Funeral Sermon for Louis Anthony Steiner

No Audio

Note: This funeral sermon was quite difficult and a bit different than my usual. Let the reader understand . . .

Jesu Juva

“Hope”

Text: John 11:17-39a, 43-44;

1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 51-57; Genesis 37:29-35

James, Gordana, and David, Friends of Tony and Tony’s family . . .

Your minds are filled with questions. Your hearts are filled with grief. But God’s Word is filled with hope.

You wonder what you could have done. God’s Word tells us what Jesus has done for us, to rescue and save us.

Perhaps you are also filled with guilt. Were there signs you missed? Indications that something was wrong that you should have noticed? God’s Word tells us that there is forgiveness.

So that’s what we turn to on a day like this. Questions without answers provide no comfort. God’s Word gives us hope, and shows us the one greater than our sin, our grief, and our helplessness.

That doesn’t make today easy, of course. Grief and healing take time. But it points us in the right direction. To go to our Saviour with our every need. Our Saviour who grieves with us. Our Saviour who before the tomb of His friend Lazarus, wept like we do today. But who also said this: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Words of hope.

You see, we live in a world gone horribly wrong. This is not the way things are supposed to be. God did not create us to die. Death was never part of the plan. Death is not a part of life, as some like to say today. Death is an instrusion. Death, as we heard, is the enemy. And especially children are not supposed to die before their parents. But in this world gone horribly wrong, this world turned upside down by sin and death, that happens. And not just today, but from the beginning. Adam and Eve lost their son Abel. We heard today of Jacob mourning for his son Joseph who he thought had been killed by a wild beast - more on that in a moment. King David mourned for his son Absalom. And then there was Mary, who lost her son, too - Jesus - on a cross. But that wasn’t just Mary’s son who died there, but God’s Son. God knows what it’s like to lose a son, too.

But that loss is our gain. For God sent His Son into this world gone horribly wrong and give us hope. Into this world turned upside down and set it right again. To take our sin and guilt and provide forgiveness and hope. To die our death and provide life. That’s God’s plan. Sin and death, NO. Forgiveness and life, YES. Separation and grief, NO. Reunion and hope, YES. 

And that’s what Jesus did for us. Jesus died our death on the cross, to provide a way out of death. He entered into death to crack it open and give us hope. So that He could say those words to Mary and Martha: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Words of hope. Words of life. 

Sometimes, though, we think there is no hope. That my sadness, my trouble, my trial, my sin is too much. That there is no love greater than these, that could overcome these. But Jesus shows us there is. His love. And He showed it to us on the cross. That He would rather die than we die. 

You see, while He was hanging there, many made fun of Him. They mocked Him and told Him to jump down and prove that He was who He said He was. That He really was God and not just a mere criminal getting what He deserved. That He really was strong and not weak. But He did not jump down. But not because He was weak, but because His love for us was strong. Because had He jumped down He would have saved Himself but lost us. So He stayed. To take our sin and give us forgiveness. To take our death and give us life. So while our hands turn against each other and maybe even turn against ourselves, His hands on the cross turned toward us; reached out to us, in love. That we see that He really is the way, the truth, and the life.

Our sorrow and grief may make it hard to see that, as it did for Jesus’ disciples - themselves wracked with sorrow and guilt - those days after Jesus died and lay in His tomb. But the disciples would see it. When Jesus rose from the dead, breaking its grip, gaining the victory over it, and showing Himself to them alive. Death is too strong for us, but not for Him.

And now He promises that victory to us. That just as He called Lazarus out of the grave with just His Word, so He would on the Last Day do that same for us. That sin let us go. That death let us go. That these enemies be defeated, and there be only life. Life with Him. Life forever. With no more sadness, fear, guilt, loneliness, tragedy, suffering, or tears. Right now, death looks victorious, and it stings. But it will not always be so. But, as we heard, thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God. Tony said those words with us in church week after week. He rejoiced in His Lord’s forgiveness and Word and promises and gifts. As he told his mother, it was the way he wanted - he needed - to start every week. I also studied God’s Word with him during the week. He was a good student and asked good questions and looked forward to our time together. Which is all to say: Tony knew and loved His Saviour. So while the last hours of Tony’s life are shouded in mystery to us, that’s the Tony I knew. 

And that gives me hope. That like Jacob, who mourned his son but later saw him again, that so will I see Tony, together with all who depart this life with faith in Jesus - even if that faith is small as a mustard seed. For it is not the size of our faith that makes the difference, but the size and power of the one our faith is in. And who made, fulfilled, and will keep all His promises to us. Promises like the one we heard today: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

I cannot answer why things happen as they do in this world. I do not even know why God would love us so much to give His Son for us! For who am I that God should do that for me? For you? And for Tony? But He did. We have a Saviour whose love is far greater than we could ever imagine. A Saviour we can trust.

So I included a little hymn in your bulletin for us to sing today. A children’s hymn. For at times like this, we look to our heavenly Father as His children, with child-like faith. We look to Him for hope, for forgiveness, for comfort and strength. And He will not let us down.

So let us sing . . .  (Hymn LSB #729: I Am Trusting Thee, Lord Jesus)

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

Commemoration of St. Laurence Sermon

No Audio

Jesu Juva

“Life in Christ”

Text: Mark 8:34-38; Revelation 6:9-11

St. Laurence knew the Church is not an institution. It is not a building. It is not a thing. St. Laurence knew that the Church is the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ. A building not of dead stones, but of living, breathing, bleeding stones, built on the living, breathing, and bleeding cornerstone named Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-6).

That’s why, as tradition says, when Laurence was brought before the prefect of Rome and told to turn over all the treasure of the Church to the Roman treasury, Laurence didn’t bring silver or gold or the keys to a building - he brought people. He brought the disabled and sick. He brought the poor - those the Church had helped and touched; those who had become the living stones of the Church. And he said: “Here are the Church’s treasures.” 

The Roman prefect was not amused, but Laurence wasn’t trying to amuse him. Living in the midst of a time of great persecution, Laurence knew that doing this would get him killed. Martyred. But he had to do the truth. And he knew that while the Roman government could kill him, it couldn’t take his life. For his life was safe in Christ (Colossians 3:3). He had already died with Christ and been raised with Christ in Holy Baptism (Romans 6). So he was bold. The Roman prefect counted on fear to get what he wanted. But fear was not the currency Laurence dealt with. Love was. The love of Christ for him, the love of Christ given to him, the love of Christ he now, as a deacon of the Church, gave to others.

And when love is your currency and not silver or gold, you see things differently. You see as Jesus saw. And you see the Church not as an institution, or a building, or a thing, but as the people. For you don’t lay down your life here for an institution, a building, or a thing. You lay down your life here when you know that you’ve already been given a life that cannot be taken away. When the love you’ve received is far greater than the love you could ever give. Receiving a love like that changes you. 

For Laurence, like you and I, was not born this way, ready to give his life for Christ and the Church. By nature we cling to our lives in this world. We cling to the stuff of this world. It’s what we know. But Laurence, like you and I, was re-born; given a new life; a new life in Christ Jesus. And when he was re-born in Holy Baptism, he was changed. He was raised. From one life to another. From an earthly life to a spiritual, heavenly life. He looked the same, but was really a new man. A new man who knew that it didn’t profit him anything to save his life in this world and forfeit his soul. A new man who knew that losing his life in this world meant saving it for eternity. A new man who was not ashamed of a crucified Saviour, and so was not ashamed of those his crucified Saviour came to save - the poor, disabled, and sick; the down and out; the low and unwanted. Jesus wanted them, and that was good enough for Laurence. The things of this world - no matter how great and strong and glorious they look - are passing away. But the One who died and rose again could not pass away again. Not ever. And Laurence, by virtue of his baptism, belonged to him.

That’s how it worked in ancient Rome. If you were a Roman soldier, you were marked as such. You belonged to Rome and to your regiment. Laurence had been marked, as you have been marked - with the sign of the cross - and he would not rebel against the one he belonged to: his Saviour. 

So when he was summoned, he did what was right; he did the truth, even though he knew it would mean losing his life here in this world. He knew God was not against him nor had left him, but that he would be privileged to be one of those we heard about from Revelation tonight - one of those souls under the altar, slain for the Word of God and the witness they bore. God knows exactly the number of that great company, a number being added to even today as Christians are killed for refusing to deny their Saviour. Or maybe better to say, as Christians are given life for refusing to deny their Saviour. 

We admire men and women like Laurence. For doing what they did. For their courage and faith. 

But while we admire men and women like Laurence, we worship the one far greater than he. The one who looked at this world full of the poor, disabled, sick, down and out, low and unwanted; rebellious sinners going their own way; infected by sin and dying, and who loved us anyway. Who saw people unworthy of His time, unworthy of His love, unworthy of His doing anything for us . . . and He came anyway. Not because of who we are, but because of who He is. Because of His love that surpasses anything we can ever imagine. And so He came and gave His life for you. That you be no longer poor, disabled, sick, down and out, low and unwanted, but that you be a child of God. And He gatheres you in Baptism, He feeds you with His Body and Blood, He absolves you of your sin, and He takes you to His Father, and says: “Here are your treasures.” And unlike the Roman prefect, the Father is well pleased. This is exactly what He wants. You.

And knowing that, believing that, you too can be a Laurence and see as Jesus sees. And not only that, but do and speak as Jesus too. And see others, unworthy as they are, as folks to love and help and go out of your way for. Not because of who they are, but because of who you now are - a new man, a new woman, in Christ. It won’t be easy and it may not be popular or pleasant, and as Laurence found out, it may cost you your life. But as Jesus said: whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. Like Laurence, you have a life that cannot be taken from you; a life safe in Christ. So you can live, without fear. You can live in love. You can live because whatever you need, you have. In Christ. In the one who gave His life for you, and gives His life to you. And when you have His life, you truly have everything.

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

Another Guest Sermon!

This week we are privileged to have Athanasian and now missionary Chris Yang with us for the Divine Service. Here is the link to the audio of his sermon. Thank you Chris for your preachment of the Word to us today and for all your work for the Lord!

No Sermon This Week

No sermon manuscript to post this week as we were privileged to have Seminarian Daniel Broaddus proclaim the Word of God to us today, fresh off his vicarage. Here is the link to the audio of his sermon. We got to see the progress he is making in his pastoral formation and pray for God's blessing as he returns for his fourth year of study.

Commemoration of Isaiah Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“The Fifth Evangelist”

Text: Isaiah 6:1-8; Hebrews 11:32-12:2; Luke 4:16-22a

Isaiah is often times called “the fifth Evangelist” because he wrote so much of Christ. It is Isaiah who wrote of the virgin birth. It is Isaiah who wrote that the people walking in darkness have seen a great light. It is Isaiah who wrote of Jesus as the branch that would grow from the stump of Jesse. It is Isaiah who writes that on the mountain of the Lord death would be swallowed up, a great feast prepared, and that God would wipe away tears from all faces. It is Isaiah who wrote, “Comfort, comfort my people,” who wrote of all the miracles Jesus would do, and that the Spirit would be put upon Him. It is Isaiah through whom God said, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” It is Isaiah who wrote of Jesus’ crucifixion, saying that Jesus would be stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted; that Jesus was pierced for our transgressions, was silent like a sheep before its shearers, and that He bore our iniquities. It is Isaiah who wrote of the visit of the Magi, and it is Isaiah who talks about the new heavens and the new earth. Isaiah knew his Saviour.

So it really is no surprise that the first sermon Jesus preached - after He was baptized and after His 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by satan - when He goes home and goes to church, the first sermon He preaches is from a reading from the prophet Isaiah. And He says this: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Or in other words: that guy Isaiah wrote about? It’s Me. The year of the Lord’s favor is here. The wait is over. 

Isaiah could write so eloquently of that not just because he was a prophet and the Holy Spirit spoke these words through him, but because he experienced the Lord’s favor himself. It literally touched him. For when he has been given a glimpse of heaven, and he saw the Lord sitting on His throne and the angels surrounding Him and singing, he cried out in dismay: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Or in other words, I’m a dead man. A sinner cannot come into the presence of God and live.

But live he did. Not because of his own merit, but because the Lord took away his sin. A burning coal from the altar, the altar of sacrifice, a holy thing, touched his lips and cleansed him. His guilt was taken away and his sin atoned for by this sacrifice. He was forgiven. And suddenly, Isaiah not only lived, but became a new man. And his lips, once unclean, would now prophesy - like no other - of the Lord. From dead sinner to fifth Evangelist.

That is a picture of what happens to us as well. For we are unclean. We are dead in our trespasses and sins. We have no right to come into the presence of God. And yet here we are. Because the Lord has taken away our guilt and atoned for our sin. You are forgiven. The sacrifice from the altar of the cross has touched you and made you new. The blood from that sacrifice poured over you in Holy Baptism. The flesh and blood of the sacrifice touching your lips as you eat and drink the Holy Supper. And like Isaiah, with these you need not fear anymore. For the Lord has done for you what He promised. What He promised Adam and Eve, promised down through the ages, spoke through the prophet Isaiah, and has now fulfilled and given to you. From dead sinner to child of God.

For his efforts, Isaiah was rewarded - tradition says - by being sawn in two, as we heard that some were in the reading from Hebrews. But once you have gone from death to life, as Isaiah did, then death has no power over you. And the people that wield death have no power over you. For you’ve been given a life greater than death; a life that overcomes death. In this world, because of sin, death overcomes life. But in Jesus, life overcomes death. And not lions, fire, sword, flogging, stones, chains, or saws can take that away. How excited Isaiah must have been to proclaim such a Saviour. To proclaim the Saviour who had done that for him.

And so now Isaiah is one of the great cloud of witnesses who surround us, whose lives of faith encourage and astound us (LSB #667 v.1). And they teach us. They teach us that when sin rears its ugly head, when the wild beasts tear at our flesh, when the fires of persecution burn hot, when words are hurled at us like swords and stones, when all the powers of hell try to silence our mouths and kill our faith - look to Jesus. Look to the one Isaiah wrote about. The founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and - what happened to Him? - is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Which is where you too will be. In Jesus. Baptized into Him, absolved by Him, and fed with Him. For on the Last Day, when Jesus comes again, He will again speak words of fulfillment. But this time, the scroll that He will unroll on that day will not be the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, but the Book of Life. And we will see the Lord and we will not be afraid. Because the Lord we will see is the Lord we know, the Lord we hear, the Lord we eat and drink. The Lord who conquered death and gives us life. The Son of Mary, our brother in the flesh. And He will not ask Whom shall I send? but will say to you, come and rest. Come to the feast promised to you. Come for all is now ready. And we will come in joy.

Until that day, and knowing that great and glorious day is coming, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. For at the finish line is Jesus, the one of Isaiah’s pen, the conquerer of sin and death and hell, already victorious, with His victory for you. 

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

Pentecost 5 Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“He’s God. You’re Not. Rest.”

Text: Matthew 11:25-30 (Romans 7:14-25a; Zechariah 9:9-12)

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

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

What is burdening you, causing you to groan and struggle and be heavy laden? Causing you pain and stress and worry? Whatever it is, Jesus wants it. He wants to take it from you. He wants to bear it for you. And give you peace and rest.

What is burdening you? I’ll tell you some of mine. Maybe you’ll recognize some of these kinds of things in your own life.

I want to be a perfect pastor. Or at least a good one. I want all my sermons to be spot on with all of you. Every week. I want to know exactly the right thing to say when I visit you in the hospital or when you’re suffering at home or have questions. I want to teach so that the Word of God will be alive for you - a book better than any other. I want to fix your problems. . . . And I can’t. I struggle. I fail. I don’t manage my time well enough. I am not able to be the pastor I want to be. 

So Jesus says: That’s an awfully big burden you’re putting on yourself. I got this. It’s My Word - I’ll work through it. My Spirit will work through it, in My people. Let Me carry the burden. I can. I will. I’m God. You’re not. Rest.

I also want to be a perfect spouse and parent and son. Or at least a good one. I want to give my wife and children everything they need. I want my children to grow up without any danger or fear, with no problems or pains. Or if they get them and have them, I want to fix them. I want to protect them from all evil and show them the love of their heavenly Father at all times. . . . And I can’t. I fail. Things happen. I grow afraid and worry. I let other things get in the way.

So Jesus says: That’s an awfully big burden you’re putting on yourself. I got this. Remember: your children are My children too. I love them even more than you. I know the troubles, the challenges, the temptations; I faced them. Let Me carry the burden. I can. I will. I’m God. You’re not. Rest.

And then there’s my sin. And oh, how satan loves to remind me how I not only fail in these ways, but so many more. And even just as a Christian. Like Paul, I do those things I don’t want to do. I do those things I know are wrong. I do what I hate. And I don’t do what I want to do. I don’t do what I know is right. I want to be this - but I am this instead. And then even when I manage to do what I want, my motives are wrong, or I am reluctant, grudging, or my pride ruins it. And like Paul, I don’t understand. Why can’t I be different?

And Jesus says: I got this, too. Especially this. I want the burden of your sins. All of them. In fact, I already bore that burden for you on the cross. I already took all your sins, your failures, your shortcomings, your inabilities, your wrong thoughts and motives. I forgive you. You are forgiven. You’re baptized. I’m God. You’re not. Rest.

Do you recognize any of that in you and your own life? Burdens are in no short supply. And while we have callings that God has given us in this life, people to care and provide for, and certainly, we want to do our best and that’s okay. That’s good. But when they become burdens, when they weigh heavy on us, when they cause us pain and stress and worry - that’s not why God gave them to us. All that happens because I begin to think: I’m God and He’s not. At least, that how I act. I take over. I have to do it. It’s up to me. 

That’s a First Commandment problem: You shall have no other gods. My problem, and maybe your problem, is that when I labor and am heavy laden, it’s because my other God . . . it’s me.

But here, in these verses, Jesus doesn’t scold. He doesn’t wag His divine and human finger at us and tell us to shape up and do better. That’s the burden we’re already placing upon ourselves, and He’d just be making it that much heavier! Crushing. So He does something different. He says: there’s a better way, you know. A better God than you.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Like when you are carrying a heavy load of packages and someone comes and takes it all from you and carries it for you. How good is that? Jesus says: I got this for you. I’m God. You’re not. Rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Or in other words, Jesus wants to trade yokes and trade burdens with you. He wants your heavy and crushing ones and wants to give you His light and saving one. For that’s the kind of God you need. And that’s the kind of God you have. And it’s Jesus who teaches us that. For He’s the only one who can. 

So three imperatives (commands) Jesus gave today. And notice - they were not: Shape up! Do better! Or, get your act together! 

He says this: come to me. That’s the first imperative: come. Come to Me, not yourself. My strength, not your strength. My wisdom, not your wisdom. I’m God. You’re not. Come to me. 

Take my yoke upon you. That’s the second imperative. Why do you keep burdening yourself? Why do you keep making it worse? The yoke you are putting on yourself is too heavy. You can’t do it. My yoke is better, lighter, more pleasant, freeing, joy-giving. Satan wants you to think that My yoke is heavy and his is light. But it’s not so. He’s deceiving you and misleading you in false belief and despair (Small Catechism, Explanation to the Sixth Petition). Take my yoke upon you and . . .

Learn from me. That’s the third imperative. Don’t sit in satan’s school and learn from him. Learn from me.

And what do we learn? We learn what kind of God we have. That as Jesus said today, that our God, is gentle and lowly in heart. That Jesus is kind and forgiving, and humble. A serving God. A burden-lifting God. A God who wants to trade places with you - taking your sin and giving you His forgiveness. Taking your cross and giving you His throne. Taking your burden and giving you His freedom. Taking your hell and giving you His Paradise. 

And when you look at Jesus, when you look at His cross, and see that, learn that, then you know God. For as Jesus said: no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. God in the manger. God growing up in Nazareth. God teaching. God touching and healing lepers. God taking children up in His arms. God welcoming outcasts. God having compassion. God coming into Jerusalem on a donkey. God being arrested. God on trial. God on the cross. God dead and laid in a tomb. Learn from Jesus. That’s the kind of God you have.

God risen from the dead. God giving peace. God baptizing, God absolving, God feeding, God teaching. God still lifting burdens. God victorious. God coming again. Come, take, learn. Come, take, and eat. That’s the kind of God you have.

He’s God. You’re not. That’s good. Rest. And not just rest now, but rest forever. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Think of all the people in the Scriptures who did that. Sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, parents with dying children, parents with demon-possessed children, poor old women, rich young men. None turned away. Jesus’ easy yoke and light burden there for all. 

And for you. For struggling sinners, conflicted parents, imperfect spouses, not-very-Christian-acting-Christians, and pastors who fall short. For you. For those who mourn, those who are bitter, the angry, the hurt, those used up and kicked to the side of the road by others. For you. For the worried and anxious, the troubled and fearing. For you. Whatever it is making you heavy laden . . . come to me, Jesus says, and I will trade. I want it. I will give you rest. He’ll take it and drown it in the font. He’ll take it and expunge it from your record with forgiveness. He take it and let it chew Him up so that you can chew Him up and feed on Him. So that you can leave here today and rejoice.

Which is what the prophet Zechariah said: 

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

behold, your king is coming to you;

righteous and having salvation is he,

humble and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Or if he were here today he would say it like this:

Rejoice greatly, O Saint Athanasius!

Shout aloud!

For behold, your king is coming to you;

righteous and having salvation is he,

righteous and having salvation for you,

humble and mounted in water and words and bread and wine.

To trade - your burden for His. 

To set you free.

To give you rest.

Come, take, and live.

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

Pentecost 4 Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“What Do You Want to Hear?”

Text: Matthew 10:34-42; Jeremiah 28:5-9; Romans 7:1-13

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

Sometimes people just tell you what you want to hear. It could be because they just don’t care. Sometimes they’re being condescending. Or maybe they want something from you, and think they’ll get it by telling You what they think You want to hear. And if you know that, if you know that’s what they’re doing, it makes you angry. It’s belittling. It means you really don’t matter; they’re the only ones that matter. You’re just being used, abused, ignored, or pushed aside.

Sometimes politicians do that in order to get votes. Not all and not always, but it happens. The last election cycle was interesting because it was noted that people who were answering polls were telling the pollsters what they thought they wanted to hear instead of what they really thought. And so some of the polls were very wrong.

But it’s not just politics. Sometimes children do it to their parents, spouses to each other, friends, too. Just say what they want to hear . . . It can even get absurd. Like when we tell the doctor that everything’s fine when it’s really not. Maybe we do that because it’s what we want to hear; what we want to believe. We don’t want to deal with the truth.

Today we hear the truth from Jesus. We always get the truth from Jesus, but today it is a truth that we perhaps would rather not hear; that we would rather not believe; that we would rather not deal with. That the Christian life is not all candy and roses. In fact, the truth is that following Christ and His Word may put us at odds with the world, divide families, and even lead to you losing your own life. Clearly, Jesus is not fishing for votes here.

This is what the prophet Jeremiah also was dealing with in his day - some 600 years before Jesus came. And he was not the first. But at that time, there were other prophets - one we heard about today was named Hananiah - who were not speaking the truth, but were just telling the people what they wanted to hear. And in Hananiah’s case, he was telling the people of Judah that everything was okay, they were okay, God was not unhappy with them, and in fact, was about to restore them and their kingdom and all that had been taken from them. And the people liked hearing that. They didn’t have to repent or change; they were all good.

Jeremiah, on the other hand, was speaking something quite different. That the people were not okay - they were being unfaithful to the Lord; that God was not okay or happy with that; and that there was not restoration coming, but another military defeat and the people being hauled off as prisoners of war. 

Of course, the people wanted to believe Hananiah. They liked his message better. But, Jeremiah said, which is the truth? The true prophet is not one who says what the people want to hear, but the one who speaks the truth. And not many years later, it was Jeremiah’s word that came true. The nation was defeated in battle, the people taken as prisoners, and they lived as exiles for 70 years.

The Christian life is not easy because the truth of God’s Word goes against our very nature and what we want to be true. For the truth is, we, too, like the message of Hananiah more than the message of Jeremiah. We like those who tell us we’re okay just the way we are, that we don’t have to change, that God likes us and will bless us and protect us because we’re pretty good people, try hard, and do our best.

But that’s not only not what Jeremiah said, it’s also not what Jesus said today. For who of us lives up to His standard? Who of us is worthy of Him? Remember what He said? Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. If Jesus were living today, those stunning words would have been caught on someone’s cell phone video, played over and over again on the news, and His Messianic career would be over. Not what we want to hear, Jesus. Not what we want to hear.

Well, not just today. Then, too. Words like this from Jesus are what got Him put up on the cross. He didn’t try to say what people wanted to hear. He didn’t try to save His life, so He lost it. Brutally.

But because He did, there is life for us. Because He spoke the truth, we know the truth, unpleasant as it may be: that we’re not worthy of Him or eternal life. We do love others more than Him. We love our stuff more than Him. We love ourselves more than Him. And we try to save and hang onto what we love the most - our lives and reputations and activities and stuff, more than Christ and His truth. You can see it when we say things like: I know I shouldn’t say this, but . . . I know I shouldn’t do this, but . . . I know this is wrong, but . . . We’re. Not. Worthy.

This is also what Paul was explaining to the people in Rome. This is the reason God gave the Law. That sin might be shown to be sin - in us! - and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. Sinful beyond measure. That we be shown to be not just a little sinful, but thoroughly sinful. Sinful through and through. Not one part good and one part bad. Sin-full. Sin-filled. Un-worthy. Of life or anything else from God. That may not be what we want to hear, but that is step one in receiving life from Jesus - knowing the truth about ourselves.

But unworthy does not mean unredeemable. Jeremiah spoke the truth and Jesus spoke the truth so that we would not only know the truth about ourselves, but so that we would know the truth about Him. That we would not look to ourselves for our hope, but look to Him. That we know the only way to worthiness is through Him. And specifically, His cross. 

For, the apostle Paul said today, you are unworthy because you are obligated to fulfill God’s Law - all of it, perfectly, through and through - and you don’t. And so you deserve death and eternal dying. And the only way to be set free from that obligation is to die. Because once you die, the Law doesn’t have any control over you anymore. Paul uses the example of marriage - that once your spouse dies, you are free to marry again; you’re set free from the laws of marriage; they don’t apply anymore.

So . . . notice what’s being said there. If we do not fulfill the Law perfectly we’re going to die, but the only way to be free from the obligation to keep the Law is to die, so we’re going to die either way. So why bother? Just do whatever you want. Don’t worry about right and wrong. Because it doesn’t matter if we’re all going to die anyway. And some people do live like that.

But what if there was a way to life? A way to die and be free from the obligation of fulfilling all the Law, and then live in that freedom from the Law? Wouldn’t that be something? Wouldn’t that be something worth knowing and living? So that we don’t just live for a while and then die, but now also die and then live?

So Jesus said that’s what He came to do. Not just die on the cross, but die and then live. So that we can die and then live. 

Or think of it this way: a knife in the hands of a criminal is a weapon of death. But a knife in the hands of a skilled doctor is transformed; it becomes an instrument of life. That is what Jesus did with the cross. For the cross wielded by Rome was a weapon of torture and death. But the cross with Jesus on it is transformed into an instrument of life. For on the cross Jesus gives His life to death, into order to take His life from death again. And in taking His life back again in His resurrection, provide that same life from death for you, too.

So on the cross Jesus becomes the unworthy one, Jesus becomes the sinner, Jesus takes the sword and division and loses His life. He takes all that your peace-shattering sin can throw at Him, and He dies for it. But because it was all thrown against Him, it is not thrown against you. Which is what He wanted. So that when He rises from the dead with new life, there is now nothing to throw against you. He already took it all. All those threats and stones and arrows of the Law satan was ready to hurl against you . . . are gone. He used them up on Jesus. So that you can have peace. Peace now, and peace forever. A new life now, a new way to live, a new hope and freedom.

And you get that now when you die and rise with Jesus now. That’s baptism. For in those waters you don’t do anything; but in those waters Jesus makes your sins His and His forgiveness yours; your death His and His life yours; your unworthiness His and His worthiness yours. That you come out of those waters a new person, with a new life, a new way to live, a new hope and freedom.

And that’s what happened to you. And it’s what continues to happen to you also when you repent and receive absolution; when you repent and receive the Body and Blood of Jesus; when you read and hear the Word and promises of God in His Word and cling to them by faith. Life happens. You get the righteous one’s reward. You get the prophet’s reward. New life. Gift life. Bonus life. Life from the dead. And you’re no longer living to die, but dying to live.

So while Jesus doesn’t tell us what we wanted to hear, He tells us what we need to hear, and it turns out that that’s what we really wanted to hear all along - we just didn’t know it. He doesn’t tell us we’re okay, He tells us we’re forgiven. He doesn’t tell us we’re good, He tells us that He has goodness for us. He doesn’t tell us how to overcome sin and death, He tells us that He did it for us. So that we can now live. A new life. A new way to live. Not for ourselves, but for others. He lived for us, to set us free to live for others. A freedom even greater than our country celebrates this weekend.

So in Jesus, what we want and what we need is what we have. And if you disagree with that statement, think again . . . about what you really want and what you really do need. And that - just maybe - that really is what you hear and receive here. In Jesus.

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