Lent 5 Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“What Would You Ask For?”

Text: Mark 10:32-45; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:1-10

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

If you could ask Jesus for one thing, just one thing, what would it be? If Jesus came here to you today and asked: What do you want me to do for you? what would you say? I’m sure many things are going through your minds. Maybe healing for you or a loved one you are worried about. Maybe peace in this crazy, murderous world. Less stress at school or at work. More time to spend with loved ones. Some, I suppose, would ask for riches. 

Well James and John get that opportunity, we heard today. They get to ask Jesus for whatever they want . . . and they already had what they wanted in mind. They wanted to sit at Jesus’ right and left in His glory. They wanted the greatness, power, honor, and authority of those two places.

Now before we scoff too much, perhaps their request made some sense. They were, after all, two of the three disciples that made up Jesus’ inner circle, along with Peter. They were the three Jesus had taken up the mountain to see Him in His transfiguration. They were the three Jesus was going to take farther into the Garden of Gethsemane with Him to pray. And Peter had already screwed up. Maybe they thought that disqualified him. For the first time Jesus spoke of His death to His disciples (which we heard a couple weeks ago), Peter rebuked Him, to which Jesus had to say: Get behind me, Satan (Mark 8:33)! The second time Jesus brings it up, the twelve begin to argue about which of them is the greatest (Mark 9:34). So now when Jesus brings it up again a third time, James and John seek to settle the matter. In a way, it just makes sense that they should have those two places. Worldly sense, anyway.

Well, thankfully, God does not ask such a question to us. Thankfully, I say, because I’m sure I would screw it up. What I would ask for would probably depend on the time of the day, the day of the week, what was going on right at that time, whether I was feeling good or bad, angry or sad, and a whole host of other things. I would probably blurt out something and then regret it later. 

So, thankfully, God does not ask such a question to us, and that’s good for two other reasons as well.

First, because He tells us to pray for anything and everything - not just one thing. Ask! Jesus says (Matthew 7:7). Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). If you have a need, come to the one who can help (Luke 11). Don’t give up (Luke 18:1). Pray like dear children ask their dear father (Small Catechism). We have been given such a great gift in prayer, and the promise of our Lord that He will hear. And so we don’t get just one chance. We don’t have to worry about screwing it up.

And notice that Jesus does not rebuke James and John for asking. He rebuked Peter, when Peter denied the cross, but not James and John. He corrects them, He teaches them, and He doesn’t give them what they asked for - and we’ll get to why in a moment. But it’s okay to ask. Your Father loves it when you pray . . . even if we sometimes ask for the wrong things and He has to say no.

But here’s the second reason - and this is really the point, of the readings today, and of Lent and Passiontide: God gives us what we should have asked for.

The Old Testament reading from Jeremiah spoke of this first. The people of Israel had screwed up. They had turned away from God and were worshipping idols. Though God sent prophet after prophet, culminating in Jeremiah, to preach to them and turn them to Him in repentance and faith, they would not listen. So finally, God was about to send them into exile from their home. For 70 years. A hard but necessary discipline. Because they had broken the covenant. And during those 70 years, if God had asked them what do you want me to do for you? they probably would have said: we want to go home.

So God didn’t ask. Instead, He proclaimed through Jeremiah that He would give them what they needed. The Father being a true father. Giving His children a new covenant, where He will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

That’s the answer, you see. If we have only one thing to ask, that’s what it should be. Forgive me, O Lord. Forgive me, a poor miserable sinner. That’s our greatest need.

Did you think of that at the beginning of this sermon? If you did, good for you! I don’t think many do. But that is the gift above all other gifts. That is the forever gift. Everything else will go the way of the world, of decay and death, but forgiveness lasts forever. Forgiveness is why the Son of God came into our world to be, as the Epistle said, our high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The forever priest who would sacrifice Himself for the life of the world. For all people, no matter when they lived. Who would give His life to ransom you from sin and death. That is why Jesus and that is His glory.

So when James and John ask for the places next to Jesus in His glory, they really don’t know what they are asking for. They are thinking of the greatness and glory they know, but Jesus is going to show them the greatness and glory they do not yet know: of the cross. 

Right now, that cross is veiled in our sanctuary - but not so that we don’t have to look at it, but symbolic of our Lord being taken away from us. And to increase our joy when we can view it unveiled again, and see once again the glory and the love of God for us, who would do that for you and me. For truly it is His love that makes His cross glorious. His love that would rather He die than we die. His love that would take our sins and hold them against Himself rather than hold them against us. To take our condemnation and death and give us His forgiveness and life.

Now too, the world knows something of this, praising those who heroically lay down their lives or give greatly of themselves for others. And the world will even praise Jesus as an example of this, who laid down His life for a cause. To teach us, to show us. But Jesus is much more than that. For He didn’t lay down His life for a cause, He laid it down for you. To be more than an example - to be your Saviour. Not to show you how to do it, but to give you what you need the most: the forgiveness of your sins.

Which, if you think about it, is the only thing Jesus asked for while on the cross. Now, some scholars think that the words recorded for us that Jesus spoke while on the cross are indications of much longer prayers; of Jesus praying the psalms, since many of them are snippets of psalms. And that may be true. But if you consider just the seven last words as they are recorded in the Gospels for us, of what Jesus spoke while on the cross, there is one question and five statements, but just one request: Father, forgive them (Luke 23:34). 

That’s what Jesus is all about. The healings, the miracles, even the resurrection, are all about forgiveness - undoing sin and giving life. For when you are forgiven, you have everything, and all that you need. Now and forever. That we do not think of forgiveness that way is an indication that we too, like James and John, have something still to learn. 

So, Jesus asks them a question, to teach them. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? How would you answer that? It’s not really a fair question, since we know a bit more than James and John did at that point, when they eagerly answered yes! We know that Jesus was baptized into our death. We know that cup Jesus was about to drink was so dreadful that He would shortly ask His Father to take it from Him, if possible. 

But we know especially that we don’t have to, that Jesus transformed those things through the glory of the cross. He who is life is baptized into our death, so that we who die are baptized into His resurrection. He who is sinless drinks the cup of wrath against our sin, so that we who are sinners drink now the cup of blessing, of forgiveness. And so in every baptism and in every Supper, Jesus’ one request from the cross is fulfilled: we are forgiven. 

And so James and John and you and I are, in fact, baptized with Jesus’ baptism and drink of His cup - but only after He transforms them from death to life for us. For that is His glory and why He came. That not just James and John, but all of us have seat around Him when He comes again in glory. 

But those seats at Jesus right and left in His glory, that James and John asked for? Turns out there were two criminals they were prepared for. James and John really didn’t know what they were asking. And so it was good Jesus did not give those places to them. He gave them places even greater. Places He has prepared for you too. And if Jesus has done all that and provided all that for you, you are free now to serve and forgive others. To be great and glorious for others. For in Jesus, you already are.

So this Passiontide, these last two weeks of Lent, we learn again the glory of your Saviour, the glory of his love, the glory of His cross. We learn again the glory of His service and the glory of ours. And we learn again the glory of His forgiveness. And so we learn to pray: Father, forgive me. Father, forgive them. And culminating on Good Friday and Easter, we will hear His glorious answer: Done.

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

Lent 4 Midweek Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“Christians in an Unchristian World: Suffering”

Text: 1 Peter 4:1-19

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

Tonight, the rubber meets the road for Peter. The first three chapters of Peter’s first letter were important - to know who we are as baptized Christians, that we’re being built as living stones into the living temple of the Church, and that we live in love in the places and under the authorities God has placed over us. But Peter’s words to us tonight are what all that was leading up to: suffering. Or, when the rubber meets the road and leaves a skid mark on us.

Sadly, this is sometimes the speed bump that causes some to veer off the road of Christianity, and some to veer off the road of life altogether. It is why assisted suicide and so-called mercy killing continues to grow in popularity and public acceptance. We don’t want to suffer. For Christians and non-Christians alike, the ideal life would be a smooth, straight road, all downhill, and always with the wind at your back. And many are looking for a God or a god who will give them just that.

But man’s ideal is not man’s reality. It was, in the beginning, but then sin took care of that. Adam’s work became toil, Eve’s childbearing became painful, and brother turned against brother. And though many things have changed and progressed across the centuries, that reality has not. Suffering became the new normal, quite contrary to what the serpent had promised.

But when the Son of God came into our world in the flesh, the ideal became reality again. A perfect man unstained by sin once again trod this earth. And through His suffering, death, and resurrection, He paved the way to eternal life, though the way will still not be smooth, straight, all downhill, and with the wind always at your back. It will still be hard and it will still involve suffering. 

Because you will have to wrestle with your sinful flesh and its passions which oppose the way of Christ. You will have to endure both the enticements and the attacks of the sinful world, which wants you to go its way and will hate you when you don’t. You will be under seige from satan, who wants to wear you down and wear you out so that you give in. And you will even have crosses sent from your Father in heaven for your good, though you will be tempted to see them as not good, and sent not in your Father’s love but in His anger. Which is all to say: suffering is not an abberation; suffering is the norm for the Christian Church. Which is why Peter says: Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

And so also Peter began this chapter: Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. 

Arm yourselves, which means to be ready. Soldiers arm themselves when expecting attack. So you, too, expect to be attacked, and so be ready for it. 

Arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. Or, with the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ who came to help the helpless, to love the loveless, to serve the lowly and outcast, to forgive the sinner, to suffer for the suffering, and to die for the dying. The mind of Christ which is not me first, but you first. The mind of Christ which seeks not to hold your sins against you, but to cover your sins. To cover them with His blood, that they be washed away in His forgiveness. That is the mind of Christ given to you and each Christian in baptism.But think that, do that, and like Christ, you will suffer for it.

But when you do, Peter also says, rejoice! Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. Which doesn’t mean that our sufferings atone for our sins, as Christ’s did - that could never be. And it doesn’t need to be - Christ has done it all. He atoned for all the sin of all the world, yours and mind included. It is finished, He said on the cross (John 19:30), and it was. 100% complete. Nothing more need be done. But when you suffer for being a Christian, when you suffer for the truth, when you suffer for doing good, when you suffer because you are a baptized child of God, you are being treated just as Jesus was and in that way sharing in His suffering. And when that happens, Peter goes on to say, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. The Holy Spirit, who is making you holy now, and will glorify you in the end.

And the end of all things is at hand, Peter also says. You know, whenever I hear that or something like that, I always think of the cartoonish characters who stand on street corners with a sign that says: The end is near! Which I think satan likes because when we think that way we then dismiss the thought, just like we dismiss the crazy carrying the sign as a kook.

And yet it’s true. Man knows not his time. How often are we surprised when we hear of someone dying suddenly, having a heart attack, random acts of violence taking someone, sometimes in what is called the prime of life. The end always is at hand. And the closer the end gets, the more satan will rage against the Church and the truth.

But do not fear or fear him. Instead, Peter says, go on serving one another to the glory of God. For satan cannot harm those who are in Christ. And if the end is at hand, that also means this: your salvation is at hand - the end of your suffering and your rest and peace with Christ Jesus. For at the end of Jesus’ baptizing hand, His absolving hand, and His feeding hand, is the end of your sin and thus the beginning of your life. Jesus leading us on till our rest is won (LSB #718).

Which we will always need, for as long as we live in this world and life, our thoughts, words, deeds, and desires will not be pure and without sin. While the new man in us ceases from sin because in baptism He has died to sin, the old Adam in us will continue to rebel. We’ll never like suffering and seek to avoid it. But as Christians living in an unchristian world, Peter concludes with this: Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. 

Trust the Word of God. Trust His promises. Trust His faithfulness. Don’t give up doing good for He who created you also re-creates you, and He who gave you life will give you new and eternal life when He raises you up on the last day. Until then, it won’t be easy. The righteous are scarcely saved, Peter writes - the dangers of false belief and false gods abound. The attacks and the suffering will continue. Of that you can be sure. But of this you can be sure as well: in Christ you are safe. 

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

Lent 4 Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“Mean? No, Merciful”

Text: Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:14-21; Ephesians 2:1-10

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

Meanie! Ever hear that? You’re a meanie! Parents, you hear it from your kids. Kids, you hear it from your friends. And if you’re older, you hear it too - just in more sophisticated ways and with more sophisticated words, like: you’re intolerant, you’re a hater, you’re a bigot. Now, we may be those things and as sinners we do things that are mean and inappropriate. But usually when you hear those things, it’s simply because you’re doing something someone else doesn’t happen to like. And, in fact, what you’re doing may be good, it may be right, it may even be loving and helpful. But they don’t like it, so you’re a meanie.

Well today, look how seemingly mean God is! We heard that He sent fiery serpents to attack His people in the wilderness and bite them. Well, many don’t like that. It doesn’t sound very nice. A loving God wouldn’t do that. God’s a meanie.

But here’s the thing and here’s the truth that God knew: His people had already been bitten, and by a serpent far more deadly than the ones He sent. For they had not just turned away from God but against God. They told Moses: God’s not good. You and Him, you just brought us up out of Egypt to be even more mean to us than the Egyptians were, and to die in this wilderness. There’s no food and no water and, oh yeah, this so-called food, this manna, you say God is giving us? We hate it.

Now, it hadn’t been too long before this that God had sent the plagues upon the Egyptians, including the Passover. He got the Egyptians to release them from their slavery and even give them gold and silver on their way out. He led them through the Red Sea and closed it back up on the pursuing Pharaoh and his army. He gave them the manna to eat and water from a rock to drink. Whatever they needed, God provided for them. So how could they turn against such a God? Because they got bit. And that’s also the only reason they were still in the wilderness, because they got bit and wouldn’t believe God and go into the land He led them to, that He had promised to give them. They got bit, and it was killing them. Turning them against the God that gave them - and was still giving them - life.

They got bit by the same serpent that bit Adam and Eve in the Garden and did the same thing to them. Look at all that God had given them! A perfect and wonderful place to live, all the food you could ever want, peace and harmony with all of creation, and a perfect spouse, specially created just for them. So how could they turn against such a God? Because they got bit. And it killed them. It turned them against the God that gave them - and was still giving them - life.

Now how is it with you? Why aren’t you more steadfast and constant in God’s Word and prayer? Why is it sometimes so hard to come to church? Why do you have such a hard time believing God’s Word? Why do you find it so hard to keep His commandments, or even believe that keeping them is good? Why do the opinions of the world that disagree with God’s Word sound so good? Why do you doubt and worry about God’s love for you and think you have to earn His favor? Why do you fear the world more than God? Why do you love things in the world more then God? Why do you trust the world more than God? Because you got bit too. 

And just like those folks in the wilderness, the poison of sin now courses through our veins, turning us away from God and against God. And it’s deadly. Physically and spiritually. Which is bad enough, but its actually even worse than that, for in turning away from and against God, what are we turning to? What are we turning to when we like our sin and choose it? And so roll up our sleeves and say to the serpent: bite me again and again and again and so get our sin fix, whatever that is for you, that makes you feel good: the satisfaction of temper, of sexual satisfaction you’re not meant to have outside of marriage, of gossip, of greed, of rebellion, of hate . . . what is it for you? What are we turning to when we think that sin can solve our problems and that following God’s ways can’t? What are we turning to when we are turning away from the God who has given us our life and everything we have? What we are doing?

Thankfully, God is not the kind of Father to let us just wander off, to go wherever we want and do whatever we want. He calls us back. He comes after us to bring us back. 

And so in the wilderness He sent fiery serpents. Mean? No, merciful. His people were dying and He needed them to realize what they were doing and to turn back to Him in repentance and faith. Hard? You bet. But would anything less have turned His people back to Him? And when they did, God provided a cure, a way out, by faith. He didn’t just wave His hand and make all the serpents go away. He didn’t just speak and make everyone better again. He could have. But instead He told Moses to make a serpent and put it on a pole. And Moses did so. And then He attached His Word and promise to that serpent - that if a serpent bit anyone . . . look at the bronze serpent and live. They would live by faith in that promise of God.

That’s what God had done with Adam and Eve as well. After they sinned and rebelled against Him He expelled them from the Garden and from that point on life was going to be most difficult for them. Mean? No, merciful. Because at the same time He gave them a Word and promise attached to the physical reality of child-bearing. That one day, one of the children born from Eve, descended from her, would defeat that serpent that bit them and crush his head. And from that day on, they would live by faith in that promise of God.

And then God did it. He fulfilled His promise. We heard it today from John - that just like it was in the time of Moses, when the people got bit and Moses lifted up that serpent in the wilderness, God sent His Son to be that for us. God sent His Son, descended from Eve, so that we and all who are bit and dying look at Him up on that pole of the cross, and live. Looking not just with physical eyes, but with the eyes of faith, believing the Word and promise of God that because of Jesus we will live and not die. For, Jesus said, His Father didn’t send Him to condemn them world - we were already that. We were already dying. We were already bit. The default is not that if God would just back off a bit I’d be alright or we’d be better off. The default is if God does nothing, if God doesn’t act, then the world is a lot worse place than it already is; than sin has made it. And we’re hopeless, lost, dead men walking. So no, He didn’t come to condemn the world; He came that we may live. That the world might be saved through Him; through the anti-venin of the forgiveness of our sins.

Paul said the same thing in the Epistle. He said while you were dead in your trespasses and sins - spiritually dead after you were bit and had the poison of sin running through your veins - God stepped in and did something about it. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us . . .  Great love, not small love or changing love, like we have. Great love, immoveable love, immeasureable love. Because of the great love with which He loved us, sent His only-begotten Son and made us alive together with Christ.

That is a love with which, quite frankly, we are unfamiliar for it is unlike any love on this earth. That God would give His Son for us, for sinners, for rebels, for garbage, when what we deserved was condemnation and death. And so the Scriptures call it grace, this love so completely and totally undeserved. By grace, Paul says - by this totally immeasureable and unimaginable love of God for you who do not deserve anything from Him - by grace you have been saved through faith. And then just to make sure you get it he adds: and this is not your own doing. Ya think? It is the gift of God.

It is the gift of God that He put His Son Jesus on the cross for you, and then attached to Him a Word and promise - that all who have been bitten by the satanic serpent, look at Him and live and not die. Believe that there is your sin and there is your forgiveness. There the Son of God takes the poison of all your bites. There is your future, if not for Him. But He took it to give you a real future. Life, not death.

Now, the people in the wilderness could have said to Moses: That’s stupid! How can looking at your little snake on a pole help? How come you didn’t pray harder? How come He didn’t just kill all these serpents? How can you think that thing is going to help us - we have real needs here! That would have been sad, no? Yet that’s exactly what some do today with Jesus and His cross. That’s stupid. We have real needs here! We need more than that. How can you think that is going to help us?

Because it does. Because that’s where God put His Word and promise, and where His Word and promise are, there is life and every good. And so when we look to the word and promise of the cross in Baptism, we live. We die and rise there with Christ to a new life. When we look to the word and promise of the cross in the Absolution, we live. We receive the anti-venin of Christ’s forgiveness. When we look to the word and promise of the cross in the Word, we live. We hear again of all that Jesus has done for us and all that our Father has promised us; we hear of His grace and inestimable love. And when we look to the word and promise of the cross in the Lord’s Supper, we live. We eat and drink the Body and Blood of our Saviour who gave Himself for us. And we live. For satan cannot have you when Jesus does. Satan cannot harm you when you are in Jesus.

Which doesn’t mean he won’t try to have you, he will. And that doesn’t mean we won’t wander too close and get bit again, we will. And that doesn’t mean your Father in heaven won’t send things into your life to keep you close to Him and focused on the cross, He will. He knows that you need them. Just like a parent disciplining their child, or a policeman pulling you over for speeding. Mean? No, merciful. The love that caused Him to send his only-begotten Son for you will let Him do no less.

And then He’ll use you like a Moses. For as Paul concluded: for by this grace which has saved us, we are [also] his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Which means that once the anti-venin of forgiveness is coursing through your veins, things change. You change. Like when you’re sick and then the fever breaks, you get up and do things again, you live again, things get back to normal. So it is in Christ. With His forgiveness. It’s back to normal, which is back to the way things were before sin. Not all the way to be sure, as long as we live in this life before Jesus comes again. But one day all the way. But still now different. Getting up and doing those good things we’ve been created for and to those whom God has given us. Not because we have to, but because we now can. Because of His healing, His forgiveness, His life. Being merciful, as our Father in heaven is merciful (Luke 6:36).

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

Lent 3 Midweek Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“Christians in an Unchristian World: Love”

Text: 1 Peter 3:1-22

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

The chapter of First Peter that we are considering tonight, chapter three, is very much a continuation of chapter two. In fact, if I were the one in charge of deciding where the chapter break would be, I would not have put it here. For after emphasizing who we are in chapter one - that we are baptized children of God, and that this is our first and foremost identity - Peter continued in chapter two to stress our life together - how God is building us together as His Church, like living stones in a living Temple in which His Spirit is dwelling. And he then began to spell out in some very practical ways how we then live this life together in holiness - set apart from the ways and thinking of the world; set apart for godliness. We submit to those in authority over us - the government, our bosses, teachers, and others - even if we suffer for doing so. For we have a Good Shepherd who went through the same thing, and is caring for us.

And so tonight Peter continues with our life together in speaking of husbands and wives - verses that always cause no small amount of controversy when read in our world today as being demeaning to women. And if taken out of the context of the rest of the Scriptures, perhaps they are. But whenever one speaks of husbands and wives according to the Scriptures, always lurking in the background is Christ and His Bride, the Church. And that our marriages are not only defined by that, but are to be images of that. Of a husband who loves His bride so much that He willingly lays down his life for her, and of a bride who in return, willingly submits herself - never forceably - to her husband. And that with such a relationship, both are raised up and exalted. 

And so for an example, Peter points to Abraham and Sarah - an example which has no small amount of irony for us. For first of all, we know that Sarah was a very beautiful woman. That is why Abraham seemed to be always afraid that someone else was going to kill him and take her for a wife. And yet, Peter says, she is an example not of outward beauty but of inward, the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, whose hope was in God. And because of her trust in God, she submitted herself to Abraham and obeyed him, even calling him lord. Which doesn’t mean she never spoke up or stood up for herself - indeed she did, telling Abraham to send Hagar and her son Ishmael away. And the Lord told Abraham to listen to her and do what she said (Genesis 21)! But in calling Abraham lord and submitting to him, there is the acknowledgement and belief that the Lord had given her to Abraham and Abraham to her and that her true Lord was working good for her through her husband. And so she sees the Lord in her husband, working through him in that calling, for her. And here again is a picture of Christ and His Bride, the Church, who calls Him Lord and Saviour, and from whom we expect every good.

But here then is also some irony with Abraham, for, Peter continues, husbands are to live with their wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, and yet Abraham did not seem to do this when not once, but twice, he allows Sarah to be taken and almost made the wife of the Pharaoh (Genesis 12) or Abimelech, the king of Gerar (Genesis 20) because he was fearful for his own life! Abraham was a sinner too. And while many get upset at these verses that call the woman the weaker vessel, it first says that they should be shown honor. And so the picture here is this: I have lots of things in my house and I do not treat them all the same. For example, I have a pair of work boots and I have some very old and delicate books. The books I take special care of because they are not as strong and sturdy as the boots and are precious and valuable. I do not throw them on the floor or take them out into the mud and snow. That is how husbands are to treat their wives - as valuable and precious and worthy of being shown such honor. These verses have nothing to do with power and physical strength, and everything to do with how we regard one another. And again, consider how valuable and precious Christ considered His Bride, and how He has honored us. 

And so in all our life together, Peter continues, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

That is what we should do, that is how our life together should be, in all our relationships. But as I pointed out with Abraham, and as you know from your own life, it isn’t always so. We are sinners and sometimes big and spectacular sinners. And that is why, at the end of this chapter, Peter points us again to Jesus. There is our hope. The righeous one who died for the unrighteous ones, that he might bring us to God. And He did that, as Peter spells out, through His death, His descent in hell, His resurrection, and His ascension. He took the punishment for our sins and died for them. He then descended into hell and conquered it too. He broke open the grave in His resurrection. And He who submitted Himself perfectly here in this life, has now ascended and all powers have been subjected to Him.

And all this has been given to you in your baptism, which now saves you. Not because it removes dirt from the body, but because it removes sin from the soul. Because that water is your union with Christ in His death and resurrection and His gifting to you all that He did for you. It is where you become His Bride and receive Him and all that He has. Like Noah safe in the ark and saved through water, you are safe in Christ and saved through that water. 

And thus safe and secure, forgiven and protected, in your heavenly Bridegroom, we are now enabled to live a new life. The baptized, united in Christ, as Christians in an unchristian world. That life is going to look quite different than those in the world and what they’re used to, and so, Peter says, always be prepared to make a defense - to give an explanation - to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Tell them of Christ and His forgiveness and the new life He has given you. And, Peter says, have no fear of them - of any enemy - for what Christ has given to you they cannot take away. And if you suffer for this life and faith, Peter says, you will be blessed. Which doesn’t mean it will be easy, but it does give us confidence that our Saviour who has all powers subjected to Him, can and will use everything in this world and life for our good; for our blessing. We may not always see it or understand how, but faith simply says: yes! Amen. It is so.

Now, you may have noticed, I haven’t really mentioned “love,” which I listed as the theme for this chapter tonight. But though I haven’t mentioned the word, I really have been talking about it all along. For while the world thinks of love primarily as an emotion, the Scriptures speak of love as something that is done; a part of our will that then expresses itself in our lives. We see it in Christ Jesus and what He has done for us. He didn’t just say “I love you,” He did love, especially on the cross. And that love He has now given to us, that in all our relationships in this world and life, living as Christians in an unchristian world, we can do the same. Not fearing anything that is frightening, Peter said, for perfect love drives out fear. The perfect love which is Christ, His forgiveness, His promises, and His victory.

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

Lent 3 Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Tremendously Comforting”

Text: John 2:13-22; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31;

Exodus 20:1-17

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

What a tremendously comforting account is told us in the Holy Gospel today. If you didn’t hear it that way, that’s okay. I’ll explain. Because I don’t think most hear it that way. Many people are puzzled by this side of Jesus we hear about today, so used to the kind, compassionate, tender, healing Jesus are we. But by clearing out the Temple of those selling animals and exchanging money, Jesus is showing the same zeal for us and for our salvation as always. For He drives out demons, He drives out sicknesses and diseases, and He drives out those who make [His] Father’s house a house of trade.

And there’s this too: Jesus knew these actions were going to get Him killed. Zeal for your house will consume me, the psalmist wrote of Jesus so many years before. Meaning not so much that this zeal was going to well up in Him and take control of Him and make Him fly into a rage, but that this zeal was going to have Him consumed; it was going to have Him hunted down and destroyed. That is what we’re moving toward again this season of Lent - to the cross of Jesus. But He didn’t care. He didn’t care that this was going to have Him hunted down and killed because He cares about you so much. So He wouldn’t stop . . . and that’s tremendously comforting.

Tremendously comforting for people like you and me who don’t care so much. No, I take that back - we do care . . . just mostly about ourselves. For we heard the verses containing the Commandments from Exodus and doing those things won’t get us killed, they are just maybe an inconvenience at best - yet how ya’ doing with those? 

Not hurt or harm our neighbor and to help him in his need; 

not speak poorly of him but to speak well of him and encourage him; 

not take what is his and help him to improve what he has; 

honor marriage and sexual purity and not tempt those around us; 

not lie or gossip or hurt anyone’s reputation; 

honor, respect, and obey our parents and other authorities; 

not allow the sinful urges and impulses of our hearts to dictate our actions; 

honor God above all else, to hear His Word regularly and often, 

and regard His Name as sacred and use it in prayer. 

How ya’ doing with all that? Maybe sometimes we do some of that . . . but not enough. Truth is, our zeal for others and for God often runs cold or dries up altogether in the face of opposition, fear, or just plain laziness and selfishness.

That’s why Lent is a good time to examine ourselves and take a good, hard look not only at our actions, but at our priorities, at our loves, at our desires, and all that is twisted and out of whack in us, and repent. To turn us away from ourselves again and to God in faith and to our neighbor in love.

But even more that we sinners hear the tremendously comforting word of Jesus again. The word of all that He has done for us. Which is why St. Paul said we preach Christ crucified. And why He insisted on it. This is the word we need. This is the word we cannot do without. We preach Christ crucified, we means we don’t preach ourselves, we don’t preach what we can do, we don’t preach about how to have a better life, we don’t preach a message of self-help or feel-good theology, because all of that really doesn’t matter. What matters is this man, this God-man, who cared about us so much that He laid down His life to the most horrible death then invented by man - and maybe ever invented by man - for you. That it wouldn’t happen to you. That though you die, yet you will live because of Him. And nothing was going to stop Him.

So when Jesus finds out that the Temple has been turned into something it was never meant to be, He acts. And when challenged does not back down but doubles down: Not only will He clear out those selling animals and exchanging money, but Jesus answered them, “Destroy this [whole] temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” Impossible, you mad man!

Now, for comparison, imagine if Jesus went to the National Cathedral just over the river there in DC and started throwing down and throwing out everything that doesn’t belong in a Church - like the gargoyle of Darth Vader, or the statue of Eleanor Roosevelt, or the stained glass window dedicated to man’s space exploration instead of the Creator of space, and everything else there that honors man and not God. How upset would people be? And then imagine that when challenged, He says: Destroy this whole building and in three days I will raise it up. This building that took 83 years to construct, is 30 stories tall, weighs 150,000 tons, and then even almost four years after an earthquake did some damage to the building and it still hasn’t been fixed - and you’re going to rebuild the whole thing in three days? Right. Mad man!

So, to those in the Temple that day - the Jerusalem Temple that compared to the National Cathedral was a bit smaller in size, equal in grandeur, but of greater importance to the nation - Jesus, you’re worse than mad, you’re stupid and dangerous. You have to be dealt with. You have to be silenced. You have to be killed.

And thus they fulfilled Jesus’ words. Not only that zeal for His Father’s house would be the cause of His being hunted down and destroyed, but that they did destroy the Temple of God. Because, John tells us, He wasn’t really talking about the building, but about His Body. He was the new Temple of God. He was the new dwelling place of God with man. And so really, those who valued and revered the Temple so highly were the very ones who would bring about its end.

And then Jesus would fulfill His words. He would raise it up in three days. Which was no less a miracle than if He had rebuilt the Temple that took them 46 years to build in three days. It was actually even greater. That one who was slaughtered and butchered and killed and thrown into a hole in a rock, would rise back to life in three days. And He wouldn’t come out of that tomb the same battered and abused person that went in, but completely whole and healed and perfect again. All sin, all death, all evil completely gone, and a new life begun. 

For you. You see, Jesus didn’t rise for Himself because He didn’t die for Himself. He did it all for you, that you too rise to a new life. And not just on the Last Day, but even now. And that’s what your Baptism does. You who are born dead in your trespasses and sins are raised with Jesus to a new life. You who are battered and abused by sin and evil - coming both from yourself and from others - are healed and raised in the forgiveness of Jesus. In Baptism, you are whole and healed and perfected in Jesus. And the same is true when your baptismal promises are reapplied to you in the Absolution and you are washed and cleansed and raised again. Your sin and evil and death sentence gone, and a new life begun.

Tremendously comforting words indeed.

And so again, as St. Paul said, we preach Christ crucified. A stumbling block to some and folly to others . . . but Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. This is how God shows His power, in weakness. This is how God shows His wisdom, in what men consider foolishness. Then and still today. In Jesus and now in His Word and Sacraments. They don’t look like much. It’s easy to doubt and disbelieve. It’s easy to ignore the Word and not live as we ought because it’s not getting us anywhere; there’s nothing in it for me. Those who are evil seem to prosper, while the faithful struggle, endure persecution, and are now days even being beheaded. 

But this is exactly why a dying and rising Saviour is then exactly what we need. A Saviour not just to save us from the things of this world and life, but more - to save us from death and for a life that is eternal. To give Himself for us on the cross, to give Himself to us now in preaching and in the Supper, and to give Himself to us forever. And so a Saviour that is still zealous and still not stopping - still working for you and for all people, for salvation, for life, and for a good and a future that has no end.

So don’t be fooled. Let the Word of God overturn the tables of your hearts and drive out all that does not belong - all the sin and evil and unbelief - that it be His Temple, His dwelling. That we now, like the disciples, believe not the opinions and truth of the world, but the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. His Word to you of forgiveness and life.

Tremendously comforting words indeed.

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

Lent 2 Midweek Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Christians in an Unchristian World: Unity”

Text: 1 Peter 2:1-25

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

We began our meditation on First Peter last week with a consideration of who you are, and that while the world and even we ourselves may answer that question in a myriad of ways and from a host of different perspectives, there is one answer from our Lord: you are my baptized child, Christian, redeemed, saint. And that identity trumps all others. And in that identity and reality, we are called to holiness - to live a life set apart. Set apart from sin, set apart from the ordinary, set apart to live in and according to the Word of God and His forgiveness.

Today, Peter builds on that reality and identity. That’s who you are, but that’s not all there is to it. There’s more to the story, more blessing, more grace. For when you are baptized into Christ, you are baptized into a community, into a Church, a spiritual house, a holy nation, a people of God. That is also your identity, a reality greater than just being on your own, or just “you and Jesus.”

This is not new to Peter and his letter. All the Scriptures speak of God’s people this way: as a group, a community. And when there are individuals, like Moses and Abraham, they are called to be the beginning of a community that will come from or be formed around them. In the beginning God said it is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18), and that is still true. In all times and places. God gathers the solitary into homes (Psalm 68:6) and into churches. You are not on your own or by yourself; you are part of a body, a building. And not just in this time and place, but one that God has been building from the beginning and which is not finished yet. With you and I now, people long gone, and people yet to come. Crossing time and place, for such things are no barrier to God.

And so, Peter says, you are living - not dead - stones, being built together into a spiritual house, on the foundation of Christ, the cornerstone.

Yet even though this is not a new teaching, it is a particularly challenging one, especially in our day and age today, which values rugged individualism, stresses self-sufficiency, and treasures self-definition and achievement as perhaps never before. And this aided and abetted by technology, which has created the paradox that we live in today. For technology has made the world never smaller, and yet the distances between us seem never greater. We can have hundreds or thousands of virtual friends and followers, and yet do not even know the people who live next door to us. The neighborhood church used to be the place of gathering and socialization, but now it is the chat room, web sites, video interaction, and more. The world has never been so crowded, and yet people never so alone.

That is not to bash or trash technology. It is a good gift from God and is only good or bad in the use we make of it. It is simply the reality we live in today.  The people in Peter’s day lived in a far different reality, and yet one in which they found themselves alone and separated too - because of the persecution that had scattered them far and wide, and isolated them in fear. Theirs a forced, and perhaps ours a willing, division and isolation.

But just as we are more than how we define ourselves, so we are more than where we live and who we find ourselves to be around, or not. Ours is a unity, Peter says, that exceeds whatever divisions this world and it’s prince can mete out - our unity in Christ. We are members of His Body, joined to Him through water and the Word, forgiven our sins and raised with Him to a new life. But Peter also provides this image for you: of a building, a temple, of which you are a living stone.

Think about that for a moment. What does that mean? It means you’ve been put where you are by the builder. You fit there. You stand on the shoulders of the ones under you, and support the ones above you. You stand side-by-side with those next to you. Those stones around you might have pointy edges, rough spots, holes, bumps, and all kinds of imperfections. No matter. You have them too. They are different than you and yet one with you in this building, this building of Christ, His Church. And without you, there’d be a hole. You matter.

I know it may not always seem like it. You may be smaller than some other stones, or older, or not as strong, or not as beautiful. Yet you matter here, in the place God has put you, both to Him and to the other stones. And to those stones yet to be added to the building. You’re there for them, too.

And so what we do we do together. You don’t necessarily hear that in the English, for the word “you” is both singular and plural. But it is plural for Peter. What we do we do together, and what we do impacts others - whether we realize it or not. And so Peter spends the second half of the chapter spelling some of that out - how we live with others, and why. And just like last week, it’s not going to be easy. Peter’s hearers were Christians scattered all through an unchristian world, and even you and I today will leave this place and live in the midst of a world increasingly hostile to Christ, His Word, and His values.

But what we do and how we live is not dependent on whether the world is friendly or receptive to us or not. It is simply how we live as this Body, this building of Christ, for the glory of His Name. And so we are subject to the government. We are careful to curb our sinful urges - both for the sake of others and for the Name of Christ. We are subject to our earthly surperiors, our masters at home and at work. And if others do not do the same? If they repay us evil for good? If they do not help but hurt? . . . so they did to Christ. And you have His grace, His care. For He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree of the cross - to forgive us when sin controls us and not righteousness, and that His wounds might heal our wounds. For [we too] were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Shepherd. Overseer. At the end of this chapter, Peter introduces yet another image for you, that you are a part of: the flock of Christ, the Good Shepherd. And no matter where you are, who is around you, or how they are treating you, you have this Good Shepherd watching over you and providing for you as part of His one flock. For though you may feel isolated and alone, scattered and divided, you are not. You live in a unity and fellowship that transcends all earthly boundaries, and heavenly ones too. For you are the people of God. Each of you and all of you. And where you are is just right, with God using you in ways known and unknown. 

And one more thing: do not neglect the Word of God, for that, Peter says, is your pure spiritual milk, what will sustain you and strengthen you and give you growth. So hear it, read it, pray it, be washed in it, eat it. For you have tasted that the Lord is good, and blessed are all who take refuge in Him (Psalm 2:12).

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

Sermon for Lent 2

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Are You a Loser? I Hope So!”

Text: Mark 8:27-38 (Romans 5:1-11)

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

The twelve had been with Jesus for some time now. They had witnessed a great many things and had received no small amount of teaching. Now it was the end of the semester - time for an examination, an evaluation. That they might confess the faith that they had been given. 

Who do you say that I am?

They had already rehearsed for Jesus the opinions and confessions of others. It is plain that people held Jesus in very high regard to put Him in the company of John the Baptist, Elijah, and the prophets. It is the same in our day and age. Many hold Jesus in high regard, confessing Him to be an exceptional man, a prophet, or even the greatest teacher the world has ever known. But as you know, there is more to Jesus than that.

But who do you say that I am?

Peter answers correctly, as spokeman for the twelve: You are not just what the others are saying of you; you are more than that. You are the Christ, the Anointed One, the Promised One. Well done, Peter. Well confessed.

So on to the next step, the next semester of learning - what that means; what the Christ is going to do, or what is going to be done to Him. He’s going to be a loser. He’s going to suffer, not rejoice. He’s going to be rejected, not praised. He’s going to be killed, not enthroned. Yet after three days rise again. And He said this plainly. He said this confidently, boldly, and openly. Not that this might happened, but that it will. And not only that it will, that it must.

This next step in the learning curve is going to be a steep and difficult one for the twelve. And Peter does not start this semester off well. He hears the words suffer, rejected, and killed, and has heard enough. If he heard the part about rising again, it doesn’t register with him; he doesn’t understand it. But instead of asking Jesus about all this and what it means and listening and learning, he takes Jesus aside and not too gently tells Him: No, Jesus. That’s not going to happen. The Christ isn’t a loser, He’s a winner! Stop speaking like that. You’re going to be fine.

Well, there’s a grain of truth to that. Jesus is going to win and He will be fine. But this must happen. And anyone who denies it or tries to stop it is anti-Christ and must be rebuked. So what starts off well ends with those stinging words from Jesus: Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

And then Jesus doubles down. Peter doesn’t want Him to talk this way, but He will - and not only to the twelve, but to the crowd too. If anyone would come after me, don’t think it’s going to be all glory and happiness! Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. This kingdom comes through losing and death.

Jesus will repeat this teaching to the twelve several more times, so difficult it is. And they still won’t get it . . . until after it is finished, until after the resurrection, so contrary does it seem to all human reason and thinking.

So now what about you? 

Today you answered the question put forth by Jesus as we confessed together the Creed. And with the advantage of living after Jesus’ death and resurrection, you know how it turns out and confessed that too: He was crucified, suffered, buried, and on the third day rose again. That is the truth. Well done, dear Christians. Well confessed.

Now what?

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Or let me paraphrase that for you: you must become a loser too.

What’d you say, Pastor . . . ? You didn’t just say what I think you said! That’s not how this works. You’re mistaken. Jesus makes us winners, not losers. Stop speaking like that. Besides, it’s not good for outreach and evangelism.

Do you see? If that’s our attitude, if that’s how we think, then how just like Peter we are! We want to follow Jesus, but . . . we don’t want to do without, we don’t want crosses and death, we don’t want to be losers. No Jesus! This will never happen to . . . me (cf. Matthew 16:22)! But it must. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

This is a hard teaching - but a good one for this season of Lent. No sugar coating it. The kingdom of God comes through losing and death. The kingdom of God is for losers.

Now, I’m using that word - loser - both because Jesus did and that you might hear those words the way Peter and the others and the crowd did. For to take up your cross would have meant only one thing back then: you were a loser and were about to lose your life.

And that we react so much against that idea is an indication of just how much the wisdom of the world and our own sinful nature influences us and pulls us away from Jesus - even as Christians. For we don’t want to be a loser. We want to make something of ourselves. We want to make Jesus proud of us. And so we hang on to our lives, we hang on to our good works, we hang on to our accomplishments and pride and honor, we hang on to the person we want to be and are trying to make ourselves be. A good and righteous person, worthy of Jesus dying for.

But those things we’re hanging on to? They’re our false gods. And they’re our false gods because we’re looking to those things for who we are and what we want to be and what we need. That’s why we don’t want to let go of them, because then what would I have? Then I’d be . . . a loser.

But whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

So here’s the good news: Jesus died for losers. That’s what St. Paul said earlier in the Epistle: Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— [that’s the wisdom of the world] but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, - while we were still losers - Christ died for us.

That’s why we begin every Divine Service with another confession - of our sins, confessing that yes, I am a loser. And if that’s not what you’re thinking when you say those words, take some time this week to really examine yourself and your life and all you do every week. Do you love God with all you heart and soul and mind and strength? Do you love your neighbor as yourself? Far from it, right? In fact, if you’re like me, my first impulse if to love me, serve me, and desire others to do the same. And I like it that way. Which means that according to the Word of God, I am a loser, a poor, miserable sinner.

So each and every week we confess that, that we might believe it and learn to let go of all that stuff I’m trying to hang on to, my life that I’m trying to hang on to. And then we hear the words of Absolution, words, really, of resurrection: I forgive you. I died for you. To give you everything. And it must be this way. For whatever you can do and gain in this life will last only for this life. But what Jesus has done and gives will last forever.

And with that faith, that faith which believes and receives the promises of God in Jesus, that makes you a winner, right? Well, yes, but really, it enables you to be even more of a loser! But this time, in a good way.

Losing your pride to humble yourself for others.

Losing your right for revenge and forgiving others.

Losing your stuff in order to provide for the needs of others.

Losing your time for those who need your help, your prayers.

Losing all, and yet really losing nothing. For Christ is providing all you need, and will continue to do so. 

Now, you’ll never do all that, and never do it perfectly. You’re never going to like being a loser and you’ll never get used to it. We have to fight our sinful nature everyday. And that’s why Jesus said, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. That is, do battle with your sinful nature everyday, and kill it. Kill it in repentance and being raised to life again in Jesus’ forgiveness. Kill it by living in that forgiveness by serving others and not yourself. Kill it by being a loser, and relying on nothing but the word and promises of Jesus. 

As I said, that’s never going to be easy, and if you’re like most Christians, you’ll even think you’re getting worse and worse at it, not better! But it may not be so. You may simply be growing in faith and learning to see your sin more and more. That’s why we can never rely on what we think or feel or see - all those things will deceive us and mislead us. What we can rely on are the words and promises of Jesus. His word of forgiveness, His word of blessing, His word that we heard today, that whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. Of that you can be sure. For that’s what Jesus did for you, and is giving to you. And He who gave Himself for you is hanging on to you.

So come now to the Table of the Lord, fellow losers, for here is a promise for you too: Take, eat, this is My Body. Take, drink, this is My Blood of the New Testament, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. And this true Body and Blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will strengthen and preserve you steadfast unto everlasting life. Depart in peace. Amen. And it is so.

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