Cause for Joy and Singing -- Zephaniah 3:14-17

3rd Sunday in Advent

Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ    

    Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;        shout, O Israel!

    Rejoice and exult with all your heart,         O daughter of Jerusalem!

    [15] The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;

        he has cleared away your enemies.

    The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;  you shall never again fear evil.

Thus far our text.  

    [15] The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;

There is the essence of the Gospel. This is exactly what Jesus has done. He has  forgiven you your sins. They are removed as far as the east is from the west. He has thrown them into the depths of the sea and they are drowned. You have been absolved, purified, made righteous and guiltless. Because of that you are on good terms with God almighty and you have  eternal life.

The Savior Jesus came into this world, to be born in human flesh. He took on our flesh and our weakness and took from us our sins. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. Because of Jesus [15] The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;

Let that Gospel be cause for joy and singing. Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;        shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,         O daughter of Jerusalem!

The Epistle of the day has this holy command of God to each of you:  Philip. 4:4

    Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

Notice that this is not an optional sort of thing. There’s no “ifs”, “ands” or “buts”, like “If you feel like it, Rejoice.” “On good days rejoice.” “When you are winning, rejoice.” No. It simply says, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Rejoice in the Lord, and in His Gospel of the forgiveness of your sins. This is not based on other conditions like how you feel or how your day is going. The cause for joy is from the Lord Jesus and His favor to you.

Now this is it not meant to sound forced. It can be really annoying when you are in a grumpy mood and somebody tells you, “oh, lighten up;” “Have a good day;” “Turn that frown upside down”.

No when God tells you to rejoice, it is an invitation to hear again and remember the many things He has given you to rejoice about.

Zephaniah 3:15 is chuck full of those reasons.

Listen to the cause for singing and joy here, phrase by phrase.

   

    [15] The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;

        he has cleared away your enemies.

    The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;  you shall never again fear evil.

In the Gospel reading for today John was preaching and baptizing to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the way to prepare for the Lord, in sorrow for sins, prayerfully look to the Lord above and say, take away the judgments against me, clear away my enemies of sin, death and the devil. Help me in my fear of evil.

Next Sunday as part of the regular Sunday service we will have the Children’s Christmas program. They are organizing their parts around a hymn that Luther wrote, “From heaven above to earth I come.” And one of the verses especially is a beautiful Advent and Christmas prayer, asking the Lord the to forgive us, make our hearts right, so that He can be with us.

Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,

Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled,

A quiet chamber set apart

For You to dwell within my heart.

Zephaniah 3:15 preaches a great Advent gospel message for us: The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; 

The consequence of sin has been felt by human kind from the beginning. Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden of Eden, out of the presence of God.  Every sin you commit puts you farther and farther out of God=s presence.

The beauty and glory of forgiveness of sins is that now you are brought back into God=s presence.  That=s heaven.   The worst thing about hell is the Absence of God, the separation from God..  How sad that some go there for eternity, eternally separated from God. How sad also that some live their lives now in hell on earth, without God in their lives.

The Lord is with you. That’s our Advent theme and hope.

The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; 

The King of Israel is Jesus. Pontius Pilate labeled as such, when he had a sign placed above Him on the cross. Pilate meant it as mockery, but it was the truth.

There on the cross was King of Israel. There He was in our midst, right in the midst of our broken, sin-filled lives, that our tumbling out of control toward death. In life, in death, He is in our midst. He is with you always, even to the end of time.

We have to listen to that. Hear and believe that. Because we get so many signals, daily that would lead us to think that He is now around. Not here. Not anywhere.

The world wants to remove Him. The world wants to celebrate His birthday without Him. Can you imagine anything so rude as to have a birthday party and not invite the man of honor? Keep that in mind as you celebrate Christmas. It’s Christ’s birthday. Don’t leave him out.

What is more our sinful nature would rather the Lord not be around. So we are constantly tempted to think and to live as if Christ isn’t around and as if He doesn’t matter anyway.

He who has forgiven you your sins, who has taken away the judgement you deserve is now with you.  The best way to hear this good news is in Holy Commmunion. At His table, He serves you heavenly food and He is Himself the food, given for you, the forgiveness of your sins.

He is with you. Rejoice.    Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;        shout, O Israel!

Be happy about all this. Rejoice and sing. Because, by the way, the Lord is happy to. He is rejoicing to. Listen to Zeph. 3:17 and try to picture it.

    The Lord your God is in your midst,

        a mighty one who will save;

    he will rejoice over you with gladness;

        he will quiet you by his love;

    he will exult over you with loud singing.

In the gospel reading we heard Luke 7:21

    In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.

There must have been a line of people waiting to have Jesus help them out. They were coming out of the woodworks. Wouldn’t it seem like the Lord must get tired of saving so many people.

No. He doesn’t save us reluctantly. It is His pleasure. He’s happy to. He even likes to sing about it.

Every once in a while I notice that someone is hesitant to sing. Maybe because they are very self-aware, or maybe they feel like it’s not very dignified. As if you had to sing when you were a kid, now it’s just not for you.  But if God does it, He sings loudly. So should we. He sings out of the joy of salvation. So should we. Now and forever. Amen.

   

   

We will stand in God’s Glory -- Jude 24-25

May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Jude 2

That’s the greeting and blessing to the reader at the start of Jude, the 2^nd last book of the Bible, from which today’s Epistle reading is taken, hear again verses 24 & 25:

 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

This is our text.

Looking through my files, it looks like this is the first time I have ever preached on a text from Jude. It’s just a little book – a couple pages in our English Bibles. It’s not big enough to have chapters, only verses. That’s why the reading today is Jude 20-25. No Chapter mentioned.  Jude wrote this little document, this short sermon in response to some bad behavior and misguided attitudes among the Christians of the time, a few years after Jesus’ ascended into heaven.

Jude says in the 4^th verse that there are people who Jude 1:4

    For certain people have “crept in unnoticed  . . . ungodly people, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

This is a problem that will come up every so often. Jesus died for our sins. Because of Him we are forgiven and made pure. In God’s eyes, it’s as if we have never sinned. So then some people, the devil and our own sinful nature would like to change that grace of God into license, or freedom and permission to sin again, and come up with new ways to sin.

So to counteract this false and misleading attitude Jude tells us Christians what to do. You can easily follow the teaching of Jude in this reading, by concentrating on some keep words: Build, Pray, Keep  and Wait.

First, Build

    Jude says, “But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith.” Christians aren’t to be lazy about this most holy faith we have. It’s good you’ve got faith. It’s a gracious, good gift. But you ought not be complacent about it. Build yourself up in the faith. False and misleading attitudes easily creep in when faith is neglected, and not built up. You build yourself up in this most holy faith by reading and hearing the Word of God, and by having communion in the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Second, Pray

 Jude says, “Pray in the Holy Spirit.” Our highest concern in this life should be that our faith not grow tired or worn out, or distorted by false ideas. And we should bring our highest concerns to the Lord in prayer with the help of God the Holy Spirit. So pray for the strengthening of you faith. And you can pray for such with words like these: “Thy Kingdom come.” Lord, we want to be in and remain in your Kingdom until we die. So strengthen our faith.

Third, Keep

Keep yourselves in the love of God. Jude is troubled by those who turn God’s grace into license for immorality. So he tells us all, keep yourselves in the love of God. All morality is summed up with love. Love for God and love for others. Keep yourselves in the love of God.

The false attitude that we can do whatever we want because the Gospel gives us freedom, is a very unloving attitude. If your thoughts and words and actions are motivated by the license to do what you want, then what others want suffers, and your love for God and His righteousness grows cold.

Fourth, Wait

“. . . waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”

Jude is writing words of encouragement here to people who must wait for the salvation of the Lord to be revealed.

That’s the message Jesus gave to His disciples as they would have to wait for the salvation to come, even as it seems like everything in heaven and earth was falling down around them. Waiting is the message of the fig tree, whose buds are a sign that spring is coming, just wait. Our Lord’s command to “Wait” is a call to stay awake, to stay watchful, and to believe continually the promises He has made that He will come and save.

Jude writes to give us a blessing and comfort for this meantime, while we wait for the Lord.  Here’s His very encouraging blessing:

Jude 1:24-25     Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, [25] to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.

Your God and Savior is able to keep you from stumbling. That is a very important word to hear when you consider that the times are going to get worse toward the end. The end times can be fearful. These end times can make us doubt ourselves. We might, in fear say something like, when it comes down to it, will I be able to stand strong?

Your God and Savior is able to keep you from stumbling. Stumbling – it reminds me of one of those bad dreams, where you are in a hurry, running from some evil, time is running out and you stumble and fall at every other step.

I hear people, good Christian people, say things like this: “Why do I keep sinning?” “Am I not a good believer if I keep stumbling on the same sins?” “Why can’t I ever seem to get better and experience some victory over sin?” Why do I continue to look at others with lust or with coveting in my thoughts? Why do get so angry and impatient with my spouse and others that I love? Why do I procrastinate and not carry out my responsibilities faithfully?”

Will the initial answer is kind of discouraging:  It’s your nature to do so. It is impossible not to sin. That’s a big part of the reason why we so long for the Lord to come and bring us salvation and rescue us from our sinful nature.

But there’s a further answer given here in Jude’s blessing to us at the end of his little book: God is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,

If you are frustrated with your own inabilities to do right and to stop sinning, I ask you this, do you believe what Jude says? Do you believe that God is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless?

There’s a great Gospel message there. Jesus has been sent by God into this world and into our human history to be the Son of God and the Son of Man at the same time. He lived a perfect life, but then sacrificed that perfect life in place us. He took the blame for us, that we might be blameless. Blameless. Isn’t that a good feeling, if you can fully believe it.

When you are in the midst of struggling with your sins and feeling the ugly consequences they have in your life, look to Jesus who stood up for you and took the blame for you to make you blameless. Now your Lord is at work to keep you from stumbling. And He is able; He can do that.

And on the last day he will present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,

“Present you” is the best way to say it in English. But the word that Jude used here is the root word of our word “Status” it’s first meaning is to stand. It’s the picture we can have in our mind. The Lord keeps you from stumbling, He lifts you up, He stands you up in the glory of God His Father.

When you feel self doubt, like you cant win, you can’t do anything right, nothing good enough. Hear the blessing Jude has for us. And remember that the Lord has promised He will keep us from stumbling. He will lift us up. He will stand us in the glory of God.

 Bold shall I stand in that great day,

for who aught to my charge shall lay?

Fully absolved through these I am,

from sin and fear, from guilt and shame.

Amen.

Now receive the blessing

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

On the Tongue

Grace, Mercy and Peace are yours from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,           

James 3:9-10

    With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. [10] From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

In the beginning God created man in his own image, likeness,

In the image of God he created him

Male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

You and I are made in the image and likeness of God.  Fascinating! What a high honor!

Now, because of sin we don’t look a lot like God, we don’t act like God, we don’t sound like God.  That image of God has been broken, marred by sin, ours and the sins of our fore fathers and fore mothers, so much so that it’s difficult to notice now, that we are in the likeness of God.

But still this image of God remains in us. There is much about our humanity that shows the image of God.  Much that shows we were made to be like God, sharing many of His characteristics.

One very significant characteristic of God is that He speaks. He communicates. We read in the Bible how God, in the mystery that is the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, one God speaks, communicates within Himself. Jesus the Son of God, true God, prays to His Father in heaven, even though He says, “I and the Father are one.” The Father and the Son together send the Spirit, telling the Spirit to go to believers as promised to comfort and strengthen them. God speaks to Himself in Genesis chapter 1, saying, “Let us make man in our own image.”

So it seems to be the desire of the good Lord to have a special creation that would be like Him and, among other things, could speak. So He created our race, endowing us with the gift of speech: tongues and lips and throats, and brains that could formulate thoughts and ideas and put them into words and ears that could hear and brains that could comprehend – marvelously elaborate systems of anatomy, physiology and psychology working together that we may, like our Creator, speak.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

But weak and lazy creatures, as we are, we are not as mindful, not as grateful for the gifts of creation, as we should be. We take God’s good gift of creation for granted.

Speech is a powerful gift fo God for humanity. So when it is misused, it is powerfully destructive.

James says it like this: the tongue can be compared to the bit in a horse’s mouth, such a small thing, but it can control the whole beast, or like a rudder on a ship. Small by comparison, yet the pilot controls the entire ship against wind and wave with small turns of the rudder.

So don’t underestimate the power of the words you speak – power for good, or for evil.

So powerfully important in fact, that of the 10 commandments, 2 have to do with how you talk: the 2^nd commandment, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.” And the 8^th commandment, “You shall not bear false testimony against your neighbor.” The 2^nd commandment governs how you speak about God and to God. The 8^th Commandment deals with how you speak about your fellow human beings.

“How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire” James 3:5. I expect most of you can relate to this when it comes to the destruction a little gossip can bring. If you don’t fully see it, let me suggest you evaluate your own feelings the next time you come across a person you feel negatively about – a person you might want to avoid if you can. Ask yourself, “Why do I have this uneasy, unpleasant feeling about them? Are they truly evil? Have they really committed some unforgiveable sin against me? Or is it, as I believe happens way too often, the source of the problem, the source of my bad feelings toward this person is coming from a third person, who whispered evil words in my ear about this one who, as James says, is made in the likeness of God.

We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.

Use your words for good, not for evil.

Parents, bless your children, speaking to them the words of the Lord, teaching them to pray, teaching them to hear and believe that God is there for them. He created them, keeps them and saves them. When they are little we spend so much of our time and energy thinking about what we have to provide for them, what we are to give them, how can we afford to give them all that they need, food, medicine, clothing, shoes, college. The best thing you have to give your children, is words of blessing and encouragement.

Likewise with all the other people in your life. There are many moments in life when your kind words are the best service and the best gift you can give to your neighbor in need. You can use your words to bless, to encourage to lift up those who have been torn down.

Speech like that is what you were made for. God has made us differently, with different, various gifts. Some speak better than others, no denying that. Some can speak many, many words. Some can speak a few words well. But whoever you are, God desires you to speak with love. He commands you to speak kind words toward your neighbor and words of praise and thanksgiving to Him.

We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.

By all means, don’t use God’s name wickedly or frivolously. Furthermore, do use God’s name, and all those words about God, properly and well.

Pray. Praise. And give thanks. Pray is when we talk to God. Praise is when we talk about God, and the great things He has done, especially when others can hear.

We pray and we praise with words that come from our hearts, speech that our sanctified minds generates. We also pray and praise using that words that have been given us, handed down from the Lord Himself, from the prophets and apostles and our fathers in the faith.

We pray as we believe.

We believe as we pray.

Our prayer and praise is a verbal expression of what we believe. And it goes full circle. What we believe is built upon the words we pray and praise.

Back to that bit about the bit -- Like a rider who guides the horse by a bit in the mouth, so the Holy Spirit of our Lord is using simple, little words to lead you into faith and into eternal life.

By the words of the Gospel and by faith, the Holy Spirit is working something wonderful in you. He is creating you all over again, creating you in a new image, in the image of Jesus Christ. The words of the Lord build faith in you, as they teach you Jesus, crucified to forgive your sins and risen to give you new life. In faith, you are being conformed to the likeness and image of Jesus, that you can think like Jesus thinks, act like Jesus acts, talk like Jesus talks.

The center of that talking like Jesus talks is when you pray the confession of sins and hear the absolution. When you confess your sins your talking like Jesus talks. Your saying you’re right, Lord. Your commands are true. I have not kept them, and so, I deserve your displeasure and punishment. I’m sorry forgive me.

And when you hear the absolution of our Lord, you’re thinking like Jesus thinks. Hear His words, and believe them. “I forgive you all your sins.” “This is my body given for you.” “This is my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.” Filled with the faith in your Saviors sacrificial forgiveness and unending love you can now say and sing your praises to Him., knowing that’s what He wants, He wants to hear from you, be in touch with you, be in communication and communion with you from now and into eternity.

Last Century one of our Missouri Synod Lutheran Professors wrote the hymn, Thy Strong Word and in it is this prayer:

Give us lips to sing Thy glory,

Tongues Thy mercy to proclaim,

Throats that shout the hope that fills us,

Mouths to speak Thy holy name.

Alleluia, alleluia!

May the light which Thou dost send

Fill our songs with alleluias,

Alleluias without end.

Amen.

"It refers to Christ" -- Ephesians 5:32

Grace, Mercy and Peace are yours from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

We continue our review of the Catechism by reciting the 2nd and 3rd Petitions to the Lord's Prayer.

The Second Petition                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Thy kingdom come.

What does this mean?

The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also.

How does God’s kingdom come?

God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.

The Third Petition                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

What does this mean?

The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.

How is God’s will done?

God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die. This is His good and gracious will.

Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done. So we continually pray, all our days.

We desire the Lord’s Kingdom. We admit that we are lost outside of His Kingdom.

We want His will to be done. We recognize that our will is misdirected, bent away from good. We humbly beg for His will, trusting his will, comforted to know that His will is this: He wants to keep us in the faith until we die.

When we pray these things, we are confessing that God’s Kingdom, and God’s will is best. We confess that in the face of the devil, the world and our sinful nature which say, “No, not God’s will be done; here’s some other ways that are better, more fun, good for you.”

But what the devil, the world and your sinful nature hold out to you, will eventually lead you away from the Kingdom of God and will leave you outside of God’s good will.

Marriage is an example of this. It’s mentioned in the Epistle reading today from Ephesians 5:31    "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

When you pray, “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” keep marriage in mind. God makes it very clear what marriage is supposed to be about. But the devil tempts men and women, married or unmarried to defile marriage by what they do, and how they talk and even in the way they think. The world, our society and culture has abandoned God’s will and abandoned sound reason, and redefined marriage to include perversions. Marriage should be very straight and clear and good.  But now we see the chaotic and evil effects in our society where marriage as an institution has fallen apart: People are growing up without a father or without a mother. Men roam around like beasts driven by their lust. Women are left heartbroken and hurt.

Marriage is a clear example of how God’s will is best. It’s best to follow His will for the sake of order and a healthy life. God, in his perfect will, has given good laws for human beings to follow. These laws were given in writing in the Bible. But he also wrote them in the heart of each reasonable person, so conscience and common sense can guide a person into good order. Simply put, follow God’s will, so life will go the way God wants it to go.

Beyond that, beyond following God’s will simply for the sake of good order in life, the words God tells us, serve to show us the Gospel, to show us Christ. That’s how St. Paul taught God’s words about marriage in Ephesians 5:31-32:   "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." [32] This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

A Christian wife loves her husband, honors her husband, submits to her husband because she loves Christ.

Ephes. 5:25     Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.   A Christian husband loves his wife, sacrifices for his wife, because he thinks and acts like Christ. A Christian husband is an imitator of Christ, although poorly.

Years ago, when the first George Bush was president, Dana Carvey would imitate him, impersonate him on TV. It was impressive and funny. Once while watching him, my father-in-law said, “Dana Carvey sounds more like George Bush, than George Bush does.” He was that good at it.

The rest of us, are only kind of good at impersonating, imitating. Husbands are called to impersonate Christ in their sacrificial love for their brides. We strive for that and we fail, we seek forgiveness and the Lord’s continual help to do what we have been called to do.

But however weak the examples are, learn the lesson that is being taught. If you ever see a man love his wife, and you wonder “why?” “How can he love that lady?” “How can he put up with her?”, see the lesson shown in that love, that’s how Christ loves His people. He accepts these filthy sinners, unfaithful, uncaring, unworthy of him, and he makes them his wife. He loves His bride. He share His kingdom with His bride.  He does whatever it takes for His bride. And what does it take for His bride? It takes everything. He must give up all for her, even dying for her on the cross.

Likewise, learn the lesson being taught by Christian women. If you ever see a wife love her husband, and you wonder, “Why?” “How can she love that guy?” “How can she stay devoted to him after all this time?”

Those are questions that many must be asking of the Christian Church, which is the bride of Christ as she loves a mysterious husband, as she follows his ancient way, as she trusts his unseen care, provision, and protection. The world, outside the Kingdom, asks why do those people still follow those outdated ways, and love that tired old husband.

The love of a Christian wife to her husband, and the love of Christian husband towards his wife will appear to be so different than the world’s understanding of love and marriage. The devil, the world and our sinful nature want to think about love as being manipulative and self-serving. In Christian marriage, the Lord teaches us true love. It refers to Christ and the Church.

            Pray for the Will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven. In this way you can have a godly life for you and your family. And more: You can be saved. Because God’s will is about daily life, here and now. And it is about Christ. It leads you to Christ and the church.

            The word of God, refers to Christ. It is about Christ. Marriage refers to Christ. It is about Christ. If it’s not about the Lord, it becomes yours to do with it as you please. And so many have, not only by redefining it to include the so-called “gay marriage” but also by breaking it, divorcing for little or no reason and defiling marriage by living together without the blessing and commitment of marriage.

Keep this in mind with other commands and promises we have from God. Let your life be defined and shaped and guided by the Lord’s commands and promises. Learn to follow God’s will. Pray for His will and His kingdom. And find blessings in His will for this life and forever.

Amen.

   

Bread and Faith -- John 6:35-51

Jesus said, John 6:48 & 50

    I am the bread of life.     This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. This is our text.

We continue our review of the Catechism.

The Introduction of the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father who art in heaven.

What does this mean? With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.

“God tenderly invites us to believe. . . .”  That’s what God wants. That’s what God is working toward for each of us. He calls and invites us to believe. He wants us to know about Him. He wants us to agree with His ways all our life. He wants us to trust that He is good and He will save and deliver us and give us eternal life. God invites us to believe.

Jesus, God’s Son, says it this way in the Gospel reading today. John 6:40

    For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

Jesus says, “I am the Bread of Life.” and He wants us to believe in Him.

When you believe in Jesus, you have eternal life.  Eternal life. So that means, even after your body dies, Jesus promises you will live. Even after this old world crumbles apart and burns away, Jesus promises that He will raise you up, and on the last day you and I and all believers have the glorious, joyful, eternal life with Him. It will be a life that is free from sin and evil because Jesus died on the cross to forgive sins, and triumphed over all evil. It will be a life that is free from pain and death because Jesus rose from the dead and has put an end to death for all believers. It will be a life free from want or lack of any kind, because Jesus is the bread of life. And if you have that bread, you need nothing else..

This good news is yours to believe.

Jesus said, I am the Bread of Life. These words are very helpful to understand what it means to believe. You say, “I believe”. What do you mean when you say that? What does it take to believe? How do you believe? What do you say if you start to wonder, “do I believe?”

Jesus the Bread of Life, gives Himself to you. He comes down from heaven. He feeds you. You are nourished, fortified, energized, enlivened because of Jesus, food for the soul.

So that’s what faith is. It’s simply taking what Jesus gives, and living on it. Just as bread enters the mouth and nourishes the whole body. So Jesus’ words and promises enter the ear and feeds the soul.

This is such good news for us, folks. There’s this temptation to think of believing as something you’ve got to do for Jesus. Jesus turns that completely around. He says, “I am the Bread of Life.” Here. Take. Eat. There you go. That’s what it is to believe.

Back then, when Jesus first spoke these words, if you had bread, then you had enough. You wouldn’t go hungry; you’d get by for the day. That might seem strange for us today, because we have so much food, and so much variety of food. It’s hard to imagine just having one thing, and being satisfied. Many people around the world will do that today. They’ll get by with bread, or rice, or whatever the staple food is. They’ll count themselves fortunate to have something to eat. And they’ll live on it.

So the faithful children of God, look to Jesus and say, dear Lord give us our daily bread, even a morsel and we can live, just a few crumbs so we can believe. And our Lord blesses us abundantly, with food for our bodies and His Gospel that feeds our souls.

There’s a lot of helpful comparisons that can be made with bread for our bodies and the Bread of Life for our souls. We who have so many choices every day of what to eat, are warned about the long term results of bad eating habits. We know of cases where it seems that lives have a person’s health has been damaged, lives have been shortened, because of bad choices of food and drink.

So it is with what you will believe. There is the wholesome food which our Lord Jesus gives you in His true and inerrant Word. There are bad ideas that are served up and passed around in this world as things you should believe:  False ideas about creation, how people came into existence, false ideas about morality, about love and marriage about what is a family. Little by little, false ideas can harm the health of your faith. Stick to the healthy eating of Jesus the Bread of Life. Encourage others to do the same.

Actually, there are some false ideas about faith itself. That is, what it means to believe.

There is the false idea to think faith is easy.

There is the false idea to think faith is hard.

Let me explain each. The devil leads some to believe that faith is easy. It’s a little thing. These are those whom we confirm here and we never see them again. They are the ones who have their children baptized, but then don’t bring them back to God’s house and God’s word, in what is really the worst child neglect. Others will come around once in a while, but they don’t listen carefully, they don’t take it all very seriously. They say they believe, but their thoughts, their speech, their actions show the opposite. They think too little of faith. They consider that faith is too light, too easy of thing.

On the other hand, there are those who think that faith is hard. They say to themselves, I must work harder on my faith. I need to make sure I am believing. Constantly they fuss about whether they believe or not. Doubts rise up. The devil likes to tease such insecure believers, subtly saying to them, if you truly believe, then why do you have such terrible thoughts. Faith is too hard for the likes of you.

Don’t fall for that nonsense. Both of these ideas stem from the false idea that faith is some work you do for the Lord. But the Lord says, “No, faith is what I give to you.”

Look to Jesus.

Here how He talks about it:  John 6:51

   “ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Just listen to that. Take it in. Let it feed your soul and nourish your faith. That’s what it is to believe.

And keep hearing it. Faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ.

So hear that word, in the church, in your homes, in the sacrament, in the absolution.

Luther had a great way of saying it and we are in agreement with him on this: “God is superabundantly generous in His grace: First, through the spoken Word by which the forgiveness of sins is preached in the whole world. This is the particular office of the Gospel. Second, through Baptism. Third, through the holy Sacrament of the Altar. Fourth, through the Power of the Keys. Also through the mutual conversation and consolation of brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Through all these words, the Lord feeds faith. Over the next few weeks, I hope to talk with you especially about the one point mentioned by Luther here, The Office of the Keys, that is the job the Pastor  does for the Lord by telling people to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus. That task, is like turning a key. It opens the doors of the Kingdom of God for people. I want to remind you that I, as the pastor am here for you to talk to you about the things of the Gospel, to serve you the Bread of Life. The particular setting where we can talk specifically and personally about the Gospel of Jesus is in confession and absolution.

Most of you know that I am available to have confession and absolution with you. But now, as it says in the bulletin, I will be regularly available, Wednesday mornings, for private conversation and, as the Lord calls me to do, absolving sins.

By absolution and by the Gospel in all these good ways that God brings it to you, He tenderly invites us to believe. Amen.           

CHRIST’S POWER TO SAVE -- MARK 6:49-50

In the Gospel lesson today we read in Mark chapter 6 that the disciples were out on the water in a small boat during the middle of a great storm. And then these words

    but when they saw Jesus walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, [50] for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." This is our text.

The miracles that Jesus performed: walking on water, calming the stormy winds and waves, feeding the 5000, these all show that Christ has the power to save. You can trust Him to save. He can do it. So when you come into a life-threatening situation, when you are wrestling with a troublesome thought, when you have the temptation to fear what’s in store, you can know, you can believe that Christ has the power to save.

The disciples were learning this. When Jesus calmed the storm that night, the disciples “were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened” (vs. 51-52).

They were astounded by Jesus miracles because they were still learning about what it meant to see Jesus multiply loaves and calm the storm. Mark the Gospel writer, is a good story teller. As we read his Gospel he has a way of taking us along – bringing us along with the disciples to a better understanding of who Jesus is and what great things Jesus does.

Now going back to the start of this passage from Mark 6,

    Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd  (Mark 6:45).

Jesus sends his disciples on to the next place for the next thing, and in so doing, He sends them into difficulty, into a fearful situation. The reason they were on the lake that stormy night was because Jesus had told them to.  This is a tough piece to swallow: Our Lord sometimes sends us right into difficult things. He has the power to save. He also ought to have the power to prevent, right? Has He never heard of the saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? We learn with the disciples that the Lord tests us.

It was a testing. Not a punishment. This is not a case of chastisement for the disciples. Sometimes our Lord disciplines those He loves. He warns of wrath and punishment for sinners, “punishing children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,” says the Lord. But that was not what He’s doing in this case. The disciples were obediently following the Lord’s instruction, they were headed to the other side of the lake as he ordered.

You see, you can’t always find a simple explanation to problems in this messed up and confusing life. You feel like saying, “Why is this happening to me? Why is the Lord giving me suffering?  Why do I have problems instead of peace? Why do I have loss instead of prosperity? When there is no clear answer to such questions, you just have to deal with it.

Reading further in Mark’s gospel, there’s a little something even more troubling in verse 48,

    “They were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them” (Mark 6:48) it wasn’t until, they in terror, cried out, did Jesus stop, come back to them and deliver them.

This is sort of a disturbing image. The disciples are rocking in this boat, and Jesus appears as though he is about to pass on by.

We heard the  news from Branson last week, this heart-breaking story of families with children taking a duck-boat ride, on the lake. And a great storm rose up and the waves broke across the sides of this amphibious vehicle and it sank. 17 of the 31 lives on board were lost, including a whole family wiped out in one horrible moment.

What was the Lord doing? Did He just pass on by? What should you believe at such times? You have been taught since you were a child that God is everywhere, and that Jesus is with you wherever you go. But what about times like that, when He appears to just be passing on by, not paying attention to us, not caring about our problems, our accidents, sickness, heartbreak, loss. Again, you can’t help but ask, “Why?”

Dear friends, listen to the way Mark tells his gospel, be brought along with the disciples to fuller faith and greater understanding.

At first they didn’t understand about the loaves. They saw with their own eyes, Jesus multiply the bread enough to feed thousands, but their hearts were not yet believing. So when they were about to drown, all they had to go on was what they saw with their eyes, the wind, the waves, the storm, their hearts were hardened, not believing.

In each storm, for each trial, at every loss in life, God is inviting you to believe that He loves you. He loves you with “the love of Christ, that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19). He loves you even though you can’t see it. He loves you even when you aren’t experiencing it and feeling it.

We believe that God’s constant purpose is for our good. We experience that when He delivers. The disciples saw that with their own eyes when the wind ceased and the waters calmed. They saw it fully when their dead savior rose from the grave alive at Easter.

The hardships you face, the suffering you endure builds faith, faith in what we do not see. On that boat, all the disciples saw was the storm. The Lord showed them they that He provided a path through the storm.

When you are going through a crisis, all you can see is the trouble. Believe that the Lord is providing a path through the storm.

That’s the testing that the Lord Jesus lovingly gives to his disciples then and now, in so far as you are his disciple and follower.

By this testing disciples grow in understanding and faith.

In understanding – that you can pass through pain and fear. They are experiences that only last for a time. You’ll get through it.

And in faith – believing that you are passing through the storms of life with the help of the Lord.

I’ve asked a couple of people lately this question, “What’s the worst that can happen?” Because often when we are faced with a problem its our fear that’s the worst part of the problem. Our imagination fixates on the worst possible outcome.

So identify what’s the worst thing that can happen. Now by saying that I don’t want to sound like I’m making light of other people’s problems. I realize that the situations you facing are probably more serious than I can guess. When you bang your thumb with a hammer, you whole body is debilitated by the throbbing. You can’t think about anything else beyond the pain. So in the middle of a storm, at sea or in life it seems like there’s nothing beyond you can think about.

Try to answer that question, what’s the worst thing that can happen? I suppose one could say, the worse thing is You can die a painful death. But is that really the worst? Jesus says to you, “whoever believes in me will not perish, but will have eternal life.” suffering and death only last for a little bit. You’ll get over that pain in heaven.

What’s the worst thing that can happen? God could carry out that punishment for your sins like He warned you. He’s always right in his judgments, so your punishment would be deserved, because you’ve sinned.

But know Jesus takes care of that, too. He says, “I forgive you all your sins.” He has died for you, to wash you clean of sin, free of guilt.

Believe that, and everything else will be ok.

There’s great benefit to you when the Lord directs you into the storms of life. With faith in the good Lord and His power to save you, you can say with boldness, these storms, these trials, this present suffering is right where my Lord is helping, guiding me, delivering me.