Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“From Fear to Faith, from Death to Life”

Text: Mark 9:14-29

 

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

They were failures. They couldn’t do it. A father in distress brings his demon-possessed son to them, and they failed. They couldn’t cast it out. 

They had done so before. Not too long before this, Jesus had sent the disciples out two-by-two, and specifically with authority over unclean spirits (Mark 6:7). And they went out and they cast out many demons. Heady days, those. Days that must have filled the disciples with confidence. 

But how quickly things change. Now, they failed. They were failures. Had this authority, this power, left them? What were they doing wrong? They must have been uncertain, confused, and maybe a little scared. Scared of the demon. Scared of the crowd that was turning ugly. Especially since Jesus was not with them. Where was Jesus when you need Him?

You’ve know how that is. You’ve felt that way, too. There are times in your life when things are going well and you’re a success and filled with confidence and sure that Jesus is with you. And then there are times like this . . . when things have turned, they’re not going so well anymore, and you’re a failure - or feel like a failure. And fears creep in. And you wonder, what happened? What did I do wrong? And is Jesus not with me anymore? Where is Jesus when I need Him!?

Where was Jesus anyway, when this was going on? Well, He was with Peter, James, and John. He had taken just those three and gone away, up on a mountain, and showed them His glory when He was transfigured before them - remember that story? Jesus shone like the sun and was speaking with Moses and Elijah. It’s quite a contrast, isn't it? A glorious scene going on up there, and an ugly scene going on down here . . . with demons and fighting and confusion.

That’s the scene Jesus steps into. Regular Jesus, not glory Jesus. And after a few questions, He brings order out of chaos. Just as in the beginning, when God spoke and brought order out of the chaos in creation, so here the Word of God made flesh speaks, and brings order out of chaos. There is peace, not confusion. There is life, not death. A happy ending, we might say. But it wasn’t easy . . .

And not just for this poor boy who was being tormented by a demon, but for his father. It’s hard when suffering comes upon you; it’s even harder to watch someone you love suffer. And especially your child. You’re the parent, the protector, the provider, and you feel so helpless. And maybe guilty, or at least distressed, when you can’t do anything about it. So this father turns to Jesus. He’s desperate. Please, if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Notice: us. Not just my son. Us. This is tearing him up, too. 

If you can . . . Jesus responds to that. It’s a mild rebuke, really. For the father doesn’t really know who Jesus is, the almighty, creator God in human flesh. Somebody powerful? Yes. A miracle worker? Surely. A prophet? Probably. That’s why he brought his son to the disciples in the first place. So don’t be too hard on him. Jesus wasn’t. This father knows and he doesn’t know. He’s hopeful, but not sure. He really doesn’t know what’s going on! All he knows is that this is his son! And his son needs help! Rescue! Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! Don’t just save my son; save me, too.

And Jesus does. Both the boy and his father are set free and given life again. The boy set free from his demon, and the father set free from his confusion and fear. 

And then Jesus deals with His disciples. They, too, need help. The fighting and chaos were done, but their fear and failure remained. Why couldn’t we cast it out? And Jesus responds: This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer. Which I don’t think means this was some kind of super demon! But more like Jesus asking them: Why didn’t you pray? Why didn’t you ask for help? And then right after this, as Jesus moves on with all twelve of His disciples, Jesus speaks about the cross. That the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise. But, Mark tell us, they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. They still don’t ask. They still have fear. They still are confused. They are, in a way, just like that father. They could each say, too: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!

Which really is a perfect summary of our life as Christians, isn't it? We are saint and sinner, believer and unbeliever, confident and fearful, strong and weak, certain and doubting, all at the same time! At least I see that in me! I suspect you, too. And how often we feel that we’ve failed. That we are failures. As fathers and mothers, as children, as disciples and Christians. We’ve sinned. We’ve fallen short. We’ve made a mess of things, of life. And we try to do better. Maybe like the disciples, you did in the past. But now . . . And maybe you’ve wondered a time or two, Jesus, where are you? Where are you when I need you? And maybe you, too, have cried out: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! I can’t do this. I need help.

So where is Jesus? For you, when you need Him? Well, He’s not in His glory someplace far away, like on that mountaintop. He came down to us, just as He came down to that father. He came down to us in our chaos and fears and sins. And He went where He told us He would go - not to Nazareth or Galilee, but to the cross and the tomb. For there is where He would deal with our demons. There is where He would deal with our sin and death. And when He rose from death and the grave, that’s where He deals with our unbelief, too. For the one who rises from the dead has defeated not just death, but our sins and our demons, too. Jesus’ empty tomb means that the cross is not defeat, but the means to His victory. 

A victory that is given to you in Baptism. That’s why in Baptism, just as Jesus rebuked the demon in that son, so, too, here it is said: Depart unclean spirit, and make way for the Holy Spirit. And it is so. Another child, or even adult, is set free, by the water and the Word the God which brings order out of chaos, which brings freedom from bondage, which makes a saint out of a sinner, and raises to life from death. I think it’s interesting that with the son in our story, the father said that the demon often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But what the devil uses for destruction, God uses to save. Both Jesus’ death on a cross, and our being cast into fire and water - the fire of the Spirit and the water of Baptism. And so this story is our story, too. The son’s deliverance, our deliverance. But our’s, even greater. Not just for life here, for a while; but for life everlasting.

But think a little more about this thought for a moment . . . what the devil uses for destruction, God uses to save . . . Could that also be true of other things in your life? Other troubles and trials, other sufferings and challenges? The devil would like to use these things to destroy you, drive you away from Jesus, convince you that: See? He isn’t here for you! He isn’t here for you when you need Him! And the devil can be very persuasive. And we fear and we fight and we get all jumbled up inside and out. But if that, if those very things, cause us to cry out: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! And they make us pray, and we go back to the Word, and I remember that no matter what the devil says, I am a baptized child of God - not because I deserve it, but because Jesus did it! - and I come to the altar to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus and the forgiveness and strength and saving I need . . . then what the devil uses for destruction, God has used to save us. And if you think the disciples were frustrated that day, and the father was frustrated that day, think how frustrating this is for the devil! When your heavenly Father turns the devil’s works against him. 

And then your heavenly Father may lay crosses on you, too. Not to hurt or harm you, but to save you. That you not rely on yourself, but turn to Him. And find your hope and confidence and strength not in yourself, but in the empty tomb. Now it is true what the psalmist say: Weeping may [remain] for the night, but joy comes with the morning (Psalm 30:5). And if you are in the night of weeping right now, that’s not an easy place to be! Just as it wasn’t for the father in our story. But Jesus is coming. And not just on the Last Day, but even now, here, for you. To forgive you, comfort you, provide for you, and save you.

So as we sang in the Introit earlier, Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord! But the waiting can be the hardest part. So the Lord has given us a Church to help us, and fellow Christians to help us. Don’t try to do it on your own. Pray for your fellow Christians, and ask them to pray for you. When you look at this Font, remember here your Saviour came to you and bound Himself to you and said: You are mine! Hear the great stories of all that He has done, and His death and resurrection for you, His victory for you, and His promises for you. And when you come to this Altar, as saint and sinner, believer and unbeliever, confident and fearful, strong and weak, certain and doubting, all at the same time - pray those words of the father in our story: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! And then hear Jesus speak to you: take eat, this is My Body; take and drink, this is My Blood. Here is my strength, here is my forgiveness, for you. You are free. Go in peace.

And while, yes, weeping may [remain] for the night, the joy of the morning of the resurrection is coming. And that morning has already begun to dawn. Things may look dark now, but it’s always darkest before the dawn, isn't that what they say? I don’t know if that’s true in general, but it is for us as Christians. We live in a very dark world, but the Son rose, and is rising upon us, until the day the darkness is no more, and there is only light. And though the night be long and the darkness deep, 

we Praise the One Who Breaks the Darkness! 

[We] praise the Word Incarnate,

Christ, who suffered in our place.

For Jesus died and rose victorious

That we may know God by grace.

[So we] sing for joy and gladness,

Seeing what our God has done;

[We] praise the true Redeemer,

. . . the One who makes us one (LSB #849 vs, 1, 3).

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

Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“Opening Ears, Hearts, and Graves”

Text: Mark 7:31-37; James 2:1-10, 14-18; Isaiah 35:4-7a

 

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

Ephphatha! Be opened, Jesus said. And this man’s ears were opened.

Imagine what that must have been like. In my sermon a few weeks ago, I told the story of when my doctor removed two very large and hard plugs of wax from my ears and how I marveled at how much I could hear again. (I guess I should have saved that story for this week!) But for this man . . . imagine all that he heard . . . and maybe for the very first time! A bird chirping. Children laughing. Music playing. Jesus’ voice. Many sounds that we, perhaps, take for granted. No big deal. But a big deal for this man. Life changing. 

Just like the first things the man born blind saw after Jesus gave him his sight. Or the first time a man who couldn’t walk could go somewhere by himself and didn’t need to be carried by others. When a leper could return to his family. Or when someone possessed by demons was set free and was an outcast no more. Imagine what those days must have been like. The joy. These were big deals.

I don’t know if we think about them that way, though. Maybe because we hear these kinds of stories so much that we’re used to hearing them and take for granted all that Jesus can do. Or maybe because of all that medicine and technology are able to do for us today. We have eyeglasses and eye surgery for people who cannot see. We have cochlear implants for people who can’t hear. We have knee replacements for people who can’t walk. Medicines that heal sickness and disease. Now, what Jesus did was greater and more complete than anything we can do . . . but since we can do so much, maybe the wonder isn’t there for us anymore.

But these miracles of Jesus were truly life-changing. When you can’t see, when you can’t hear, when you can’t go where everyone else goes, when you’re sick, what also happens is that you get separated from others. You can’t join the group that has gathered to marvel at the eclipse. You’re not part of the group that takes delight in the sound of a giggling child. You miss weddings, graduations, and other important events. There’s an isolation that comes with these disabilities, try as we might to overcome it. Try as we might to be inclusive. Try as we might to make accommodation. Or to pretend that these disabilities don’t exist by saying that people are not disabled, they are just differently abled, and other such word-smithing.

Which on one level is fine. If people don’t want to be called disabled, we can certainly use different words. If that creates a stigma that could be avoided, we should. But on another level, a deeper level, this matters a great deal. Because if we normalize these things that sin has caused . . . and certainly, sin has caused sickness and disease and eyes and ears and legs to not work as they were created to work . . . If we normalize these things that sin has caused, then we are, in fact, normalizing sin. And where we see this is in how things that were almost universally considered sinful in the past, are so no longer. Everything is normal. Everyone is okay. But it is simply not so.

So what Jesus is doing is not just healing people, but overcoming sin and its disastrous effects. Healing people is great, just as medicine and technology today are great. But all those people Jesus healed, including the deaf man in the reading today, do you know what happened to them? The deaf man eventually lost his hearing again, and the blind man later lost his sight again, and the lame man could one day no longer get up and walk - not because Jesus didn’t really heal them, He did! But sooner or later, they died. The deafness, the blindness, the lameness, and the sickness and disease were the symptoms, the signs, of the greater problem: the sin and death that caught up to them, just as it will one day (unless Jesus comes again first!) catch up to all of us. 

And sin and death we cannot overcome. The death that separates us from our loved ones, and the sin that divides us from others. The separation of death is pretty obvious. But let’s think about sin a little more . . . Consider how sin has made us deaf to the cries of the hurting, blind to the needs of the downtrodden, or if we hear and see these things, then paralyzed when it comes to actually going and helping others. Sin truly has disabled us. And this sin that has disabled us and the death which separates and divides us from each other also has disabled us spiritually, and separated and divided us from God. And if left untreated, will do so for eternity.

That’s why stories like we heard today are so important. Not just because of the marvel of Jesus healing a deaf man, but because it is a sign of the more marvelous work He has come to do - to not just treat the symptoms or outward manifestations of the disease, but to overcome the disease itself. To not just say Ephphatha to closed ears, but to say Be opened! to sealed graves. 

So to do that, God came. In person. In a person. In Jesus. And He saw the separation, He saw the devastation, He saw all that sin had done, and He had compassion. Not that He didn’t know or see before, but He overcame the separation and division by being born a man - God and man in one person. And He took the disease, He took our sin and death, to conquer it. He allowed sin and death to swallow Him up on the cross, that He could swallow them up in His resurrection. And He did. And He promised that all baptized into Him would be baptized into that death and resurrection and be raised in those waters to a new life. 

And that new life in two ways. (1.) Ultimately and finally when Jesus comes again and says “Be opened!” to all of our graves, so that our bodies rise to a new and glorified life that will never end. (2.) But before that day, that we live a new life these days. For in baptism, Jesus opens our ears to hear His Word and to hear the cries of others. He opens our eyes all that He has done for us and to see the needs of others. And He opens our hearts to confess our sins and selfishness and to have compassion for others. But not only that, He also gives us legs that we not only hear and see and feel, but do. To put our faith into action. 

Which brings out the irony in the story we heard today. For after the deaf man was healed, Jesus commanded him to tell no one. But he was so filled with joy that he couldn’t help himself - he had to tell everyone! But we who have been raised and healed and given new life, and to whom Jesus has said speak and do and care and go . . . don’t.

Or not as we should, or as much as we should. And not just with strangers, or the panhandler in the middle of the street, but how often with our own families? With those closest to us? Turning away from spouses, children, brothers and sisters, our fellow Christians. How often do we fail to repent, fail to forgive, fail to help, and instead selfishly harbor anger, bitterness, and grudges? 

Today we heard from the apostle James, who said that we show our faith by our works. Well . . . what are your works showing about your faith? Is your life like the life of the deaf man who was healed, overflowing with joy in your Saviour and the life and forgiveness He has given you? And if not, why not? What sin is still disabling you? What sin is still separating you from others? What death is gnawing away at your life?

These are the very things Jesus has come to set you free from! First in baptism, but after that, too. To open your ears and hear Him say I forgive you all your sins! and to open your mouths to receive His Body and Blood that won that forgiveness for you and strengthen you to forgive others. And through these open your heart and fill it with His life and love. And this is for you because it is for all. Jesus died and rose for all people - no partiality. He loves you no less than anyone else, even if in this world you feel loved less than everyone else.

And when your life on this earth is ended and the next life begins, think about how you will be like that deaf man. What - and who - will you hear and see for the first time? For the first time hearing the song of the angels! Bodies glorified and without sin. It’s hard to imagine, but a day, a time, an eternity to look forward to.

But maybe we can get a glimpse of all that already here and now. And not just in church, but in all your life. When you serve, when you love, when you forgive, you are showing the love and new life of Christ to others. And showing that they matter. That they are important. That Jesus didn’t just die for some or love some, but all. Deaf people, blind people, lame people, sinner people, failure people, stubborn people. People like you. People like me. His ears and heart are not deaf to us but open to us, and He opens our ears and hearts toward others. And that’s a big deal. And while the healing of this deaf man might just seem like one miracle among many, and your life might just seem like one among many, he wasn’t, and you’re not. Jesus paid special attention to him, and Jesus pays special attention to you. Jesus healed him and Jesus heals you. Sin and death no longer rule you or determine your life - Jesus does. The Jesus who baptized you, the Jesus who said Father, forgive them, the Jesus who feeds you, and the Jesus who will one day say to your grave, Be opened! And it will be. And you will come forth to live before Him in righteousness and purity forever.

That will be a wonder-full day, a day full of wonder. But so is today. Satan will continue to try to blind you to that, deaf you to that, but Jesus opens eyes and ears, that we know the wonder of His love, even in this world filled with sin and death. And if you find yourself a little short in that department - and who doesn’t, right? . . . A little or a lot . . . If you are one with an anxious heart, as Isaiah said today, know this: your God has come. For you. And that man in this story is now you. You are healed. You are forgiven. You have hope. You have a future. Difficulties now are preparing you for a glorious future. 

Maybe that’s hard to imagine. Maybe it seems too far away, and you think you won’t be able to make it. And if you’re looking at the difficulties, or looking at yourself, or looking at the sins or the sinners that afflict you or oppress you, then yeah, it’s going to seem that way. So look somewhere else. Look at the cross. Look to Jesus. Hear His voice. His promises. For the joy and hope and love and life you need come from Him. And He will give it. Just as He did to a deaf man that day. A deaf man who received not only hearing, but life. And with life, joy. The joy we want. The joy we need. The joy of Jesus.

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

Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“The Armor of God”

Text: Ephesians 6:10-20; Mark 7:14-23; Psalm 51 (Introit)

 

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

Most people know of the story of David and Goliath. They know of the story. But they don’t know the story. What they know is the little guy beats the big guy. And that has become a well-known image in our world today. David beats Goliath. The underdog wins. The winless team beats the undefeated team. The small neighborhood store beats the big national chain.

But there is much more to this story than that. Because this is not really a story about the little guy winning, as it has become known and used in our world today. It is about God fighting for His people, and faith in God, that He will do so. 

And so an important part of this story is that when David insisted on going out to fight Goliath, and King Saul finally gave in, Saul put his armor on David - a helmet of bronze, a coat of mail, and a sword. But David had never worn armor before and couldn’t fight like that, with all that on him. It wouldn’t work. So He went with a different kind of armor to protect him - the armor of faith. Faith that God would fight for Him and protect Him. Something the armor of this world would not and could not do. So David tells Goliath: I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand (1 Samuel 17). And the Lord did. You know the rest of the story.

So, armor. What armor are you wearing? How are you trying to protect yourself? So you don’t get hurt. So your secrets and sins don’t get out. So the sins of others don’t get in. So you’re not vulnerable. We all do it. Put up walls, defenses. Armor. We try to be strong. We try to protect ourselves. We try to save ourselves.

That’s what we heard last week in the Gospel, with the Pharisees and their traditions and laws. They thought that by doing all the right things in the right ways, and even more, they could protect themselves and save themselves. Keep sin out. Keep sin at bay. Keep themselves pure. The traditions and laws were their armor against the Goliath of sin and evil. 

And we see this kind of thinking still today, with the religions of the world, like Islam. That with the right laws, with the right traditions, with the right armor, they can save themselves. So, for example, with Islam, according to their law, Sharia law, women have to wear a burqa, a head to toe covering of their bodies, sometimes even with a mesh covering their eyes. This is so men will not look at them perversely; so there will be no lust in their heart. But it doesn’t work. You may remember when Osama Bin Laden was killed and the military was going through the things in his house looking for intelligence, they found a trove of pornography. He couldn’t keep that sin out.

And Jesus today tells us why that is; why this kind of armor doesn’t work.  After sparring with the Pharisees, as we heard last week, He continues today with His teaching on this. He says, basically, that it’s not what’s outside of us that’s the problem, because sin and evil are already inside you, in your heart. If your house is infested with termites, you can stop more termites from coming in, but the ones already in are going to eat your house apart. If you have a computer virus, you can stop other viruses from infecting your computer, but you still have to deal with the one that’s already there. So it is with the human heart, Jesus says. The sin is already there. Therefore all the armor, walls, and defenses you put up don’t work. Watching pornography doesn’t make you lust; this lust already in your heart makes you watch pornography. Stealing doesn’t make you greedy; the greed already in your heart makes you steal. Disobeying your parents doesn’t make you rebellious; the rebellious nature already in your heart makes you disobey. All of which is to say, it’s not your sinful deeds that make you sinful; it’s your sinful heart, your sinful nature that produces and shows itself in sinful deeds. 

And so, Jesus said today, What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person. This is also why something like monasticism doesn’t work. Monasticism isn’t wrong, per se, but it also doesn’t make you holy. You can take a vow of silence and still think evil thoughts. You can take a vow of poverty yet still think of money and wish you had more. You can take a vow of chastity and still lust and have impure thoughts. You can be alone and still hate. 

The armor David tried to wear, the armor of the laws and traditions of the Pharisees, the the burqas of Islam, the walls of a monastery - none of it works. None of these are inherently bad, but they cannot cleanse the heart. We need a different kind of armor, the armor David did go into battle with - the armor of God. Because as Paul said, this is a different kind of battle. A spiritual battle. Even the battle with Goliath was a spiritual battle. And we need to think that way today. That, as Paul said, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. The battle is greater than we think. So are the stakes: eternal life or eternal death.

So Paul describes different armor and different weapons for us today: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the Word of God, and prayer. These are things that may not look very strong or seem very powerful, but only if we are thinking of the battle wrong. But these are the very things satan fears. Your walls, your armor, your strength, your efforts - he loves those! Those are a joke! He can get around them and over them and under them and through them easily. You know it. He has for you. But the weapons and armor of God are his kryptonite. 

So, Paul says, Put on the whole armor of God. Or another way to say that is: put on Jesus. He is the armor of God. He is the truth, He is the righteousness of God, He has made peace for us with God, He is the object of faith, He is the salvation of the world, the Word of God incarnate, and the one who prayed for us and through whom we now pray. We are clothed - armored! - with Christ when we are baptized (Galatians 3:27). And when we are baptized our hearts are cleansed and the Spirit given to us. When we repent we are again washed, not outwardly but inwardly. And the Body and Blood of Christ are that food that are not eaten and expelled, but that nourish us and work in us to expel the sin and evil that live in us. This is the armor we need. These are the weapons that win. Just ask Goliath. Oh wait, you can’t!

So let’s ask David instead. Yes, he’s dead, but we heard from him today, in the Introit, from Psalm 51, the psalm he wrote after his adulterous and murderous affair with Uriah the Hittite’s wife. David slew Goliath, that was great! But later, the sin and evil in his heart slew him. And when God showed him that sin and evil in his heart, just as Jesus talked about today, it crushed him. It brought David to his knees, and he prayed (as we sang): Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. He was desperately sinful and unclean, and only God could rescue him, save him, make something of him, create in him something from nothing. Because when God creates, it’s always from nothing. We can’t do it, but God can.

And God did. Yes, for David, but even more, for all people. That’s what the cross is all about. On the sixth day, God had finished His creation; and on the sixth day, a Friday we call good, Jesus finished His work of atonement and re-creation. It is finished, He said. And then just as in the beginning, He rested on the seventh day, in the tomb. But then something new happened. Things didn’t just go back to the way they were; start over. Jesus did something new, different. He rose from the grave and started a whole new day, an eighth day, the day of eternity. The day of new creation. The day of forgiveness, life, and salvation. 

That new day came for David when after confessing his sin to Nathan, the prophet God had sent him, he heard words of absolution; that God was not going to strike him dead, but had put away his sin. And with that, the great boulder of sin that had been crushing him had been removed. He could breath and live again. Yes, he could cover up his sin, but he couldn’t get away from it. He needed something else. The cleansing of God and the armor of God for his heart.

And you and me, too. Sometimes we do a pretty good job at covering up and hiding our sin from others, but it’s still there, isn’t it? It stick in our minds, it nags the conscience, it drags us down, makes us afraid, and if left alone, in the end, will crush us. We need the cleansing of God and the armor of God. We need Jesus! Jesus to be crushed for our sin to atone for it so it doesn’t crush us, Jesus to be raised to new life to break open the grave we fear, and Jesus to speak to us those words of absolution to cleanse us from our sin and raise us to a new life in Him. 

But it’s not one and done. Our sins are like the weeds in my garden - I pull them all but they keep coming back! And we keep needing forgiveness so that the good plants and good fruits and good works planted by Jesus can grow and flourish. The armor of God is for every day. My baptism isn’t past tense but present tense. I AM baptized, that’s who I am. And so I return to my baptism everyday, and repent of how I have not lived as who I am. And the promises of baptism are for everyday, the forgiveness of my sins and the life of the Spirit. And the Gospel is for everyday, the words of God through which the Spirit works in me. And the Body and Blood of Jesus, though received once a week, nourish me all through the week. And with these, the truth and righteousness and peace and faith and salvation and Word and prayer of Jesus lives in me and I in Him. The whole armor and strength of God for me. Given by grace through faith.

So what are the Goliaths in your life? What sins, what regrets, what challenges, what sorrows, what fears? And they’re big, aren't they? And they’re strong, aren't they? And you want to be David, and go up against them and win! But they’re big and strong and fearsome . . .

But remember how David did that. Remember what armor he wore. It wasn’t his bravery, it wasn’t his strength, it wasn’t his ability - it was his faith. His faith that God would fight for him. His faith that God would win. It wasn’t the little guy beats the big guy. It’s that God won. And He did - not just with a headless giant, but with an open, empty tomb. That’s the strength we need. That’s the armor we need. That cleanses sinful, fearful hearts. That makes saints out of sinners. The armor of God. For bodies and souls. For life now, and for life forever. 

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