Sermon for Holy Cross Day

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Every Day a Holy Cross Day”

Text: John 12:20-33; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; Numbers 21:4-9

 

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

I don’t know how you felt this week . . . stunned, shocked, sad, mad, empty, confused. Maybe all of the above. The video of a young woman going home from work stabbed on a train. A young man shot while talking to a group of college students. Recent school shootings. And then remembering the terrorist attacks of 9-11 - an attack that happened not that long ago, and yet many of you weren’t even born when it did! Add to those things the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and maybe things that happened to you this week that no one else knows about, but hurt you very much. That’s a lot of stuff. And it’s why we need the holy cross and a Holy Cross Day. 

Because this world is an evil place. It is often said (and I’m sure you’ve heard it) that deep down inside, we are all basically good. That love, kindness, compassion are part of our “common humanity,” no matter who you are, where you’re from, or what you believe. That’s the default and things like what we saw and heard this week are the aberration. . . . But the truth is exactly the opposite. This week shows us not what humans can do, but what humans will do if we do not have a change of heart. This week is not the exception to the rule. We’ve had weeks like this far too often, and it seems as if they are getting more frequent and closer together. This is the Fall. This is what sin has done to us. It is no mistake that the first story in the Bible after the Fall is when brother murders brother. Sin has not only turned us away from God but against each other.

This is why we need the holy cross and a Holy Cross Day. 

It is not a coincidence that as the true Christian faith and the Biblical message of the sanctity of life - life created by God in His image - is proclaimed and taught less and less that acts of violence increase more and more. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are not part of our “common humanity” - they are fruits of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts and lives. The works of the flesh, the works of our “common humanity,” here’s that list: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies (Galatians 5:19-23). 

This is why we need the holy cross and a Holy Cross Day. 

And it’s not just people flying planes into buildings, shooting those they disagree with, stabbing people at random. Those things make the headlines.  But how many babies have now been killed, and still are, before they’re even born? Now, just pop a couple pills - just like getting rid of a headache, not a life. How many take their own lives because they’re told that’s better? How many spouses abused, elderly neglected, hatred spewed online? And we are not guiltless. How have we hurt others, how have we failed to love, failed to speak, to act, to care? 

This is why we need the holy cross and a Holy Cross Day. 

Sir, we wish to see Jesus. We don’t want to see buildings fall, blood flowing, people dying. We want to see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness . . . That’s what Jesus wants, too. It might have been really cool for those Greeks to get a private audience with Jesus, but Jesus had something else in mind. He wants to be seen, but not like that. He wants to be seen where all the hatred, violence, and death of the world clashes and collides with all the love, mercy, and grace of God, in a battle royale for the life - or death - of the world. For that’s what was on the line when Jesus ascended the cross. If He loses, there is only death. But if He wins, there is life. 

So that’s where Jesus wishes to be seen. He is the one knocked down, He is the one who takes the bullet, He is the one stabbed, He is the one with hatred spewed against Him. And What does God do with all that hatred and violence and killing in our world? He does not do violence for violence, hate for hate, killing for killing. That’s what we do. What does God do? He takes it. All. Upon Himself. Into Himself. All the sin, all the shame, all the guilt of it, too. And all the sinful, hurtful, and hateful desires of our hearts and thoughts of our minds that never make it into words or deeds - He takes those, too, as if they did. So they’d be on Him and in Him and not on us. So that He would become sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21), and die for us, die in our place. And then rise to life again. Victorious. To give us that same life. To rescue us, save us, from our “common humanity.” 

That’s why we need the holy cross and a Holy Cross Day. 

This day began, originated, because it was thought that a woman named Helena had found the cross that Jesus hung on. It was now legal to be a Christian and she wanted to find all those holy sites in Jerusalem and that region where all these things had taken place. Now, did she find the actual cross? I don’t know. Maybe. 

But here’s what I do know: more important than us going back and finding Jesus’ cross, is Jesus’ cross being brought to us and finding us. Having a piece of wood won’t save you. What happened on it will. And when what happened on it is given to you. And when what happened on the cross is given to you, then the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and goodness of Jesus, that caused Him to do that for you, is also given to you and planted in your heart. That so justified and sanctified, we live not our “common humanity,” but Jesus. Not the old life, but a new life.

And so in the Holy Gospel, the cross finds you as you hear all that Jesus has done for you. And in Baptism, the cross finds you. You are joined to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. All you do is given to Him, and all He did is given to you. And in the Absolution, the cross finds you as those words that Jesus spoke while hanging there with your sins are spoken to you: Father, forgive them (Luke 23:34). And He does, and you are. Forgiven. And in the Supper, the cross finds you as the Body and Blood that once hung there is now given to you. Not a dead body and blood, but a risen, glorified Body and Blood, that you be raised and glorified, too. And not just someday in the future, but already now. Living not our “common humanity,” but love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

That’s why we need the holy cross and a Holy Cross Day. 

When horrid events happen, like they did this week, or we saw this week, or remembered this week, we sometimes wonder: Doesn’t that person have a conscience? Well, yes, they do. But it is a conscience that has been seared, a conscience that has been malformed - a conscience fallen in sin that is so warped that it thinks evil is good and good is evil, that darkness is light and light is darkness. And that’s not new. The prophet Isaiah spoke that some 700 years before Jesus (Isaiah 5:20). We need our consciences formed by the Word of God, and raised to know what is good and what is light, in a world constantly trying to catechize us the other way. 

So what we need in our world is not a hard turn to the left or a hard turn to the right but a hard turn to the cross. And not only to see Jesus there, where He wants to be seen, but to die there with Him. To repent. That my thoughts, words, deeds, and desires have been soiled with sin. And then to be raised with Him in the forgiveness of my sins to live a new life.

For that’s how the victory is won. 

Which sounds stupid to a dying world, fighting for survival. It did in Paul’s day, too. The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, he wrote. Survival is not laying down your life for others, but demanding or forcing them to do so for you! But if there is any victory in that, it is short lived. As short as until someone does that to you. And on and on it goes until there is no one left - or only one left: satan. After he destroys all that God created. 

So God did it differently. He sent His Son. Was that stupid? The world thinks so. But the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. The empty tomb shows us that. Where what looked like defeat was turned into victory. 

Which is why we can now look at the cross, the holy cross, on a Holy Cross Day, and not see defeat and shame, but victory and glory! And see a God who is not only filled with, but is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and goodness hanging there for us. And that is why that therefore is where He draws all people to Himself. Gods who promise you the world are a dime a dozen. Only one laid down His life for you. So that by looking at Him there, like the people of Israel looked at the bronze serpent, the venomous bites of the evil one not kill us, but that we have life.

A life that you can, now, without fear, lay down for others. Because in Jesus, you have a life that cannot end. It may in this world, and it will, one day, somehow, maybe peacefully, maybe not. But no matter. Because it will then continue in the next. And not because you found Jesus or His cross, but because Jesus and His cross found you. We saw that faith this week, and I see it here, too. Faith to lay down your life and serve your spouse, your children, your friends, even your enemies. Even when its hard. Even when you don’t really want to. Is that foolish? Crazy? Stupid? Some would say so. But we know better. We know that is better. Jesus.

And that’s why, for us, every day is a Holy Cross Day. 

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

The Congregation at Prayer

For the Week of Pentecost 14 (September 15-20, 2025)

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

Speak the Apostles’ Creed. 

Verse: Matthew 9:13 – “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Hymn of the Week:  Lutheran Service Book #730 “What Is the World to Me”

Hymns for Sunday: 573, 730, 625, 518 (v. 25), 703, 828

Readings for the Week: [The readings for Thursday-Saturday are the Scriptures for this coming Sunday.]

Monday: Amos 8:4-7

What was happening in Israel that Amos is criticizing? Do you think this happens today? How? What does God say about that?

Tuesday: 1 Timothy 2:1-15

Why should we pray? Who should we pray for? How should we pray in church? Who should lead those prayers? Why?

Wednesday: Luke 16:1-15

Why did the greedy manager stop being greedy? What changed for him? How can this help us regard things in this world rightly?

Thursday: Ezekiel 2:8 – 3:11

Why did God choose Ezekiel? What was he to do? To who? Would they listen? So why is this important for Ezekiel to do?

Friday: Ephesians 4:7-16

What gifts did God give to His Church? Why? What do they do? Why is this important?

Saturday: Matthew 9:9-13

Who was Matthew? Does this make him an unlikely choice to be a disciple? How was Matthew a perfect choice?

The Catechism - Baptism: What benefits does Baptism give? It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare. Which are these words and promises of God? Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Mark: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:16

Collect for the Week: O Son of God, our blessed Savior Jesus Christ, You called Matthew the tax collector to be an apostle and evangelist. Through his faithful and inspired witness, grant that we also may follow You, leaving behind all covetous desires and love of riches; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Prayers:  Please pray for . . .

+ yourself and for all in need (remembering especially those on our prayer list).

+ God’s blessing, wisdom, and guidance for our congregational financial secretary, Dave Fields.

+ the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti, for God’s wisdom, blessing, guidance, and provision.

+ God’s blessing, guidance, and strength for our Synod president, Matthew Harrison.

Conclude with the Lord’s Prayer and Luther’s Morning or Evening Prayer from the Catechism.

Now joyfully go about your day (or to bed) in good cheer, child of God!

Collect for the Week © 2018 Concordia Publishing House.

Lutheran Service Book Hymn License: 110019268

Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Keep the End in Mind to Live Now Wisely”

Text: Luke 14:25-35; Philemon 1-21; Deuteronomy 30:15-20

 

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

A couple weeks ago we heard some difficult words from Jesus, about casting fire on the earth and dividing families (August 17, Pentecost 10), and I thought, and preached, that if that were the first Sunday you ever came to church in your life and you heard words like that, that might be the last Sunday you ever came to church! I mean, really, who needs a Jesus like that, right? I have enough problems to deal with. I don’t need Jesus piling on and adding more. Maybe you remember that sermon. If not, it was August 17 - you can go to our website and give it a listen.

Well, Jesus is at it again today! More hard words. About hating your family and hating your own life. About bearing your own cross and renouncing all you have. And if you don’t or won’t do these things, here’s the punchline: you cannot be my disciple. 

Now, honestly, that’s a little confusing, isn’t it? Because the Fourth Commandment tells me to Honor my father and my mother, which means that I should not only honor them, but serve and obey them, love and cherish them. And then there was an episode with the Pharisees (maybe you remember) . . . the Pharisees had this practice where they would state that all their worldly possessions were Corban, or dedicated to God, and so they could no longer use them to help and support their parents - and Jesus criticized them for it (Mark 7:9-13)! But that seems to be what Jesus telling us to do here. So which is it? And then . . . renounce all I have? All I have is a gift from God. Should I really consider it bad? Something to get rid of?

But this is more than just confusing . . . because I don’t hate my family. I love them. And I don’t always bear my own cross - which means to lay down my life for others. And I haven’t renounced all I have. Which means . . . I guess . . . I’m out. I cannot be a disciple. And I’m guessing, you too.

But before we all leave and lock the doors, what happened right before Jesus said these words can help us understand them. For Jesus told a story about a man giving a banquet, but those who were invited made excuses - their animals, their property, their family needed them. So they couldn’t come now. Another time, maybe. Maybe later.

But you all know what often happens when we say that: I’ll do it later. I’ll do my chores later. I’ll exercise later. I’ll make that difficult call, have that uncomfortable discussion, later. I’ll help you later. Later never comes. We get busy. Other things distract us. We forget. Or we hope the delay will make the other person forget and we’ll be off the hook! And sometimes that happens and sometimes there is time later. But when it comes to Jesus and eternal life, there may not be more time. There may not be later. Jesus might come again in glory and those who said later will miss out. Or those who think later may in the meantime drift away from Jesus and His gifts, and a branch that isn’t connected to the vine, a faith that doesn’t receive food and drink from Jesus, can die. And Jesus doesn’t want that! He wants everyone to be saved, and follow Him to eternal life. 

That’s why Jesus came and died on the cross for you. That’s why He baptized you. That’s why He established His Church and gave pastors to preach and absolve. That’s why He gives you His Body and Blood here. That’s why this banquet, this feast, of Word and Sacrament, of gifts freely given, of life and salvation. It’s all here, from Jesus, for you. 

But there are things that get in the way, aren’t there? In the story Jesus told, it was animals, property, and family. What are they for you? Maybe it’s one of those things for you, too. Or maybe for you it’s work, or school, or sports that take up your time and keep getting in the way. Maybe it’s pride keeping you from repenting, or a pleasure or desire that’s keeping you in its grip. Maybe it’s discontent with how your life is going, so you don’t want to follow Jesus more, but less! Maybe it’s fear, or weariness, or a hundred other things. 

So with His words today, Jesus is saying: Don’t let anything get in your way. Don’t let anything or anyone get between you and Jesus, to keep you from following Jesus, or keep you from receiving His gifts here. Because the most important thing is not what you have now - though all we have now are good gifts from God. The most important thing is your eternal life. That you live with Jesus forever. Keep that first, and everything else will fall into place (Matthew 6:33). Keep the end in mind, to live now wisely.

And Jesus gives two examples of that. (1.) Of a man building a tower, (2.) and of a king going to war. Before you begin doing those things . . . if it’s a building, you make sure you have the money to finish it; and if it’s going to war, you make sure you have enough troops to win. But you keep the end in mind, to live now wisely. 

Now don’t misunderstand this! (And this is important!) What Jesus said today is NOT about what you have to do to be a disciple of Jesus or to get into heaven! As if you could do either of those things! Jesus chose His disciples, and Jesus chose you. He baptized you and absolves you and feeds you. He died for you and atoned for your sins and He has gone to prepare a place for you in His kingdom (John 14:3). That’s all HIM. This, what Jesus says today, is rather about what might get in the way of that. It’s NOT: here’s what you have to do to get into heaven, it’s: if you’re going to start something, consider first where it might lead you. If you’re going to start a new activity, a new friendship, a new sport, a new job, a new place to live, a new way of life, consider first if it’s going to get in the way of you following Jesus. Of you going to or having a church. 

For example, I know many people who’ve moved to new places and bought beautiful new homes, only to find out there’s no good church near them to attend to be fed by Jesus and His Word and Sacrament. They try to go to a church. Drive a long way. But when it’s hard to get the kids ready on time, when the weather turns, when gas prices go up, when you drive all week for work and the last thing you want to do is drive more on Sunday . . . attendance begins to slip, drifting begins to happen . . . Turns out what seemed like a good decision at the time . . .

Because once you start down that road, once you make those commitments, it’s hard to stop. 

We heard another example of this today, but with (I think) a better ending: the story of Onesimus and Philemon. Onesimus was a slave who had run away from his master Philemon. But he bumped into the apostle Paul, became a Christian, and Paul told him: you have to go back. It seemed like a good idea at the time, to run away, but now you realize there’s more to life than just here and now, whether you get to be on your own or not. To continue to be a run away slave and expect Jesus to bless you in such a life isn’t going to work out. It’s going to get in the way. This is a cross you might have to bear, Onesimus. You have to go back. I’ll write a letter for you. I’ll ask Philemon to forgive you and receive you back as a brother, as a Christian. But you gotta go back.

Maybe there are some things in your life that you have to walk back. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now . . . And that’s hard. But at such times, it’s good for us to remember these words of Jesus (which, actually, we heard in the Epistle last week, and we just sang a version of): I will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). If you’ve wandered off, Jesus will not leave you or forsake you, but search for you and welcome you back. If you’ve sinned - even in a BIG way - Jesus will not leave you or forsake you, but rejoice in each and every sinner who repents. If you’ve really screwed things up, like Onesimus - Jesus will not leave you or forsake you, but be with you through it. This is the promise He made you in your Baptism. That’s you’re His child and He’s not going to stop loving you and wanting the best for you. The world might turn it’s back on you, but Jesus never will.

And of that you can be sure because Jesus did count the cost of building His Church and He did know what it would take for His one person to do battle against satan and the hoards of hell - He knew it would cost Him His life on the cross in a brutal and gory death. He knew. It wasn’t a surprise. He knew, and He came and did it. FOR YOU. To set you free from your slavery to sin and death and make you more than a disciple - to make you His child, His son, an heir of His kingdom. He kept the end in mind, to do and live wisely. 

So the Scriptures say of Jesus, Who for the joy that was set before him [the end that He saw] endured the cross [now], despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). And is seated at the right hand of the the throne of God that you be there with Him. He was there. He didn’t have to leave and go back. Unless it was FOR YOU. To take you there, to be with Him, in Paradise.

Keep the end in mind, to live now wisely.

And when we gather here, the Lord’s Supper helps us do that, because in this Supper we not only receive the forgiveness we need for the wrong roads we go down and the mistakes and bad decisions we’ve made, but it directs our hearts and minds and eyes to the end. Lift up your hearts! We lift them up to the Lord. We’re not looking at the here and now, but to the end. With angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. A foretaste of the feast to come . . . And we know: That’s where I want to be. That’s where I want to go. That’s the life that will not end. That’s what’s important. And this food, this Body and Blood of Jesus, feeds me in this life, not just for this life, but for that life. That either when I die or Jesus comes again in glory - whichever comes first! - I will be ready. This is where I need to be, for that is where I want to be. 

Keep the end in mind, to live now wisely.

Good advice, whether you’re a first-timer or a long-timer, young or old. 

Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

For Moses and the people of Israel, that land was the Promised Land. For us, it is eternal life. Hold fast to Jesus. He is your life. When you have difficult decisions to make, choose the way of life, the way of Jesus. And know that you will have crosses to bear on the way. But Jesus made the cross and death serve for life, and He will do the same for you and the crosses you must bear. If you can’t see that right now, if it doesn’t seem so right now, then believe His words and promises, and believe the empty tomb. And the empty tomb means you’re out! Not out of being a disciple! But out of the tomb, out of death, out of sin. And that means you’re in - into life eternal. Because Jesus didn’t let anything get in His way when it came to saving you. He kept the end in mind. He kept you in mind. And He still is. And He always will.

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