Tag Archives: Lent

Beautiful Time – Sermon on Ecclesiastes 3:1-15, 22 for Midweek Lent 3

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are Psalm 31:14-15; 145:17-19; 16:7-8; Ecclesiastes 3:1-15, 22; 1 Timothy 6:6-11; and Mark 12:41-44.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Last week, we heard how God gives us Christians joy in this life in two simple things. He gives us joy in our leisure or in our eating and drinking; and He gives us joy in our work – not from our work but in our work (Ecc. 2:24). Scripture is clear, you won’t to find enjoyment in the fruit of your work by getting money that buys you things. That won’t work. Instead, you are to find enjoyment in the work God gives you to do. Your work and the effort you expend on all your God-given tasks is a gift from God’s hand. There is goodness and joy in you doing that work. If you didn’t hear that sermon from last week, I’d encourage you to go back and listen to it.

Tonight, as we consider this portion of Ecc. 3, I’d like to pick up our thinking with some words that you heard last week, but you need to hear them again because they set up these verses which, probably, are more familiar to you – even if it’s only because of the song “Turn, Turn, Turn” by The Byrds.

Ecclesiastes 2 closed with these words, “[T]o the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God” (Ecc. 2:26). This is an amazing thing for God to say, and you have to have this clear in your mind. You, Christian, are one who pleases God. You please God because Christ has forgiven you and made you His child and because the Holy Spirit has made you holy. But to the sinner (and, yes, we are all sinners in a general sense, but ‘the sinner’ here refers to who is one who does not have faith in Christ’s forgiveness) to the sinner God has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give what’s been gathered and collected to one who pleases God.

In short, people who aren’t Christians only gather and collect, but they don’t get to keep anything. People who aren’t Christians are always working to try and get some future joy that they will never achieve or attain because they try to find joy apart from God. So, they can’t enjoy either their work or their leisure.

There are really wealthy unbelievers who have a lot more than any of us here have. Dear saints, you are far better off than the richest people you can think of if they aren’t a Christian. Just because they have all that stuff doesn’t mean they are able to enjoy it. They might have a house with way more rooms than your house has, but they – just like you – can only be in one room at a time.

That’s where Ecc. 3 comes in. The simple fact is that we creatures of God are only given one moment at a time. Time comes to us moment by moment. Just as you can’t cling to those moments and make them stay, you also cannot reach out and grab future moments to make them come sooner. They only come in God’s timing.

Solomon summarizes this in v. 11 saying, “[God] has made everything beautiful (or ‘pleasant, right, fitting’) in its time.” Each moment is beautiful in the time that God gives it. And notice, that also means when something is outside of that time, it’s no longer beautiful, pleasant, enjoyable.

In that little poem that opens Ecc. 3, Solomon gives sixteen pairs of opposites: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; and so forth. Those pairs encompass everything in life, but to make sure that point gets across, the Holy Spirit inspired Solomon to preface all those pairs with, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter (or ‘activity’) under heaven.” So, you could add anything to this list.

There’s a time to drive a car, and a time to be chauffeured everywhere. There’s a time to be active and play sports, and a time to sit and watch sports. There’s a time to make a grocery list, a time to go fill up your shopping cart, a time to prepare food, a time to enjoy the food, and a time to clean everything up. Everything you do has a time to do it, and the time to do it is when that thing is before you to do.

Again, this sounds so simple, but think of how many people do not realize this and hijack and sabotage their joy by trying to live in moments that aren’t given to them. God gives a season to be a child and play with dolls or Lego’s and be joyful as a child. But children want to be older, get their driver’s license, and be independent. The young want to be older instead of enjoying the joy of childhood. You’ve heard the saying, “Youth is wasted on the young”? There is some truth to that. But what might be even sadder is when adults try to clutch and hang on to their youth and long-gone ‘glory’ days. We all easily fall into the trap of not having joy in the season of life that God has given.

Parents long for the days when their children can cut their own food and clean themselves and do some chores. Then, when the kids become teenagers and let their parents know how much they hate doing the chores, a parent longs for the former days of diapers, baths, and mushed peas.

Again, the problem is, when you try to find your joy in the future or in the past, you rob yourself of the beauty and joy of the present moment. But God makes everything beautiful (or ‘fitting’) in its time and in the season in which God gives it.

Imagine you’re on a camping trip in late August. The sun has set; you’re zipping up your tent and climbing into your sleeping bag. Suddenly, a massive fireworks show starts. You’d probably be fairly perturbed. It’s not the time for fireworks. But if you’re camping on the 4th of July, you’d disappointed if there wasn’t fireworks. You see? The fireworks aren’t the problem in August, it’s the timing. Or try this, if one of you right now started pitching a tent here in the sanctuary and rolling out a sleeping bag, we’d all look at you like you’re a crazy person because you would be. Same thing – it isn’t the tent that’s the problem, it’s the timing. Firework shows, tents, and sleeping bags are all fine and good and right and enjoyable – in their proper time. Which leads me to this…

Right now, dear saints, God has given us the moments that are mentioned in Ecc. 3:4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance. And we’re going to be bouncing back and forth in those. With Jesus (Jn. 11:35), we weep because of the passing of our sister, Ros. We miss her. Rightly so. And as we weep, we share memories and laugh and mourn and weep again. And in the midst of that, we can dance because we know that she is with Jesus and we will see her again.

All of that leads me to the other part of v. 11. Hear it again, “[God] has put eternity into man’s heart.” This phrase is difficult to understand, but try this: We humans have a capacity that other creatures don’t have. 1) We can remember the past, and 2) we can anticipate the future. But those abilities can be dangerous if we use them for the wrong reasons. God allows us to remember the past so we can give thanks to Him for it. And God allows us to anticipate the future so we can have hope for what lies ahead.

Even though you can’t hold on to a moment. It’s here one second and gone the next. But God has given you memory. What the Holy Spirit wants you to do with that gift of memory is to use it to thank God for what He has done and given. Even though you can’t reach into the future and force those moments to come sooner, God has given you the capacity to anticipate the future. And the Holy Spirit wants you to use that gift so you can have hope, which is a good thing.

In other words, you can remember the past and be thankful. You can anticipate the future so you can have hope. But Ecclesiastes is clear. You can’t have joy either in the past or in the future. Joy is only given in each present moment, and God makes those moments beautiful in their times.

So, dear saints, receive the beauty and joy in every moment God gives you. When you have past joys, thank God for that gift, but don’t try to go back because you can’t, and you’ll miss the beautiful moment now. Don’t try to pull the future into the present. Don’t do that first, because you can’t. But also, don’t do it because that moment hasn’t ripened yet. Leave the future in God’s good and generous hands so He can deliver those gifts to you in the right, beautiful time.

Finally, dear saints, let the beauty and the joy that God gives in each moment give you a hunger and a hope for the eternal joy that God has promised to give you. What a joy that will be. Amen.

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

Life’s Sacred Rhythm – Sermon on Ecclesiastes 2:18-26 for Midweek Lent 2

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are Psalm 127:1-2, 104:24-25, 29-30; Ecclesiastes 2:18-26; 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12; and Matthew 11:25-30.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

How you talk matters. The words you use shape how you and others think. You can call a house “small” or “cozy. Someone who has lived several more decades than you might be “over the hill” or have “a lot of life experience.”

Think about the words you use for eating. You eat many different things of many different qualities for many different reasons, and the language you use reflects that. You might “have a snack” of carrots and hummus. You might “treat yourself” to a candy bar or a bowl of ice cream. You might “pig out” and eat an entire bag of chips. All of that language refers to eating. But the purpose or result of eating is always the same. Eating gives your body calories and fuel to function.

At Thanksgiving, Christmas, or when grandma makes her pot roast for your extended family, it’s “a feast.” Everything tastes wonderful, there’s more than enough for everyone, and it is great to be at a table with people you love. Now, is the food you eat at that feast going to give your body the energy and fuel that it needs to function? Yes, of course. Again that’s the purpose of eating. But when you thank grandma for all of her work preparing that meal, are you going to use words and phrases only reflect that? “Grandmother, you have given my body the calories I need to live”? Of course not! You’ll say, “Grandma, what a tremendous, tasty feast!”

Tonight’s verses from Ecclesiastes focus on our work. How we talk about work matters. You might talk about your “job” or your “work.” Both of those terms can be fairly neutral. But you might also use the word “job’ in a negative sense. “This is my job, but I don’t want it to be my career” because that shows a lot more commitment. You might refer to your work as “the daily grind” or “my 9-5.” Those types of phrases make your work sound like toil.

One of the Hebrew words for ‘work’ (there are several of them) comes up ten times in the text. And, to it’s credit, our translation is quite consistent in how that word is translated – 9 of the 10 times that word occurs, it’s translated as ‘toil’ and one time (in v. 20) it translates it as ‘labor.’ But do the words ‘toil’ and ‘labor’ have a good or a bad connotation in your mind? Probably bad. The word ‘toil’ probably puts an image of a witch stirring pot of glowing green stuff over a fire, “Double, double, toil and trouble.” And ‘labor’ might make you think about being sentenced to decades of difficult life in Siberia. But the Hebrew word simply refers to putting effort into something. Exerting effort isn’t a bad thing. All sorts of things we enjoy require effort.

Maybe some of you went outside close to 2:00 AM this past Friday to see the ‘blood moon’ eclipse. That required effort, both to get out of bed at that time (or to stay up that late) and then to push through the next day. Baking, gardening, knitting, reading a good book, playing an instrument, camping, jogging, cheering your favorite sports team – all of those things require degrees of effort. Everything you do requires effort – even sleep.

With that simpler meaning of the word that gets translated as ‘toil,’ I want you to follow along as I slightly rephrase v. 21, “Sometimes, a person puts in effort that requires wisdom and knowledge and skill, [but] must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not put in any effort for it. This is breath [vanity] and a great evil.”

Sticking with food analogies: imagine that you’ve spent hours of effort making a brisket, prime rib, or turkey. It’s cooked and is just resting on the kitchen counter before you serve it so you don’t lose all the juices. But you leave the kitchen for a minute only to come back and find that Fido has devoured the whole thing. This is, indeed, a great evil. All your effort and toil has become like a breath that’s instantly vanished.

Are there times when your work and effort is wasted and done in vain? Sure, of course. But that isn’t always the case. It doesn’t mean that all your work and all your effort is vain, meaningless, and evil toil. Not at all! Look again at v. 24-25. These are the verses we’ll focus on for the rest of the sermon because, in them, Solomon gives us one of the ingredients for a life that is filled with God-given joy. “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the effort he expends. I saw that this [joy] is from the hand of God, for apart from God, who can eat or who can have enjoyment?”

This is so beautiful and comforting. Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Solomon wisely tells us how to find joy in life. Joy comes from eating and drinking and finding enjoyment in your effort. This is God’s design. It is the holy, sacred rhythm of your life. God gives you moments when you need to work, sweat, and strive with all your strength. Then, God gives moments when you live quietly. The point Solomon is making here is there is joy in both (1 Thes. 4:11). 

Notice especially that Solomon says that joy comes in your effort. This is so simple, but it’s the opposite of how we often think. We think that we work and work and work to get a paycheck. Then, we take that paycheck and use it to buy things that we think we will enjoy. In that perspective, we enjoy the things that come from the work we did, but not the work itself. What that does is it makes our work a sort of punishment, a penance or purgatory, that we have to endure to eventually, maybe, get enjoyment. Our typical mindset that we work to get something from our work that we hope will bring us happiness. But it doesn’t bring happiness.

Through all of ch. 2 prior to this text, Solomon talked about all the wealth and stuff he accumulated in an attempt to find joy. He had more than we can even imagine, but Solomon says that those things didn’t bring him joy or satisfaction. Solomon even tried saving for the future, but it didn’t bring joy because you can’t enjoy the future. The future isn’t here. You can only enjoy today, this present moment.

Solomon’s correction for us, and the wisdom he gives us is that we are not to work so we can get joy from our effort; instead, find enjoyment in our effort. That’s a big difference. God gives us work to do, and He wants us to find enjoyment in the work – not from it, but in it. A more literal translation from the Hebrew of v. 24 goes like this, “eat and drink and see in your soul the good in your effort.” In other words, open your eyes and see the good in all the things where you spend your effort and work because that work is given to you by God’s own hand.

I remember being in school and thinking about all sorts of subjects, “What’s the point of all this? When will I ever use this information?” Do you see how that orients things? It assumes there can only be a benefit in the future, which, again, isn’t ours to control.

Christian, is it true that God is in control and directs all things? Yes, “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Act. 17:28). And is God good? Yes. So, if God has put you in a classroom where the teacher wants you to be able to locate Djibouti on a map, calculate the volume of a sphere, diagram a sentence, or identify the parts of a flower – your loving, heavenly Father has given you that task from His good hand. The effort you spend on that task is good. Your opinion of the importance of any task is irrelevant. God is the One who put that task in front of you. And because He is good, that task and the effort you spend on it is good. This is true for all your efforts. It includes your job, the ways you serve your parents and family, the ways you volunteer, your prayers, etc. Seeing your tasks, whatever they are, is a gift from God’s hand, and recognizing that will give you joy.

And God doesn’t only give you work and tasks. He also blesses you with the leisure of eating and drinking. This is how God has ordered and established the rhythm of creation. The God-given rhythm of your life is work and eat and drink, you can think of this as having time to enjoy the gifts God gives you. Have a little leisure and enjoy God’s gifts. Get a bit of sleep. And wake up again and go, enjoy your work. Again, this might sound simple or even naive, but this is what the Bible gives us to find joy in. This is all a gift of God.

Finally, dear saints, notice who receives this wisdom and knowledge and joy. Your told who in v. 26. This joy is given to the one who pleases God.

And you are pleasing to God because Christ has removed all of your guilt. In Jesus, God absolves your sins by His death and resurrection. Jesus is your Savior so you can have joy in your work and in your leisure. This is the kind of rest Jesus talked about in our Gospel reading. Christ places His easy yoke and light burden upon you. In Him, and in Him alone, you find rest and joy for your soul (Mt. 11:28-30). Amen.

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

What You Can & Can’t Fix – Sermon on Ecclesiastes 1:1-18 for Midweek Lent 1

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are Psalm 37:1-9; Ecclesiastes 1:1-18; Romans 12:1-3; and Luke 12:22-32.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

In a world that is broken by and full of sin, everyone wants to have joy, meaning, and fulfillment. Now, you can find all sorts of books, podcasts, and 90 second reels on social media that will offer advice on how to find all of that. Some of them are good, some are fine, and some will lead you in the wrong direction – a completely wrong direction.

The Bible is full of God-inspired wisdom so you can have joy, meaning, and fulfillment, and the book of Ecclesiastes is especially loaded with all of that. But the wisdom of Ecclesiastes is given in a somewhat twisted way. And I say ‘twisted’ because, when you read Ecclesiastes (which I highly recommend that you do), you’ll likely see the book as pessimistic, a book filled with gloom, despair, and meaninglessness. Part of the reason Ecclesiastes is so pessimistic is that the majority of the book tells you all the ways you won’t find joy.

Let me try this as an analogy: Have you ever come across a link that claims to have the secret for the juiciest hamburger ever? When you tap on it, you quickly realize that the recipe is buried way down at the bottom and is almost the last thing you’ll find. You have to flick your thumb half a dozen times and tap the little ‘x’ on several ads do you get to the end of the page to finally find the ingredients you need and the steps to follow. Those online recipes are frustrating because they’re filled with all sorts of nostalgic stories and anecdotes that have nothing to do with cooking whatever you actually want to make. Online recipes make me yearn for the good ol’ days of 3×5 index cards with grandma’s nearly illegible, faded handwriting in pencil.

In a lot of ways, Ecclesiastes is similar to those online recipes. The book is Solomon’s recipe for joy, but he also tells you about all the futile ways he tried to find joy but never achieved or attained it. You can think of Ecclesiastes as an online hamburger recipe that begins by going on and on about all sorts of ways to not make a hamburger. If Ecclesiastes were a hamburger recipe, it would be paragraph after paragraph of Solomon saying, “Don’t mix rocks or dirt or pavement into your meat.” Eventually, Solomon gives you a couple ingredients for a life of joy. And then, he goes on with long sections about not storing the meat on the counter at room temperature for days and days, then give you a couple more ingredients.

But don’t get impatient and skip over those long portions that tell you the ways you won’t find joy. Even in all the negative sections, you’ll find important, Holy Spirit-inspired wisdom. So, don’t skip, unless of course, you want to waste your time, waste your effort, and have no joy. Tonight, we’re going to spend some time in Ecc. 1, which is one of those sections.

One more important thing before we dive in: I’ve already mentioned this, but Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon and likely near the end of his life. The reason that is important is this: other than Jesus Himself, Solomon was the wisest person to ever walk this creation. He had a God-given wisdom (1 Kgs. 3:5-14) that even Jesus recognized and praised (Lk. 11:31). And since Solomon was divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit to write Ecclesiastes, the wisdom he gives us here, and in other portions of Scripture, should be even more precious.

Ok, to the text. Solomon begins by lamenting, “Vanity of vanities; vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” Immediately, you can tell that this is one of those negative sections.

That Hebrew word that gets translated as ‘vanity’ is used 72 times in the entire Old Testament, and 37 of those uses are in Ecclesiastes. Because it’s used so often, it’s important to get a good handle on what the word means because when we normally hear the word ‘vanity’ we think of a piece of furniture where a woman puts on make-up, or it’s used in a song that you probably think is about you. 

The word simply means ‘breath’ or ‘vapor.’ It refers to something that is fleeting. Think of a cold morning (probably this morning) where you step outside, exhale, and see your breath. It’s there but only for a moment. Then, it’s gone. Just because that breath is gone doesn’t mean that it’s not real or doesn’t exist. It certainly is real, but it’s insubstantial. Solomon will also use a phrase that’s related to this word; he’ll talk about ‘chasing after the wind.’ Many things in this life are, as wise Solomon recognizes are a ‘breath,’ a ‘vapor,’ and a ‘chasing after the wind.’

In other words, most of life is filled with things that you can’t control. You can’t grab or hold on to it. Generally, you can’t put parts of your life in your pocket and deal with them when you decide. It’s here one moment and gone the next. Simply recognizing that most of life is like a breeze that you can’t control helps you orient your life in a wise, godly way.

Look again at Ecc. 1:12-17 because, there, Solomon makes a wise application in light of everything in life being fleeting. That wisdom is simply this: You can’t fix things in this world that God hasn’t given you to fix.

In those verses, Solomon says three things. 1) Solomon was the king, and probably the most powerful king in the entire world. 2) He gave his attention to wisdom and knowledge. In other words, he wasn’t a politician who was trying to govern for his own benefit. And 3) he couldn’t fix things. There were problems that Solomon wanted to fix and tried to fix. But he was unsuccessful. He comes to the conclusion, “What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted” (Ecc. 1:15). This world is crooked and bent. This world is lacking so many things that you can’t even calculate everything that is missing. We live in a sinful, broken world, and not even Solomon could fix it.

Imagine we had an election and unanimously chose the perfect person to be the president. Everyone loved this new president and decided to give him ten consecutive terms. He has plenty of time to fix all the problems of our country. Here, Solomon is saying, “That’s me! I had all the resources, all the authority, all the wisdom, and forty years of ruling over my kingdom. But I couldn’t fix our problems.”

I know that sounds depressing and fatalistic, but it isn’t. Well, it shouldn’t be. Instead, this is a God-inspired key to finding and having joy in a broken world. You can’t fix the world or our culture. You can’t do that because you can’t fix sin. Whether it’s our culture’s morality and violence, whether it’s our nation’s broken view of marriage and life, whether it’s the economy, racism, etc. You can’t fix it. You can’t solve it.

Before I go on, I need to be clear. Yes, you are assigned all sorts of important vocations, and God uses you and your work to do important things. There are things that God has put under your care. But those things are minuscule to all the things in this world. So, be faithful in all the callings God gives you. Be a good spouse, parent, grandparent, child, friend, employee, coworker, etc. Do all the things, all the tasks, all the duties you have in those areas. But, at the same time remember that there are things you can’t fix because you aren’t God. You were created in God’s image and created to have dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28-30), but you and I gave up that dominion by  way of our sin. So, God has relieved us of that dominion. And this is good news.

Fixing what is broken is not what God has called you to do. God has not called you to the office of being the world-fixer or the sin-minimizer. Instead, God has given to His own, dear Son the office of being the Savior of the world. And as the Savior, Jesus has and will fix the world’s problems, by His death and resurrection. But you cannot.

In tonight’s Gospel reading (Lk. 12:22-32) Jesus says the same thing as Solomon does here, but in a different way. What Solomon says in a ‘negative’ way, Jesus says in a ‘positive’ way. What I mean by ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ is this. If I’ve just pulled out a fresh batch of cookies out of the oven and I want my kids to enjoy them, I could tell them to have a cookie in a positive way, “Cookies are done! They’re warm and fresh. Come enjoy them.” Or I could tell them to have a cookie in a negative way, “Don’t let your cookie get cold.”

Solomon, in a ‘negative’ way, says, “You can’t fix things.” Jesus in a ‘positive’ says the same thing, and I’ll paraphrase: “Your heavenly Father already knows what you need. So, seek His kingdom, and everything you need in this fleeting, breezy life will be given to you. And know that it is your heavenly Father’s good pleasure, He is absolutely delighted, to give you the kingdom.” Amen.

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

Christ’s Obedience – Sermon on Romans 5:19 for Midweek Lent 1

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are Psalm 16; Isaiah 50:5-10; and John 6:35-40.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Tonight, as we begin this series contemplating Christ’s suffering, we need to have a couple of things straight in our minds.

First, to contemplate Jesus’ suffering isn’t just about knowing facts, events, and details about Jesus’ Passion. For example, there are books and articles you can read about the horrors of what crucifixion does to a person. Doctors can tell you about what happens to the body and the pain that those who are crucified experience. There can be a benefit to those sorts of things because it can add shed light on certain Biblical texts like Psalm 22 which talks about being “poured out like water, all my bones are out of joint, … my tongue sticks to my jaws, … I can count all my bones,” etc. So, to be clear, the point of this series is not just to see how great Jesus’ suffering was or how much He suffered as He gave His life on the cross. Instead, the point of this series is to see that Christ’s suffering is for you and for your salvation.

The second thing we need to have straight is this: Tonight’s sermon is titled “Christ’s Obedience.” Obeying God does not cause Jesus to suffer. Not in the least! 1 Jn. 5:3 makes it clear that God’s Commandments, along with keeping and obeying them, are not burdensome. Yes, because we are sinners, we think God’s Commands restrict us. We don’t always want to do what the Commandments require of us and think they cause us suffering, but that’s not the fault of the Commandments.

The Commandments are simply how creation works. People who have never heard the Commandments know that murder, stealing, and lying is wrong (Ro. 2:14). All of the Ten Commandments are written into the fabric of creation just like the laws of physics. Think back to right after Christmas when we had a couple inches of ice on everything. You knew that you needed to be careful moving around because there wasn’t the normal amount of friction between your foot or tire and where you were stepping or driving. And if you didn’t compensate for how slippery everything was, the laws of physics meant that things could go wrong very quickly. The same is true for the Commandments. Whether a person recognizes them as God’s Commands or not, life goes so much better if the Commands are kept and observed because they keep us in line with how creation works.

Jesus perfectly kept God’s Commands and was completely obedient to them, and it was His delight to do so (Ps. 1:2, 119:113). Don’t get the sense that Jesus was groaning and complaining because He had to obey. Now, His obedience did bring Him to suffering because He was the Savior of us disobedient sinners. But Scripture is clear that Jesus wanted to be on the cross to save and rescue you.

Luther draws on this in his great hymn “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice,” in two of the verses. “God said to His beloved Son: ‘It’s time to have compassion. Then go, bright jewel of My crown, and bring to all salvation. From sin and sorrow set them free; slay bitter death for them that they may live with You forever.’ The Son obeyed His Father’s will, was born of virgin mother; and God’s good pleasure to fulfill, He came to be my Brother. His royal pow’r disguised He bore; a servant’s form, like mine, He wore to lead the devil captive.”

In other words, it was Jesus’ obedience to God’s will and His desire to He deliver you from sin, sorrow, and death that led Him to suffering. But obeying God’s will wasn’t what caused Jesus to suffer. I know that is a little nuanced, but I hope you get the picture.

So, tonight what I want to highlight is that Jesus’ obedience to God’s will is what makes His suffering even more profound and precious because, again, He willingly does it for you. Php. 2:5-8 gives us some insight into this: Even though Jesus is the eternal Son of God, He, “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Our Gospel reading (Jn. 6:35-40) sheds light on this. Jesus came and was born to do God’s will. Christ obeyed His Father’s will which was to be your Savior. Your heavenly Father’s will was that Jesus would win you for His own and raise you up on the last day. God’s will is that everyone who beholds Jesus and believes in Him would have eternal life. Doing all of this was Jesus being obedient to His Father’s will, and it was His delight. It was for the joy that was set before Jesus that He endured the cross despising its shame (Heb. 12:2).

So, when you think of Jesus’ obedience, remember that includes everything He suffered. And recognize that it was all for you. So, what did Jesus suffer, and how is it a benefit to you?

Jesus was born in a stable (Lk. 2:7) so you could be reborn as a child of the King of creation (Jn. 1:12-13).

Jesus was raised in the home of a poor carpenter (Lk. 2:40, 52) so you could have eternal riches (Eph. 1:18).

Jesus got tired (Jn. 4:6) so your soul could be refreshed and restored (Ps. 23:3, 5).

Jesus had no place to lay His head (Mt. 8:20) so you could live in a mansion that He has prepared for you (Jn. 14:2-3).

Jesus was arrested (Jn 18:12) so that you would not be eternally captive to the devil (2 Th. 2:26).

Jesus was bound (Jn. 18:12) to release you from the chains of sin (Mt. 18:18).

Jesus was forsaken by all His closest friends (Mt. 26:56) so you could be reconciled with God (2 Co. 5:18).

Jesus was falsely accused (Mt. 28:59-60) so that the Law could not accuse you before God (Ro. 8:1, 33).

Jesus was sentenced to death (Mt. 27:15-26) to release you from eternal death (Jn. 5:24).

Jesus carried His cross (Jn. 19:17) so you would not have to bear the burden of your sins for all eternity (Heb. 12:1).

Jesus was nailed to the cross (Jn. 19:18) so your sins could be cancelled (Col. 2:14).

Jesus was stripped (Jn. 19:23) so He could clothe you in His righteousness (Gal. 3:27).

And Jesus was forsaken by God (Mk. 15:34) so you would not be rejected by God (Ro. 5:10).

Dear saints, Romans 5:19 says, “As by [Adam’s] disobedience the many were made sinners, so by [Jesus’] obedience the many will be made righteous.” That is what Christ has done for you. His obedience, even through suffering, has made you righteous now and forever. Amen.

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

The Fix – Sermon on the Purpose and Disciplines of Lent (Jonah 3:1-10; 2 Peter 1:2-11; & Matthew 6:16-21)

The Scripture readings for tonight’s Ash Wednesday service are Jonah 3:1-10; 2 Peter 1:2-11; and Matthew 6:16-21.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

At some point in our lives, we have all broken something that couldn’t be fixed. No amount of glue, duct tape, or tinkering will put it back together. And when that happens – let’s say it was grandma’s antique vase – it doesn’t matter how the vase was broken. Maybe you threw it in a fit of rage, maybe you got a little too fancy with the game of catch in the living room, or maybe you just weren’t paying enough attention and barely bumped it – it doesn’t matter how it was broken because there’s no way to fix it. It doesn’t matter if you were angry or careless or thoughtless. There it lies on the floor, and it can’t be unbroken. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men can’t put Humpty Dumpty together again. The only thing to do is sweep up the pieces and throw it in the trash.

When you think of the things you have broken by your sin – the wrong turns you have taken, the right choices you failed to make, the kind words you didn’t speak, or the wrong words you said – the devil wants to take all of that and give you a sense of hopelessness. He wants you to just stare at the thing you have broken. He likes to hold the guilt of that mess over you, fill you with grief, and constantly remind you of your guilt. He wants to leave you staring at all the shattered pieces lying there on the floor, knowing that it was all your fault.

Tonight, we begin another Lenten season, and Lent is not a time of despair and gloom. At least, it’s not meant to be. Instead, Lent is a time of new beginnings and new hope. “Lent” means “spring.” The Christian religion isn’t one that only tells you about all the things you have broken or all the wrong choices you have made. Neither is Christianity a religion that only says, “God has fixed it. He understands. So, all the mess I’ve left in my wake is no big deal.” No. The Christian religion is far more. Yes, the Christian faith shows you what you’ve broken and how you’ve broken it, but it also shows you what God has done for you in Christ to reconcile you back with God and His creation. That is one of the great benefits of Lent and why it is important.

Lent is a time to put the cross of Christ before your eyes and focus your attention upon it. What Jesus has done for you on the cross gives you the full, complete, total forgiveness of your sins. On the cross, Jesus pays the price for all of your sins and restores you. Because of the cross, God gives you His mercy and grace. You know this, but you also know that the cross can’t unsay the evil and hurtful things you have said. The cross doesn’t undo the pain and harm you have caused yourself and others. The cross doesn’t make everything perfect again – not in this life.

Sinner, because of the cross, you more time. The cross gives you a time of hope when there should only be hopelessness. In Lent, Christ’s work on the cross stands before your eyes. Because of the cross, we should have an urgency. Paul mentions this urgency in 2 Cor. 6:2, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” In Christ and His cross, you and your loved ones still have time. So, what should you do with this time?[1]

First of all [Prayer], Lent is a time to be honest. Remember what the awful sinners of Nineveh did after they heard Jonah preach, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jon. 3:4). They had great sin, but they also had time – forty days. And they used that time to repentantly pray. They were honest about their sins. They confessed how they had harmed themselves and others around them. They turned from their evil ways. God saw all this and relented of the disaster He said He would do to them, and He did not do it (Jon. 3:10).

This repentance is a good sorrow and a right sadness about sin. Repentance isn’t a pleasant thing to do. But similar to when a kid falls on his bike and needs to have gravel cleaned from his scrapes and cuts, repentance is going to cleanse so the wounds can heal. The cleansing is going to hurt, but If there’s no cleansing, those wounds might never heal. So, hold out your wounds, endure the pain of the cleansing, and begin to heal.

Second [Fasting], Lent is a time to slow down. Take the quiet moments God gives you – maybe through giving up certain things to free up more time – take those moments and consider how to supplement your faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love like Peter said in our Epistle (2 Pet. 1:2-11). And notice that all these things exist only when they flow from faith. In fact, they are impossible to have without faith. When we exercise our faith with these things, the Holy Spirit strengthens our faith.

Third [Almsgiving], Lent is a time to remember where your true treasure lies. The things of this earth are going to become moth-eaten, rust, and stolen from you in an instant. But there is a way to lay up for yourself treasure in heaven where it cannot be touched by any moth, rust, or thief. Yes, there may be broken vases all around you that cannot be fixed no matter how hard you try. But the things you do in this life that support the preaching of the Gospel and the things you do that strengthen your faith and the faith of your family – all of that lays up treasure for you in heaven and draws your heart heavenward as well.

Dear saints, God has reconciled all things to Himself and has made everything right by the cross (Col. 1:20). All the wrong turns, all the times you said too much or too little, and all the things you have broken have a cost to be fixed. The price? It was the holy and precious blood of Christ, and it is a payment that has been fully made on the cross. Jesus has destroyed sin and fixed everything that we, by our sin, have broken. And the day of Christ’s return is coming. Then, and only then, will all creation be put back together. There will be no more shards of vase lying there on the floor. It will all be fixed – fixed to perfection. May that day come soon. Until then, happy Lent. Amen.

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

[1] What follows will play off of the ‘textbook’ answer that Lent is a time of “prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.”

Coming to Save – Sermon on Isaiah 35:3-7 for Quinquagesima Sunday

Isaiah 35:3–7

3 Strengthen the weak hands, 
and make firm the feeble knees. 
4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, 
“Be strong; fear not! 
Behold, your God 
will come with vengeance, 
with the recompense of God. 
He will come and save you.” 

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, 
and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. 
For waters break forth in the wilderness, 
and streams in the desert; 
7 the burning sand shall become a pool, 
and the thirsty ground springs of water; 
in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, 
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

I promise that we’ll get to this text from Isaiah, but it will be in a roundabout way. When God commanded, “Thou shalt not steal,” He meant it. Stealing is a disruption of God’s creation. When God gives something to someone, that is where He wants it to be. That is why thieves were required to repay the ones they robbed. Throughout the Scriptures, God says that a thief must give back what was stolen, and that repayment comes with interest. If you rob someone of their money or goods but it can be recovered, God says the cost is to pay back double what was stolen (Ex. 22:4, 7). But God set a higher price for other things that were stolen – especially if they could not be recovered. If a thief stole and killed one sheep, he was required to pay back four sheep. For every unrecoverable stolen ox, the repayment was five oxen. And If you stole food, you have to pay that back sevenfold (Pr. 6:31).

The first robbery recorded in the Bible was a theft of food in the Garden of Eden. All of creation belonged to God, and He freely handed it over to the man and woman that He had created in His image. Every plant was nutritious and delicious. And God gave all the plants for food (Gen. 1:29) – except one tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That tree, like every other tree, belonged to God. It’s fruit was His, and He said, “You don’t get to eat it.” But that first couple reached out their hands, took God’s fruit, and ate it. They stole food from God.

Now, here’s the problem, how would they repay God sevenfold as the Bible requires? It’s more complex than it might sound. They couldn’t pay with more fruit from that tree. All the fruit that remained on the tree already belonged to God. And to make things worse, they couldn’t put the fruit they had eaten back because it had become part of them. The only way to restore the fruit would be for Adam and Eve to be put back on the tree. But even that repayment was impossible because now they were thieves and sinners. Because it was stolen, that fruit was cursed and infected Adam and Eve with death that was coursing through their veins.

For the seven-fold payment to be made, Adam and all his children, needed a new Adam to offer payment in their place. Jesus entered this world as that new, sinless, and perfect Adam (Ro. 5:14; 1 Cor. 15:45). Only Jesus, perfect God and perfect man, could make repayment for that theft. And that is exactly what He does.

In our Gospel reading (Lk. 18:31-43), we heard how Jesus restored the sight of blind Bartimaeus (Mk. 10:46-52) on the road outside of Jericho. And Jesus did this by taking Bartimaeus’ blindness into Himself (Is. 53:4; Mt. 8:17) while also restoring his sight. That miracle, and all of Jesus’ miracles, show that Christ was removing the venom of sin and death, putting creation back together, and making the payment for that original sin and all subsequent sins. But all of Jesus’ miracles were merely a beginning of the full repayment He was about to make. Bartimaeus’ eyes eventually went blind again when he died. That is why that full, seven-fold repayment for the thievery in Gen. 3 is only made when Jesus is pinned to the cross, sheds His perfect blood, and dies. All of that brings us to this reading from Isaiah.

What is weak is to become strong. What is feeble is to become firm. To you who are anxious and troubled in heart, God says, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.” Normally, when sinners hear about vengeance and recompense, they are afraid and rightly so. But notice what this vengeance and recompense accomplishes – God comes to save you. He pays the debt that you owe. He has avenged your sin upon His only begotten Son. The payment has been made; your sin is atoned for (Is. 6:7).

Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He healed many more blind people besides Bartimaeus. Christ opened the ears of many who were deaf. Our Lord made many lame people walk and loosened all sorts of tongues to sing for joy. Each of those miracles were a display of Jesus’ divine power and authority to fix what sin and death had brought to creation. All of Christ’s miracles showed that He had come to undo the curse of the Fall. And yet, they aren’t the fullness of what Jesus had come to accomplish. They were limited in scope. Here, Isaiah says all the eyes of all the blind shall be opened and all the ears of all the deaf unstopped. 

Jesus didn’t just come to open a few eyes and ears. He came to open all of them. When you read through the Gospels, Jesus is doing these miracles almost constantly. But there is no doubt that there were more blind and deaf in Israel and throughout the world that didn’t get the blessing of Jesus’ miraculous touch. In other words, there is more healing, more restoring, more removal of the curse to be done than Christ accomplished through His miracles.

But now that Christ has died and risen again, now that He is seated on the throne of all creation as the New Adam at the Father’s right hand, the curse of sin and death that hangs over all creation has been paid for. Your God has come and saved. And the day is coming when the eyes of all who are in the category of ‘blind’ will be opened. All the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. All the lame shall leap like a deer. And all the mute will sing for joy because the price has been paid. It has been paid by Jesus for you. Whatever parts of the curse still lay upon you have all been taken by Jesus. Christ has redeemed you by becoming a curse for you (Gal. 3:13).

As we move into Lent this year, we are going to consider what the suffering of Christ has accomplished. Out of God’s great love for you, Christ endured all the wrath, judgment, and death you deserved because of your sins. In Christ, God came to save you. Every illness, every malady, every pain, every sorrow you experience had a price, and that price was the precious death of God’s beloved Son.

And as we go on this Lenten journey, we do it remembering the destination – eternal life with God. Take a Bible and open to the end of Isaiah 35. Just after our text, Isaiah speaks of a highway. Listen to how Isaiah describes it. Isaiah 35:8-10, “And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.” Pause there for a minute.

All of that is to say that God has come to save you, and He has placed you on this highway. When you pass through areas of this highway that are dreadful, don’t worry because Jesus is with you. When you pass through areas of this highway that are delightful, remember, it is only the highway. The highway has its own joys and foretastes of what is to come, but the destination lies ahead. And what is that destination?

Back to Isaiah 35:10, “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” In other words, the point of the highway is the destination. The Resurrection, the new creation, the life of the world to come – that is your destination, believer. Don’t forget that.

Your God has come and saved you. Your journey is secure on God’s highway. How unspeakably great will it be when we arrive at our ultimate destination? Amen.

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

Who, Then, Receives This Sacrament Worthily? – Sermon for Midweek Lent 5

IV. Who, Then, Receives This Sacrament Worthily?

Fasting and bodily preparation are indeed a good outward discipline, but that person is truly worthy and well prepared who believes these words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” But anyone who does not believe these words or who doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words “for you” require truly believing hearts.

Luther’s Small Catechism

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

It’s a gift. The Lord’s Supper is a gift. The Body of Christ broken for you is a gift. The Blood of Christ shed for the forgiveness of your sins is a gift. Everything about the Lord’s Supper is a gift. When we consider our worthiness or unworthiness of receiving the Holy Communion, we must start with the understanding that it is a gift.

Jesus doesn’t give us Himself in the Sacrament because we have earned or deserved Him. Birthday and Christmas presents aren’t earned. If something is earned, it is no longer a gift. When you give a gift, you give out of love. Jesus is not Santa Claus who makes his list and checks it twice to see who has been naughty or nice and give based on that. And remember what the gift gives – the forgiveness of sins. If you imagine, somehow, that you don’t have any sins that need forgiving, then you don’t need or have any desire for the gift. Only the sick need a doctor, and only sinners need the Sacrament.

In our epistle reading tonight (1 Cor. 11:27-34), Paul does give a warning about Holy Communion. You can receive the gift Jesus gives in an unworthy manner, and there are serious consequences of receiving the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. But before we get to that, let’s first consider what it is to be worthy of receiving the Sacrament. The two ‘qualifications’ – or, maybe better, ‘qualities’ or ‘attributes’ – of being a worthy recipient of the Lord’s Supper are found in v. 28-29 and v. 31.

To be worthy of Communion, a person is to ‘examine’ and ‘judge’ himself ‘truly’ (1 Cor. 11:28, 31). Here’s what that means: When you consider who you are in light of God’s Commandments, you find nothing but sin and failure. You find that you have not done what God demands and that you have done what God forbids. When you examine your thoughts, words, and deeds, you see clearly that you are not worthy to be in God’s presence let alone have a seat at His Table. God be praised that the recognition of your sin and unworthiness is precisely what makes you worthy to receive what Jesus gives in Holy Communion because what He gives is His very Body and Blood for the forgiveness of sins.

The other ‘quality’ of receiving the Lord’s Supper worthily comes in 1 Cor. 11:29 and is to “discern the Body.” In other words, it is to recognize that Jesus is truly present in His Supper as He gives you the New Covenant of His Blood in the elements of Communion.

When you know and recognize those two things, God invites you and desires that you, “eat of the Bread and Drink of the Cup” (1 Cor. 11:28).

If someone does not recognize that they are a sinner who needs forgiveness or does not believe that Jesus gives His Body and Blood in the Sacrament, that person eats and drinks the Sacrament in an unworthy manner, and that does have consequences.

The first consequence Scripture mentions is to be guilty concerning the Body and Blood of the Lord. In other words, an unworthy reception of the Lord’s Supper puts that person alongside the soldiers, Pilate, Judas, and the Jewish leaders as being guilty of Jesus’ wounds and crucifixion.

A person can be guilty of the Body and Blood of Jesus in various ways. Judas was guilty because he betrayed Jesus (Mt. 27:3-4). The priests and Pharisees were guilty because they falsely accused Jesus (Mt. 26:59). The soldiers were guilty because they beat, whipped, and spat upon Jesus (Mt. 27:27-31). Pilate was guilty because he condemned Jesus (Mt. 27:24-26). All of them were individually guilty of the bodily harm done to Jesus in different ways, but the guilt remains the same. Here, Paul says that to receive Communion in an unworthy manner is just as great a crime as those who carried out the betrayal, beating, and crucifixion of our Lord (1 Cor. 11:27).

The consequence of this guilt concerning Christ’s Body and Blood brings God’s judgment. Paul says that the reason some of the Corinthian Christians are weak, sick, and have died is that they were receiving Communion in an unworthy manner. Paul isn’t speaking figuratively here; this is serious stuff.

Now, I want to be clear, the judgment Paul talks about here does not mean that the Christians who receive the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner are condemned. The text is clear. The judgment from the Lord that they receive is used by God to discipline them so that they are not condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:29, 32). But that discipline and judgment is real, and because that discipline is real, this should guide what we do.

As your pastor who loves and cares for you and your well-being as well as the well-being of other Christians, I need to say this: When you are traveling or visiting a church with family or friends, there are times and instances where you should not take Communion. If you are at a church that says the Lord’s Supper is only symbolic, or, if you are at a Roman Catholic church that teaches that receiving the Lord’s Supper is earning some sort of spiritual merit, do not commune there. I say that because, by receiving the Sacrament there, you are encouraging your Christian brothers and sisters in their wrong belief and unworthy reception of the Lord’s Supper. And by not taking Communion there, God may open a door for you to teach them about the great blessing that Jesus gives in His Supper. Pray that that would be the case.

Yes, Scripture gives us warnings about receiving the Sacrament in an unworthy manner, but it is done in a way to encourage us to receive it regularly and rightly. Listen carefully to what comes after the warning of receiving in an unworthy manner and being guilty concerning the Body and Blood of our Lord, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the Bread and drink of the Cup” (1 Cor. 11:28). In the Large Catechism, Luther picks up on this and rightly says this is warning, but it is an encouragement to receive the gift of the Lord’s Supper which Jesus gives to us as often as we eat and drink.

Luther says, “If… you are heavy-laden and feel your weakness, then go joyfully to this Sacrament and receive refreshment, comfort, and strength.” But what if you don’t feel your weakness? Luther suggests that you put your hand to your chest and to check if you still have flesh and blood because Ro. 7:18 says, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.” Then, look around and see if you are still in the world. If you are in the world, believe what the Bible teaches about it – that it is full of danger and difficulties (Jn. 15:18-21, 16:33). Finally, remember that the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking to devour us (1 Pet. 5:8) and has all sorts of flaming darts pointed at us (Eph. 6:16). Your sinfulness, the danger of living in a sinful world, and the promise of Jesus are all constant reminders of how greatly you need the gift Jesus gives in the Sacrament.

I want to close this series on the Lord’s Supper with one final thought about receiving God’s gifts. When it comes to earthly things, desire and satisfaction are opposites. If you are hungry, it is because you don’t have food. Once you have eat and are full, you no longer desire food.

Spiritual things work differently, and I think we have all seen or experienced this. When you have God’s Word, you want more of it, and, sadly, the opposite is also true. The less you have God’s Word, the less you desire it. When it comes to the gifts Gospel, the more we receive them, the more we long for them. When we taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8), our hunger for His goodness and mercy grows.

May our love and desire for God’s Word continue to grow as we receive more and more of the free gift of His grace and mercy which He freely gives through His Word and Sacraments. Amen.The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

How Can the Bodily Eating and Drinking Produce Such Great Benefits? – Sermon for Midweek Lent 4

III. How Can the Bodily Eating and Drinking Produce Such Great Benefits?

The eating and drinking, indeed, do not produce them, but the words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” For besides the bodily eating and drinking, these words are the chief thing in the Sacrament; and anyone who believes them has what they say and declare, namely, the forgiveness of sins.

Luther’s Small Catechism

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Again, to recap: the Lord’s Supper is the true Body and Blood of Jesus in and with the bread and wine which Christ gives to us to eat and to drink. This means that Jesus is truly present in the Lord’s Supper to give you forgiveness, life, and salvation. When you receive Communion, you never have to wonder why Jesus is with you. He is there to deliver all the benefits of His death and resurrection which He won for you on the cross. You simply taste and see that He is good (Ps. 34:8).

This question from the Small Catechism addresses a common misunderstanding many Christians today have about the Lord’s Supper. The misunderstanding will take different shapes, so tonight’s sermon is largely going to be responding to the errors about Communion.

I don’t know of any Christians who say that Jesus doesn’t really care if we have Communion or not. But some Christians will say that Jesus doesn’t actually give us His Body and Blood for the forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament. Instead, they believe the Lord’s Supper is a meal which helps us remember what Christ has done for us. They will say that when Jesus said, “This is My Body and Blood,” what He really meant was, “This represents My Body. This represents My Blood.” I think one of the biggest reasons they think that is what this question from the Small Catechism addresses. If we modernized this question a bit it would be, “How can having a physical bite a bread and a physical sip of wine do anything that benefits a person spiritually?” 

This is a logical question. You don’t eat a hotdog and drink a soda to be forgiven. You aren’t saved by having a bowl of soup and a glass of water. So, why would eating and drinking the elements of Communion be any different? Even though it is a logical question, that doesn’t mean we can respond with mere logic. Our logic, thinking, and reasoning is a good gift from God. But our logic is fallen and cannot comprehend everything God teaches and promises in His Word. God’s ways and thoughts are higher than our ways and thoughts (Is. 55:8-9).

So, it all comes down to the words and promises of Jesus. Once Jesus says, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” that settles any disagreement of what Communion is for. The Lord’s Supper delivers the forgiveness of sins. 

Think back to Naaman, the commander of the army of Syria (1 Kgs. 5:1-14). He had leprosy and was given the suggestion to go to God’s prophet, Elisha. Elisha told Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan River, and he would be cleansed of his leprosy. But when Naaman considered the water of the Jordan, he balked at the idea. There were cleaner rivers back in Syria which he thought could do a better job of washing his festering, diseased skin. So, he wasn’t going to lower himself into those dirty, mucky waters until one of his servants basically said, “Why not give it a try? We’ve come all this way, and the prophet said to wash and be cleansed of your leprosy. If it doesn’t work, we can get the mud washed off of you later.” Naaman washes and finds out that God had given him a promise through Elisha. The waters of the Jordan River became a leprosy-healing stream – not because those waters were special by themselves. Instead, it was because God had attached a promise for Naaman to those waters.

Some might object to that and say, “Well, that was to heal the physical ailment of leprosy. God doesn’t use physical things to bring about spiritual benefits.”  Not so fast. What about the burning coal that touched Isaiah’s lips? The seraph promised him, “Behold, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (Is. 6:7). The same is true for Holy Communion. Jesus, the Son of God Himself, puts His Supper into your mouth and says to you who receive it, “This has touched your lips. You have eaten and drunk. Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

And on top of that, if it were true that physical things do not and cannot bring about forgiveness and spiritual benefits, what is Jesus doing on the cross? Throughout Scripture, God can and does regularly bring about spiritual benefits through physical things and physical actions.

Another objection Christians have about the elements of the Lord’s Supper being Jesus’ Body and Blood is, as I already mentioned, that Jesus is speaking figuratively. They will say, “Sure Jesus said, ‘This is My body; this is My blood,’ but what He meant is, ‘This represents My body; this represents My blood.’” They will point to passages where Jesus says that He is the door (Jn. 10:7, 9). Obviously, Jesus isn’t a literal door. They will say we should understand what Jesus says when institutes Communion exactly the same way.

The problem with that argument is the context of what Jesus is saying and what He is doing when He says it. When Jesus talks about being the door, it is in the context of Him drawing from all sorts of shepherd/sheep imagery from the Old Testament. When you read those verses in context, it is clear that He is using figurative language.

But when Jesus institutes Holy Communion everything is different. Jesus blessed the physical Bread and physical Cup and handed them to the disciples saying, “This is My Body. This is My Blood.” Jesus could have used language that is figurative. He does that all the time to introduce the parables. “The kingdom of heaven is like…” (Mt. 13; 20:1; 25:1; Lk. 13:18; etc.) But Jesus doesn’t do that in His Supper. He gives them Bread and Wine saying, “This is My Body; this is My Blood.” When God speaks, the impossible happens – the lame walk, the blind see, the dead are raised, and Bread and Wine become more than mere bread and wine.

Another objection that Christians today will have about Communion is that created things – especially small things like bread and wine – cannot hold something as big as God. The phrase that gets used is, “The finite cannot hold the infinite.” If that statement is true (and it’s not), that is big problem. If the finite cannot hold the infinite, that would mean that Jesus wasn’t God in the flesh, that would be impossible. But that is not the case. The finite can and does hold the infinite. Scripture clearly teaches that in Jesus, “the whole fullness of God dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9). And if Jesus wants to put Himself in Bread and Wine, He can do that too.

The final objection we will address tonight is when some Christians will say something like, “Well, Jesus’ death on the cross is what saves – not what we receive in Communion.”

The response to that is, “Yes. It is only through Jesus’ finished work on the cross that we are saved.” But how does God give and deliver what Jesus did on the cross to you? You weren’t there.

As much as I enjoy the hymn Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? (especially hearing Johnny Cash’s version), that hymn is asking questions to which we would have to answer with a resounding, “No.” In fact, only a small minority of the people who existed were there. You weren’t there when they crucified Jesus. You weren’t there when they nailed Him to the tree. You weren’t there when they laid Him in the tomb. You weren’t there when He rose up from the grave. All those things are good and important to remember, but you weren’t there – halfway across the world, outside of Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago.

But Jesus can, and promises to, deliver all the benefits of the cross to you in Holy Communion – His body broken, His Blood shed – directly delivered to your mouth. If the eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil can cause the devastating damage of sin entering the whole world, how beautiful is it that eating and drinking Jesus’ Body and Blood, which were given on the tree of the cross, brings forgiveness, life, and salvation?

We probably want to know more about how the eating and drinking of the Lord’s Supper makes logical sense, God hasn’t given us all the details. That’s ok. We have His sure and certain promise, so hold fast to that.

Even though what you receive in the Sacrament doesn’t look like much, and by itself it isn’t much, but when Jesus attaches His promises to it, it is everything. It is the medicine of immortality. Amen.

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

What is the Benefit of Such Eating and Drinking – Sermon for Midweek Lent 3

II. What Is the Benefit of Such Eating and Drinking?

It is pointed out in these words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Through these words, the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are given unto us in the Sacrament. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

Luther’s Small Catechism

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

To recap where we’ve been, the Lord’s Supper is the true Body and Blood of Christ in the bread and wine which Jesus gives to us to eat and to drink. This means that Jesus is truly present in the Lord’s Supper. At this altar, Immanuel – God is with you (Is. 7:14; Mt. 1:23). Throughout the Scriptures, God will show up, and He always has a reason for His coming even though His people don’t always know why He is there.

After Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, they heard God walking in the garden. God’s approaching presence filled them with fear and they hid. In their defense, they probably thought that God was coming to smite them (Gen. 3:8-11). But God was there to give them chance after chance to repent. He had come to give them the promise that the Seed of the woman would come to crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15).

When Moses saw the burning bush, his curiosity got the better of him as he was drawn into God’s holy presence. God had appeared to call Moses to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of bondage and slavery (Ex. 3:1-10).

At Mt. Sinai, God’s people assembled around the mountain. They were to prepare for God to descend, and God came in fire. Thunder and lightning filled the air. The mountain was wrapped in smoke as the earth shook. The sound of the trumpet of heaven grew louder and louder. And from the peak of the mountain, the present God spoke. God had come to promise to be their God and to give them the Ten Commandments, telling them His will for their lives (Ex. 19:16ff).

After Joshua led God’s people into the Promised Land, Jesus, the commander of the Lord’s armies of the appeared to Joshua. Christ had come to give the battle plans for how they were to attack Jericho (Jos. 5:13ff).

One day when Isaiah went to the Temple, he saw God high and lifted up with the train of His robe filling the Temple. The seraphim called out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is filled with His glory.” Isaiah figured God had come to put an end to him and his sinful lips. But God was there to call Isaiah to preach His Word to His people (Is. 6:1ff).

God came to Jonah to call Jonah to preach to his enemies, the Ninevites (Jon. 1:1-2). God came to Hosea to call him to enter a marriage that would be a sermon to God’s adulterous people (Hos. 1:2). God appeared to Zechariah to give Him visions that would encourage the people to rebuild the Temple (Zech. 1:7-6:15). Again, God always showed up with a purpose even though the people He was present with didn’t know or understand the purpose. And this pattern continues in the Gospels.

Jesus walks by the Sea of Galilee so He can call His disciples (Mk. 1:16-17). In the Gospel text this coming Sunday (Jn. 6:1-15), we will see Jesus lead a crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children into the wilderness where there was no food in order to test Philip. On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus passes through Jericho because He must stay at Zacchaeus’ house (Lk. 19:5). The night Jesus is betrayed, He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane in order to be arrested (Mt. 26:46). Easter evening, Jesus goes to the disciples who are behind locked doors to preach peace to them, to show them that He is alive, to breathe on them to give them the Holy Spirit, and to authorize them to forgive sins (Jn. 20:19-23). One week later, Jesus appears in the same locked room to appear to Thomas (Jn. 20:24-29). Sometime later, Jesus appeared on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and as best as we can tell, Jesus was there to cook breakfast for His disciples (Jn. 21:12) and to restore Peter after his denial (Jn. 21:15-19).

As we think through all these times God appears, we start to see some recurring reasons why He appears among His people. He comes to call to repentance and faith. He comes to give instructions and teach. God will come to guide people on how they should live. God will come to call people to speak His Word to others. God comes to reveal that He is risen, to grant authority to forgive, and to simply fry up some breakfast for His buddies and be with them.

Sometimes, Jesus is with us to teach or instruct us in what we should do. Sometimes, God is with us to call us to specific tasks. Sometimes, God doesn’t tell us why He is there. He just promises to be there. Christ promises that He is continually present with you even to the end of the age (Mt. 28:20). He promises where two or three are gathered in His name, there He is among them (Mt. 18:20). Both of those promises are wonderful and comforting, but He doesn’t explicitly say why He’s with us. In Psalm 23:4 teaches that God is with us even in the valley of the shadow of death. While that is – it absolutely is – comforting, God doesn’t say specifically what He is there to do for us in death’s valley. Sometimes, He is there to deliver us from death, but sometimes He is there to comfort and protect as a person takes his or her last breath.

We know that God is always with us as He provides everything we need. Jesus is with you as you work, clean, care for your family, and as you rest. Jesus was with you downstairs as you ate your soup, sandwiches, and dessert – just like when He cooked breakfast for the disciples (Jn. 21:12). God is present to bring His comfort and His peace, but we don’t always know what kind of comfort we will receive.

Again, I don’t want to belittle any of the comfort of God’s presence as He teaches, instructs, guides, protects, and provides for us. All of those are encouraging, soothing, reassuring things, and we need all of that. Sometimes, another person’s presence is simply comforting when we face dark things.

But there is one place where God regularly, physically comes to you and you never have to wonder whyHe is there, and that is in Holy Communion. At this altar, Jesus comes to you in His Body and Blood to give you the forgiveness of all your sins. And because He comes to you with forgiveness, He comes with life and salvation because wherever there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

Dear saints, when Jesus comes to you in the Lord’s Supper – wherever you receive it – He brings you His forgiveness, His life, and His salvation. You don’t have to wonder, “What does He want me to do now? Where does He want me to go? How does He want me to respond?” He simply sets His table before you to serve you (Ps. 23:5) saying, “Here. Take, eat. Take, drink. This is for the forgiveness of your sins.” Whenever you come to the Lord’s Supper, Jesus is with you to forgive you so you can taste and see that He is good (Ps. 34:8). Amen.

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

Where Is It So Written? – Sermon for Midweek Lent 2

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are Psalm 111; Exodus 12:43-51; and Mark 14:22-25.

I. What Is the Sacrament of the Altar?

It is the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, given unto us Christians to eat and to drink, as it was instituted by Christ Himself.

Where is it so written?

The holy Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, together with St. Paul, write:

“Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples saying, ‘Take, eat; this is My Body, which is given for you; this do in remembrance of Me.’

“In the same manner, also, when He had eaten, He took the cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the New Testament in My Blood, which is shed for you, and for many, for the forgiveness of sins; this do, as often as you drink, in remembrance of Me.’”

Luther’s Small Catechism

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Imagine being in Egypt for the initial Passover (Ex. 12:1-13). Your entire family is gathered for a special meal because God is about to deliver you from slavery, and being a slave is all you have ever known. God is coming to deliver, release, and rescue you, so everyone is filled with excitement. Your enemies are about to be defeated as the angel of death passes through the land. God promises that you will be protected from the angel of death because the blood of the Passover lamb will cover you.

So, you find that perfect, year-old lamb. You kill it and take the blood of the lamb and put on the posts and over the door of your house. Then, you start cooking. You roast the lamb, set the table, and have the meal. You eat it dressed and ready to travel to the Promised Land. And the next day, you walk out of Egypt through the Red Sea with a wall of water on your right and on your left. All your enemies are being defeated behind you. You are finally delivered from bondage and slavery.

Dear saints, that is, essentially, what happens each and every time you come to the Lord’s Supper. At this altar, you are delivered out of your slavery to sin. Jesus, the lamb without blemish or spot (1 Pet. 1:18-19), has been sacrificed. His Blood marks your door, and the angel of death passes over you. You eat His Body and drink His Blood which have been given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins. All your enemies are defeated. You are rescued from your slavery to sin and death. And God ushers you into the Promised Land of the kingdom of heaven.

Whenever you have the Lord’s Supper, as you return to your seat, it is completely and utterly appropriate for you to imagine walls of water on your right and left because in the Lord’s Supper you are being delivered from slavery and ushered into God’s kingdom.

Last week, we considered the first part of the question, “What is the Sacrament of the Altar?” and how Holy Communion is Jesus’ Body and Blood given to Christians to eat and drink for the forgiveness of sins. Tonight, we are going to consider the words Jesus used to institute the Lord’s Supper a bit more. 

The words in your bulletin are a conflation of the four places in Scripture that record Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper. By ‘conflation,’ I mean this: The four places where Scripture gives us the words of institution have slight, minor differences. The four passages are all in agreement in the essentials, and what you have printed there in the bulletin is all the actions and words of Jesus as He instituted His Supper which are taken from those four texts. If you are interested, I put together a table of the four passages and divided them into the parallel sections so you can see the similarities and differences. Through these midweek services, you will hear all four accounts. Last week, you heard Matthew; tonight, Mark; next week, Luke; and the week after, Paul in 1 Corinthians 11.

Again, even though there are minor differences, the essentials are the same. Jesus takes bread, blesses it, and gives it to the disciples to eat saying, “This is My Body.” Jesus takes the cup, blesses it, and gives it to the disciples to drink saying, “This is My Blood of the New Testament which is shed for you.”

So, what is this New Testament? When a person makes out a will or testament, he spells out who gets what after he dies. There might be times when a person will make changes to the will and what is to be done with the inheritance, but that is rare. And once he dies, that will is set in stone and cannot be changed.

Jesus’ will and testament is where and how Jesus swears to give His children everything that is His after He dies. In Holy Communion, Jesus gives you everything He has – His entire self His Body and Blood and His divine life. In other words, by Jesus’ crucifixion and death, you are made inheritors of His life which is a resurrection life. And because He made this Testament with you and has died for you, this Testament cannot be altered or changed – not even by God Himself. 

God spoke about this new testament in Jeremiah 31:33-34 where He promised to put His Word in you and write it on your hearts. He will be Your God, and you will be His people. God will forgive your iniquity and remember your sin no more.

In the Lord’s Supper, you are given your inheritance as a child of God. You are delivered, forgiven, and have the right to enter the kingdom of God because Christ Himself has given you that right.

Remember that Jesus wants to give you this gift regularly, as often as you eat and drink it. And this does something for you and for others. Whenever you partake in the Lord’s Supper, you are doing two things simultaneously. First, you are receiving this Testament where Jesus promises the forgiveness of sins. And second, you are proclaiming Jesus’ death until He comes.

1 Corinthians 11:28, which should be familiar to you, says, “As often as you eat this Bread and drink the Cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” In a very real way, receiving the Lord’s Supper is how you proclaim, preach, and confess Jesus’ death and resurrection to a fallen and darkened world.

As you receive His meal of forgiveness, you are strengthened in faith toward God and love toward your neighbor. Psalm 116:12 asks, “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me?” Psalm 116:13 gives the answer, “I shall lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.” By you receiving the Lord’s Supper, God draws others to Himself to become His people, His children. For that, God be praised. Amen.

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