Sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent

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Jesu Juva

“The Doctor Is In”

Text: Luke 3:1-20; Malachi 3:1-7b; Philippians 1:2-11

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

I remember the first time I broke my collar bone . . . and the doctor brought the x-ray into the room to show me how badly it was broken. But I couldn’t see it. I just looked at the x-ray and said, “So?” Then he pointed out to me what I was looking at, where the break was, and then I could see it! Then my “So?” went to “Ohhh!” 

Well, the doctor is in the house today. Dr. John the Baptist. To point out to us the threatening perils of our sins. That’s a phrase we used in the prayers last week (Collect for Advent 1): the threatening perils of our sins. Because like me cluelessly looking at my x-ray, we often don’t see it. We may not see the sin in us, and how badly we are broken. And if we do, it may not look that threatening or perilous at all. In fact, we see people who sin getting ahead. We see people lie and cheat and steal, the news shows us people rioting and looting and destroying - we see people breaking the law, and nothing happens to them. So what’s the big deal?

And it’s not just adults - children quickly and early on in life realize this when they can lie and get away with whatever they did wrong. And after a while . . . seeing this, doing this, living like this, we look at ourselves and say “So?” We no longer see it. The brokenness. The peril of being like this.

That’s why we need Dr. John today. To show us our spiritual x-ray and say: See? This is not good. You may be able to get away with being imperfect in an imperfect world, or being sinful in a sinful world, where not every sin is punished, where sinners often get ahead, and where many sins are, in fact, praised - but what are you going to do when you face a perfect God? When every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire? When you then see how threatening and perilous sin really is? How broken you really are?

So God sent Dr. John to warn us and to call us to repentance. To stir up our hearts, as we prayed today (Collect for Advent 2), that we might see our sin, and that it is not nothing; that it is not just something wrong in us like a broken bone, not just a little problem in us - but a big one. One that if left undiagnosed and untreated leads to spiritual death. Or to use the words of Dr. John himself, that when the Last Day comes and it is time to separate the healthy from the unhealthy, the repentant from the unrepentant, the believers from the unbelievers, [the Lord’s] winnowing fork [will be] in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat [the good and healthy] into his barn, but the chaff [the sinful and unhealthy] he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

So while we may not like going to the doctor and hearing there’s something wrong with us, we need the doctor. It is good for us.

So when you came to Dr. John’s office, also known as the Jordan River, you heard the bad news of your diagnosis, that you had the terminal disease of sin, but also that there was a treatment for it, a cure. That repenting of your sin, acknowledging your sickness and brokenness, there was baptism for the forgiveness of your sins. And Dr. John applied this treatment to many - great crowds were coming to him from all over (Mark 1:5). It is the treatment, the cure, you, too, have received - not from Dr. John, but from the one coming after him, the one mightier than he, the great physician who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. So your sins are forgiven and you have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit to continue His healthful and saving work in you.

Because what often happens, once we are cured of a sickness or disease, is that there is a tendency to go back to the same bad behaviours that caused the problem in the first place! Bad habits die hard. So the doctor tells you to stop overeating, stop smoking, eat right, exercise, take care of yourself. Don’t go back to your old ways or you’re going to wind up back in the same perilous predicament.

And that’s what Dr. John told the folks in his office as well, when they asked him, What then shall we do? He told them, stop doing what you did before! Share with those in need, he told the people. Stop your “everyone for himself” thinking, your unloving attitude. Those are perilous sins that will endanger your spiritual health. And to the tax collectors he said, Stop collecting more than you should. Stop with the greed and taking advantage of others. Those are perilous sins. And to the soldiers he said, Stop using your power improperly, to extort money or make people do stuff for you just because you can. As if it’s all about you. That’s perilous. All those things are going to put you right back where you were - sick and in spiritual jeopardy.

So what would Dr. John say to you today if you stepped into his office? What would he tell you to stop? What bad and sinful habits die hard in your life? Is it an unloving attitude? Greed? Selfishness? Always putting yourself first, that it’s all about you? Is it resentment or bitterness or anger or revenge? Is it coveting or jealousy or lust? Or in this Christmas season, is it looking for peace and joy in good feelings or sentimental songs rather than in Jesus and His forgiveness? Is it putting family and friends before God? Or thinking worldly gifts more important that God’s gifts? Loving the things of this world and life more than the one who gives them? What would Dr. John say about your spiritual health?

Well, you know what he would say. So do I. That’s why we’re here. Not because we’re healthy, but because we’re not. Because we need the healing medicine of our Lord’s Word and Sacrament again. That - to put it in the words we heard today - our crooked ways be made straight. Our valleys of despair be filled with hope and joy. Our mountains of sin be made low. And the rough and rebellious places in our hearts be smoothed out again. By Jesus, our great physician. That the threatening perils of our sins be overcome by His forgiveness and Spirit and we be saved by His mighty deliverance. That as the prophet Malachi said today, that He cleanse us and purify us now, so that when He comes again, when that Last Day comes, we be wheat, not chaff, and be gathered to Him, not cast out.

But that mighty deliverance didn’t start out looking so mighty. A baby born and placed in a manger. Dr. John locked up in prison for telling the truth about King Herod’s sickness. And then most un-mightiest looking of all, when our great physician was hung up on the cross. There’s the threatening peril of our sins! What sin does and what sin can do to us. Sickening us so much that we put to death the one who has come to help. 

But if we look at the x-ray . . . not one of His bones was broken (Psalm 34:20). There was no spiritual sickness in Jesus, no sin, no brokeness. He was cast out and considered chaff by the world and worldly powers, but His Father knew better. He had no sickness unto death or to cause death to hold Him, so it couldn’t. And so this one who came in weakness and meekness, saved us with the mighty deliverance of His resurrection, and the promise that if death could not hold Him, then it will also not hold those who belong to Him, who are forgiven by Him, who are baptized into Him. 

So as Paul told the Philippians today: Grace to you and peace (!) from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the gift we now have in Jesus. Grace and peace. The grace of healing and the peace of certainty that the threatening peril of our sins has been dealt with by Christ Jesus. That with Him and His medicine, we are healthy again. We are wheat, not chaff. For, as Paul went on to say, I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. That is, that what was begun in us in Baptism Jesus will bring to completion on the Last Day. Our death and resurrection spiritually with Jesus in Baptism will be our death and resurrection with Him physically, too. And we will be gathered to Him, not cast out.

And maybe you’ve heard that when you’re sick, you’re supposed to starve a cold and feed a fever. Or maybe it’s the other way around - I can never remember! But this I know - with our spiritual sickness, with our sin, definitely feed your soul with the Body and Blood of Jesus! For there is the forgiveness, there is the strengthening, there is the life, there is the salvation you need. Not only for our healing but for our lives - that we not go back to the same old bad habits, but bear the good fruit that God desires. That again, as Paul told the Philippians, we be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. The fruit of His righteousness living and growing in us.

So while we may not like going to the doctor, thankfully God has sent the doctor to us. Dr. John, to both show us our sin and show us our Saviour. That we see our brokenness and receive the healing we need. The healing that came when the baby in the manger went to the tree of the cross, and then the rescue we need when our crucified Saviour rose from the dead and ascended into heaven comes again in glory to rescue us. 

And that’s what Christmas is all about. Not just that Jesus came, but why He came. For you. 

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

Sermon for Advent 1 Midweek Evening Prayer

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Jesu Juva

“Waiting in Silence (Zechariah)”

Text: Luke 1:5-23; Lamentations 3:22-33

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

I don’t think Zechariah thought it was good! His silence was not something he wanted. It was thrust upon him for his unbelief. Or, we could say, for his belief that he was too old, and his wife was too old, and his wife too barren, to have a child. How could God give him a child now? It may be good, as Jeremiah wrote, for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. But Zechariah was bearing it as an old man. He would sit in silence, unable to speak, for nine, long months.

But he would not sit in silence, actually. He would not be able to speak for nine months, that is true. And those around him would be speaking. But the loudest voices for old Zechariah would come from his own heart and mind shouting at him from within him. His mind rehearsing the scene over and over again. Why did he doubt? Why did he disbelieve? Why was he so stupid? And his heart accusing him. God had specially chosen him for this important duty, and how had he responded? What kind of priest was he? What kind of Israelite? Not a very good one, obviously. 

I think you know how it was for old Zechariah. Because you do it, too. Your mind hanging on to mistakes from the past that you wish you could forget, but they just seem stuck in your mind and bring with them regrets and sorrow and pain. And your heart accusing you, too. When you think of your past, your sins, what you have done and not done. Why did you do those things How could you have been so stupid? And why do you underestimate what God can do in your life? Why do you underestimate His love? Why do you doubt that He can use all things for good? What kind of Christian are you? Not a very good one, obviously. Even in silence, maybe especially when there is silence all around us, these thoughts and accusations can be deafening.

Luther found that out - as I suppose many monks found out - that you can take a vow of silence, you can live sequestered away in a quiet monastery, you can be separated from the world . . . and that can be a very noisy place! Because without the distractions of noise or sound from the world, your heart and mind are that much louder! Remembering, accusing, giving you no rest and no peace. And it drove Luther crazy. He couldn’t get away from his sin. And neither can you or I.

So how does one wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord? Is it even possible?

Well it is. Because of the one the son of Zechariah would proclaim; the one he would prepare the way for. Because of Jesus.

For there is only one way to silence minds and hearts filled with sin and guilt, and that is for that sin and guilt to be forgiven. It’s not going away by itself! You can ignore it, and some people DO ignore it all their lives. Until they are lying near death, and it comes rushing back, flooding back, bigger and badder than ever, causing even more grief and shame and despair. 

So the son of Zechariah would come, and John would stir up that sin and guilt in people’s hearts and minds with his preaching and calls to repentance, not just to make them feel bad, but so that the people would be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. Forgiveness to quiet their troubled hearts and minds and give them the peace they needed. For John would also proclaim that the Lamb of God was now here. The promised Lamb who would shed His blood to wash our guilty consciences in order to silence our accusing hearts and minds and give us peace. Peace to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord; to wait quietly for the Lord to come again in glory. For we know we have nothing to fear, nothing to dread, on that day. Our sins, our wrongs, our shame, our regrets, are forgiven. Taken away, washed away, not by the son of Zechariah, but by the Son of God.

And I think old Zechariah did finally get that. For when he was finally able to speak again, when his son was born, when his mouth was finally opened and his tongue loosed, he burst out in praise of God and spoke of how God was fulfilling His promises, how his son would lead people to forgiveness, and would guide our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1:68-79). And John did that by guiding the feet of many to step into the Jordan to be baptized. And then those same feet stepped out of the Jordan forgiven and at peace.

Perhaps during his nine months of silence, Zechariah even remembered (or read) the words we heard tonight from Jeremiah, that 

the Lord will not cast off forever,

but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
    according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

for he does not afflict from his heart
    or grieve the children of men.

He does afflict and grieve, as He did Zechariah, but to have compassion. To expose our sin so that He can show His even more abundant steadfast love. To expose the sin we so often and so hard try to hide, so that He can take it away and silence that accusing voice in us. That though the memories may remain - as I’m sure Zechariah did not soon forget his nine months of muteness! That though the memories remain, the guilt does not. Because you know Jesus took your sin and guilt upon Himself. And if it’s on Him, then it’s not on you. You are forgiven. You are free. Free to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. 

So yeah, old Zechariah can teach us a thing or two about waiting in silence this Advent season. As we wait for our Lord to fulfill His promise to come and take us home. As we wait in peace and joy, with quiet hearts and minds. Quieted not because of the lack of noise, but by the forgiveness and love of a Saviour, born for us.

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

Sermon for the First Sunday of Advent

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Jesu Juva

“Our Entering Saviour”

Text: Luke 19:28-40; Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

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

Imagine going to a National Park - like Arches or Yellowstone - but not going in to see the arch formations or Old Faithful.

Imagine going to a museum, but not going in to see the exhibits.

Imagine receiving a gift of delicious food, but not opening it, not eating it. Letting it go to waste.

Why would you do any of those things, right? 

But that’s what happens at Christmas for many people.

The story of Advent and Christmas is the entrance, the door, into the story of Jesus. It is not the end, the destination, but the beginning, the entrance. But sadly, for many people - too many - they stop at the entrance of Jesus’ story. They don’t go in.

But it’s when you go in - there is the reward. Then you see the wonders. Then you taste the wonderful flavors.

So we start each church year on this First Sunday of Advent by going in - by going into Jerusalem with Jesus, where in just a few days, Jesus will reach the end of why He came - the cross. And with this, we remember why we are entering the story once again. This is why we came, where we are going, and what we will see. And that sight is glorious. More glorious than amazing stone arches, a faithful geyser, a delicious banquet, or anything else in this world. The death of the Son of God for sinners like us, that sinners like us may be children of God.

So we heard today of Jesus entering Jerusalem. But He needs a donkey. To ride in as a humble king. 

Now as God, Jesus could have ordered that donkey to come and serve Him. Just as He caused the pairs of animals to go into Noah’s ark. For all of creation obeys His voice . . . all, except one, that is: man. Rebellious man. The creature God made in His own image! The creature Jesus is entering Jerusalem to save, to restore that image - His image! - that we sold . . . and for what? What did we think more important than that? A piece of fruit. A bowl of stew. Some pleasure that won’t last. What is it for you? More important than God’s Word? What do you sell your inheritance for? Put before God in your life? And why? Why? Is it really worth it?

But Jesus puts nothing before saving you. He gives up everything for you. He wouldn’t come into this world and then not enter into His suffering and death. That would be unthinkable.

So Jesus didn’t come into creation and start bossing it around, though He could have. And on those occasions when He did, it wasn’t for Himself - it was to save people. The lepers, the demon possessed, the sick, the dead. And to use these things as pointers, as foreshadowings, of what He would do finally and fully for us through the cross. For He came to serve, not be served (Matthew 20:28).

He came not just to be God in the world - He already was that! He came to be the Saviour of the world. And so He came as one of us and to live as one of us. Only with this difference: to live perfectly. So that man wouldn’t be the only part of creation that did not heed the voice of God. So He did. For us all.

And so before He entered Jerusalem that day and needed that donkey . . . before that, He needed a mother, He needed a manger, He needed feeding and changing, He needed to learn and grow. Until the time came when He needed to die. To die as one of us. To die for all of us. Because we had need of that. We needed Jesus to be our beast of burden, to carry our rebellion to the cross and bear our sin there under the wrath of God and bear the punishment due. So He did. For just as Jesus told two of His disciples to go and get that donkey, His Father had told Him to go and get us. So He did.

And when He rode into Jerusalem that day, He received the praises of those He came to save. Though not all of them. A great crowd began to rejoice and say: Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! This, too, a foreshadowing of the great multitude that no one can number (Revelation 7:9), who will rejoice on the Last Day when Jesus comes again, visibly, into our world, to raise the dead and take us home. 

But in Jerusalem that day, as it is today, as it will be on the Last Day, some would have nothing of it. They would not - and so will not - enter into Jesus’ story. Teacher, rebuke your disciples, is what they cry out. And many are rebuking His disciples, the church, today. Rebuking our teaching, rebuking the truth, rebuking us. They want Jesus no more today than they did then. And so Jesus they crucified, and they would the church, too.

But Jesus didn’t go all God on them, calling down twelve legions of angels to defend Him, calling down fire from heaven on those pounding the nails or mocking Him, or crumpling up the cross between two of His fingers! All of which He could have done. Instead, He hung there and quietly spoke. To those who would listen. Father, forgive them (Luke 23:34). Never were more powerful words so quietly spoken. Those words that break the devil’s back and make us right again. Right with God. Words of victory from a dying man.

So Jesus enters Jerusalem that day to speak those words of victory. Which is why He rides a donkey. Not  only because it is humble compared to a war horse - but because it is a sign of the victory Jesus has come to win. For when you ride a donkey instead of a war horse, it is because the battle is over, the victory won. Now, Jesus would still need to go to the cross and complete His victory in His death and resurrection, but it is as good as done, already. For when God makes a promise, it is a sure thing. It will be fulfilled. 

And so are the words we heard from Jeremiah today fulfilled by Jesus. He is the righteous branch that sprang up for David in His birth, and He is the Lord our righteousness - to make us right - on the cross, and here today. For those words of victory Jesus spoke from the cross He is still speaking today, for you: Father, forgive them. And you are. 

Because Jesus has entered your story as well. For as I said before, just as Jesus told two of His disciples to go and get that donkey, His Father had told Him to go and get you. So He did. He baptized you and made you His. He gave you His Spirit. He feeds you with His Body and Blood. His righteousness and victory He gives to you. That donkey was humble, but so are the water and words and bread and wine He rides in today. Those words spoken from the cross were quiet, yet powerful, but so are the words proclaimed here - words of love, mercy, and forgiveness in a world of noise, disagreement, and strife. We don’t have to shout or be spectacular! Just speak the Word of God in truth and love. He does the rest. Jesus does the rest. Entering lives broken by sin, lives shattered by lies, lives beaten up and beaten down by the world and its power, lives despairing and weak - entering our lives with His forgiveness, healing, and hope. 

So that when He comes again in glory, we will not be rebuked, but welcomed home with outstretched arms. 

And in anticipation of that day, and recognizing the reality of Jesus’ coming today and entering into our story, we sing the same words those who welcomed Him into Jerusalem that day did: Blessed is [He] who comes in the name of the Lord! we will sing right before that same Body and Blood that rode into Jerusalem that day is given to us here. We take our place in the crowd welcoming Him. And pray as Paul did - not only for holy and blameless hearts through the forgiveness given us here, but also that the Lord would make us increase and abound in love for one another and for all. That each Advent would not only be the start of a new church year, but the start of a new life for us. Living in the image we were created to be.

So today, we enter Jesus’ story again, as He entered ours. This year, we will hear of wonders. This year, we will taste and see that the Lord is good. And it will be a year of blessing. For where the Word of God is, there is Jesus. And where Jesus is, there is blessing, and life.

The Saviour of the nations who came. The Saviour of the nations who comes. And the Saviour of the nations who is coming again (LSB #332). So Come, Lord Jesus! O come, come, Immanuel (LSB #357). God with us. Come to the world. Come to us. Come for me.

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

Sermon on Eve of National Thanksgiving

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Jesu Juva

“Natural Causes or Acts of God?”

Text: Luke 17:11-19; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; Deuteronomy 8:1-10

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

“Natural causes.” You’ve heard that phrase. It’s fairly common in our world today. Things happen by natural causes. People die by natural causes. Things happen because of natural causes - that is, the laws of nature at work. I think this is the vocabulary of the evolutionary thinking that has permeated our world today. Things just happen. The universe, the world, and what happens in it. It’s all by natural causes.

But the Scriptures don’t have that point of view, and would not have us think that way. In the Scriptures, nature is never on its own, doing it own thing, starting things by itself and ending things by itself. Instead of natural causes, the Scriptures know of “acts of God.” Which is how we used to think more. And which insurance companies still do! When a disaster hits, your policy will say that you are not insured against - not natural causes, but acts of God. 

Things don’t just happen or happen by chance when there is a God in heaven. It isn’t fate when there is a God who is directing all things to work for our good. And not just to give us good things in this life (he may or may not), but to give life! An eternal life. That’s the good He really wants us to have. And so the good He is working for us. Which includes nature and life and death. The winds and waves obey His voice (Matthew 8:27). Our times are in His hands (Psalm 31:15). He knows the number of our days (Psalm 139:16) and the number of hairs on your head (Matthew 10:30). The angels carry out His commands. He is the one who keeps the planets in their orbits and who determines the number of the stars, their names, and sets them in place (Psalm 8:4; 147:4).

So Thanksgiving calls us back. To see and consider once again the hand of God at work in our lives, and therefore to give Him thanks for what he has done. To repent of our “natural causes” thinking and to acknowledge Him as the giver and worker of all good. And to see and acknowledge not just the hand of a God, an almighty being, who is someplace far, far away, doing things and pulling strings, a God we don’t really know and who doesn’t really know us and our needs . . . but the hand of a loving God, a caring God, a giving God, a merciful God, a promising God, a forgiving God. A God who knows us. A God who created us. A God who came to live with us. A God who became one of us. And so the hand of Jesus. The hands that in all those ways were nailed to the cross for you. The act of God above all acts of God, to work for you the greatest good: the forgiveness of your sins and the promise of eternal life.

Thanksgiving calls us back and to give thanks to such a God. 

And in that way be like the one leper. The Samaritan leper. In the story, all ten lepers were healed, cleansed of their leprosy. And I’m sure all ten lepers were thankful. Of course they were; who wouldn’t be? What made the one leper, the Samaritan leper, different wasn’t that he was the only one that was thankful, but that he is the only one who RETURNED TO JESUS and gave thanks to God there, in the flesh and blood of Jesus. To acknowledge that in Jesus is the promise-making God who had come to fulfill His promise and save. That’s who Jesus is. And so the Samaritan’s faith not only made him well, as our English translation put it at the end of the story today; all ten were made well. Rather, and as it would be better translated: his faith saved him. That was the gift he received that the others did not.

And it is the gift we receive as well. Lots of people today are thankful. Lots of people celebrate Thanksgiving. Lots of people thank a generic God, a far away God. A God they perhaps don’t really know. And it’s good to thank God. He is the one who blesses all people, the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:45). Maybe they are like the nine lepers in our story today.

But there is more that God wants to give; that He wants to give us in Jesus. For in Jesus, He has come to give us Himself. He has come with hands to bless us, to baptize, to heal, to feed, to forgive, to raise, and much more. He has come so that we know Him. Know Him as our Father and Brother, and that we are, by grace, His children. And that, not by any natural causes, but His doing. His hands creating us, redeeming us, and on the Last Day, raising us and taking us to His home and ours.

So we return to give thanks, to our God where He is in His flesh and blood for us today: here. We hear His Absolution. We open our mouths to eat and drink his Body and Blood. And we are saved, by grace, through the faith which receives these gifts of God. And in that faith we pray. We make, as Paul said, our supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for all people. And in that faith, as we heard from Deuteronomy, we bless the Lord for all the good He has given us. Which means to proclaim His name, to acknowledge Him as the giver of every gift, and make Him known. That every person may know Him. Not as a God far away, but a God here. A giving God, a gracious God, a forgiving God. That in days to come, not just one or one-tenth return to give thanks to God in the flesh, but that all might. For that is what God wants, for all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

So maybe as we return to give thanks this year, we return also to the way the Scriptures speak. To speak no more of natural causes, but of the hand of God at work. Working good. Working salvation. Speaking of Jesus, and rejoicing with the Samaritan leper, in Him.

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

Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year

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Jesu Juva

“Comfort for the Last Day”

Text: Daniel 7; John 18:33-37; Revelation 1:4b-8

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

We heard from Daniel today: As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of days took his seat . . . The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

The spectre of a Judgment Day is a frightening one for most people. Having to stand before the Almighty and give an account. Having to answer for all that you did. Even things that didn’t seem like such a big deal to you. Things that you don’t even remember, but that were written down in your book.

When I was young (and some of you who are older may remember this, too), in school, if you did something wrong, we used to say “that was going in your permanent record.” Some file somewhere that would follow you around and effect your future. That was supposed to frighten us into good behavior. 

Today, though, it’s worse than that. Today, it’s not just school kids that have to worry about that, and about some mythical “permanent record.” Today, it’s the internet and social media and archives of things from the past. Everyone from politicians to celebrities to folks that just aren’t liked have all kinds of things from their past dredged up to confront them and judge them. Something that may have been acceptable then but is not now. Something then written or said in jest but now considered hate speech. People are accused and atonement for their “sin” is demanded.

That’s what we see happening in our world today, and people’s lives and careers are being ruined. So the thought of a Judgment Day, when everything is out there; everything from your past . . . And not just what you did or wrote, but with God, even your thoughts and desires! Yeah, that’s frightening.

But these verses from Daniel we heard today weren’t meant to frighten us, but to comfort us! So what I want to do is read this entire chapter of Daniel to you so you can hear that. You’ll hear that Daniel was anxious and alarmed. There are beasts and destruction and trouble in this vision - alarming things! God’s people, God’s saints, warred against and overcome. But in the end, it is the Most High that prevails, and the saints are saved. And so Daniel is told, so that we will be told, not so that we will be frightened of a judgment, but rather so that as bad as thing look, as bad as things might get, we know the end, how it will all turn out. So listen . . . and listen for when the court appears a second time, and what happens then . . .

[Read Daniel chapter 7]

Did you hear it? Some folks don’t because they get all caught up in the details, trying to identify the beasts and the horns and the times and such. But focus on the big picture that Daniel was describing. That in the end, this judgment was not of the saints but for the saints! That in the end, it is the evil that is judged and cast away, and the ones who look defeated and cast out - God’s saints - are victorious in the end. It is the Most High, who (to use the words we heard from Revelation today) who is and who was and who is to come, who is ruling all things, which - whether or not we see that reality now - we will see in the end.

And we will see it in the end because what will happen in the end has, in fact, already happened. It happened when all the terrifying powers and evil in the world rose up against Jesus, and with His death on the cross, looked like they prevailed against Him. Or think of it this way: the cross is when all the judgment of the Last Day happened at one moment in time. And in Jesus, all the Church, all the saints, even God Himself, seemed overcome, dead, and buried. It seemed that sin and evil won. That was the hour, as Jesus said, of the power of darkness.

But all the power of the world did not win. It couldn’t. Pilate’s power, Caesar’s power, worldly power, has its time, but in the end, the truth will win. Power then and power now scoffs at the truth, ridicules the truth, belittles the truth, and makes truth what they want it to be. But when the court shall sit in judgment, his dominion, his power, worldly power, the power of evil, shall be taken away, and the truth will be known, be seen, and shall prevail. Because Jesus prevailed. He rose from the dead. Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

So just as in Daniel’s vision the horrors of the beasts is replaced with the joy of God’s judgment for the saints, so, too, the horror of the cross is replaced with the joy of the resurrection, and so, too, will the horror of the evil in our world be replaced with the joy of our victory of Jesus. And that is a joy and confidence we have, in fact, already now. For just as the cross is when all the judgment of the Last Day happened at one moment in time, so the Word and Sacraments are when all the victory of the Last Day is given to us here and now, in this moment in time. The victory over sin you need given here in the forgiveness of your sins. The victory over death you need given here as you are raised from being dead in your trespasses and sins and given new life.

Which is to say that Daniel’s vision was fulfilled (1.) first on the cross in Jesus’ death and resurrection, when He took our judgment upon Himself; (2.) and it is fulfilled secondly here where we are joined to Jesus in His death and resurrection and given His victory; (3.) and it is fulfilled finally and fully on the Last Day when we are raised and given the kingdom won for us by Jesus. So when the Last Day comes, we have nothing to fear. Because, in fact, you’ve been living it all along. And so it will be a day of great joy for you and me and all the saints. All who are in Christ Jesus by faith.

Which is why John begins his account in the book of Revelation - which also has a lots of beasts and frightening images - with these words that we heard today: grace to you and peace. We have peace - not anxiety, not fear of the Last Day, not dread, but peace, because we have received the grace of God - the forgiveness of our sins. Our sins for which we rightly deserve judgment and condemnation, but which have been taken away by Him, who - as John put it in the verses from Revelation today - who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father. 

That’s who you are, dear children of God, for that’s who Jesus has made you. You are dearly loved, you have been set free, and you belong to the King. The King who created you, the King who stood before Pilate and hung on the cross for you, and the King who is coming again for you. Because He wants you to be with Him, as Daniel said, forever, forever and ever.

We live now with that confidence. The world may dredge up your past sins and demand you atone for them, but your sins have already been atoned for by Jesus on the cross. And evil may rise up against you as children of God, but the power of evil is no match for the love of the Most High. And death will come for you, sooner or later, in one way or another, but you’ve already conquered death, in Jesus. So it can’t have you either. The court has already sat, the judgment has already been given, the victory already won. Jesus did it all. The Last Day will simply show us and make visible for all to see what we already know and live now by faith.

So we live now with that confidence. Made new, we live new lives. Forgiven, we forgive those who sin against us. Knowing the truth, we speak the truth. And when we die, we live. Because that’s Jesus, and it’s you who live in Jesus. For you’ve been baptized into Him, absolved by Him, and fed by Him. You live in Him who lives in you.

So when that Last Day comes, Daniel wants you to know, God will judge for you. When that Last Day comes, it will not be for you a day of anxiety, fear, or dread, but a day of fulfillment. The fulfillment of the joy and peace you’ve been living all along, of the kingdom you’ve been living in all along, and the love you been living in all along. Hidden now, maybe. But visible then . . . and forever, forever and ever.

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

Sermon for the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Living Now with a View to the End”

Text: Mark 13:1-13; Hebrews 10:11-25

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

I suppose it’s like this in other neighborhoods as well, but when you’re driving to church or driving through Vienna, it is hard to miss all the large and beautiful houses that are going up everywhere. Two right next to our church here. Gone are the smaller and more modest homes of the past. Now is the time of larger and grander. Some of the homes just done our road here have 9 bedrooms and bathrooms and price tags to match.

Now, this isn’t necessarily bad. It’s not wrong to have a nice big home, nor is it better to have a small, modest home. But I do think it says something about our society today, where we’re at, and what is valued. Why were people of not that many years ago satisfied with smaller homes and sharing bathrooms and children sharing bedrooms, while today everyone must have their own bedroom, their own bathroom, and even husbands and wives each have their own sinks in a shared bathroom? Do we find our value as people no longer in who we are and what we believe, but rather what we have? Not in the content of our character or our faith, but in the size of our homes and cars and bank accounts?

So if Jesus were here today, I think it not the Temple that His believers would point out to Him, but their homes. “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” What wonderful mansions and beautiful, spacious houses! And Jesus would say to us, “Do you see these great buildings? These great homes? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Think that might get some people’s attention today? Get you labeled a “domestic terrorist?” Good! Your attention is what Jesus wants. That you put not your trust in anything or anyone or any achievement in this world, but in Him alone. Because all this stuff is going away. All this stuff is coming to an end. So if this is where you find your value and life, your meaning and purpose; if this is what you are pursuing and going after . . . then you and your life are, too . . . coming to an end.

But Jesus doesn’t want that. He came that you may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). Which means: life now, and life forever.

So when one of His disciples points to the Temple and makes this comment (true as it might have been!) . . . and the other disciples hear it and ask about it . . . well, it’s time to do some teaching. About how we live now with a view to the end.

Now, most people don’t like to think about the end - either the end of their lives or the end of the world. We don’t like to think about death. Which makes sense. We weren’t ever meant to die. We were created to live. But we chose death. We choose death. For that is really what sin is: choosing death over life. Choosing our way over God’s way. And so like it or not, death is a reality. The funeral homes and cemeteries that dot our community are there for a reason.

But still, it’s a long way off, isn’t it? We have plenty of time, don’t we? Maybe. That’s how we tend to think, even when we’re older and know better. But one day that won’t be true. One day death will come upon us - perhaps suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, when that driver runs the red light and smashes into you. Or the end will come when Jesus comes again. That day will be sudden and unexpected. But a long way off? Plenty of time? Maybe not.

And then that big, beautiful house will either have a “For Sale” sign in front of it, or look like a homeless person’s cardboard box compared with the home Jesus has prepared for you. And all that money in your bank account will either be spent by someone else, or be like Monopoly money in the kingdom of God. And what we thought so important, so worth our time and energy, so important to our value and self-esteem . . . not so much. We majored in minors and missed what really matters . . .

Even something as important as the Temple was only for a limited time and purpose. And, you may remember, God never really cared about having a big, beautiful, magnificent Temple! He was perfectly happy with a tent. The Temple was David’s idea, and then first built by Solomon. God let him do it. His heart was in the right place. But what happened was that people then put their heart in the wrong place - in the Temple itself. And thought that because they had the Temple, they were safe and secure. They put their trust in the building instead of the one who dwelled there. 

So God destroyed it. Brought the Babylonians in to tear it to the ground. So they would put their trust in HIM, not in a building! 

But then, a few centuries later, it happened again. King Herod rebuilt the Temple and made it even more grand and beautiful and bigger than ever before. And, “Look Jesus! What a great and magnificent Temple!”

But God was perfectly happy with a tent. He just wanted to dwell with His people. To holy us. To forgive our sins. To give us life. And now He had come in a tent of flesh and blood to do just that! But eyes and hearts and minds captured by the things of this world and life were missing it. Were missing Him. Many today, too. Maybe even us at times. Focusing on, trusting in, what we have, who is elected, what we can do, rather than the one who comes to us humbly and to direct our eyes and hopes and faith to Him who gives what is going to last forever.

The disciples ask Him when? When will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished? Jesus doesn’t tell them when. But He does point to signs. Signs they saw then and signs we see now. False teachers. Wars and rumors of wars. Natural disasters. Persecution and hatred. And even members of a family turning against one another. These are signs of the end for they are the manifestations of sin - sin that brings the end and death. And that attack everything in this world. Big, beautiful houses are quickly consumed by flood and fire and family disputes. Businesses and accomplishments are consumed by lawsuits and hatred. Nations and peoples conquered and destroyed in war. The sin that devoured life in the beginning is still hungry and you are on the menu.

Signs? Look around, Jesus is saying. It’s happening. And it’s not going to stop. 

But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Well there’s some pressure! Are you up to that? Up to the task? Strong enough? Steadfast enough? Those disciples weren’t. They ran away. They denied. And you? The devil doesn’t even need to try that hard to get you to sin, does he? A little of this, a little of that, and you’ve fallen again. Endure to the end? We can’t even endure to the end of the day!

But there’s one who did. And it wasn’t easy. He took both barrels from the devil. Stared straight into the face of death. Was forsaken by His Father. And the pressure of bearing all the sin of all the world, of all people of all time, caused Him to sweat great drops of blood. And He endured. He won. Not to save Himself, but to save you. He’s the one, the Temple, that was destroyed, but then built again, raised to life again, never to die again. The tent in whom is forgiveness, life, and salvation. Even though He didn’t look great. But He was. And He will, when He comes again in glory. He’s the one.

So to endure to the end, for us, is to remain in the one who can do what we cannot do. To remain in Jesus. To know that while there is nothing in this world that you can count on - not even yourself! - you can count on Him. On His Word, His promises, His forgiveness, and His life. In Him you will be saved because in Him you ARE saved. Even now. For His gifts are not just for the future, but for now. 

So just as God dwelled among His people in tent and Temple in the Old Testament to forgive them and give them life, so He is today, in the tent and Temple of his flesh. That’s what we heard from Hebrews earlier: Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places (that is, the presence of God) by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh . . . therefore let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith (confidently!), with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Our hearts and bodies washed with the blood of Jesus in baptism. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering (that’s Jesus! He’s our hope!), for he who promised is faithful. That is, He said He would do it, and He did. He came for you, died for you, rose for you, lives for you, and now comes for you in the tents of water and words and bread and wine. Truly magnificent dwellings of God and His forgiveness and life, even though they do not look like much.

But if we could just see them as God sees them . . . 

. . . if we could just see that water in the font raising someone dead in their trespasses and sins just as surely as Jesus grabbed the hand of the dead and brought them back to life! 

. . .  if we could just see the absolution giving life and hope to us just as surely as when Jesus spoke from the cross “Father, forgive them!” and “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise!”

. . . if we could just see that bread and wine on the altar feeding us with the food of heaven, if we could just see Jesus handing us His Body and Blood here just as surely as His hands passed out bread and fish and fed more than 5,000 people! 

. . . if we could just hear Him speaking to us in His Word, just as surely as He spoke to the apostles, to the multitudes, to Lazarus when He raised Him from the dead!

. . . if we could just see these humble tents as Temples of the Most High God coming to us and forgiving us and holying us and lifing us! 

If we could, would we ever neglect to be here? Or, as we heard from Hebrews, neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but [instead] encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

But all that is exactly what IS happening here, and eyes of faith DO see it. And in these humble tents and Temples we endure in Him as He lives in us. And so we are saved. By Him. He promised. 

He promised that whoever believes and is baptized will be saved (Mark 16:16). 

He promised that whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:54). 

He promised that if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them (John 20:23). 

He promised that the one who hears you hears me (Luke 10:16). 

He promised that this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:40). 

He promised that where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them (Matthew 18:20).

Those are words and promises you can count on in a world that is passing away, for as Jesus also said: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away (Matthew 24:35). Not now. Not ever. For after everything in this world is destroyed, Jesus will remain. For He did pass away, but then rose from the dead. And in Him, so will you.

So every time you come to church and drive by all the big, beautiful houses now in this neighborhood, and come to our humble, not very grand looking church, look at all these things through the eyes of faith and see as Jesus sees. That all these new, big houses will soon grow old and crumble and pass away, while this humble, simple church gives out what will not and can not pass away, to old, sinful, passing away you, who coming here is made new and given a life that will never pass away. 

How about that? That of all the new, big, beautiful things in this neighborhood, the best and most beautiful are right here. Bought not with millions, but with blood. The blood of God. Poured out on the cross, and poured out here, for you.

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