Gaudete (Advent 3)

Gaudete – December 14, 2025

Psalm 85; Isaiah 40:1-11; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

St. Matthew 11:2-11

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

As St. John the Baptist sits in prison for preaching against the adultery of Herod, he sends two of his disciples to ask our Lord a question, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”[1] This question is full of mystery and meaning. Why is John asking this question? Is he questioning if Jesus is really the Christ, the Messiah, come to take away the sins of the world? Is he confused over what the job of the Messiah is? Or is John trying to teach his disciples a lesson, to prepare them for his inevitable execution at the hands of the wicked Herod?

We can immediately rule out the idea that John is questioning if Jesus is really the Christ. It was St. John the Baptist who leapt in his mother’s womb when the mother of our Lord greeted Elizabeth for he knew his Savior was near.[2] John was our Lord’s cousin and grew up around Him, being only six months older than He. And in adulthood, St. John loudly proclaimed Jesus to be the very Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world; He whose sandal John was unworthy to untie; the One who must increase that John might decrease.[3] St. John saw the heavens opened as he baptized our Lord, and heard the voice of the Father proclaim, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”[4] Everything we know about St. John tells us that he is confident that Jesus is the Christ, the very Lamb of God and the Promised Messiah.

There is, however, a good chance that John is asking this question because he is doubting the job of the Christ. This says more about St. John than it does about Christ. John is wondering if he has misunderstood the Scriptures. Afterall, the Old Testament prophets speak of the Messiah freeing the captives. Isaiah says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound…”[5] And again, Isaiah says, The Messiah is given as a covenant to the people, “As a light to the Gentiles, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.”[6] And again, Zechariah says, “As for you also, Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.”[7]

Here John is sitting in prison, and he knows the Scriptures speak of the Messiah freeing the prisoners from captivity. He must be asking himself, “Did I misunderstand the Scriptures? Is this Christ different from the one who will free the captives? Will this one be the Lamb of God and then we must wait for another to fulfill these other prophecies? What gives?”

In this way, we can find St. John to be very relatable. There are plenty of passages of Scripture in which God promises wonderful things and yet our experience is different. Sometimes, we want to clear up this seeming contradiction by simply spiritualizing everything we read in God’s Word. “Freeing the prisoners just means freeing us from our sins.” That is true in one sense. Especially the passage I read from Zechariah, “Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit,” speaks of being free from the eternal consequences of your sin. The blood of the covenant speaks of the blood of Christ, which, because it was shed on the cross, has set you free from slavery to sin. This is most certainly true.

But if we are content with the Scriptures only giving spiritual truths, then the moment we face tragedy, disaster, poverty, or other great ills, there will be a strong temptation to believe that God has no answer. The opposite is also true. If Scripture only gives spiritual truths, then when we are tempted by sin, our pride will puff up, believing that since God only cares about the Spiritual, our actions have no consequence. God forgives me so it won’t matter if I give into this sin or that sin.

St. John is humbly asking Christ to clear up this confusion. The Scriptures say one thing, and I am experiencing something entirely different. Why? God sometimes allows His saints to suffer so that we would learn to rely on Him; that we would learn that God knows how to care for us better than we know how to care for ourselves. This includes learning not to trust our senses or our own experiences. St. John needs to learn that imprisonment and even suffering a martyr’s death are not the worst things that can happen to a man. The worst that can happen is to suffer eternity in hell. And so, John’s faith needs encouragement. His soul needs encouragement.

When Christ says, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see,” He is confirming for John that He is the Christ, the promised Messiah, and those things that He is doing have effects even in the material world, not just spiritual effects. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear. And these outward signs are themselves pointing to the spiritual truth, that Christ has forgiven the sins of these people. Just so, John will be released from prison. It won’t be the way that John hoped. He won’t walk free to again follow Christ across Judea. He will leave prison in a proverbial body bag.

But even this isn’t the end of the story. John also will be released from the prison of the ground. His flesh will be raised on the last day, reunited with his soul, and he will spend eternity with Christ, seeing Him, hearing Him, and praising Him without end. Once again, God knows better how to take care of His saints than we do.

To John’s credit, he already had some idea that this was true. The translation of John’s question we read this morning gets something wrong. John doesn’t ask, “Are you the One who is to come,” but “Are You the Coming One?” That seems like a small difference but it is important. Christ is not the One who came once, but the One who is eternally Coming to His church. Baked into his question, St. John is asking if Jesus is the One who not only came in the flesh but will continue to come to His saints. St. John is fairly certain that he is going to die in prison, so he wants to be sure that Christ is going to come for him in death and again come to raise him from death.

So Christ gives John an answer which says, “Yes. Not only did I descend into your flesh, but I will forever be with you. I will come to you in prison. I will come to you in death. And at the last day, I will come to raise you from the grave. There is never a time that I am not coming to you. My presence is not a fanciful, spiritual ideal, but a present reality, no matter what day or time you have in mind.”

And our Lord’s final words to St. John this morning are “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” This offense is not hurt feelings or a bruised ego or hurt sensibilities over manners. Offense in this context, like most of the times in Scripture, means to loose faith, to fall away from the faith, to abandon the faith of the Scriptures. Christ pronounces this beatitude on all who would not abandon their faith because God isn’t meeting their expectations; on all who humbly approach the Scriptures, realizing that any misunderstanding or seeming contradiction exists only because of a failure on their part, not on the part of God. St. John is truly blessed, as are you, for coming to Christ to say, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”[8]

The final option I gave for why St. John asked his question was to teach his disciples. This can be true even if John is also asking for comfort for his own soul and clarity for his confusion over the words of the Scriptures. St. John clearly confessed that he must decrease as Christ increases.[9] John does not want his disciples to make any mistake. His role of prophet was to point people to Christ, not to gather followers to himself.

St. John was a good pastor. His disciples loved him, even coming to take great care of his body once he had been martyred.[10] John’s chief concern was that his disciples not become “Johnnites,” but Christians. He did not want them setting up shrines or praying to John after his death, but to turn to Christ. And after the Ascension, John wants his disciples to listen to other preachers who have dedicated their lives to pointing people to Christ.

This Sunday is called “Gaudete,” which means, “rejoice.” We light the rose colored candle in the Advent wreath as a momentary break from the penitential nature of the season of Advent. The same thing happens about halfway through Lent, on the fourth Sunday in Lent, when we celebrate Laetare. It is funny that we celebrate the Advent Sunday of rejoicing by reading of St. John sending messengers from prison.

At the same time, this is an incredibly appropriate reading for a Sunday of rejoicing. St. John is experiencing perhaps the worst chapter of his life. What does he do? He calls on Christ. And what does Christ tell him? “John, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Though the kings and princes of the earth throw you in prison and execute you, they have no power over your soul. They have no power over your life. Live each moment knowing that your present suffering is nothing compared with the bliss of eternity which you have inherited through My Blood. Well done, My good and faithful servant. Soon, I will see your face in the kingdom of my Father.”

As we pray in the psalms, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.”[11] Christ assures St. John that this desire will be fulfilled in today’s reading. He is also assuring you of the same. This place, here at the altar of the Lord, you behold His beauty. And so long as you are not offended by Him, trusting instead that He knows what He is doing, then you will one day see Him as He is. Today, you see bread and wine with your eyes but the eyes of faith know that it is the very Body and Blood of Christ. In the day of the Lord, He will no longer veil Himself in earthly elements. You will see and behold Him as He is, even as you are made like Him.[12] What better cause is there to rejoice?

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] St. Matthew 11:3.

[2] St. Luke 1:41.

[3] St. John 1:29; St. Luke 3:16; St. John 3:31.

[4] St. Matthew 3:17; cf. St. John 1:32-34.

[5] Isaiah 61:1.

[6] Isaiah 42:6-7.

[7] Zechariah 9:11.

[8] St. Mark 9:24.

[9] St. John 3:30.

[10] St. Matthew 14:12.

[11] Psalm 27:4.

[12] 1 John 3:2.

The Fifth Sunday after Trinity

 The Fifth Sunday after Trinity – July 20, 2025

Psalm 27; 1 Kings 19:11-21; 1 Peter 3:8-15

St. Luke 5:1-11

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.[1]

St. Peter’s work as a fisherman does not interfere with his attention to the Word of God, nor does his attention to the Word of God interfere with his work. In fact, they go hand-in-hand. One of the curses of the fall was that ‘by the sweat of his brow shall man eat bread.’[2] This curse of God is not just a punishment. It is, in fact, a barrier to sin. Needing to work in order to eat combats the sins of sloth and envy. It is our sinful nature that turns this barrier to sin into yet another avenue for sin, namely greed.

The reading for today also places the Third and Seventh Commandments into their proper order. St. Peter first loans his boat to Christ and then casts his net into the deep water. Attention to the Word of God must always come before our work. If we are to be fed by the work of our hands, it must be blessed by God. If God is to bless our work, it must be done in faith toward Him and in love toward our neighbor. And in order for this to happen, we must keep the Sabbath holy by gladly hearing, receiving, and learning God’s Word.

Now make no mistake, every day is a Sabbath rest in Christ. Every day is to be kept holy and everything is sanctified, made holy, by the Word of God and prayer. Therefore, the reception of and learning from God’s Word is not an activity reserved for Sunday morning. It isn’t even reserved for your morning and evening devotion. St. Paul commands us to pray without ceasing.[3] The proper understanding of this command is that everything we do should be done in the knowledge that God has placed this work before us. Obedience to the Seventh Commandment relies on obedience to the Third.

If we gain our bread by the sweat of our hands, then why pray, ‘give us this day our daily bread’? The simple answer is that we do not gain our bread by our work. God gives daily bread to all creation even without our prayer. But we pray this petition that God would lead us to recognize that all bread, meat, and possession comes from His hand; and that we would rightly give Him thanks for it. We must work for our daily bread but anything that comes from our work is only delivered by the grace and mercy of God. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”[4]

Why not spend an additional 30 seconds in your car before going into work for the day, praying that God would bless your work this day? And then the same as you return home from work, giving thanks that you have been able to serve your neighbor in faith? Or why not sing hymns throughout your day, in your head if necessary or out loud if your job allows for it? Imagine what it would be like if you sit down for lunch with your coworkers and rather than starting your conversation with, “how bout them Royals,” you started with, “God really has been good to me that I can sit here and enjoy this meal with you.” Or better yet, “Say, I’ve been thinking about how David ate the showbread when he was running from Saul. What do you think about that?” Now, I understand not everyone has coworkers who are open to, let alone capable of, a conversation about the nuances of the Old Testament. But at the same time, have you ever tried?

Now we also learn from St. Peter that we mustn’t let the Word of God idly bounce off our eardrums, but we must put it into practice. After hearing the teachings of Jesus, when our Lord told him to cast his nets, St. Peter responded, “At Your word I will let down the net.” Remember that in this situation, St. Peter is the expert in the field. Our Lord is a prophet. What does He know about fishing? Yet at the Word of the Lord, St. Peter’s actions are affected. He hears the Word and acts accordingly. If the Word of God takes firm root in our hearts, then we can be certain that our professional activities are pleasing to God. And when I say ‘professional,’ don’t get too bothered. If you are a mother, you are a professional mom. If you are a gardener, you are a professional, no matter what your tax filing says.

“If God’s Word illumines our endeavors, we will recognize that we are unworthy, that we are not worthy of even a crumb of bread. For God’s Word teaches us this, that we are all unworthy of His blessings.

“If God’s Word illumines our endeavors, we will not become impatient and resentful when the Lord God at times delays His blessings and we suffer want.

“If God’s Word shines forth in the work of our calling, we will not ascribe it to our cleverness and efforts when He gives it His blessing. This is taught in God’s Word as well, that we should not kiss the work of our hands nor sacrifice to the ‘net’ of our labors.[5]

“If God’s Word shines forth in our labors, we will not only be courteous to our neighbor but also helpful and compassionate, and turn away from temporal things and seek the treasure and joy of our hearts in God. This is because God’s Word teaches all these things.”[6]

Finally, we must also see St. Peter’s boat as a picture of the Church. Christ is in the boat, and it is from this boat that the Word of God is proclaimed to the world. So too, Christ is present here, amid the gathering of His people, and it is here, in the Church, where His Word is proclaimed for all the world to hear. This alone makes Peter’s boat more precious than the greatest merchant’s ship, laden with gold and jewels.

It is also in this boat that a great haul of fish is caught at the very word of Christ. In the Church, the great nets of heaven are filled with men and women, caught fast by the Word of God.

And just as the nets begin to rip open at the weight and fighting of the fish, so too the Church of God has been rent apart by schism because of false teachings and the vexing spirit of man. The world is a tumultuous sea in which everything swims at random, and there are huge predatory fish who prey on others. But out of the great kindness and mercy of God, His net is cast far and wide to gather men by His divine teaching into the boat of His Church.

Now to be sure, there are fish even in the boat who continue to struggle against that Word. They tear holes in the net and want nothing more than to rejoin the chaos of the sea. The broadly cast net catches fish of all kinds. Even for those fish who submit to their Captor, desiring to remain in the boat, this causes pain and suffering. They may even be caught in the struggle and fall overboard.

Among these stubborn fish, we can see St. Peter, himself. At the first sign of struggle, danger, and even imminent death, he does two things. First, he humbly confesses his sin – both the sins he actively commits and his very sinful nature. But second, he makes that horrible plea that Christ would depart from him.[7]What we do not see Peter do is remain silent. Seeing the tearing nets and the sinking boat, he does not decide to sit down and give up without a word to his fishing companions or to Christ. He goes to the source. He speaks up. He is willing to suffer the humiliation of saying something blasphemous if only to remedy his sorry state.

Peter was right to humbly confess his sins because he is a sinful man. He was wrong to beg Jesus to depart from him. He wanted the blessing of God without the presence of God because it was too difficult for him to bear. And on such a one as this, even when making the wrong statement about the presence of Christ, our Lord has mercy on Him. St. Peter had yet to learn that so long as Christ is present, he had everything he would ever need – be it a time of feast or famine. In the darkness of night, he had caught nothing. In the presence of Christ, he had everything he could ever need, even if it came with a time of suffering.

And so it is with all of you. You are present with Christ in the boat today. The fish have been gathered. Our pews are not full to the bursting, but the haul of Christ’s net is. Aside from your personal struggles, we face financial difficulties and personal strife. Do not be tempted to cast off Christ for the sake of your temporal gain – be it money, possessions, friendships, or relations. Do not be afraid. Christ is in this boat. He has pulled you from the tumultuous sea even as He has dived to its depths. He spent three days in the sea of death that you would never have to face it again.

Is your comfort worth fleeing the net of Christ’s salvation? Is your job worth breaking the Third Commandment? Or are you willing to forsake all and follow Christ? Are you willing to be changed by the blood of Jesus Christ such that you will follow Him in every way, including standing before God and man to say, “I am a sinful man. Lord, if I have You alone, then I expect nothing of heaven and earth. Though both my body and soul were to languish, You, God, are still ever the comfort and portion of my heart.”[8]

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] This sermon is inspired by and follows the general outline of Johann Gerhard, “On the Fifth Sunday after Trinity,” Postilla, Volume 2 (Malone, TX: Repristination Press, 2007), 58-67.

[2] Genesis 3:19.

[3] 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

[4] St. Matthew 6:33.

[5] Habakkuk 1:16.

[6] Gerhard, Postilla, 63.

[7] St. Luke 5:8.

[8] Cf. Psalm 73:25-26.

The Fourth Sunday after Trinity

 The Fourth Sunday after Trinity – July 13, 2025

Psalm 27; Genesis 50:15-21; Romans 8:18-23

St. Luke 6:36-42

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

“Judge not lest ye be judged,”[1] is among the most abused verses of Scripture, if not the most abused. It is taken to mean there is no place for harsh or negative words on the lips of Christians, as though we are commanded to live and let live. ‘Preach only the Gospel.’ ‘Be nice and the hearts of many will be turned.’

But no one who has read the Scriptures can come to this conclusion. The Bible is full of commandments to judge and condemn false doctrine – including sin. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”[2] Every pastor is commanded not only to forgive sins but to rebuke and warn against them; as well as train up Christians for every good work.[3] This requires making judgements and condemning false doctrine and sin.

This task of judging and condemning is not just given to pastors in their preaching. The Prophet Isaiah says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”[4] Psalm 119 goes so far as to command us to “hate every false way.”[5] And Christ commands the sheep to “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”[6] It would be impossible to discern between a false prophet and a true prophet if you could not judge. And how do you judge this doctrine? By comparing it to the Word of God, the only inerrant and infallible rule and norm by which doctrine can be judged.

Then what is our Lord forbidding in these words, “Judge not, condemn not”? He is forbidding judging hearts, not according to God’s Word but according to our own thoughts, preferences, or opinions. It is judging without love and mercy but according to the passions of our own flesh. The synopsis, or summary, of the Gospel text this morning is “Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”[7] But why should you be merciful as God is merciful? What should move, or motivate, you to be merciful as God is merciful?

First, you ought to be moved by the mercy God has shown toward you. Earlier in the sermon on the plain, Christ told us to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.[8] Here, that command is taken a step further. Do unto others as you would have God do to you. Don’t get me wrong, it is not our mercy that causes God to have mercy on us. It is not our actions that cause God to grant us grace and forgiveness. However, what we do in and with that grace and mercy can certainly cause our Heavenly Father to withdraw the same.

Think of the parable of the unforgiving servant. A servant owes his master 60 million days’ wages, somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 billion, or over 230,000 years of work. The master has compassion on his servant and forgives his debt. But then the servant finds a fellow servant who owes him $16,000, about 5 months of work. Since he can’t pay the debt, the servant has him beaten and thrown in jail. When the master hears what he has done, he throws the unforgiving servant to the torturers and jailers until the debt is paid.

The servant did nothing to earn the compassion of his master but when he failed to show similar compassion to his fellow servant, the master returned his lack of forgiveness upon him with the same measure: pressed down, shaken together, and running over. That servant was forgiven 230,000 years of debt and yet you have been forgiven more. Your Heavenly Father sent His Only Begotten Son to die for your debt of sin and to rise again that you would no longer be a slave but a son, and that you would enjoy this inheritance for all eternity. You have been set free from the punishment of the Law and the sting of death. Such is the sweet mercy of God that has been shown to you. Such is the same mercy you’ve been called to show to your neighbor.

When we say that good works are motivated by the Gospel, this is what we mean. Though we are but frail mortals, incapable of the perfect mercy of God, we who have been set free by such a glorious love are to reflect that love in our mercy toward others. What would it say to God if you refused to show forth the mercy that you’ve been shown? It would tell Him that what He has done means very little to you. It would be an abuse of everything that He has done for and given to you. He gives you life and you would use it in service to death.

Rather, see your forgiveness for what it is. It is a new life, a new beginning, a new existence as a son of God. A son wants nothing more than a father he can be proud of and to be like his father. We have a Father who defines what it means to be a father. As His dear children, our hearts ought to desire nothing less than to be like Him, to walk in His ways and enjoy His favor for all eternity.

I’ve already hinted at the second motivation to be merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful. It is because of the consequences of not being merciful. When we heard of Lazarus and the rich man, I spoke of how seriously God takes sin. He hates sin. He cannot tolerate sin to stand in His presence. He also provides the antidote to the poison of sin. His great love sends the shed blood of Jesus to be for you the medicine of immortality. As seriously as He takes sin, He equally takes your forgiveness seriously.

So then, how would you like God to consider you? Do you wish that He would overlook your besetting sins, those against which you struggle but still find yourself falling into? Of course! Then you should also be willing to overlook such sins in your neighbor. Do you wish to escape the loveless judgment of hell? Then do not judge your neighbor without love. On the last day, do you want God to commend your righteous and merciful deed to your neighbor, making no mention of your sins, as He does with the sheep at His right hand?[9] Then, whenever you can, speak well of your neighbor to the best of your knowledge. Before others and in your own heart, put the best construction on everything that he does.

Do not wish that God would remember your sins no more, keep no record of your sins nor add them up, turn His anger away from you, smile upon you, and hurl all your guilt into the depths of the sea, then turn around and keep tally of your neighbor’s sins against you so that you can use them against him at the opportune time. With the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

The final motivation to be merciful as our Father is merciful as presented in our text is the burden of our own sin. You know the depth of your own sin. You know which temptations to which you are likely to succumb. In this knowledge, the temptation to lovelessly judge your neighbor is twofold. There is the temptation to judge those with similar sins. The man prone to anger is especially angered by another man prone to anger. One who steals is often the first to judge another thief. The opposite temptation is also true. It is very easy to judge someone who is tempted to sins that you are not tempted toward. Such self-righteous indignation boils over from a lack of sympathy.

Yet to be ever mindful of the burden of your own sin ought to move you to show compassion and mercy toward your neighbor. It is humbling to ponder your own sinfulness. This humility can then drive your attitude toward others. It is a somewhat slight example but think of the person who cuts you off in traffic or quickly pulls out in front of you. How easy it is to condemn them for driving recklessly. And it is true, what they’ve done is dangerous. What you don’t know is their child was just flown into the city for emergency surgery; or he has just learned of the infidelity of his wife; or he is a first responder who just received an emergency call that pulled him out of bed during his time off. And besides, who among us hasn’t missed a stop sign, unknowingly cut someone off, or even purposely broken traffic laws?

The point is that you know what it is to be a sinner, and you know what a sinner needs. A sinner needs to be forgiven. A sinner needs mercy. It is not your duty to determine the eternal fate of every person you encounter, but to love God and serve your neighbor. There is a time and place to judge and condemn false doctrine and sin, but there is also a time to remove the plank from your own eye first. Attending to your own sin prepares you with a humble heart to seek the reproof, correction, and instruction of your neighbor.

Your Heavenly Father has had mercy on you. By right, there is only One who may even call Him His Father, for Christ is the only True Son of the Father. Yet in His infinite grace and mercy, He has given to you everything that is His own, including your adoption as a child of God. In faith toward Him and in fervent love toward your neighbor, be merciful, even as your Heavenly Father is merciful.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] St. Luke 6:37.

[2] St. Mark 16:15-16.

[3] 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

[4] Isaiah 5:20.

[5] Psalm 119:104, 128.

[6] St. Matthew 7:15.

[7] St. Luke 6:36.

[8] St. Luke 6:31.

[9] St. Matthew 25:34-40.

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.

The Fifth Sunday after Trinity

The Fifth Sunday after Trinity – July 17, 2022

Psalm 27; 1 Kings 19:11-21; 1 Peter 3:8-15

St. Luke 5:1-11

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

In the sixth chapter of Isaiah, the Prophet is taken to the throne room of God. Immediately, the prophet fell on his face and hid his eyes, proclaiming, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”[1]

The prophet knew that a sinful man who stands in the presence of God will be destroyed. Sprinkle pepper in a bowl of water, then let a single drop of soap into the middle. Immediately, the pepper will flee to the edges of the bowl. Such is the might of God’s holiness. At His presence, the filth of sin is not only scattered, but destroyed. The serpent, that ancient dragon, will bite His heel, but the Almighty shall crush the serpent’s head.[2]

This is the position in which St. Peter finds himself. Like Isaiah, St. Peter is in the presence of the Almighty God. He knows that he is a sinner and sin is destroyed in the presence of God. But unlike Isaiah, St. Peter bids Christ to depart from him. Isaiah bowed in reverence and awe before God Almighty. Such worship and adoration were met with the hands of an angel, touching a coal from the altar of the Lord to the Prophet’s lips, cleansing his sins. St. Peter does not bow in reverence but bids his Lord to depart.

Such is the heart of man. The good, the true, and the beautiful are always difficult for us to accept. They require a rejection of our love for this world. It is much easier to accept what is in front of us. St. Peter had just been blessed by God with a miraculous catch of fish, thousands of dollars in revenue, but this blessing also threatened his life. The boat began to sink. Rather than cry out for mercy, St. Peter wanted Jesus to leave. “In You, O Lord, is salvation, but I prefer my career and my life.”

Because of the sin humanity has brought into the world, the many blessings of God are, from our perspective, always tinged with suffering. To love someone requires suffering. To love is to submit your will and your needs to the will and needs of another. You deny yourself on behalf of another. This self-denial is a light form of suffering, but the human soul turns this self-denial into resentment.

Scripture always considers children a blessing from God. “Children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who has his quiver full of them.”[3] Yet how easy is it to begin to resent your children? When do you get some ‘me’ time? Why can’t they just learn the first time? Why don’t they know how to behave?

Perhaps we recognize the blessings given to us but we want to choose the amount. “Blessed is the man who fills his quiver? Well, I guess I’ll shrink my quiver to 2.5.” The Word of God is profitable to forgive your sins, strengthen faith, and guide you in the way you shall go all the days of your life. “But reading the bible is boring and Netflix is only a click away.” Or, “One hour is good enough. Why do we need to have other services and events throughout the week? What are we, all pastors?”

Then we might look at the world around us. Like Peter’s sinking boat, our world is collapsing into the depths of the chaotic sea. A country blessed by God, where the freedom of conscience and the ability to worship without the oversight of pagans is a birthright, is seeing its last days. Our freedoms have become the basis for our collapse. Freedom of religion has led to the freedom from religion. It has bred a ‘live-and-let live’ mentality. It was one step into darkness when sodomy was legalized but such deviance became rooted in our nation when we said, ‘what happens in your bedroom has no effect on me, just don’t make me support it.’

We are on a sinking ship. In this same situation, St. Peter told Christ to depart and let him down with the ship. Our Lord would not let that happen. Jesus hears Peter’s confession of sins and rather than obeying the heart of man, Jesus absolves Peter’s sins and refuses to abandon him. It is as though Jesus says, “the only way for you to leave my presence is for you to throw yourself into the darkness of the deep because I will not leave you. Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” Peter has no need to fear destruction because Christ has forgiven his sin. Jesus has taken the sin of Peter upon his own shoulders and called him to be his apostle.

Christ has promised never to leave you nor to forsake you. Because he loves you, because he died for you, because he paid the price for your sin, you are valuable to him. He will fight for you even if it means fighting against your own will. Our Lord, the Heavenly Fisherman, is present with you always but especially in the Heavenly meal given from this altar. Elijah was sustained forty days and forty nights on the Bread of Heaven.[4] You, who receive the Body and Blood of Christ weekly, will likewise be sustained.

You have no need to be afraid because you are forgiven. If the wrath of God has been poured out on Jesus on your behalf, then you no longer need to fear the wrath of God. If you do not need to fear the wrath of God, then you have nothing to fear. Neither height nor depth, neither death nor life, neither lost loved ones or the suffering of this world needs to cause you fear.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”[5] Why resent the blessings of God? Why allow the blessings of God to become wicked in your eyes? Never forget what the Lord has given you. He has forgiven your sins. He continues to forgive your sins. He has given you everlasting life. What could possibly be better than that? Should the Lord call you to forsake your family, your career, your home, or even your life, you still have the better portion. Jesus is gracious to you and answers your prayer. He will not forsake you because He is the God of your salvation![6]

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Isaiah 6:5.

[2] Genesis 3:15.

[3] Psalm 127:3-5.

[4] 1 Kings 19:8.

[5] Psalm 27:1.

[6] Psalm 27:7, 9, 1.