’t hesitate to believe those things because Scripture clearly teaches them. Well, Scripture also teaches that you are a slave to sin and a redeemed son of God.

This tension is what keeps you running back to Jesus. It isn’t your obedience or your consistency or the fact that you feel bad about being a sinner that sets you free. Yes, you should feel bad about being a sinner, but that isn’t what sets you free from your slavery to sin. It’s Jesus, the Son, and Him alone who sets you free now and will make you free forever.

Dear saints, when – not ‘if’ but ‘when’ – when you feel the weight of your slavery, when the shackles of your iniquities rub your wrists and ankles raw, when the whip of your transgressions has shredded your back, remember Jesus came for you. He came – not for the righteous because there aren’t any righteous – He came to call you, sinner, to repentance and faith (Mt. 9:13; Mk. 2:17; Lk. 5:32). Jesus sets you free, and if He sets you free, then you are free indeed.

Child of God, abide in Jesus’ Word, and you will remain in the house forever. Amen.

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

The Garment-Giving King – Sermon on Matthew 22:1-14 for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity

Oct22

Matthew 22:1–14

¹ And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, ² “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, ³ and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. ⁴ Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” ’ ⁵ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, ⁶ while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. ⁷ The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. ⁹ Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ ¹⁰ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. ¹² And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

What kind of king is this? Throughout most of this parable, he doesn’t look or act like a normal king.

His royal highness is throwing a wedding feast for his son and has already sent out invitations to his subjects. But when he sends his servants to call the guests, they don’t come. The king sends out a second batch of servants with a third invitation, “The feast is ready, the best food – the oxen and fattened calves – have been slaughtered and prepared. Come to the wedding feast.”

Here the king just looks desperate. He doesn’t look like a dignified, royal ruler. He looks more like the smelly, dorky kid in school who wants his classmates to come to his party. And that is how his subjects treat him. They don’t pay any attention to the invitation. They don’t care about his party. They have better things to do. Some go off to work in the dirt, others simply go about business as normal, but some get violent. They seize the servants, commit all kinds of atrocities against them, and even kill them.

What kind of king is this? He seems desperate, needy, whiny, and almost pathetic. That’s what his subjects seem to think of him. They have no interest in him. They don’t care about him, his son, the wedding, or the banquet. How is the king going to react? Well, he’s still the king. Even though he appears weak, he still has his army. After his three invitations have been despised and dismissed as an inconvenience, the king is done with these ungrateful, unworthy subjects. No more servants. Now, it’s time for the troops, the horses, chariots, battering rams, swords, and torches. Vengeance against these unworthy subjects is what is called for and is doled out. The ungrateful invitees are destroyed, and their city is burned to the ground.

But what happens next? Standing on the walls of his castle and overlooking the smoldering ruins that surround him, we would expect that the king would give up on this party and just have a small ceremony for his son. But still the king hasn’t given up. He sends out more servants to the highways and byways. “Bring in anyone you can find. I don’t care who they are. I don’t care if they are good or bad. Just bring as many as you can find into the palace. Fill the banquet hall. It’s time to feast.” All this king wants to do is celebrate the marriage of his son. And he wants people around him to enjoy what he provides.

So, the servants go out and find people. It doesn’t matter if they are noble or common peasants. It doesn’t matter if they are rich or beggars. If the servants can find them, they bring them in. This is a royal wedding and a “black tie” event, but none of these guests needed to rush home and find their best attire. No need to rent a tuxedo or evening gown. The king had them covered, literally. Upon their arrival, the king provided each one of these unprepared, unwashed guests with a wedding garment. He would clothe them from his own royal wardrobe. This king spares no expense when it comes to throwing this feast.

So, the hall is filled with guests. The food is served. The drinks are poured. The music starts. The dancing begins. And the king enters the banquet hall to finally enjoy his party. But what does he see? Another holdout, another person who despises him and his provisions. There in the corner is a man without a wedding garment, a man who decided his own stinky, smelly, unwashed clothes were just fine. He figured he didn’t need the king’s gift, so he refused it. But he miscalculated. Badly.

The king addresses this man, “Friend,” and this isn’t the normal word for ‘friend,’ so we could almost translate it, “Buster, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” This king had provided everything that was needed. Everything was free. And the man has no excuse because there is none. So, the king has the man bound and tossed out – not just out of the party – out into the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The parable ends there, but based on what the king has done so far in the story, what do you suppose he does after this rascal is thrown out? I would imagine he simply goes back to the wedding feast, back to the party, the food, the drink, the dancing, and the merry making. The king wanted his feast, so why wouldn’t he let the feast go on?

Seriously, what kind of king is this? Remember, according to Jesus, this is a parable about the kingdom of heaven. The King is God Himself. And this parable mirrors what you see and experience.

In this world, almost everywhere you look, people despise God, the true King. And it isn’t just His invitation they despise. People despise everything God has said. There is little or no respect for God or the authorities He has established – parents, police, leaders, etc. And the people in those positions of authority, who have been placed there by God (Ro. 13:1), don’t seem to deserve authority. You turn on the news, and you see killing, looting, riots, and stealing. Nations are at war. Terrorists are mercilessly attacking women and children. In our estimation, it looks like God doesn’t seem to care about the sin and wickedness that runs rampant throughout the kingdom of His creation. But our understanding of the situation is not correct.

In our Old Testament reading (Is. 55:1-9), we heard what God desires, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” God desires that everyone would be His guest at His table; He desires that all would be saved and at His banquet (1 Tim. 2:4).

When we look at the state of this world, we are tempted to think that God doesn’t care, or that He can’t or won’t do anything about it. We are wrong. Whenever God delays judgment on the wicked, any time we imagine that He is overlooking sin, it is a display of His mercy and grace. God delays His judgment because He wants His banquet filled. God wants to clothe all sinners in the robe of Christ’s righteousness won on the cross. You don’t know better than God. Your ways are not better than His ways. Your thoughts are not higher than His thoughts (Is. 55:8-9).

God is King. He rules and reigns over all things. He isn’t ignoring the sin and wickedness in this world. No. God’s being patient. He wants as many as possible at His feast; He wants His banquet to be filled. To us, His promises seem to be slow, and even forgotten. But they aren’t. He wishes all to reach repentance and faith (2 Pet. 3:9). He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Ex. 34:6).

Dear saints, the banquet is prepared. The King has invited you and clothed you in Christ’s righteousness. The garment-giving King has given you a seat at His feast. His patience in judgment is for your good and for the good of others. In His timing, everything that is wrong will be put to right. Stand in the garment of righteousness that you have been given, and be patient. The feast will begin soon. Amen.

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

Old Man, New Man – Sermon on Ephesians 4:17-28 for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity

Oct15

Ephesians 4:17–28

¹⁷ Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. ¹⁹ They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. ²⁰ But that is not the way you learned Christ!— ²¹ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³ and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵ Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. ²⁶ Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and give no opportunity to the devil. ²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The first four verses of this text are intense. Paul tells the Christians at his former congregation in Ephesus that they are to no longer walk like the Gentiles. Then, his description of the Gentiles is where things liven up. They have futile minds and a darkened understanding. They are alienated from the life of God. They are ignorant, hard-hearted, callous, licentious, and pursue every kind of impurity. Paul isn’t beat around the bush. He is blunt and to the point, not an ounce of “Minnesota Nice” in this description. It’s no wonder that we repeatedly see in the book of Acts that, when Paul goes and preaches in a new place, he gets chased out of the city, beaten with rods, arrested, or pummeled with rocks.

But, now, this needs to be abundantly clear. When Paul is speaking about the Gentiles in this text, he’s referring to unbelievers, people who aren’t Christians. These Gentiles are not identified either by their blood or ancestry, rather they are identified by what they do. Their actions, their darkened understanding, their futile minds, and their sins have alienated them from God. Back in Eph. 2:3, Paul says that all mankind was just like this in their unbelief. Paul even described himself in a similar way when he was a persecutor of the church before he was converted (Gal. 1:13-14). Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul is diagnosing the disease in all of us – sin. Left to ourselves, this cancer of idolatry will destroy all of us sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. And there is nothing you or I can do to rescue ourselves from this alienation. There must be a transformation. There must be a complete, radical change.

That change comes only through learning Christ. Christ Himself is the school, the teacher, and the lesson. Through learning Christ, which is nothing more than hearing His life-giving Word and believing in Him as the Savior of sinners, something wonderful happens.

Look again at v. 22-24. Our translation can give a wrong impression. The way it is worded might make it sound like we are commanded to do several things: put off the old self (the word there is ‘man’), be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self (again, the word there is ‘man’). It might sound like those are commands – things we must do. There are a lot of sermons floating around on the internet that say this putting off and putting on is our work, and those sermons give tips, steps, and instructions on how to do it. That is notwhat those verses are saying. These are not things we have to do; these are things that have happened toyou, Christian!

The grammar is clear. What Paul is saying there is that you have put off the old man. The renewing of your mind happened when you believed and ‘learned’ Christ. You have put on the new man who has been created according to God’s likeness in true righteousness and holiness. What Paul is saying here is similar to what the Holy Spirit inspired him to say in Gal. 3:27, “As many of you as were Baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Jesus is the New Man, the New Adam, the Second Adam (1 Co. 15:45), who is the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness, and you have put on Christ through faith. Now, when God looks at you, Christian, He doesn’t see your sin. No, He sees Jesus’ righteousness and holiness.

In short, what these verses are saying is that you are to be and remain who God has made you to be by His grace through faith. This is not and cannot be a result of works lest you should boast (Eph. 2:8-9). God has done this to you and for you, believer. This is all so beautiful.

Only after this is firmly established – the fact that by God’s grace given through the working of the Holy Spirit, your old man has been replaced by your new man – only then does Paul go on to give a series of commands. They come in v. 25-28, and each of them could be their own sermon, but I’ll be brief. But, again, notice the introduction to these commands: “Therefore, having [already] put away falsehood…” do these three things:

The first command is that each one of you speak truth with your neighbor. A Christian loves the truth and hates what is false. Christians tell the truth even when it is tough, even when it isn’t nice. The easiest way to be nice all the time is simply to never speak. But God wants you to speak; He wants you to speak the truth in love. Sometimes, this means saying uncomfortable things. Christians call sin ‘sin’ because it is the loving thing to do. Don’t let your fear of what others might think about you stop you from speaking the truth – either about their sin or, even more importantly, about Jesus, the Savior from sin. How many moments and opportunities to share the Gospel have passed you by because you were afraid to simply speak the truth? Even as a pastor, I can say I’ve let too many go. Lord, have mercy upon me, the sinner.

The second command is, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” Remember that Jesus says that being angry with your neighbor is the same as murder (Mt. 5:21-22), and many places in Scripture anger is right up there at the top of the list of harmful sins (2 Cor. 12:2; Gal. 5:20; Col. 3:8; etc.). In fact, just a couple verses after our text, Paul says, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger… be put way from you” (Eph. 4:31). He doesn’t just say, “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” He says get rid of it – all of it. So, how are we to understand this?

Get rid of your anger quickly. Getting rid of anger doesn’t mean that you are a pushover. Christians aren’t weak people; remember we speak the truth even when it is hard. But part of our strength is to not give in to our anger, to not be frustrated, irritated, or whatever other synonyms you might replace with the word ‘anger.’ It’s easy to get mad. Toddlers get mad and throw temper-tantrums because they don’t have the strength and discipline to overcome their emotions. Putting away anger takes strength, work, and discipline. Christians are strong people who stay calm even in the face of evil. They control their temper. Remember, Jesus used His strength to patently endure beating, mocking, insults, and even an unjust execution.

The third command is, “Let the thief no longer steal, rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” Christians who have put off the old man and put on the new man don’t steal. And don’t be quick to fool yourself into thinking that you’ve never stolen. Sure, maybe you’ve never taken something from someone’s house, robbed a bank, or shoplifted. If you haven’t done that, that’s good, but be honest, you’ve stolen.

Have you ever done a job on the side and asked the person to pay you in cash so you don’t have to report it as income? Yes, that’s stealing. Romans 13:7 says that we are to pay our taxes, and Jesus says to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s (Mt. 22:21). Have you found out something you own is about to break so you quickly sold it? You probably aren’t going to get arrested or sued for that, but that is another form of stealing. Have you ever slacked off at work? That’s stealing too.

Christians are to work. We don’t avoid working, and God cares about the motivation we have for working. The reason we work is so we can be generous and have something to give. Our motivation to work is so that we can give to others who have needs. Christians are conduits of God’s own giving. Work so you can give. This doesn’t come naturally, but it is something God can, and does, cultivate in us.

Dear saints, you stand before God righteous, holy, and blameless. Live that way. Continue to be truth-tellers, beat back your anger, and be generous. God has put off your old man and put on the new Man, Christ. And this God now invites you to His table where He will put in you His Body and Blood given and shed for the forgiveness of all your sins. And when you go from here, be what God has made you to be. Amen.

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

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

Oct8

Matthew 22:34–46

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

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

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

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

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This Gospel reading takes place on Holy Tuesday. In other words, it is just a few days before Jesus will be crucified, and what we heard is Jesus’ last public teaching until He preaches the seven last words from the cross. The Pharisees and Sadducees are asking our Lord three questions to try to entangle Him in His words (Mt. 22:15). They want Jesus to say something they can use against Him and kill Him. The first two questions they asked were about paying taxes and the resurrection. But Jesus answers both questions so skillfully that they can’t find a way to accuse Him.

Our text begins with their third and final trick question that comes from a sleezy lawyer. “Teacher, what is the great commandment in the Law?” It seems as though the intent of this question is to get Jesus to put one of the Commandments above the others, and when He does that, they will say that He teaches that the other nine aren’t as important. But they end up looking like fools. It was Jesus’ finger that carved those words into the stone tablets and His voice that spoke them on Mt. Sinai. Jesus is the Author of the Commandments, and they are all important.

So, Jesus answers the question, “The great Commandment is this: love God with everything you’ve got and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” In other words, Jesus is saying, “All the Commandments matter. All of them are the greatest. They all demand that you love God and love your neighbor. All the Commandments depend on these two.” Jesus is clear here, and Scripture is clear elsewhere that what the Commandments require of us is to love. Love is the fulfilling of the Law (Ro. 13:10b). In every situation, you are to love God and love your neighbor. And it is important to spend some time on this because there is a lot of unnecessary confusion about what love looks like. A pastor friend of mine (Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller) put together a list that helps to define and shape what love looks like. And this list is biblical and, I think, very helpful.

First, love is shaped by the Ten Commandments. Love does not mean that there are no other Commandments. No, the Commandments define what love is. Love depends on the Commandments. If you are fornicating and committing adultery, you cannot presume to say that it’s ok because, “We love each other.” Adultery is always unloving.

Second, love is shaped by our vocation or our station in life. Everyone has several vocations, so I’ll use myself as an example here. Some of my vocations are husband, father, pastor, a child of my parents, a friend, etc. In each of those vocations, I am called to love. But what that love looks like depends on those different vocations. For example, part of my love as a father includes providing for my family. So, I earn a living so my wife can go and buy socks for our kids. As a pastor, my love looks different. It looks like faithfully preaching and teaching God’s Word to you, the flock that God has entrusted into my care. My vocation as a pastor does not require me to buy socks for all of you. Pastors are not called to provide socks for their congregations. But that, then, leads us to the third thing that shapes our love.

Our love is also shaped by the needs of our neighbor. If one of you, who aren’t part of my family, needs socks and can’t get them for yourself, my love for you would be to give you socks. Even if the only reason I know you and your need socks is that I’m your pastor, I’m not giving you socks because I’m your pastor. I’m giving you socks because I am your brother in Christ. And if I needed socks, I would want one of you to give me socks if you have the means and resources to provide them. In that instance, I’m loving you as I would love myself. (I think this is the most I’ve ever used the word ‘socks’ in a sermon, but I’m done now.)

That leads us to the fourth thing that shapes our love which is the gifts God has given us. God gives us stuff, skills, and talents so we can use them to love and serve our neighbor. If God has made you successful and given you a lot of money, use those resources to love your neighbor. If God has given you the talent of being good at cooking, you love your neighbor by cooking. If God has given you good mind for math, you can love your neighbor as an engineer or an accountant. The beautiful thing about this one is that the gifts God gives you can help you love your neighbor across different vocations. A person who is good at math can be a good accountant. He can earn a good living and provide for his family and, at the same time, love and serve his clients who need someone to keep their books.

Just briefly here, our neighbor’s need might mean that we have to love our neighbor in a way that we aren’t gifted. Imagine a meteor hit the church during this service. We don’t have an ER doctor here, but we do have an optometrist, a medical student, nurses, and EMTs who are gifted in knowing how the body works and how to heal. They should be the ones who go to the people who are most injured and help them. And if more people are injured, those of us who aren’t gifted in that way are called to do the best we can even though that kind of love is usually reserved for doctors and nurses. Our neighbor’s need trumps how we are gifted. Especially in an emergency, we love and serve others based on their needs rather than our love depending on our gifts. And when the ambulances get here, we who don’t know as much about first aid should step aside and let the professionals use their gifts to serve the people in need.

So, the first four things that shape our love are: 1) the Ten Commandments; 2) our vocation; 3) our neighbor’s need; and 4) our gifts. All of that is fairly obvious and reasonable. But there is another thing that shapes our love, and this last one is one that our culture fights against (for several reasons). But this one is also important to consider. The fifth thing that shapes our love is our neighbor’s sin, and this is where things can get tricky and difficult. But this is also where Jesus’ summary of the Ten Commandments – love God with everything and love your neighbor as yourself – is helpful. And God gives you wisdom to help navigate this.

Imagine you know someone who is addicted to fentanyl, your calling is still crystal clear: you are called to love that person. But now what is that love going to look like? Is it loving to just step aside and let them keep killing themselves by using that fentanyl? No, it isn’t. Their sin against themselves might even mean that you need to break one of the Commandments in order to love them. You might need to steal their fentanyl even though stealing is sin and a violation against the 7^th Commandment.

Now, please recognize that the Ten Commandments are still the primary thing that shapes and defines our love. But because of your neighbor’s sin, you break the 7^th Commandment about stealing in order for you to keep the 5^th Commandment which calls you to do your neighbor no bodily harm, but help and defend him in every need. This is why knowing the Commandments is so important. And, again, your vocation still plays into this too. You aren’t called to travel to San Francisco, Seattle, or Portland and steal fentanyl from all the addicts in those places.

Our neighbor’s sin can hinder the ways we love them. Parents, when your children are breaking the 4^thCommandment and not obeying you, your love for them looks like disciplining them; it isn’t what you want to do, but you are called to do it (Pro. 22:15; 23:13; Heb. 12:11). If you have abusive parents, you are still called to keep the 4^th Commandment and honor them, but their sin could mean you have to disobey them if they demand you do something contrary to God’s Word. If your cousin, Stacy, is getting married, your love normally looks like going to her wedding and celebrating with her. But if she is breaking the 6^th Commandment by trying to be married to another woman, your love for her means not going to the wedding because that would embolden her in her sin against the 6^th Commandment. Yes, this is hard and difficult. Yes, this is uncomfortable. Yes, it is even confusing. You are always called to love, but sin can put constraints on love.

And that brings us to the second part of our text which is the question Jesus asks the people who are trying to trip Him up. Jesus turns the discussion to the identity of the Messiah. The Savior is David’s Ancestor and also David’s Lord. The way this is possible is that Jesus is the fully Divine, eternal Son of God and fully human. Christ is God and Man.

Your Savior’s love for you was fully shaped by the Ten Commandments, which Jesus kept perfectly. His vocation was to be the Messiah and shed His blood and bear the punishment for the sins of all humanity because that was our need. He was gifted with everything necessary to be the Savior. And He navigated our sin in such a way that He perfectly loved God by loving us and bearing our sin to the cross. Now, He is risen and lives and reigns on the throne of all creation for eternity.

Your eternal life totally depends upon what Jesus, the Son of God and Son of David, has done. God be praised that He has done all things well (Mk. 7:37). Amen.

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

Confidence – Sermon on Esther 4:7-16 for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

Oct1

Esther 4:7–16

⁷ And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. ⁸ Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people. ⁹ And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, ¹¹ “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”

¹² And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. ¹³ Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” ¹⁵ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, ¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

Esther 4:7-16

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

In our Gospel lesson (Lk. 14:1-11), Jesus warns about taking a place of honor at a banquet because someone more distinguished might come and you’ll get relegated and downgraded to the kids’ table. Well, Esther is facing a much more dire situation. Even though she is the queen, if she puts herself in front of the king without him extending his golden scepter, she could face immediate execution. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, it is good to recap what has happened up to this point in the story of Esther.

A man named Mordecai grew up in Jerusalem, but when the Babylonian armies came and destroyed his city, he was taken into captivity and now lives in Susa (Est. 2:5-6). Mordecai had taken it upon himself to raise his cousin, Esther, who had been orphaned (Est. 2:7). We aren’t sure how her parents had died, but it is likely they died when Jerusalem fell. Mordecai was a Christian man. He had the Bible, read it, and trusted the promises God made in it. The main promise that Mordecai trusted and believed was that God would send a Messiah who would save His people from their sin by sacrificing Himself.

Esther grew up to be very beautiful. She was chosen by King Ahasuerus (aka. King Xerxes) to be the queen in place of his former wife, Vashti who had disobeyed one of his commands. There’s a lot more to that story, but for our purposes today, it’s enough to know that Xerxes had no hesitation to toss aside even his own wife if she does something he doesn’t like (Est. 1).

Even though Esther had become the Queen, she wasn’t living in a ‘happily ever after’ situation. The reason for that brings us to the main villain in the story, who is a man named Haman. Haman was a prominent advisor and official – he was Xerxes’ right-hand man (Est. 3:1). Xerxes had commanded that all the servants at his gate must bow down to Haman when he walked by, but Mordecai, who was one of those servants, refused, and Haman didn’t like that one bit (Est. 3:2-5). So, Haman found out that Mordecai was a Jew, and he told Xerxes that all the Jews in the land despised Xerxes’ commands and laws. Haman offered a huge sum of money (Est. 3:9) to Xerxes if he would sign an order that every Jew living in the kingdom be killed on a certain day. Haman wanted to have Mordecai and all his people destroyed – a holocaust. And Xerxes agreed. He had the order sent throughout the kingdom, but when Xerxes signed the order, he didn’t know that Esther, his wife and Queen, was a Jew herself (Est. 2:20).

That brings us to our text. As soon as Mordecai learns about the plan, he sends a message to Queen Esther in the palace through this guy Hathach telling Esther, “You’ve got to do something about this.” And Esther responds to Mordecai, “Listen, if I go to the king without being called and summoned, I’m probably going to be killed. Xerxes hasn’t called me to come before him for a whole month.” In other words, “This is really risky. If I try your plan, Mordecai, I’ll be executed.”

Mordecai replies to Esther – and this is where I want to spend the rest of this sermon – saying, “Listen Esther, just because you live in the king’s palace don’t think that you are going to escape the fate of the rest of us Jews living out here.” Then in v. 14, Mordecai says, and this is so beautiful, “If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish.”

Did you catch what Mordecai is saying there? Remember, Mordecai is a Christian. He has confidence and faith in God’s promise. He says, “If you don’t do this, we’re all going to die. But even if we die now, relief and deliverance will rise for us. I have no idea where it might come from, but God has promised. He will deliver. He will send the Messiah someway, somehow.” Mordecai knew his Bible. He knew God would send the Savior, the promised offspring of David and Abraham. Mordecai is completely certain that God will come through on that promise. His faith and confidence here is remarkable.

But note the change in Mordecai’s tone when he talks about the current situation with Esther. “Who knows whether or not you have been made the Queen for such a time as this.” I know that’s currently the famous line from Esther, but the whole thing is so important. Mordecai is not telling Esther, “Just go to Xerxes. God will keep you safe. Everything will be fine.” Mordecai doesn’t say that. He might wish he could say that, but he can’t say that because there is no promise in the Bible that Esther will be safe in this particular situation.

All Mordecai can say is, “Esther, know that God loves you. He is going to send the Savior. Yes, if you go and stand before the king, you might die. But I’m asking you to do it out of love for your people.” And this isn’t lost on Esther. She asks Mordecai to have everyone pray and fast for her. She will break the law; she’ll take the risk and go to the king. And she says, “If I perish, I perish.” In other words, even though she doesn’t know how all of this will all turn out, out of love for Mordecai and her people, she uses her sanctified reason and decides to take the risk and go to the king.

Dear saints, the Christian life is marked by two things – faith and love. Faith lays hold of God’s clear, certain promises and puts full and complete confidence in them, and God is pleased with that faith. Love ventures out into what is uncertain and, sometimes, risky to serve the neighbor, and God is pleased with that. God was pleased with Esther’s decision to take the risk, and God uses her action to deliver the Jews in a remarkable way. I’ll just encourage you to read the whole book of Esther to see how God uses Esther’s risk-taking to deliver her and her people.

Here’s the point: In this life, safety is an illusion, and it is an illusion that can become a horrible idol. Think of the Israelites in the wilderness. God had made clear promises to bring them into the land of Canaan, but when the twelve spies returned from checking out the land and ten of them told the people about the huge giants they would have to fight (Num. 13:25-14:4), what did the people do? Did they take the risk, or did they choose safety? They chose safety, and how did that go for them? Did they get safety? Sort of. Every day for the next forty years, God provided them with food, but they wandered. For forty years they walked around in the sand and dust while every one of the adults – except the two faithful spies, Joshua and Caleb, who had tried to remind the people of God’s promise – all the other adults died without a homeland. Forty years wasted with wandering and death.

Now, I say all of that stuff about safety being an idol, but this can be taken too far. For example, wear a seatbelt in a car. A seatbelt doesn’t guarantee your safety if you get in in an accident, but it is not a sin to wear a seatbelt. You aren’t worshiping that strap by wearing it, so it isn’t idolatry. And wearing a seat belt doesn’t keep or hinder you from loving your neighbor. In fact, God might use that seatbelt to help you love your neighbor in the future by protecting you so you can love your neighbor instead of being paralyzed. Basically, what I’m trying to get across with this sermon is that God wants you to quit being like the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz and, instead, have courage and confidence. The point of the sermon is not to turn you into the scarecrow with no brain.

Dear saints, there are times when God calls you to step out in love for your neighbor, but that love is going to require you to take a risk. It might mean risking your perception of financial stability or your reputation or your comfort. Again, use your God-given brain, but more importantly, have the confidence to love your neighbor in a way that seems risky because God loves you. And He loves it when you step out in faith to love and serve your neighbor.

And this same God and King of all creation now invites you to come and have a seat at His table. He invites you, not by extending a golden scepter, but something far more precious. He extends to you His very Body and Blood. He gives you this meal to forgive you of all your sins, and He will use this meal to strengthen your trust and confidence in Him as you go from here to love and serve your neighbor. Amen.^[1]

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

Not used:

Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Dan. 3). They were in a situation where they had to make a choice between safety, which would come at the cost of bowing down to an idol. Or they could take a risk and not bow down but they will be thrown into the burning fiery furnace. They ended up placing their confidence in God saying to the king, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace.” Notice, they have confidence in God’s ability to deliver from that particular threat, and they continue with even more confidence, “He will deliver us out of your hand.” But even if God doesn’t deliver them from the immediate threat of the furnace, they say, “We will not serve your gods or bow down to worship this idol you have set up” (Dan. 3:16-17).

^[1] This sermon was adapted from a sermon by Pr. Jared Melius.

Pastorsamwise

"Don't the great tales never end?"

Coming – Sermon on Matthew 21:1-9 for the First Sunday of Advent

Ready Now; Ready Later – Sermon on Matthew 25:1-13 for the Last Sunday of the Church Year

Transferred – Sermon on Matthew 9:18-26 for the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity

Citizenship – Sermon on Philippians 3:17-21 for the Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity

Blessed Wages – Sermon on Matthew 5:1-12 for All Saints’ Day (Observed)

Slaves & Sons – Sermon on John 8:31-36 for Reformation Sunday

The Garment-Giving King – Sermon on Matthew 22:1-14 for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity

Old Man, New Man – Sermon on Ephesians 4:17-28 for the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity

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

Confidence – Sermon on Esther 4:7-16 for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity