The Sixth Sunday after Trinity

 The Sixth Sunday after Trinity – July 27, 2023

Psalm 28; Exodus 20:1-17; Romans 6:1-11

St. Matthew 5:17-26

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There are truly, only two religions in the world: a religion of the Law and a religion of the Gospel. Both are concerned with the righteousness of men. God has worked into men a sense of natural law, that is, a conscience, which understands there is such thing as right and wrong, good and evil in this world. Among those who still acknowledge a “higher power,” it is still acknowledged that some type of righteousness is required to enter heaven or whatever other afterlife they can imagine. Even those who claim to be atheists, recognizing neither a “higher power” nor eternal consequences for our earthly life, there is a sense that some actions are evil, deserving punishment, while others are good, deserving reward.

The religion of the Law demands that a man make or prove himself righteous to attain heaven. “One might suppose he can enter heaven if he lives a moral life or leads a generally useful life. Another supposes he can do so if he is religious, that is, if he prays diligently, goes to church, and remains with Christians. A third supposes he can enter heaven if he guards himself as much as possible from gross sins and vices. A fourth, who is one of the wicked, supposes he can earn eternal life if, despite all his transgressions and evil life, he can point to some good.”[1]

In short, the religion of the Law sets forth certain standards by which a man may save himself. Those standards might be revealed by a deity or a prophet. They might be created within a man himself. They may be strict or lenient. These standards may even be expressed with great sympathy: “So long as you tried,” “once you’ve done everything within you,” “insofar as you are able,” “with all your heart.” The bottom line is that the religion of the Law demands something of you, which if satisfied, will be rewarded with heaven.

Now what does Christ say? He says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”[2] With these 21 words, Christ destroys any thought that man can achieve heaven by his own means or even by his own means when helped by God. So far as it was within them, the scribes and the Pharisees strictly kept the commands of God as it was read. Their lives were dedicated to fulfilling the letter of the Law. If the righteousness required to enter heaven is greater than this, then it is truly something greater than man is capable of.

The Law of God is good and wise. It is His eternal, immutable will. The Law does not change because God does not change. The Ten Commandments are the distillation, the summary of God’s Holy Law and all men, by virtue of being a creation of God, are held accountable to this Law.

As Christ teaches on the Fifth Commandment, He shows that on outward keeping of this commandment does not itself keep the Law. The Law demands to be kept both outwardly and inwardly; in the hands and in the heart. The righteousness of the Law is a matter of the soul which is then manifested in the work of the hands, and this righteousness demands perfection.

Just for a moment, let us consider a distinction between the Law of God and His commands. A command is an expression of God’s Law, His eternal will. God has commanded, “Thou shalt not kill.” This is an expression of God’s will that life and our physical being are precious to Him such that we should not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body but help and support him in every physical need. Anger harms our own bodies, think rising blood pressure, and it threatens the physical wellbeing of our neighbor. At the same time, some are given the authority to take life, to kill. God has given the sword to the state to punish the wicked. Soldiers are given the authority to take life to preserve life.

The authority of the executioner and the soldier is not a violation of the Fifth Commandment because they do not violate God’s will, even if a strict adherence only to the letter of the Law would make it seem to conflict. This does not even represent a conflict within God’s will. The specific vocations appointed by God to take life are for the very purpose of protecting life, the keeping of the Law as expressed in the Fifth Commandment.

Yet even in these specific vocations, the question must be asked if the individual carrying out God’s will is doing so according to the letter and the spirit of the Law. And even if he is, what about the rest of the Law? “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”[3] “For every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”[4] The Law forbids all sins. If a man is guilty of one sin—one tiny stumble, one idle word, one lustful thought—he is guilty of the entire Law and unable to enter the kingdom of heaven. The Law even accuses man of omitting something which he could have done. “To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”[5]

This is a harsh reality. It is the truth that stands behind any religion of the Law. No matter what a person believes might be true, the truth of God’s Word is that the Law demands perfection. And God could not demand anything less. He cannot change or repeal His Law for it is His eternal, holy will. To change one iota, one dot of the Law would make God inconsistent and untrustworthy. “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”[6] His standards do not change.

Where then is hope? Who can hope to attain the kingdom of heaven? The standards are too lofty for man. Even being the best Christian you can be doesn’t meet the standards of the Law. Now, of course the answer is in Christ. The God-Man, He who is without sin, fulfilled the Law, fulfilled every jot and dot of the Law on your behalf. He who is Life, gave Himself into death on your behalf, shedding His blood where your blood was required. He rose triumphant from the grave to pave the way for humanity to walk through the gates of heaven. The Key of David simultaneously bound the ancient dragon and unlocked the gates of pearl.

And this reality of Christ’s victory over sin and fulfilling the Law is all well and good, but it does not benefit you if His righteousness does not come upon you. Something can be objectively true and good without you receiving the benefit. So the pressing question is not just where the hope of salvation comes from, but how you receive the righteousness required for entry into heaven.

The answer is revealed in our reading from St. Paul this morning. You do not obtain this righteousness. You do not grasp hold of it. You do not seek it out and find it among the treasures of this world. God brings it to you. God delivers it to you. God scoops you up and wraps you in His righteousness, and He does this through death.

“Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death.”[7] There is so much that happens in Holy Baptism and it begins with death. The waters of Holy Baptism begin with our death to sin, as we are drown and dragged to the depths of the sea. This is prefigured in the Flood of Noah. Every imagination of the hearts of man had become wicked in the Fall and the Lord decided within Himself to wash away this wickedness in a watery death. Your death in Holy Baptism is no less real than all those who perished in the Flood. From the moment of your birth in the flesh, the minutes of your life have begun to count down. Holy Baptism points forward to this temporal reality but fast-forwards that clock spiritually. You were drowned and died in the flood of Holy Baptism.

It is a shame that our culture has become so afraid of death that it is almost unheard of for friends and family to be present at the actual burial, pouring of dirt, over the casket of a dead loved one, much less to even witness the lowering of the casket into the grave. This is to our shame because Holy Scripture reveals this as the reality of our Baptism. Not only are we drowned in the waters but we are in fact buried in the earth. We are swallowed by the very ground on which we once walked.

Yet Baptism does not end in death, just as Christ’s sacrifice did not end in death. Having been drowned, having been buried in the depths of the earth, we rise from the font to a new life. Just as Christ is raised from the dead, so too we rise from the dead. And just like the death of Holy Baptism, this points forward to the temporal reality of our resurrection in the flesh. It immediately is the reality of our spiritual new birth. We rise from the waters of Holy Baptism a new creation, created for New Life, the temple of the Holy Spirit and a new-born son of God.

“If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”[8]

Yet again, this new life is not the end of Holy Baptism. Just as our first parents were not sent out of the Garden with the Word of God’s promised salvation alone but clothed in the skin of a lamb, so too the new man who rises from the waters of Holy Baptism is given the robe of Christ’s righteousness. This robe is entirely foreign to you. You did nothing to earn it and if fact, you do nothing to maintain it. It is given to you by Christ, Himself. He takes the very shirt off His back and places it on you. And this righteous garment bears the very righteousness of God. “Be holy as Your Heavenly Father is holy.” This is how you come to possess the very righteousness, the very holiness of God.

Along with this righteousness comes the very hope, the very faith by which you receive that cloak of righteousness. Having been made a dwelling of the Holy Spirit and clothed in Christ’s righteousness, your mind is renewed and you are made fit to receive these glorious blessings of God’s mercy. Again, even the objective truth and reality of the blessings of Holy Baptism are of no benefit if they are not received by faith, yet even this faith is not of your own doing, your own reason, works, or emotions. This faith is itself a working of God.

So how do you know that you have met the requirements of the Law in order to gain entrance into heaven? How do you know that you have the faith that receives the righteousness of Christ? It is quite simple. Ask yourself, ‘Am I baptized?’ ‘What has Christ said about Holy Baptism?’ Christ has said that in Holy Baptism, the very name of God—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—has been placed on you, marking you as one of His own. If you are His, then you have been made a dwelling of the Holy Spirit and the robe of Christ’s righteousness has been placed on you. And if this is the case, and if faith is itself a working of God, then those blessed words of Christ are all you need, “All who believe and are baptized will be saved.”[9]

Not only has the shed blood of Christ opened the way to salvation, but He has given you His own credentials for admission. He has tightly woven His own righteousness around you such that nothing more is required. Is it possible to wriggle out of His righteousness? Of course! It is quite easy to do. But it is unthinkable for the Christian who realizes just what Christ has done and continues to do for you. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”[10]

Now may Christ the life of all the living and the death of death our foe, guard your hearts and minds in the true and living faith once delivered to you in the waters of Holy Baptism now and forever.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Walther, Gospel Sermons, 55.

[2] St. Matthew 5:20.

[3] James 2:10.

[4] St. Matthew 12:36.

[5] James 4:17.

[6] Galatians 3:10.

[7] Romans 6:3-4.

[8] Romans 6:5-6.

[9] Cf. St. Mark 16:16.

[10] Romans 6:1-2.

Exaudi (The Sunday after the Ascension)

 Exaudi (Sunday after the Ascension) – June 1, 2025

Psalm 27; Ezekiel 36:23-28; 1 Peter 4:7b-11

St. John 15:26-16:4a

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Christ our Lord has much to say about the trials, tribulations, and crosses Christians must bear on this side of glory. We can sort these afflictions into two broad categories. First, there are those afflictions that are the result of sin but are common to all mankind. Disease, financial difficulty, depression, anxiety, emotional instability, uncertainty about the future; these are the result of sin but they are the results of sin that all mankind experiences. Although these afflictions are real and serious, one does not need to be a Christian to suffer them. God may use these afflictions to punish sin, chastise His beloved children, and draw Christians closer to Himself, but they remain forms of suffering related to the sinful nature born into man.

The crosses which Christ has called all Christians to bear are of a different category. These are the result of being a Christian. They are the reaction of sin against faith. This is the unjust suffering of the Christian, patterned after the unjust suffering and death of Christ. To this category belongs all forms of persecution, resentment, abuse, and hatred endured by Christians for the sake of the name we bear.

Being still afflicted by the sin of our flesh, we know just how easy it is to avoid these crosses. Deny the name of Christ and you will be relieved. A little compromise here and a little deception there, and maybe your persecutors won’t even realize you are a Christian. Keep your mouth quiet and they will leave you alone. Each betrayal of the name of Christ makes life a little easier on this side of glory, but I can tell you it will make eternal life that much worse because it would have been better for the betrayer of Christ not to have been born.

Our reading from the Prophet Ezekiel is set in the context of the Babylonian captivity. The people of God had betrayed the Lord by allowing for the worship of false gods in their land and worshiping those false gods themselves. They had profaned the name of the Lord. God punished them by delivering them into the hands of the Babylonians and scattering the people among the nations. Our text includes the Lord’s promise to restore His people by taking them out from the nations and returning them to the land of their fathers.

In the verse just prior to our text, the Lord tells the people that He will deliver them not for their sakes, but for the sake of His holy name. That is, He will deliver them not on account of their righteous deeds or their piety before God, but so that His name would be made known among the nations. He would deliver them so that the nations would know that He is the true God who upholds His word and saves His people.

This promise still holds true for you today. In Adam’s fall, we were all cast out of the land of our promised inheritance, the land of our fathers. We dwell in a foreign land because of our sin and our willingness to profane the name of God, the name of Christ. Yet while we were still in our sin, the Father sent His Son to die for us, to redeem His name among the nations.

And what did God promise, through Ezekiel, to do when He had gathered His people from the foreign nations? Sprinkle them with clean water. It is no accident that in Holy Baptism, the name of God is placed upon you. We do not just invoke the name of the Triune God in Holy Baptism but in fact place that name upon your head. You are sealed with the very name of God in the waters of Holy Baptism. What did God say He was doing when He delivered the people from Babylon? He was sanctifying His great name. Who bears the name of God? The Baptized! Having been delivered from the nations, you now stand with citizenship in the land of your promised inheritance, the land owned by your Father who stands to give it to you. Washed clean from your filthiness and all your idols, a new heart and a new spirit has been placed within you.

And so, as Christ says, ‘You also will bear witness.’ You will bear witness to the name of Christ and the world will hate you for it. The world is at enmity with God and you, baptized children of God, bear the name of Christ.

Now the task of bearing witness to Christ is too much to bear for man alone. Your justification and your sanctification are not for your sakes but for the sake of God’s holy name. That is, neither justification nor sanctification is on account of your merits or piety. They require the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom Christ has promised to pour out on His people. This too, happens in your Holy Baptism. You are not baptized into the name of the Father and the Son only to receive the Holy Spirit 14 years later at your Confirmation. The name of the Triune God is placed upon you in the waters of Holy Baptism that from your very first breath out of the waters, you begin to bear witness of Christ.

And this is a lifelong task. It is the life to which you have received new birth. It is not a burden to bear. In most of our hearts, we imagine ourselves to be sinners striving to become holy through our manner of living. Even as Lutherans, for whom salvation by grace through faith is so important, we tend to think of our life of sanctification as something we are trying to attain. This is utterly backwards. As the baptized, you ought to imagine yourself as a holy saint who is striving to ward off sin. You don’t need new skills, new habits, better time management to achieve a life of holiness. You don’t need better people skills to convert the masses. You already have the Holy Spirit. God is already on your side. Because Christ is yours and you are His, you have everything you could possibly need.

What is left is to ward off the wickedness. How? By being a witness of Christ in thought, word, and deed. Be serious and watchful in your prayers, not as another thing you must do but as making use of what is already yours. Have fervent love for one another not because “it’s the right thing to do” but because you have the love of the Father, more than enough to share with the entire world. You have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, make use of it to minister to those around you, being a good steward of the gifts you’ve been given.

And then, when those within the Church on earth put you out of the church or murder you thinking they are offering service to God, you will not be made to stumble. You can bear your cross because it has already been borne for you. As you are conformed to Christ, the name of Christ you bear will shine ever more brightly. It is not for your sakes, but for the sake of God’s Holy Name.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lent Midweek 2

Lent Midweek 2 – March 19, 2025

Psalm 25; Esther 13:9-11, 15-17

St. Matthew 20:17-28

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

After His third and most detailed Passion prediction, the mother of James and John approaches Christ with a request. She wants her sons to be seated at Christ’s left and right hands when He comes into His kingdom. What mother wouldn’t want such positions of honor and authority for her sons? The problem is that her question reveals that the mother of the Sons of Thunder, like the rest of the disciples, doesn’t understand what it means for Christ to come into His kingdom, what His coronation will look like. This is an even more serious problem because Christ just revealed to His disciples, for the third time, what that coronation would be – His betrayal, flagellation, and death.

Rather than sharply rebuke the woman and her sons for their lack of understanding, Christ asks if the boys are able to drink the cup that He will drink and be baptized with the baptism that He is baptized with. They boldly answer, “Yes!” Their response isn’t strictly prideful. They are making a confession of their allegiance to Christ. They are declaring their unwavering faith in His teachings and declaring they are ready for such positions of high honor.

But of course, they do not understand what they ask nor what they are saying in response to His question. To be fair to these apostles, it would be very difficult to understand our Lord’s words in their position. But standing on this side of the Resurrection, it is plain to see that Christ is speaking of two distinct cups and two distinct baptisms.

When Christ poses the question to James and John, He is referring to the cup of wrath and the baptism of death. The cup of wrath is an Old Testament image of God’s anger and punishment of sin. It appears 14 times in the Old Testament. Sometimes, the wicked can’t get enough of the cup of wrath. God pours little into their mouths and they seem to delight in their judgment.[1] They become drunk on the wrath of God and intoxicated with the punishment of their sins. This is reflected in the world when those who delight in sin want to claim their temporal punishment is a badge of honor. Think of sexually transmitted diseases and how those who endure are considered heroes, or at least their struggle is to be admired.

Other times, the image of the cup of God’s wrath focuses on the image of intoxication itself.[2] A drunk staggers, and his perception of the world is distorted. So too, the wicked stagger and stumble against God’s created order and see the world through their own wickedness. These are not just the result of biological processes but are God’s wrath beginning to be poured out on the wicked. The inability to rightly see the world around you should be a wake-up call that something about you is wrong, but the prideful heart of man seeks to convince the soul that such distortion is good, even godly.

Such is what is going on when Christ asks if James and John are able to drink the cup that He drinks. He is speaking of this cup of wrath. He is speaking of drinking to the dregs, the very bottom, of the cup of the Father’s wrath. He will drink from the cup of God’s wrath on behalf of humanity. As He bears the sins of the world, He will take onto Himself the just punishment that is due for those sins. He will not taste of the cup. He will not sip of it. He will swallow it whole, consuming every drop.

The prideful hearts of the Sons of Thunder make them think they are also able to drink this cup. Not only do they think they are able, but they also think they are ready to drink it. If Jesus can do it, so can they. They do not know what they are saying.

As for the baptism with which Christ is baptized, it is true that we confess we believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Yet we also recognize that Christ was baptized in the Jordan River. His baptism was not to forgive His sins. He doesn’t have any. Our usual way of describing Christ’s baptism was that it made our baptism efficacious. His baptism is what soaks up the sins that our baptism washes away. It was His anointing, marking Him as the acceptable sacrifice to the Father.[3]

Although these things are dogmatically true, I don’t think that is what Christ is talking about in this passage. The baptism of which He speaks here is, again, His suffering and death. He will be “baptized,” or washed, in the wrath of the Father. He will be drowned in the fiery waters of hellish torment on the cross. St. Paul speaks this way when he says we are baptized into a death like Christ’s.[4] In this sense, Christ’s death is establishing the new birth of our baptism. He is baptized into death to take the sting of death away. He descends into the death of baptism so that He would rise again the third day, establishing the pattern of our death to sin in Holy Baptism and our rising to a new life as the baptized.

Christ alone drinks the cup of wrath to the dregs and is baptized with death on the cross, but He also says that His disciples will indeed drink His cup and be baptized with His baptism. We can understand this in two ways. First, we can see the pattern established by Christ’s cup and baptism. In this, we see Christ speaking of the cup of affliction and baptism into the yoke of Christ. The cup of affliction is the cross which all who would follow Christ are called to bear.

We must bear the suffering of sin and persecution. We endure affliction and pain, knowing that it is ultimately for our own good. It is chastisement for sin, not punishment for wickedness.[5] We gladly endure affliction because we look to our Lord, who suffered far more than we can imagine, and see in our suffering that we are being made in the image of Christ. We are made to conform to His holy life, suffering, and death so that we would be remade in the Resurrection, glorious even as He is glorious.[6]

The light yoke of Christ is received in Holy Baptism.[7] It is the crosshairs of Satan’s rage. Being marked as the baptized, we are also marked for pursuit by the devil. He hates the things of God and you, beloved child of God, are God’s most beloved possession. Therefore, Satan will doggedly pursue you and seek to tear you away from the Father.

The other way we should understand the disciples drinking His cup and being baptized with His baptism is exactly the way that we normally understand these phrases. His cup is the cup of blessing, the new testament in His blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.[8] His baptism is the baptism of new birth, the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit.[9] These are the Holy Sacraments by which Christ dispenses the forgiveness of sins. There is nothing left in the cup of wrath for Christ has swallowed it to the dregs. It is now filled with the blood of the living sacrifice, the lamb who takes away the sins of the world.[10]

The point to which Christ is driving throughout this pericope is that He, the Son of Man, came “to give His life as a ransom for many.”[11] A ransom is a payment made in exchange for the life of another. Because of our sin, we owe a great debt to God. Our lives are forfeit. In terms of debt, we have neither enough to cover our debt nor even the correct currency. Our righteousness will never be enough to climb out of debt. Transgress the least of God’s law and you are guilty of it all. Because of original sin, every ounce of our righteousness is tainted. It isn’t even a currency God will accept in exchange for our debt to Him. Therefore, it is necessary that God become Man, keep the Law perfectly in every jot and tittle, then offer His life in exchange for your life. God alone has righteousness that is of sufficient quantity and quality to satisfy the debt incurred by your sin.

And when Christ says “a ransom for many,” He means “all.” He is not drawing a comparison between many and all. He is drawing a comparison between many and one, Himself. “For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.”[12] The sacrifice of Christ filled the ransom debt of every man, from Adam to the last child born on earth. The least of your sins, and the worst, are covered, are forgiven, in the blood of Christ.

Why then are not all saved? Because not all receive this great gift. If I paid your bill at the diner but you refused the gift and insisted on paying the bill yourself, you wouldn’t benefit from my charity. The same is true of Christ’s death. The rejection of the unbeliever doesn’t negate Christ’s sacrifice, but it does exclude him from receiving the benefit. In fact, by condemning the unbeliever, God is simply giving Him exactly what he wants. But for you, beloved in the Lord, to you it has been given to be children of the Father. You not only have been ransomed, but called and enlightened by the Holy Spirit; washed in the waters of Holy Baptism and made a new creation, the apple of God’s eye, and an heir of heaven.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] For example, see Psalm 75:8.

[2] For example, see Isaiah 51:17.

[3] St. Matthew 3:17.

[4] Romans 6:3-4.

[5] Hebrews 12:7.

[6] Hebrews 12:3-7.

[7] St. Matthew 11:28-30.

[8] St. Matthew 26:28.

[9] Titus 3:5-7.

[10] St. John 1:29.

[11] St. Matthew 20:28.

[12] Romans 5:15.

The Baptism of our Lord

The Baptism of our Lord (obs.) – January 12, 2025

Psalm 89; Isaiah 25:1; 26:11a; 28:5a, 2b, 10a; 41:18a, a; 52:13b; 12:3-5; Ephesians 1:13b-18

St. Matthew 3:13-17

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the season following the Epiphany of our Lord, the Church pays special attention to the miracles of our Lord. This is recognizing the connection between Christmas and Epiphany. At Christmas, we celebrate that God has become man. At Epiphany, we celebrate that this man is God. He is one man with two natures – True God and True Man.

It might be a little strange to think of the Baptism of our Lord as one of His miracles, but it is. And I’m not talking just about the revelation of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, though these are the clearest words of Scripture on that point. The Son rises from the waters. The Holy Spirit descends from heaven as a dove and alights upon the Son, anointing Him, setting Him apart for His work of salvation. The Father opens the heavens and says, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”[1]

Our Lord’s baptism is a miracle because by it, He is sanctifying all waters to be used for your baptism. His baptism is not for the remission of His own sins, He doesn’t have any. His baptism is a baptism into your sins, that they would be placed on Him. This also has the effect of making your baptism powerful. In your baptism, your sins are taken away. In Jesus’ baptism, your sins are placed upon Him. If you imagine your sins as dirt and muck clinging to a washcloth, all that dirt and muck is washed away in your baptism. Christ, the perfect and clean washcloth, is baptized into that dirty water to soak up all the muck and take it upon Himself. You arise from the waters pure and clean. He arises bearing your sins. The miracle of your baptism is the miracle of our Lord’s Baptism.

So then, what is Holy Baptism? It “is not simple water only, but it is the water comprehended in God’s command and connected with God’s word.”[2] Though the image of a dirty washrag being made clean is helpful, Holy Baptism is not just a bath. It is not the removal of dirt from the body. It is a sacrament, that is, God’s word combined with a physical element (in this case water) and used according to God’s command. That command comes at the end of St. Matthew’s Gospel, “Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.”[3] Holy Baptism is therefore the rite of initiation into the Body of Christ. It is the means by which Christ brings sinners into the Church, into His Body.

But what does it do? Or, what benefit is there to Holy Baptism? “It works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.”[4] Holy Baptism forgives the sins of the baptized. It takes the sinner, born a citizen of the kingdom of satan, and grants him citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven. It takes a son of this world and makes him a son of God, marking him as an heir of eternal life, giving him a share in the inheritance of all that Christ has done.

This is a great treasure and should be prized by all who would bear the name of Christ. When satan rears his ugly head and tempts you to despair, it is good to remember the suffering and death of Christ on your behalf. But satan is an expert in temptation. He will tempt you to question if what Christ has done is good enough for you, or if you are good enough for Christ. For that reason, look to your baptism. There can be no question that you are baptized. You have had the waters of forgiveness poured out upon you. You have been baptized into Christ and no amount of suffering can take that away. You have been baptized into the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ. Of this you can be absolutely certain.

And if you have been baptized into Christ, then He is good enough for you. No matter what wicked things satan might whisper, it can never overcome the voice of the Father, “You are my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.” If you are baptized into Christ and the Father has said these words of Him, then He has said them of you as well. He says them at every Holy Baptism, even if our mortal ears are too weak to hear the sound.

How can water, plain water drawn from the tap, do such great things, deliver you from death and the devil and forgive your sins? “It is not the water indeed that does them, but the word of God which is in and with the water, and faith, which trusts such word of God in the water.”[5] Holy Baptism is not our work. It is not my work, even if I am the one saying the words and pouring the water. Holy Baptism is the work of God who, through His word, is tying Himself to the water. Through the Word of God, this water becomes “a gracious water of life and a washing of regeneration in the Holy Ghost.”

Now, even this miraculous work of God must be received. It is received by faith. At the same time that Holy Baptism bestows this faith, it is faith which receives the benefit of this glorious sacrament. This means that the baptized must continually be nurtured by the Word of God. The forgiveness of sins and deliverance from death and the devil cannot be taken away from faith but faith itself can be abandoned. The mighty ship of Holy Baptism is unsinkable, but we have the ability to jump ship if we prefer the things of this world to the Word of God. While Holy Baptism is a miraculous working of God, it is not a once-and-done, get out of hell free card. Using baptism according to the command of God necessarily includes a lifetime of learning. “Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.”

The gift of Holy Baptism is for you, your children, and your grandchildren but it also necessary that you, your children, and your grandchildren continue to hear the Word of God, receive the forgiveness of sins, learn and grow in and into the things of God. Holy Baptism grants the baptized of any age everything necessary for salvation, but the slothful ignoring of your baptism is to despise your baptism. Satan is a crafty deceiver and will spend every day of your life tempting you away from the Word of God which has been joined to you in Holy Baptism. Don’t give him the upper hand by refusing to hear and receive that Word.

And when I say hear, I don’t mean sitting in the pew and letting the sound reverberate against your eardrums without entering your heart. The teaching connected to Holy Baptism is something that must continually work on your heart, mind, and soul. If at the end of the year, you are unchanged by the Word of God, from the youngest of you to the oldest, then you have prevented the Word of God from working on you. You have prevented the very faith into which you were baptized from acting upon your soul. Now is the time to return to your baptism. Now is the time to repent of your sloth and indifference to the Word of God and return to your baptism as a little child, hearing the things of God and receiving from Him the forgiveness of your sins.

And as the Baptized, such repentance will always result in the forgiveness of sins. That is why we are here. No one within these walls is without sin. We do not come here to receive forgiveness as a license to do whatever we want. We do not come to receive forgiveness as though it was something we are owed. We come to receive forgiveness as repentant sinners who know the cost of our sin. We see our sin and want to be free from it. We see that our sin has again stained the waters of Holy Baptism and that the Son of God, motivated by His great love for us, has taken that sin upon Himself and died for it. Hating sin and seeing the sacrifice of Christ, we gather in remembrance of His great mercy, humbly begging for that which is not our own – eternal life and salvation.

In this humility, we find confidence that what we ask for has been given to us. Though none of us deserves it, Christ our Lord sanctified the waters of the Jordan and all water to be a life- giving flood. He descended into the waters of Holy Baptism that we might rise to a new life. Holy Baptism “signifies that the Old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts and, again, a new man daily come forth and arise, who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”[6]

The life of the Baptized is a combination of humility and confidence. We humbly recognize that we do not deserve a moment of God’s time, let alone His grace and mercy. We also are confident that He has had mercy on us and graciously poured out His blood on the cross that we might die to sin and rise to new life. In Holy Baptism, you have received the Holy Body and Precious Blood of Jesus, wrapped around you in a glorious robe of white. Humbly approach His throne of grace, confident that you are counted among the righteous—not by your own virtues, but by the Blood of Jesus, as a baptized child of God.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] St. Matthew 3:17.

[2] Martin Luther, Small Catechism, IV:1.

[3] St. Matthew 28:19.

[4] Small Catechism, IV:2.

[5] Small Catechism, IV:3a.

[6] Small Catechism, IV:4.

Rorate Coeli (Advent 4)

 Rorate Coeli (Advent 4) – December 22, 2024

Psalm 19; Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Philippians 4:4-7

St. John 1:19-28

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Those who question St. John the Baptist this morning do so in two parts. First, they question his identity, “Who are you? Are you Elijah? Are you the Prophet?” Then they question what he is doing, or on who’s authority he is doing it, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” This will also serve as the outline for our meditation this morning.

With regard to identity, there seem to have been three prevailing theories in the first century as to what the Messiah would look like. There were some who thought He would be a King Messiah, sent by God to deliver His people from oppression by the Romans and all other nations. This King Messiah would reconstitute the nation of Israel and save His people by establishing an earthly kingdom for them to rule.

Then there was the idea of a Priest Messiah. He would arrive with signs and wonders, a divine Elijah, who would conquer the enemies of God by invoking the Divine Name and offering sacrifices acceptable to God for the sins of the people. He would purify the Temple and reinstitute the right and holy sacrifices of Moses. His rule would be by the Law of God.

Finally, there was the idea of a Prophet Messiah. He would need neither the state nor the Temple because He would usher in the rule of God by His Words, alone. This would be a prophet like Moses but far greater. Just as there was no king in the days of Moses, so too this Prophet Messiah would need no king since he would judge all matters. So also, there was no Temple in the days of Moses, so this Prophet Messiah would have no need for sacrifices or external means. Salvation would become a matter of the heart and soul alone.

Each of these expected Messiahs has an element of truth but is overcome by falsehood. Those looking for the King Messiah trust that the promises of God are for this world and apply to our very bodies. But that is where their idea of salvation stops. It seems they looked only for a Messiah of the flesh and were not concerned about the soul, the forgiveness of sins, or eternal life.

Those looking for the Priest Messiah also acknowledged the blessings of God received through means, but their hope was in the Law of God. The blood of bulls and goats meant salvation and it was the Priest Messiah who would purify their offerings so that they might earn salvation by keeping God’s Law.

Those looking for the Prophet Messiah certainly found comfort in the Word of God and held His Word in high esteem. However, they became so heavenly minded they were of no earthly good. Perhaps they even fell into an antinomian mindset, that is, they disregarded the Law of God, making God’s promises strictly a matter between ‘me and God’ with no effect on life in this world.

It seems the various sects that had arisen in the first century fell into one of these three camps. There was only a small, faithful remnant who saw the truth of God’s Word, that the Messiah would fill all three offices—Prophet, Priest, and King. He rules over all nations. All kings derive their authority not from right but from the very hand of the Messiah, the Incarnate God. He is the Priest after the order of Melchizedek, who would offer the perfect and final sacrifice of Himself, for the forgiveness of sins. He is also the Prophet like Moses, the very Word of God made flesh. He would speak not as a messenger of God but as God Himself, from His own authority and power.

John was of this faithful remnant, who denied being the Christ, Elijah, or the Prophet like Moses. He was the voice crying in the wilderness, making the hearts of man prepared to receive their Prophet, Priest, and King in the Person of Jesus Christ. John does not find his identity in his clothes, though they outwardly display his office; nor in his personal wants and desires, who he wants the world to see him as; nor even in his job, his wealth, or his health. John finds his identity in the Word of God.

Now, none of you has a particular prophecy about himself in the Old Testament that reveals your role in the history of salvation like John does. However, your identity is clearly spelled out in Scripture. You are a sinner, who has inherited the sin of your father Adam in your flesh. This sin makes you an enemy of God. But you have also been adopted into the family of God. You have been made a child of the Heavenly Father through the waters of Holy Baptism. You died in those waters. You died and were buried. Through a miracle of the Holy Spirit, you were then raised a new man. You arose as a child of God, with the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ Himself, covering your sin and marking you as an heir of heaven.

Your sin was drowned in the waters of Holy Baptism, but it still clings to your flesh, at least on this side of glory. We must daily repent of our sins and strive against sin, daily praying that all our doings in life would please God. This is the baptismal life, the life of the Christian. When you fall into sin, you repent and there is forgiveness. We live, and breathe, and have our being in the grace and mercy of Christ that has been showered upon is in the waters of Holy Baptism.

This is not just a nice picture. There is no “pretend” in the Scriptures nor in the life of the Church. What God’s Word says, it does. What Christ says, He does. When He says, “Your sins are forgiven,” they are forgiven. When He says, “Arise, your sins are forgiven, go and sin no more,” He means it.

Which is why the second round of questioning is vital. “Since you are not the Christ, Elijah, nor the Prophet, who do you think you are, baptizing and forgiving sins?” By confessing that he baptizes with water, but Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit, John is confessing that he is the instrument, and Christ is the actor in Holy Baptism.

There is a distinction between the office and the man. In many ways, John—and pastors today—just splash around some water and recite some words. There is nothing in John’s person that makes Baptism happen. It is God working through Him to give such power and might to the Sacrament. John does not bestow the Holy Spirit or the forgiveness of sins on those he baptizes. God does. God works through the means of the Office of the Holy Ministry to administer Holy Baptism. It is an act of God, a divine work, that is done through the hands and lips of men.

John and all men called to the Office of the Holy Ministry are sinful, fallible human beings, just like everyone else. It is not a matter of their person but a matter of their office. They have been called to be the lips and hands of God in distributing His marvelous gifts—the Word of God, the Holy Sacraments, the forgiveness of sins. They have been given the blessed task of pointing you to Christ, just as John does in this reading. “There is One who stands among you that you do not know, so let me tell you about Him. Let me give Him to you in Word, water, wine, and bread. I am not worthy to tie His sandal strap, but I have been called to bring Him to you.”

As you make your final preparations for Christmas, buying last minute gifts, preparing the spare room for visitors, or finalizing travel plans, perhaps take blessed John the Baptist as your example. Remember that it is the Incarnation of the Son of God that we are celebrating—not in a kitschy “Jesus is the reason for the season” way, but remembering that it was the love of God that motivated Him to descend into your flesh. He set aside the powers of His divinity for a time that He might experience your suffering; that He might fulfill the Law where you, your fathers, and all mankind have failed; that He might bear your sin to the cross.

Remember that He is the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. Remember that in your baptism, you died to sin with Christ, and rose a new man, washed in His blood, living a new life in Christ. For all this, it is our duty to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him. It is also our duty to continue to receive these gifts from Him. And when John hit his lowest low, sitting in a prison cell that he would never leave alive on this side of glory, he went to the source of his salvation, the source of his joy. He sent two disciples to Jesus and asked if He is the One who is to Come, or if he should look for another. Christ sent Word that He is indeed, the Coming One, the One come to relief the sick, the suffering, the poor, and the oppressed.

For John, that relief came in martyrdom. For others, miracles of healing were performed. For you, it may mean debt relief, a clean bill of health, or children who return to the faith. But it may not. Your relief may look more like John’s. What we know for certain is that Christ has relieved you of your sin and that means that when this short life is over, when your days of 70, 80, or 90 years are over, you have eternity with Christ. You have eternity with the God who was born in a lowly manger, the Lamb of God who takes away your sin.

Remember this as you prepare to celebrate Christmas. Remember this as you pray, sing, and gather with all the saints to celebrate His birth.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.