The First Sunday after Trinity

 Trinity 1 – June 22, 2025

Psalm 13; Deuteronomy 6:4-13; 1 John 4:8b-21

St. Luke 16:19-31

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

When it comes to the question of ‘what happens when a man dies?’ the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is perhaps the largest single chunk of Scripture to provide an answer, especially concerning those who die in their sins. Therefore, we will concern ourselves with the doctrine of hell and how Lazarus is saved and the Rich Man condemned.

Hell was created by God as a prison for the devil and his angels, those demons who rebelled against God alongside the devil. After the fall of man, the jurisdiction of this prison was widened to include all wicked and evil men, those who die without faith in Christ.[1] In one sense, we can say that God is the cause of the existence of hell, for He created it as the place to exercise His just and righteous wrath against the wickedness of the devil. In another sense, we can say that the wickedness of the devil (that is, sin) is the more direct cause as this is what moved God to create such a place of torment.

God created no one and nothing for the purpose of eternal death in hell. As the prophet Hosea says, “You have destroyed Yourself.”[2] Even the devil was created as a holy angel until he rebelled against the Almighty and was cast out of heaven.[3] For this reason, we should not be bothered that God is the remote cause of hell. The sin of satan brought the full wrath of God upon himself and all the angels who followed him. So too, the sin of Adam brought the wrath of God upon all mankind, who now “were by nature children of wrath.”[4] Because God is just, He cannot be anything but angry at apostacy and sin. From this wrath follows the most just and serious punishments for sins, not only temporal punishments but also eternal ones.

That the punishments of hell are eternal, that is without end, is easily shown from the words of Holy Scripture. Isaiah refers to the permanent flames of hell, and that its smoke goes up forever.[5] Ezekiel 26 records the words of God that “I will thrust you down with those who go down into the pit to the everlasting people.”[6] Similarly, when Daniel speaks concerning the resurrection of all flesh, he says, “Some will awake to shame and everlasting contempt.”[7] The New Testament uses phrases like “eternal fire;” “eternal punishment;” eternal death;” eternal destruction;” “eternal chains;” “the smoke of the torments will go up forever;” and the wicked “will be tortured day and night forever and ever.”[8]

Logically, we can also determine, from the witness of Scripture, that the punishment of hell is eternal. God is eternal and infinite, therefore His justice is also eternal and infinite. Then it follows that His judgment against the wicked and His declaration of punishment is likewise eternal, enduring forever.

As for the nature of this punishment, we can describe it in two parts – internal and external. The internal punishments regard crushing despair, the loss of all hope, and loneliness beyond comprehension. This loneliness is also twofold. Those condemned to hell know who God is and that He exists but are eternally separated from His love and His gifts. They are also eternally separated from the comfort and blessings of the saints in glory. There is a great gulf fixed so that the damned cannot even receive comfort from other men.

The external punishments of hell are likewise terrifying. Fire that burns but does not consume and worms that feast but do not devour will be the constant physical torment of the accursed. Then, just as one of the souls in hell grows accustomed to his pain, it will invert to the other extreme. If he finds himself getting used to the heat of the fires of hell, he will immediately be thrust into bone-chilling cold such that the frost touches the bones and the chill cracks the skin. There is no relief in the change of external punishment, only increased torment.

Regarding the location of hell and how it is constructed, Scripture is not specific. It is called a great pit and compared to a gaping mouth. As tempting as it is to imagine hell being at the center of the earth, there is little to support this idea. Hell will last forever and yet the earth will be destroyed on the Last Day, replaced by the new Earth. Just as we think of heaven as being above us but don’t insist on an exact location in the heavenly spheres, we ought to think of hell as being below without insisting on an exact location.

It is not pleasant to think about hell. It is not enjoyable to think of the eternal torment of the damned, but it is necessary. It is necessary because Scripture speaks of hell. It is also necessary as a preventative to sin. What God has revealed about the nature of hell is for the purpose of revealing the severity of sin. God takes sin very seriously and we should, too.

The doctrine of hell is also necessary as a description of God’s justice. His justice does not contradict His mercy. Both exist in the same measure within God, that is, His justice equals His mercy. He is the perfectly holy and Almighty God, who punishes evil. This is a good thing. It means that He is perfectly able to make judgments regarding the righteousness of man. It means that we can trust His Word, especially when He has forgiven your sin. If He takes sin so seriously as to condemn the unrighteous, then His forgiveness is not given lightly. He takes forgiveness just as seriously. His Word of forgiveness is just as relieving, comforting, and pleasurable as His Word of condemnation is terrifying, chilling, and full of despair.

These two sides of the same coin are seen in Lazarus and the Rich Man. Everything Lazarus lacked in this life, he received in orders of magnitude greater than he could imagine in Abraham’s bosom. Everything the Rich Man enjoyed in this life was thrown into a grave, and he received orders of magnitude more in suffering and torment in hell.

The distinction between the two was not the amount of money or stuff they possessed. Details are given concerning how they lived as a reflection of their faith. The Rich Man is not condemned for being rich, but the description of his riches tells us that he trusts in daily, sumptuous feasts and fine clothing. I don’t doubt for a second that he was considered a very pious man by his community, always in the synagogue and giving money to the Temple. But from his interactions with Abraham, we can see that whatever he heard in the sermons of the Pharisees, the Word of God rested on his earlobes, never making it into his heart and mind. Even in the torments of hell, the Rich Man remains impenitent, blaming God for his condemnation. ‘If only there had been greater miracles, I would have believed. This is your fault, God.’

Conversely, Lazarus is depicted as being entirely helpless. He cannot feed himself. He didn’t call the dogs to lick his wounds, something that apparently has medicinal qualities. Or if that isn’t the case, he couldn’t drive them away. Even in death, he doesn’t ascend into heaven but is carried on the arms of the holy angels. And yet it is not his poverty or sickness that saved Lazarus. Father Abraham clearly tells us what is necessary for salvation: to believe the witness of Moses and the Prophets, to believe the Word of God. It is not about an academic understanding of every nuance of the texts but about trust that the Word of God is true; that what it says is true and is true for you. And if you believe it is true, if you trust in this Word of God, understanding will necessarily follow. A lifetime of searching the Scriptures for wisdom and knowledge of the truth will be born of the faith delivered by the Holy Spirit. This is what saved the beggar Lazarus, the Word of God as received by the divine gift of faith.

Every prayer, every canticle, every hymn, every response spoken, sung, and prayed in the church is to be believed. The words used every Sunday, at every Baptism, at every celebration of the Lord’s Supper, every ordination, wedding, or funeral, is spoken because it is true and must be believed. How are these things believed? They are believed by faith. They are received by faith.

Again, this faithful reception is not an esoteric idea of emotions or magic, or even an action of the intellect. The faithful reception of the Word of God is to hear it and believe it. The Christian must consider what is said, sung, confessed, and prayed on Sunday morning each day of his life. If you are to add your ‘amen’ to any statement, you must know what is said and believe it. The prime example of such faith, given by Christ Himself, is children. “Then Jesus took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.”^[9] This is faith.

If man does not believe the Word of God, not even if one should rise from the dead will he be convinced. If you treat the Word of God as though it were faerie stories, or pretty words for greeting cards, or little more than nice sentiments which make you feel better, then you do not believe in the Resurrection of Christ. The one who would rise from the dead and yet not convince the brothers of the rich man is none other than Jesus Christ himself. To treat the Scriptures flippantly is to deny the resurrection of Christ. To deny the Resurrection of Christ is to ensure an eternity of torment alongside the rich man.

On the other hand, to make diligent use of the Word of God ensures eternal bliss and rest. Faith which receives the Word of God and trusts in the truth of Scripture is certainty that your name is written in the Book of Life. Faith and trust of the Word of God does not mean you will understand everything. That is not possible for man. Faith desires to be fed even from the crumbs of the Word of God. Lazarus desired the crumbs. So did the Syrophoenician woman and prodigal son. Faith seeks wisdom from our Heavenly Father, even when faith does not comprehend the fulness thereof.

This faith is then born out in love. Trust in the Word of God results in actions which are also in accord with the Word of God. Like blessed Lazarus, these resulting actions do not gain heavenly bliss. His entire life was passive. He did nothing for himself. Yet he believed the Word of God and trusted in God’s promises. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. This is our salvation.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] St. Matthew 25:41.

[2] Hosea 13:9. See the KJV for this particular translation.

[3] Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:1-11; Revelation 12:7-9.

[4] Ephesians 2:3.

[5] Isaiah 33:14; 34:10.

[6] Ezekiel 26:20.

[7] Daniel 12:2.

[8] St. Matthew 18:8; 25:41; Jude 7; St. Matthew 25:46; St. John 8:51; 11:26; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Jude 6; Revelation 14:11; 20:10.

[9] St. Mark 9:36-37.

The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity – June 15, 2025

Psalm 8; Isaiah 6:1-7; Romans 11:33-36

St. John 3:1-17

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

The three creeds of the Christian Church state the fundamental doctrines of what it means to be a Christian. At a bare minimum, all three creeds affirm the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and the two natures in Christ. These two doctrines then form the basis for the doctrines of creation, redemption, and sanctification. And then, built on these, are the doctrines of the Holy Sacraments – Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Although the three creeds all state these fundamental doctrines, each creed takes a unique place in the life of the Christian. The Apostles’ Creed is the Baptismal Creed. It is the daily food needed by our faith and should be confessed at least once a day by every baptized child of God. It is also the catechetical creed, the one used for bringing new believers into an understanding of the fundamental teachings of the Scriptures. It is the catechetical creed precisely because it is the Baptismal Creed. It stands as the front door to the house of God, entered into repeated and daily as the Christian returns daily to his baptism.

The Nicene Creed is the creed of the feast; the creed most closely associated with the Lord’s Supper. It is more robust than the Apostles’ Creed even as the meat given to the mature is more robust than the milk given to infants. It is confessed every time the Lord’s Supper is received as an indication of the maturity of those gathered to receive the Holy Supper. If the Apostles’ Creed is daily food, then the Nicene Creed is the feast, enjoyed on special occasions.

The Athanasian Creed, undoubtably the one you are least familiar with, is the poetry to which the Christian life is set. It is written in the style of wisdom literature, with repetition and layered meaning, intended to be enjoyed and contemplated over time. In some traditions, it is confessed monthly (or even weekly) in the weekday prayer offices. In others, such as ours, it is reserved for today’s great feast, the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. It is distinguished as the clearest confession of all the Scriptures have to say concerning the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and it even expands on the confession of Christ’s two natures. If the Apostles’ Creed is daily food and the Nicene Creed a feast, then the Athanasian Creed is a precious spice, to be considered throughout the year, discerning its flavors and subtleties so that when you have the opportunity to confess it, your knowledge and understanding may grow.

It is obvious through experience that Christians take the doctrine of the Holy Trinity for granted. We know that it is a necessary doctrine and we know that we believe it, but we give very little thought to it. Maybe the repetition of the Athanasian Creed lulls our mind into blind recitation. Maybe the incomprehensible nature of the mystery of the Trinity frightens us and so we let our fear corner us into saying, “I believe in the Trinity,” and nothing more. Whatever the reason, we are content to know the word “Trinity” and nothing more…which is to our shame.

It is our shame because the Scriptures are full of Trinitarian language. In the very beginning, the Father speaks the Word of the Son and the Spirit hovers over the waters of Creation.[1] We are given glimpses into the inner conversations of the Holy Trinity when God considers the Tower of Babel.[2] We’ve spent the last five weeks hearing Christ speak of His ascent to the Father and the sending of the Holy Spirit, that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to speak the words of the Son.[3] The very name into which you are baptized—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—is Trinitarian; the very name which seals you as a child of God, one who stands to inherit eternal life.

And this is where diving into the mystery of the Holy Trinity becomes personal, even practical for you. The Holy Trinity is by definition personal. In the One Godhead, the One Substance of God, there are three divine Persons. These Persons are defined by their relationships – the Father is unbegotten, the Son is begotten of the Father alone, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son. As the baptized children of God, you are made temples of the Holy Spirit, sons of the Father, and stand as co-inheritors with the Son. The mystery and activities of the Holy Spirit are why you are here this morning.

So, then, let us take a moment to consider the Holy Trinity first in Its essence and then according to Its will.

When thinking about the essence of the Holy Trinity, our forefathers in the faith have done us a great service in composing the Athanasian Creed. What is said of the unity of the Trinity is true of each Person within the Trinity. God is uncreated, infinite, and eternal. There was never a time before God nor a time without God, a time when God wasn’t. He has no beginning and no end. God is almighty and the Lord of heaven and earth. He lacks nothing and has dominion over all things. There is nothing outside of His sight nor beyond His reach. As the Lord of all, He is owed loyalty, reverence, worship, and praise by all things beneath Him, which is to say, by everything.

At the same time, we cannot confuse the Persons. The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord—individually each Person is Lord and yet there are not three Lords but one Lord. The Father is neither created nor begotten. The Son is neither made nor created but begotten by the Father alone. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeds from both the Father and the Son. There are not three Fathers, three Sons, or three Holy Spirits, but one Father, one Son, and one Holy Spirit.

And though it is tempting, none in this Trinity is before or after another. The Father is not the chief member of the Holy Trinity, just as the Holy Spirit is not the least. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are coequal, meaning they are of equal majesty, power, and might. Our typical formula for prayer is to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. That phrasing might be misunderstood as giving some kind of “hierarchy” to the Trinity but that is a mistake. The three Persons are coequal and coeternal.

When Christ says, “My Father is greater than I,”[4] He is speaking with regard to His humanity. When the Son descended into the flesh of man, He made Himself lower than the Father. He is less than the Father with respect to His humanity, but He is equal to the Father with respect to His divinity. That is why Christ also says, “I and My Father are one.”[5]

So too with the Holy Spirit. Though He proceeds from the Father and the Son, He is not “less than” or subordinate to the Father and the Son. He proceeds in the same power and authority as the Father and the Son. Scripture ascribes to the Holy Spirit the same divine names, attributes, works, honor, and glory due to the Father and the Son. When Ananias is caught lying to the Holy Spirit, St. Peter said, “You have not lied to men, but to God,”[6] granting the fullness of the Godhead to the Holy Spirit.

Now when we consider the will of God, we must remember that the Holy Trinity never acts apart from Itself, that is, when the Father acts, the Son and the Holy Spirit are acting as well. The Trinity is of one will and that will is primarily concerned with your salvation; insofar as that will has been revealed to us. We cannot know God’s will outside of that which has been revealed in His Holy Word. What the prophets and apostles have revealed to us is that God is singularly focused on the salvation of man. It is for this reason that Christ says that all the Scriptures testify to Him.[7] Your salvation is in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. “For God loved the world in this way, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”[8]

What then of the Law? Is it not the eternal will of God? Are we not to be concerned with keeping God’s law whole and undefiled? Most certainly! Just as there is no division between the will of the Trinity, there is no division within God’s will itself. The Law is God’s will for the man of salvation. It is the fruit of salvation, the fruit of repentance, the manner in which God has ordered the life of His beloved creation. We do no evil, not that we should appear approved by God or man, but so that we do what is honorable in the sight of God, lest we become disqualified of the salvation to which God has called us.[9] You did nothing to be born of your father and mother but an evil life can certainly disqualify you from any inheritance.

For the sake of brevity, we must leave off our discussion of the Holy Trinity for today. However, I would challenge all of us to spend more time in the coming year devoting attention to this core doctrine of the Scriptures. Specifically, I would challenge us all to spend more time considering the Athanasian Creed. This summer, over the next three months, take time to recite the Athanasian Creed at least once a week, and consider a small portion of it each day. As you do your daily bible reading, note those passages that are referenced in this great creed; those that speak of His Unity, of the distinction of Persons, of God’s attributes, and of His will. Ask questions of the text and ask questions of the creed. May the Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity, bless you in this endeavor, now and forevermore.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Genesis 1:1-3.

[2] Genesis 11:7.

[3] St. John 14-16, the Gospel texts for the last four Sundays after Easter and Pentecost.

[4] St. John 14:28.

[5] St. John 10:30.

[6] Acts 5:3-4.

[7] St. John 5:39.

[8] St. John 3:16.

[9] 2 Corinthians 13:7.

The Feast of Pentecost

 The Feast of Pentecost – June 8, 2025

Psalm 68; Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-24

St. John 14:23-31a

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

The Feast of Pentecost existed before the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. It celebrated two things. First, Pentecost was a harvest festival. The faithful of Israel would bring grain offerings to the Temple in thanksgiving for the harvest with which God had blessed them. Pentecost was at the beginning of their harvest and the faithful would bring the first fruits of their harvest to God.

We have much to learn from our forefathers. They did not wait to ensure the harvest was complete before returning thanks to God. They did not wait to ensure they saw 80% or 90% of what was planted grow to maturity. That which they harvested first was given back to God in thanksgiving, showing they trusted their heavenly Father to provide the rest.

In this way, we see a model for our giving to the church. We are free in the Gospel, no longer commanded by God to give 10%, a tithe, of our income to support the Temple. Rather, we are free to give more. We are free to give more because we are no longer under the Law but have been made free children of the Father.

The blessings of God in the Old Testament were shadows of the blessings in the New. So too were the offerings of the faithful in the Old Testament shadows of the New. Neither diminishes after the Resurrection of Christ. They are magnified. Circumcision was a sign in the flesh of men that they were part of God’s covenant. In the New Testament, Holy Baptism fulfills this sign in the flesh by being offered to men and women, and rather than a removal of our flesh, it places the robe of Christ’s righteousness upon us. God’s blessing is magnified, not diminished.

Our financial support of God’s church looks to the Old Testament to find a place to begin. The first fruits of the harvest were offered to God, 10% was required of all the faithful, each year. In the New Testament, in the age of the Church following the Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord, 10% is a great place to begin returning thanks to God for the many blessings He has bestowed upon you. Remember, everything you have, like the grain harvest of old, comes from the Father and will eventually return to Him. You are the steward of these earthly blessings. If the Lord has blessed you handsomely, return thanks handsomely. Ten percent is a great place to start, but the Lord loves a cheerful giver, no matter the dollar amount you give.

The second purpose of Pentecost prior to the Ascension of our Lord, was to commemorate the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Here we see the clearest connections to the descent of the Holy Spirit. At Mount Sinai, the people were commanded not to touch the mountain for its holiness. Moses alone could approach the presence of God. A great cloud descended upon the mountain with thunder, lightning, and the terrifying sound of a mighty trumpet. Fire flashed from the top of the mountain. The people became frightened and stood afar off.

The coming of God upon Mount Sinai indicates the nature of what was given. The Law reveals God’s wrath over our sin. It reveals our sin, shows it plainly by the lightning flash of God’s Word, and thunders loudly in our hearts. The sound of the trumpet announces judgment is near. In our sin, we flee from these signs, knowing our fate is sealed in our mortal state, consigned to the eternal fire of God’s wrath.

At Pentecost, however, the Holy Spirit descends with the sound of a mighty, rushing wind. This sound is only described as the sound of rushing wind but must itself be something more. I believe it is the sound of the Holy Gospel, being spoken by the Holy Spirit, Himself. No matter what the sound was, it did not inspire fear in the apostles nor in the people gathered in Jerusalem. This sound of the Holy Spirit brought to remembrance all the words of Christ in the hearts of the apostles. The crowds in Jerusalem, gathered for the harvest feast and to commemorate the giving of the Law, are drawn toward the sound.

Whereas the people at Mount Sinai were kept away from the Mountain of the Lord, the voice of the Holy Spirit draws the crowds in. The Holy Spirit descends in fire, just as He did on Mount Sinai, but this time it is not frightening. He descends as tongues of flame, bringing the Words of the Gospel of Christ to the apostles to be shared with the world. The crowd gathering at this sound is somewhat skeptical, yet they are drawn to the sounds of the apostles beginning to preach.

Here, the various peoples from throughout the ancient world, heard the mighty works of God in their own languages. The apostles preached to them concerning the death and resurrection of Christ. These languages no longer separate the Elamite and the Mede, nor do they find their unity in these languages. They are unified in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They are unified within the Body of Christ.

The Tower of Babel is often misunderstood. God commanded Noah and his sons to multiply and fill the earth. While Noah’s descendants multiplied, they did not fill the earth. Once they reached the plain of Shinar, they decided the land was ideal and they ceased to fill the earth. Working together, the men of the earth decided to build a tower to God, making a name for themselves.

God could not have this. The unity of man, even at the beginning, with only Adam and Eve, is not found in language, lineage, or ethnicity. The unity of man is found in God, in the Body of Christ, in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The men of earth desiring to make a name for themselves rejected the Body of Christ for the body of their own work. The name man makes for himself is Sin and Death.

The building of the Tower of Babel itself is somewhat of an engineering miracle. Our ancient ancestors were very intelligent and capable of great wonders. Such ability quickly goes from a blessing of the Most High into an idol. God has placed you into relationships with your fellow man such that you are to serve him in various ways. God has given abilities to engineers, pilots, carpenters, plumbers, managers, teachers, and store clerks. This is commendable.

Yet these careers are not the same as who and what you are. On the deathbed of a Christian, no one wants to hold his favorite chisel, or cling to his over-full timecard. A Christian desires to hold his family close and cling to the Word of God. A Christian desires a visit from his pastor to hear the Word of God and receive His gifts one more time on this side of glory.

While the accomplishments of this life are something to give thanks to God for, they are not the most important aspect of who you are. Your baptism is the most important aspect of who you are because it tells you whose you are. The name God gives to the Baptized is Life, the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In your Holy Baptism, you find yourself a child of the Heavenly Father and a member of the Body of Christ. In this Body, you find unity with the Judean and Cappadocian. In this Body, you are one with the Phrygian and Pamphylian.

God punished the peoples at Babel by forcing them to spread out and fill the earth. This was God’s command from the very beginning. Languages would naturally develop as man spread out to cover the earth. God forced this process by dividing their languages while they dwelt together. Certainly, this is a punishment for those living in Babel as they could no longer communicate with friends and possibly even family. They must set out to different parts of the world and build lives where they could communicate.

 This dispersion of peoples is recognized even in heaven. When St. John sees a vision of heavenly worship in the Book of Revelation, he sees a multitude without number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues.^[1] This multitude is all praising the Lamb who is on the Throne of heaven, that is, they are united in their praise and worship of Christ. They are the united Body of Christ, retaining their individuality and individual languages.

From the beginning of man, God desired diversity of language and culture so that man could not mistake where unity is found. Unity is found in the Body of Christ. For this reason, the Holy Spirit descends upon the apostles in tongues of flame. These gentle flames illumine the Word of God, setting the hearts of man on fire with the love of God. If the coming of the Law was terrifying for man, the coming of the Gospel is a great comfort. The dispersion of man at Babel was God enacting His Law upon man and the preaching of the Gospel on Pentecost is the fulfillment of God’s Law by uniting the multitude of nations, tribes, peoples, and languages in the Body of Christ.

Just as fire is both deadly and necessary for life, so too the Word of God kills and gives life. The Law comes to reveal our sin and cause us to flee. But we must ask, “To where shall I go? I am a poor, wretched sinner. Where is salvation found?” Then the Holy Spirit enters in with the satisfying warmth of the Gospel to reveal the deeds of Christ saying, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”^[2] “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”^[3]

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Revelation 7:9-10.

[2] St. John 14:27.

[3] Acts 2:21.

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 Ascension of our Lord

 The Ascension of our Lord – May 29, 2025

Psalm 47; 2 Kings 2:5-15; Acts 1:1-11

St. Luke 24:44-53

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

The Ascension of our Lord is one of the chief feasts of the Christian Church and ought to be considered as standing right beside Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter. Every time we confess the Apostles and Nicene creeds; we confess that Christ ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. It is the capstone of Christ’s activities for your salvation. Tonight, we seek to answer two questions regarding Christ’s ascension: 1) to where did He ascend; and 2) why did He ascend.

The Ascension of Christ took place in an actual upward motion, a gradual rising up of Christ, until a cloud received Him and He passed from human sight.[1] We can’t say much about His motions after being received into the cloud because Scripture doesn’t reveal any details on this point. As for where Christ ascended, we can give two answers. The first answer is to the paradise of the redeemed, that place where those who are His dwell with Him forever. St. Paul speaks of this place in Philippians 1 when he says, I have a “desire to depart and be with Christ.”[2] Christ also speaks of this place when He tells the thief on the cross, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”[3] This is the place we usually call “heaven,” though it is also called the “intermediate state” since it is somewhat temporary, being replaced by the new heavens and the new earth in the Resurrection on the Last Day.[4]

Of all that could be said about this intermediate state, the part that overlaps with the Ascension is that Christ dwells with those in glory as both God and Man. He ascends to the Father in His flesh and so dwells with His beloved in that same flesh. He still bears the marks in His hands, feet, and side as a testament to the saints in glory that their victory over sin has been won in His risen flesh. His flesh in glory is also a promise of the resurrection in that those who are His will follow in His train. “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”[5]

The second answer to the question of where Christ is going is the right hand of the Father, but this is not so much a place as it is an office. Christ “ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.”[6] “The right hand of the Majesty on High”[7] is that office of Christ as Lord and Messiah over all creation. In a sense, Christ’s ascension is His coronation into the full use of His authority over all heaven and earth as both God and Man. Christ is King. He is the ruling Monarch of the universe, seated on His throne of power, as He reigns over all. On Pentecost, St. Peter preaches from Psalm 110, “the Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool,” applying these words not to David but Christ, saying “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” [8]

This leads us directly into our second question for this evening, why did Christ ascend? In the first place, it was to assume His seat on the throne of God’s power at the right hand of the Father, that is, to assume His office as King of the heavens and earth.

In the second place, it was to transition from His local presence to His illocal presence. That is, He is no longer in one place at a time such that we can draw a line around His body, but is present in all places. If Christ had not ascended to the Father, even if He was present in all places at all times, which is His divine right, our human minds would find it incomprehensible. Imagine, for a moment, that Christ was still present, in His local body, sitting in every pew. There would still be space in between each of these bodies and would lead our minds to wonder, ‘Is Christ in those spaces, too?’ Or our imaginations would run wild, beginning to think that there were multiple Christs, some better than others. And when we recede into our own minds, because we could see Christ standing next to us, we would begin to wonder if He could really know our hearts and minds, if He really understood the depth of sin hiding in my heart or the pain and sorrow I feel deep in my soul.

By removing His local presence, Christ is, in fact, demonstrating His glorious final words of promise, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”[9] As He becomes hidden to our eyes of flesh, He becomes abundantly clear to our eyes of faith.

He is especially present for us sacramentally in His Word and Sacraments. The flesh of Christ cannot be separated from His Word and the Word cannot be separated from His flesh. He is the Word that was in the beginning, was with God, and is God.[10] So, too, are His Body and Blood given from this altar and the altars of every faithful congregation throughout the world. We needn’t be deceived by our eyes because His Body is not visibly present in other places. We can firmly believe His Words because He has said, “This is My Body,” and where His Word is, there is His flesh.

In the third place, Christ told His disciples that He would go before them to prepare a place for them in the house of His Father.[11] This promise is fulfilled in the Ascension. Christ ascends to the Father in His flesh, meaning that a man sits on the right hand of the Father. He ascended in His flesh to make way for the flesh of all His beloved in the heavenly mansions of His Father. His flesh paved the way for your flesh to dwell eternally with Him. Through His ascension, He is elevating the flesh of man.

Finally, Christ ascends to the Father to prepare His Church for His return. Now ‘return’ is not the most accurate way to describe what Christ will do on the Last Day because it implies that He has been absent throughout the time between the Ascension and the Last Day. A better word is His ‘revealing’ or ‘revelation’ on the Last Day. I hope by now you understand that Christ is not absent after His ascension, rather His mode of presence has simply changed. And He has promised to reveal Himself on the Last Day just as He was removed from the sight of the disciples at the ascension. He ascended into a cloud and will reveal Himself descending on a cloud. By ascending in this manner, He has given the world the very sign by which we will know His return. He will not be born again, lowly and in a cattle stall, but will descend on a cloud to the sound of heavenly trumpets. All eyes (those of flesh and those of faith) will see Him descend and every knee will bow before the King of all Creation.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Acts 1:9.

[2] Philippians 1:23.

[3] St. Luke 23:43.

[4] Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1.

[5] 1 John 3:3.

[6] Ephesians 4:10.

[7] Hebrews 1:3.

[8] Acts 2:34-36; Psalm 110:1.

[9] St. Matthew 28:20.

[10] St. John 1:1.

[11] St. John 14:2-3.