Sermon for the Commemoration of Saints Peter and Paul

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Jesu Juva

“Just Jesus”

Text: Acts 15:1-12; Galatians 2:1-10; Matthew 16:13-19

 

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

Peter and Paul. What an unlikely pair! Peter, a smelly fisherman, and Paul, a radical persecutor of the Church. Jesus makes some strange choices, doesn’t He? And not just with them. I mean, look around here, too! I’m not going to throw anyone under the bus, but we’ve got some unlikely Christians, eccentric personalities, and just plain hard-boiled, dyed-in-the-wool sinners! And yet here you are. All confessing your sins together - no one better or worse than another. All confessing the Creed together. And not because you’re so smart and thought of it - but because like Peter, this was revealed to you by our Father who is in heaven. And all receiving the gifts of God together. Because we need them, and can never get enough of them. Jesus brought us together here in mercy, to mercy us. Just as He did Peter and Paul.

They’re commemorated together on this day, even though they are both also commemorated separately. The Conversion of St. Paul and the Confession of St. Peter are celebrated just a week apart every January. So this is unusual and special. For besides Jesus, John the Baptist is the only other person who gets more than one day in the Church calendar. So it’s a pretty exclusive club.

So why? Why commemorate Peter and Paul together on this day, when we’ve already remembered them separately? Well, because it’s not what makes them different that makes them special, but what makes them the same. And what makes them the same is what they preached. That Jesus is the Saviour of Jews and Gentiles alike. That Jesus has saved us 100% - there is nothing you can do, nothing you can add, to His work of saving you. And that this must be proclaimed to all people. Not Jesus AND something. Not Jesus PLUS something. Just Jesus. He did it all, and for all people. No matter who they are.

But there are people who disagree with that, and say just Jesus is not enough. You must do something, too. Peter and Paul joined forces against that at the very first Church council, which we heard of in the First Reading today. There were some saying that to be saved, Gentiles had to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. No! Peter said. No! Paul said. We are all saved by grace through faith. Salvation is a free gift. You cannot add to it. To do so is deadly. To the gift, and to you.

This is all not an easy lesson to learn, though, and really, quite humbling. Can’t, stop, don’t - those are words we don’t like and don’t want to hear. Tell me I can’t have something and watch me! I’ll find a way! Challenge accepted. I’m special. Tell me stop and . . . who are you to tell me what to do! I’m in charge. I’ll do what I want. The rules don’t apply to me. And don’t is just an invitation to do. 

But when it comes to Jesus, there’s no other way. Jew, Gentile, slave, free, man, woman, rich, poor, young, old - there is no distinction, and no exceptions. Even though we want there to be . . . 

It’s true. We want there to be something special about us, something in us that separates us from others, something that makes us different, noteworthy. But there’s not. Among men? Oh, yes! There is. That is how it works. But before God, no. Before God, there is only one kind of person: sinner. All of us. And while we look at each other and smell each other and make judgments about who’s a really bad sinner and who’s not such a bad sinner - God does not. To Him, we all stink. Period. Fathers, mothers, children, pastors. Even Peter and Paul.

Which is humbling. For think of the worst sinner you can think of. I mean, really bad. I mean, the worst of the worst. And to learn to say: I’m no better. And mean it? That’s hard. And humbling. 

But then, and only then, can you begin to realize how great the grace of God is! And what good news this is. That God chose you and me not because we’re so special, but because HE IS. Because He is the Saviour of sinners. Because He is the lover of the loveless. Because He is the rescuer of the down and out. Because He is the helper of the helpless. HE makes you great. HE makes you special. HE makes you a child of God. 

Peter and Paul both chafed at that for a while . . . until they realized what good news this is. What good news just Jesus is. So when others tried to add to just Jesus, tried to say that something must come from us, Peter and Paul shut them up and shut them down. They wouldn’t let anyone take this good news away from them, and not from those they were sent to and preached to. This was far too important.

And so, too, in our day and age. Humble is hard. But once you’re there with Jesus, there’s nothing better. Circumcision had its day. The Law of Moses had its day. But they were only pointers to just Jesus; preparing for Jesus. And now that Jesus has come, there’s no going back. There’s nothing to go back to! 

Jesus said that once. Probably more than once, but He said: No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). So don’t do it! Don’t look back at your old sins and dwell on them. Jesus died for them and forgave them. They’re gone! Don’t dredge them back up and think you must do something about them to make up for them and be worthy. But also don’t look back to see what good things you’ve done that make you worthy or that separate you from others. Thinking like that doesn’t make you fit for the kingdom of God. Don’t look back. Look at Jesus. Look at His cross. If you want to see your sins, look there - there they are! Jesus did something about them, paid for them. If you want to look at your good works, look there and see how they measure up compared to that! Look at the cross and just say: thanks be to God! Thanks be to God that Jesus did that for me!

That’s what Peter and Paul learned. What did Paul once say? Everything he thought was so great about himself - His pedigree, His deeds, His learning, His position . . . once He got a glimpse of Jesus, he took another look and he realized: it’s nothing! It’s all rubbish (Philippians 3:8)! How could I have been so stupid? How could I have thought all this, all that I did, was worth anything, when Jesus did so much for me? Holy moly. And Peter, too. He got nuthin’ apart from Jesus. But just Jesus is not just something, its everything.

So the Gentiles? Well if it’s just Jesus for Peter and it’s just Jesus for Paul, then it’s just Jesus for them, too! And for us. Just Jesus at the Font. Just Jesus in the Word. Just Jesus on the altar. Just Jesus everyday. The good days and the bad days. And as you know, there are plenty of bad days in this life! Plenty of days when you wish you hadn’t gotten out of bed, or can’t wait to crawl into bed! Days when you wonder if it’s all worth it, if you make any difference at all. 

Peter and Paul had days like that, too. Most of the stories we read about them are the good stuff, the good days, the success stories. But sometimes I think Peter’s foot spent more time in his mouth that his tongue! And when both verbal stones and physical rocks were raining down on Paul, he had to wonder . . .

But then . . . just Jesus. It wasn’t about them or what happened to them. It was just Jesus. It was all about Jesus and what happened to Him. His words, His life, His death and resurrection, His promises. And that gets you through the bad days. When everyone else is unfaithful, Jesus remains faithful. When everyone else leaves, Jesus stays. When everyone else is just in it for themselves, Jesus is in it for you. 

This just Jesus is what many of us had this past week at Higher Things. Not that it was an easy week. We had problems. We had disagreements. Chaperones had to raise their voices a time or two. A certain Pastor had to yell and bark orders. It was hot. Really hot! But it was also a week of just Jesus. Just Jesus everyday in Matins, Vespers, Evening Prayer, and Compline. Just Jesus in Divine Services to start and end the Conference. Just Jesus in the plenaries and breakaways. Just Jesus in new friends made. Just Jesus everyday, no matter how challenging the day. And it was great.

But then we come home . . . and what happened to just Jesus? It was such a great week, but now back to real life, right? To problems, sadness, challenges, busyness. But just Jesus doesn’t stay behind in Amherst, Massachusetts. It’s just Jesus here, too. For us. With us. Everyday. Higher Things isn’t just one week a year of just Jesus, but one week a year to teach us how to make everyday just Jesus. And for us who went to teach you. 

Which, to bring this full circle, is what Peter and Paul did. They had their Higher Things weeks, too. Peter gets called to be a disciple and Paul had his conversion experience. But then they had to go on, back to work, back to problem people, back to difficult situations - and take just Jesus with them into those places and for those people. So there can be just Jesus for them, too. And they insisted on it! Something else? More than Jesus? NO! Just Jesus. That’s everything.

So now for you. Come get just Jesus now. His Body and Blood here for you. With His forgiveness for your sins. His strength for your weakness. His life for all those times you think you just can’t go on. You can. Just Jesus. For Peter, for Paul, and for you.

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

Higher Things 2025 All Things New Sermon - Wednesday Vespers

Text: Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17

In the Name of (+) Jesus. Amen.

So who are they? Those John saw. That great multitude clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. Who did he see?

He saw his friends. By this time, all his fellow apostles had been martyred. Peter, Thomas, his brother James. Yet there they were, standing before the throne, alive and well and made new.

He saw prophets. Prophets who had been sawn in two, skinned alive, stoned, beheaded. Yet there they were, clothed in white robes, alive and well and made new.

He saw Christians who had been consumed by beasts and burned at the stake. Yet there they were, holding palm branches in their hands, maybe just as they had that Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem. Alive and well and made new.

And he saw more. Those he did not know. Those of every skin color, hair color, country, and language. Male and female, old and young. All honored guests. All made new.

Who are these? Sir, you know, John said. And of all you know! These are the Good Shepherd’s sheep, and what John saw is the Good Shepherd’s sheepfold! These are those who went not just into the valley of the shadow of death, but went through it with their Good Shepherd. With Jesus. Sinners all, but those who washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The Lamb once slain, but now alive and on the throne of God, making All Things New.

Now who do you see? There, in that great multitude, that mighty host arrayed in white? Maybe like John, you have a friend there, too, whose life ended far too soon. Or a grandparent, your father or mother, brother or sister. Maybe it was a drug overdose, cancer, or a drunk driver that had taken their life. Yet there they are. Cared for. Alive and well and made new.

They were taken from this world but their life did not end. For the trials and great tribulations of this world cannot snatch us from Jesus’ hand, or stop Him from being the Good Shepherd. For all who drink deeply of the quiet waters of the Gospel, those fed by the Body and Blood of the Lamb at His table, those washed in the blood of the Jesus at the Font, dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 

And that - and here’s the good news! -  includes you. 

Oh, I know who you are! I know the OLD you came out just before coming to a conference entitled All Things New! It’s true, isn’t it? I know. You rolled your eyes at your parents, got mad at them, said something you now regret. You had a blow-out with your friend, hurtful words hurled both ways. That sin you said never again about . . . yeah, you did it again. And that sin . . . you know the one . . . that just keeps coming back . . . the temptation so strong, and you so weak . . . You look in the mirror and see OLD, not NEW! All Things New? If only . . .

But when the Good Shepherd looks at you, that’s not what He sees! You are baptized, and so your sins - all of them! - have been washed away by the blood of the Lamb. You heard the voice of your Shepherd who said to you, I forgive you all your sins, and so all your old, all your sins, have been separated from you as far as the East is from the West. You eat and drink the Body and Blood of the Lamb whose Body and Blood bore those sins on the cross and paid for them all. They are tetelestai; finished. Paid for in full. So you are a new creation, as Paul said. The old has gone, the new has come. All this by grace, certainly, absolutely! And by faith, for you can’t see, you don’t feel, that reality . . . yet. But it is true, and sure. We believe the sure and certain words and promises of Jesus. And by faith, we receive.

And so one day you will take your place in that great multitude that no one could number. From earthly sheepfold to heavenly sheepfold, but the same Shepherd. 

And with such faith, the faith of the prophets, apostles, and martyrs, the faith by which we are made new, you are new, and can live new even now. A life of repenting, a life of forgiving, a life of serving, a life of loving. Not so that you will be in that great multitude, but because you already are. Because your Good Shepherd has set you free! Free from the old to live the new. Free to live a new life of confidence and joy.

Behold, a host arrayed in white! That’s what we sang today, that’s what John saw, and I can relate. Because even though you’re all wearing gray and green, that’s what I’m doing right now!

In the Name of (+) Jesus. Amen.

Sermon for the Second Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“The Demons You See and the Demons You Don’t”

Text: Luke 8:26-39; Galatians 3:23-4:7; Isaiah 65:1-9

 

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

Some demons you can see. 

Some you can’t.

Some demons you can see. Like with the man we heard about today, this fearsome man who wore no clothes, lived among the tombs, and exercised super-human strength, breaking chains and shackles. He was a wild man, and everyone knew it.

But some demons you can’t see. They lurk in respectable, normal places and people. Those who wear nice clothes, live in fancy homes, and have respectable jobs. Those who just want to live and let live. Don’t rock the boat. Like those who lived in the country of the Gerasenes.

And I say that because I want you to notice . . . what was the reaction of the clearly demon-possessed man and the reaction of the “normal” people who lived in that area? Was it not the same? Both were afraid of Jesus. Both didn’t want Jesus around. Both wanted separation - the demons begged to flee from Jesus, the Gerasenites begged Jesus to flee from them. They weren’t leaving. This was their country, and you’re not welcome here, Jesus. Not if you’re going to befriend people like that! Not if you’re going to hurt our economy. Get back on the boat. You’ve done enough.

Some demons you can see. 

Some you can’t.

I often get asked why we don’t see demon-possession like in this story anymore. Perhaps we do but we’re just blind to it. Perhaps we do but we don’t think in those categories much anymore and so attribute anything out-of-the-ordinary to more rational, medical, acceptable causes. Christians in other countries report things like this, what we heard today . . so maybe demons work in different ways in different places at different times. Hiding at times, fearsome at times. I wouldn’t be surprised at that. Whatever it takes to get you in their grip. To destroy you. To destroy or prevent you from having life in Christ.

So in our day and age, are there not those who, like that man, wear no clothes in our super-sexualized culture? And billions (yes, billions with a “b”) profited by those who do so. Are there not those who live among the dead in our culture which so often sees death as the answer to the problems of the world, be it war, genocide, suicide, assisted suicide, mercy killing, or abortion? Are there not those who act like mad men among us, instilling fear with their rantings and ravings?

And are there also those who don’t mind Jesus, don’t mind Christianity, don’t mind the Church as long as it stays in its place and doesn’t rock the boat? As long as my income, my pleasures, my wants and desires, my comfortable life aren’t affected? As long as I don’t have to change; as long as I don’t have to be around “those” people . . . I mean, if we let them in the church, what will “respectable” people think? Then they won’t want to join!

Some demons you can see. 

Some you can’t.

So how is it with you? What demons are you battling? And don’t look at others! I mean, in you. What sins, what temptations have you in their grip? What part of your life is Jesus not welcome in? I’ll follow then, and there, for that, but this part . . . no I really don’t want you there, Jesus. I don’t want to change that. I don’t want to give that up. Get back in the boat, Jesus, if that’s where you want to go in my life.

Think about that, hard as it might be to do so, and then repent of it. Of that thinking, of that attitude, of those sins. For of the demons you can see and those you can’t . . . Maybe the ones that can’t be seen are worse. They’re easier to get away with and live with.

But Jesus sees them all. 

In the Rite for Private Absolution, we say this: Let us begin in the name of God, to whom all hearts are open and from whom no secrets are hid. You might look good and respectable to the world, and maybe even to yourself, but Jesus sees what we cannot. So we might as well come clean. He knows anyway! And when we come clean, when we come for cleansing, that’s the very thing He has come for. To wash us clean, to forgive our sins, to set us free, and to give us a new life to live. Like that man so long oppressed. There could not have been a greater change. From ranting and raving to sitting, from naked to clothed, and from crazed to in his right mind. 

Thy Strong Word (LSB #578), did that. The strong, Spirit-filled, bringing-everything-from-nothing, forgiving Word of Jesus. That Word now here for you.

For Jesus has come here to you - not in a boat across the Sea of Galilee - but in His Word, to set you free. From the demons and sins that can be seen and from the demons and sins that can’t. The demons and sins that are so destructive in your life, that hurt faith, family, and friends, that isolate and separate, that cause sadness and fear, that cause you to hate others or to loathe yourself. All of it Jesus has come to forgive, to set you free from, and to give you a new life to live. 

And He can because He did. Jesus took all the sin and shame that’s weighing you down and making your life less than it should be - He took it all to the cross. That it crush Him, not you. So that you rise to a new life with Him. 

So to free that man so long-oppressed, at His word, Jesus allowed the demons to enter a herd of pigs. And I sometimes wonder: did the demons cause the pigs to rush into the sea and drown? Or did the pigs rush into the sea to try to get away from the demons? Anyway, we have water, too, that drowns us and set us free from our demons - the water in the Font. But this water is greater, because here we die and rise with Jesus. The pigs just died and drowned. But for us, at Jesus’ word, the old sinful man in us is drowned and a new man emerges and arises to live a new life.

And now it is we who sit at Jesus’ feet, listening and learning, clothed with His righteousness, and with a mind made right, thinking according to the Word of God. And while maybe we would rather depart and be with Jesus, it is more necessary for us to return to our homes, and declare how much God has done for us. 

And one of the best ways we can do that is by speaking His Word of forgiveness. The greatest thing Jesus has done for us. How much damage has been caused by grudges, hatred, bitterness, and division because we refuse to forgive? But it is exactly Jesus’ forgiveness that gives us a new life to live, unhindered and unhampered by the shackles and chains of sin and shame that seek to keep us captive and drag us down. 

Better is to forgive. And if you can’t, if you have trouble doing that, come here and receive the forgiveness you need to give. Be washed again with His Absolution, eat and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus that won and gives this forgiveness, fill up with His words and life, and then go and declare how much Jesus has done for you. Give us lips to sing Thy glory, Tongues Thy mercy to proclaim. Throats that shout the hope that fills us, Mouths to speak Thy holy name (#578 v. 5). And I guarantee you, that even though it may not feel like it, what Jesus has done for you is far more and far greater than you will ever do for others. 

And yes, there will be those who don’t want your forgiveness, who don’t want Jesus in their life. Get back in the boat, Jesus. Go back to where you came from, Christian. Leave us alone. And Jesus did. And though I don’t know, I’ll bet, I’ll just bet, that the next time Jesus went off by Himself to pray, He prayed for them. That one day He could do for them, with their demons that could not be seen, what He did for the man whose demons you could.

And so we pray. For Jew, Greek, slave, free, male, female - all people. For God desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). That’s why in the fullness of time . . . God sent forth his Son . . . to redeem us . . . that we might receive adoption as sons. That we cry out, Abba! Father! and live new lives, forgiven, set free, and raised up as children of God. 

Or as we prayed today: O God, You have prepared for those who love You such good things as surpass our understanding. Cast out all sins and evil desires from us, and pour into our hearts Your Holy Spirit to guide us into all blessedness (Collect of the Day).

Do that, we pray, O God, until that day when the demons you can see and demons you can’t are alike thrown into the abyss, never to return. 

Until that day, lead us, guide us, strengthen us, help us.

Until that day, bring us to repentance and the joy of Your forgiveness.

Until that day, protect us and preserve us, for without You, we have no hope.

Until that day, feed us at Your altar until we feast with You forever. 

Some demons you can see. 

Some you can’t.

Thank God we have a Saviour who is greater than them all.

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