Lent 2 Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Dying to Live”

Text: Mark 8:27-38; Romans 5:1-11; Genesis 17:1-21

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

The only good Christ is a dead Christ.

The only good Christian is a dead Christian.

Sadly, I don’t think you will hear that from many pulpits or in many churches these days. Oh, maybe the first one. Most would agree with that first statement, I think. But the second? Not so much. In fact, the second . . . many would not agree with at all. It sounds bad.

And it sounds better to say . . . and many people think this way . . . that to be a good Christian is to be a person who does a lot of good things; who lives a moral and upright life; who prays and gives and tries hard. But that identification doesn’t quite work, does it? Because there are a lot of people in our world and in our neighborhoods who are not Christian, and yet who we could point to and say they are good, moral people; who pray and give and try hard. Yet that’s what a lot of people think a Christian is.

And if that’s what we think, then we shouldn’t be surprised that people think that anyone who lives a good, moral, and upright life, who prays, gives, and tries hard, will be saved. Because then what’s the difference? Sure, other religions believe a little differently, but that doesn’t matter. What matters, is that you’re good and moral and upright . . . however those things are defined by society at the moment.

But what we heard Jesus say today is quite different than that. For after Peter rightly confesses that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus begins to explain to Peter and the others what that means - what it means to be the Christ. And it means this: that He must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And that word must there is important. It’s not optional. There’s no other way. For Jesus to be the Christ means that Jesus must die. And so according to Jesus, the only good Christ, the only real Christ, is a dead Christ.

Peter thinks like us, though. And so takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him. No, Jesus, you’re wrong. That’s not going to happen to you! You heal people and drive out demons; you teach people and help them. But these things, Peter, are the things of man, Jesus tells him. The way the world thinks. You need to think differently. For if doing good things doesn’t make a person a Christian, then neither does doing good things make Jesus the Christ. The only good Christ is a dead Christ.

Because only a dead Christ can save us from the wrath of God, justify us by His blood, and reconcile us to God. That’s what Paul said in the reading from Romans that we heard. That while we were still sinners . . .  Or in other words, while we were not good, while we were turned away from God and His enemies (strong word!) - while that’s who we were, Christ died for us. To change all that. So if Christ does not die, none of that changes. If Christ does not die, then you are still a sinner - unreconciled, unjustified, and unsaved. The only good Christ is a dead Christ.

And so while yes, Peter, Jesus heals and drives out demons and teaches and helps, He does all those things to point to this greater work. Those are all just the appetizer, the prologue, the prelude. His real work, His saving work, can only come on the cross. All those other things are nice, but He can be the Christ without doing them. The cross He must do, or He is no Christ at all, but a false Christ, giving false hope - a hope for this world and life only. And so Jesus teaches . . . about the cross. Jesus heals . . . to foreshadow the great healing of His resurrection. Jesus drives out demons because His death and resurrection is going to drive out satan and his demons forever. All Jesus does is because He is going to the cross. Because the only good Christ is a dead Christ.

But Jesus then goes on to talk about those who come after Him, those who follow Him. And if it is only by dying that Jesus is the Christ, then it is also only by dying that a person is a Christian, a little Christ. Not doing good things but dying makes Jesus the Christ, and not doing good things but dying makes a person a Christian.

And so Jesus says: If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. And everyone who heard that, everyone standing there that day, knew what that meant; knew what it meant to take up a cross. Because in the first century, if you saw someone walking down the street with a cross on their back, it meant only one thing: that person would soon be dead. 

And then Jesus doubles down on that, saying: For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. Which is to say that if you drop your cross and run and think you’ll be able to save yourself by doing so, you’re actually losing your life. You want to save your life? Lose it. Lose it for my sake, Jesus says. Lose it like me, and you’ll have a new life that not even death will be able to end. Or in other words, the only good Christian is a dead Christian. There’s no other way. There’s nothing else you can give in return for your life. No amount of good you can do can make up for the amount of sin you have - the sin you’ve done and the sin that you inherited. The only way to live is to die and be raised to a new life.

Which is why we bring our children here - to die. And it’s why we come here - to die. Not to learn how to be better, but to die. To have the cross of Christ applied to us, and then to also be raised with Him to a new life. A new life reconciled to God, justified by Jesus’ blood, and set free from sin and death. And such a life is true life. A life we can live with confidence and without fear. If we try to avoid all this and save our life some other way, you will lose it, along with your confidence and your hope. You may gain the world, but you will lose your life. The only good Christian is a dead Christian.

And where you die, and where you rise with Christ to a new life, is in Baptism. That’s what Paul goes on to explain in the next chapter of Romans - the chapter after the one we heard from today. That’s what Baptism is all about. Dying and rising with Christ to a new life. That is where the cross of Christ is applied to us. Not just any cross, but His cross; a saving cross. We go into the water as sinners, we come out as Christians. Little Christs. 

And then for all the sin we continue to do - cuz we do! The sin we fall into or climb aboard or welcome into our hearts during the week, we come and return to our Baptism in Confession and Absolution. Not being re-baptized, but drowning our sin in those waters again, and receiving the forgiveness promised us there. But not just here and not just on Sunday, but every day as we pray the Lord’s Prayer: and forgive us our trespasses, and He does. And as we ask one another for forgiveness, and receive it. In all these ways we take up our cross and die. We don’t justify our sin, excuse it, explain it, or rationalize it, and so try to avoid the cross - we nail it, we confess it, and die; that dying with Christ we also rise with Him, we are also raised by Him, in forgiveness, to a new life.

And so the Christian life is one of constant dying and rising. Dying to sin, dying to ourselves, and rising with Christ. The only good Christian is a dead Christian. 

That, in fact, is what made Abram and Sarai - renamed Abraham and Sarah - perfect for God. They were dead. Abram was 99 years old and Sarai was 89 and barren. There weren’t any kids coming from that marriage or from that womb. And so in the verses right after the ones we heard today from Genesis, Abraham makes a suggestion; he’s got an idea: let Ishmael be my heir, God (17:18)! That’ll work! But the words spoken to Peter could have been spoken here as well: Abraham, you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. You’re dead and that makes you perfect for God. By this time next year, the gift of a son, the gift of new life, will be given to you and Sarah (17:21).

This Peter and the others still had to learn. And so Jesus strictly charged them to tell no one about him. Don’t preach of Him as the Christ . . . yet. You don’t understand yet, that the only good Christ is a dead Christ. But you will. And then you’ll understand this as well: that the only good Christian is a dead Christian. Because we have a God who gives life to the dead. 

And you know what dead men who have been raised from the dead do? They rejoice. They have true joy. Lasting joy. Three times Paul used that word today. He said we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, we rejoice in our sufferings, and we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We rejoice in our words, we rejoice in our deeds, we rejoice in our lives. Because we’ve been given the gift of a new life in Him. Because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. The Spirit of love, joy, and peace. The Spirit of patience, kindness, and goodness. The Spirit of faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Spirit who works all good in us, all holiness, and keeps us in Jesus and His life. 

And all this through Jesus’ death and resurrection. All this through your own death and resurrection with Him. There is no other way.

For He is the Christ and you are His Christians. Come, let us die with Him, that we may also rise, rejoice, and live with Him (2 Timothy 2:11). 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lent 1 Midweek Sermon

[No Audio]

Jesu Juva

“Return to the Lord . . . Who Redeemed You”

Text: Isaiah 44:21-28; John 8:31-36

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

We heard some pretty incredible words from the prophet Isaiah tonight.

I have redeemed you.

The Lord has redeemed Jacob.

The Lord [is] your Redeemer.

I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist.

And because of that, the Lord calls all of creation to rejoice and sing. The heavens, the depths of the earth, the mountains, and the forest and every tree in it. God calls creation to rejoice because our Redeemer is also creation’s Redeemer. Because creation, too, is subjected to sin and death. It is groaning, Paul says; writhing in agony, like a woman in labor (Romans 8:22). And so it, too, is longing for its release; its redemption.

God spoke these words through the prophet Isaiah as if it has all already happened; it is all past tense; that He has done this . . . although it wouldn’t actually happen for another 700 years. But Isaiah is looking to the future, to when God would fulfill this promise. For He knows that He will. For when God makes a promise, you can speak of it as if it has already happened - and know that you are speaking the truth. For every word of God is true and sure. Every word of God will come to pass.

And this one, Isaiah says, will come to pass through the one God calls His shepherd. That is first of all Cyrus, the Persian ruler who more than two centuries later would set God’s people free from their captivity in Babylon. But creation didn’t rejoice over that. Creation knows that earthly kings come and go. The Lord sets them up and brings them down. But what Cyrus did was a pointer, a foreshadowing, of the even greater shepherd, our Good Shepherd, who would set us free from our captivity to sin and death. Or maybe better to say it this way: who would set us free from our slavery to sin and death.

Yes, slavery.

That’s the way Jesus spoke to the Jews of His day, and maybe like them, you bristle at this way of speaking; that it’s a bit much, a bit over the top, if not downright untrue. For when Jesus spoke of this slavery, they responded to Him: . . . we have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it you say, ‘You will become free’?

Well, because, Jesus says, you are slaves. Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. Jesus doesn’t dodge that reality, as unpleasant as it may sound and seem to our ears. For when we think of slavery, we probably think of what we learned in school, of those who were enslaved here in America. Slavery didn’t only happen here, but that’s probably what we know best. And for those who were enslaved here, it was horrible and unjust and cruel. Surely, that’s not us! 

But I wonder if the slavery Jesus speaks of isn’t even worse. For those who enslaved the body couldn’t enslave the soul. Think of all the spiritual songs that came out of that time. But the slavery of which Jesus speaks is not just a slavery of the body, but of the soul. Those sins you do even though you hate them and don’t want to do them. That’s slavery - those sins are your masters, and they are ruthless.

Think about it. You despair though you know you should not despair. You lust though you know you should not lust. You rage though you know you should not rage. You pridefully ridicule even though you know that the very thing you mock in others is even worse in you. You disobey your parents though you know you should obey them. And what else? What else do you do that you loathe yourself for doing, yet you do it anyway? And then do it again and again? Is that not slavery?

And then what of death? If the First Commandment tells us to have no other gods, and a god is that which you fear, love, and trust above all things . . . what is more feared than death? And we’re afraid of those things that often come with death - we’re afraid of suffering, we’re afraid of weakness, we’re afraid of dependency. And so how hard do we try to avoid all of those things. Or if we cannot avoid them, bring them under our control, so we will die at our own hand, at our own time, in our own way . . .

Is this not slavery? A slavery that drives us deeper into slavery. A never-ending, ever-descending cycle, from which we cannot set ourselves free.

Which is why we need someone to do it for us. A Redeemer. A Purchaser. To set us free. 

And that is the Good News that we heard from Isaiah tonight, that makes creation rejoice - that you have such a Redeemer. And the Good News we heard from Jesus tonight is that this one who sets you free is the Son of God Himself. And so this is no temporary or partial redemption, but full and complete and everlasting. For, as Jesus said, if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.

And so you are. Free. For as Isaiah said, those things that enslave us? What happens to them? Our Redeemer has blotted them out. Our transgressions are like a cloud and our sins like mist. Our transgressions and sins and the death caused by them are blown away by the wind of the Spirit, and dissolved by the Son of Righteousness, just as the clouds and mist of the morning are by creation’s wind and sun.

Of course, it wasn’t as easy as all that. The Spirit only blows through the cross and the Son had to be extinguished on the cross before shining forth in His resurrection. But, Isaiah exclaims, the Lord has done it! Has done that very thing. The cross promised is the cross that has happened. And through His death and resurrection, the Lord who created all things has in His Son re-created us anew. He has freed us from our slavery to sin and death and given us new life. Us and all creation. Yes, the ruins of this world and of our lives will be rebuilt upon the cornerstone of Jesus, never to be torn down again. That we may live new lives, as children of God, with a Father, not a master, starting now and lasting forever.

So, Isaiah says, remember these things. For no matter how things seem, no matter how bad things may get, you will not be forgotten. Repent and return to the Lord who, as we heard last week is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and as we heard this week, is your Redeemer. Who in His forgiveness sets you free, gives you joy, and is your life.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lent 1 Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Our True and Faithful Father”

Text: Mark 1:9-15; James 1:12-18; Genesis 22:1-18

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

There are lots of fathers these days. There are not very many fathers these days.

Are those two statements contradictory? No. It depends on the word father - how you mean it.

There are lots of men fathering children these days. Completing the biological act necessary to be a father to a little boy or little girl.

But at the same time, it must be said, there are many men who father children who are not being fathers at all. Not the ones who die or who for others reasons cannot be fathers for their children, but the ones who are willfully not carrying out the responsibilities that come after the act of fathering; the ones who just aren’t interested. We call them “deadbeat dads.”

Historically, to be a father meant, really, three things:

(1.) That you would feed your child; provide what your child needed for life.

(2.) That you protect your child; protect her from harm and danger.

(3.) That you would provide your child an inheritance.

So the abdication of men from being fathers has meant that someone else must provide these things - or that they are not provided at all. In some parts of the world, we see them not provided at all. There are orphans, street children, foraging in dumps for food, living in boxes, and certainly having no inheritance. But this too - having very little hope for the future.

In our part of the world, we don’t see this so much. What we see is the government stepping in to be the father men will not be. But that’s not the government’s job, and it doesn’t do it as well. And so children are harmed and suffer. Fathers not wanting them, mothers afraid to have them and struggling to provide for them, and so many dying; and many before they’re even born.

It’s a mess. It was never meant to be this way. But it’s what sin does, to us and to our world. Sin makes messes, it doesn’t clean them up. Sin, which comes as a result of satan convincing us that our heavenly Father is a father who does not father. That your heavenly Father has given you life, but now isn’t giving you what you need for that life. Or in other words, that your heavenly Father is, in fact, a deadbeat dad. A father you cannot count on. And that he, satan, would be a much better father for you.

That’s how he tempted Jesus.

Mark doesn’t give us the details of the temptations that Matthew and Luke do, but he does tell us that right after Jesus is baptized - while He still has water dripping water off His head and the words from heaven still ringing in His ears, that you are my beloved Son - the Spirit drives Him out into the wilderness, where He is tempted, harassed by satan, for forty days. Forty long days. 

You know how that is. For he tempts and harasses you too. And not just to do something wrong here or there, this sin or that sin - but really, tempting you to think Your Father in heaven is letting you down, is not providing for you, is not taking care of you. For if He was, wouldn’t things be going better? Wouldn’t you have what you wanted? Wouldn’t you not be enduring such struggles and trials?

And this week, another school shooting, see? If God is such a good and loving Father, why is there so much evil in the world? That’s such a rich and ironic question, which we hear all the time. Satan, who put such evil into the world, asking us why there is so much evil in the world and using it against God! See? See what kind of Father you have? A Father who is no father at all, is He? But I’ll be you father, satan hisses. I’ll provide what you want. Take it from me. Take my word for it. 

And how often we do. Doubt our Father, doubt His love, doubt His faithfulness, and so take matters into our own hands. And this doubt, this unbelief, is the source of every sin, and makes our lives less than what God has for us. Our unbelief, or our belief that satan is right! (Although we’d never say it that way.) That my heavenly Father isn’t providing, and won’t provide, so I have to get it myself, do it myself. 

And what does that look like in my life? I despair because I do not believe in my Father. I fear because I do not believe in my Father. I take because I do not believe in my Father. I hurt others before they can hurt me because I do not believe in my Father. I do not pray, praise, and give thanks as I should because I do not believe. I do not believe that my Father is really my father; will really be my father; is acting like my father. Look at your life - what is it for you? How is it for you?

But Jesus does what we do not; can not. He trusts. He trusts His Father completely. No matter what He sees, not matter what He feels, no matter what He experiences, no matter what He hears satan hissing into His ear, He clings to, He believes, only the Word of His Father. Who is truly Father. Who is faithful and consistent. Jesus is His beloved Son. With Jesus He is well pleased. Jesus will not let go of those words. 

And make no mistake about it - these were real temptations that Jesus faced; it wasn’t just a sham. The reading from James today said that God cannot be tempted with evil - and that’s true. But Jesus wasn’t sitting out there in the wilderness for forty days just as God, impervious to temptation. He was there as a man, as our brother. Willingly not using His divine power, in order to be tempted as we are. Enduring the lies just like us, as one of us, in order to do what we do not; can not. Overcome the lies, overcome the temptations, overcome satan Himself. And not just to show us how to do it - but to WIN. To win the battle for us. The battle begun in the manger, ramped up in the wilderness, and finally finished on the cross. On the cross, where even in His darkest moment, forsaken and bearing the weight of the guilt of the whole world, Jesus trusts, believes in His Father to the end. In that moment when it seemed as if all was lost, He says instead: Father. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit (Luke 23:46).

I don’t know if Isaac spoke those words or not, but it’s what he did. Did you ever think about that? That story we heard today from the Old Testament, when God told Abraham to do the unthinkable - to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering - what do you think Isaac thought as his father bound him, laid him on the wood that he himself had carried up the mountain, and then as his father brandished that knife over him, ready to plunge it down into him? Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

How could Abraham do that, how could Isaac do that, if not for the Word and promise of God that through Isaac all the families of the earth would be blessed? Or in other words, that through Isaac, the Saviour of the world would come? In that darkest of moments, they, father and son, clung to that promise. So that the book of Hebrews could say that Abraham believed that even if God made him go through with it, that even so, God was able to raise Isaac from the dead - from the ashes! - and fulfill His promise (Hebrews 11:19). And that’s also why Abraham said to his servants: I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you. Abraham believed he would not come back alone.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 

That man who remained steadfast under trial and received the crown of life was not Abraham or Isaac or you or I - it was the one who remained steadfast in the wilderness, who was faithful at all times and in all places, and who even in His darkest moment uttered that word: Father. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And the sinless Jesus received the crown of life. But not for Himself, but for you. For since the grave could not hold the one who had no sin, since Jesus was the one raised from the dead, the crown of life He received He won for you and me. To give it to us.

And with that, God - true Father, Son, and Spirit - provides us with exactly those things that a true father provides, that I listed at the beginning of the sermon today.

(1.) A true father feeds his child - and we are now fed with the Body and Blood of Jesus; the food that nourishes to everlasting life.

(2.) A true father protects his child - and the blood of Jesus protects us from the condemnation of sin and His resurrection breaks the bonds of the grave.

(3.) And a true father provides his child an inheritance - and as Jesus took our place in death, so He now gives us His place in life, an eternal inheritance in heaven.

But does that mean the same for all the things we need in this world and life? Not just spiritual things but physical realities? That’s exactly what that means, Paul says. For he wrote to the Christians at Rome: He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things (Romans 8:32)? Or in other words, compared to the cross, all the stuff we need in this world and life is small potatoes compared to that. 

So after those forty days in the wilderness were over, Jesus begins to preach: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. In your Father. And it’s His preaching for us today. Repent and believe in the gospel. Repent of your unbelief and believe - in your true and faithful Father, in His Son who laid down His life for you, and in His Spirit that He gives to you to give you the faith and life you need. 

And even if now, for a while, like Isaac, it looks like your heavenly Father has a knife ready to plunge down into you, that He’s not being fatherly at all . . . remember that knife didn’t sink into Isaac, and it won’t sink into you. Jesus took your place. And because He did, you are unbound, free, and living. And so you, too, can say with confidence - even in the wilderness, even attacked, even in the darkest moments - Father, into your hands I commit my spirit, my life, my all. For He has given His all for you.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Ash Wednesday Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Return to the Lord We Know”

Text: Joel 2:12-19; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10;

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

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

Return to me, the lover says to his beloved who has left him. Return to me. I love you still. I want you back.

On a day like Valentine’s Day, we might expect to hear such words. Except these words are not from a man or a woman, but from God Himself. Return to me, come back to me. I do not reject you.

What good news that is! Because rejected is exactly what we deserve. Think of the confession we said earlier - all the times we sin, all the kinds of sin, all the ways we sin, and maybe worst of all, how cavalier we can be about sin. Like it’s really not all that important. Or, that it really doesn’t matter that we do not listen to God’s Word and do what we want anyway. We think that, until sin or the consequences of sin - our sins or others’ sins - come crashing down on us. And then we see. And then how often do we shake our fist at God and ask how He could let this happen . . . as if it’s His fault! We’re sinful messes, are we not?

Yet still God calls to us. Return to me. Repent of all that. Turn away from all that and return - to me. He wants us sinful messes back. His love for us remains. Wonderful words.

But there were other words we heard tonight, also from the prophet Joel, that seem, well, not so wonderful. Those words were: Who knows? Who knows whether he will turn and relent . . . ?

Those can be monstrous words! Words of uncertainty. Word that devour. Words that plague. Words that offer no comfort at all. For consider these examples . . .

Does your spouse love you? Who knows? Is your child going to come out of surgery? Who knows? Is that wildfire or tornado or hurricane or flood going to reach our house? Who knows? And tonight from Joel: Return to the Lord, but who knows whether he will turn and relent . . . Does that mean: Who knows whether God will forgive you?

Because that’s what it sounds like, doesn’t it? Who knows whether God will forgive? 

But that’s not what those words mean there. Would the God who is calling us back to Himself and not rejecting us do so with an uncertain forgiveness? Maybe He will, but maybe He won’t - you just don’t know? No! He has promised us forgiveness, He has promised us a Saviour.

Listen to these verses, all from the psalms, the prayerbook of the Bible. Do they sound like who knows?

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin (Psalm 32:5).

When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions (Psalm 65:3).

As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12).

And then what we heard tonight from Paul: For our sake he [God the Father] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, - to be our sin offering - so that in him [Jesus] we might become the righteousness of God.

Our sin offering has been lifted high upon the cross for all creation to see. Yes, our sins make a mess of things, but here, in this way, God is setting us right again. In His Son. Through the blood of His Son. You are forgiven. And to that the catechism says: This is most certainly true. This truth, the promise of the forgiveness of sins in Jesus, is the most certain truth we have on this earth.

So what do those words mean, then? Joel’s who knows? He is talking about the hunger and famine the people are experiencing. That might not end, Joel is saying. The forgiveness of the Lord is sure, but His discipline may continue. Not to punish but to teach. Not to push you away, but to draw you closer. Not to put you down, but to lift you up. All this, just like His forgiveness, is from His love. Though it may not feel like it or seem like it. He will end it at the proper time . . . but that time may not be now.

So forgiveness isn’t a guarantee that life will be good or easy. In fact, it may be just the opposite! That is what we do not know. Faith, forgiveness? Yes! Life? Who knows? Paul talked about all those things that happened to the apostles, including riots, beatings, dishonor, and much more. But through it all, they were preaching the Word of God, proclaiming His promise of forgiveness, and imploring all people to be reconciled to God, to return to the Lord. Even if the trials and struggles continue . . .

No, especially if they do! For that is what they are for - that we learn to rely not on ourselves, but on God and His love, forgiveness, strength, and faithfulness. To drive us into the Word, into prayer, into weakness, to receive the love and life of Christ.

And that is also what prayer, fasting, and almsgiving is for. Why do we do those things, and especially during this season of Lent? To receive favor from God? No, you already have that. To receive favor from men? If so, that favor is your wage; you have received what you wanted. But really, we do those things that we may learn from them.

We fast to learn that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. We pray to learn to stop trying to control everything ourselves and let the Lord work His good, and in His way and time. And we give that we may learn to love our neighbor and not our stuff, and learn to rely on the Lord who will provide for us. 

Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving does not turn “who knows?” into certainty. For who knows whether our prayers, our fasting, and our almsgiving is good enough anyway? Actually, we know - it’s not! Even our best acts are tainted with pride or wicked thoughts or the desire for recognition.

No, when “who knows?” rears its ugly head, when uncertainty fills our hearts and minds, when it perhaps seems that the Lord does not see or does not care, nothing we do will change that; can change that. We rely instead on the Word of the Lord and what He has told us about Himself, that He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. 

And so the call goes out every Lenten season to return to the Lord. To repent. To turn away from our sin and return to Him. And the call goes out to the elderly, children, nursing infants, brides, bridegrooms, priests, everyone. No one excepted. Not that we return to the Lord only during this season, but that we use this season as a season of change, that maybe the learning we do here and now, grow and last all through the year. That we grow in faith, in His Word, in repentance, in confidence, in grace, and that these roots then bear good fruit in our lives all the year. 

That whether we have good times or difficult times, times of plenty or times of want, when we seemed showered with blessing or in a time of drought, we not waver, but remain confident in the Lord and in His love and forgiveness, signed, sealed, and delivered by the blood of the Lamb shed for you, and tonight, again, poured into you.

So it’s kind of cool that Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine’s Day this year - or maybe it’s the other way around! - that Valentine’s Day fall on Ash Wednesday. Either way, our focus is on love - tonight, here, the love of God for poor, miserable, fallen, wretched sinners like you and me. That we be lost and condemned creatures no more. 

So tonight we repent, yes, but even more we rejoice. In His love that would cause Him to send His Son for you. In His love that would call you to repentance time and time again. In His love that adopts you as His sons and daughters. In His love that provides you with a Church, with His Word, and with His gifts. And in a love that won’t stop. Can’t stop. Our love, we know, runs hot and cold, but not your Father’s love for you.

So we Return to the Lord, your God,

for [we know! that] he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.