Tag Archives: Scripture

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

Ephesians 4:1-6

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

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conquered – Sermon on Luke 10:17-20 & Revelation 12:7-12 for the observation of the feast of St. Michael & All Angels

Luke 10:17-20

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

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today, we consider the work of God through His holy angels. Some people have thoughts about angels that are more superstitious than biblical. And I have to admit that because there is so much false teaching and beliefs about angels that I tend to not preach or teach about them very much. So, let’s dive right in and consider what the Scriptures do teach about the angels. Please know that as I do this, I’ll be throwing out a lot of references; however, I won’t be giving you every reference that supports what I’m preaching. If you are interested in studying the Scriptures further about this, please ask me after the service, and I can print this sermon which has all the references.

Both the Hebrew (מַלְאָךְ) and Greek (ἄγγελος) words for “angel” mean “messenger.” Angels are spiritual beings with no physical bodies who were created during the first six days of creation. We know this because before the six days of creation there was only God (Jn. 1:1-3), and after the sixth day, God rested from all His work of creating. We can narrow the creation of angels down to one the first three days because in Job 38:4-7, God asks Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? … Who determined its measurements? … On what were its bases sunk or who laid its cornerstone?” There, God seems to be talking about the third day of creation when He created the land and sea. God says that as He created the land and sea, “the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” The singing of the morning stars and shouting of the sons of God were the angels because that is the same title they are given in Job 1:6.

We know that God created a huge number of angels. Heb. 12:22 says they are innumerable. The angels were all created good and holy by God (Gen. 1:31). Because they are holy, this day is called the feast of “St. Michael” and all angels. We don’t typically call angels saints, but remember that ‘saint’ simply means ‘holy one.’ The angels were created holy, and they retained their holiness. But here’s the thing: You are holy in a different and greater way. You, Christian, are holy because you have received Jesus’ holiness (is. 53:11; Eph. 1:4; Col. 1:22). Angels are holy, but not all angels remained holy. At some point before the devil tempted Adam and Eve, Satan led a significant percentage of the angels in rebellion against God and they fell. Those fallen angels, we now call demons. More on that later, but from here on, know that if I use the term ‘demons’ I am simply referring to fallen angels.

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

There are different orders and classes of angels – Cherubim (Gen. 3:24; Ps. 80:1), Seraphim (Is. 6:2), archangels (1 Th. 4:16) are some of those. There are also greater and lesser demons (Lk. 11:15, 18-19), but Scripture doesn’t give names for them.

Even though angels are spirits, they can move and manipulate material things. They are able to take Lot and his family by the hand to get them out of Sodom before God destroyed it (Gen. 19:16). An angel would touch a pool in Jerusalem, and when people saw that the water was stirred, they would jump in to be healed (Jn. 5:4, 7). So, it may very well be that when you or someone you love has a close call that God’s angels have protected you from danger. Many Christians have stories about being helped in a particular situation by someone who suddenly appeared and wasn’t seen again. It could very well be that God sent an angel to help and defend in that moment. Also, there are times when Christians have helped someone who was in trouble, and they have a sense that something was strange or different about that encounter. It may be that an angel appeared to give an opportunity to the Christian to serve in a particular way. Heb. 13:2 says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

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

The angels’ work is to sing praises to God (Is. 6:3; Lk. 2:13) and to fight on our behalf (Ps. 104:4; Heb. 1:14); in other words, their tools are the song and the sword. A fantastic text about angels fighting on behalf of God’s people is found in 2 Kgs. 6:8-23 where Elisha and his servant get surrounded by the army of Syria during the night. Elisha’s servant is scared silly about being surrounded by this army. But Elisha says to him, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then, God opens the eyes of Elisha’s servant so that he can see a whole host of angels with horses and chariots of fire on the mountain near them, and those angels deliver them. In that account, we see the truth of what is said in Ps. 34:7, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them.” 

Hebrews 1:14 says that the angels are “sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.” So, the angels serve you, believer, as you live out your vocations (Ps. 91:11-12), and they are present with you even as you are dying to carry your soul to heaven (Lk. 16:22). In fact, each believer has an angel (see Act. 12:15) or a whole squad of angels for protection. In Mt. 18:10, Jesus says, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones,” and I would argue Jesus is referring to all Christians, “For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” I hope this is a humbling and encouraging thought.

The angels who guard, protect, and serve you always behold God’s face in heaven. You can’t see God’s face, but the angels who are guarding you can because they have retained their holiness since their creation. Also, this should give you an indication of how valuable you are to God. If you see someone walking around with bunch of large, armed, and intimidating bodyguards around them, what is your impression of that person? It would get your attention. You probably wonder what sort of person that is. Well, the Creator and King of the universe has given you a squad of mighty, powerful angels to protect you.

Even though angels have might and power and help us, we should not pray to angels. Every time in Scripture that someone begins to worship an angel, the angel protests and directs worship to God (esp. Rev. 22:8-9). We can certainly pray that God would send His angels to protect us, but don’t pray to them. Also, we shouldn’t listen to angels unless they are pointing us to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul  says this in Gal. 1:8, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”

Finally, and maybe most importantly, we should realize that angels are present with us right here and now as we are gathered in worship. Hebrews 12:22-24 says that in church we have “come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering…” Jesus says that the angels in heaven are joyful over one sinner who repents (Lk. 15:7, 10). As we confessed our sins earlier, a whole host of angels whom we cannot see or hear rejoiced as they heard Christ absolve and free us from our sins. Hebrews 1:14 calls angels ‘liturgizing’ spirits (most English translations will use the term ‘ministering’ but the Greek word there is λειτουργικός). So, using the liturgy is how we join our worship with the angels’ worship in heaven.

So, there is a quick overview of the Scriptural teaching of angels. Now, to what we learned specifically in our readings today.

A little context for Gospel lesson (Lk. 10:17-20) today helps. Jesus had sent these seventy-two ahead of Him to preach and heal in every town Jesus was about to go to (see Lk. 10:1-12). As He sends them, Jesus says, “Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” Jesus says that they would be housed and fed by the people who welcomed them, and Jesus told them to heal the sick and say to the people, “The reign of God has come near to you.”

Now in our text, they are returning, and we hear them joyfully report that the demons were subject to them in Jesus’ name. They saw victories in their various spiritual battles. But Jesus says something even greater was going on that they couldn’t see. While those seventy-two were proclaiming the reign of Jesus, Christ says, “I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven.” So, the seventy-two saw victories in battles they fought, but there was a greater defeat, a bigger conquering taking place. And we hear about that in our Epistle text (Rev. 12:7-12) where the archangel Michael was given the privilege of throwing Satan (‘Satan,’ by the way, means ‘accuser’) out of heaven. How was Satan cast down and conquered? The text is clear. Satan was cast out by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony (Rev. 12:11).

Now, there are Christians who disagree with what I am about to say here, but I think we should see Jesus’ proclamation of seeing Satan falling like lightening and this text in Rev. 12:7-12 as the same event and as confirmation that the shedding of Christ’s blood and the preaching of the Gospel was what cast Satan down from heaven. This means that Satan is no longer able to accuse you before God which is what he was constantly doing day and night (Rev. 12:10). Remember how, in the book of Job, Satan was there in heaven before God by saying that the only reason Job loved God was because God was nice to him (Job 1:8-11, 2:1-5). But now, Satan has been conquered, defeated, and expelled from heaven.

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

Dear saints, when the devil does this, he needs to be expelled from your conscience. How can you do this? How can you conquer the devil as he attacks you now? You conquer with the same weapons that Michael and the angels used – the blood of the Lamb, and the word of your testimony (Rev. 12:11).

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

So today, dear saints, come to Jesus’ table. Come as you join with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven singing the song of Jesus’ victory. Come, receive His body given for you and His blood shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. And know. Know that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus your Lord (Ro. 8:38-39). Satan has been conquered. He has been conquered by the blood of your Savior. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.[1]

[1] This sermon was reworked from 2019.

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

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.’ 7Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 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 five foolish virgins had one problem. They were “morons.” That’s literally the word Jesus uses – μωρός. So that’s how I’ll refer to them; if you have a problem with me calling them morons, you can take it up with Jesus. Being morons was their only problem. The fact that they had lamps but no oil is problematic, but their problem is that they are morons. Having an oil lamp but no oil is silly. Wicks without oil can only burn for a few seconds before disappearing in a choking mess of smoke.

We might think that the wise virgins not sharing their oil with the morons is a problem. It doesn’t seem very charitable. Why don’t the wise just offer to let the morons walk in the light of their lamps? Well, we don’t know enough about the customs of Jesus’ day to know why each girl needed to have her own lamp. And who knows? Maybe that arrangement would have been acceptable. But notice what the morons did. When the call rings out, “Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him,” they moronically wander away from the banquet hall to try and buy some “midnight oil.” What shop would be open at that hour?

While the morons are gone on their hopeless shopping trip, the bridegroom arrives. The five wise virgins go in to the marriage feast, and the door is shut. When the five morons finally return begging to be allowed in to the feast, they are met with the horrifying reply, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”

Jesus tells this parable as a warning for us to be ready for His return. The moral of the parable is, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead. But Jesus didn’t tell us when He would return. So, He commands us to watch and be ready. Wake up from your sleep today. Wake up now. When the feast begins, Jesus wants you there. Have oil. Don’t be left outside.

But now, we have a problem. Jesus doesn’t tell us what the oil is. Is it the Bible, faith, grace, the Holy Spirit, or the Sacraments? Jesus doesn’t say. But the Scriptures would indicate that it can be and is all of those. I’m open to other suggestions that you might have, but my guess is that Jesus doesn’t tell us what the oil is so that we seek after all those things because each of them – 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).

That is why you are here today. God has gathered you here around His Word and Sacrament. This is where you need to be and where you belong. In this place, you hear God’s Word, are absolved of 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. The Church is the well-fortified barracks where you are fitted with the whole armor of God (Eph. 6:11). And, here, you help others prepare for the battle.

But you don’t get to stay here. You will return to the battlefield of the world. It is necessary, and it is, in fact, what God has called you to do. You are called by God to go into the world and deal with lazy coworkers and incompetent supervisors and bosses. You will have to endure your children’s temper tantrums, your spouse’s failures and shortcomings, the loneliness of a widowed house, and your relatives’ problems. You will go back to school and classes with boring teachers, pointless homework, and bullies. God calls you to face all of that even while you struggle with your own sins of anger, lust, gossip, and envy.

In each of those places, each of those callings and vocations, the devil has laid all sorts of traps and snares for you; he prowls around like a roaring lion seeking to devour you (1 Pet. 5:8). Satan attacks you in those arenas because everywhere you go, you carry God’s light to a darkened world. Christian, every relationship you have is a holy, divine calling. And because you are God’s child, everything you do has spiritual value. How you handle work, school, chores, laundry, dishes, and whatever else has both temporal and eternal consequences. That is why you come to church and get what is necessary for your salvation. But what happens here must extend to the rest of your week.

Don’t be a moron thinking that a couple hours at church each week (or two to three times each month) is enough to prepare you for what you will face out there. 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 lit lamp. So, if it hasn’t been your family’s practice in the past, start today. Make the reading of Scripture, prayer, and fellowship around God’s Word together as a family your top priority each day. 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 Phil. Amen.” Then, pray the Lord’s Prayer. That will take five minutes. You can do that. You have the time to do that. And if you don’t have enough time, rip something out of your schedule. If your job makes it impossible, quit. Find a new one – even if it means a pay cut and you have to buy a smaller, cheaper house. This is eternally serious. Your salvation and the salvation of your children 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 help to begin to make God’s Word part of your regular conversations as you watch and remain ready for His return.

Ok. That was the Law part of the sermon. And, I hope was a bucket of ice water to awaken you from slumber. Now, we need the Gospel. And there is one more problem to address: Now, be honest. Does this parable strike fear into you?

Honestly, if you summarize the parable, it is a story of ten silly girls who fall asleep waiting for a party. Five are able to light a lamp and get to go into the party. Five can’t, so they have to go away. And if your high school experience was like mine, if you aren’t at the party, you just end up at home sulking and feeling a bit lonely and sorry for yourself.

So, when Jesus tells us that the purpose of this parable is to get us to watch for the day of His return, why did He use this analogy of a wedding party and ten silly, sleepy girls? If being ready for His return is so important, why not tell a parable with more urgency and more horrific consequences? Why not a parable of ten fishermen – five who wear life jackets and five morons who don’t and drown when the storm comes and the boat sinks? How about ten soldiers – five who carry their sword at all times and five morons who leave their swords lying around and get slaughtered when the enemy ambushes them?

Well, that is precisely why Jesus’ parable is different. In either of the parables I just suggested, the return of Jesus is depicted as a terrible, tragic event – a storm at sea, or a sudden attack by an enemy army. But in Jesus’ parable, the thing we need to be ready for, well, it’s the greatest day ever – the day of the arrival of Jesus, the Bridegroom and Savior of all mankind. A day of feasting, joy, laughter, and blessedness for those who are ready to enter with Him. It is the very thing we are looking forward to and longing for.

Once we have worked ourselves into a tizzy about the dire urgency of Christ’s return, we need to step back, take a deep breath, and remember: Christ’s return is not something horrific that you need to be scared of. 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.

And yes, Jesus teaches that as the end draws near the signs of His return are alarming: 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.

The Shortest, Most Beautiful Sermon – Sermon on John 1:19-29 for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

Listen here.

John 1:19-29

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said,

“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’
as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the wolrd29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

A more beautiful sermon has never been preached than John’s short, little sermon there: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” In this Gospel text, John does exactly what he was sent by God to do. He points everyone who was there listening to him and the rest of humanity, including us, to Jesus. In that thirteen-word, one sentence sermon, John takes all the theology of the Old Testament and all of the religious practices and ceremonies and worship God had given to His people and piles it all on Jesus. Christ fulfills it all (Jn. 5:39; Lk. 24:27; Ro. 15:8; 2 Cor. 1:20).

Consider the Day of Atonement. That day was the only day that someone could enter the most holy place in the Temple. Only the high priest could enter on that one day. On that day, the people took two rams and flipped a coin to determine which one would be sacrificed and which one would be the scapegoat.

The high priest would take the scapegoat and bring it into the midst of the people, place his hands on the head of the goat, and confess all the sins of all the people over the previous year (Lev. 16:21). All their idolatry, blaspheming, and Sabbath-breaking. All their rebelliousness. All their murderous and adulterous ways. All their theft, lying, and discontentment. All those sins would be placed on the head of the goat which would then be led into the wilderness and away from the people.

Hebrews 10(:3) says, “It impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins,” but those goats could and did preach about the One who would come and take away the sins of the people. Those goats pointed the people to the Messiah who would bear the sin of the world in His body (1 Pet. 2:24). That was the point of all the sacrifices in the Old Testament – to preach about Jesus who would remove sin. When you saw any of the sacrifices – a bull or sheep or ram or pigeon burning there on the altar – you knew that animal didn’t do anything, it hadn’t committed those sins. But it pleased God to take the sins of the people and have them relocated to that animal. And as you saw that animal being killed and burned, you realize, “That should be me, but God accepts the death of another, He accepts a substitute, for my sin.”

That is what John is doing when he points to Jesus and preaches, “Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” John is saying, “Here is the One who dies in your place. Here is Jesus, the One who has all of your sin upon Himself.”

John wasn’t just preaching about the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement and the sacrifices. He was also preaching about the fulfillment of the Passover (Ex. 12). Remember, the people were slaves in Egypt, and God sends plague after plague to get Pharaoh to let His people go, but Pharaoh refuses. So, in the final plague, Exodus 12_46 - Passover Blood marking the doorpostsGod sends the angel of death to go through the land of Egypt. But God’s people were to take a lamb. They were to slaughter that lamb and smear some of the lamb’s blood on the door of their house and eat the rest of the lamb roasted that night. And when the angel would see the blood on the door, he would pass by.

Again, when John points at Jesus, he is preaching, “Here is the one whose blood marks your door and guards you from the wrath of God.”

John is preaching about the fulfillment of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. For years, God had promised Abraham that He would give Abraham a child in his old age and through that child God would bless all the nations of the world. Finally, Isaac was born, but God told Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering (Gen. 22). God wasn’t testing Abraham’s obedience with this crazy command; He was testing Abraham’s faith. God had promised that through Isaac, He would raise up the Messiah. And Abraham believed God’s promise that he would have great-great-great-grandchildren through Isaac even if he sacrificed Isaac on top of the mountain. Hebrews 11(:17-20) says that Abraham figured that God would raise Isaac from the dead because God had to keep His promise. Abraham believed that Isaac, the child of promise, wouldn’t stay dead. Abraham believed that God would be faithful. But God provided another way of keeping the promise. The angel stopped Abraham’s hand from sacrificing Isaac. And there in the thorns was a ram caught by its horns, and it was sacrificed in Isaac’s place. After this, Abraham named that place “God provides” because God provided Himself as the sacrifice (Gen. 22:8).

And on that very mountain, the Temple would be built. On that mountain and in that Temple, God would continually accept the death of another in place of the children of promise. And now, John says, “Here is Jesus, the Lamb of God, the one who trades places with you, sinner.”

One more. Let’s go all the way back to the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3). Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. They believed the devil’s lie instead of God’s Word. Their eyes are opened, and they realized they were naked. To try and cover their shame, they sewed fig leaves together. Those leafy clothes are like every other human religion; they don’t work. They don’t cover their sin and shame – especially when God shows up. Then, when God comes into the Garden, Adam and Eve try to hide from God. God gives them all sorts of chances to repent, but their sin has made them so afraid of punishment that they continually try to hide behind the leaves of their excuses. God warns them about the curses that have come because of their sin, but He also promises that He will send the Seed of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head.

God had said that on the day Adam and Eve ate that fruit they would surly die (Gen. 2:17), but they didn’t die that day. Instead, Adam and Eve watch God take an animal, who hadn’t done anything wrong, and kill it. This was the first time in all of creation that something died. Genesis 3-21 - God made clothes from skins.jpgGod hung that animal up and stripped the skin from its lifeless body as blood stained the ground. And God wraps that skin around the shameful, sinful bodies of Adam and Eve.

Scripture doesn’t record this, but it invites us to imagine Adam and Eve watching God do all of this. And you can imagine them in their shock and horror asking God, “Is this what it takes to cover our sin and shame?” And imagine God responding, “No. This is only preaching. There is a sacrifice to come.”

That sacrifice is Jesus, God’s own Son. Prior to Jesus, all of the Scriptures tell the story of Jesus coming to be that Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. And all of the Scriptures would have you believe that God lays on Jesus the sin and iniquity of you and me and of the whole world (Is. 53:6).

This short, beautiful sermon of John takes all of these pictures and points you to Jesus as the fulfillment – not the picture. He is the One who actually bears your sin in His body. This Jesus, who knew no sin, became your sin, so that in Jesus you might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).

Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Did you catch that? The sin of the world. That means this Jesus takes away your sin. God’s anger falls on Jesus, not on you. When you see Jesus on the cross, you say, “That should be me. But Jesus, my Savior, has willingly taken my place under God’s wrath so that I can take my place with Him in eternal life.”

Dear saints, this Christmas remember that Jesus is born to be your Substitute and your Savior. He, and He alone, takes away your sin now and forever. Amen.[1]

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

[1] I am thankful for a sermon from Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller for much of the content of this sermon.