Sunday, October 27, 2024

Sermon for the Festival of the Reformation

LISTEN


Jesu Juva


“No Fear When God Gives Himself to You”

Text: Revelation 14:6-7; Romans 3:19-28; John 8:31-36; Psalm 46

 

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


What is the worst thing in this world? What is the worst thing that could happen in this world? What do you fear the most in this world? 


We all have little fears . . . losing a boyfriend or girlfriend, failing a test, messing up at work. And these are our own. But there are bigger fears, too. And these are shared by many.


Like, people losing their minds over next week’s election. Both sides stirring up fear if the wrong candidate gets elected as our next president. 


You’ve also heard the fear that the war in the Middle East, or the war in Ukraine, or an upcoming war for Taiwan might escalate into World War III or a nuclear holocaust. 


We were told to fear Helene and Milton. Storm surge, flooding, tornadoes, devastation. We’ve seen the pictures from the Carolinas and Florida. They’re frightening. It looks very much, in fact, like what Psalm 46 was describing - the earth giving way; mountains moving and the waters roaring and foaming.


We fear crime. We fear losing our jobs, our homes. Buy a generator, stock up on food and water, arm yourself. Fear covid, or the next covid variant, or the next pandemic-causing virus coming down the pike. 


There is certainly no shortage of things to fear in this world. Big things. And I’m sure you could add more things to this list.


But there is something worse than all this. Worse than politics, worse than war, worse than natural disasters, worse than food shortages, worse than disease or nakedness or poverty. It simply does not get worse or more desperate in this life than a person who does not know his Saviour; who does not know that she has a gracious, loving, giving God.


Now maybe you disagree with me about that. I’m a pastor, after all, so I have to say that, right? But maybe I’m right. And maybe that little nagging voice in your head is telling you I’m right. That you’ve been fearing the wrong things. That you’ve been loving the wrong things. That you’ve been trusting the wrong things. Things that are of this world, not of eternity. This world that is passing away. This world that is constantly changing. That’s been your focus instead of the changeless one, the eternal one. And therefore, fear


But the reading from Revelation that we heard today is to give us hope. To direct our hearts and minds back to the one who is greater than all; greater than whatever it is you fear. 


Chapter 13 of Revelation, just before our reading for today, describes two beasts, servants of the dragon, satan, unleashing persecution on Christians. I didn’t mention that before; and maybe that is something you fear - persecution. At the beginning of chapter 14, though, we are given a vision of the Church Triumphant. That all who belong to the Lamb, who belong to Jesus, are safe. All of them. Every single one known and counted. Neither the dragon nor his beasts could have them. And never will.


But that’s not us, yet. We’re still here. In the Church Militant. So to us, three angels are sent to announce the defeat of the dragon and his beasts. And the first angel’s message is the one we heard today; a message for all who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And his message is this: Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.


So he says first, fear God. If you are going to fear anyone or anything thing, don’t let it be one of the things that are less than Him! Fear Him! The one who is over all. And second, he says, give Him glory. I think it’s important that those two things are put together and are not separate. Because to fear God is to give Him glory. It is to acknowledge Him as the one above all. The one who holds all things in His hands - not just the present, but the past and the future. There is nothing above Him or equal to Him. Nothing that can overthrow Him. He is the Almighty. Fear Him and give Him glory . . .


Because the hour of His judgment has come.


Now maybe that statement makes you fear! The thought of death and Judgment Day. The thought that I’m going to be on trial! And our guilty consciences fear. I know my sin, and so I know what the judgment against me should be . . . 


But that statement is not meant to make you fear. Because in this context, the judgment is on the dragon, the beasts, and those who follow him. This is a proclamation of good news! That all the evil and wickedness and sin and turmoil that causes us fear will one day end. There is an hour, a time, a day, already chosen. These things may all be greater than us, but they are not greater than our Lord. And as I said a couple of weeks ago, just as satan and his angels were cast down from heaven to the earth, so the day is coming when they will be cast down from the earth into the abyss, once and for all. And the hour for that is coming. It. Will. Be. We may wish it to come sooner - and maybe it will be soon! But that’s not up to us. Our Lord has His time. And it is the right time. 


And we know this because our Lord has already shown us. Satan tried to make his hour and his judgment come, avenging his casting down by casting Jesus into death and the grave. And it worked! . . . for a few hours. But when Jesus rose from death and the tomb was empty, the victory was won. So while it is true, as Paul wrote and as we heard again today, that all have sinned - we have sinned - and fall short of the glory of God, and deserve judgment and casting down ourselves, we will not be. For this is true as well, that we are justified - made right, raised up - by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus


So in Christ Jesus, we need not fear Judgment Day. The Son has set us free. So we are free indeed. Free from fear, from from judgment, free to live. For when you are baptized into Jesus, your Judgment Day happened some 2,000 years ago when Jesus took your sins - all of them - and was judged for them; condemned for them. That’s done. That water, filled with the words and promises of God, washed you clean with His forgiveness, put God’s name on you, and made you His. Your judgment is done. The verdict is in. You are free.


Free now, as the angel in Revelation said, to worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water


Now, the angel already said to fear God and give Him glory, so to worship Him means something different than that. And it’s not just that God is the Almighty, though He is that. Maybe the clue here is in the words themselves, the creation of heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water. For why did God create these? He didn’t need them. They are for you. They are gifts for you. And the highest worship of God is to receive His gifts. To acknowledge Him as the giver, to receive His gifts with joy, and to give thanks for them. For this gives Him joy. How do you feel when someone despises a gift you give them? Not good, right? But when they are filled with joy, so are you.


But let me circle back to the beginning of this sermon . . . if our greatest fear should not be the things of this world and life, but not knowing and having our Saviour, then the greatest gifts of God we receive are not the things of this world and life, but the gifts given here. That’s why this is often called worship, or better, the Divine Service. For here the Divine is serving us. Here God gives us the gifts we need the most: His Word, His forgiveness, His Body and Blood, His life and salvation. The gifts that give eternal life. The gifts that join us to our Saviour and set us free. This is number one.


Now maybe you disagree with me about that. I’m a pastor, after all, so I have to say that, right? But maybe I’m right. And maybe that little nagging voice in your head is telling you I’m right. That you’ve put other things first in your life, and so fear.


Saint Augustine, an early church theologian, preached it this way. He said: God does not merely give us what belongs to Him, rather He gives Himself to us . . . It is one thing for God to sacrifice what is His. It is entirely another for Him to sacrifice Himself for us. . . . You appear to yourself to be rich. Yet if you have not God, what do you have? And a poor man, if he has God, what does he not have?


God gives Himself to us. You know, really, that is what the Reformation was all about. Oh, they didn’t deny that at the time, but it wasn’t the focus. The focus, rather, was about us giving ourselves to God. But have you? Have you enough? Have you well enough? And with those questions, fear.


But God gives Himself to us. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. The answer in Psalm 46 to all that causes us fear in this world, is this, at the end: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. And what helps you when you are afraid? When someone is with you. And especially, someone who can do something about and help you with your fear.


Luther picked up on that, and so wrote his hymn A Mighty Fortress (LSB #656). And so over the years, some folks have thought that he was the angel in the reading from Revelation, proclaiming again this good news. And I will say: he was. But there are also others who thought this angel was Elijah - and I will say: they are right, too. He was. And this angel is Saint Augustine, John the Baptist, and all who preach the Gospel. All who point to Christ crucified and say: There is your judgment. There is your salvation. There is your hope. For there the Son of God has set your free. For He came and was Bound in Death’s Strong Bands (LSB #458) for you, and broke them. He is free, and so you are free.


So let me ask you again . . .


What is the worst thing in this world? What is the worst thing that could happen in this world? What do you fear the most in this world? 


Maybe your answer has changed, like it changed for Luther, who somehow became so bold to stand against both Pope and Emperor. That’s what the Word of God does. It takes away our fear. The Word preached to us, the Word crucified for us, the Word that washes us, and the Word fed to us. And the Word that is coming again for us. And when He does, no fear, just joy. No more death, just life. 


And until that day, you can live in joy and peace. Because A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.


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



Saturday, October 26, 2024

The Congregation at Prayer

For the Week of Pentecost 23 (October 28 - November 2, 2024)


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


Speak the Apostles’ Creed. 


Verse: Revelation 7:14 – ”These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”


Hymn of the Week:  Lutheran Service Book #677 “For All the Saints”

Hymns for Sunday: 677, 676, 633, 679, 932, 672


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


Monday: John 15:12-21

Commemoration of Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles. How did Simon and Jude show the great love Jesus is talking about here? How might you? What gets in the way of our doing that?


Tuesday: Mark 12:28-37

How does Jesus summarize the commandments? What is of first importance? Why? Is that how we always think? How might we sometimes get this wrong? Why?


Wednesday: Psalm 149

What does it mean to sing a new song? What are some of the things the psalmist tells us to praise God for? Are you surprised?


Thursday: Revelation 7:2-17

Do these verses describe your future? How can you be certain?


Friday: 1 John 3:1-3

How has the Father shown His love to us? Could He do anything greater than this? Why might we sometimes want more?


Saturday: Matthew 5:1-12

What does it mean to be blessed? Do we sometimes think about this wrongly? How and why does our Lord bless us?


The Catechism - Confession: Where is [the Office of the Keys] written? This is what St. John the Evangelist writes in chapter twenty: The Lord Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone His sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”


Collect for the Week: Almighty and everlasting God, You knit together Your faithful people of all times and places into one holy communion, the mystical body of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Grant us so to follow Your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that, together with them, we may come to the unspeakable joys You have prepared for those who love You; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen


The Prayers:  Please pray for . . .

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

+ God’s blessing, wisdom, guidance, and strength for Pastor Douthwaite.

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

+ God’s blessing, guidance, and provision for our Synod’s Board for National Mission.

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


Sunday, October 20, 2024

Sermon for the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

LISTEN


Jesu Juva


“Exceedingly Amazing Salvation”

Text: Mark 10:23-31; Hebrews 4:1-16; Psalm 34:3 (Introit)

 

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


How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 


That’s what Jesus tells His disciples as He is watching the rich man we heard about last week walk away from Him. That rich man who, when He had to choose between his great wealth or Jesus, chose his wealth. 


And the disciples were amazed at his words. 


Amazed because, maybe like us, they assume everything is easier when you have wealth. When you don’t have to live paycheck-to-paycheck. When you can sleep in a bed, not a box. When you wear a suit to work, not a hard hat. And easy is good, right? We want easy. We like easy. With our life, and with our faith.


But Jesus doubles down. And says to them again, Children - like they’re children in school, which they are! - Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! And now Jesus doesn’t just limit this to wealth. How difficult it is - period - to enter the kingdom of God.


Which is definitely not a message for today. Definitely not a message that resonates - especially in an age like ours - that is all about making life easier. AI to make my work easier. Self-driving cars to make my commute easier. Pills and drugs to lose weight because it’s easier than diet and exercise. Can you imagine (for you younger ones) that you used to have to get up to change the channel on the TV? Then came to remote control, so you didn’t have to get up. And then when it became too much to have to point that at the TV, there came voice control! And now with smart devices, you can pretty much control your life with your phone. 


Now, none of that is wrong, and you could argue that a lot of that is good, and it probably is. It is simply to point out that difficult is not what we want. Difficult is not how we think. Difficult is not how we roll. That’s why there are more people playing games on their phones than there are Elon Musks doing difficult things.


So, why Jesus? Why make it difficult? Why, if you want everyone to be saved, why not make it easy?


And here’s where I think many churches - and Christians - have followed the thinking of the world. Maybe with good intentions, maybe meaning well. That if we want to save more people, make Christianity, make religion easier. If you can’t get the camel through the eye of the needle, make the eye of the needle bigger! Easier to get through. 


So if coming to church every week is too inconvenient, that’s okay. Just come when you can. Or even just watch from home - with your voice controlled remote! Catechesis? Make that shorter and simpler. And the Law? Well, things are different now. So don’t talk about sin, talk about preferences. Don’t talk about repentance, talk about tolerance. Don’t talk about forgiveness, talk about acceptance. Let everyone come to the altar. And how about this, see if this doesn’t sound familiar, or how you are tempted to think . . .  that it’s easier to ask forgiveness than to resist the temptation. It’s easier to keep silent than to speak. 


And easy is incremental, you know. Big thieves usually start out as little thieves. Big sins usually start out as little sins. Hurricanes start out as tropical depressions. Little exceptions turn into big problems.


The truth is, though, Jesus doesn’t make things hard - we do. The rich man’s wealth was a good gift from God - he’s the one who made it into an idol. Your gifts and abilities are good gifts from God; your marriage, your job, your family, your friends, your faith - all good gifts from God. We’re the ones who mess them up, looking for easier, looking for better . . . and suddenly things are very hard. And maybe we blame others, maybe we blame God for making things so hard. I wonder what that rich man was muttering under his breath as he was walking away from Jesus . . . ? 


And then the disciples were exceedingly astonished. And said the quiet part out loud: Then who can be saved? 


And Jesus looked at them and said, “With man - for you - it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”


Now, don’t just hear that as a general statement, that there’s nothing God can’t do - true as that is. But can you think of another time when someone was astonished and a statement like this was made? Can you think of something that is even harder or more impossible to do than get a camel through the eye of a needle? How about a virgin having a child? Can’t be done, right? Except the angel Gabriel said it not only could be, it would be. For nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37)


And Jesus did that, was born of a virgin, so there could be an answer to the question of the exceedingly astonished disciples: Then who can be saved? Because after His virgin birth, He did the next “impossible” thing; the next thing even harder than getting a camel through the eye of a needle: a dead person rising from the dead to life again. For how can we be saved from death? How can we be saved from the rot and decay of the grave? Only by the one who came to do what is impossible for us, because while He was a man, a true man like us, born like us, He was more than that - also true God. The God for whom nothing is impossible. So God became man to take man through death and the grave to life again. So that what is not just hard, but impossible for us, now be possible.


So it’s easy! . . . And it’s not. Easy because Jesus accomplished and promises and gives this impossible to us when we are baptized into Him. For when we are baptized, it is into His death and resurrection (Romans 6). When you are baptized, you become the man Jesus takes through death and the grave. And for that you do nothing; He does it all. That’s why baptizing babies is such a wonderful picture of the grace given in baptism. Baptism which, as St. Peter would later write, now saves you (1 Peter 3:21). It’s as easy as that!


And as hard as that. (1.) Because it’s so easy, how easy it is to forget; and how easy it is to take advantage of that. To think - and I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this - that since I am baptized and forgiven and have this promise of eternal life, that means I can live and do whatever I want! I can load up my camel with all kinds of sins and vices and idols and false gods, and Jesus is going to get me through! But that’s not what Jesus told the rich man. That’s the kind of thinking Baptism washes away. And if you find yourself thinking like that, it’s time to unload that camel and repent of what you’ve been doing and how you’ve been thinking. To die to that and rise to a new life again.


(2.) But then there’s an equally dangerous thinking, and that is perhaps what Peter expressed when he (speaking for the twelve) said: See, we have left everything and followed you. That’s loading up your camel with your own good works and pride, which can also be idols and false gods, and thinking that Jesus doesn’t have to work so hard to get me through! Like those people. You know the ones. The sinners. The really bad ones. That’s not me. Except it is. Your sins just look different. They’re more socially acceptable sins. But just as deadly. Time to unload your camel of those in repentance as well.  


(3.) And if those two dangers don’t get you, how about this one: you know what happens when you leave house and brothers and sisters and mother and father and children and lands for Jesus’ sake and for the gospel? Jesus says He will provide all you need, and more, BUT . . . there will also be persecution. Because satan hates this. He hates Jesus and you and your new life and your faith and everything about you. So he’ll try to undermine it and make you want to ease up and go back so it’s not quite so hard. Because God doesn’t want it to be hard, does He? God wants you to be happy, doesn’t He? God will understand, won’t He? 


This was the temptation the Christians in Rome who received the letter to the Hebrews were facing. Life was tough for them. They were being persecuted - and not a little. But if they went back to being Jews, life would be a whole lot easier! And it was tempting. Just like it is for us in our world today. To be Christian but not too Christian! To be serious about your faith, but not too serious. To be Christian one way in here, within these walls, and another way out there, in the world. 


So the letter to the Hebrews encourages them - and us! - to stand firm; to hold fast our confession. To not give in, as hard as that may be. The portion of that letter we heard today talked about the people of Israel in the wilderness after they came out of Egypt. And it was so hard they wanted to go back to Egypt, where (as they remembered it) it was so much easier for them. It wasn’t really! But that was the temptation. 


So these verses encourage them to look forward, not back, to the rest God has prepared for them and promised to them. He knows how hard it is in this world and life. Jesus went through it all with us. We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are - tempted like this, to take the easy way. But He didn’t. And He went through not the eye of a needle, but a sealed and guarded grave, to give us life. That easy or hard, rich or poor, young or old, first century or twenty-first century, we have hope. That what is impossible for us, is not impossible for Him. That no matter who you are, the answer to the question, Then who can be saved? . . . the answer is: ME.


And then, impossibly, Jesus gives us the food we need to strengthen us to live this life and stand firm in our confession - the food of His true Body and Blood. That both Baptized into Him and with Him Suppered into us, forgiven our sins and raised from the dead, we live on the other side of the needle. A new life. Not of sin nor of pride but of faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So that the first be last and the last first


Which is kind of an enigmatic saying, isn't it? Maybe hard to understand. Unless you know that it’s true first of one before it is true of many. For first it is of Jesus - who was the very first who became the very last, so that we who are last could be raised up to first. And now we can do the same. We can unload our camels, give to the poor, we can take care of others, we can face the hard, because we have treasure in heaven. Because no matter how last you make yourself (or others make you!), Jesus raises you up. To first. Maybe not first in this world, but first in His kingdom. And that’s better. For this world and life are passing away. But His kingdom is eternal. 


So, you see, it’s not the eye of the needle we need to make bigger if we are to get through. It’s Jesus. Because unlike the camel, the bigger He is in your life, the easier it is to get through sin and death to life and salvation. That’s what Mary did when she was told the impossible and that her life was now going to be difficult: My soul magnifies the Lord (Luke 1:36)! And as we live in a hard and difficult world, we do the same. NOT make Jesus smaller to make life easier, but (as we sang in the Introit) Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!


Magnify Jesus. Magnify the one who does the impossible. For us, for all, and forever.


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