"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.