Sermon: Wittenberg Academy – Jan 31, 2023

31 Jan 2022

Text: 2 Tim 3:1-17

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

St. Paul’s letter to St. Timothy continues with a bit of a prophecy: “In the last days there will come times of difficulty.”  He lists a litany of sins that will dominate as the days grow short and the Lord’s return becomes increasingly imminent.  There is a pattern.  Love is not directed at God but to the self and to money.  We will see pride and arrogance, abuse, rebellion against parental authority, unholiness and heartlessness, slander, lack of self-control, conceit, hedonism, and all the while claiming “the appearance of godliness.” 

This sounds like a pretty good summary of our culture today.  This should teach us to be ready for our Lord’s return.

So what are we to do?  “Avoid such people,” says the apostle.  They are dangerous.  They can lead you astray.  They “creep into households and capture weak women,” destroying families and robbing people of their Christian confession.  St. Paul cites the example of the toxic Jannes and Jambres who “opposed Moses.”  Their names are not mentioned in the Old Testament canon, but tradition teaches us that these were Pharaoh’s magicians and sorcerers.  These men not only opposed Moses, but called upon supernatural forces to oppose God.

St. Paul is teaching us that in the latter days, the culture will decay into the chaos of the realm of the demonic.  Our Lord Jesus Himself said as much: “False christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect” (Matt 24:24).  So do not be fooled, dear friends!

Instead of putting our trust in princes (Ps 146:3), we must listen to the Word of God.  As St. Paul testifies, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”  Let us remain on guard, prepared by the Word of God to be equipped for whatever “times of difficulty” we may be called to face.  Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Amen.

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

Sermon: Transfiguration – 2023

29 January 2023

Text: Matt 17:1-9

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

The traditional prayer at Matins includes this line: “You have safely brought us to the beginning of this day.  Defend us in the same with your mighty power.”

Mighty power.  It’s easy to think of God’s mighty power.  He created the universe in the blink of an eye with only His Word.  He caused a worldwide flood that wiped out all but eight people on the planet.  He delivered the children of Israel through the Red Sea.  He topples empires and overthrows kingdoms. 

When God takes flesh, He stoops to our level.  He walks, eats, talks in a normal human voice, gets hungry, gets thirsty, weeps, sleeps, and preaches in the temple, the synagogue, on a mount, and even in a boat.  His mighty power is wielded among us, from a body like ours, in normal spaces.  His mighty power includes changing water into wine, calming a storm, feeding thousands with a few scraps of bread, walking on water, healing the sick, recreating crippled limbs, restoring sight and hearing, casting out demons, and even raising the dead. 

But this mighty power of God comes by means of the hands and the voice of a man.  Today, we hear about how Jesus took three of the twelve: Peter, James, and John, “up a high mountain by themselves.  And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light.”

On that day, in that place, Jesus gave them a glimpse of His mighty power unleashed, uncovered, and unchecked.  His form appeared different, as bright light radiated from His face and clothing.  A pure, divine burst of energy came from the man Jesus, as the veil was figuratively lifted.  The three men saw Jesus in His full glory, not merely within the glorious works that He performed among men.  It is clear that Jesus is not merely a miracle-working prophet, but rather bears the mighty power that only God has.

The vision includes further confirmation of our Lord’s eternal nature (as one of those three, St. John, would later write of Jesus, “In the beginning was the Word”).  For “behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.”  Jesus is holding conversation in a way that bends space and time.  The Law and the Prophets confirm Him as the Christ. 

And here we see the mighty power of the Holy Trinity, for God the Father’s voice blasts from a cloud: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.”  This calls to mind Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, when the voice of the Father said the same thing, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him as a dove.  Only now, on this mountain, God the Father adds, “Listen to Him,” as specific instructions for the apostles.  The voice of God says to listen to the voice of God.  The mighty power of God confirms the mighty power of God.  God of God, Light of Light.

At this point, Peter, James, and John are stunningly aware of the mighty power that surrounds them.  They fall on their faces.  Like other examples in the Scriptures of men in the presence of God’s mighty power, they are terrified.  And they are right to fear.  For we are indeed to “fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”  We fear God in a way that is even more intense than the fear of a hurricane, or high voltage wires, or the sound of a person or animal rushing toward us to do us harm.  We fear God because of His mighty power, and the fact that we, by our sins, have made Him our fearful enemy.  We have rebelled against Him.  We sin and sin and sin again.  God’s wrath should indeed rightfully fall upon us.  And so the apostles cower.

But the mighty power of Jesus is not used to condemn, but rather to save.  He did not come to destroy, but to redeem.  He is not on a mission of revenge against us, but rather of vengeance for us.

As the three were on their faces in fear of the mighty power of God in His full glory, “Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and have no fear.’”  For this is truly the mighty power of God at work, according to His will, dear friends.  His glory is in His mercy.  He has not come to destroy Peter, James, and John, but rather to obliterate their sin and crush the head of their old evil foe. “And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only,” their friend, their Master, their Savior, their Lord and their God, the one who wields the mighty power of God to rescue them.  His wrath is not aimed at them, but rather at Satan.  He loves them.  He defends them.  He forgives them. He heals them.  He will raise them from the dead.

Dear friends, this same mighty power is at work in us, and for us, today.  Jesus has put the veil back on.  We don’t see the blast of pure radiant light as He puts His mighty power to work for us.  But it is the same mighty power.  For Peter, James, and John came down from the mountain with Jesus.  They would see Jesus crucified, and raised again.  Jesus would breathe on them and delegate mighty power to them to carry out His work in the world – mighty power still used by the church today.  For Peter, James, and John were told to forgive sins on behalf of Jesus, wielding His divine mighty power by means of their own ordinary bodies: removing guilt, pardoning iniquity, and giving the righteousness of Jesus as a free gift.  This authority was given by the apostles to other ministers of the church, and so on down to this day.  We come to this holy house week in and week out because the mighty power of God is put upon you, dear friends, so that you will be forgiven and given new life.  That is happening to you right now.

The apostles were commissioned to proclaim the good news to every nation, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, to use Christ’s Word and authority to empower water to wash away sin and save both young and old from death and hell.  This is God’s mighty power hidden in the ordinary, just as Jesus turned water into wine, and performed miracles with a command and a touch.  That authority and that mighty power to save continues today, in your Holy Baptism, God’s mighty power is applied to you, here and now, as we remember our baptism, and confess its mighty power.

The apostles were also commanded to officiate at the Eucharist, “This do in remembrance of Me.”  The mighty power of Jesus is, as always, in His Word, fitly spoken by His men under authority over ordinary things.  “This is My body…. This cup is the New Testament in My blood.”  The mighty power of His words make these elements His holy body and blood.  The mighty power of His body and blood sacrificed for us on the cross saves us.  The mighty power of this miracle is indeed happening among us, and to us, today.

This is His mighty power, dear friends.  He is here for you!  He gives Himself to you!  His power is veiled under bread and wine, just as the mighty power of Jesus was not seen by the other disciples.  But it is there, and it is for you.

The ministers of the church are also to preach!  We must speak with the mighty power of the Word of God.  For though these words are spoken by ordinary men, these words bear the mighty power to transform a sinner into a saint even as God created the universe by the mighty power of His Word.

This is why Jesus had mercy on the fearful disciples.  He invites them to no longer be afraid of the mighty power, but to rejoice in it.  “For the Word of the Lord endures forever,” even as the grass withers and the flower fades.  The Word of the Lord that declares you righteous, endures forever, though you will lie in dust and ashes – at least for a while, until the mighty power of the Lord’s resurrection awakes you, and Jesus bids you to “rise and have no fear.”

That, dear friends, is the ultimate mighty power of Jesus: to raise the dead on the Last Day, welcoming us, body and soul into eternity.  That is why we are here at this time and place.

It is meet, right, and salutary that we pray for God to come to us in His mighty power, though we don’t see it with our own eyes, at least not yet.  But we see by faith.  We confess and receive the mighty power of Jesus Christ by faith, and we pray in faith:

“O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, You have safely brought us to the beginning of this day.  Defend us in the same with Your mighty power and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger, but that all our doings, being ordered by Your governance, may be righteous in Your sight; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.”  Amen.

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

Sermon: Confession of St. Peter – 2023

18 January 2023

Text: Mark 8:27-9:1 (Acts 4:8-13, 2 Pet 1:1-15)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

St. Peter’s confession begins with a question from Jesus. 

It is almost like our catechism, in which questions are answered by our confession of faith.  Jesus quizzes His disciples: “Whom do people say that I am?”  They reply that there are a lot of answers floating around out there: John the Baptist, Elijah, or some other prophet.  Jesus follows up His question with “But whom do you say that I am?”  And Peter answers for the group: “You are the Christ.”  Jesus tells them to keep this confession to themselves for the time being.

St. Matthew’s account gives us a little more detail.  For Simon Peter’s answer had two parts: “You are the Christ” and “You are the Son of the living God.”  And our Lord’s disciple Levi Matthew, who was there, calls to mind what Jesus said back to Peter: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 

In the Middle Ages, when theologians were reading a Latin translation instead of the original Greek, they thought Jesus was saying that Peter, the man, was the rock upon whom the church was founded.  But in the Greek, we learn that our Lord was doing some wordplay.  For when He gives Simon his nickname “Peter,” it is an adjective, not a noun.  In other words, Peter is the “rock man,” or maybe more like the English nickname “Rocky.”  For his confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and that He is the Son of God – that confession of Christ is that rock which the church is built upon.

And we learn that God Himself, not “flesh and blood,” revealed this truth to Peter.  For maybe one could see how Jesus fulfills the prophecies and conclude that He is the Christ, but to conclude His divinity is not something that is obvious – since this is so beyond what our minds can conceive.  This had been revealed to Simon Peter.

Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus is the Son of God.  He is a man, born of Mary, but He has no human father.  His Father is God the Father.  And because Jesus is the Son, He teaches us to pray to “our Father who art in heaven.”  He is the Son of Man (an Old Testament expression for the Messiah), and He is the Son of God (bearing the full divinity of God).

The disciples, that is, the Twelve, were on their way to serving in the apostolic ministry.  And our Lord will empower Peter – and the rest of the Twelve, with the “keys of the kingdom of heaven.”  And we know about this “Office of the Keys” from our own Catechism:  “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  As we confess: “The Office of the Keys is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent” and “when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command, in particular when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation and absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better, this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.”

For the office that our Lord bestowed upon St. Peter, the apostles, and their successors, is there to bless His people, to give them the Good News of forgiveness, life, and salvation, and to deliver it to them in its fullness.

And Peter’s good confession is our good confession, dear friends.  For us, it is natural to say that Jesus is the Christ.  In fact, we treat His Greek Messianic title as if it were part of His name.  But think about when St. Peter made this confession.  In those days, the children of Israel were hoping for the Messiah to come and liberate them, as Scripture promised.  But they thought this liberation would be political, in the form of overthrowing Rome and re-establishing the Davidic kingdom on earth.  Whether or not Peter understood then that Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world, we don’t know.  But we do know that this confession could have gotten all of them executed – if not by the Jews, then by the Romans.

And even today, dear friends, confessing Christ may not be safe.  You could face scrutiny from your family, abandonment by your friends, hatred by society, and persecution from the government.  Even now, there are Christians on death row for nothing more than making the same confession as the apostle Peter.  Our own Congress has sold us out and passed the so called Defense of Marriage Act, which compels Christian artists to violate their consciences by accepting commissions that are in opposition to their confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, whose Word is always true and infallible, whose kingdom indeed is “not of this world.”

St. Peter also confesses in his Second Epistle that this divine nature of Jesus, the Son of the living God, is not only about Jesus, but about the church, about us.  For he reveals to us, under the Spirit’s inspiration, that “He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

And so, dear friends, we partake in our Lord’s divinity, in His Sonship of the living God.  We do this by hearing the inspired Word, by receiving the Holy Sacraments of Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Absolution through the Office of the Keys, in which we are declared forgiven by virtue of our Lord’s promise and delegated authority!

And because of this shared divinity, we escape the world’s corruption – the degeneracy of our life in this fallen world and flesh, and the corruption of death.  As St. Paul teaches us: “For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.” And He, dear friends, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, fulfilled the words of the Psalmist, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.”  And that same promise is for us!

St. Peter’s confession is the church’s confession.  It is our confession.  And as we confessed:

“What we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.  We also believe, and so we also speak, as one who speaks oracles of God.  From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised.”

Amen.

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

Sermon: Wittenberg Academy – Jan 17, 2023

17 Jan 2022

Text: Rom 7:21-8:17

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

St. Paul describes a civil war that rages within the Christian.  He describes it as a war between his mind and his flesh.  For the mind of the regenerate Christian, at least intellectually, desires to obey the Law and live a godly life.  But the more base instinct in us, sin which inheres in our Old Adam, pushes back.  The apostle refers to this as “the flesh,” the more animal part of our nature.  And of course, as part of creation, our flesh is fallen.  Our minds are actually part of our fallen flesh, but by virtue of the Holy Spirit, Paul will later speak of the “renewal” of our minds (Rom 12:2). 

So one part of us delights in the Law, while another part of us rebels against it.  St. Paul famously asks rhetorically: “Wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?”  He then answers his own question, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

In spite of the very real sinful flesh that threatens to drag us down to death and hell, St. Paul boldly confesses and preaches: “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  For, “God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.”

Dear friends, hear this Good News!  God Himself rescued us from this standoff between the Old Adam and the New Man, “by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”  In other words, we do not affect our own redemption by willfully walking according to the Spirit, rather, because Christ fulfilled the Law on our behalf, and because we are “in Christ Jesus,” we now, in our regenerate self, according to God’s will, walk according to the Spirit.

This redemption is always seen in light of the resurrection: first our Lord’s, and then our own: “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

This means, dear brothers and sisters, that not only our renewed minds, but also our fallen flesh, will be restored and raised from death, “to walk according to the Spirit.”  This is what it means that “all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”  Our sonship of God is in Christ Jesus, and in Him, all Christians, men and women alike, are adopted “sons” – heirs of everlasting life.  Our sonship grows from Christ’s Sonship, and His righteousness and life are given to us by grace.  This is why we join Jesus in calling God our “Abba,” our dear Father, and indeed, we are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”  And suffering is not evidence of our estrangement, dear friends.  For St. Paul is clear that we are co-heirs with Christ “provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.”

“Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus our Lord!”

Amen.

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

Sermon: Epiphany 2 – 2023

15 January 2023

Text: Luke 2:41-52 (Eph 5:22-23)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

St. John records the first “sign” done by Jesus: the turning of water into wine at a wedding feast. 

Weddings are important, and they are wonderful!  Jesus makes this clear by His appearance and miracle at this wedding at Cana in Galilee.  But there is something even more important and wonderful than the wedding: the marriage.  For the wedding is a ceremony that is over in an hour.  The wedding feast will be over in a few hours.  But the marriage should go on for many years, until death separates them.

Sometimes we emphasize weddings more than we nurture marriages.  And, sadly, the divorce rate last year was 44%. 

Just as Jesus blessed a wedding by being present, Jesus blesses marriages by instituting Holy Matrimony in the first place.  For , marriage is a picture of how Jesus is the Bridegroom, and the church is the bride.

St. Paul’s instruction to wives and husbands has become controversial.  Some progressive churches refuse to use it at weddings.  Many years ago, I read Ephesians 5 at a wedding, and the husband – who was old enough to know better – began mugging at his friends, who in turn laughed at the text.

They laughed at the Word of God, dear friends.  I should have stopped the wedding right then and there.  I didn’t.  But I will, if something like that happens again. 

The reason we have so many divorces is because people think this sound advice from the Word of God is a joke.  “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife.”  Any husband who thinks this is funny, or is license to lord over his wife, doesn’t deserve to be married, and he probably won’t be for long.  Having your wife submit to you is not about your dominance.  It is about your love for her.  For St. Paul also says: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”  That means, men, you are willing to die for your wife.  You will give up anything else that you love, for the sake of your bride.

And wives, if you want to stay married, respect your husband.  Don’t fall for the shtick of the TV wife that sasses her husband, orders him around, and treats him like her subordinate.  That is a sure way to drive a wedge between you and your husband, if not become a statistic. 

St. Paul has the secret to a successful marriage: “Let each one of you [husbands] love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

Wives need love.  Husbands need respect.  Give your spouse what he or she needs, or choose to have a miserable life, along with your children.

Christians are far too influenced by TV, movies, and social media.  They are brainwashed into a view of equality within marriage that is not biblical, nor does it match the reality of men and women.  They are different.  And a man cannot become a woman, and a woman cannot become a man.  Nor can men marry men, and nor can women marry women.  The biggest reason our society is in chaos, is because we have turned our backs on the Word of God, if not laugh at it.  The couple that had the wedding that featured laughter at the Bible has never been back to church.  That was years ago.  I hope they repent.  But keep in mind, those who hold God’s Word in contempt will be punished by their own contempt. 

But the beautiful thing about this passage from Ephesians, dear friends, is that it is truly about love and about being our authentic selves: men and women, both created in God’s image, both redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ, loving one another.

And the fact that a marriage between a man and a woman is so natural, it teaches us about “Christ and the church.”  For Jesus is the husband, and the church is the wife.  She submits to her bridegroom, and He in turn gives up everything for her, including His very life. 

So gentlemen, if you want to see the perfect husband, look to Jesus.  He takes the blows for His bride.  He fights off the dragon on her behalf.  He loves her more than His own life, and certainly more than His own comfort.  And ladies, if you want to see the perfect wife, look to the way Christians treat Christ, our God and our Savior.  For we submit to Him.  We do not order Him about.  We do not fight Him for equal status.  We trust Him, because He loves us.  And we follow Him, even when we disagree or don’t understand.

When Jesus came to the wedding at Cana, and when He found out that “the wine ran out,” our Lord had compassion and took action, as a man, acting out of love.  That is what men naturally do, especially strong, loving, healthy, Christian men.  They fix things.  And they love it when their wives respect them for it.  And wives love it when their husbands rise up and act to make their lives better, to protect them, to love them.

The Blessed Virgin Mary told the servants to submit to Jesus: “Do whatever He tells you.”  And this kind of submission is not popular today.  But when we submit to Jesus, when we do what His Word tells us to do, like a submissive wife, we experience the kind of joy the people of Cana did at this wedding feast.

For Jesus took their lack, and gave them abundance.  Jesus took their water and made it wine.  And it wasn’t ordinary wine, either.  It was the “good wine.”  Jesus takes our sin – including the sins we commit against our spouses – and makes them righteousness. 

Jesus gives us His blood as the “good wine,” and it never runs out.  His Word transforms wine into His blood, the very blood shed by our Bridegroom, who heroically saves us by defeating sin, death, and the devil.  Along with being God, Jesus is a man.  He fixes things.  He suffers for the sake of His beloved.  And we respect Him, submit to Him, follow Him, and we enjoy the blessings that He bestows upon us eternally.  For because of His cross, death will never separate us.  He has defeated death.

And after the resurrection, we will celebrate an eternal wedding feast, with the best wine being served at the last.  And so we are waiting for it to begin when our Bridegroom returns.

“This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory.  And His disciples believed in Him.

Amen.

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

Sermon: Baptism of our Lord – 2023

11 January 2023

Text: Matt 3:13-17 (Isa 42:1-7, 1 Cor 1:26-31)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

John had been prophesying of the coming of the Messiah, and baptizing people with a baptism of repentance, to help them prepare for the coming of the kingdom.  It was revealed to St. John the Baptist that the Messiah, the Christ, was none other than his cousin Jesus.  But what John finds incredible is that Jesus has come to him for baptism.

For John’s baptism was for sinners.  And so, when Jesus came to him, John was taken aback: “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”  John “would have prevented Him,” in fact, precisely because this makes no sense.

However, in God’s kingdom, this does make sense.  John doesn’t yet realize that Jesus is taking the place of all of humanity.  His baptism is part of our Lord’s ministry that He describes as “to fulfill all righteousness.”

For this is what Jesus does, and Jesus uses baptism to this end.  And so at the beginning of our Lord’s earthly ministry, Jesus receives Baptism, and we see the action of the entire Holy Trinity in, and with, the water.  And at the end of His earthly ministry, just before He ascends into heaven, Jesus will empower and command His apostles to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

And this is, once again, “to fulfill all righteousness.”

For this is ultimately the mission of the Christ.  He is our Savior, and He rescues us from sin, death, and the devil.  Our sins are transgressions of the Law.  And the entire collapse was started by that first sin in the Garden of Eden.  From that fateful day, we have been in a death spiral, all of humanity.  We cannot save ourselves, fix ourselves, or rescue ourselves, no matter how hard we try.  We are dead in our sins, and we need this promised Hero to redeem and revive us, to rebuild our fallen humanity. 

As the hymnist wrote five hundred years ago: 

As by one man all mankind fell
And, born in sin, was doomed to hell,
So by one Man, who took our place,
We all were justified by grace.

Jesus is the New Adam.  He is the recapitulation of mankind.  He is faithful where we are not.  He keeps the Law where we do not.  And so He submitted to circumcision, baptism, and ultimately the cross: living a perfect life and dying a sacrificial death, “to fulfill all righteousness.”

At His baptism, the Holy Spirit came to Him and rested upon Him in a visible way, taking the form of a dove.  And the Father came to Him as well, causing His voice to be heard: “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased.”  God is pleased by the obedience of His Son.  The Spirit descends through the opened heavens.  The Son stands in human flesh representing all of humanity, upholding the Law, but bearing its punishment, “to fulfill all righteousness.”

Of course, Jesus will fulfill all righteousness each and every day of His earthly ministry: fulfilling prophesies and removing the effects of sin, such as sickness, birth defects, guilt, condemnation, demonic possession, and even death itself.  And He calls men and women to follow Him, then and now, becoming disciples, taking up their own crosses, and following Him.  He calls men, then and now, to go and preach this Good News of the coming of the kingdom, to forgive sins, to baptize, and to administer the Lord’s Supper “for the forgiveness of sins.”  Our Lord not only fulfills all righteousness, but gives His church the Office of the Holy Ministry, His Word, and His Sacraments to “fulfill all righteousness” for those who hear, believe, and are baptized.

The prophet Isaiah reveals the coming of the Holy Spirit to Jesus: “Behold My Servant, whom I uphold, My chosen, in whom My soul delights, I have put My Spirit upon Him.”  And from this prophecy, we learn that our Lord Jesus Christ will not break a “bruised reed” or quench a “faintly burning wick.”  In other words, even when our faith is weak, Jesus does not crush us or abandon us.  He is with us in our struggles, our pain, our temptations, our doubts, and our trials.  “He will not grow faint or be discouraged.”  He says, “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you.”

This is what it means, dear friends, that He has come to “fulfill all righteousness.”  He fulfills it by His own blood, and He fulfills it in you!  We may be tempted to look at ourselves and wonder if this is true.  For when you look at yourself in the mirror, when you examine yourself according to the Ten Commandments, when you compare yourself to the perfection and righteousness that God intended at your creation, do you see the fulfillment of all righteousness? 

Indeed, as St. Paul points out, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.”

If you look in the mirror and see a basket case, rest assured that you are why the Lord came to “fulfill all righteousness.”  If you could accomplish it yourself, why would He die on the cross for you?  And God chooses the foolish, the weak, the low, and the despised of the world – people like you and me – “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

And so we were also baptized, dear friends, in imitation of our Lord, in obedience to His command, but most importantly, at His gracious invitation to receive the righteousness of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as a free gift, to be declared to be God’s child, with whom He is well pleased, to have righteousness fulfilled in us by virtue of His grace. 

For this is what it means that Jesus fulfills all righteousness: “He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”

For indeed, dear baptized brothers and sisters in Christ, “thus it is fitting” that for our sake, and by means of His grace and mercy, He has, for our sake and as a free gift, fulfilled all righteousness.  Amen.

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

Sermon: Wittenberg Academy – Jan 10, 2023

10 Jan 2022 – The Cappadocian Fathers

Text: Rom 2:17-29

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Sts. Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa were brothers.  They along with their friend, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, were influential bishops in the fourth century in Asia Minor, what is today Turkey.  But they were not, like many bishops today, politicians and administrators; they were true pastors and orthodox theologians.  They defended biblical theology against the heresy of the Arians, who believed that Jesus is a creature, not the Creator.  They gave pastoral care to people under their authority.

Much of our theology of salvation comes from the pen of St. Paul in his letter to the Romans.  And as he continues to write about sin, the apostle shoots down the arguments of those who claim to have salvation apart from Christ, the Creator, who is also our Redeemer.

In this passage, St. Paul takes aim at his fellow Jews, who tended to “rely on the law” and upon “circumcision” – but did so apart from faith.  He tells them that the Law will not save them, but rather the Law accuses them: “You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.  For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’”  And the sacrament of circumcision, apart from faith, did not forgive sin. 

St. Paul writes: “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.  But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.  His praise is not from man but from God.”  For circumcision brought a boy or man (and his family) into the church of the Old Testament.  But if faith were lacking, if the circumcision were only outward and not inward, that is, not of the heart, then relying on circumcision alone for salvation was foolish.  It is as foolish as relying on the Law alone for our salvation, for we all break it. 

We Christians have the sacrament of Holy Baptism that brings us into the church of the New Testament.  A baptized adult confesses the Apostles Creed and renounces the devil before he is baptized.  A baptized infant is asked to confess the creed and to renounce the devil, and his parents and sponsors answer on his behalf.  This is why it is important to raise children in the faith and not to simply point to their baptisms alone.  For a baptism apart from faith, though it is a real baptism, does not save.  It is not the work itself (ex opere operato, as the theologians say), but rather it is the work and the faith, the water and the Word, that make Holy Baptism effective.

Christians can be just as legalistic about their salvation as Jews.  Boasting about one’s father or grandfather who was a pastor or elder, or about one’s great-grandparents who founded the congregation has no effect on your own Christian faith and life.  The only way any of this matters is if they raised you in the faith that is to be believed (fides quae, as the theologians say), and you have faith that believes (fides qua, as the theologians say).  Word and Sacrament save us when we receive them by faith – for it is Jesus who saves us by His work on the cross.  Faith believes this and grasps this. 

Thanks be to God for St. Paul’s writings, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and preserved for us in Holy Scripture.  Let us take them to heart and believe them.  And thanks be to God for pastors and theologians, like Sts. Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus: men who stand firm for the fides quae, as theologians, and who preach and teach faithfully the fides qua as pastors.  Let us hear the Word and receive the Sacraments in faith – believing that Christ, our Lord and God, our Savior and Redeemer, uses them as channels to give us the gift of faith, delivering us from sin, death, and the devil, and covering all our sin with His righteousness.  Amen.

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

Sermon: Epiphany 1 – 2023

8 January 2023

Text: Luke 2:41-52 (1 Kings 8:6-13, Rom 12:1-5)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

The incident of Jesus being separated from his family and lost at the age of twelve is the only thing we know about Jesus between His infancy and His ministry.  The incident is recorded by St. Luke and preserved for us by the Holy Spirit precisely because there is something that God wants us to learn from this event.

Even at twelve years of age, Jesus is carrying out His Father’s will, and that will is that Jesus be “in [His] Father’s house.”  He is talking about the Scriptures.  He is teaching even at that young age.  The text mentions both asking questions and giving answers.  The rabbis used a form of the Socratic Method, in which teachers teach by asking questions.  Jesus was not there as a bright-eyed student; He was there as God in the flesh.

Although God is everywhere, God is present in the temple in a way that you can see Him, hear Him, learn from Him, be blessed by Him, and receive the Word of God from Him.  This is why “all who heard Him were amazed.” 

The temple is not a holy place in and of itself.  It is holy because God chooses to locate Himself there.  That is why when it was destroyed forty years after Jesus said it would be, this was a sad event, but it was not blasphemous.  For the glory had departed.  For from the coming of the Spirit, Christians are temples in their bodies, and what’s more, Christian churches and altars began to appear everywhere, with the Lord’s Supper being celebrated.  God’s presence is no longer found in a single building in Jerusalem, rather, He is present wherever two or three Christians gather for worship.  He is present when His Word is read and preached.  He is present in Baptisms and the Eucharist. 

In our Old Testament reading from the book of First Kings, the first temple has been built.  The Ark of the Covenant was brought into the temple and placed in the Most Holy Place.  On top of the ark was the mercy seat, the throne of God’s presence, appearing between two golden statues of angels, as “the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark.”

God’s presence appeared here in glory, in the inner sanctum of the house of sacrifice.  “And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.”

Sadly, the Israelites would be judged, as they were unfaithful to their God.  Ten of the tribes were conquered and lost to history.  Two tribes were taken into captivity in Babylon, the Ark was taken, and the temple was destroyed.  The Glory of the Lord departed.  But in His mercy, the grandchildren of these exiles were allowed to return to Jerusalem, and rebuild the temple, though it would be smaller, and the Ark of the Covenant was not there.

This second temple is where Mary found her Son lecturing after three days of his being lost to the family.

There are many who claim to believe in God, and even in Jesus, but have no desire to gather where God’s glory is, where Jesus is actually present: the Most Holy Place of the Christian altar, font, and pulpit.  Some Christians, perhaps, think it is a waste of time, that they “don’t get anything out of it.”  And what an arrogant attitude, dear friends, for even Jesus goes to the temple.  Are we better than Jesus?  Do we already know everything?  Are we so idolatrous to believe that other things are more important than going where Jesus is, to hear His Word, to be forgiven, to be instructed, and to participate in the miracle of His presence in Holy Communion? 

Just what could possibly be more important?  Our Lord’s reply to His mother, “Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s house?” should be on the lips of every Christian when one is asked what one is doing on the days that the church meets.

For coming here to this holy house is not something we do grudgingly because we are commanded to, rather, we come here because this is where God’s love finds us, where we are strengthened, where our departed loved ones are (for they are with Jesus, and Jesus is with us here).  This is why the Psalmist,  says, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” 

No more do we need to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  No more do we have to bring livestock to slaughter as payment for our sins.  No, indeed, we come not to make blood sacrifices, but to receive sacraments.  The one all-availing sacrifice has taken place, dear friends: our Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, offered as an oblation to God for the sins of the whole world on the cross.  We come here to receive this gift with joy. 

Now we do “present our bodies as a living sacrifice,” as St. Paul says.  What he means is that we offer ourselves, our lives, our bodies, our minds, our souls to the God who created us, redeemed us, and sanctified us.  This is not a sacrifice to shed blood for our forgiveness, as in the days of the temple.  For this is a “living sacrifice,” this is our “spiritual worship,” says the apostle.  This is like the thank offering in the Old Testament, the unbloody offering of grain and oil as a sacrifice by which to thank God.

We are here, dear friends, because we are thankful to the Triune God: for creating us, for dying on the cross to save us, for calling us into this life that will have no end.  Think of all the things we have to be thankful for, dear friends – and not just the things of this life.  Think about your baptism, in which the Holy Spirit descended upon you and the Triune God claimed you for Himself by means of His name.  Think about how you first learned the Gospel: your parents or relatives, your teachers, your pastors, all the people God placed into your life to draw you to Himself.  Think about the apostles who gave their lives for the privilege of preaching the Good News.  Think about the martyrs who died for the faith, men and women in the history of the church who lived heroic Christian lives.  Think about our forebears in Gretna who sacrificed to buy this property, to raise church buildings where the presence of Christ dwells, where His Word is preached.  Think about the “living sacrifice” to purchase this altar, font, and pulpit, for these pious Christians knew where to find Jesus, for He must be in His Father’s house.

The House of God is holy, dear friends.  This place is sacred, because Jesus is here.  This place is separate from the world.  As the apostle teaches us: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

But this Holy Place is not made for God to dwell in alone, dear friends.  This House of God is made for you to come into His presence, to hear the Word, read and preached, to have the blessing of the Office of the Keys placed upon you in the words of Holy Absolution.  This Holy House is a place of cleansing, where people have been baptized for a century and a half.  This temple is indeed where our Lord Jesus Christ comes to us in His true body and blood, sharing His miraculous presence with us physically. 

It is ultimately not the walls and furnishings and windows of this place that makes it holy.  It is holy because of Christ and because of us, dear friends.  In the words of the ancient liturgy, “holy things for holy people.”  We have been made holy by the waters of baptism and by the love and mercy of God in Christ Jesus.

It is important that we, in the body of Christ, continue to gather here, week after week, not to “get something out of it” (though we get nothing less than the gift of eternal life), but rather we gather here because we are the body of Christ  And what’s more, by gathering, we love and serve our neighbors, our fellow Christians.  For there is strength in numbers.  St. Paul says, “So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”  Let us serve one another, and let us receive the Lord’s gifts, here, in this sacred place, for we “must be in [our] Father’s house.”

Amen.

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