TRINITY EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH
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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

Easter Sunday: Christ's Resurrection Gives Us Power to Mock Death

4/16/2017

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Job 19:23-27 
1 Corinthians 15:51-57 
Mark 16:1-8

"There ain't no grave can hold my body down 
There ain't no grave can hold my body down 
When I hear that trumpet sound I'm gonna rise right out of the ground 
Ain't no grave can hold my body down." 
So sang the late country and western legend Johnny Cash. And he's right, isn't he? That's why we're all gathered here today. There ain't no grave can hold any of our bodies down. We're here to mock death, to gloat over our own graves.  

Just two nights ago the church gathered here to remember the passion of our Lord. We witnessed Christ's betrayal, the mocking, lying, beating, scourging, the nails and thorns, yes, even the last breath. We saw our Lord Jesus laid lifeless (dead!) into the tomb. And yet we gather again here this morning. Why? Not like Mary Magdalene and the other women looking for a dead body. We know something don't we. We know that Christ did not stay dead in that tomb. We know that he rose from the dead! We come to celebrate Christ's victory over death. We come to celebrate our own victory. Yes, we come to mock and deride the consumer of all mankind.  

You see Jesus' death was not just any death. Jesus is God. God cannot die. It's impossible. Death had no claim on him. Yet, Jesus is also a man, born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus is a human being just like each of us, yet unlike us he has no sin. Jesus never broke any commandment of God's, but rather fulfilled God's Law. The wages of sins is death, but Jesus didn't earn his pay. Yet death took him. He took the one he had no right to take. Even God! Jesus is both God and man. Everything he does he does both as man and God. His body and blood are God's body and blood. His suffering is God's suffering. So yes, when Jesus was nailed to the cross, God was pierced. When Jesus was enclosed in the tomb, our God lay dead, as we sang the other night, "O Sorrow dread! Our God is dead."  

Death had no claim on Jesus. And so he did not die for himself. Jesus died for you. Not simply as an expression of love, but on a successful mission to free you from death. Jesus died with your sins. Isaiah prophesied, "And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." And so taking from us our sin, Jesus consumed our wages, he died in your stead. John the Baptist proclaimed, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Now I ask you dear Christian, if the sins of the whole world are on Jesus, where are your sins? And if your sins are on Jesus, then they aren't on you, are they? And so we rejoice.  

Jesus came to conquer death, as the prophet Hosea prophesied of him, "I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol. I shall redeem them from Death!" And Jesus did just that. On Sunday morning, the first day of the week he lay a serious smack down on death. He broke his winning streak. And as we heard St. Paul say, "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 15:57) 

And so we come to mock death. Isn't that what we're doing, when we say, "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" We're gloating over a victory we didn't win! We're like the little pipsqueak, who taunts the big bully while our 6' 8'' muscle-bound older brother stands behind us. "You lose death! Nana nana boo boo!"  

Yes, it is in faith in Christ's resurrection from the tomb that we can taunt death everyday. Even as he taunts us. Every muscle and joint pain or pinched nerve, death reminds us that we will die. Every sickness, diagnosis, and gray hair, death reminds us that he's coming for us. And we can taunt him back. "So what death? You can't touch me. Death for me is temporary. Christ beat you! And he took all my sins with him. You have nothing on me. I will live forever." 
Yes, we know we're going to die. But we will live. We too will rise from our graves, just as Jesus did. Ain't no grave can hold my body down. I believe in the resurrection of the dead! This is the hope of every Christian! 

Jesus was delivered up to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification. We are justified. What does it mean to be justified? To be justified means to have a right relationship with God. It means God is your friend. It means your sins are not counted against you. Justification means that your sins are forgiven. This is what Jesus has won for you: the forgiveness of sins and a right relationship with God.  

There is nothing more precious than the forgiveness of sins. If our sins are counted against us we will die. And I don't mean just the first death. We will die eternally in hell, to bear the punishment for our sins. Without the forgiveness of sins, we've got nothing. No life. No hope. No love from God. No relationship with God. And the grave will swallow us up eternally. But since Jesus has taken away all your sins, you have the forgiveness of sins as surely as St. John says, "[Jesus Christ] is the propitiation for our sins and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2) 

Jesus has taken away your sins on the cross. His resurrection vindicates him and you. There are no sins left to condemn you. Look around, does no one accuse you? No, not one! That means no sin can drag you down to the grave. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. No sin of yours will keep you in the grave. None of your sins will condemn you to hell. Christ has done away with them.  

Christ has won the victory and he gives it to you by faith. It is only by faith that you can enjoy this victory. Many reject Jesus' victory and so they forfeit their own victory. Many refuse to repent of their sins. They turn from God's word and rather worship food and drink that will meet them in the grave. But faith in Christ turns us from sin daily and so faith turns us from the grave every day. 

Your good works will not save you. Your strength will not keep you in God's favor. Only faith in Jesus will save you. But what does it mean to have faith in Jesus? Is this simply knowledge that Jesus died and rose? Certainly not, even the demons believe this and they shudder. Faith is trust in Christ. Faith comes from hearing God's Word and receiving his Sacraments. Faith desires to hear God's Word and receive his Sacraments, because faith desires to be with Jesus.  

The angels said to the women, "You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him" He's not here? How can that be? Jesus is everywhere, isn't he? Well, yes, Jesus is God, so he is everywhere. "Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?", the Psalmist cries. (Psalm 139:7) Yet Jesus does not everywhere forgive your sins and give you victory over the grave. Otherwise, everyone would be saved without faith. No, if you are to have faith, you need to know where to receive Jesus. Jesus says, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples" (John 8:31) and "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” (John 8:51)  

If you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who will give you victory over death, you must abide in his word. Jesus' word creates faith and forgives sins. It is Jesus' word that says, "Take eat, this is my body" and "Take drink, this is my blood of the testimony shed for you for the forgiveness of sins." In the Sacrament of Christ's body and blood, Jesus feeds us the medicine of immortality, because where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. When you receive this Sacrament in true faith you are able to proclaim to death and hell, "Christ Jesus abides with me and I in him. The grave can't hold me down neither can hell contain me, for they could not contain my Lord Jesus, who dwells in me."  

We celebrate Christ's resurrection from the grave every Sunday, the first day of the week. In our celebration we mock death and hell, who are defeated. Yet even more than that, in Christ's precious Gospel preached and Sacrament fed to us we receive the victory over death from the hand of our Lord. We become victors every Lord's Day as our sins are forgiven and our faith is renewed. Jesus is here as he promises. And with him your victory. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed, alleluia.  
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Amen.  ​
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Vigil of Easter: Those Who Sow in Tears Shall Reap with Shouts of Joy

4/15/2017

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Psalm 30 
Psalm 126 
John 20:1-18

"Those who sow in tears  
Shall reap with shouts of joy!  
He who goes out weeping,  
Bearing the seed for sowing,  
Shall come home with shouts of joy,  
Bringing sheaves with him." Psalm 126:5-6 
 
"Weeping may tarry for the night,  
But joy comes with the morning. … 
… You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; 
You have loosed my sackcloths, 
That my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.  
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!" Psalm 30:5b, 11-12 
 
Jesus sows in tears and reaps with joy. Mary Magdalene thought Jesus was a gardener. Indeed Christ is the Gardener. In fact, he himself is the Seed, prophesied of by God himself in the garden; the Seed promised to be at enmity with the ancient serpent, the enemy of God and all who belong to him; the Seed promised to crush the head of Satan; the Seed that would be sown with tears and bloody sweat.  

Jesus sowed his very body and soul in tears; tears for the sins of mankind, tears for those for whom he prayed, "Father forgive them. For they know not what they do!"; tears that streamed down his cheeks as he cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!"; tears for Jerusalem; tears for you and me; tears mixed with sweat and blood, poured into the earth crying for forgiveness.  

These are not tears of despair and neither is the joy in Jesus' resurrection one of surprise. No, Jesus knew exactly what he was doing as he shed those tears for you. He was making the field ready to bear much fruit, as he himself said before his death, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24) And so our Lord knowingly fulfilled Scripture and his own words by dying for the sins of the world, for your sins and mine, by being sown into the ground, buried in the earth, dead, yet with the certain hope of rising from the dead and bearing much fruit. That fruit is you and me and all who believe in this Seed of Eve, sown into the ground for our sake.   

When Christ rose from the dead, he fulfilled what was spoken by King David the prophet in Psalm 30,  

"I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up 
And have not let my foes rejoice over me.  
O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, 
And you have healed me. 
O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; 
You restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit." (Psalm 30:1-3) 
 
Our sister Mary Magdalene stood weeping outside the tomb. Like us she kept vigil for her Lord. We Christians weep. We mourn our sins. We mourn the pain our iniquities bring upon our Lord. We mourn the destruction of the world, which God created to be good. These are not tears of despair. Rather we sow with tears of faith as those humble, who will be exalted by God. We weep with Christ, rejecting the riches of this world, rejecting the fleeting pleasures of this life, so that we may reap a life much greater without sin or sadness, as Jesus said, "Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." (John 12:25) 

Those who will not weep, who will not mourn their sins will not reap in joy. Many choose to rejoice in this life, and so they will lose it. Their joy will turn to sorrow.  
And so we weep. We repent of our sins. We plead to God for forgiveness. And we rise out of the dirt forgiven and alive in Christ. And so even tonight is fulfilled in us what was spoken by the Psalmist,  

"When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,  
We were like those who dream.  
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,  
And our tongues with shouts of joy; 
Then they said among the nations, 
'The LORD has done great things for them.' 
The LORD has done great things for us;  
We are glad." (Psalm 126:1-3) 
 
Jesus was sown into the heart of the earth, fertilized and watered with his own tears, sweat, and blood. And he bore much fruit. You are that fruit. Jesus is your Gardener. He has sown you into his own tomb and watered you with his blood and tears, as St. Paul writes in Romans chapter six, "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:4) You have been united to Christ in his death and resurrection. You have been sown with him into the ground, with blood and tears. As surely as the baptismal waters washed you, so is this true. So in faith do you rise from the grave every day, sins forgiven. Your sins are buried in Jesus' tomb. Just as Christ rose justified before God the Father, so too do you stand with a right relationship with your God.  

We Christians will continue to weep, because we continue to sin. And we continue to live in a world that hates our God and Savior. People continue to fall away from the faith, scandal continues to shake the church and our homes, and temptation and death prey on us. So we weep tears of faith, keeping vigil for our Lord, praying, "Thy kingdom come, forgive us our trespasses, lead us out of temptation, deliver us from evil." And every time we repent, God raises us up. And just as surely as God raised up Jesus after he was sown into the earth, so too will you be raised up. St. Paul preaches, "So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power." (1 Corinthians 15:42-43) And so you who die today will rise with Christ.  


Weeping may tarry through the night, but joy comes in the morning. Morning is coming. You weep now, but your weeping will end. The prophecy of St. John is still yet to be fulfilled,  
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:1-4)  
Amen.  
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Good Friday: Jesus Loves Me! This I Know

4/15/2017

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Isaiah 52:13-53:12 
2 Corinthians 5:14-21 
John 18:1-19:42


"Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so." This is a very popular hymn for children. It's a wonderful hymn. It teaches me that Jesus loves me. How do I know? The Bible tells me so! Where in the Bible does it say that Jesus loves me? Right here, what we just heard from John's Gospel and St. Paul's Epistle, and from the Prophet Isaiah. Jesus Christ willingly suffered and died for the sins of the whole world!  

Jesus did it willingly. With a word he could have cast his attackers aside and escaped the cross, as he demonstrated in the Garden of Gethsemane. Yet Jesus willingly, like a lamb to the slaughter bore the suffering, pain, and death of the cross. And he bore it all, because he loves you, just as the children sing. See how he loves you! He loves you even to die for you, to take the blame for you, to be punished in your place! On Jesus was poured God the Father's wrath against all sin. And Jesus drank that cup to the dregs and stayed God's vengeance.  

Yet it would be false to portray Christ's passion as God the Father hating all mankind and Jesus letting the Father take his anger out on him. Indeed sin makes God angry. God is righteous. Sin is evil. But our sin makes Jesus angry too. Yet in the passion of Christ we see the love of the entire Holy Trinity for the entire human race. God loves you! The Bible says so. God the Father could not bare to cast off the entire human race. He created us out of love for us. And so out of love for us he sent his only begotten Son to take our place under his wrath, to take away our sins with his blood. See how much God loves you! 

Love is an abused word. People use the word to describe their dreams, their wants, and yes even their lusts. To our culture love is a good feeling, like sitting next to the pretty girl in class, having a great time with a really neat person, or that feeling when you think your heart is going to explode when your children giggle and play together. But love isn't simply an emotion. Love is action. Often times love doesn't feel good. In fact, quite frankly, sometimes love hurts a lot.  

See how God loves you. That Bible passage nearly every Christian knows by heart, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16) So often this verse is portrayed to show how much God loves the world. "God loves the world soooooooo much." But the word "so" in this passage doesn't mean "so much" but rather, "in this way." God loves you in this way: that he sent his only begotten Son to die for you. There's a difference. St. John isn't simply telling us how much God loves us. Christ's death on the cross isn't simply an example of God's love. Christ's death on the cross saves you. God loved you. He saw you damned to hell. His love could not bear it. He sent his very Son, whom he's loved from eternity to bear your punishment. This is his love in action.  

In Christ's passion tonight you see God's love. Not a fluffy happy feeling. Action. St. John writes, "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10) And St. Paul writes, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)  

Listen to how the hymnist beautifully portrays the Father's love for you, "'Go forth, My Son,' the Father said, 'And free My children from their dread Of guilt and condemnation. The wrath and stripes are hard to bear, but by Your passion they will share The fruit of Your salvation.'" The Father sends his Son to die! This is love. The Son goes willingly to slaughter!  This is love.  

This love of God scandalizes and horrifies the unbelieving world. The hymnist again beautifully portrays our awe at this love, "O wondrous Love, what have you done! The Father offers up His Son, Desiring our salvation. O Love, how strong You are to save! You lay the one into the grave Who built the earth's foundation." 

God's heart felt desire is for you to live forever with him. He loves you. And to obtain that desire, he sends his Son to bear the sins of the world, to suffer a criminals death, to suffer your death. Jesus Christ loves the Father and is obedient. Yet also out of love for you does he go silently to his shearers. And yet through pain and mockery, even the kiss of death Jesus drinks his fill of love. "Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied." (Is. 53:11) Christ's love is satisfied even in death seeing you the fruit of his passion saved.  

 God desires so much to save you he would do anything to do so. And we see him sacrifice his Son! And here we see, there was no other way. There was no other way for us to be redeemed and saved. There was no other way than for Christ to drink this cup of wrath. If there were another way, then certainly God would have spared his Son, whom he loved.  

And so there is only one way for you to be saved and that is through faith in Jesus Christ, in his passion for your sins, in this the Father's love. You cannot save yourself by your good works. You won't earn God's favor by volunteering or donating or being an all around nice person. (Of course when done in faith, this pleases our Father in heaven). But you will not earn salvation by your works. If you could, God would have spared his Son the pain to save you. He would have taken the cup away from him when Jesus asked him to in the garden. But there was no other way to save you. And so you can only be saved through faith in Jesus, not by your works.  

Likewise, your sins cannot condemn you. If God put them on Christ, the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, well, then, your sins are not on you. Are they? If God poured his wrath against all sin upon Jesus, why do you seek to take these sins from him? Thou shalt not steal! Your sins do not belong to you. They are Jesus'. And he has done away with them. If the Father puts them on Jesus, do not put them back on yourself. It is impossible for your sins to condemn you when you have faith in the one who has taken them away.  

In Jesus' passion we not only see God's love in action, but we see the benefit of God's love. As we sang last Sunday in the hymn, Jesus, I Will Ponder Now, "If for me He slays His Son, God must have compassion!" Indeed God does have compassion. He has compassion on you! God loves you. Jesus loves you. And this love does not fail. Your sins cannot remove this love. This love secures for you eternal life. In Christ's suffering you see your suffering released. In the accusations against him you see yourself declared innocent. In his mocking you see God's affection for you. In Jesus' death you see your life secured. In Christ's suffering and death you see God's love overpowering all your enemies and winning for you eternal mutual love with God forever. Let us all confess this Good Friday, "Jesus loves me, this I know!" Amen.  
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Maundy Thursday: Jesus Serves You with Complete Love

4/13/2017

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John 13:1-15

"When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so 
I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do just as I have done to you." 

Jesus commands us to wash one another's feet. He even gives us an example, by himself kneeling down to wash the dirty feet of his disciples. But what does it mean to wash one another's feet? Jesus isn't here instituting a sacrament of feet washing. By washing feet Jesus means that we ought to serve one another. Jesus is our Lord and Teacher (with a capital L and a capital T). Yet he does not balk at this menial task. And so the disciples (and we!) are taught that there is no task so lowly that we are too good to do it for the sake of our neighbor. If Jesus your Lord so serves you, you also ought to serve one another. This is the same lesson we learn everytime we pray as Jesus taught us, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." (Matthew 6:12) So we forgive one another as God in Christ forgave each of us. (Ephesians 4:32) 

In short, Jesus is teaching us to love one another. Just a handful of verses after our text Jesus says to his disciples, "A new command I give to you, that you love one another: just as I loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (13:34-35) This is where we get the name Maundy Thursday, from the Latin word for command. Jesus commands us to love each other.  

Love is a popular word and it's used to defend sinful behavior, which God condemns. So we must be clear what it means to love and Jesus shows us quite clearly what he means by love. Love means to count others more significant than yourself, to look after their interests. Love drives you to not look at a task to help your neighbor as beneath you. Service for your neighbor is never beneath you. Love drives you to put the best construction on every situation. You should as far as the truth will let you assume the best of your neighbor's intentions. You should not bash him to others or slander his reputation, especially when you have not confronted him yourself concerning his supposed sin. You should forgive your neighbor when he sins against you, even as God forgives you for Christ's sake. Love isn't physical lust. Love isn't even simply the affection you have toward your wife or children. Love is the action, the thoughts and words you use toward those who do you harm by their careless words or action or even on purpose.  

While love drives you to forgive the wrong done against you and to assume the best of your neighbor's intentions, love does not rejoice in wrongdoing. (1 Corinthians 13:6) Love confronts sin with the truth. So you also are commanded in love to speak the truth when your loved ones speak and act against it. Confront them when they sin against you or deny the truth, so that they may repent and believe the Gospel.  

There is no greater command than to love one another. Jesus, even as he is troubled to his very soul, because his hour has now come, makes a concerted effort to teach this command to love. This is how Christians should live, in love toward one another. Yet when you use Jesus' definition of love according to his example you see how difficult it is to love. Do you readily serve others at the expense of your time? Do you assume the best of your neighbor's intentions or are you quick to judge? Do you forgive those, who do wrong to you or do you assume that they somehow are more unworthy of forgiveness than you? Do you pray for those who hate you? Does your love fit Christ's example?  

Unless you are a liar you must admit your love has failed. The command to love is the Law. The Law is good, but it will also condemn you. Yet, you are not under the Law, but under grace. This means that the command to love does not condemn you, because God's love saves you. And it is in God's love that we obtain the power to love. St. John writes, "We love because [God] first loved us." (1 John 4:19) And so we see Jesus' lesson of washing feet is not simply an example for us to love one another. It is a visual proclamation of what Jesus would do for the disciples, for you and me, indeed for the whole world.  

"Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." Indeed Jesus' love extended further than washing feet. Jesus demonstrated that he was one among them who serves. (Luke 22:27) Their Lord rose from his cushion and stripped himself of his cloak, so as not to get it sweaty and dirty. He wrapped a towel around his waist like a common slave and poured water into the basin and began to scrub the filth off his disciples' callus encrusted, hairy, and stinky feet. Yet this descent into serfdom was only an example, a sign of the great service Jesus would do for all mankind. In Matthew's Gospel Jesus' disciples argued over which of them was the greatest and our Lord responded, "But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:26-28) 

This is the great service of love our Lord has come to do. This is his hour! Jesus gives his life as a ransom for all mankind. No slave designated the inglorious task of washing feet would trade jobs with Jesus just a few hours after he washed his disciples feet. The beating, the spitting, the mocking; the false witness, the skin-shredding flogging, the blood from his crown blinding his eyes; the nails piercing his flesh, the ascent so that all may see this curse upon a tree; all this Jesus does willingly, as your Lord, yes your God, yet as your slave, your worm, you sacrificial lamb. And to the very end, to that last cry and breath, Jesus did this out of unfaltering love for you. And this isn't simply an example of how much God loves you. Jesus' blood truly cleanses you of all unrighteousness. He cleanses you of every failure on your part to love your neighbor.  

When Jesus knelt down to wash Peter's feet, the disciple refused. "You will never wash my feet!", he proclaimed. Peter was embarrassed. Could you imagine someone you admired and even feared washing your feet? Imagine if your hero, your teacher or boss or even your father were to kneel down and wash your feet. "Oh, no. What if they smell! His fingers will rub against the dirt. He'll see the lint between my toes. And when did I clip my toenails last? Oh, the humiliation! And this is one I respect, whom I'm proud of! How can I see him do such a humiliating task? And for me!"  

But Jesus responds, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Indeed we must all be washed by Jesus. It's humiliating true. When you see the stripes, the thorny crown, the bruises and nails, you see your sin. You see your failed love. You see everything you hate about yourself clinging to your perfect Savior, making his hands dirty with your own filth. But if he does not wash you, you will not be clean and you will have no part in him.  

Peter cannot bare be separated from Jesus and bursts out, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" But Jesus responds, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean." Jesus isn't talking about washing the feet or body. The one who is washed is washed spiritually. To be completely clean means that you have taken into your own possession the sacrificial death of Christ by faith. You own the forgiveness of sins. You trust in the love Jesus did for you on the cross. Jesus cannot die for you a second time. He died for you once and for all. You are clean through faith in him. Likewise, you do not need to be baptized a second time. "Baptism," St. Peter writes, "now saves you. Not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." You do not need to be baptized again. Christ does not need to die for your sins again. You are washed clean.  

But you still live in this world. You still get mucky. Jesus gives a practical example for his day. A man bathes before going to a feast. He is clean. But when he arrives at the feast after walking along the dusty road, he must wash his feet before reclining at the table. Not his whole body, just his feet. And so, we who get mucking in this life, whose old Adam still hangs around our neck must get our feet washed. This means we must let Jesus serve us.  

If you do not let Jesus wash your feet you have no share in him. If you do not let Jesus serve you, you have no part in him. Jesus serves you by forgiving your sins. He does this through his Gospel preached and Sacraments administered.  

On this fateful night of our Lord's betrayal, along with washing his disciples feet, Jesus also gave us a meal by which he serves us. This meal is his very body and blood given and shed once and for all on the cross. This meal is a gospel proclamation of Jesus' love, as he sacrificed himself in exchange for your body and soul. This meal is also Christ's continued service to you. This isn't a continuation of the sacrifice. Jesus has already finished the sacrifice. Rather, in the Sacrament Jesus serves us the fruit of this sacrifice. Everytime you receive the Sacrament of the Altar, Jesus serves you. And every time your faith grasps the mystery of God's love in the Sacrament, you are made clean. If Jesus does not wash you, you have no share in him. If you refuse to hear his word and to receive his Sacrament you will remain in your filth. But if Jesus washes you, you will be clean indeed. Amen.  ​
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Palm Sunday: Christ Humbles Himself For You

4/13/2017

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"His disciples did not understand these things at first." The Pharisees didn't understand Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem either. Not even the crowd laying down palm branches and shouting, "Hosanna" and even calling Jesus "the King of Israel" really understood what was going on. Do you? Do you really understand what's happening here? Jesus, riding on a young donkey, entering Jerusalem to observe the Passover, greeted by ecstatic crowds. These crowds will be nowhere to be seen come Thursday night, instead a band of armed thugs. Come Friday a bloodthirsty crowd shouting, "crucify him!", will replace the crowd shouting, "Hosanna!" And the only ones calling Jesus king are mocking him.  

It sure is a bizarre event. The crowds claim him to be king, yet he rides on a lowly donkey. He's too humble to be a real king. And in just a few short days he'll be murdered and buried, like so many other flash in the pan revolutionaries entombed in the history books. But Jesus is no flash in the pan revolutionary. He truly is a king. But he's not the king anyone would expect or ask for.  

Jesus is not an earthly king, who enters with pomp and circumstance and rules with physical force. Jesus is a spiritual king and he rules a spiritual kingdom. He fights not against Romans, but he wages spiritual warfare. And he is indeed marching off to war. He goes to fight your battle, a battle you would surely lose.  

Jesus' march into Jerusalem seems peculiar to all who witness it, yet this very event has been prophesied for ages. Zechariah wrote: 
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! 
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! 
Behold, your king is coming to you; 
Righteous and having salvation is he, 
Humble and mounted on a donkey,  
On a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9) 

Scripture does not promise a mighty Caesar or an Alexander the Great. Rather Scripture promises a poor man riding a borrowed animal. Scripture promises a man led to slaughter like a lamb and like a sheep silent before its shearers. And yet, this lowly prophesied king brings righteousness and salvation. If you expect an earthly king or earthly power, you won't find it here. But if you want the Savior, prophesied by seers of old, behold your King! 

"Though he was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:6-8) 

Jesus truly is God from all eternity. St. Paul writes, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible." (Colossians 1:15-16a) and St. John writes of him, "All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made." (John 1:3) Jesus is fully God and he has the right to take that form, to be worshipped by angels and feared by the children of men. He did not need to grasp at equality with God, he owned it. Yet he empties himself of all that. He doesn't cease to be God! No. He could never stop being God. Jesus is and was and always will be God. Even nailed to the blood stained cross, breathing his last breaths he remains God. Even cold and still as clay, laid in the tomb, he remains God. But he hides it. He hides his divine majesty, for a time, he humbles himself.  

Jesus took on the form of a slave, born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Jesus' becoming a human being is not his humiliation. If it were, Jesus would forever be humiliated. But our Lord currently risen and seated on his throne of glory is a man. Yet, he is not humbled. And he will not come in humility to judge the living and the dead, but he will most certainly come as a man.  

Yet, as a man, Jesus humbles himself below all men. No one was despised as Jesus was. In fact, the Lord spoke through the Prophet David in Psalm 22, "But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people." (vs. 6)  

And so here in just a few short words, St. Paul shows us the extremity of God's love, and the great lengths he went to save us sinners. There is no higher position than God himself. No one could be exalted as highly as God. And no one could humble himself so lowly as our king, who rode on to his own slaughter. And even if we could join his wormhood, it would not be such a great leap as it was for him; no, simply a step into our true form, if we were judged rightly for our sins.  

And yet how difficult it is to humble ourselves in our own eyes, to step down from our own contrived eminence. Each of us is a god in our own eyes! Look out for number one! How difficult is it for us to look at our peers as our equals, or even our superiors as anything other than the accidents of inequality. How difficult it is for us to look to the needs of others, as St. Paul wrote immediately before our Epistle lesson, "But in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:4)  

Indeed our Lord desires us to follow his example as surely as he said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:39) And Christ does empower you through the Gospel to love others, even against your natural pride. But this is not the purpose of Jesus' humiling march to the cross. Jesus emptied himself of the form of God and became obedient to death for your sake. Jesus was looking after your interests long before you could have ever asked him to do so or even knew what your best interests were.  

Even today, people want to trade in Jesus for some more attractive king. A powerhouse. A king loved by the world. A king, who isn't so divisive or controversial. A king, who boosts our self esteem and pride. A king, who makes us rich. If you want such a king, you sure can find him. But don't look to Jesus.  

In Jesus you will not find what you think you need, but what you really need. And there's a big difference. Take whatever is stressing you out right now, be it your health, money, relationships, job, children, whatever. Take the headlines in the news, the threats of war from North Korea, the uncertainty of health care reform or the success of the economy. None of these things is most important. Even if God grants all you want concerning these things and you live to be a hundred years old, never suffering pain or anxiety or want, you will still die and be met with your sins and your judge.  

But upon that donkey we see a man, who enjoyed the worship of angels, humbly and obediently advancing to his own punishment. He bears the sins of the world. He carries your sins, even before you yourself felt their weight. And he suffers the price to remove them from the sight of your God. Jesus frees you from eternal humiliation and pain. He releases you from judgment. He exalts you higher than any position you could ever contrive for yourself, even in your imagination.  

It is in Jesus' passion on the cross for sinners that we understand the odd festivities of his entrance into Jerusalem. We see him fulfill God's will, not for his own sake, but for us. We see upon that foal of a donkey our salvation and our king. Indeed this is how we understand this Holy Week into which we now embark.  
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And so we meet our king in humility as he taught us. We don't prop ourselves up to some lofty position. Rather, we bring our sins and our sorrows and lay them on Jesus. In humility we meet our king in his humility, so that we might be exalted in his exaltation. Everyone who humbles himself in such faith will surely be exalted. May God bless you as you ponder the passion of your King this Holy Week. And may you rise with him next Sunday and forever free from sin and death. Amen. ​
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    Rev. James Preus

    Rev. Preus is the pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA. These are audio and text of the sermons he preaches at Trinity according to the Historical Lectionary. 

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