Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

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Jesu Juva

“Jesus’ Cleansing Word”

Text: Mark 1:21-28; Deuteronomy 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

 

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

Sometimes people can surprise you. Someone you thought was mean might do something nice; or someone you thought nice might suddenly does something really mean. A person you thought trustworthy and reliable lets you down; and that person you thought you’d never be able to depend on . . . they were there for you when you really needed someone. 

And so it was that day in the synagogue in Capernaum. The people were there as usual, dressed as usual, sitting in their usual seats. But the one teaching them . . . well, He looked like a regular teacher, but He surprised them. He wasn’t. They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes; not as the ones who usually taught them. 

But not just that. There was another surprise in store for them. A man came in. Now, nothing unusual about that. Maybe they even knew him, as a neighbor, a co-worker, a friend, or someone they had seen in the marketplace, or bought something from. Just Fred. And maybe he had been there before, in the synagogue. But on this day, Fred surprised them. For when he came into the synagogue and heard this surprising teacher, he cried out: What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God. 

What is he talking about? First of all, who’s “us?” It’s just you, Fred! And Jesus . . . the Holy One of God? You alright, Fred? 

But Jesus doesn’t seem surprised. He speaks right back to Fred with that same authority He was teaching them with. Be silent, and come out of him! Wait. What? What come out of who? But they quickly saw the answer to their confusion as the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

Or maybe it didn’t happen like that at all. Maybe everyone knew Fred as the town crazy. So when he showed up at the synagogue that day and cried out, everyone was disappointed and thought: Oh no! Here we go again. Fred’s going to ruin everything again. Except he didn’t. Jesus took care of the problem with just His Word. His authoritative Word. His Word that was saying things they never heard before. His Word that was doing things they never saw before. His Word that was opening up the Scriptures to them. His Word that made Fred normal again. And this day that started so normal, so usual, turned out to be anything but.

Do you think that ever happens today? I mean, yeah, people surprise us. All the time. That’s not so unusual. But I mean here, in church. Do you think people who look normal but really have unclean spirits ever come here? Or do you think people who are a little “off,” a bit crazy, a little unusual, ever come here? And we look at them and think: Oh, no. Not them. Not now. Not here. Do you think?

Well, let me let you in on a little secret. Here’s the answer: It happens all. the. time. Do you remember, when we baptize someone here, the first words we say after the Invocation? Depart unclean spirit and make way for the Holy Spirit. And in the Confession of Sin we will start using at Easter, we will say: Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. Yes, we are the unclean. We are the ones with unclean spirits.

So maybe you’re like the first “Fred” that I described earlier. You look normal. Everyone knows you (or thinks they do, anyway!). You’re a friend, a co-worker, someone they see around town, someone who’s here as usual, in your usual seat, in your usual way. But you have a secret. Something others don’t know. Something you don’t want others to know. Something unclean that is tormenting you. That sin you are addicted to. Those thoughts you know you shouldn’t have and don’t want to have but you can’t get out of your mind. The regrets you have for things you did in the past. The shame you have for something that has happened to you. Are you that Fred? Afraid? Afraid that others will find out who you really are?

Or are you like the second “Fred?” Everyone may not know everything about you, but they know enough! They know how broken you are, how a little bit crazy you are, how you don’t measure up or quite fit in. One of those others look at and say, with disappointment: Oh no. She’s here. He came. Why do they have to be here? 

Truth is, this church, just as that synagogue in Capernaum, is filled with Freds. There’s nobody “normal” in this room, no one completely clean in this room.

Actually, that’s wrong. 

There is one. That’s why He was so surprising to them. That’s why He spoke so differently. Because He is different. He is normal in the midst of abnormal. He is clean in the midst of unclean. But not only that. For He didn’t just come to be that, to show us how abnormal and unclean we are. How sinful and unclean we are, as we confess. He came to do something about it. He came to teach and speak with authority over all that should not be in this world and in us. To speak and forgive our sins. To speak and cleanse the unclean. To speak and give us new life. 

That’s what makes Jesus the prophet greater than Moses. We heard that promise in the Old Testament reading today from Deuteronomy, that God was going to send another one, another prophet, after Moses, to speak the Word of God faithfully and truly. And while there were many prophets sent by God after Moses, who were like Moses, none were greater than Moses. None were that prophet, the prophet. Until Jesus. And what made Him greater than Moses was that, as the apostle John would later say: the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). The Law shows us our sin and exposes our sinful and unclean, but can do nothing more. But the grace and truth of Jesus, the Gospel, takes that sinful and unclean away, for it tell us of and washes us clean with Jesus’ blood. 

Which is what Jesus did that day in the synagogue in Capernaum. Whichever Fred came in that day, he did not leave the same. He was set free. 

Which is what Jesus does here, too, in this church. Whichever Fred you are - the secretly unclean or the known unclean; the popular or the outcast; the normal or the crazy - however you came here this day, with whatever you came with this day, Jesus is here to do something about it. To set you free. He is here to speak His authoritative Word to you. His Word which authoritatively made you His child in Holy Baptism, His Word which authoritatively forgives your sins in the Absolution, His Word which faithfully and truly proclaims who He is and what He has done for you, and His Word which authoritatively takes mere bread and wine and makes it the divine food of His Body and Blood for you. And like not just Fred, but all the people in the synagogue in Capernaum that day, in the presence of such an authoritative Word, you do not leave the same as you came. You leave forgiven. You leave clean. You leave made new.

And that should astonish you, as it did the folks in Capernaum that day. Maybe it doesn’t, because we hear it all the time. But really, why should Jesus come here for you? Why should He die on the cross for you? Why should He love you? Why? That’s what’s astonishing! He shouldn’t. He should give up on us like we often give up on each other. We only have so much patience. We can only give someone so many tries. Right? . . . Right? . . . And Jesus must be crazy to give us so many chances, to forgive so many sins, to take our place on the cross. Right? . . . Right?

Or maybe Jesus is the normal one. The way it should be. The clean one, the righteous one, the faithful one, the true one. And to be all that for you, and to work that in you. To raise you, to change you, that you leave this place not the same as when you came, but different. More like Him. Wouldn’t that be amazing, astonishing? To be someone who surprises others - but not with our sin, our uncleanness, our failures. But surprise them with love, with understanding, with forgiveness, with - as St. Paul described it in the Epistle today - putting them and their needs first, before our own. 

Sound like a big ask? Maybe it is. But maybe start with something small. It’s hard to go from zero to sixty, but maybe gradually. Little by little. And once you start doing that, it helps you, too. ‘Cuz you’re no longer obsessing about what kind of “Fred” you are or how others are looking at you or thinking about you - you’re just thinking about them and how to help them. Like Jesus. Now, they crucified Him for that, and maybe they will you, too. But that’s okay. Jesus rose from the dead, so you will, too. They can crucify you but they can’t take your life. Because you have the prophet greater than Moses. Or better to say, He has you. And His Word, as we heard again today, does what it says. It has cleansed you. Forgiven you. Loved you. Raised you. Changed you. “Jesus-ed” you! Which is the most amazing thing of all. 

And at once his fame spread everywhere 

throughout all the surrounding region of . . . Vienna.

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

Sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany and Sanctity of Life Sunday

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Jesu Juva

“Caught in the Net of Life”

Text: Mark 1:14-20; John 3:1-5, 10

 

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

Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.

Fishers of men, huh? Here’s what my question would have been: which men? ‘Cuz don’t send me to Nineveh, like you did Jonah! No way! Not those men! For if there was ever a people whom God should not love, not want to save, and not send a prophet, an apostle, or anyone else, it would be them! The Ninevites. Residents of the capital city of one of the meanest, most corrupt, most vile, violent, and evil countries ever. I’ll fish for men, but not in that sea!

‘Cuz that’s what we do, isn’t it? We pick and choose. This person, not that person, is worth my time, my effort, my attention, my prayers, my energy, my money. This person is worth it, that person is not. 

But that’s not how Jesus does things. Not how He thinks. So Jonah was sent to the Ninevites. And so badly did God want him there that even when Jonah said no, not those people! God arranged the whole fish-swallowing-adventure to change Jonah’s mind. God went fishing (with a fish!) for that one man! A man who really didn’t deserve it after saying no to God and running away. And as soon as Jonah finished wiping the fish slime off his skin and washing it out of his hair, God said: now, go. God made Jonah a fisher of men.

And now He was going to do that for Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. Which men? All men. Every. Single. One. For Jesus wants every single one, loves every single one, and came to die for every single one. No one too corrupt, vile, violent, or evil. The Ninevite as well as the American. The abortion provider as well as the abortion user. The pornographer as well as the one watching it. The one committing suicide and the one assisting suicide. The one trafficking sex and the one indulging in it. The one promoting body-mutilating transgenderism and the one remaining silent about it. The one abusing and taking advantage of the elderly and the one who just forgets about them. The one who pushes someone onto the Metro tracks and the one who throws another under the bus, as it is said. The identity thief and the reputation ruiner. The ones who never come to church and the ones who come in body only. I will make you become fishers of men, Jesus said. These men. All men. For I want them all.

So if we think there is someone who shouldn’t be saved, we are revealing that it is ME who should be on the outs. ME swallowed by the fish and not spit out. That I am that very person I am speaking against. For really, if there was ever a people whom God should not love, not want to save, and not send a prophet, an apostle, or anyone else to . . . look around! Shouldn’t it be us? Shouldn’t it be ME? Look at your resume - your sin resume, that is. What does it qualify you for?

So when Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him and be His disciples, maybe He had a two-fold purpose: to not only show them HIS resume, to teach them who He was, Jesus, the Son of God who had come to save all people; but also to show them their resume, who they are. To reveal their ignorance, their selfish hearts, their judgmentalism, their pride, their lostness.

And He did. Think of all the times the disciples had to bow their heads in shame, had to take their feet out of their mouths, had to have their wrong thoughts corrected. Yet Jesus wanted them, and would use them. In great ways. They would learn that He is a God of no little grace! Grace for them, for Ninevites, for us here today. A God of forgiveness, of sins small and great. 

For look at all the people Jesus caught in His net! Canaanite women, Centurions, those possessed with unclean spirits, prostitutes, tax collectors. And look at all the people in this church today - people no better; in fact, maybe worse. Paul said he was the chief of sinners, but maybe there’s a crown like that for your head, too. You know what I’m talkin’ about. I doubt we could find a sin that isn’t represented here in this room, by some of us, or many of us. Are you shocked by that? You shouldn’t be. 

But just as God sent His Word to Nineveh, and Babylon, and Egypt, and Samaria, and Rome, so He has sent His Word here. His Word calling us to repentance, and His Word proclaiming us forgiven. His Word washing us clean, and His Word feeding us. For His sent His Word, the Word made flesh, to the cross, to provide all of this for us. To be the life of the world. All of it. That all have life and have it abundantly, and eternally.

So God not only sent Jonah to Nineveh - twice! - He also relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. Which is to say, He forgave them. Which is to say, He wiped their slate clean. Which is to say, when He looked at them now, it is as if none of the meanness, corruptness, vileness, violence, or evil ever happened. It is gone. They have been set free from it. It is no longer who they are or who they need to be in the future. They can live differently now, in the peace and joy of the Lord, and His love and forgiveness.

Now, they didn’t. They went back to their old ways and finally God brought an end to that kingdom. Evil may have its day, but only a day. 

So God throws out the net of His Word through the mouths of prophets, apostles, pastors, and His people today. That though we swim in the sea of an evil world, we be pulled out and into the boat of His Church. And not flip-flop our way back into the sea, like Nineveh did! But live here, in His life and love. And find our life here, not in the things of the world. To know that it is not my job, or success, or sports, or education, or relationships, that give me life - it is the life I here receive that gives me the ability to enjoy all these other things rightly. Not as things that take over my life, but as things that enrich my life. It’s when they take over . . . that’s when things start to unravel, isn’t it? And maybe the unravelling starts slowly, just a little bit here and there, now and then, but how easily it picks up speed . . . and your life unravels. It’s easy to hit the brakes when you’re going slow; how hard it is to stop when you’ve built up a lot of momentum . . .

I think that’s what happens to many people. Things meant to enrich my life have taken over my life, and going faster and faster, anything that slows me down has to go, or gets run over - even other lives that might get in my way. Lives like babies in the womb, the elderly, the disabled, the needy, even my own body, for some. And we become like Ninevites on the road to destruction.

So the readings we heard today, and especially the Gospel we heard today, where Jesus calls these disciples to become fishers of men, is perfect for Sanctity of Life Sunday. For as I said, in becoming disciples, followers, there is a two-fold purpose: to show them who they are, and to teach them who Jesus is. And for us, too. Sanctity of Life Sunday can show us who we are - folks who sometimes, or maybe often times, don’t see others as valuable and precious and important, so that we’ll repent; and to teach us who Jesus is - the one who does, and who forgives. So that when we begin to act like Ninevites, our Jonah comes to us - our Jonah who was swallowed up in death, but then three days later came out of the tomb alive! - our Jonah comes to us with His life for us, and sends His Word and His Word of life to us, and raises us to life again. For actually, He didn’t relent of the disaster He said He would do and that we deserved - He actually carried it out, on Himself. That’s what the cross is. And then He gives us the life and forgiveness He said He would, so that we live. Not flip-flopping back into the sea of sin and evil, but live the new lives He has given us, in the boat of His Church.

Which is what Jesus wants for all people, and what, I think, a lot of people are looking for. Maybe even you. They don’t want run away lives, they don’t want to run others over, they know this isn’t good, but . . . what else can they do? What choice do they have? The world is telling them to hit the gas! More! Faster! But then comes the crash. The abortion is regretted, the marriage falls apart, loved ones die and time missed you can’t get back, and then you become the one getting run over. Then who is there to help when the world has moved on?

You know, of course. The one who came for you. The one who stopped and cared for those nobody else would. The one who saw the carnage of humanity and said, I’ll trade My life for theirs. And He did. And the one who called those twelve then, and countless others since, and said, you do the same. Be fishers of men with My Word - My Word which heals, which restores, which calls to repentance, which forgives, which cares, which stops at the crash scenes of life and says, let me help. That’s what Jesus has done for you and your life. That’s what others have done for you and your life. And that’s what we can now do for others and their lives, too. It isn’t easy. This isn’t some affirm-everyone-in-whatever-they-want-to-do thing. Not at all. Jonah called out Nineveh and we need to be called out, for when we have not regarded our life and the lives of others as valuable, precious, and important. But then also to hear that Jesus thinks YOU valuable, precious, and important - no matter who you are or what you have done. And He has life for you. 

So bring your resume - your sin resume, that is - to the altar with you today, and let Jesus tear it up. And in its place, He will fill you with His life. That’s what you were; this is who you are. You were dead; now you are alive. You were a slave to what took over your life; now I set you free. You were “that guy;” now you are My child. And in the midst of an out-of-control world, a dog-eat-dog world, an anxious world, a Ninevite world, that’s worth an awful lot. So be this, not that! And live in love and joy and peace. 

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

Sermon for the Baptism of Our Lord

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Jesu Juva

“The Day Everything Changed”

Text: Mark 1:4-11; Romans 6:1-11; Genesis 1:1-5

 

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

It started the same. It ended very, very different.

People from all over were coming to John to be baptized. Young and old, rich and poor, from the city and from the country. The Jordan was a busy place. So another man from Galilee, coming to the Jordan, coming to be baptized, was no big deal. And just another man from Galilee, coming up out of the Jordan, after being baptized, was no big deal.

Until it was. 

For in a moment, everything changed. For then, it was seen and heard that this was, in fact, no ordinary man from Galilee. Oh, He looked the same, He walked the same, talked the same, but He wasn’t the same. For on no other did the Spirit descend like a dove. For no other were the heavens opened. For no other did the voice of the Father ring down from heaven, saying, You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. Only on this one, this man, Jesus of Nazareth. He is different. Turns out, this was a big deal after all. 

So what started the same, just another baptism, ended very, very different.

And it is what happens here, too. Each of us comes to the font - like little Ava last week - just another poor, miserable sinner. But then, everything changes. For here, what happened to Jesus happens to us. Here, the Spirit descends through water and the Word. Here, the heavens open. Here, the Father is well-pleased as another sinner is made His child. Jesus is baptized to change baptism; to put Himself into it, for us. So from this moment on, you are different. You are not the same. Jesus joins Himself to you, and joins you to Himself. So this is a big deal.

And then . . . when the heavens were closed back up, the dove departed, and the voice was no longer heard . . . Jesus went back to Galilee, back to life as normal, back to the carpenter shop . . . Oh wait. No He didn’t! Now He began to do what He had been set apart to do. Now, He would battle the devil, heal the sick, cast out demons, forgive sins, and preach and teach. Those first steps He took out of the Jordan that day were the first of many that would only end when those feet were nailed to a cross. That’s what Jesus’ GPS was set to. Starting point: the Jordan. Destination: the cross. 

So . . . if what happened to Jesus in His baptism also happened to you in your baptism . . . what about after? Jesus didn’t go back to life as usual, but do you? Do you leave this place where the font is front and center and we remember every week that I am baptized; I am a baptized child of God! . . . Do you leave this place where you receive the forgiveness of your sins . . . Do you leave this place where you hear of all that Jesus has done for you . . . Do you leave this place after receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus that He laid down for you on the cross and now places into your mouth . . . Do you leave this place the same as when you came? No way! But do you go back to your life as usual, living the same, doing the same things, no one really knowing or noticing or being able to tell whether you’ve been here, in Church, in the very presence of God, this week or not? I’m afraid the answer to that question may not be so good . . .

Here, Paul’s words to the Romans can help us. Because maybe you don’t know, maybe you don’t realize, what has taken place here in your baptism. So Paul said: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Which is to say that the steps we take from the font, the steps we take from the altar, the steps we take from the church, be steps not back to life as usual, but steps to walk in a new life. A life raised up and made new. A life renewed by the life and forgiveness of Jesus.

For here’s the before and after: Before Baptism, you were dead to Jesus and alive to sin; after Baptism, Paul says, you are alive to Jesus and dead to sin. Before Baptism, the slavery of sin and the fear of death control us; after Baptism, the life of the Spirit and the promise of eternal life guide, direct, and empower us. Before Baptism, your sin in on you, you are responsible for it, and satan accuses you of it; after Baptism, your sin is on Jesus, He paid the price for it, and you have peace with God. So back to life as usual . . . ? Really? Why? Why go back to sin, slavery, worry, fear, death, and an uncertain future? Why leave these gifts here for a weekly, or bi-weekly, or monthly visit, when you can have them 24/7? 

Maybe it’s not intentional. Maybe we’re too weak, or maybe life just gets so busy. I get that. For me, too. Life never seems to slow down. There’s just more and more, faster and faster, change upon change. But if that’s the case, then maybe we need to make it intentional. Maybe we need to take more care and pay more attention to the life of Christ we here receive, and maybe not take it so much for granted. You think?

This is, in fact, what we prayed for today, in the Collect of the Day earlier. We asked our Father in heaven to make all who are baptized in [Jesus’] name faithful in their calling as Your children and inheritors with Him of everlasting life. That what was begun in Baptism be brought to completion in us. Not that God is unwilling or unable to do that for us - He promised to do so! We’re the problem. It’s so easy to get off track. So easy to go back to life as usual. So easy to have something or someone other than Jesus be the center of my life. Which doesn’t mean that everyone has to be a pastor or a monk or a nun and be thinking about Jesus all the time! No. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if everyone in the world was a pastor, this world would be an absolutely horrible place! We need teachers, we need doctors, we need people working in the government, we need construction workers, we need pilots, we even need lawyers! But what drives your life? What is at the center of your life? What informs your life? What shapes your life? Take an honest look . . . and you might not like the answer . . .

So for Jesus to be your life, or at the center of your life, means this: My job is not my life. My investments are not my life. My relationships are not my life. My hurts and brokenness are not my life. My wretched past is not my life. My hobbies, health, interests, teams, sports, and education are not my life. Because none of these things can give me life! None of these things can forgive me, restore me, delight me, or fulfill me.* Oh, maybe for a time I feel fulfillment, pleasure, and value from these things. But when that time ends, then what? Then the center - once filled with these things - is empty. An emptiness far worse than staring at the empty spot where your beautiful Christmas tree once stood, or at the empty chair where your loved one once sat . . . And then when it happens to you, when your place becomes empty when your grave becomes full . . . which of those things that were at the center of your life can raise you to life again, and present you washed and cleansed and holy to the Father?

So, Baptism. Not Baptism as in: oh, that happened to me a long time ago. But Baptism as in: I am baptized. That is who I am. That is my identity. When I can’t rely on anything or anyone else, I can rely on this. Whether I am rich or poor, whether I am full of life or near death, whether I am unemployed or have a very important job, whether I am liked or disliked, whether I am married or unmarried, popular or lonely, whether I have a good life or have made a mess of my life . . . this is my cornerstone: I am baptized. I am a child of God. Forgiven. Dearly loved. Raised to new life with Christ and with the promise of everlasting life. I am baptized. This is the reality that supersedes all others. 

If that’s the case, if you have been re-created and made new by same Word of God that spoke and made everything new in the beginning (as we heard), then going back to life as usual makes no sense! It makes as little sense as Jesus going back to Galilee and the carpenters shop. No. Now, your GPS has been reprogrammed. Before, your starting point was birth and your destination was death and the grave. Now, baptized into Christ, into His death and resurrection, your starting point is the Font, and your destination eternal life. And if you make a few wrong turns along the way - which we all do! - not recalculating, but repentance is the answer. Repentance and receiving the forgiveness of Jesus which raises you back to life and puts life back into you. The life of Jesus, back at the center.

So within the next hour, you’re going to step out of this church - either because Jesus has come again and will fulfill your Baptism and all the promises He made to you there! Or because He didn’t, and you will go out to live in your Baptism. Either way, you go a changed person. You are different. A person filled with Jesus and His life. Filled not with locusts and wild honey, but with the Body and Blood of Jesus. And filled with His forgiveness, you can forgive. Filled with His love, you can love. Filled with His mercy, you can have mercy on others. Not judged and condemned, you can stop judging and condemning others. You have a new life to live! A life not dead to Jesus and alive to sin, but dead to sin and alive to Jesus! Which, I think, maybe others might notice. And if they do, and ask, you can say: I am baptized into Christ. It’s kind of a big deal . . . 

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

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

* A few of the sentences here taken from Zechariah by R. Reed Lessing (CPH ©️ 2021), 530.