Sermon: Wittenberg Academy – Reformation Day, 2023

31 Oct 2023

Text: Matt 20:17-34

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

It is a natural thing for parents to want their children to become great, and to share their joy when their children accomplish achievements: academic, athletic, career milestones, and the joys of family life.  In fact, we all want to do well and achieve success.  So it should not surprise us that “the mother of the sons of Zebedee” appealed to Jesus for her two sons, James and John, to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus in His kingdom.  Of course, her bold and forward appeal was met with indignation by the other ten disciples.  For in the world, the greatness of two means the exclusion of ten.  And how embarrassing for James and John that their mommy is trying to get them good jobs. 

Well, the kingdom doesn’t work the same way as the world.  In the kingdom, greatness is given by grace.  For James and John, all of the apostles, and every person who ever lived with the exception of Jesus is a poor, miserable sinner.  And while it is natural that we aspire to greatness, and we want our children to be great, we cannot earn it.  It can’t be bought.  It can’t be acquired through the greatness of others by means of gazing upon their bones and objects that they have touched.

For we are all flawed and marked for death like the two blind men sitting by the roadside, crying out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David.”  And while “the crowd rebuked them,” Jesus did not.  For this is the greatest act of all: to acknowledge our wretched state, and to cry out to Jesus for mercy.  The kingdom is so unlike the world.  And all sinners need to be reminded of our need for God’s grace, whether professors, princes or popes, whether students, teachers, or parents, whether preacher and chaplain, or hearer or reader of the Word.  We are all in need of daily reformation and remembrance of where our greatness lies, and we are truly made great by God’s grace alone.

The Word of God teaches us this, and whether it is recited by little ones in their daily prayers, preached into a microphone and sent all over the world by means of technology, or nailed to an obscure castle church door in a university town in Germany, we need to be reminded about greatness and grace.  We need Jesus and His Word.  For while Mrs. Zebedee was seeking greatness for her boys, Jesus had just reminded the Twelve where they were headed: “See, we are going up to Jerusalem.  And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

This is not the greatness that a mother has in mind for her Son.  And yet, the Blessed Virgin Mary was told that a sword would pierce her soul.  She would bear witness to her Son’s greatness on the cross.  Reformation Day is ultimately not about Martin Luther and a debate over indulgences.  It is about Christ dying to save sinners by grace.  It is confessing our sin, singing: “Lord, have mercy upon us,” in our liturgy, hearing the Good News of God’s grace, believing it, and by means of Word and Sacrament, receiving the gift of the greatness of Jesus.  And indeed, in the kingdom, the greatness of two does not mean the exclusion of ten.  For the first will be last, and the last, first.  We exchange our sin for Christ’s greatness, even as He exchanges His crown of glory for a crown of thorns. 

“He said to them, ‘You will drink My cup.’”  Indeed, dear friends, we sinful, selfish, blind, and dying sinners are permitted to drink His cup, to eat His body, to hear His Word, and like Jesus, to walk out of our own graves.  Our Lord’s mother also saw her Son’s greatness in the resurrection, and so will we.  May our prayer for greatness ever be: “Lord, let our eyes be opened.”  Let that be our reformation.

Amen.

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

Sermon: Reformation Day (observed) – 2023

 

29 Oct 2023

Text: Matt 11:12-19 (Rev 14:6-7, Rom 3:19-28)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Like many extraordinary events in history, the 16^th Century Reformation that began in Germany started with something ordinary: the posting of some academic theses for the professors to debate in Latin.  This was nothing unusual in the college town of Wittenberg, and the castle church door was the academic bulletin board.

But this little act by a professor named Dr. Luther grew into a big, worldwide movement to correct centuries of corruption and error.  For what began with a dispute over fundraising in the church became a debate over how we are saved.  Can we buy God’s mercy?  Is God’s favor something that we can earn by good works?  And as a result of these discussions, we had to come to grips with the question of who has ultimate authority in the church to settle disputes.  Was it the Word of God, or was it the pope and the bishops? 

The ordinary event of October 31, 1517, the posting of the 95 Theses, unfolded into a movement that we at Salem Lutheran Church are still a part of.  We called it Evangelical Catholicism, but our opponents called it by an insulting name: “Lutheranism.”

The Reformation and its remembrance give us yet another chance to talk about Jesus: His work on the cross to save us, the forgiveness of sins by His blood, by grace, and through faith; and by God’s use of His Word and His Sacraments to convey forgiveness, life, and salvation to us, through His ministers, all according to the Scriptures.

And so on this Reformation Sunday, we’re not going to spend that much time talking about the sale of indulgences, the church doors, Martin Luther, and the University of Wittenberg – as interesting as this all is.  Dr. Luther would be the first to remind you that Dr. Luther didn’t die for you.  What is important is that we talk about Jesus: His incarnation, His Good News, His passion, crucifixion, and death, and His glorious resurrection.  We talk about what Jesus taught and continues to teach through His Word: namely, that as we heard St. Paul write to the Romans: we are not saved by our works, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”  St. Paul also wrote to the Ephesians: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

So, dear friends, it doesn’t matter what your past life looks like, how many sins you have committed, nor what those sins are.  It doesn’t matter how much money you have, how much you give to the church, or how much theology that you know.  It doesn’t matter what positions or titles you hold in the church, and it doesn’t matter what some pastor or bishop or pope or synod or TV preacher says if they are citing their own opinions. 

What matters, dear friends, is that Jesus came into our world, died on the cross to pay the price of all of our sins, that He rose again and promises to raise all believers from the grave, saw to it that you were baptized, provides a pastor to absolve you of your sins, and gives you His very body and blood as a free gift.  This free gift is called “grace” and the fact that you believe it is called “faith.”  And even faith itself is a gift of God. 

And since we have been given this Good News, what Scripture calls “an eternal gospel,” we confess it, preach it, and tell the whole world about it: “every nation and tribe and language and people.”  For Jesus came into the world as a Good Shepherd, seeking and saving the lost sheep – meaning each one of us poor, miserable sinners.  He does this out of love, not to be paid.  He does this out of mercy, not to manipulate us into doing something or paying for something in the church.

For listen yet again to the Word of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.”  Jesus put an end to the pretense that you can violently seize God’s grace.  The opponents of God laid violent hands on John, and then on Jesus.  But they could not claim the kingdom by force.  They killed Peter and Paul and nearly every other apostle, but they could not silence the Gospel.  They arrested and tortured Christians for centuries in the name of the Roman Empire, but they could not destroy the church.  And even taking over the church by means of greed and corruption and false doctrine, they burned faithful Christians at the stake, and put a price on Luther’s head, but ultimately, as we sang in Luther’s words: “This world’s prince may still, scowl fierce as he will, He can harm us none.  He’s judged; the deed is done; one little Word can fell him.”

One little Word, dear friends.  The Word made flesh.  The Word who had no beginning, the Word who is God, the Word becoming little in His mother’s womb, the Word at the cross, and in the tomb, the Word who rose again and is proclaimed here in time, and praised forever in eternity: this Word, this Jesus, lives and reigns eternally, and He reigns for you!

This is the truth recovered by Luther and the reformers at Wittenberg.  For it’s not about them, but it’s about the truth: the truth of the Gospel.  It’s about Jesus.  It’s about what Scripture teaches.  It’s about grace and faith and everlasting life by virtue of God’s grace and mercy.  It’s about Word and Sacrament, and the resurrection of the dead.  It’s not for sale, not at any price.  It can’t be earned, not for any great deed.  It is there for you as a free gift.

And so, because of God’s grace and mercy, because of this Good News rediscovered in the Scriptures at the time of the Reformation, because God permitted this extraordinary event to happen even in the ordinariness of our own lives in this fallen world – we live lives of gratitude in response to God’s mercy.  We do good works out of love for our neighbor, not looking for personal rewards or salvation.  We give time, treasure, and talent to the church in order that this eternal Gospel may continue to be proclaimed “to those who dwell on earth,” not to buy God’s favor. We visit historical places and reflect upon our heritage not in order to receive time off of purgatory, but to be reminded of God’s gracious work in space and time: not only in Jerusalem, but also in Wittenberg, and even here in Gretna – as well as “to every nation and tribe and language and people.”

On that ordinary October 31, 1517, when that ordinary university professor posted the ordinary notice of debate on the ordinary church door, the extraordinary truth about the Christian life was confessed.  The first of these 95 Theses read: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’ (Matt 4:17), He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”  And this is most certainly true! 

And so, dear friends, our entire lives are lives of belief and repentance, out of gratitude for what Jesus has done for us: His life, His death, His resurrection.  His grace, His Word, and His Sacraments.  His body, His blood, His Baptism.   

We thank God for Dr. Luther and the other reformers who put their lives on the line, even in the face of those who would try to take the kingdom of heaven and the lives of confessing Christians by violence and by force.  They could not have the kingdom when they exercised violence against John, against our Lord Jesus Christ, nor against the apostles and reformers.  They cannot have it now.  For we have an eternal Gospel to proclaim in our life of repentance under the cross. 

So let us celebrate the extraordinary grace of God on this ordinary October day.  And let us confess in song with Dr. Luther and with Christians around the world, singing: “Our victory has been won; The kingdom ours remaineth.”

Amen.

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

Sermon: Salem 150th Anniversary Observation – 2023

28 Oct 2023

Text: 1 Kings 8:22-30

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

King Solomon built a temple, a house of God, for our God who needs no house.  For indeed, “heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain [Him],” let alone a series of buildings built at the corner of 4^th and Amelia over the past century and a half.  “But,” asks Solomon, “will God indeed dwell on the earth?”

Yes, indeed, dear friends.  God dwells on earth.  The God who could not be contained by heaven itself permitted Himself to be contained in flesh – even a single celled embryo in the flesh of His mother’s womb.  “For us men and for our salvation,” God was contained not only in a womb, but also in a tomb – having been restrained upon a cross by nails.  God was nourished by blood – blood which now nourishes us unto eternal life.  God comes to us in His Word – proclaimed in this holy house.  God comes to us in His Sacraments: by means of water and bread and wine contained under this roof and in this sanctuary, in this holy house.

God needs no building in which to dwell, but we do, dear friends.  And in His infinite mercy, God comes to us where we are.

We rejoice in the anniversary of our congregation, and its continual gathering here at this place for more than one hundred and fifty years.  We give thanks “for all the saints who from their labors rest,” saints who sacrificed for the sake of our congregation, including many the sainted pastors like the reverend fathers Gottlieb Gruber, Adolph Wismar, and Eugene Schmid.  Many of us remember our sainted ancestors, and in some cases, our sainted descendants, whose bodies have lain in state in this house of God, who now await being awaked at the resurrection.  We honor our fathers and mothers according to the flesh, and our forebears according to the Spirit, who gathered here at this font for baptism, this altar for the Lord’s Supper, this lectern to hear the Word, and this pulpit to hear the proclamation of the Gospel.

But this celebration is not about us.  As King Solomon’s father, King David, wrote as the Psalmist under the Spirit’s inspiration: “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory, for the sake of Your steadfast love and your faithfulness!”  The glory is not unto us, and not unto our ancestors, not unto Pastor Gruber, not unto King Solomon and not unto King David, but rather, as we sing in every Sunday Mass: “Glory be to God on high.” 

We give glory to our God who permitted Himself to be contained in the fleshly temple of His own body, in His mother’s womb, in the Jordan River, on the cross, in the tomb, and in His glorious resurrected body that appeared to the disciples for forty days before ascending to the Father.  We give glory to our Lord Jesus Christ who comes to us miraculously in His most holy body and blood, according to His Word and promise, and we give glory to Him who is coming again to raise the dead, “whose kingdom will have no end.”

For there is no God like Him “in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to [His] servants.”  And He listens “to the plea of [His] servants.”  And, dear friends, when He hears our prayers, He responds.  As Solomon confessed, so do we: “And when you hear,” O God, “forgive.” 

God took flesh to erase our debt and eradicate our sin, to restore our world from its brokenness.  In the words of the hymnist: “Thou camest to our hall of death, O Christ to breathe our poisoned air, To drink for us the dark despair That strangled our reluctant breath.”

For though God permits Himself to be contained by these walls under our roof (though we are not worthy, but at His Word, we are healed), the church is ultimately not a structure made of stone, but rather of living stones: the royal and priestly people in whom the Spirit dwells.  God Himself is our mighty fortress, and we, the church, take refuge in Him.  We confess a church that is “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic,” just as we have from the day when our Lord Jesus Christ breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone his sin, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

The church is indeed one, even though she is broken and battered on this side of glory.  She finds her unity in her confession of the Holy Trinity, of the humanity and divinity of Jesus, in the cross, in forgiveness, “in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”  And we pray with the hymnist: “Breathe on Thy cloven Church once more, that in these gray and latter days There may be those whose life is praise, Each life a high doxology To Father, Son, and unto Thee.”

The church is indeed holy, even though she is flawed and filled with sinners on this side of glory.  She is holy because Christ is holy, having come to sanctify us, in the words of the hymnist: “Thy strong Word bespeaks us righteous; Bright with Thine own holiness, Glorious now, we press toward glory, And our lives our hopes confess.”

The church is indeed catholic, even though she is often like a squabbling family rent by faction and division.  For with the hymnist we proclaim: “The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; She is His new creation By water and the Word.  From heaven He came and sought her To be His holy bride; With His own blood He bought her, And for her life He died.”

The church is indeed apostolic, even though the world, and even many in the church, forget that our faith is historical and inherited, given to us as a gift by those who came before us in an unbroken chain back to our Lord’s chosen apostles.  We rejoice in the apostles and those who followed in their train – especially on this day of remembrance of our own apostolic congregation, singing with the hymnist: “Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful true and bold, Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old And win with them the victor’s crown of gold!  Alleluia, alleluia.”

Let us continue in the good confession of the church, as the church, and in the church, giving thanks for our forebears, but most of all, giving praise and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ for His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation.  Let us pray for the continuation of God’s mercy and providence, that barring the return of our Lord, saints yet unborn (even as we will all be in glory), will gather here to celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of this parish, likewise giving thanks and praise to God alone by means of the blood of Christ, reading these same Holy Scriptures, but perhaps singing in words of hymns yet unwritten and unsung, but singing nevertheless with us, with angels, with archangels, and all the company of heaven, the high eternal doxology: 

God, the Father, light-creator,
To Thee laud and honor be.
To Thee, Light of Light begotten,
Praise be sung eternally.
Holy Spirit, light-revealer,
Glory, glory be to Thee.
Mortals, angels, now and ever
Praise the Holy Trinity!

Amen. 

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

Meditation: Trinity 20 – 2023

22 Oct 2023

Text: Matt 22:1-14 (Isa 55:1-9, Eph 5:15-21)

Note: This was read by the Deacon.

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

The prophet Isaiah invites “everyone” to a feast.  And it is free: “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”  Even water is free in this invitation.  And Isaiah makes it clear that this is a spiritual banquet: “that your soul may live.”  The prophet asks why we spend money on things that don’t satisfy us, because the best and richest food is free.

And so, dear friends, let us “seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.”

And because of this promise of grace, St. Paul warns us to “Look carefully” as you walk your Christian walk, “making the best use of your time, because the days are evil.”  Instead of getting “drunk with wine,” we should be “filled with the Spirit” with “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” 

And these two readings lead us to our Gospel, in which Jesus tells a parable about a wedding feast.  It is the same banquet that Isaiah talks about: an invitation to dine at the King’s table, “without money and without price.”  For the King’s Son is getting married, and the King has invited certain chosen people to come.  The meal is prepared.  The banquet hall is decorated.  “Everything is ready.”

But one by one, the chosen people who were invited decide that they have better things to do, other plans that seem to be a better deal.  And in fact, those who were invited even kill the messengers of the King.

And so, what would you think happens in Jesus’ story?  The King “was angry.”  And “He sent His troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.  Clearly, the people who were originally invited “were not worthy.” 

But the King still wants the wedding hall filled.  And so He sends servants out bearing invitations to the feast, going out into all nations, taking to the streets and inviting everyone, “both bad and good” into the King’s palace for the feast.  “So the wedding hall was filled with guests.” 

This banquet is God’s Kingdom.  It’s a feast.  And it’s free.  But to those who try to sneak in “without a wedding garment,” those who try to come to the banquet on their own terms, will be thrown out.

But the good news is that you are invited.  You were given a wedding garment at your baptism.  You are worthy to sit at the King’s table and dine with the Son.  And remember Isaiah’s invitation: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on Him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Come to the wedding feast!  Everything is ready!

Amen.

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

Sermon: Trinity 19 – 2023

15 Oct 2023

Text: Matthew 9:1-8 (Gen 28:10-17)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

The first commandment is: “You shall have no other gods.”  And as we know from our catechism: “What does this mean?  We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”

And, of course, we know that we should trust in God, because we believe that He cannot lie, and that His will is perfect.  And we know that we should love God, because He gives us everything we have, and has even forgiven our sins.  But why should we fear Him?  Doesn’t the “fear” seem a little out of place?

But look at the reaction of Jacob when he has a vision of the ladder reaching to heaven, with “the angels of God ascending and descending on it.”  He hears God Himself speak, making him a promise that his children will become a nation that will bless the entire earth.  And God even speaks great comfort to Jacob: “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go,” and, “I will not leave you.”  Jacob wakes up, saying, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it,” and “he was afraid.”

We see the same reaction to our Lord’s healing of the paralytic and forgiving his sins: “When the crowds saw it, they were afraid.” 

We see this in other places in scripture too, such as when Peter was cleaning his fishing nets after a working all night and catching nothing, and along comes Jesus telling him to try again.  And after he reluctantly does so, catches so many fish that the boat begins to sink.  His reaction was also one of fear.  For he suddenly realized that he was in the very presence of God.

There are many other examples of this fear of God in the Old Testament, when people encounter angels.  One minute, people are going about their ordinary lives: working, eating, doing chores, taking care of family – and then the next minute, an angel appears.  And when they realize that God is present, they are afraid.  Sometimes the fear is sheer terror, to the point where the angel has to say, “Don’t be afraid.”  And in fact, we see this same reaction of fear when Jesus raises the widow’s son from his coffin on the way to the tomb.  And again, after His own resurrection, Jesus appears to the Marys (who were afraid) and to the men He will be ordaining as apostles, and giving them authority to forgive sins (and they were also afraid).

“Fear, love, and trust…”

Fear goes along with faith.  For if you believe that what you are seeing is God in His supernatural glory, it is like realizing after the fact that you were very close to a tornado, or to a high voltage line, or that you almost fell off the roof.  You realize that just a few minutes ago, everything was normal – or so you thought.  Then you suddenly realized that you had a vision from God, you saw an angel, you were almost killed except for a divine intervention.  You realize that you just saw God take the form of a man and cure a paralytic, you saw this man forgive sins – meaning that God is in this place, and “this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”  You realize that God in human form has just come to us in a miracle as bread and wine that we can eat and drink, that God’s awesome Word has come to this “house of God,” and that our sins are truly forgiven, that “God… had given such authority to men,” and that our own baptism was a supernatural, universe-shattering event that makes us children of the everlasting, all-powerful Creator and King of the Universe.

And if we believe these things (in other words, if we have faith), we will naturally react with fear.  For one minute, we are sitting on a wooden bench, chatting with friends, smiling at babies and children, and following along an ordinary church service – and the next minute, we realize what just happened here, that this is the “gate of heaven,” that God has “given such authority to men” to forgive sins, and that Jesus is with us, truly and physically and supernaturally, in His Word and Sacrament.  And in our fear, we also love and trust, and we too glorify God.

Notice, however, dear friends, that the scribes and Pharisees have no fear of Jesus.  They do not react like Jacob after he awoke.  They do not fall to their knees like Peter still seeing the miraculous fish in the boat.  They do not respond like the crowds who just saw a dead man sit up in his own casket and speak.  The scribes watched the miracle of a man cured of paralysis, but their reaction is not awe at the wonder of it, not fear of being in the presence of God, but rather a denial of God’s presence.  They don’t fear because they don’t believe.

There is no fear when all you see is a man whom you think is an impostor.  There is no fear when you think it was just a dream, it was just a trick, it was just a guy claiming to forgive sins, it’s just bread and wine, it’s just a bunch of stories from an old book.  Where there is no faith, there is no fear.

But, dear friends, if you do believe this stuff, if you believe there is a God, and that He doesn’t just create you and leave you alone, if you believe His care for you is ongoing, and that the supernatural comes packaged in the natural, you will have moments of fear. 

And this kind of fear is a good thing.  For it means you believe that you are in the presence of God who is righteous (and you are not), and you know that God could rightly strike you down (but He doesn’t).  You hear the Words of Scripture with awe, you receive absolution with joy, you witness baptisms with fear of the power of the Lord, you take the Sacrament confessing that, in, with, and under the ordinary bread and wine, is something incredibly extraordinary and miraculous.  You receive the body and the blood of the Lord, saying with Jacob: “How awesome is this place!  This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

This is what it means to have a God, dear friends, to believe in God.  For faith is not just some kind of intellectual conclusion that God exists – and that He is safely tucked away in heaven somewhere, while we live out our lives untouched by His miraculous presence.  Even the demons have that kind of so-called faith, as James says in his epistle.  No, indeed, to fear, love, and trust in God above all things is to believe what God has promised: that through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would come the Messiah, and that He is God in the flesh, and that He is present even with us here and now in His flesh and blood.  We believe that He is present when two or three gather in His name, and that we have a mystical encounter with Him in a real, flesh and blood way in this “house of God,” and that He comes to this “gate of heaven” to forgive our sins and give us the promise that we will be cured of our own paralysis – even of death itself.

And while we react with fear, we are not terrified.  For we also love and trust in God above all things, that His almighty power is not going to be turned against us, but that He comes to us in grace and mercy.  When He tells His disciples to “fear not,” He is telling them that they are right to react in fear, but because of His mercy, we have nothing to fear from His wrath.  And that is exactly why He gave “such authority to men” – even to pronounce absolution upon you, for forgive your sins, to make you worthy to stand in God’s presence, surrounded by unseen angels, and even to participate in a sacred and supernatural meal.

Yes indeed, dear friends, let us “fear, love, and trust in God above all things,” and to do so in joy.  “How awesome is this place!  This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

Amen.

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

Sermon: Wittenberg Academy – Oct 10, 2023

10 Oct 2023

Text: Matt 11:1-19

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

“John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at Him!  A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”

Now that John the Baptist has been arrested, and with some of his disciples coming to Jesus, our Lord reflects on John’s ministry and points out how the kingdom is being rejected by those who are hearing the Good News.  They stop up their ears to John, supposedly because he is too introverted.  They refuse to listen to Jesus, supposedly because He is too extroverted.  And Jesus is pointing out that their reasons don’t make sense.  They don’t really think John “has a demon” because he avoids wine and feasts – just as their priests do when they are serving at the temple.  They don’t really think that Jesus is “a glutton and a drunkard” because he drinks wine and eats with them, just as they do, at the very same feasts.

These are just childish slurs with no basis in reality.  Our Lord compares them to children taunting one another in the playground, and a popular little chant that kids had at the time: “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.” 

We see this kind of irrational behavior among young (and not so young) people on social media.  And we see it among older (and not so old) people in our parishes.  When the Good News of Jesus is met by a rejection for reasons that make no sense, when you see logical fallacies being used to deny the Good News of the coming of Christ and the kingdom, when you notice that those with some ax to grind about something in scripture that they don’t like (even Christians!) set up a “heads I win, tails you lose” argument, it is clear that the problem is with the message, not the messenger.

We see this when church members complain about the pastor conducting the liturgy with too much reverence (how else should he serve at the holy altar?).  We see this when they argue against the church taking a stand on certain controversial subjects (and when their own family members are living certain “controversial” lifestyles).  We see this online when people call confessors of Christ “bigots” and some kind of “phobes” instead of engaging what they have to say in light of scripture and plain reason.

And this, dear friends, is why Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  For in rejecting the preacher or the confessor of Christ, in coming up with ridiculous distortions of logic and attacks on the messenger (which in logic is called the “ad hominem fallacy”), it is as though they have cut off their own ears.  They do not hear the truth of the Gospel because they do not want to hear it.  They deny its truth because they do not want it to be true.  And that is why John the Baptist was arrested and put to death: for speaking truth to power.

And that is why our Lord was crucified.  And that is why we confessors also bear our own crosses.  But whether it is received with joy, or condemned by a mob, truth is still truth.  The Good News is still the Good News.  We continue to speak the truth in love, and those who receive it receive it in love.  Those who reject it are themselves so distorted that they don’t even know what love is.  Let us continue to teach them, dear friends, by word and deed, and most of all, by the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!  For “blessed is the one who is not offended by [Him]!”

Amen.

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

Sermon: Trinity 18 – 2023

8 Oct 2023

Text: Matt 22:34-46

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

The Sadducees were the liberals of first century Judaism.  They were the sophisticated scholars, the priests, the ones who didn’t believe in those old things written in Moses and the Prophets about angels and the resurrection.

They picked a fight with Jesus, and He quickly made them look foolish – responding to their question by telling them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God.”  And then He asked them questions that they could not answer. 

Of course, this made their rivals, the Pharisees, happy.  But now, the Pharisees take their shot at Jesus.  Surely they would have better luck.  For they too were scholars, but unlike the Sadducees, the Pharisees were conservative, and they actually knew the scriptures.  And, they had the scribes and the lawyers on their side.  And so, they come to Jesus to ask a question of their own “to test Him.”

For they still think Jesus is just some simpleton from the hill country whom they can trip up with Bible trivia.  It’s really sad, if you think about it.  For here is their long-awaited Messiah, who has proven it through His preaching, through the prophecies that He fulfills, and through His miracles: healing the sick again and again, and casting out demons.  Here, for the first time in four hundred years, God is speaking in person to their nation. But instead of asking questions to learn from Him, they are asking questions to try to trap Him.  They have their agenda, and the last thing they want is for Jesus to ruin it.

And so their lawyer asks Jesus, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”  And like all lawyer questions, it’s not really a question.  They have a script, and no matter what His answer id, they will have a retort.  But not this time, dear friends.  For Jesus replies to their question in a way that they cannot argue against.  For there are actually two answers to their question: the two tables of the Law.  The Ten Commandments are all summed up by “Love the Lord your God,” and “Love your neighbor.”  As Jesus says: “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

The liberal Sadducees were wrong, as they did not believe in the whole Bible.  But the conservative Pharisees were also wrong, for they did not understand that the Law of God is all about love.

The Sadducees had no faith, and the Pharisees had no love.  And both groups simply did not know God – and so neither of them had hope.  And so God has come to them, to restore hope, standing in front of them, teaching them, in the flesh.  But both groups stop up their ears.  Instead of listening to Jesus, they are trying to trip Him up.  And again, what a tragedy.  How sad it is to have God in the flesh in your presence, but to be more concerned about looking good in the eyes of the world than wanting to know what God has to say.

And now, as the Pharisees are astounded at our Lord’s answer, and they have no retort, it’s time for Jesus to ask some questions of His own.  So the Pharisees and their lawyers are now being cross examined by God.  For those who refuse to repent, that is not a good place to be.

Right away, Jesus goes for the Big Question: “What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?  Of course, this is a loaded question.  For the Messiah is both the Son of God and also the Son of Man.  He is the Son of Adam, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the Son of Mary.  And yes, their answer is correct, He is also “the Son of David,” the King of Israel.

“How is it then,” asks Jesus, “that David, in the Spirit, calls Him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to My Lord, Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet’?  If then David calls Him Lord, how is He His Son?”

Yes, indeed, the Messiah, according to Psalm 110, written by King David, is both David’s Son and David’s Lord.  He is both a man, a descendant of David, and He is God, the Lord – at the same time.  Jesus is telling them, “I am the Messiah.  I am the Son of David.  I am also God in the flesh.”  And this, dear friends, is how Jesus preaches with authority as never before seen in Israel, how He casts out demons, and how He does amazing miracles that only God can do.  And it also means that He can forgive sins, and He can indeed work on the Sabbath as He pleases.

If what Jesus says is true, the Sadducees will have to stop being Sadducees and start following Jesus.  And if what He says is true, the Pharisees will likewise have to stop being Pharisees and start following Jesus.  They will all have to know the scriptures and the power of God, having faith, hope, and love, having forgiveness, life, and salvation, receiving God’s grace, mercy, and eternal life – and Jesus can tell them all about it, if they will only listen, if they will only put their trust in Him and His Word.  For the Messiah has come to rescue them.  Indeed, as John the Baptist preached, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand!”  Jesus has good news for them!  All they have to do is listen, and believe!

But here is what happened instead: “No one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask Him any more questions.”  For they didn’t like where this was going.  They didn’t like Jesus’ answers.  They didn’t like the fact that He was proving to them that He is the Messiah.

So they stopped asking Him questions.  It is like they stopped coming to church, stopped reading the Bible, stopped praying, and stopped caring about spiritual matters unless they called the shots.

Can there be anything more sad than that, dear friends?  But don’t we do the same thing?  Do we know the scriptures?  Do we know the power of God?  Are we eager to come to where Jesus is, and hear His Word and treasure it more than anything else in the world?  Are we “hanging on His every word” like the multitudes who heard Him preach – which made the Pharisees and Sadducees hate Him even more?

Is there a part of us that is a faithless Sadducee?  Are we skeptical when it comes to the Bible?  Do we think that God really doesn’t have the kind of power that science does, that the American government has, that corporations have, that there are simply things of this world that are more important and reliable than listening to Jesus?  And is there a little loveless Pharisee inside of us, along with a little hopeless lawyer that justifies whatever sins we commit because we think we are better than those other people?

Maybe we all need to stop doing what the Sadducees and the Pharisees do: relying on what we prefer to believe rather than asking Jesus, rather than seeing what His Word says, what scripture teaches us.  Maybe we thing there are just better things for us to do rather than come here to hear a sermon on the Bible and to eat some bread and take a little sip of wine. 

But Jesus is God, dear friends.  He is David’s Son and David’s Lord.  He is the Messiah promised by scripture.  He promises to be with us always, eve to the end of the world.  And if we do know the scriptures and the power of God, we will believe this.  And we will also know that He goes to the cross to shed His blood for us, so that we might be redeemed from this world’s evil.  We will eagerly eat His body and drink His blood, and we will have faith, hope, and love.

Jesus has come to save us and to give us eternal life in a new heaven and a new earth.  Jesus has come to raise us, and all believers, from the dead.  Jesus has done this by His preaching and miracles, that is, by Word and Sacrament.  We do not come to Jesus to test Him.  But in order to be saved by Him.

That Psalm that Jesus quoted, Psalm 110, goes on to warn the enemies of Jesus that “He will shatter kings on the day of His wrath,” but also, “Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of Your power.” 

Jesus offers Himself freely to us, dear friends, and so let us offer ourselves back to Him, hearing Him, and continuing to ask Him questions, ever eager for His Word, confessing Him freely on the day of His power, as both David’s Son and David’s Lord: our King, our Messiah, our Priest, our God, and our Savior!

Amen.

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

That's a Lot of Athletes...

Gotta get those population numbers down for Mother Earth and our Insect Overlords!

https://goodsciencing.com/covid/athletes-suffer-cardiac-arrest-die-after-covid-shot/

Sermon: Wittenberg Academy – Oct 3, 2023

3 Oct 2023

Text: Matt 7:13-29

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

“Enter by the narrow gate,” says our Lord.  “For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

These are sobering words from our Lord, dear friends.  They are a reminder of the world’s greatest tragedy.  For although “God so loved the world,” (John 3:16) and our Lord is the “Lamb of God that takest away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), most of the world misses, or rejects, the gift.  For either they don’t find the narrow gate, or they have contempt for it because it is little.  For we all, like sheep, look to numbers to flock with.  And “we all, like sheep, have gone astray” (Isa 53:6).  The narrow gate is the single Good Shepherd.

For there are many wolves in sheep’s clothing, leading billions to the wide gate of destruction.  We Christians know our Shepherd’s voice.  And we must recognize the “false prophets… by their fruits.”  There are also those who thought they found the narrow gate, even calling Jesus “Lord.”  They will point to their own good works, even works that seem wonderful and miraculous.  But Jesus does not know them and will cast them away.  We do not enter the narrow gate by an appeal to ourselves and our own works.  Rather, as our Good Shepherd says, it is “the one who does the will of My Father” who enters by the narrow gate.  Beware of those who point to good works – their own or that of others – for they are not recognized by our Lord.

Instead, dear friends, if you want to find the narrow gate, it is important to “build [your] house on the rock.”  For the rock is Christ (1 Cor 10:4).  Fix your eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:2) and not on the crowds, not on celebrities, not on influencers, not on flashy preachers, not on good works, and not even on apparent miracles.  For when the rains and floods and winds come, as they inevitably do in this fallen world, your faith will stand, for it is “founded on the rock.”  And Jesus says that we must be the man who “hears these words of [His]” rather than the “foolish man” who builds a house on sand.

We find the narrow gate by the Word, dear friends, by the Word, and only the Word: the Word Made Flesh, and the Word that is the testimony of Him given to us by the Holy Spirit: the Scriptures.  For the Word of God is “teaching [us]” with “authority,” not like the scribes, not like the celebrities, the so-called experts, the razzle-dazzle preachers, the self-help gurus, the leaders of exotic religions, or the sellers of fads.  All of these false prophets lead sheep astray by the wide gate. 

So us enter by the narrow gate, dear friends.  Let us remain in the flock.  And let us pray in the words of the hymn: 

Guide me that I never may
From Your fold or pastures stray,
But Your zeal and joy exceeding
Follow where Your steps are leading.

Amen.

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

Sermon: Trinity 17 – 2023

1 Oct 2023

Text: Luke 14:1-11 (Prov 25:6-14)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

The Pharisees “were watching [Jesus] very carefully.”  Their motives are very clear: Jesus is their rival, and they want to take Him out.  They are watching Him closely to catch Him in something: a scandal, a contradiction, a false teaching – anything that they could get Him on.  After all, with most people, this is pretty easy.  Everyone makes mistakes, nobody is morally perfect, everyone has a skeleton in the closet, nobody knows everything about everything.  And there is always the “guilt by association” card. And even if they have to lie or plant evidence, or use their influences to take Jesus out, well, that’s just how things work.

Jesus had been telling the Pharisees that they were wrong.  And that is something they will not have.  Who does this guy think He is anyway?  He’s fairly young, comes from someplace else, His mother wasn’t married to His Father, He was raised by a blue-collar stepdad, He has no record of studying with any accredited teacher, and He is telling all of them that what they have taught for generations is wrong.

And every time they try to trip Him up, He makes them look like fools.  He is rude to them, and the people are flocking to Him.  The Pharisees and the lawyers are losing respect because of Him.  And to make it even worse, He does miracles.  He casts out demons.  He heals the sick.  Not like a doctor, but more like a prophet, or a God.  How can the Pharisees compete with that?  And just to irk them, He does many of His miracles on the Sabbath Day – which violates all of the Pharisees’ rules and regulations. 

Indeed, who does this guy think He is?

Our Gospel reading is a classic example of the hunter becoming the hunted.  For Jesus has been watching them closely.  And it isn’t difficult for God to catch poor, miserable sinners in a mistake, a scandal, or a false teaching – especially when their whole approach to religion is grounded in pride, self-glorification, and a refusal to confess that they are “poor, miserable sinners.”

Many of the Pharisees were not evil, but they were being led astray by their leaders.  They did not worship the true God because they had replaced Him with a god of their own making.  And to be honest, their god was their reputation.  Instead of yielding to God’s Ten Commandments (which we cannot keep), they made up their own 613 commandments (which were cleverly constructed with loopholes, so that they could keep them).

And then along comes this Jesus character, and with a few words and a few miracles, calls the whole thing into question. 

And so they are watching Him closely.  And that’s good, dear friends.  We like it when the enemies of Jesus watch Him closely.  He’s going to give them something to watch.  He is teaching them, and He is calling them to repentance.  And in so doing, He is giving us something to watch, teaching us, and calling us to repentance.  For there is a Pharisee lurking inside each one of us. 

It is the Sabbath, and all of the Pharisees’ rules are in place.  And here at this Sabbath dinner, right in the house of one of their rulers, even as they are keeping close watch on Him, it happens yet again.  In comes a man who is sick.  He has dropsy, which we might think of today as pleurisy.  It is fluid in the lungs and around the heart. Untreated, it will cause this man to die a painful death.  They are watching to see what Jesus will do.  Will He obey the rules and leave this man alone in his sickness, or will Jesus break the rules and cure him with one of His miracles? 

“And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?’  But they remained silent.”

Why are they silent, dear friends?  Why don’t they scold Jesus for what He is about to do?  If they are right, why are they silent?  Could it be that they know – deep down inside – that their righteousness is just an act?  Maybe their religion based on their own rules is all a lie.  And are they silent because they know in their hearts who Jesus is?  Whatever is going through their minds, they are silent.  And they are all really watching Him closely now.  And so are all of the angels and the demons.  Thanks to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, so are we.  We are silent before God in the flesh teaching us, calling us to repentance, but also forgiving us, and healing us.

Jesus healed the man and sent him away.  For unlike the Pharisees, who could only talk behind the man’s back and question what he did wrong to have dropsy, Jesus actually did something about it.  The man who was cured had no more reason to hang around with these men, whose rules could not heal him, whose religion was misleading.  Jesus sent him away from the Pharisees.  And the man cured of dropsy will have no reason ever to return to their gloomy, false teachings about God.

But Jesus is not done, dear brothers and sisters.  For our Lord is the Teacher of teachers.  He asks them a question that will further silence them.  For the Pharisees had a loophole in their Sabbath rules about rescuing a family member or animal that falls into a well.  So why do their rules allow an exception to show mercy to one’s own son, or an ox, but not to a person suffering from a terrible disease?  Why is Jesus the bad guy here for healing this man? 

“And they could not reply to these things.”

And Jesus is still not done, dear friends.  “Now He told a parable.”  For as they were watching Him, He was doing some people-watching of His own: observing the Pharisees jockeying for the seats of honor at the meal, noticing “how they chose the places for honor.”  For this meal was not really about sharing food and enjoying one another’s company; it was a political event.  It was all about being seen, and trying to move up in society. 

Jesus tells them a story based on one of the proverbs we heard in our Old Testament reading: “Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here,’ than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.’”

Don’t assign yourself the place of honor.  You might get moved to your shame.  Instead, be humble.  You might get moved to your honor.  For this is how God deals with us, dear friends.  When we think highly of ourselves, God will knock us off of our pedestals to call us to repentance and to teach us to stop following man-made rules, thinking we can keep 613 of our own making.  But when we are humble, when we confess that we are “poor, miserable sinners” in need of healing, who cannot keep God’s Ten Commandments, then Jesus comes to us, even on the Sabbath, and heals us.

And in fact, there is more to this story.  For the Pharisees and the lawyers will continue to watch Jesus closely, looking for an opportunity to kill Him.  They will do so, not realizing that Jesus knows their plan, and that His plan all along is to die sacrificially for us – and yes, even for the Pharisees. 

Jesus will offer His blood as healing for all of the world’s sicknesses and sins on Good Friday, and they will remove His body quickly, so as not to defile their Sabbath.  But even in the tomb, even as Jesus takes His rest on that Sabbath after His crucifixion, He is working, He is healing, He is saving.  They cannot stop Him.  And it will be a Pharisee named Joseph of Arimathea who will ask Pilate for the body of Christ and will offer Him his own tomb – which turns out to be a very short-term gift.  For Jesus will emerge from the tomb, leaving no more doubt that the Man they resisted, stalked, and killed is God in the flesh.  And even then, many will stubbornly refuse to submit to Jesus.

Our Lord will take on the suffering of the man with dropsy, as our His lungs and heart will fill with fluid on the cross.  And even in death, He will continue teaching, as the Roman spear punctured His heart, issuing forth blood and water – which John saw and reported, pointing all of us to baptismal water and the blood of the Lord’s Supper for our own forgiveness and healing.

Dear friends, let us repent of our silly pretensions of worldly honor.  Let us watch Jesus carefully, hear Him, and receive His free gift of healing.  Let us, like Joseph of Arimathea, ask for the body of Christ, and let us offer Him our own tombs, so that He might raise us from them.  Let us find our place of honor in the lowest place at the Lord’s banquet, knowing that even the worst seat there is better than any golden throne or VIP accommodations that this fallen world has to offer.  For we know who Jesus is.  We are watching Him closely.

And “when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’  Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Amen.

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