Sermon: Wittenberg Academy – Tuesday of Lent 6 (Holy Week) – 2020

7 April 2020

Text: Heb 3:1-19

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Lent is a penitential season, a time for reflection on our sins and our need to repent.  It is a call to renewal in our commitment to walk the Christian walk, to participate in the Word of God and the Sacraments of the Church.  Our Eastern brothers and sisters speak of this time as “the Great Lent.”  Our Lenten journey for the year of our Lord 2020 could only be called a “Great Lent.”

We do not know why our Lord has allowed this scourge upon the world to take place, why our churches are nearly all shuttered, and why most Christians on the planet will not attend Divine Services and take the Holy Supper on the Feast of the Resurrection.  We don’t know “why,” but we do know what we are called to do: to repent and pray for mercy, for ourselves, for our Church, for our country, and for the world.

“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put Me to the test and saw My works for forty years….  As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest.”

These is strong medicine from the Holy Spirit and from the author of Hebrews.  And indeed, dear friends, the whole world needs strong medicine at this time.

We are encouraged to “Take care” to avoid an “evil, unbelieving heart.”  We are encouraged not to “fall away from the living God.  We are encouraged to “exhort one another” to avoid being “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”  For we are all in this together.  We are suffering this pandemic together, even as we struggle against sin, death, and the devil in this fallen world together!

And the togetherness that we have taken for granted, our shameful forsaking of assembling together of which we are guilty as God’s people, our “rebellion” that has hardened our hearts should be in the forefront of our minds this Great Lent, dear friends!

In the Exodus, the rebellion took many forms which should be familiar to us today: the idolatry of the golden calf, the grumbling of the people about the food, rebellion against Moses’ authority as the leader of the people, the rebellion of Korah who believed that everyone was a minister and all, not just the ordained, had equal rights to lead worship services.  Our rebellions are similar: the idolatry of entertainment, our spoiled sense of entitlement to wealth, our refusal to acknowledge the authority of our pastors, or even asserting the rights of laymen to consecrate the bread and wine in the sacrament: a shameful recent development in our church.  Our western civilization is in rebellion by calling men women and women men, by treating infanticide as a right or as healthcare, by deeming liquor stores as “essential services” while shuttering churches, and by turning the state into a god.

The entire world is being called to repent, dear friends.  We know from Scripture that as the time of our Lord’s return gets closer, we will deal with increasing trials and tribulations.  And we also know that our Lord instructed us not to be beaten down, but to hold our heads high as Christians, knowing that our redemption is drawing near!

The author of Hebrews reminds us that it is Jesus who is the “apostle and high priest of our confession.”  As great as Moses was, Jesus is greater.  As wonderful as the Law is to call us to repentance, the Gospel, secured by our Lord’s death on the cross, is greater!  For “Christ is faithful over God’s house as a Son.”  Let us repent of our rebellion, calling upon our High Priest who is also the Victim, the atoning sacrifice who restores our communion with God, and brings us to eternal life!  Easter is very near, dear friends.  Our Lord has not abandoned us, though He chastens us.  Let us indeed, “hold our original confidence firm to the end.” 

Lent is a penitential season, a time for reflection on our sins and our need to repent.  And not even the Greatest Lent that the world has known will last forever.  For the Lord is merciful.  He has atoned for us.  He does forgive us.  He has conquered sin, death, the devil, and He has indeed risen from the dead to give us new life as well. 

Let us wait in anticipation of the celebration of His resurrection, for the restoration of our public services, and let us wait expectantly for our Lord’s return in glory!  Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.