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Epiphany 4: Jesus would persuade you to have faith in him

2/4/2019

Matthew 8:23-27
February 3, 2019

“Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”

This is a rhetorical question. Rhetorical questions are not asked in order to be answered. They are asked in order to make you think. Yes, Jesus wants you to think! People use rhetorical questions all the time, especially teachers to their students. Rhetorical questions are a teaching tool. Jesus is a teacher. Even as waves pour into the boat, Jesus takes a moment to teach his disciples.
So, let us take a moment and think about Jesus’ rhetorical question. “Why are you afraid?” The answer seems obvious. Waves are swamping the boat in the middle of the lake. They are all going to drown and die. Why wouldn’t they be afraid? And now you see that Jesus’ rhetorical device is working. We’ve already asked ourselves another rhetorical question. Well, why shouldn’t they be afraid? Jesus answers this question by rebuking the wind and the sea and turning the great storm into a great calm. They shouldn’t be afraid, because they have Jesus in the boat with them.
So, back to Jesus’ original rhetorical question: “Why are you afraid?” It’s not because of the wind and waves exactly. Jesus will take care of that. Jesus himself answers his own rhetorical question when he says, “O you of little faith.” His disciples are afraid, because they have little faith.
Rhetoric is the art of persuasive speech. Jesus aims to persuade his disciples with his rhetorical question. What is he trying to persuade them to do? To have greater faith in him. Jesus is trying to teach his disciples to trust in him! He is the Lord, who made the sea and dry land. Jesus himself controls the weather. No storm arises on any sea without Jesus’ permission. If Jesus is with you, you have no need to be afraid. This is what Jesus is teaching his disciples.
And this lesson applies beyond storm tossed boats. Jesus spoke at the end of the previous chapter as he concluded his Sermon on the Mount, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25) This means that if you hold to Jesus and his teaching, there is no power in heaven or earth or hell that will be able to harm you.
It is important that you have faith. St. James writes, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8) And Jesus himself says, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, ... even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and throne into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (Matthew 21:21-22) So, it is clear that Jesus wants us to grow and increase in faith.
Yet, this lesson has been greatly perverted, especially by those known as prosperity gospel preachers. They teach that the reason you lack anything in this life is because of a lack of faith. “If you just increase in faith then all your problems will be solved. If you are sick, it is because you lack faith. If you have enough faith, you’ll get better. If you are poor, it is because you lack faith. If you just increase in faith, then you’ll be rich. If you are suffering from depression, it is because you lack faith. If you increase your faith then you’ll be happy again!” Faith is treated like some skill you must hone. And if you hone it well enough, you will become invincible.
But faith is not a superpower that will solve all your earthly problems. If this were true, we could attribute the sufferings of the saints and apostles to their lack of faith. But Abraham didn’t wait decades to have a son and die without inheriting any land, because of lack of faith. Neither was Joseph sold into slavery in Egypt for his lack of faith. The prophets and apostles weren’t stoned, crucified, and beheaded because they lacked faith. St. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12, “A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul didn’t suffer from this thorn in the flesh despite his prayers, because he lacked faith. Rather, God permitted this ailment to remain in order to keep Paul faithful!
Having a strong faith doesn’t mean that you are going to get rid of all your earthly problems. So, what does it mean to have a strong faith? To have a strong faith means that you trust in the Lord. This is different than having everything go well for you here on earth. Rather, having a strong faith means that you trust in the Lord even when you face difficult trials.
It is true that Jesus is the Lord of the universe. Through him all things were created and continue to hold together. But what is more is that out of God’s great love for you and desire to save you, he sent Christ Jesus to conquer death and hell for you. Jesus proves by calming the storm that he is the God, whom Jonah worshipped, who calmed the sea when he was thrown overboard. Yet, Jesus came to fulfill the sign of Jonah by himself being thrown over to death and resting in its belly for three days. Jesus calms the threats of death and hell against us by sacrificing himself; dying, so that we might live.
Through faith in Jesus Christ each of you has certainty of eternal life. For this reason, St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8) Through faith in Jesus Christ, we can be victors over everything that troubles us, even if we lose our lives because of them. It is as Martin Luther wrote in his great Reformation hymn, “And take they our life, Goods, fame, child, and wife, Let these all be gone, They yet have nothing won; The Kingdom ours remaineth.” (TLH 262:4).
Now certainly your God and Savior, who created and runs the universe by his word and loves you enough to bear the burden of your sins on the cross certainly can and will rescue you from your temporal problems as well. He can heal you of cancer, get you a good paying job, take away your chronic pain, reconcile you with your brother with whom reconciliation seems impossible. All things are possible with God. And God wants you to pray and to believe that he will answer your prayers and do what you ask him to do! This is what he is saying when he invites you to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” King David also declares in Psalm 37, “I have been young, and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” God promises to take care of all your needs of body and soul!
But true faith is not measured by the perceived success rate of your prayers and having your earthly problems solved. True faith is measured by you trusting in God, even if he permits you to suffer, even to die. As the three men, who were threatened with death in the fiery furnace said, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18)
Such faith is important, because Christians often suffer greater than those outside of the Christian Church. Martin Luther wrote that no boat on the sea was pummeled by the wind and the waves as much as the boat which held Jesus. Being a Christian invites persecution and hardship. It seems a lot easier outside of the Christian Church. And this is why it takes steadfast faith to remain a Christian, because although the ship won’t sink and the house won’t fall, the wind and the waves will still rush upon you.
If you have steadfast faith in Christ, you can endure any hardship. This is a fact. But what if you doubt whether Christ Jesus is in your boat with you; when you question whether you have built your house on the rock, and perhaps built it on the sand; when God himself seems to be against you and you are too ashamed on account of your sins to claim Jesus to be by your side? This is the work of a guilty conscience, when you examine your thoughts and deeds done in secret, when you have failed to love as Christ has taught you, when you have not behaved as a Christian. And you wonder, will Christ fight for me?
That is when it is all the more important to call out to God for Christ’s sake. Jesus came to save sinners. He rescues you from troubles that are your own fault. He doesn’t defend you against your enemies, because you are so good; not even because you have such a strong faith. Christ helps even those with a weak faith, as he did for his disciples on the lake. And he does this purely by grace!
The following phrase is repeated three times word for word in the Psalms, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” (Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5) Isn’t that great? What does Scripture teach you to do when your soul is in turmoil within you? Ask it a rhetorical question. Teach your soul a lesson. “Why are you cast down? Take time and think about that.” “Well, why shouldn’t I be cast down? I am hated by my friends. My life is a mess. And God seems far from me.” “You shouldn’t be cast down, because God is your salvation! Hope in him!”
Jesus wants you to have a strong faith. But he doesn’t convince you to have a strong faith by getting you to focus on yourself. Rather, he teaches you to have a strong faith by drawing you to focus on him and what he has done for you and promises to keep doing for you. It is Jesus who saves even those with little faith. Why are you afraid? Can’t you see that Jesus fights for you? Amen.

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Epiphany 3:The Word of God Speaks and Accomplishes the Will of God

1/30/2019

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Matthew 8:1-13
January 27, 2019

Several weeks ago, a popular “Christian” music singer named Lauren Daigle was asked in an interview whether she felt that homosexuality was a sin. She answered, “I can’t honestly answer on that, in the sense of I have too many people that I love and they are homosexuals. I can’t say one way or the other. I’m not God.” She understandably got much criticism from many Christians, because the Bible is actually quite clear on whether homosexuality is a sin. Leviticus 18:22 states, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” And 1 Corinthians 6 states, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Now while it is easy to condemn this lady for her statement, we should realize that her words reflect the attitude of many of us. Why does she question whether God is displeased with homosexuality? Clearly there is no passage in the Bible that gives her the idea that God doesn’t care or has changed his mind about it. Rather, her judgment is changed because she has so many people that she loves, who are homosexuals. She is unsure about what the will of God is based on her feelings about people, whom she loves.
Isn’t that a common attitude toward the will of God? What is God’s will. His will is what he wants, what he says is right and wrong. “God’s will certainly can’t say that what my friends do is sinful! They are so nice! God certainly wouldn’t disapprove of my children’s behavior! God couldn’t be displeased with me! I certainly don’t feel that way.” And this is typically the way people think, the way church-folk think.
Now, let’s lay aside for a moment the fact that God’s displeasure toward sin does not mean that God does not love the sinner. Scriptures says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) What’s important to note here is that our feelings and our thoughts and our experiences do not alter the will of God. God doesn’t change his position on a sin, because you or someone you love participates in that particular sin. And you do not determine how God feels about a situation by looking into yourself and pondering how you feel about it. How then do you determine what God’s will is? The leper in our Gospel lesson teaches us. Through God’s Word.
The leper says to Jesus, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” The leper has faith in Jesus. He believes he is good. He believes he is powerful and able to heal. But he does not know if Jesus will heal his disease. He needs to hear Jesus’ word. When he hears Jesus say, “I will; be clean.” he knows that Jesus desires to heal him. That is how we all are. How do we know what God’s will is? Through his word. How does God want you to treat your neighbor? Scripture says to live in harmony with him. Don't be haughty. Do not be wise in your own sight. Repay evil with good. Be kind to your enemy.
We know how God wills for us to live. He says so plainly in Scripture. We have the Ten Commandments. We know from Scripture that we should worship the Lord God only and gladly hear and learn his word, that we should love our neighbor as ourselves, refrain from sexual immorality, theft, murder, and covetousness. This is God’s Law. The Law reveals God’s holy will. Scripture also teaches the Gospel. The Gospel too is God’s holy will. While the Law teaches us how to live and condemns us as sinners when we fail, the Gospel reveals to us how God saves us from sin and hell through Jesus Christ, who died for our sins. It is God’s will that you believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. And you know this is God’s will through God’s word.
Now, I’ve noted before that our feelings can get in the way of us believing God’s holy Word and knowing God’s will for us. Yet, it is not only emotions that stand in the way of us knowing God’s will, but our reason. We are intelligent creatures. God made us that way. Yet, like everything in us, our intelligence is corrupted with sin. This means that we will use our reason to argue against God’s word and therefore not know God’s will. The perfect example is Naaman, the Syrian commander, who was a leper. Elisha sent a message to him to wash in the Jordan River seven times and he would be cleansed. Naaman thought that offensive. See, there was Naaman’s problem. He thought. He shouldn’t have thought. He should have believed. Now, I’m sure Naaman was right that the rivers of Syria were cleaner than the muddy river Jordan. But God said to wash in the river Jordan. As his servant said to him, “This is a great word that the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean?” And so Naaman submitted his great intellect to the word of God, and he was cleansed from his leprosy.
Naaman’s pride still affects many today. It is common for people to doubt the power of Baptism. “It’s just plain water. Spirit Baptism is more important. Or, Baptism is a work of man, and only faith saves, so Baptism can’t possibly save.” These are the thoughts of human beings, who follow the example of Naaman. Yet, what does the word of God say? “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16) “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off.” (Acts 2:38-39) “Baptism … now saves you, not as the removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 3:21) “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)
Scripture is abundantly clear. Baptism saves through the power of God’s word and the Holy Spirit. It is God’s will that all people be made disciples, being baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The only reason why people question the power of Baptism is because of human reason, which wrestles with the clear words of God.
Now, people will struggle with God’s will when God’s word reveals something they don’t like or when God’s word reveals something they don’t understand. Yet, perhaps the most exhausting struggle with God’s will is where God’s word does not reveal anything. This is called the hidden will of God. While God does tell us some things plainly, such as, how we should live, that we should repent and believe in the Gospel, there are other things that God does not tell us the answer to.
When the leper said to Jesus, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” He did not doubt Jesus’ good will. He had faith not only that Jesus was powerful enough to heal him, but also that Jesus was good, as he had heard of Jesus’ many healings before. Yet, the leper did not know if Jesus willed to heal him of this particular disease then and there. He had not yet heard Jesus’ say so. And this is how many of us are in our daily struggles. I do not know how long God will let me suffer from my physical ailments. I don’t know if I’ll recover from cancer or if my friend will be reconciled to me or if I’ll get the job, etc. There are certain things, God just doesn’t tell us. So, what should we do then? The same as when we do know what God’s will is. We pray that God’s will be done.
What do we know of God’s will? Ezekiel 33 states, “As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” So, we see here that God does not want to condemn sinners, whether homosexuals, thieves, drunkards, or swindlers, but that they turn from their wicked ways and live. God desires that sinners repent and believe in the Gospel. 1 Timothy 2 states that God “desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” It was the will of the LORD to crush Jesus on the cross, to lay all our iniquities upon him, and to forgive us for his sake. God’s revealed will is good. God is merciful, patient, and loving. So, what we know about God’s will should also help us to accept what we do not know.
St. Paul says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) We don’t always know what God wills for our life. But, because of what we do know about God’s will, we know that God’s plan for each of us is better than our own. And so, through hearing and believing the word of God, we are able to pray, “Thy will be done” both for what we do know of God’s will and for what we do not know.
We have learned that the word of God makes known to us what the will of God is. Yet, the word of God does even more. When Jesus told the centurion that he would come and heal his servant, the man refused and asked rather that Jesus say a word and his servant would be clean. The centurion was a man under authority. He understood how authority works. If a captain gives a command originally given by a general, that command has the authority of the general, not just a captain. The word of God carries God’s authority. This means that when a prophet speaks the word of God, it is not the word of a prophet, but the word of God. And also, when a pastor, who is sent by God through the church speaks the word of God, it is not the word of a man, but God’s own word.
This means that when I say, “Your sins are forgiven.” I am not just relaying to you what God’s will is, but God through these words is accomplishing what he wills. When I say, “I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” God is actually accomplishing his will to remove your sins as far from you as the east is from the west! When the pastor baptizes in the name of the Holy Trinity, God through those words is accomplishing his will to make that child a Christian. When the Gospel is preached, God’s will is not only revealed to the congregation, but his will is accomplished as the hearts of many are gladdened with the hope of eternal life in Christ Jesus.
The word of God makes known to you God’s will, that he desires you to repent of your sins and believe in the forgiveness won for you by Christ Jesus. The word of God assures you that even where you do not know what God’s will is, his will is still good. And the word of God itself accomplishes the good and gracious will of God by breaking and hindering every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and your sinful flesh, and by keeping you in the true faith until you die. For this reason, we cling to the word that makes known God’s will to us. We hear it gladly, because through his word God’s will is done. Amen.

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Epiphany 2: Jesus, the Bridegroom, blesses marriage and his Church

1/21/2019

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John 2:1-11
Ephesians 5:22-33
January 20, 2019

Jesus manifested his glory for the first time at the wedding at Cana in Galilee. Jesus chose to reveal his glory for the first time at a wedding. This tells us that God loves marriage.
God doesn’t just love wedding celebrations with good food and wine and fun conversations. He loves that the bride and groom promise before witnesses and to God and to one another to be faithful to each other for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death parts them and that they ask God’s blessing upon them. God is pleased with marriage itself. He is pleased that a wife submits her own will to her husband’s as the Church does to Christ. He is pleased that a husband cherishes his wife as his own body, that he willingly sacrifices his time, money, pride, even his very life for her sake. God is pleased with the intimacy of marriage, which takes place in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust, and which God blesses with children.
God doesn’t find marriage mundane or outdated or superfluous. He is pleased with the work that goes into marriage; the budgeting, the working, the cleaning toilets and changing diapers, the communicating, the repenting and the forgiving. God is pleased when husband and wife pray together and have devotions together. God is pleased when husband and wife trade off their crying child, so that at least one of them can hear the Gospel or sing the hymns with the congregation. All these things that are thought burdensome, ordinary, or unnecessary God enjoys. And he blesses by turning water into wine, so to speak, every day, providing for the needs of husband, wife, and children.
It of course is biblical to emphasize God’s good pleasure toward marriage; however, it is also part of the Lutheran tradition. Martin Luther stressed in his sermons on this very Gospel lesson that God is pleased with marriage. This was because, back in his day the predominate opinion was that celibacy, which is abstaining from marriage and sexual relations all together, was more chaste than marriage. This is a major reason why monks, nuns, and priests took vows of celibacy. They thought these vows of celibacy were better than marriage vows.
Yet, this is not true! Celibacy is not more chaste than marriage. And Jesus teaches that not everyone can receive celibacy, but that it is a gift from God. (Matthew 19:11) This is why St. Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 7, “But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.” In his explanation to the Sixth Commandment Luther doesn’t teach us to refrain from marriage, but rather that “husband and wife love and honor each other.”
God is pleased with marriage, because he himself instituted marriage. He determines what it is and that it’s good. God gives three purposes for marriage: Companionship, chastity, and children. God said, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18) And Jesus teaches, “’Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So, they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” (Matthew 19:5-6) God instituted marriage so that a man and a woman would be life-long companions, never to be separated.
God instituted marriage, so that men and women might live together in holiness and honor and avoid sexual immorality. Sex outside of marriage is a sin, but within marriage it is a holy gift from God. Finally, God instituted marriage for the sake of children. In Genesis one it says that God blessed Adam and Eve and said, “Be fruitful and multiply.” And God says in Psalm 127, “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.” It pleases God when a husband and wife are each other’s companion for life, are faithful to each other, and when they raise the children God gives them to trust in Christ Jesus.
These days few people consider celibacy a greater virtue than marriage. Yet, marriage is abandoned by more and more people nonetheless, especially by my current generation. Many sociologists are studying this phenomenon as it has serious implications culturally, economically, and even politically. They theorize that young people don’t want to get married, because of the risk of divorce and other financial and emotional burdens. And they’re probably right, although you can’t really lump all people who choose not to get married into the same category.
Yet, marriage has become less attractive. For fifty percent of those who enter into it, it is not a life-long companionship. Sex outside of marriage has become socially acceptable, so fewer people are concerned about God’s gift of chastity within marriage. And children are more and more looked at as a commodity and a burden rather than a gift from God. Many western countries are concerned by their nations’ low birth rates and their governments are trying to encourage their citizens to have more babies, so that they can provide for their large aging populations. Yet, even this desire for children is driven by the same materialistic desire that prevented them from having children in the first place.
Marriage has become less attractive because, we human beings are sinners. And whatever we touch tends to get ruined. And this includes marriage. So, what can we do to fix marriage? Well, we certainly can repent where we have failed in our own marriages and where we have accepted the opinions of this fleeting world over the teachings of God in the Bible. Yet, no matter how hard we strive, our marriages will continue to be unattractive and detached from how God intends them to be. What we need to fix our marriages and to fix marriage as a whole, is Jesus.
There were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification. Six, the number of days God worked to create the world. Six, the number of days in a week that God gave Israel to work and do all their labor. Six, one less than seven; one less than complete. Stone, as in the stone tablets on which God wrote the Ten Commandments. The six stone water jars represent the works of the law. No matter how much you labor, you never accomplish what you aim for. These jars were for the Jewish rites of purification. They were for washing the outside of the body, but they could never purify the inside of the body, which is what is needed.
Jesus, after filling up these jars, turns the water into wine. He turns the water, that could not wash the inside of the body into wine, which makes glad the hearts of man. (Psalm 104:15) This is a symbol of what Jesus does for marriage. No matter how hard you work to make your marriage perfect, because of your sinful limitation, you will never succeed. And we’re not going to fix the marriage crisis in our society simply by trying to enforce a bunch of rules. The only one who can fix a broken marriage is Jesus.
Jesus turning the water in the full jars into wine teaches that Jesus fulfills the demands of the law for us and makes us clean on the inside, not just on the outside. Jesus makes us clean on the inside by forgiving our sins.
The forgiveness of sins: it is what every marriage needs. You will sin against your spouse. And you will sin against your God. Sinners cannot please God, as Romans 8:8 states, “Those who are of the flesh cannot please God.” Sinners can’t make themselves holy. They need to be forgiven. You need to be forgiven by Christ. You need to be forgiven for your sins against his holy institution of marriage just as you need to be forgiven for your sins against every other commandment of God. And Jesus freely forgives those, who repent of their sins. St. John writes,
“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:7-9)
God loves marriage so much that he honors it by saying that it refers to Christ and his Church. Jesus Christ, who provides wine for the wedding, is the Bridegroom. The Church is his Bride. Yet, like marriage in this fallen world, the Church doesn’t look splendid, without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish. The Church looks broken up and divided, racked with scandal and discord, stained and confused, as the hymn states, “Though with a scornful wonder/ The world sees her oppressed,/ By schisms rent asunder,/ By heresies distressed.”
Yet, the Church is not holy and without blemish because it is filled will holy people who have never done anything wrong. The Church is holy and without blemish, because Christ Jesus her bridegroom laid down his life for his bride, and washed her clean through the water and the word of Baptism, joined inextricably with his blood shed on the cross. The Church is without spot or wrinkle of sin, because Jesus her bridegroom has forgiven her all her sins by virtue of his suffering and death. That is what makes Christ’s marriage to his bride holy. That is what makes you and me holy.
What the Church needs, indeed, what makes the Church the Church, is the forgiveness of sins won by Christ Jesus. She needs the Gospel. That is why we are members of this one, holy, Christian, and apostolic Church. We are members of the communion of saints, because Christ Jesus has washed us clean with his blood, forgiven our sins, baptized us and clothed us in his own righteousness. And this forgiveness is not confined to the walls of the sanctuary, but we take it with us into our lives.
This forgiveness sanctifies our homes, our marriages, and our families. No matter how much we try to wash our sinful lives clean and fix our marriages with superficial purification, we still remain dirty. But Christ Jesus turns water into wine. He forgives our sins and makes us clean on the inside and outside. When we live as forgiven Christians, God is pleased with us, even if the world can see the spots and wrinkles in our lives, because God can’t. They have been washed clean in Jesus’ blood.
The solution to fixing our marriages and indeed our whole lives is to repent of our sins and turn to him, who turns water into wine, who forgives sins and places his Holy Spirit within us. Jesus makes good wine. The best wine. He fills our cup with his own blood to purify our hearts and wash our sins away. Jesus is our Bridegroom. We are his bride. And through his forgiveness, which we receive through faith, he joins us to himself forever. Amen.

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Baptism of our Lord: Jesus is Baptized for Sinners' Sake

1/14/2019

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Matthew 3:13-17
January 13, 2019

Why does Jesus want to be baptized by John? John’s baptism is a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Those baptized by John confess their sins. Jesus has no sins to confess. He is not a sinner. Rather, he has come, as the angel told Joseph, to save his people from their sins. So, it makes sense that John would initially refuse to baptize this sinless man.
Jesus answers John, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” But what does it mean to fulfill all righteousness? The Old Testament often pairs the word “righteousness” with God’s act of salvation. In Psalm 71 it says, “In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me!” and “My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day.” And in Zechariah chapter 9 the prophet says, “Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he.” So, when Jesus says that thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness, he is saying that by his baptism he will embark on his work of saving sinners as the angel said.
Our Old Testament lesson prophecies that God would appoint his Servant by putting his Spirit upon him. Here at Jesus’ baptism God fulfills this prophecy, as we see that the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove. In Jesus’ baptism, God is sending Christ Jesus on his earthly ministry to be a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring out prisoners from their dungeons of darkness.
The Heavenly Father says of Jesus, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” These are indeed lovely words. Yet, they are easily misunderstood. When we talk about how we love our children, we often think about how we want them to be happy and safe from harm. Yet, the Father means something a little different with his words here. The Father, who has loved his Son from eternity has also in love sent him to save us sinners from our sins. When God the Father says that he is well pleased with Jesus, he doesn’t mean this in a generic way that he’s a good boy. No, he has in mind a very specific work that Jesus has set out to do. The Father is well pleased with Christ, because he will commence to win for mankind salvation through his perfect obedience, his suffering and death, and finally his resurrection from the tomb.
And here, you should see that this baptism is not for Christ’s benefit. He does not need this Baptism at all. He has no need for his sins to be washed away. He doesn’t need to be forgiven. No, Jesus is baptized for your sake. Instead of having sins washed away, Jesus enters the baptismal waters to take on the sins of the whole world. Jesus is baptized for the exact opposite reason that you are. You go to have your sins washed away. He goes to take your sins upon himself. You are baptized to be rescued from Satan and hell. Jesus is baptized so that he can face the devil and hell-fire head on. Here Jesus makes a great exchange with you: his righteousness for your sins, his life for your death, his salvation for your condemnation.
St. Paul says in Galatians chapter 3, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Baptism joins you to Jesus’ baptism. Yet, Baptism doesn’t just join you to the water of Jesus’ Baptism, it joins you to the entire ministry into which Jesus was baptized, this includes his holy death, burial, and resurrection. As Romans 6 states, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
And so, as God the Father declared his good pleasure toward his Son, who would obediently die on the cross for the sins of the world, so in your Baptism does God declare his good pleasure toward you, whose sins have been taken away by this marvelous work of Christ.
You cannot separate Jesus’ Baptism from his death on the cross. Jesus’ Baptism was an anointing and commissioning from God the Father where God sent his Son to the cross. This means that your Baptism cannot be separated from Christ’s death and resurrection. To be baptized into Christ’s Baptism is to be baptized into his death and resurrection.
This is why we should not say, “I was baptized,” but “I am baptized.” You were not at one time joined to Jesus’ death and resurrection. You are permanently joined to Christ’s death and resurrection. You did not at one time repent of your sins and ask Christ for forgiveness. Rather, every day as a baptized child of God, you repent of all your sins and cling to Christ for forgiveness. This is a daily washing that returns to you like waves upon the seashore, daily dying to sin, drowning the old man, and rising to new life in Christ. You did not at one time have faith in Christ, but you do have faith in Christ. You are baptized. You have faith in Christ. You are forgiven. You are a child of God. You are clothed in Christ. This is your current condition, not just some event that happened to you at one time.
Baptism is powerful to save. Jesus says in Mark chapter 16, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Whoever does not believe will be condemned.” And St. Peter writes in his 1st Epistle, “Baptism, …, 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.” (3:21)
We know that Baptism saves, because that is what God’s word says. Our Small Catechism says, “Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word.” And it answers the question, “How can water do such great things?”, “Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith, which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God’s word the water is plain water and no baptism. But with the word of God it is a Baptism, that is a life-giving water, rich in grace, and the washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit.”
Many people don’t think that Baptism saves. Well, if Baptism were just water it certainly could not save. But Baptism is not just plain water. Baptism is joined to God’s Word and promise. If you were to add concentrated fruit juice to water, you wouldn’t call it water anymore. You would call it juice. And it would have all the nutrients and extra calories of juice. Water is an inactive ingredient in many pharmaceuticals. Yet, you would be foolish to doubt the potency of a medicine simply because its main ingredient is water. How much more should we consider the power of Baptism, which is water joined to the powerful word of God, which created the universe out of nothing and raised Christ Jesus from the dead?
At Jesus’ Baptism all three Persons in the Holy Trinity were made known. The Father made himself knows through the voice from heaven. Jesus Christ, the Son of God was made known by the affirmation of the voice from heaven and by the Holy Spirit, who descended upon him as a dove. Now, all three Persons of the Holy Trinity are present at all times in all places. Yet, their appearance at Jesus’ Baptism tells us that the one and only Triune God works in Baptism. Jesus affirms this when he commands us to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)
At your Baptism, the Holy Trinity is present and working. Baptism is not your work. Although a pastor is pouring water and speaking words, it is not his work either. Baptism is God’s work. In it, God gives you his Holy Spirit; he forgives you your sins; he joins you to Christ’s death and resurrection; he makes you a Christian.
Baptism is not something you do in addition to having faith. Baptism and faith go together just as Jesus and faith go together. To trust in your Baptism is to trust in Jesus. Jesus was baptized for you. And he gave you baptism in order to join you permanently to his work of salvation for you. When you trust in your Baptism you trust that Christ truly did take on all your sins and die for them and clothe you in his own righteousness. To confess, “I am baptized.” is to confess, “I am joined to Christ. I am his and he is mine.” And if you are in Christ Jesus and share in his Baptism, then the voice from heaven declares to you as well, “You are my beloved child; with you I am well pleased.” Amen.

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Epiphany 2019: Christ is the Light to the Nations

1/7/2019

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January 6, 2019

“He says:
‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’” (Isaiah 49:6)

“It is too light a thing... to raise up the tribes of Jacob.” Israel is awaiting a Messiah, who has been promised to them by the prophets. That is why when the wise men asked about him, who was born king of the Jews, Herod asked where the Christ, which is the Greek word for Messiah, was to be born. The people of Israel were waiting for the promised Messiah, who would rule the Jews. That’s what the Prophet Micah promised, “And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” This is why Herod, an Edomite and not a Jew is so worried. He thinks that this descendent of King David will dethrone him and be king of the Jews in his stead. But what does the Lord say? “It is too light a thing...” Jesus Christ was not born simply to rule the Jewish nation. That is too little a thing for the Word-made-flesh to do. He comes to be a Light for the nations!
What does it mean that Christ is made as a light for the nations? Light here refers to salvation as is made clear in the very next phrase, “that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” The contrast between light and darkness is a major theme in Scripture. Light symbolizes truth, goodness, life, happiness, and salvation. Darkness symbolizes ignorance, sin, grief, woe, damnation.1 Light is good. It represents God’s glory. Isaiah 60 states, “Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” Those who are saved will shine like the stars of heaven. Darkness is bad. Those who dwell in darkness dwell in unbelief, they live in sin and are under the dominion of the devil. Those who are condemned to hell, Jesus says, are cast out into the outer darkness.
This visual language is incredibly easy to understand. You lock your doors at night. Those, who do evil do it under the cover of darkness. Those who get drunk get drunk at night, St. Paul says (1 Thess. 5:7). So, obviously we want to dwell in the light as St. Paul writes in Ephesians 5, “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true).” And St. John says, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7)
Yet, there is a problem. Darkness covers the earth and thick darkness the peoples. Light exposes what is hidden beneath the darkness, which is wickedness and sin. That is not pleasant. Those who do what is evil under the cover of darkness do not want their wickedness exposed. And those who live under a figurative darkness, that is, they live ignorant that what they are doing is wrong and displeasing to their Father in heaven, do not want to become aware that what they do is wrong. That is why Jesus says, “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” (John 3:19-20)
And so, it goes, robbers who break into a house under the cover of darkness do not want the flashlight of a policeman to shine on them. Then their evil work is exposed. The same goes for murderers, adulterers, liars, and all other types of criminals and sinners. No one wants the evil of their hearts to be exposed to the public or even to their own eyes. And so, like rats fleeing the rays of the sun, sinners and unbelievers shirk from the light of Christ, because the light of Christ is truth and the truth reveals all secret things.
This is very true. Light exposes darkness. Righteousness exposes sin. The light of Christ exposes the works of Satan and all under his control. And yet, what does God say through the prophet Isaiah? “I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” The light of Christ is salvation. Christ does not shine his light on us simply to expose our guilt like the policeman catching the criminal. The light of Jesus changes those who dwell in darkness, so that they might dwell in light.
Our Lord spoke in John chapter 8, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (vs. 12) When Christ sent St. Paul to preach to the Gentiles, he told him that he sent him “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Acts 26:18) And that is exactly what Paul preached as we can read from his letter to the Colossians where he wrote in chapter 1, “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (vss. 12-14)
And so, we should not shirk from the light of Christ, but rejoice that its rays have found us. But how is this done? Christ says in Isaiah 49, “He made my mouth like a sharp sword.” Christ does not bring salvation with brute force. He is not a policeman catching criminals. His sword is the words of his mouth. Jesus preaches. He calls sinners to repent of their sins and believe in his Gospel, that he has borne their sins himself and washed them away in his blood. The light of Christ does not simply expose sin, but it vanquishes sin, erases it from the memory of God, and makes those who were stained by it radiant and white.
This is how St. Paul is able to tell us in Romans 1l, “cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (vs. 12) Paul does not teach us to reform ourselves by our own powers. He is telling us to repent of our sins and trust in Christ Jesus for forgiveness. The light of Christ can be uncomfortable, because it calls your sin, sin. But the light of Christ also removes your sins from you by placing it on Jesus, who in return clothes you in his own righteousness.
This is what the preaching of Christ does for sinners. It gives them a solution to their sins. The solution is forgiveness won by Christ. This is not your work, but God’s, as St. Paul says, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son.” God has done this through his word. He has baptized you into his name and placed in your heart the Holy Spirit. He daily and richly forgives all your sins for the sake of Jesus’ blood and merit. Every time you hear the preaching of Christ crucified or hear the absolution or eat Christ’s body and blood in the Sacrament, and believe it, the light of Christ has removed whatever darkness you have and armed you with the light of Christ.
The light of Christ makes you righteous and free from sin before you have done anything good, purely by the work of Christ. Yet, you cannot walk in the light of Christ without yourself shining with that reflective glow. This is why Jesus says, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) Let the light, which God has put in you shine!

The wise men brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh just as Isaiah said that they would. Yet, the wise men were just the first of many, who would bring their treasures of light to the source of light. Scripture says that all nations will come to this light and bring their gifts. As so they have. Wherever the light of Christ has shone through the preaching of the Gospel, Christians have sung praises to their King. They have confessed him before men and God, brought their tithes and offerings with a free heart to further the preaching of the Gospel, they have beautified God’s beautiful house by showing love to one another, by repenting of their sins and forgiving one another.

Isn’t this a marvelous thing? Those who were covered in thick darkness, stained with the filth of sin, Christ has made to shine with beautiful light, which he will use to beautify his already beautiful house. He has joined us foreigners with his native Israelites to be one nation, which shines brightly throughout the world. This is the work of him, who was called from his mother’s womb, Jesus Christ. He has called us out of darkness to be children of light, And, he gathers us to beautify his beautify house even today. So, let us shine with the light given to us, singing praises, bringing gifts, confessing Christ and rejoicing in our shared salvation, and in this way the Lord will deck his halls with light. Amen.

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

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Epiphany 2019: Christ is the Light to the Nations

Rev. James Preus

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