Sermon for Advent 4

Elizabeth said to Mary, “For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44).

Mary heard some spectacular news when the angel Gabriel came to her from heaven. Gabriel told her she would have a baby, and the Baby is the Son of God. And then to add more believability to it, Gabriel also told Mary, “And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:36-37).

So Mary thought it good to go visit her relative Elizabeth. And as she approached the home of Elizabeth and husband Zechariah, she called out her greeting, and before she could reply her greeting in return, Elizabeth was interrupted by this commotion. The baby in her womb leaped for joy. As depicted on the service folder cover, little baby John, leaped for joy. John heard the greeting. John somehow, with the help of God, knew what was going. John believed. John leaped for joy.  His Savior had come. The Savior of the world was here in the womb of Mary his mother. The promised Lord and Messiah has come down from heaven to earth and was made man, ready to deliver us. John believed this and the fruit of that faith was joy.

Now I know skeptics and critics will scoff and say, “No way.” Babies don’t know anything. They can’t believe anything. They cant feel joy or grief.” And so they disrespect, they despise babies.  

Elizabeth says it right, the movement she felt was Baby John’s joy. Verse 41 says, “And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit”. This was not her imagination, her wishful thinking, her personification of the mass of tissue in her womb. This was her understanding, as she was led by the Holy Spirit, inspired to believe and confess.

The example of Elizabeth and Mary’s babies gives us even more reason to love children, born and unborn. We want them to be baptized, because they can believe. We don’t want them aborted and thrown away. We don’t disrespect and despise them. We love them, honor them and admire them. We grown ups, should have such joy.  We hear that Baby Believer John leaped for joy in the present of his Savior, Baby Jesus, and we should conclude this. We should have such joy.

Now a person might say, “It was easy to have joy then”. They were full of the Holy Spirit, according to Luke. There were these miracles happening all over. Elizabeth’s having a baby in old age. Mary’s having a virgin birth. There’re angels popping up all over. They had lots of reason for joy. But by comparison, life here and now is so ordinary. Plain. Boring.

In her song, the Magnificat, Mary praises God for, as she says, “great things he has done for me.” She admits in the Magnificat that she is a handmaiden, a servant of the Lord. She was plain, simple, ordinary, engaged to plain, simple, boring carpenter from Nazareth, an ordinary, plain, boring town. But then Mary tells what the Lord does. He blesses the plain and simple. He lifts up the humble and brings down the proud in the imagination of their proud hearts. The Lord does not bother with the rich, the famous, the powerful who believe they don’t need The Lord and don’t need his saving. The way the Lord works is he blesses the poor sinner and forgives. He has grace for the weak and the dying and gives eternal life. He has regard for the sorrowful, and he gives them comfort and joy.

So we may not live in such marvelous times as Mary and Elizabeth and John. We might not be famous and fortunate. But we have God’s favor. We can look back at this Magnificat regularly, not just in Advent. We can hear again and again, the comforting words of Mary, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and we can apply them to ourselves. She said, “The Lord has looked on the humble estate of his servant.” Find reason for joy in that.

Consider how it went for John. He heard the voice of the mother of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the book, What to expect when you’re expecting it tells how researchers found that in the third trimester, that’s what baby John was, babies will turn their heads toward an interesting sound coming from outside the womb. John heard. John believed. John leaped for joy.

Well that’s how it is for you too. You’ve heard. You believed. You’ve been given the fruit of such faith, including joy.

You have heard what your Savior says. He says, I am with you. Because of the miracles that were happening to Mary, the miracles that were happening in Mary, Jesus is with us. He took on flesh and blood. So he can say, “I’m with you.” I’m not a God who is far off in the heavens. I am in the flesh, in the world, in your life.” The fullest expression of that word from the Lord is when He says “take, eat, this is my body.” “Take, drink, this my blood.”

You have heard what your Savior says, when in death at the cross he said, “Father forgive them.” Your sins and guilt are erased by his words.

Even until your last hour in this life, you will have the words you’ve heard, to trust in, to be comforted by, to have joy in. He says, You will not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Sermon for Advent 2

“Watch Yourselves”

Jesus said, “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap” (Luke 21:34).

This might be unexpected to some, that we start off December in church hearing a dire, stern warning from the Lord. Judgement Day is coming. Watch yourselves. If someone comes to church with worldly expectations of what we will do here, it might be confusing to hear the Advent message “watch yourselves lest the end of the world come upon you suddenly like a trap.” If a person comes into church expecting to hear a happy Christmassy message, to get some warm feelings on a cold day, to have a comfortable, cozy experience like watching a Hallmark movie, then it’ll be jarring to listen to this message from Jesus: “the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. . . [so] Straighten and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

You notice of course, how there’s a difference between the world’s celebration of Christmas and the Church’s celebration of Christmas. One very significant part of that difference is timing. The world around us has already made a good start on the holiday season. While in the church, we are saying “not yet”. The Gospel reading for the day, is not yet Christmas, it’s an Advent message, preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which will happen soon, we are to expect.

“Not yet” is an important concept of the Church and the Christian life. “Not yet”, we are not in heaven yet. Our journey is not yet complete. Our struggle is not yet over. If you hope to feel good in this life, life will treat you with difficulties that will teach you to say, ‘not yet’ but true and full happiness must wait into the life to come with the Lord.

The church’s disciplined pattern of waiting and saying, “Not yet” is good practice for life. We are living in this “not yet” time. Sure, you know that Jesus has come into this world, born in Bethlehem and crucified outside of Jerusalem. So you know you’ve been saved and given eternal life. But you do not yet feel it, see it, enjoy that new life fully. You gotta wait for it. Faith is edified and strengthened when you tell yourself, not yet, I have to wait for the blessings my Lord has promised me. I have to take his word for it that it is all coming when the time is right. But for now, I have to have patience and exhibit endurance and hope in the Lord.

Patience, Endurance, Hope -- These things are fruits of faith, fruits of the Spirit. The Lord Jesus invites us to take these fruits as we wait for his coming and the consummation of all creation. He says, “watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap”

As we wait and watch, we will see the signs that day is approaching, like the new leaves on the fig tree giving signs that summer is about to return. There will be signs in the universe and signs in people. “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶ people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world.” For generations we have been noticing the signs in the heavens and on earth: Natural disasters, wars and rumors of wars. But note also how Jesus says fear that people have is a sign of the approaching end. This worldwide rise in fear and anxiety in the souls of people is a sign for us that the Lord is preparing to bring an end to this world and have His Kingdom come.

So, therefore, “straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” says Jesus.

That is his message to you who have this “not yet” attitude, who are waiting for him to come, ready for him to come, because you love him. Have patience. Exhibit endurance. Hope in the Lord and in his promises. “Watch yourselves.” “Take heed” was the old way of saying it. Jesus says, “But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

“Stay awake”. What’s that mean for you? Jesus is talking in parables, in figures of speech, in metaphor. This isn’t the physical distinction between sleep and awake. We should all get our needed physical rest. But Jesus hear speaks of spiritual wakefulness.  Here’s three examples of how you stay awake spiritually.

First, pray. Pray that you may have strength to escape all these things. The signs of the end of the world are enough to make those without faith faint for fear. But you, when you see fearful signs, Watch yourselves and pray for strength.

Second, remember His promises. When worries and fears come at you, stay awake. Trust God. Trust his promises. He says he loves you, cares for you. His biggest promise of all was in sending His son into this world so that whoever believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life.

Third, remember your vocation in this life. Keep doing what the Lord has called you to do. Love your neighbor. Be patient with your neighbor. Anxiety and distress make a person impatient with those around you. When you start thinking, “I don’t have time for this. I don’t have time to listen to them. I don’t have time to go out of my way for them.” Stay awake. God give you your time, your moments and your days. What better do you have to do than to care for the people whom God has sent your way.

You can do that with the hope that is in you. So then we conclude with the blessing given in the Epistle reading of the day, Romans 14: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Amen.

Sermon for October 23

 

The Center of our Faith..

Matthew 9:2

 

And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” (Matthew 9:2)

 

This is the center of our faith: Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven.” Everything else in religion and doctrine, life and death, in heaven and hell, has to take a less significant place than this one point: "Your sins are forgiven."

 

You are to believe that, and remember that, because often there will be other things that seem more important to you at the moment -- more pressing. It’s easy to think too little of forgiveness of sins. It becomes something we just assume. We think, “Yes, we confessed our sins at the start of the service. We’ll mention it again the next time we’re in church. But let’s get on with things. There’s so much else we want to think about. There’s so much else we want from God.

 

Of course, you expect many and great things from God.  But consider this, why would you expect blessings from God like healing of your ailments and maladies or other miracles if your sins are not forgiven? How can you expect heaven to be open to you and the angels coming down and up to help and minister to you, without first and foremost having your sins forgiven?

 

At the center of the Lord’s Prayer is this petition, “forgive us our trespasses.” We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment.

 

It would be foolish to assume good things from God before the forgiveness of your sins. You’d be denying your condition as a descendant of Adam and Eve. You’d be arrogant claiming your sins aren’t a problem.

 

This is the center of our faith: Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven.” This gets to the center of God’s heart, his favorable stance toward us his children. God is love. For the righteous and holy God of heaven to love us sinners, he must forgive us. So from the foundation of the world he had his heart set on forgiving us sinners by sending his only Son, Jesus Christ to take our sins away.

 

In this gospel reading today, some scribes were very critical of Jesus, his words and his actions. Scribes were the religious scholars of the day, experts on the Bible, which at the time of Jesus was just the Old Testament. They seemed to expect God would be stingy with forgiveness. They knew all about his judgement and his retribution for sin. But they knew little about his forgiveness. It’s like they preferred his judgement and wrath and hoped his forgiveness would be rare and difficult to come by. So when Jesus so freely announces to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven.” They object. Jesus was interfering with God’s work. God is against sin, don’t you know. For Jesus to say otherwise was blasphemy.

 

Jesus miraculously healed a paralyzed man in our Gospel reading today. He did so as a lesson to anyone who would hesitate to believe him when he says, “Your sins are forgiven.” Jesus says, “what’s easier, to say, “Your sins are forgive,” or to say, “Rise and walk?” Then he shows that both are easy, for Jesus. It’s easy for him to fix problems of the body and physical life. It’s easy for him to fix our problems of the soul and spiritual life.

 

People like the Scribes will say, “no, it can’t be that easy.” Especially when we see the sin in someone else’s life, it’s mean of us to say, “that stuff is not going to be easy to forgive.” That attitude is mean and misguided. It shows a false understanding who Jesus is. The Scribes didn’t believe that Jesus could forgive sins, because they didn’t believe that Jesus was God come down from heaven and made man. So also, when we hesitate to forgive those who sin against us, when we say something like, “No way! That sin is too big, too evil, it can’t be forgiven.” We show that we are not believing Jesus, not believing who He is and what He says. For Jesus sake, put aside grudges. Get over the hard feelings. Forgive as Jesus forgives. When he says, “Your sins are forgiven,” It’s that easy.

 

Now, here’s another problem we might have. The thinking can go like this: “Well if forgiveness is so easy, it must not be that important. If forgiveness is free, it must not be that valuable.” Remember, it’s free to you. But it was costly to Jesus Christ. He paid all for it. You who have truly received that forgiveness free and easy, know how precious that forgiveness is. That’s why it remains at the center of our faith.

 

Let’s never think that forgiveness is cheap. Let’s never take it for granted. We go back again and again to the forgiveness of our sins. It is our practice to recite it regularly, weekly in our church, daily in our prayers. There is a great value to the faith to belong to a church that keeps the forgiveness of sins at the center. Some have let it fall to the side. Some have replaced forgiveness with other ideas like acceptance and tolerance. Many churches nowadays are trying to baptize worldly, liberal ideas, trying to make them seem religious. There are Churches preaching a message of acceptance and tolerance for those who take pride in deviant behavior and immoral lifestyles.  Let’s be clear: forgiveness is not the same as tolerance.

I think of someone who’s family member has been murdered. In Christian faith, the survivor will strive to find forgiveness. But they would never want to show acceptance or tolerance. Forgiving sin, does not mean accepting sin, nor tolerating sin.

 

When sin is accepted and tolerated, the result is no repentance, no faith, no hope. God calls sinners to repent of sin and go forward in faith, as Ephesians 4 says,   22Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

 

Amen.

 

 

Service on October 16

 Our Sunday Divine Service was livestreamed here:

https://fb.watch/geGCiRSeq_/

Sermon for Trinity 13

 Luke 10:23-37

The Eighth Commandment

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

What does this mean?

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.

Our text for our meditation this morning is the Gospel reading of the day, the Good Samaritan. A lawyer was trying to justify himself. Trying to show that he was a good neighbor. He asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Answering, Jesus tells this story.

Jesus is the best storyteller; his stories are so easy to relate to. Because he was able to know human nature perfectly, his stories have these characters that seem more real than real life.

You can just know what that priest in the story was like. He was dressed well, clean and proper. He comes across a bleeding, needy victim of an ugly crime and he says, “Ew! I’m going to pretend I don’t even see that.” You can picture that scene vividly, can’t you? Because you know someone like that. You can be taken aback a little by that scene, can’t you? Because you’ve at times acted like that, for whatever reason, reluctant to help a poor, pitiful neighbor in need. It’s all too relatable.

But I tell you, I can’t relate exactly to one aspect of this parable. I don’t know about all of you, but it’s been years since the last time I was walking along a road and came across somebody laying in the ditch, unconscious, bloody and bruised. Fortunately, we live in an easier world, with less violence and crime than in some places and at other times.

But of course, Jesus’ lesson here can be applied to many situations in life. Every day we have opportunities to answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” and “How can I show mercy to him or to her?”

I hope it’s rare or never that you have to help someone who has been beaten up by robbers. But I’m sure you will have many times where you can help and show mercy to someone who has been beaten up by just life and the problems of life in this world.

It’s unlikely that in the near future you’ll need to use your first aid knowledge and skills on someone who has been beat up with fists and clubs and has been left half dead. But it’s very likely that you’ll hear someone, some neighbor get beat up with words, until his or her reputation is half dead.

Good Samaritans help their neighbor, according to the 5^th commandment, by tending to the needs of the neighbor’s life and health. Good Samaritans will also help their neighbor according to the 7^th commandment, by helping with the needs of possessions and property. And Good Samaritans will help their neighbor according to the 8^th commandment by protecting and defending the neighbor’s good name and reputation.

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.

The easiest thing always is to do nothing. To be like the priest and the Levite, who say, “This is none of my business”, turn and walk the other way. But the 8^th Commandment instructs you to do what’s uncomfortable, what’s risky. It’s hard to speak up for someone when the crowd is tearing them apart. It’s uncomfortable to speak well of him, when everyone else is enjoying the juicy gossip.

The Good Samaritan used medicinal oil and bandages to help the wounded, he got him to shelter, and got him cleaned up and fed. How do you help out someone who is being attacked by gossip. I’ve got three examples of things you can say.

1.       “Are you certain about that?” In this world of sin, lies get more traffic than truth. Let’s agree together that we are going to no longer let lies stand, nor half-truths. If we aren’t certain about the story, let it go untold.

2.       “Maybe you should talk to so-and-so about this?” When people are complaining about so-and-so, behind their back, the right thing to do is stop the gossip and lead it toward a conversation of reconciliation. Jesus says, If you’ve got something against another, Go, show him his fault, “just the two of you, and if he listens, you have won your brother” (Matthew 18:15). Let’s agree to no longer be partakers of gossip, but instruments of reconciliation. Direct those with complaints and grievances to work it out face-to-face. Behind the back, it won’t get fixed.

3.       “I think you’ve been talking to the wrong people.” This is a wise one I just heard recently. A good neighbor was hearing some gossip that was just not even believable. So she stopped the gossiper and told them to consider the source of the gossip. Let’s all agree to strive for such wisdom. Realize that there are going to be some around us who love to spread gossip, whether true or not, doesn’t matter as much as if it’s juicy. Choose carefully who you listen to. Gossip spreads worse than contagious diseases. We got some good practice on social distancing a couple years ago. You might consider how to keep a safe distance from those who spread mean lies.

With the 8^th Commandment we hear how words can be powerful for evil or for good. Know that your good Lord in heaven wants you to use words for the good, even as He constantly speaks good words to you and for you. At the end of the service he are going to sing “MY HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS”

His oath, His covenant and blood

Support me in the raging flood;

When ev’ry earthly prop gives way,

He then is all my hope and stay.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

“His oath, His covenant and blood.” Christ speaks good words. His oath and covenant are that he will care for you, forgive you and love you forever. His words, are coupled with his actions, referred to in the song as “his blood,” his sacrificial dying for us. His words and his actions are powerfully good to save us and sustain us. That’s his mercy.

He calls us to show mercy to others.

When we show mercy, we’re showing Christ’s mercy. We’re showing that we get it. And we want others to get it, too.

Amen.

Sermon for Trinity 11

The Sixth Commandment

You shall not commit adultery.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.

In Genesis chapter 4, Adam and Eve obeyed God. In Chapter 3 they had disobeyed God. They had disregarded his command and ate the fruit of the tree in the center of the garden. But now they, with repentance and faith, obeyed God.  The Lord God had said, “Be fruitful and multiply.” They obeyed him. “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain . . . And again, she bore his brother Abel” (Genesis 4:1). “Adam knew his wife.” That is a pure and decent way of saying it. They followed the 6^th Commandment, even though it hadn’t been written down yet in any Bible or on any stone tablets. God’s law is inscribed on the hearts of all men and women. Adam and Eve understood clearly that the commandment of God against adultery is a command for husband and wife to love and honor each other. So in knowing each other, loving and honoring each other and having children together they obeyed God. They obeyed him because of his law.

They also obeyed him because of his gospel. God had made a promise that they had heard and believed. God promised them a descendant of theirs, a seed that would grow from their family, would save them -- that the serpent, that old evil foe, would bruise his heal. But the Savior would crush the serpent’s head.

It's impossible for us now to imagine what it must have been like for Adam and Eve. All the rest of their life they were living with this memory, struggling with the reality, that they had paradise and they lost it because they sinned. They went through their days longing for redemption, for salvation, for a new life. And in faith and hope they held on to that promise of the Seed of their marriage and family, the descendant who would come to crush the serpent’s head and all his works and all his ways. So they had babies. And it seems as though Eve like many other pious faithful mothers coming after her for generations, would wonder and hope, is this child to be born the one promised? It took thousands of years of waiting, but then Jesus Christ was born of Mary. And there was glory to God on high and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. 

As we sing in the hymn, “Built of the Rock the Church shall stand, Longing for rest everlasting,” so Adam and Eve and all Old Testament believers were longing for a Savior, “Could this be the Promised One?” They would ask. And that is not a bad way for faithful people to live—longing for the Lord and the life everlasting. We kinda do that too, we believe that Christ will come on the last day. And we are ready for that to be any day, because we will greet him with rejoicing. So every day we could ask ourselves, “Is today the day?”

Longing for the Lord’s salvation, Adam and Eve had babies with the promise in mind that one of their children, grandchildren, great grand children or somewhere down the line, the Savior would be born. In the meantime, they lived together as faithful husband and wife, as devout parents to their children, trying to raise them up as best they could.

As Cain and Abel grew up, they learned the things the children must learn, how to walk, how to talk, how to tend the crops, how to care for the livestock – and significantly how to worship the Lord. When both boys brought offerings to the Lord, it is evident that their parents had taught them about the Lord. There were no preachers around that time. Adam and Eve were the preachers. There were no Sunday school teachers. Adam and Eve taught their children the lessons. This family would sit down to pray, to learn their lessons about God, to serve God with their offerings, the first fruits of their labors.  

I know, it’s hard to think of them as a nice, sweet family, because we just heard again how things turned out. Cain killed Abel, the first murder, actually the first human death. But God didn’t blame their upbringing, or their dysfunctional home life. He doesn’t say, Adam, Eve, what have you done. The responsibility is all Cain’s, “Where is your brother, Abel?” It was Cain’s sin. God had just warned him about it. “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? . . .  Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

What a shame! Such a nice family. And see how those kids turned out. Adam was heartbroken. Eve was heartbroken.

Christians are heartbroken when their loved ones don’t keep the commandments, like this sixth one for example. Adultery is a selfish, inconsiderate act that hurts everyone involved. Divorce hurts. It hurts every relative and it hurts all society. It breaks Christian parents’ hearts when their kids don’t keep the 3^rd commandment and stop going to church. We suffer the most from those sinners who are closest to us.

And as I listen to people talk about the heart-breaking situations in their families, I hear a great deal of shame. I suppose it’s shameful because we have this assumption that good Christian homes should consistently produce good Christian people who always make the best choices and live-long and prosper. When things go bad, it’s a shame. Is it that you are longing for forgiveness for the bad decisions and bad actions someone else is making? Know and believe that the blood of Jesus Christ has removed your sins and covered your shame.

So What’s the use? Why even remember the 6^th commandment. How can we honor marriage and the family when our own lives are so marred by sin and death. Are our families any better than those of the unbelieving world around us?

No, we cannot brag about the goodness and righteousness in our homes and in our families. But we can boast in the Lord who has done good things, and continues to give good blessings.

We must continue to speak to each other and to speak out to the world about the will of God expressed in the 6^th Commandment. He wants husbands and wives to love and honor each other. He warns about the sins of adultery and sexual perversion that have devasting consequences. We can never give up on the ideal of marriage and family – especially because it shows us the love of Christ.

When we know what a good, honorable, love-filled home is, we learn a priceless lesson on the love of Christ. Ephesians 5 --  Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,  that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Adam, created in the image of God, was to love like God loves. He was given Eve to love and adore. As Adam loved Eve he was teaching a lesson to her and to his sons about Christ’s love and salvation. We’re not going to give up on the truth of marriage and the pure and decent love and honor of one man and one woman. Despite the heartbreaks and shame, we’re not going to give up, because Christ who loves us His church, will not give up on us.

Amen.

 

 

Sermon for Trinity 10

\Romans 10:4 -- For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Every man, woman, boy and girl should know the 10 Commandments. God wants you to know the 10 Commandments. They show you what God wants you to do. That’s the law: God’s statement of what you are to do and not to do. It’s also good to know, as it says in the Epistle reading today that Christ is the end of the Law. That’s good to know. It should be a relief to know.

It’s good to know what’s the end, what’s the point we’re getting at. So as we have been going through the commandments and their meanings, we need to bring up the question, “what’s the end?”

Or perhaps, as we go through these you might be saying, “when will it end?” That’s how the law of God can strike a sinner, making you ask, “Aah! Where will it end?”

Take the 5^th Commandment for example, “You shall not murder.” Those of you who have never killed anyone, may have the quick thought of “No problem.” “I’m clean on that one. Tick, check the box. I’ve finished here.” But oh no, that’s not the end. Jesus says, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer.” The fifth commandment does not merely condemn the outward act of murder, and end there. It gets at what’s in the heart: anger, resentment, contempt, jealousy, rivalry, impatience, all these vile thoughts and feelings that are basically saying, “I wish that so- and-so would just drop dead.” Likewise with all the other commandments, they don’t end with your outward acts and the outward appearance you can put on to make yourself look right. The commandments keep going until you are guilty of sin.

In this letter to the Romans, Paul reaches out to members of the church in Rome pointing out the difference between those who were pursuing righteousness on the basis of their works, versus those who have attained righteousness by faith. It was specifically the Jews who were relying on their works, their outward zeal for God to make themselves righteous. Because they were so good at following all sorts of rituals and gestures of outward righteousness, they assumed that they accomplished the law, even the end of the law. Verse 3 says, “For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.”

Human nature tries to find its own righteousness. But God’s righteousness is Christ. He is the end of the law for all who believe. God gives you the end. It is the person, Jesus Christ. God doesn’t want anyone to die. So He gives Jesus Christ, the Resurrection and the Life. He is the opposite of the murderer. He lays down his life so you can live. He died so you don’t have to die eternally. He takes your away your guilt for not following the law. He gives you his righteousness. When is this all going to end? When Jesus says to you, I forgive you all your sins.

Actually that’s the end God had in mind all along. That’s the intended end point. From our perspective we hear, “Christ is the end of the law”, and we say, “Finally! Our struggle is ended because Jesus died for us. Our sin is atoned for. Our regrets are washed away. Our guilt is removed. We can stand righteous before God.” From God’s perspective, that was the end all along. The end of the law, the goal, the intention of telling you things like, “Do not murder” is Christ, that you believe in Him and find your righteousness not in yourself but in him. That was the end God had in mind all along.

You can see this with the first murder that ever happened. Cain killed his brother Abel, because of jealousy and out of spite. And God came to Cain and said, ““Where is Abel your brother?” (Genesis 4) That was a hard law question; it brought out the guilt. And the Lord said, “What have you done?”

God’s law says, “Do not murder.” The point to all humanity is clear. Don’t go around killing each other. Respect life. Respect God. He is the One who gives life and controls life and death. You don’t. You don’t get to decide who gets to live and who should die. Don’t despise the life God gives to the other guy. And the other guy should hear that too – for your good and your safety. You want the other guy to hear God commanding him not to murder you. That’s the point of the 5^th Commandment.

But God’s end point for the 5^th Commandment and all the commandments is that a guy like Cain, or any sinner would see their sin, and be sorry for it. God’s end point is that no one can find their own righteousness, but instead, believe in the righteousness of Christ.

That’s the end, that’s the goal.

Look to the end. Keep your eye on the goal, which is Christ. Like running a race, focus on the finish. Don’t have your head down looking inward at yourself. That’s what those are doing who think they can have righteousness themselves, by their own work. If your looking inward, looking to your own self and your own power you will stumble. The Bible says, “Christ is a stumbling block, a rock of offense” (Romans 9:33). If you are not running to Him, you’ll stumble on him. What a shame that’ll be. But then the Bible says, “whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

The only hope for the world and any sinner in it, is Christ. Those who do not have him as their end, stumble on him. He is in their way because they are running after something else. And eventually they stumble over him, and their end is destruction and shame. Even in his own temple Christ found those who were not focused on him and his righteousness. Jesus Christ visited the temple in old Jerusalem, and he found people chasing after other things. He warned them of the destruction that was coming. He said it was because “you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Friends, know the time of your visitation. God comes to you. He visits you and speaks to you. Each week, in church, every day in your heart, he says to you, “Follow my commandments. Repent of your sins. Believe in me. Believe in my Christ. Don’t have your own ends in mind. But know Christ. He is your end point. Your focus and your goal.” Amen.

Sermon for Trinity 8

 

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

 

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.

 

Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets” (Matthew 7:15). He warns his little flock, telling them to expect that there will be “wolves in sheep’s clothing”.

You know what that’s like. You’re hearing the voices of false prophets all the time, spewing forth ideas about religion, or ethics--what’s right and wrong, ideas about the philosophy of life; ideas that clearly go against the Word of God.

Some of these false prophets know exactly what they are doing: they are intentionally subverting the Lord and His good ways.

But many of the proponents of false ideas do so because they have been deceived, led astray. Unwittingly, carelessly, they pass on the ideas of false prophets who have gone before them which appeal to their sinful minds--deceived to think they are doing good, even as they live and work against the Lord and His Word.

Jesus indicates what it will be like on Judgement Day. Many will say to Jesus, when he comes to judge the living and the dead, “Lord, Lord, we have been prophesying in your name. We cast out demons in your name. We did great things for you.”

And Jesus responds to those poor misguided souls, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23).

That’s what they will hear. In this life they were happy to follow and spread ideas of religion and the philosophy of life that were against the Lord and His Word. The were happy to come up with ideas out of their own imagination. But come Judgement Day they will hear, “Depart from me.” And then there is only hell. Hell was created for the devil and any angels or archangels or men or women who depart from the Lord.

Hell is not a pleasant thing to talk about. It’s not a comfortable easy thing to think about. But we must. Remember what the Holy Spirit said in the Old Testament reading from Jeremiah about those who say to those who despise the Word of the Lord, “‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you’” (Jeremiah 23:17).

It is better to warn of hell, than to deny it or ignore it. There will be disaster for those who follow their own ideas of religion and the philosophy of life.

And they have no excuse, for God himself gives true religion and the true meaning of life in the preaching of His Word for you.

We are pleased to confess this each time we remember the Third Commandment. God has not left us to our own devices, our own imagination, our own hearts and minds to figure all things out. He gives us the preaching of his Word to hold sacred and gladly hear and learn.

Over the years, Lutherans have observed the ways people try to know God and His ways – how they’ve tried to build a relationship with God, even make deals with God. Already back in the 1500s, Martin Luther and his co-reformers pointed out how so many turned to human experts like popes, and priests and scholars who could mediate the way to know God and his ways. You can’t rely on human experts, even if they are powerful, captivating personalities, if they prophesy contrary to the Word of God. All humans have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Lutherans observed that many tried to find within themselves the ideas of religion and the way of life. Some rely on their own reason and intellect, supposing themselves to be smart enough to figure things out. Others rely on their own hearts, their emotions—what feels right, that becomes the deciding factor. But human reason and emotion are full of sin and incapable of grasping God. Imagination is a Fawlty guide. Emotions are shaky ground on which to base your life and faith.

So in 1530 our Lutheran forefathers confessed before the world and the Roman Catholic Emperor at that time, these words: “God cannot be dealt with, he cannot be apprehended, except through the Word.” (The Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV, “Concerning Justification”.)

That’s why God wants you to know and keep the Third Commandment. “Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.” Never despise or neglect God’s Word and its preaching. But hold it sacred. Gladly hear it. Gladly learn it. And by it, as through means, apprehend God.

That commandment is for you, who gladly hear and learn the Word. That commandment is for me, that I diligently work to preach it to you and those not here. Pray for this please.

The Holy Spirit says in the Jeremiah passage for today, “Is not my word like fire and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (23:29)

The word of God is power. Power is the ability to do work, to accomplish great things. The Powerful Word of God does things. So, Let it be so. Hear it. Believe it. Let it guide you, shape you, comfort you.

Jesus says a good tree is recognized by its fruit. Your Lord Jesus is recognized by his good fruit – His word. His word of Law that tells you what to do for your own good and tells you when you have done wrong, to admit it and do right. And his word of Gospel, which is His word from the cross, where in his dying breath He says to his Father in heaven, “Forgive them.” And to the believer with him there, he doesn’t say, “Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness”. He says, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Amen.

From the Association of Confessing Evangelical Lutheran Congregations (ACELC.net) -- Ten Theses on God's Arrangement of the Sexes

God created us male and female. In his image he created us. Lately we have all been hearing the ungodly words of those who wish to distort the truth about who we are and what it means to be male and female. In every age, the Christian Church must confess God's truth and respond to the lies of the world and the old evil foe, Satan, which deny and attack God's truth. This statement from ACELC.net is faithful to the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions of our faith. Studying it will serve us well to review what God says about the two sexes he wonderfully made. We encourage you to read (pdf) or listen to (YouTube) this statement of Christian confession.

Ten Theses on God’s Arrangement of the Sexes

video

Sermon for 4th Sunday of Easter

 Jesus said, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me” John 16:16.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Easter continues. In fact, every week we gather on this day, the Lord’s day, in remembrance and celebration of the Sunday resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And the believers in Jesus will continue to do so until the end of time.

“A little while” – That’s what Jesus calls this time we are in right now, the time between his first coming and his second coming – the time between when he came here to earth to die on the cross and rise again and the time in the near future when he will come again to judge the living and the dead. His disciples are expected to wait this little while with faith and the expectation of great and joyful things to come when their Lord Jesus returns. As he says, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (vs. 22).

That’s the life that we who are his disciples have now, as we wait with joyful expectation to see him.

We have this life after Easter.

Psalm 116 gives a handy way of describing what this life after Easter is like. I am going to introduce this Psalm today, and include it in services in the weeks ahead, that by continued praying it and remembering it, the words will stick in our minds and the meaning will stick in our hearts.

Psalm 116:12 What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?

Consider all his benefits. We are beneficiaries of a great and wondrous treasure. This treasure has been paid for, not with money, not with gold, but with the precious blood of Christ and his innocent suffering and death.

Life after Easter is given meaning when we consider this question, “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? What do you and I, the beneficiaries of the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and all the benefits that flow from Christ, what do we do now, what love, what life do we render to the Lord?

The next verse of Psalm 116 says, I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.

This is a vivid picture of our life after Easter. We are given the bountiful benefits of our Lord’s death and resurrection in the cup of blessing that he pours out for us now, in our life time. We meditate on the great things our Lord has done for us.  He has given us pardon and forgiveness for all our sins. He has rescued us from death and hell. He has given us life – life to the fullest now and life forever with him in his Kingdom. What’s the best way to render our puny thanks for that? How can we ever pay the Lord back for his incomprehensible gifts to us? What’s a fair amount to give him in return? It’s way beyond anything we are capable of producing and giving to him. Instead Psalm 116 leads us to say, I will just keep on taking the salvation my Lord is giving. I will keep drinking from the cup of salvation. When I am at a loss to do anything that could properly, fully render my thanks, I will just take more of his benefits to me. It is a foolish and futile notion to think we can somehow repay God for salvation and eternal life.

Who among us can fully repay our mothers for all they’ve done for us? She nurtured you in her womb. She went through an uncomfortable process to give birth to you. She prayed for you, nursed you, got up in the middle of the night for you, worried about you when you were out too long, taught you lessons about earth and heaven. And in return you might give her some tokens, flowers, a nice brunch, but you can’t really give her enough to make up for it all, and that’s not what she would want anyway, is it?

So much more, the relationship between you and your Lord God. You say, “What should I do to say thanks? He says, “Here, have more. Receive again today the blessings given you at your baptism”, he says, “Where I washed your sins away and gave you new life. Come soon and often to my table and eat the body of Christ and drink from the cup of salvation. Call on my name every day, and I will be there and will bless you again and again. My Spirit will be with you, to comfort you, bless you, prosper you and guide you into the new life I have appointed for you.”

Psalm 116: “I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.”  Led by the Spirit of God, filled with the blessings of the cup of salvation you are now led to fulfill the vows you have made to the Lord. That’s your calling and vocation in life.

Today we think of this especially with the graduates we are recognizing and honoring. Katie and Grace, I’d suggest you use this time of your graduation to remember and give thanks to the Lord to all his benefits to you. And then consider your vocation.

Vocation is a noun, but it is based on a verb, an active verb with a subject and a couple of objects. God is the subject. You are the object and the things he has in store for you are the objects. He who has created you and redeemed you, now calls you to great things, this new life in Christ. With the aid and comfort of the Holy Spirit, he gives you a life to live in service to him and to others. He calls you to be his daughters and so his representatives here in this life in this world. You are called to show mercy to others as he has shown it to you. He calls you to bless others with the words you speak and the smiles you share and the work you do.

We are wishing you the best today. But of course, things won’t always go smoothly and easily. You know how life here goes. But we go forward with life in faith and trust, with the promises of Jesus our Lord who says to you, “You have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22). Amen.

 

Sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Easter

Jesus said, “So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16).

As we meditate on the words of our Lord today, the images of green pastures and pools of still waters, are sure to bring comfort to the soul, peace to troubled consciences, and a sense of security to frightful hearts.

The rod and the staff of the Good Shepherd comfort the sheep. The rod the shepherd has is to ward off the enemies: the lion, the wild dogs that would harm the sheep. And the staff -- a shepherd’s staff has a crook in it, like you see in the bulletin cover today. That’s to reach out and hook a sheep by the neck or leg, to pull it back in the right direction, to keep her from wondering off or falling into danger. There’s no comfort, peace, or security in just letting the sheep wander off wherever they want to go. The Good Shepherd is gentle and loving, even as he directs and sometimes even disciplines. Comfort, Peace and security comes went the enemies are beaten off, and because so often, a sheep is its own worst enemy. It takes a rod, and it takes a staff to be a good shepherd.

The Epistle reading, 1 Peter 2 talks about the Shepherd and the sheep. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were straying like sheep.” As the shepherd must correct his straying sheep with rod and staff, so it is with our Good Shepherd Jesus. His word is his rod and staff to guide us and to redirect us away from our misguided attitudes and sinful desires.

That’s actually what he was doing that day when he said these words, “I am the Good Shepherd”. The audience for this sermon of Jesus included his disciples, but also a bunch of Pharisees and a formerly blind beggar man. Just before this, Jesus gave sight to the blind man and the Pharisees were all upset about the miraculous healing. You see, Jesus had done this work on the Sabbath and that was against their rules. With no mercy at all toward the poor blind guy, they were vehemently arguing and insulting Jesus. It's like they were mad because the Lord was merciful.

These Pharisees think that they themselves are the big deal. They despise others who are not like them, or who don’t meet their exalted Pharisaic expectations.  And Jesus tells them, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

Jesus was all about mercy. And with the rod and the staff of his word, he directs his listeners to show mercy, likewise. That means you have to look at others as God sees them. God shows no partiality toward souls, nor should we, his people.

There is another example of this in the book of James, chapter 2:

“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man.”

This is one of those passages that hits the sinful heart like a rod. It has to hit to the heart because we can use outward “proper” behavior to hide the evil, unmerciful thoughts going on inside.

So hear how Jesus talks to the Pharisees when they have these unloving hearts. He says, “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep.”

Is there anyone you despise, that you can’t respect because they are different than what is commonly accepted? Consider this, what if they are sheep of the Lord’s one flock. What if they, like you, know Psalm 23 and pray it? Jesus says, “there will be one flock, one Shepherd.” And he, not you, not me, he is the one who makes the call as to who is in that flock.

This is not to say that all bad behavior is excused. That’s what the world around us has got wrong with the buzz word “tolerance”. They use that word to talk about bad behavior, immoral, perverted behavior that goes against God’s word and creation. The world says tolerance means you cannot critique immorality, you cannot guide children and others away from bad, unhealthy choices and disfunctioning. When really, to be merciful toward your fellow human being means talking about, speaking up for what is good and right and God-pleasing. In mercy we Christians invite others to join us in sorrow for our sins, both sins of outward bad behavior and sins of hidden bad attitudes in the heart.

Then when we and they turn from sin and turn again to follow our Lord we hear his voice. He says “14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

In what way is He our Good Shepherd? Two things: First He knows us, and we know him by faith. And second, He lays down his life for the sheep.

He is your Good Shepherd like so. He guides you to Himself and to follow in His ways, and He dies for you. He loves you and me and all sinners. He doesn’t act out of frustration with us for our intolerable behavior and attitude. No, but in mercy he guides us with rod and staff and he forgives us with his holy precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. Amen.

Sermon for Holy Thursday

33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Jeremiah 33:33

Remember this line from the Gospel reading for Palm Sunday? We heard this, that the “disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him” (John 12:16). Jesus teaches his disciples, including us, of course, explaining to us why he did what he did. As we, tonight, meditate on that ho ly supper that Jesus instituted on the night he was betrayed, we learn from him “these things that had been written about him and had been done to him.” Receiving the body and blood of Jesus, who has since been glorified is the best way for us to gain understanding and faith in what our Lord did for us on the Cross.

He had promised, back in Jeremiah’s day, that He would make a new covenant with his beloved people. “I will make a new covenant”, he said. Not like the old one the Israel broke in their disobedience and idolatry.

Throughout the Bible, God made covenants with people. He made a covenant with Noah and made the rainbow, promising to keep the world going now, not destroying in it again in that way. God made a covenant with Abraham, telling him to leave your home country and go to a new land I am giving you and I will bless you there and like the stars of the skies, so many shall your offspring be, and all nations of the earth will be blessed by one particular Offspring.

Covenants are sometimes made, man to man. Maybe as a business agreement, or a friendship, an alliance. The marriage of a husband and a wife is a covenant between them, sealed when they make their vows and promises to each other. A covenant from God is like that, but different in some very significant ways.   First of all, it is very one sided with God. In this covenant he is cutting with us, he is the one doing it all. He doesn’t work out an agreement with us as though he needs our contribution or our attention. There is nothing we have that he lacks. He makes a covenant with us simply because he wants to be our God and he wants us to be his people. What’s more, With God, it is an everlasting covenant. We need not fear that he will break it or change it. Even the old Covenant, it wasn’t he that broke it. But Israel, his people did. So he says, “I’ll make a new one.” So just like Israel had 12 tribes, from the 12 sons of Jacob, whom God called Israel, So now Jesus takes 12 apostles and makes a new covenant with the new Israel.

We who believe, are brought into that new covenant and it makes us new. Here’s what God does to us with this new covenant: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.” The law of the Lord is, simply put, love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. On the night our Lord instituted the Holy Supper, he told his disciples, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another” (John 13:34). That’s why this is called Maundy Thursday, because of that commandment or mandate, all related words.

An essential result of the New Covenant, written on the heart, is a new love for God and a new love for others.

With his death on the cross, our Lord Jesus did what it took, to pay for all the sins of all the world. By his death on the cross, he redeemed all the world. Now, because of that he is ready and able to make a new covenant with you. On the cross it’s for all. In the cup, it’s for you. He says, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

Jesus serves you his body to eat and his blood to drink, because he wants to make this new covenant with you. He wants to assure you that He is your God, and you are His people.

Amen. 

Sermon for Palm Sunday & Confirmation

 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”  (John 12:19)

 Jesus says, “Follow me.” He says that to you Trice, and Grace, and Miyah, and Kendall. Follow Jesus.

 Confirmation is about a lot of things: The fulfillment of your midweek Bible lessons and catechism instruction, your joining this congregation as a confirmed and communicant member, it is a rite of passage, a sign that you’ve grown up. But most importantly, it is the public confession that you are following Jesus. Your are his disciple. He is your Lord and Savior. This is confirming what’s been true since your baptism, You are a follower of Jesus Christ. So consider now, what all that means.

 First, you are a follower of Jesus, and that means you are not a follower of other things that are against the Lord. We teach from our catechism that there are especially three enemies of the Lord and his ways, that hinder his will and don’t want his Kingdom to come: the devil, the world and our sinful nature.

 You are a follower of Jesus, so obviously you are not a follower of the devil. Now, what that will mean is you’ve been brought into an arena where the devil is fighting. He  has to work harder on you, than he does on someone who doesn’t care. He will work harder to tempt you, to lead you astray, to give you what seem like good reasons to give up and not bother with the religion and the faith of the Lord and his church. But you just have to say, nope, I follow Jesus.

 Likewise, You are a follower of Jesus, so you are not a follower of the world and its ways. You are making a public statement today, that is completely different from what the world around us says. You’re saying that the Lord God has created you. And He redeemed you from sin and death. And he sanctified you and gave you a new birth and new life of faith. The world says that nothing created you, you just came to be by chance and chaotic randomness and that’s all there is to look forward to in the future. So the world says you’ve got to take care of things yourself, and you hear what kind of things the world says, without any acknowledgement of the Lord and his law: the world says, Choose for yourself what kind of person you will be, what gender you will be, what you will think and feel, choose for yourself without a thought or care about the people around you or the God above you. To which you are saying, in your confirmation vows this morning, I follow Jesus Christ. Him alone I serve. Him alone, I trust.

 The third spiritual enemy working against you when you follow Jesus is your own sinful nature. All of us who are born of flesh and blood are by nature selfish. So we always bent on putting ourselves first, reluctant to put others first, even including the Lord Jesus Christ. To make the vows of confirmation, means you have to repent of your sins, repent of your sinful nature, repent of your self-first attitude.

 Think about what Jesus was doing as he was riding that donkey on the Palm strewn street. You know where he was riding to? He was riding into Jerusalem. And we know what was waiting for him there. There were a lot of people crazy angry toward him. These Pharisees that are watching on, were filled with anger and hatred. “We’ve got to stop him. They said. We’ve got to put an end to this or the whole world will go after him.

 Jesus was riding right into the middle of that hatred and anger. He was riding to his arrest and trial filled with false witnesses. He was going forward toward a beating, thorns, pierced hands and feet. He is riding on to his death. You’d think he wouldn’t want to do that. But he rode on, for your faith and your salvation.

 Jesus says, “Follow me.” So that means you will probably have to go where you don’t want to go, for Jesus’ sake. Here’s what I mean: Jesus will say, “Follow me; repent of your sins and your selfish sinful nature.” And that’s not the favorite place to go. It’s not the easiest, most pleasurable thing to do. The sinner in all of us wants to say, “No, I don’t want to go there. I don’t want to admit that I was wrong. I don’t want to let on that I’m not right.” Jesus says follow me, even if it’s not where you want to go. Follow me, He says, “I’m going to the cross. Repent of your sins and believe what I say. There at my death on the cross, you are forgiven and redeemed.”

 It's good to follow Jesus, despite what your human nature makes you feel about it. It’s good to follow Jesus, despite what the world says. It’s good to follow Jesus despite what the devil would try to trick into believing otherwise.

 It’s good to follow Jesus to his cross. You do that when you pray your prayers of repentance and ask for him to forgive you your trespasses. You follow Jesus to his cross as you continue to hear what he says in his word. You haven’t learned it all yet. He has more to teach you. Keep reading, hearing, learning, and believing. You follow Jesus when you come with faith and joy to the altar and receive his body and blood with his promise, this is for you, for the forgiveness of sins and where there is forgiveness, there is life and salvation.

 And when your last hour comes, follow Jesus. He’ll take you home. None of us knows when that day will be, how it will be, what it will be like. Because it’s unknown, it’s kinda scary. And we might want to say, Lord I don’t want to go where you are leading me. When we who follow Jesus reach that point, we can close our eyes in death and have peace. We can be like the Daughters of Zion who rejoice and say, "Behold, your king is coming to your righteous and having salvation is he, Hosana! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."

 Amen.