Concordia University-Wisconsin Monday Chapel Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“The Holy Pole, the Holy Cross”

Text: Numbers 21:4-9

 

In the Name of (+) Jesus. Amen.

The Lord did not send serpents to punish His people but to save them. For long before these fiery serpents came into their camp, they had been bitten by another one - that serpent you know as satan, who injected the poison of unbelief into them. And that poison was killing them - not physically, but worse! Spiritually. Faith was replaced with doubt, contentment with grumbling, and love with bitterness. So they grumbled and spoke against God and against Moses, and they were in danger. Of a death worse than physical death; eternal death.

So the Lord, in love, sent fiery serpents among them, to save them. He didn’t have to. He could have let them continue to grumble, continue to die, and go back to Egypt and slavery there. But God had made a promise - right after the first time the satanic serpent struck and injected the poison of unbelief into our first parents. The promise of a Saviour. A Saviour who would come from these very people who were now speaking against Him. So He would not let them go. He could not let them go. He would save them. Not because they were worthy, but because of His Word.

So He sent the fiery serpents, to save them. So that having no where else to turn, they would turn - or re-turn - to Him, and live. With serpents on the left and serpents on the right, with serpents in front of them and behind them, they pleaded with Moses, Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. He did. But the funny thing is, we never hear if the Lord did that or not. Whether He took away the serpents or not. Instead, He saved another way. What some might consider a most unusual way. But not for God. Because it was with His promise in mind, His promise of a Saviour, and how He was going to fulfill that promise, that the Lord told Moses to make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole. So that everyone who was bitten, but who then looked upon that serpent on a pole, would live. Not because it would magically do so, but because the Word and promise of God was there. 

And it worked. God’s Word and promise gave life to His people. From both kinds of serpents - the physical ones and the spiritual one. Saving them from both physical death and spiritual death.

It was not until some 1500 years later that God made plain why He had chosen such a salvation for His people. Such a strange way of saving them. That it was a picture, a foreshadowing of His even greater saving. For as Jesus would tell Nicodemus, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:14-15). Not that lifting up Jesus on a cross was in imitation of the bronze serpent - the bronze serpent lifted up on a pole was in imitation of Him. So that all of us who have been bitten by the satanic serpent, might have eternal life. Both physically and spiritually. In both body and soul. Not because just looking at a dying man on a cross can do that. The Romans crucified thousands like that, and none of them could give life! But because this one had God’s Word and promise. Because this one WAS God’s Word and promise in human flesh! The promised Saviour, the Son of God, come to save. So that looking to Him in faith, faith in God’s Word and promise, faith that His bearing our sins and dying for them gives us life, we receive that very life we need. From the only one who can give it.

Which I think we sometimes take for granted - life. Our physical life and maybe also our spiritual life. Until we can’t. Until something happens in your life. Until a loved one dies or is diagnosed with a terminal disease. Until a couple who assumed they would have children, can’t. Until you’re faced with a crisis and don’t know where to turn. And we realize how precious - and fragile - life is. 

In the Scripture we heard today, we heard how God worked through Moses to give life to His people. He could have just miraculously made the serpents go away, but He chose to use His servant. Today is the same. God can - and does - work miracles. But He works through others as well, in all sorts of vocations - professors to teach, food service to provide our daily bread, using pastors for our spiritual needs, and for our physical needs using the medical professions. 

The medical professions, which interestingly, has a symbol called a caduceus - which is two serpents wrapped around a pole. Though sometimes it is a single serpent. If you ask AI, it will tell you the Scripture heard today has nothing to do with that. Nothing! That symbol came about in a whole separate way and any similarity is pure coincidence. Really? I find that wishful thinking by those who don’t want this story to have anything to do with it! But either way, whatever the official evolution of that symbol, it still can remind us today of this story and that our healing and life come from the Lord. And the one with the two serpents is even better - reminding us of both the serpents that had bitten the people of Israel - the physical ones and the spiritual one - and that our physical life and spiritual life both come from God.

I’m told that this is “Mental Health Awareness Week” here on campus, and there are lots of activities to go with that. That’s good. You have a lot going on in your lives and might find yourself struggling. The serpents of stress, anxiety, despair, doubt, even suicidal thoughts might be squirming all around you. Don’t ignore them. As Israel cried out to Moses for help, call out to those God has given you to help. Your RA, Student Health Services, Professors, even the 988 suicide hotline. There is no shame in that. But also remember this: those TWO serpents on the caduceus, which I say represent the physical and the spiritual aspects of healing and life. So when you are struggling, don’t just seek physical help - seek also the spiritual help you need. The two go together. Call out to your pastor, or your campus pastor, for help. God gave them to you for just this reason. And I can tell you (if you don’t know it yet), you have a awesome campus pastor who will be there for you. 

And He will do what Moses did for the people - He will hold up for you the source of your life in the midst of the serpents plaguing you. He will proclaim the words and promises God put there for you, and the words and promises of the cross He put here for you. He will feed you with the Bread of Life. He will forgive you in the stead and by the command of Christ. The serpents may not go away. You may still struggle for a while. But you will not be alone. The God who created you, who redeemed you, who sanctifies you, and who gives you life, will be with you through His servants. And He will bless you and keep you until you enter your Promised Land and life with Him that has no end. And . . . with no serpents!

In the Name of (+) Jesus. Amen.

Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“Learning to Live a New Life”

Text: Matthew 18:21-35; Genesis 50:15-21; Romans 14:1-12

 

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

The Holy Gospel we heard today is tough. Whenever I read about it or hear it preached, it usually goes something like this: Forgive, or else! Jesus has forgiven you all your debt, all your sins, so you should forgive others. They haven’t sinned against you near as much as you’ve sinned against God, so . . . forgive them. Forgive them, or else!

Now, there’s some truth to that. But is that it? I know I should do that. I know . . . But how? 

How can I be like Joseph? How can I be more like Joseph and less like the unforgiving servant? Joseph, who received nothing but wrong from his brothers, but forgives them, and the unforgiving servant who receives a windfall of forgiveness for his debt, but throws his brother servant into prison for his debt? It should be the other way around, right? That’s the way we think. Joseph should throw his no good brothers into prison for what they did - give them a taste of their own medicine! And the forgiven servant should share his bounty with his brother servant. 

I know what I should do. You know what you should do. We may even want to do it! To do the right thing. But actually doing it is another thing, isn’t it? There’s that something inside you and me that stops us . . . What is that? Why is it there? What can be done about it?

In this parable today, Jesus said this is what the kingdom of heaven is like. Free, full, lavish forgiveness. Very different than the world! As different as Joseph from the unforgiving servant. A different as light from darkness. Living in the kingdom of God is living in a whole new world. And to try to wrap your mind around that, think of it like a newborn baby being born into the world. That’s an apt comparison, because that’s what the Bible calls us. Newborn babes (1 Peter 2:2). Children of God (1 John 3:1). So let’s think that way . . .

A newborn baby comes into the world and it has to figure everything out! Everything is new - everything! There is light instead of darkness. There’s a new way of eating. There’s these weird things called clothes. And other people and hands and being poked - it’s a lot! And just when you think you’ve got it figured out, something else new comes along! 

So, one of the first things you have to learn how to do is flip over. And that’s hard! But okay, got it. But then . . . wait! That’s not it? Now I have to crawl? Okay. So you work on that, and begin to do that. Phew! Got it. Then . . . what? Now I have to get up? And stand? And walk? And run? There’s always more. More to figure out. More to do for life in this strange world. And you know what? You fall down a lot! It’s not easy.

That’s Peter. He’s been with Jesus a little while now, so maybe we could say he’s learned to flip over, maybe even crawl, maybe he’s even taking baby steps. He knows Jesus forgives a lot, so instead of just the standard for his day among the Jews, forgiving three times - he takes a few steps: Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times? Not bad, Peter. Not bad. But there’s more . . . You can’t just learn to crawl or take baby steps, now there’s walking and running! And so Jesus says to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” And Peter’s thinking: More? There’s more?

Yes, there’s more in this strange new world we’ve been born into; baptized into. This strange new world called the kingdom of heaven. The old ways won’t do anymore. 

But here’s the thing: learning to run is one thing. But it’s no good if you run out into traffic! You have to learn to run the right way. The unforgiving servant, he ran the wrong way - he ran out into traffic and got run over. Joseph ran the right way, to His Saviour, to life. Part of growing up in this strange new kingdom is learning where to run. Or maybe we could put it this way: for the unforgiving servant, it was all about the benjamins, all about the money. For Joseph, it was all about Benjamin - his brother Benjamin, and his other brothers, too. Very different.

So last week, we thought about the trap of sin and death - the trap that we’ve been caught in, but which Jesus opens for us and sets us free. And Jesus did that by taking our place in the trap - by having our sin and death snap shut on Him on the cross, but then opening that trap in His resurrection. And so our sins are forgiven, our debt is paid, our death is overcome, and we are free.

But we then thought a little more about that . . . that after an animal has been caught in a trap and then set free, it’s still hurt. It needs healing and strength. And so it is with us. We continue to receive the medicine of the Word and Sacraments so that we can not just be set free, but then live this new life of freedom we’ve been given. And that’s what the master in Jesus’ parable did with his servant. If you listened carefully, it said that the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. Two things. He set him free and gave him his life back again. He didn’t want him just limping around, hurt, but running around in joy and full of life. Like a newborn that has just learned to run that you can’t slow down. For the master, it wasn’t about the benjamins - and there were a lot of benjamins that were owed him! But it wasn’t about that. It was about his servant. 

But that unforgiving servant was still living in the past, still living the old. It was for him still about the benjamins. So he ran the wrong way. Instead of running to his brother servant with forgiveness to give to him, he ran to him to get the benjamins from him. 

And the master, when he found out about that, took it personally. Can you imagine this scenario . . . the servant, after having been forgiven all his debt, then turning to his master and saying, “Oh, by the way. I lent your wife a few bucks the other day - think you could give that back now?” How do you think the master would respond to that? But isn’t that really what happened here? For didn’t Jesus say, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me (Matthew 25:40)? 

This new world, this new life we’ve been born into, baptized into . . . it’s a bit different, isn’t it? Shocking may be would be a better word for it! And I think Peter was shocked a bit at all this. 

As I hope you are. For if the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, was the same as this world, why bother? But just maybe it’s a new world worth living in; a new life worth living. Joseph could have gone back to the old ways, the old life. His brothers took his life away from him and as good as thing were now, he could never get those years back. So now they had come to Egypt, hat in hand, not just for food, but for life . . . and turn around is fair play, right? And its what his brothers expected. That’s how things work in this world. 

But Joseph wasn’t living in this world and life - he was living differently. A new life. And so ran to his brothers - not for the benjamins, for revenge, but with life for them. Forgiveness and life. Freedom. For while his brothers sold him into slavery, he had been purchased not just by the Midianite/Ishmaelite traders, but by someone else . . . He had been purchased (as Peter would go on to write later) not with gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19). Even in captivity, Joseph was living a new life. 

And I think this is what the church in Rome was struggling with as well. The Epistle we heard today was St. Paul writing to a church where they were fighting and judging and despising one another. It was a mixed church of Jews and Gentiles, and that’s what Jews and Gentiles did! That was the way! But that was the old way, the old world, the old kingdom, their old lives. Now, in Christ, born, baptized into a new world, a new kingdom, a new life and reality, it is different. They are learning how to walk, and how to walk together. So Paul tells them, For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 

So Joseph’s brothers took years from his life; Jesus gave him eternal life. Joseph’s brothers took his away freedom; Jesus gave him a greater freedom. Or as it is sung during the Easter Vigil: to redeem a slave, God gave His Son. And that’s what God the Father has done for you, too. And now in this new world and life and kingdom, you’re learning about life as His child. Living a life of love and forgiveness, living a life of love and care for the Benjamins around you. But it’s not easy, is it? It’s often shocking. How many times? You want me to do what? You mean . . . ? 

And maybe you’re still learning to flip over. Or maybe you’re past that and are standing, or walking, or even running. And you can’t tell by age. Some of you may be very old in this world, but very young in your new life. And some of you who are very young in this world may be running circles around us old timers! But however you are in this strange new world, this strange new kingdom, this strange new life so unlike this world and life, run or walk or crawl to Jesus. Come to Him for forgiveness, for washing, for food, for His Word of life. Hear who He is, who you are, and all that He has and has done for you. And then go live this new life. His life given to you. Forgive seventy times seven times, and even more. You’ll shock the world! Maybe even shock yourself. And keep putting one foot in front of the other. And when you fall on your butt, your Saviour will lift you up again. 

And when you are tempted to go back to the old ways, and choke your brother, and make it all about the benjamins instead of about the Benjamin, your brother, and make it all about you - your needs and wants and desires . . . remember Joseph, and run to Jesus. You can live the old life if you want to, and you can live it for eternity! But maybe there’s a better way, a better life, a new one. And maybe it seems strange and weird and upside down and backwards and shocking now, and that you’ll never get ahead by living this way. But the cross and the tomb looked that way, too! But Jesus transformed them, and He has transformed you. So learn this new way to live. And you won’t just live it here, you’ll live it for eternity.

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

The Congregation at Prayer

For the Week of Pentecost 16 (September 14-19, 2026)

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

Speak the Apostles’ Creed. 

Verse: Philippians 1:21 – “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Hymn of the Week:  Lutheran Service Book #555 “Salvation unto Us Has Come”

Hymns for Sunday: 555 (1-5), 555 (6-10), 634, 742, 696, 829

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

Monday: John 12:20–33

Today is Holy Cross Day. How does Jesus talk about His cross? What does He call His crucifixion? Why? How is Jesus’ death like a seed? What now grows from Him?

Tuesday: Luke 7:11-17

When Jesus meets death, who wins? How is this story a preview of Jesus’ own death? How is it a preview of yours?

Wednesday: Psalm 27:1-9

How does faith conquer fear? What is our faith in? How can we be sure our faith is right? Where is our confidence?

Thursday: Isaiah 55:6-9

How do we seek the Lord? Where is He found? How does He reveal His thoughts and ways to us?

Friday: Philippians 1:12–14, 19–30

What does Paul mean when he says, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain?” Have you ever thought that? Why? Where do we turn at just such times?

Saturday: Matthew 20:1-16

Why is it so easy to grumble about others? Why so hard to be content for ourselves? How can we do better with that?

The Catechism - The Lord’s Prayer: The Sixth Petition: And lead us not into temptation. What does this mean? God tempts no one. We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although we are attacked by these, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.

Collect for the Week: Lord God, heavenly Father, since we cannot stand before You relying on anything we have done, help us trust in Your abiding grace and live according to Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, 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, strength, and guidance for Pastor Douthwaite.

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

+ God’s blessing, guidance, and provision for the Lutheran Bible Translators.

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

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

Collect for the Week © 2018 Concordia Publishing House.

Lutheran Service Book Hymn License: 110019268

Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“Caught in the Trap, Set Free by the Cross”

Text: Matthew 18:1-20; Romans 13:1-10

 

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

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Why would you ask such a question? The answer, I think, is obvious. They wanted Jesus to say: you are. You are the ones I have chosen. You are the ones who have followed me. You are. Because maybe some of them were struggling. Or having doubts. Or just wanted a pat on the back; an “Atta boy!” A little recognition. Some praise. Following Jesus wasn’t easy, after all.

Which you understand. We all like that, want that. The promotion at work, a little recognition for all our hard work, some praise. And that’s okay. That’s the way the world works. Or is supposed to. That’s what Paul was talking about in the Epistle from Romans today. The authorities set-up by God are to praise the good and punish the evil. To maintain order in the world so there is not chaos. That’s what the Law is for. So it isn’t right when the slacker gets the promotion, when our hard work is ignored, and when it seems that all we get is criticism. 

That’s how it is in the world, or as theology calls it, the kingdom of the left, or God’s left hand kingdom. But that’s not the question asked by the disciples today. They asked, Who is the greatest - not in the kingdom of the left, the world, but in the kingdom of heaven? In what theology calls the kingdom of the right, or God’s right hand kingdom? Both kingdoms are God’s. Both are ruled by Him. Just in very different ways . . .

God’s left hand kingdom is ruled by the Law. It is about punishments and rewards. About getting what you earn and deserve. But God’s right hand kingdom is ruled by the Gospel. It is about grace. About getting what you do not deserve: God’s mercy and love. Two very different kingdoms. Which we need to keep straight! You cannot keep order in the world with grace and forgiveness, and the church in not about punishments and rewards. Both are necessary, and both are good, when kept in their proper place. 

So when the disciples ask Jesus Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He gives them a very Gospel answer. He puts a child in their midst. For the greatest in the kingdom of heaven isn't the one who does the most (like in the world), it’s not the one who stands before you in an alb and stole - it's the one who needs the most and receives it. The Canaanite woman who begs for her daughter’s life. The tax collector who says, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. The leper who cries out for cleansing. The ones who can do nothing, but for whom Jesus does everything. 

So take a look around. Not out there, but in here. What do you see? People who are maybe successful in the world, but in here? In here are Canaanite women, tax collectors, and lepers. In here are sinners, one and all. People struggling. People failing. Failing to love God as we ought. Failing to love our neighbor as ourselves. Ones who on the basis of the Law (frankly) deserve not a promotion to heaven, but a demotion to hell. 

But now take another look around . . . there’s someone else here. Someone who has come not to condemn, but to save. Who knows your struggles, who knows your weaknesses, who knows all your failures. And is here to forgive. The one who really is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven was standing right in front of the disciples that day in human flesh! And He is here for you the same. To seek and to save the lost. To serve you. For you are His child. He wants to give you not what you deserve, but what you don’t - His gifts. His mercy and love. And He wants for you to receive them, as His child, with joy. 

So now take another look around again . . . past the obvious, past the appearances, past the surface . . . do you see now a church full of children? A church full of greatness? That is seeing with the eyes of faith. Seeing as Jesus sees, not as the world sees. 

That’s why Jesus then talks the way He does, as we heard today, about the seriousness of sin. About causing someone else to sin, and being caught in sin. Because to Him, it’s not just about rules, about right and wrong - it’s about His children! Don’t mess with His children! If you do, drowning by millstone and cutting off your body parts is better! And that’s not hyperbole - Jesus means it! 

But while that may be better, best is to not try to save yourself by self-mutilation, penance, or trying to pay the price yourself - but to be the Canaanite woman, the tax collector, the leper, and receive the mercy and forgiveness won for you by the one who came and took the millstone for you and had His body parts not cut off, but almost! The one who had them nailed to the cross for you. Who laid down His life for you. The one who allowed the trap of sin and death to snap shut on Him so that you be set free.

For that’s really the picture Jesus is painting for us today - that of a trap snapping shut. The traps that satan is setting and leaving for you all around, luring you into the captivity sin and then ultimately eternal death. For when we heard today Jesus talking about temptations to sin or causing to sin, the word there is skandalon. And a skandalon is a trap or a snare for catching prey. Think of it like one of those old animal traps that would lure its prey into the midst of it with food and then snap shut - trapping the animal in its grip. And once caught, what then? Either cut off or gnaw off a hand or foot, or die in its grip. So better, Jesus is saying, to cut off a hand or foot than to die in your sin. Which is true.

But there’s something else the Bible calls a skandalon . . . and that is the cross of Jesus. So the cross of Jesus, it is often said, is a scandal, an offense. But this, too: it is the place where our foolishness, sin, and death snapped shut on Jesus and caused His death. Or maybe to say it this way: where He took your place to set you free. Which is the word used in the Bible for forgiveness - to let go, to set free. 

So Jesus came to seek those caught in the traps of sin and death and to save us from them. To pry them open and set us free. For Jesus doesn’t want anyone to perish in them. And Jesus then tells us who have been set free to do the same. That if your brother sins against you, if you see him caught in the trap of sin, go and try to set him free! Tell him his fault and be ready to forgive. But do so in humility and gentleness. For if you’ve ever see a nature show and seen an animal caught in one of those traps, you know that even when the person approaches to set it free, the animal growls and lunges at the person trying to help because it is afraid. And people caught in sin may do the same. They’re afraid. They’re ashamed. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it! Just know it won’t be easy.

But that forgiveness isn’t the end. Once an animal is released from a trap like that, it has been wounded; it needs healing. And sin wounds us. Maybe we don’t realize it at first, like the animal once in the trap but now set free is filled with adrenaline runs away. But later the hurt and pain comes. So we continue to care for one another. And Jesus is here to continue to heal us with His comforting words and balm of forgiveness, His cleansing bath of baptism, and the nourishing food of His Body and Blood. That set free and healed and strengthened by Him, we can then care for one another.

But remember: that isn’t what makes you great - Jesus makes you great! It’s just how His children live. What Jesus and His Spirit are working in us. For the greatest in the kingdom of heaven is here for us,  in His risen from the dead, freed from the traps of sin and death, flesh and blood. We know that because Jesus said - or better to say, promised! - where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. So it isn’t because of the greatness or size or beauty of the church that Jesus is here, but because His children are here, and He is here for us. And because He is, who’s the greatest isn’t the question. It is enough to be His children. To receive all that He has done for us. 

And when the one who is here for us now comes again - no longer hidden in water, words, and bread and wine - but when He comes visibly, in His glory . . . if you think the disciples were surprised at the answer Jesus gave them that day to who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven . . . imagine how surprised we will be on that day! What we will see! Who we will see! And that the greatest is not the one who did the most or rose the highest in the church, but the one who received the most. A child in the arms of His Father and Saviour. 

So on this Labor Day weekend, when we honor our work and the value of work, we get a good reminder from Jesus today . . . that greatness in the kingdom of God’s right hand, in the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of His Son, seated at His right hand, doesn’t come by what you do but because of who you are - a baptized child of God. Dearly loved. And that as His child, you have a place in His home, forever. And you just can’t get any greater than that!

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