Tag Archives: Victory

The Lord’s Battle – Sermon on 1 Samuel 17:40-51 for the First Sunday of Lent

1 Samuel 17:40–51

40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. 

41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.” 

48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Faith is the main characteristic David exhibits when he faces Goliath – not courage. Of course, David is courageous. There’s no question about that, but David’s courage is fueled by and rooted in faith. 

What you just heard isn’t the whole story of David and Goliath. And please know that when I use the word ‘story,’ that doesn’t mean that this is some made-up fairytale. Not at all. This story, this true story, happened. When we talk about Bible stories, we’re doing it in the same way you might ask your parents to tell you the story of how they met. It’s something that actually happened in history.

There was a Philistine warrior named Goliath who was over 9 ft. tall, who had a coat of bronze armor that weighed about 125 lbs., and whose spear tip weighed around 14.5 lbs. (1 Sam. 17:4-7). Goliath and the rest of the Philistine army assembled on one mountain while King Saul and the Israelite army mustered on an opposing mountain with a valley between them (1 Sam. 17:1-3). Every morning and evening for forty days, Goliath would issue a challenge, “Give me a man to fight. If he kills me, we’ll be your servants. But if I kill him, you’ll be our servants” (1 Sam. 17:8-10, 16).

Enter David. David was the youngest of Jesse’s eight sons. David’s three oldest brothers had followed Saul into battle, and Jesse asked David to go and see how his brothers were doing in the battle and bring them some bread and cheese (1 Sam. 17:12-18). While David was there, Goliath issued his challenge again, and David heard (1 Sam. 17:23).

You have to remember the context. Saul is still the king, but we already know that the next king won’t be a descendant of Saul. Back in ch. 16, David was already anointed to be the next king after Saul. After that anointing, the Holy Spirit rushed upon David (1 Sam. 16:6-13). But David doesn’t immediately go to the palace and ascend the throne; instead, David only goes to the palace to play his guitar whenever King Saul is tormented by a demon (1 Sam. 16:14-23). Even though he’s been anointed to be the next king, David fluctuates between serenading Saul and tending his father’s sheep.

David has faith in God’s promise that he’s going to be the next king. David so firmly believes this that, when he’s sitting in the field watching over his sheep, he’s not worried when bears or lions come after his lambs. He figures, “I’m not king yet, so not so fast, bear. Get back here, lion.” And he grabs them by the beard and kills them (1 Sam. 17:34-35). Easy peasy lemon squeezy. In other words, David rightly believes that until he becomes king, God is going to protect him.

It’s the same thing when David hears Goliath defying God and His armies and His people. Since Saul still has the crown that will eventually belong to David, he won’t let Goliath’s mockery stand. God has promised to make David the next king, so what could Goliath possibly do to him before he ascends the throne? It is that faith that gives David courage. So, David accepts Goliath’s challenge.

David simply trots onto the battlefield, reaches into his bag to take out a stone, flings it into the Philistine’s skull, and lops off Goliath’s head with his own blade. David might not have even broken a sweat. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, headless, and utterly defeated, they fled.

Dear saints, last week I mentioned how we wrongly think of ourselves as the heroes of all sorts of Bible stories, and I specifically mentioned how we aren’t David defeating Goliath. Instead, we should see Jesus fulfilling this story. In Jn. 5:39, Jesus says that the Scriptures bear witness about Him (see also Lk. 24:44). While the true story of David defeating Goliath is something that actually happened, even it points us to Jesus who has defeated our greatest enemy.

It’s helpful to start by remembering who your enemy is. Eph. 6:12 says that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Those enemies, who would all easily overpower us, have the devil as their champion, a giant that opposes us and mocks us.

But dear saints, you have a David, a shepherd, who had perfect faith in God’s promises. In our Gospel reading (Mt. 4:1-11), you heard how Jesus perfectly trusted God despite the devil’s temptations. Christ trusted God’s promise to give Him food at the right time. You heard how Jesus perfectly trusted God’s promise to protect Him from danger. You heard how our Lord perfectly trusted God’s promise to give Him all the kingdoms of the world. So, He engaged in the battle and won.

This same Jesus, with the same perfect faith, perfectly trusted that God would deliver Him, would not let Him see corruption (Act. 2:27), and would not abandon Him. So, Jesus engaged in battle against Satan, sin, and death. The odds against Christ looked overwhelming. But on that cross, Jesus dealt the death blow to your enemy. And on the morning of the Resurrection, Christ emerged victoriously holding the crushed, severed head of the devil (Gen. 3:15; 1 Sam. 17:57). Jesus disarmed all the powers of evil and put them to open shame (Col. 2:15).

Jesus is your David, who has defeated your Goliath.

Now, do you have a place in this story? Sure, absolutely you do. You are in the Lord’s army and have endured the bragging, the mocking, and the scorn of the devil. But Jesus brought all of that to an end. Because of His death and resurrection, you know that the Lord saves not with a sword or spear but with the precious blood of Christ.

The battle is the Lord’s, and He has given all your enemies into your hand (1 Sam. 17:47). In the verses that follow our text, Saul’s army pursued the defeated the Philistines and pushed them back until they had plundered their camp (1 Sam. 17:52-53). That’s where you come in.

You, dear saints, are in the mop-up crew. Jesus, your Champion, has won on the field of battle, and His victory encourages you to join Him in the fray. You see Christ’s victory, and it fills you with a newfound strength and courage. Jesus’ triumph fills your mouth with laughter and puts shouts of joy on your tongue (Ps. 126:2). His conquest transforms you.

Before His victory all you could do cower in fear as your enemy boasted and mocked you. Now, that is all over. Now that Christ has won, you are turned into men again. Men who are emboldened to engage in the war.

Now, you participate in the battle – even though that part doesn’t win the war in a meritorious sense. You are heartened and encouraged by Christ, your Champion, and participate in His victory. You wage war against a routed, headless, defeated foe.

God is not mocked. The battle is His. He is risen. He is now seated on the throne with all things subjected under His feat because He has won.

No one would say that the fighting you do is safe or without danger. No one would say that there is no skill needed for the part you have to play. Far from it. To be sure, the challenges you face are real and they are dangerous. But you know that the outcome is not a mystery. 

Your Champion has already turned the tide. Jesus has defeated the Goliath of sin, death, and the devil. So the foes you face, whether that foe is temptation or sickness or trauma or whatever, know they all fear you because your Champion has defeated theirs. Goliath is dead and headless. Jesus has won. He brings you in His train and on His team.

Christ has won the victory. He doesn’t need you, but He has won you. Now, you follow Him on the field of victory. What Christian would not want to follow Him? You know who fights for you. You know who has concurred and gives you the victory. And you also know the promises He has made to you. Promises that He will fulfill. Believe those promises, and act and live accordingly. Amen.

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

The Easter Angel – Sermon on Matthew 28:1-7 for the Easter Vigil

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Matthew 28:1-7

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The angel caused the earthquake that Easter morning. Our translation says, “there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven” (Mt. 28:2), but it should probably be, “becausean angel of the Lord descended.” The earth shook because the angel caused it to. And it isn’t the quake that moves the stone. The angel rolls it away after the quake then sits on it.

This angel is quite the character. We don’t know his name, but he certainly is a rabble rouser. He has the appearance of lightening and clothing white as snow.

This flashy, showy angel doesn’t sit on the stone because he is tired. Angels don’t get fatigued like we do. He sits there to mock the stone and the tomb that it had sealed. You could almost say that he’s dancing on the grave. But with a different meaning than we usually give to that phrase. He’s dancing on the grave of death.

It would have taken several strong, well-bodied people to roll that stone away. You’ll hear in tomorrow’s Gospel reading from Mark (16:3) that the women were concerned about who was going to move it for them when their plan is to return to the tomb and finish preserving Jesus’ body. Their plans had to change. But for this angel, that stone was puny and totally insignificant. The angel just tosses it aside. It wasn’t capable of keeping Jesus in the grave, and the angel sits on it to show how inconsequential the attempts were to keep Jesus dead.

The guards are terrified by all of this and rightly so. They trembled just like the ground. Their armor, swords, and training were nothing in the presence of this angel. They became like dead men. As they lay there on the ground, they were probably glad that this electrified angel hadn’t sat on them.

But then, Matthew mentions the women. They arrive to this dominant display of angelic power, and the angel tells them, “Do not be afraid,” even though there is no mention of them being fearful. The women had been scared previously. Scared to tears after the death of Jesus. But the time for weeping is over. Psalm 126:5 says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy.” For these women, and for all believers in Christ, the harvest has come.

Our time of sowing tears is finished. Jesus lives. It is time to gather in the crop of resurrection joy. Because Jesus is risen, our mouths are filled with laughter and our hearts with cheer. The angel sits on that stupid, weak, trivial stone because nothing can stop the victory parade of life.

Jesus had gone weak as a newborn lamb to the cross, but there He stripped the devil of all his strength. The trickster serpent has been tricked. On Good Friday, Satan was tempted just like Eve was in the Garden. The devil saw the forbidden fruit that hung on the tree of Calvary. He took it and ate. But now his belly bursts, and he is the one who has to hide.

He is done, finished, defeated. The devil has no accusations left. He threw all his accusations at Christ, and Jesus has answered for all of them. So now, when Satan tries to accuse you, all you have to do is point him to Christ, and his mouth is silenced. He has no allegations left for you because Jesus has died to take them all away, and Christ is risen to show they are nothing.

Did Satan think that a rock and some guards could keep Jesus dead? Maybe, but this resurrection angel, and all the angels, laugh at the thought. It would be easier to fit the oceans in a styrofoam cup or to ride a unicycle to Pluto than to keep God in the grave.

God wouldn’t let what is His be stolen. He takes it back. He takes back Adam and Eve. He delivers Noah and his family. He frees the whole people of Israel from slavery. He restores to Himself Ezekiel and that valley of dead, dry – very dry – bones. He restores the fortunes of Zion and exalts over them with loud singing. He pulls His people safely from the burning fiery furnace and walks with us in every trouble.

God does all of this because Christ has bought and paid for you on the cross. The devil has no claim – none whatsoever. Satan got what he thought he wanted. He took a bite out of God. The devil bruised His heel by putting Him to death. But Jesus has crushed his head. Jesus died, but He lives.

Every day of our lives now, let’s join this rambunctious angel in mocking sin, death, and the devil. Daily don the robes of righteousness that Christ has given you in your Baptism (Gal. 3:27). Daily let the God-given light of salvation shine through you (Mt. 5:14-16).

The grave is open. It couldn’t hold Jesus. It won’t hold your loved ones who have departed with the sign of faith. And It won’t hold you either.

We don’t know this rambunctious resurrection angel’s name. But one day, God be praised, we will. Amen.[1]

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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

[1] This sermon was adapted from Rev. David Petersen of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Ft. Wayne, ID.

Where Is Your Sting? – Sermon on 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 for the Resurrection of Our Lord

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1 Corinthians 15:51-57

51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Too often we think of death in wrong ways. We think that death is a state or a category or a condition. But v. 55 of that Epistle Lesson says that death is an enemy, a person who can be talked to and, most importantly, an enemy who can be questioned.

Imagine encountering death. When you or someone you love dies and you cross paths with death, you need to only ask death one simple question: “O death, where is your sting?”

Death might try to answer you with a pale, menacing, frightening voice, “My sting is your sin. I sting because you sin. If you didn’t have sin, I would have no sting. But I sting everyone because all have sinned. I am the wages and payment of sin (Ro. 6:23). And I will sting you because your sin is my sting.”

But you can simply respond, “I know all of that, death. I know that my sin has put me under your thumb. I know that the Bible says, ‘The wages of sin is death.’ So, what you say is true. But, death, I didn’t ask you, ‘What is your sting?’ I asked you, ‘Where is your sting?’ So, death, where is it, where is your sting?”

And death might smile and respond, “You simple Christian, have you forgotten how powerful my sting is? It is more powerful than the most poisonous snake or spider or jellyfish. My sting is the most powerful sting imaginable. My sting burns forever because the power of my sting is fueled by the Law. Yes, God’s eternal Law that abides forever, and you have broken that Law over and over.”

But you can look back at death and say, “I know my sin is no small sting. I know my sin is against the God who created me and loves me. I know the penalty of my sin is everlasting death, and I feel it in my conscience. I also know that the Law is not ever going to go away. I know that God’s Commandments are eternal. In fact, the Law was what made me scared of you. Because of the good and righteous Law, I know what you can do to me. I know that your sting is my sin, and I know that the power behind that sting is the Law. But, death, you still have not answered my question. Where is your sting?”

At this point, death is uncomfortable and a little fidgety, but he musters as much gusto as possible and says, “Well, you are face-to-face with me, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am, but the sting of death is not death. The sting of death is sin. So, I ask you again, ‘Death, where is your sting?’”

Finally, death hangs his head. “I have used it, and I have lost it. But I’ll get it back again.”

Jesus Coming out of the TombAnd you can smile in his face, “Yes, death, you used your sting, didn’t you? You should have used your sting on me. The sting would have stuck on me. But you didn’t. Instead, death, you used your sting on my Savior, my God, and my Lord. You used your sting on Jesus, didn’t you? You had Jesus pinned tightly on the cross, and you stuck Him with your stinger and buried it into Him. Death, you were a fool that day. You stung God Himself. You stung Jesus who is the Resurrection and the Life (Jn. 11:25). But when you went to the tomb to find your stinger and get it back, Jesus wasn’t there. And guess what, death, Christ has taken my sin as He hung on the cross. And, death, you will not ever get your sting back. Never. That empty tomb means that your sting is lost forever. Death, I don’t fear you any longer.”

And having no other answer, death now turns around and walks away from you.

Dear saints, this is why we celebrate every Easter and every Sunday. Every Sunday, we celebrate what Christ has done in absorbing the sting of death so that death no longer has his sting.

And the day is coming when Christ will return. On that day, the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable. The day is coming when your perishable body will put on the imperishable and your mortal body will put on immortality.

Yes, death can and does buzz around now for a while. But death is like a bee that has used its stinger and soon dies.

Dear saints, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” Yes, the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So now, Christian, you need have no fear of death. Jesus has conquered the bitter tyrant of death. And He has connected you to that victory. You do not need to fear and watch out for death hiding behind a corner to pounce on you. Instead, Christian, you continue to look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

Because Christ is risen, death is overthrown. Christ is risen and life reigns. Christ is risen, and dear saint, you are safely anchored in Christ who has given you the victory, now and forever.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.

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