March 9, 2011 - Ash Wednesday - The Ten Commandments and Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

I want you to get out your mirrors and look into them. No, not your compacts, ladies. I mean everyone. Your mirror is the Ten Commandments. They're on p.288 in the hymnal. Let's read them together...Those commandments are a mirror. They are not a pair of binoculars to spy on others so that you can see what sins other people are doing. They are a mirror so that you can look at them and see what you are. What do you see? Love God, His name and His Word? No. You don't. So look in the mirror and see the ashes on your head that tell you what you are: dead. Dust. Doomed. Do you honor your parents? Keep from harming others even with your words? Lust after those the Lord hasn't given you? Honor and love your spouse? Take what doesn't belong to you? Gossip and talk about others? Covet and daydream about things you don't have? No, you don't love your neighbor either. What does the mirror show? Ashes. You're dead. You're dust. You're doomed. This is the holy Law of God. Those who don't keep it will suffer everlasting death and judgment. That's what the Law says will happen.

But it gets worse. The Commandments don't condemn us because we don't keep some rules. As if God just said one day, “Hmm, what are ten rules I can come up with and smite people when the don't follow them?” No, the Ten Commandments condemn us because Jesus says that our hearts will be where our treasure is and the Ten Commandments show us where our treasure is NOT. God Gives us Himself. You want other things to be more important. God gives us His name. You don't pray and call upon it. He gives us His Word. You ignore, fail to study and grow in it. He gives us parents and children but we despise them and wish we had others. He gives us life, but we take it from others with our words and actions. He gives us our spouses but we lust after other people. He gives us our possessions but we try to take what doesn't belong to us and don't help others keep what is theirs. He gives us our reputation which we love to preserve while tearing down someone else's. He gives us contentment by promising to take care of us but we daydream and covet other things, always wanting more, never satisfied with what our Father in heave gives us. Get it? Our biggest problem is not that God gives us rules and we can't keep them. Our real problem is the Lord gives us an abundance of treasure in Himself and others and we could care less. We despise and want other things. And the punishment of the Ten Commandments is this: If you don't want the things God gives you, you don't have to have them. And you can spend eternity with yourself apart from God with all the others who don't want those things either. That's a pretty ugly face to see when we look in that mirror!

So the Lord gives every good thing to us and we love the things of this world more than Him. So He sentences us to turn back into dust. But there is love even in that curse. Look in the mirror. See the ashes? It's a reminder you will be dust again one day. It's a reminder that you won't last. That the things of this world won't last. The Lord teaches us in our sins that we cannot save ourselves. We can't cheat death or avoid it. And there is nothing we love so much on this earth that won't likewise pass away no matter what or who it is. The treasures of this world, our money and things and people, these get eaten by moths and rust and stolen and fade away. Ash Wednesday is the reminder that when you strip it down and take away all the things we love so much, other people, and the money and things of this world, and finally, most of all, ourselves, none of it can be relied upon. The only thing left is the Lord. If we would be saved, if we would be rescued from our sins, if we would overcome the death that awaits us, it's all on Him to do it and to save us.



Look in the mirror again. See the ashes? But what shape? The cross. The cross is the sign that God has done something about our sins. In the Old Testament, one of the sacrifices and ceremonies that took place was the making of the water of purification. To make the water of purification, the priest sacrificed a heifer, and burned it along with cedar wood, scarlet thread, and hyssop. The ashes of all this were then mixed with water, to be a water of purification. The symbolism and picture is obvious isn't it? Jesus, mocked in a scarlet, is then sacrificed on the wood of the cross to pay the price for our sins. The punishment that the Lord sets upon us for our sins—death--is the punishment He Himself undergoes for us. For us, who treasure everything else but what we should, our Savior Jesus makes His treasure this one thing: doing the will of His Father; saving sinners. Jesus treasures His Father because we don't. Jesus is the sacrifice that purifies us. The dust reminds us of death. But the ashes remind us of mercy. God's mercy to us through His Son Jesus Christ!

Just as the ashes of the heifer and the items were mixed with the water, so it is the sacrifice of Jesus, the blood He shed which is mixed with the water of the font to become a purifying water, a water that washes away sins. We have looked into the mirror of the Law and seen the ashes of our dust and death. What can take that away? What can save us? The Law doesn't make us pure and holy. It can't. It only shows us that we're not. So we wash with the water of purification. Washed in the water and word of Baptism. The words of Absolution. The Body and Blood of Christ's Supper. How can you be sure that the cures of death upon you has been lifted? That you will beat death? Because you're been purified by the blood of Christ. The font is open tonight. As you come up for the Sacrament, why not splash your fingers in that water and make the sign of the cross? Remember the waters of purification that have been made by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God for you. And, dare I suggest it? If some of that water is marked on your forehead and washes off your ashes? A reminder that through Holy Baptism we have the victory of our Lord over sin and death and the curse. A reminder that the treasure the Lord gives us in Holy Baptism is greater than any treasure that is passing away in this world!

So you check yourself in the mirror every day before you go to work or school or out and about. Hair combed, nothing in your teeth, right? Check yourself in the mirror of the Lord's commandments each day. And whatever sins and blemishes you find there, wash them off with the remembrance of your Baptism. In this way, learn to use the Ten Commandments to prepare yourself for confession of your sins. But learn also to use them as your treasure list, to daily see the good gifts the Lord gives you. Learn to see these commandments as the true and trustworthy guide in how the Lord wants you to live toward Him and toward others. And yes, doing that will eventually show you how ugly your sin makes you. So its more washing with the remembrance of Holy Baptism. And that's the Christian life, that we struggle against the sin which despises what God gives and are purified by the sacrifice of Jesus which takes away our sins. Ash Wednesday calls to mind our death and dust. But the purifying waters of Jesus triumph over that. So we can't help but say, “Happy Lent!” In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

March 6, 2011 - Catechesis at Bethel: What is Lent?

Lent is a season in the Church Year which focuses upon the Passion (suffering and death) of Jesus to accomplish our salvation. Lent is often called a “penitential” season because of the emphasis on repentance. Remember, however, that “repentance” also includes faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. So the emphasis in Lent isn't US and OUR sins, but JESUS and His giving Himself as the Lamb of God to take away our sins.

Historically, Lent has had different meanings and purposes. At one time, it was a period of “discipline” for those who had sinned publicly and were waiting to be publicly absolved and readmitted to the fellowship of the church. In other times, it has had a Catechism emphasis, being the time when catechumens were instructed in the faith in preparation for Baptism and Confirmation at the Easter Vigil. The best understanding of Lent is that it is about Jesus and what He suffered to save us. In worship, we forego the joyous sound of “alleluias” until Easter and our hymns will concentrate more than ever on Jesus' saving work as the sacrifice for our sins.

The Season of Lent is 40 days long. (Sundays in Lent are not counted and neither are Good Friday and Holy Saturday). These 40 days remind us of the 40 days of the rains of the Flood, the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the desert, and the 40 days Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted, among other “40s” in the Scriptures. These times remind us especially about the battles we face in this life and that we trust in the Lord to fight for us against our enemies and provide for us until we reach the safety of eternal life.

Three particular Christian practices are emphasized in Lent. Lent is seen as a time of extra prayer. During Lent and throughout Holy Week, the Church has extra times for worship so that we can give more attention to the preaching of Christ and the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. Lent is also a good time to practice daily prayer in our personal devotions. A simple order of prayer is available right in the Small Catechism (p.327 in the hymnal).

Fasting or abstaining is another Lenten discipline. Fasting means not eating for a length of time. Abstaining means not eating certain foods or, as is the more modern custom, “giving something up.” The point of these practices is NOT to deny ourselves some pleasure but to remind ourselves that Christ is our true bread and that the food of this world does not last. Sometimes meat (which really includes fish, too!) is not eaten on Fridays as a simple reminder that our Lord suffered in His flesh on a Friday. It's a devotional reminder of our Lord's suffering, again, not to deprive ourselves, but to focus our attention and meditation upon our Savior.

Almsgiving or works of charity are another type of Lenten practice. Here we learn again to crucify our own sinful flesh and its desires by remembrance of our Baptism and instead use our time or money for the benefit of our neighbor. You might take money that you would otherwise spend on something for yourself and use it for your neighbor in some way or practice loving your neighbor by helping them in some way.

Remember, the purpose of Lent is never to make ourselves miserable or focus on how sorry we are. When Lent is about US, then it's a gloomy season indeed! Rather, there is a subtle joy in Lent because even though the suffering and death of Jesus are quite awful and caused by our sins, it is exactly to save us from our sins that He underwent His Passion. Therefore we don't have to mope or seem subdued in Lent. Rather we can smile and be happy, knowing that Lent is all about what our Savior accomplished!

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, the day we are reminded that the curse of sin is death, and that we will one day die and become dust once again. Yet this very reminder of our mortality because of sin kicks off a season in which we hear with great joy the work of our Savior Jesus to rescue us from sin and death. So Happy Lent, because of Jesus!

March 6, 2011 - Quinquagesima - St. Luke 18:31-43

How many times did the Lord tell His disciples that He had to go to Jerusalem to be handed over, mocked, spit upon, flogged, and killed and then rise the third day? And they still didn't get it! They didn't understand what He was saying, what He was talking about. It was hidden from them. Sometimes when Jesus told them what was going to happen, they were afraid to even ask what He meant. Other times they gave up and instead argued about which of them was greatest. “Do you understand what Jesus is talking about?” “No.” “Me either.” “So anyway, which of us do you think is top dog?” How about us? We've heard it all before. Jesus suffers and dies and rises again. We hear it in every sermon. Most of us have heard it our whole lives. But do we get it? Do we understand what Jesus is saying? What He did? We can hear over and over and over that Jesus is true God and man who suffered and died and rose. And yet we still have notions in our heads that we somehow please God by what we do. Or that Jesus was just a good teacher. Or that it doesn't matter how we live. Or that somehow we need to have a God other than the one who suffered and bled and died and rose for us. The fact is, from pastor on down, we live as if we haven't heard it before or that we don't get what it means for our faith and life.

Contrast that with the blind man that Jesus runs into outside Jericho. This man, when he finds out it's Jesus going by cries out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He's heard of Jesus. He knows who Jesus is, the Son of David, the promised Savior, and He knows Jesus can heal Him. Even when the crowds try to shush him, he just cries out louder, “Lord, have mercy!” Nothing will stop this guy from having His Jesus save him and help him. And Jesus does have mercy on this poor man. He opens his eyes and gives him his sight. And this man probably has heard somewhere that Jesus is on His way to die. You'd think now that his eyes were opened he could see Jesus for what He is and run the opposite direction. But instead he follows Jesus. Follows Him toward His suffering and death. The disciples have heard Jesus over and over talking about His suffering and death and resurrection and they don't get it. This blind man receives his sight and follows after Jesus. That's quite a contrast! Disciples with hard hearts compared to a blind man who sees and “gets” it and gos with Jesus.

Because when it comes down to it, the only Jesus that saves us is the One who is handed over, spit upon, mocked, scourged, killed and rises again the third day. The only Savior who saves is the One who suffers and dies in our place. People don't want that kind of God. A seemingly weak, suffering, crucified God. But nothing else saves us from our sins. Nothing else removes from us the curse that would otherwise leave us cast out from God forever. Nothing else but the Son of God crucified for sinners will shut down the accusations of Satan against us. When Jesus tells His disciples over and over that He must suffer and die, He is teaching them what sort of a Savior He will be. And when we hear it preached over and over that Jesus suffered and died and rose, we are learning by God's Spirit to trust in no other God than the One who became man and did what it seems God should never do: die. But that's what He did for us.

So the blind man knew that Jesus could save him and so he cried out even when the crowd was against him. Do you pray like that? Do you cling to Christ like that? When we come to the Divine Service, and Christ Himself passes by in His Word and Body and Blood, are we “ho humming” in our hearts as if it's just the same ol' same ol' or do we cry out with the blind man, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus does have mercy on this blind man. I get to study God's Word and preach Christ all the time and yet it feels like I'm just preaching the same old sermon. What we need is our eyes to be opened by Jesus. And that's exactly what He's doing when He washes us at the font, absolves us of our sins, speaks His Word into our ears and gives us His Body and Blood to eat and drink. By the same Word that said to the blind man, “Receive your sight,” The Lord tells us, “Receive your sight. Your sins are forgiven. You are the Lord's. This Savior who suffers and dies and rises has done all that for you.” When we come to church, we are doing exactly what the blind man does: crying out for Jesus to have mercy on us. And His answer is, “Your faith, your Jesus has saved you,” for here in His church, the Lord is opening our eyes and forgiving our sins and granting us eternal life.

But a Savior who suffers for us means being disciples who will suffer with Him. The blind man who could see probably presumed he would go and suffer whatever Jesus might. Maybe he did. Maybe he was later killed by those who hated Jesus. We don't know for sure. But we do know that those who follow Jesus will die. You've already died. Died to sin. And you die daily, meaning life isn't about YOU but about the people around you who need you. To be a Christian is to die to yourself, to crucify by the daily remembrance of Holy Baptism that Old Adam who only thinks about Himself. But more than that it may mean that we literally suffer and die with Jesus. Already around the world our brothers and sisters in Christ are tortured and killed for confessing Jesus. Who knows but that our time may come too. But now, our eyes have been opened and along with his disciples after Easter, we know what His suffering and death is all about. Now it's not just words and nonsense but it means something. Now we know that our Lord's suffering and death has rescued us from anything in this life that can hurt us. There is nothing to fear and we can follow Jesus, not blindly! But with open eyes, crying out to Him to have mercy upon us and trusting that He will do exactly that.

Now the season of Lent is coming. Ash Wednesday is this Wednesday. It's the time of our open eyes following Jesus to the cross for us. It's the time of learning to die to sin, crucifying the sinful flesh and cling to Jesus. Lent is the time when our open eyes are off of ourselves and fixed on Him because He goes to be handed over, mocked, spit upon, scourged, killed and to rise the third day. That's our God. That's our salvation. We've heard it countless times before and we'll hear it countless times again. Because it is that Good News that He has done all that for us that saves us, gives us victory over all evil in this world, and bestows upon us everlasting life. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

March 2, 2011 - Wednesday of Sexagesima - Isaiah 55:10-13

Hollywood spends millions producing so-called “reality” shows which are often quite scripted and not real at all. And even if they are not scripted the editing that goes into these shows to produce a certain effect is enormous. Just so companies spend millions on trying to persuade us to buy their products. But just because we see an ad doesn't mean we'll buy whatever is being sold. All over our lives we can see examples of the way in which we try to control things and make people do what we want and make things come out the way we want and it can still fail. But compare that to God's Word. He sends His Word and it does what it says. Consider for a moment the power of God's Word. He speaks and calls forth creation out of nothing. He establishes a kingdom with a word and tears down another. He pronounces judgment and punishment that cannot be avoided. He promises grace and every blessing and people are blessed. Just listen to that promise from the prophet Isaiah: “As the rain and snow water the earth and it produces a harvest, so the Lord's Word goes forth and does accomplishes the things for which He sent it. And no longer will their be briers but myrtle trees.” The promise is that wherever God's Word goes, the curse of thorns and judgment against sin is overcome.

It was God's Word that created man from the dust of the earth and Eve from Adam's rib. It was abandoning that Word that caused mankind to fall into sin. It was God's Word that promised a Savior someday to Adam and Eve and it is His Word which goes forth to save sinners. After all, when we are talking about the Word, we are most of all talking about Jesus, the Son of God who is the Word of God made flesh. What does God have to say? He says, “Jesus.” The Son conceived in Mary's womb by God's Word and born according to the promises of God's Word. The Savior who preached God's Word of mercy for sinners. The Word of God that spoke God's love and forgiveness from Calvary when He was nailed to the tree, wearing those thorns, that sign of the curse. Jesus crucified wearing thorns teaches us that the Word that brought the curse against sin has taken the curse Himself so that the Word which curses us for our sins would be instead the word that forgives our sins.

And now that Christ is risen, He still sends His Word into the world to do what it says: save sinners. There is the Word that is attached to the water of the font that says your sins are washed away. There at the font is no symbol but the work of God being carried out: the Lord Himself making a new creation and claiming you as His own, rescued from death and the devil. The Word of Holy Absolution declares that your sins are forgiven and nothing in heaven or on earth or hell itself can say otherwise. Your guilt is pardoned. The Word is preached and read from the Holy Scriptures. There we have the promises of God laid out from the beginning of time and even after our Fall into sin. In that Word we have repeated for us the Lord's mercy in sending His Son to be our Savior and take away our sins. Done deal! Then there is the Word of Jesus that makes present His true Body and Blood to eat and drink for forgiveness, life and salvation. Over and over in His church, the Word comes to us and does what it says: it forgives, it makes new, it gives life, it promises hope and blessings, it rescues us from despair and sadness. The Word of God comes forth and waters us so that live ever in Christ.

Now since the Word of God does all those things, why would we dare despise it? Neglect it? Ignore it? When we plant something, we don't just leave it to wither and die. We water it and fertilize it so that it grows. Why then would we neglect the water of God's Word which causes us to grow? Here we ought to pause and examine our lives and ask ourselves: What is it that keeps me from being in church more often to hear God's Word? What is it that keeps me from studying and learning and growing in God's Word? What is it that hinders me from paying attention when God's Word is preached and read? Here are all kinds of opportunities to repent of neglecting and despising God's Word. In fact, here is our encouragement to pray that the Lord would continue to provide us His Word and do what it promises, that is, forgive our sins and keep us in the faith. And since we have that promise we can pray boldly that His Word will do exactly that!

Who knows how a show will end or if an ad on TV will persuade you to buy anything? But the Lord's Word is not uncertain like that. It is given to save sinners and that's exactly what it does. It is the Word that bestows what it says: forgiveness of sins, faith, life, salvation, a clean heart, the blessings of communion with God Himself. Whatever is promised in God's Word His Word gives. Whatever gifts His Word says we have, we have! For the Lord's Word goes forth and it doesn't return empty. It gives and does what it promises and therefore it is the most sure and certain thing our Lord has given us. For the Word gives us Christ and there is nothing more sure and certain than Him. God's Word says Jesus is for you. His Word says you are His. So you are. Because He said so and that's the kind of Word God has. Not uncertain and wishy-washy. Sure and certain. Rock solid. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

February 27, 2011 - Sexagesima - St. Luke 8:4-15

Jesus says that the seed sown is the Word of God. Seed is sown into the dirt. That means...wait a minute! Did Jesus just call us dirt? Well, that's what we are. God took some dirt and made Adam. When we die we turn back into dust, dirt. So yeah, we're dirt. But think about it. Where do you put a seed when you want it to grow? Into the dirt. Just so the Lord sows His seed, His Word into us that it may grow up and bear fruit. And look at how He sows! This is the same generous Lord who last week paid everyone the same no matter how long they worked. Now He's sowing seed everywhere, flinging it all over the place. Sending His Word around the world. Sometimes it's snatched away or doesn't have root or gets choked off. But sometimes it grows in good soil and produces a big harvest. It doesn't matter. He just keeps sowing. What matters is what Isaiah says: The Word of the Lord goes forth and does what it says, it saves sinners and bears fruit in their lives.

The Word of God goes forth. In the flesh. To get planted in the dirt. Jesus comes, the Son of God, the Word of God, made flesh. To be planted in the ground at His death and to rise again to give the world life. When the Father sent the Son, the Word into this world, He did what the Father sent Him to do: save sinners by His death on the cross. Jesus said once that unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground, it can never grow. But now our Lord has been planted by His death into the earth and by His resurrection He brings forth the fruit of forgiveness and life which are given to the whole world through the Word that delivers them. Once again we see the generosity of this Lord who doesn't spare His only begotten Son but gives Him up for us all, for the whole world!

When He is risen, and before He ascends to the Father, Jesus ordains His preachers to take His Word to the ends of the earth. By the preaching of the Gospel ever since, the Lord has been sowing His Word all over the place. More generosity. Doesn't matter where or when, the Lord's Word is going forth. Around the the world. Wherever there are sinners. But not all received it. The Word was preached to rescue sinners from sin and death. But sometimes the devil snatches it away. Sometimes the troubles of this life cause faith to wither. Sometimes just all the stuff this world gives us to worry about chokes off that faith the Word implanted. The Word of God is not magic. It can be resisted and rejected. There's a warning for us there. There's a warning to repent of despising that Word. Of letting the devil have it. Or letting the troubles of this life wither your faith or paying so much attention to the riches and cares of this world that faith and trust in Christ are choked off. Notice when Jesus speaks this parable, He isn't talking about the unbelievers. He's talking about those who have heard and believed but for one reason or another have given up on God's Word! Beware! Satan wants to snatch God's Word from you. The temptations your sinful flesh faces will try to wither you faith into nothing. The cares and riches of this life will choke off your faith.

But we have God's promise that His Word does what it says. And in the good soil it produces fruit. What's the good soil? A noble and good heart? Well that's a heart that's been prepared to receive this Word by the rich waters of Holy Baptism. It's a heart that's been tilled and plowed by the Law which drives us to repentance and prepares us to receive the seed of the Gospel that grows in us producing fruits. Here's more of Jesus getting our eyes off of ourselves and teaching us that religion isn't about us but about Him. It's HIS Word. HIS seed. When the Word of God bears fruit in us, that is the Spirit's work. Not ours. To bear fruit is the work of God's Word in us. The seed planted in you is the Savior who was planted in the grave and rose again now planted in you for salvation and life. And what is that fruit? It's the fruit of faith that trusts in Jesus and knows that for His sake all of our sins are forgiven. It's the fruit of good works which does whatever needs to be done, not to impress God, but for those around us who need our love and help and encouragement and support. In short, the seed of God's Word in us grows up in us in a life that looks to Jesus for all things and serves our neighbor in every way.

So if this is the strength and power of the Word of God, why aren't there more people sitting in these pews? Why are there those who used to come but now we haven't seen them in so long? Why is it that Someone receives instruction in the Word and is eager to be a part of the church and not long after they drift away? The Lord has laid it out for us. That's just what happens to His Word and faith. The devil, the sinful nature, the world. The fact is, there are lots of things out there that drag us away from church and Christ's Word. People get mad at God. Don't have time. Find something better to do. But He tells us this parable to warn us. To teach us to look to Him to fulfill the promise of keeping us in His Word. That's always what we need: His Word. Brothers and sisters in Christ, how can I persuade you that you need the Lord's Word? I can't. But the Word of God does its work, even this very parable. May this very parable of our Lord do what He promises, that is, turn you away from ever despising God's Word deliver to you the key to the mysteries of God's kingdom. And that means faith and trust in Christ.

Jesus told His disciples that to them was given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. That's what His Word is all about. Delivering salvation and forgiveness to us and preserving us against all that would steal, wither, or choke off that faith. That means watered with the nourishing water of Baptism and fed with the holy food of Christ's body and blood. You here today, you who are a part of Christ's church by the Lord's generosity—you have the implanted Word which is saves you. So here we are, a week and a half from Ash Wednesday and Lent and prepared by our Lord to receive His Word and to have it live and grow in us unto eternal life. And that means that you're not just any kind of dirt but holy and sanctified dirt! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

February 20, 2011 - Septuagesima - St. Matthew 20:1-16

Lent is coming up. And the danger in Lent is that somehow it always becomes about us. What we're giving up and how much sorrow we can have over our sins. So, because there is such a danger of making Lent into a season of “Me,” the Church Calendar gives us three weeks of Pre-Lent in which the Gospel readings teach us to repent of making religion about US and see that everything is about Christ and what He does. When you boil it all down, those are the only two religions. Either it's a religion about you and what you do for God or religion is about God and what He does for you. This is the point of the parable of the workers in vineyard today. So let us hear it and learn repentance which turns from making everything about us to faith in Christ which trusts in the Lord's generous grace!

The You and Me religion is the religion of the first workers. At the beginning of the day, they haggle over how much they're going to make. At the end of the day, they complain because those who worked less are making the same as they did. It's all about them. This was the religion of the Pharisees. They believed that how you stood before God was based upon how well you kept the Law. Keep the Law and you'll be acceptable to God. And they judged others who didn't or couldn't keep the commandments as well as they did. There's our warning! The temptation is very great to be a Pharisee in God's kingdom and assume that we are going to get what we deserve and that others should get what they deserve. But in the end, if they want to live by the Law, they'll die by the Law. They'll get exactly what they've got coming. If your attitude toward God is that He OWES you, then He'll be sure to give you exactly what you're owed! And that will be the judgment and condemnation of the Law, the payment of a denarius. If a person wants to be a part of Christ's church just because they think there's something in it for them, they'll get their reward here and now and that will be it!

But what about those who don't work all day? Who are hired at different times? They all receive a day's wage too. They didn't earn that. It is the generosity of the vineyard owner who decides to give them the same wage no matter how long they worked. They aren't comparing what they did with what others did. They just rejoice to have been shown this generosity. This is the religion that is of God's grace. When the Father sent His Son into this world, it wasn't for those who earned God's love. It was for those who have not worked like they should. Those who have not loved God. Those who have not loved their neighbor. For them, Christ bore the heat of the day on the cross. For them He suffered many things so that in the end, we would be treated like Jesus. Given glory and honor and the title of children of God. In fact, this is the religion the Lord is all about: giving us not what we deserve and making us like His own Son. To have this faith is not to worry about what you do or how much you'll get. It's just to rejoice that we are given such a gift in Jesus Christ.

Now the temptation of that “me” religion in the life of the church is make the things we do in the church about us. There are many who join churches to gain some advantage. There are preachers who are preachers because they think there is big money in it. And there is. And that's their reward. And on the Last Day the Lord will say, “Well, you got your money and earthly fame and glory. That's what you wanted. Now away from Me into hell.” If religion and the church are about ME, then there is simply no salvation there. No blessing from the Lord. For those who want to make religion about themselves, they have their pay. They get what they deserve: the condemnation of the Law. You want to live by how well you keep the Law, then you will get paid by how well you keep the law.

On the other hand, the sinners who know they have nothing going for them but the generosity of the Master have many great gifts. Their Baptism forgives their sins no matter what they've done or how much they've worked. The gift of Jesus' Body and Blood are theirs as a gift for the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Where these gifts are, it's not about You and Me. It's about Jesus. It's about the Master's generosity which gives out these gifts to all His people. With such a faith, people can work and do and not worry about what they'll get. What reward the Lord has for them. His gifts give them each what they need: the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. What joy that we don't have to worry about nickeling and diming our good works. Have we done enough? Have we worked enough hours? In fact, this religion of the Lord's generosity is true freedom: for we can work and do what we need to to do for others with no thought of what we're earning or trying to calculate what we're owed. For all that we receive from our Lord is a generous gift!

Two religions. The religion of the guys who worked all day and though they should get more than the others. It's all about them. Then there's the religion of the Master's generosity that doesn't pay what we earn but makes us equal to Jesus. One is the religion of the Law. Of trying to work your way to God. Of making everything about you. The other is the religion of grace. The Christian faith. The religion of Jesus being the Savior of sinners. Thanks be to God for this parable which rescues us from the religion of the Pharisees and trying to get more than others and brings us into the church of Christ where we receive more than we could ever have hoped for by His grace and generosity! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

February 16, 2011 - Wednesday of Transfiguration - Exodus 3:1-14

The Transfiguration is not the first time that Moses spoke with the Lord on a mountain! When Moses was hiding from the Egyptians, the Lord appeared to Him in the burning bush. The bush burned but it didn't burn up. It wasn't consumed. Can you imagine? I suppose we would turn aside and check out such a sight too! Now, nearly 1500 years later, Jesus stands atop the mountain shining in His glory and talking to Moses and Elijah. In both instances, Jesus' transfiguration and the burning bush, we have the answers to two questions: Who is God and what exactly is He doing?

Consider the burning bush. It burns and yet it doesn't burn up. This is more than just a fancy billboard to get Moses' attention! The burning bush is a foreshadowing of Christ. In the bush that burns but doesn't burn up, we have a picture of what the Christ will be like: true God and true man in one person. The divine fire that burns but does not consume the bush points to the way in which the Divine nature will be united to a human nature in Christ without destroying it. Here is the picture of the God who saves us: True God and true man. The mystery of the incarnation, of God becoming a man, is that He can do that without turning His human nature into cinders. Here is the mystery and the miracle: God in the flesh, on this earth. In Jesus' transfiguration we see the same thing clearly: the glory of the Son of God shines forth in the man Jesus for that Jesus is both God and man. There's no mistaking who this is. This Jesus is God. This God is a man. But for what purpose is He here? Are we all in trouble? What's He up to?

The Lord speaks to Moses from the burning bush that He will lead His people out of slavery in Egypt through Moses. The Lord is about to rescue His people form their enemies. After the burning bush, Moses goes back to Egypt and not too long after, the Lord sends His plagues upon Egypt until finally they throw the Israelites out and the Lord defeats His enemies. After He comes down from the mountain of Transfiguration, Jesus begins to tell His disciples (more than once!) that He is going to Jerusalem to suffer, to die and to rise the third day. After the burning bush, the Lord saves the Children of Israel. And this points ahead to Jesus, who after the Transfiguration goes to the cross to save all people. The Lord brings His people out of slavery in Egypt. In Christ, He brings all of us out of our slavery to the devil and sin, rescuing us from the evil one's kingdom and bringing us to His own promised land. So what is God up to? Why is He here on earth? To save! To rescue! To bring forgiveness, life and salvation! The Transfiguration of Jesus is the sign that Jesus is know going to be heading in the direction of our salvation. To Jerusalem. To Pilate. To Calvary. To the tomb and out of the tomb! The Lord is here. The Transfiguration leaves no doubt that this is indeed the Lord. And He's here to save us.

Of course, it is the Lord's power that inflicts the plagues of judgment upon Pharaoh, but it is Moses whom the Lord uses as His messenger. Just so it is Jesus alone who can suffer for the sins of the world, but it is through His chosen apostles and pastors after them that this Good News is preached and delivered. As Moses brought the people through the Red Sea, so our pastors baptize us, by God's Word bringing us from death to life. As Moses and the children of Israel at the manna in the wilderness, now we feast upon the Bread of Life, Jesus's own Body and Blood which don't run out and give us not just life but eternal life. In Moses' time, the Lord was faithful not just in delivering His people from Egypt but also in seeing them safely to the Promised Land. Just so our Lord who has died and risen makes sure we receive that salvation and by His Word and Sacraments carries us to eternal life.

The Transfiguration of Our Lord reminds us who God is and what He does. He is true God and true man who saves us from our sins. The Transfiguration, prefigured by the burning bush, reminds us that when it comes to our faith and religion, it's eyes and ears and faith off of ourselves and on our Lord who is the One who does all things for us. Moses wondered at the burning bush but it turned out to be the beginning of the Lord's salvation of Israel. The disciples wondered at their Lord shining in glory on the mountain but it turned out to be the beginning of our Lord's way to Jerusalem for the salvation of sinners. Now our Lord brings us to His holy mountain, Mt. Zion, His holy church, here to receive Him by His Word and to see a glimpse of what we shall be in the glory of everlasting life. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

February 13, 2011 - The Transfiguration of Our Lord - St. Matthew 17:1-9

It is a constant temptation that we make religion into something all about ourselves. We begin to measure and calculate religion as to “what I get out of it.” Does it make me feel good? Am I living a good enough life? Do I really love the Lord enough? Do I have enough faith? Can I prove to others that I am growing in holiness? Do I tell enough people about Jesus? Does God love me because I try hard to be a good person? Me, me, me! When we lose interest in church because we don't seem to get something out of it, because it doesn't strike an emotional chord, or because we just think it's boring, we have made religion and faith about us instead of what it really is about: Jesus. That is why we have the Transfiguration today. Today we see Jesus shining in all His glory to remind us that it's all about Him. Who He is. What He has done for us. Eyes off of ourselves and onto Jesus today. Ears turned from listening to our sinful nature to hearing Jesus' Word. Mouths turned from complaining and grumbling or talking about ourselves to confessing Christ and His Word!

When Jesus is transfigured, He talks with Moses and Elijah. Moses the giver of the Law and Elijah one of the great prophets. The Law and the Prophets. Moses and Elijah point to the Scriptures which pointed ahead to the coming Savior. To see Jesus with Moses and Elijah means that He is the One who fulfills the Word, who fulfills the Scriptures. And He will fulfill them by going all the way to the Jerusalem and the suffering and death of the cross. Here, on the mountain, Jesus is strengthened in His purpose to go and do the work of saving sinners. It's all in the balance. If Jesus doesn't go to Jerusalem, we're doomed. If He doesn't go to suffer and die, we have no hope. We can't hope in ourselves. Our hope and trust must be in the Son of God. If He doesn't fulfill what He came to do, there is nothing for us but to remain in our sins. But Jesus is strengthened for His mission. He is reminded once again by the Father's Voice that He has come to do the will of the Father. It will be hard. It will kill Him. He will suffer much. But He does it because He loves and obeys the Father. And He does it to rescue you from sin and death and a religion that is all about you.

When the Voice of the Father speaks it says, “Hear Him!” Peter, ever the example of the kind of religion we like to have wants to stay there with the bright and shiny Jesus and the prophets of old. “Lord, let us make some shelters, tabernacles, booths for you guys.” Peter wants to stay there. He wants to be where God's glory is shining and evident and easy to see. Peter doesn't want the dead God on a cross, He wants the bright and glorious one. So it is with so many Christians who worship by trying to have some feeling and somehow touch or experience God's “glory.” In many churches, worship is carefully crafted to bring about a deep and powerful emotional experience and response. And again, we see that in doing that, we've made religion about us. Peter has made this about Him. What he will do for Jesus. But the Father corrects all that with these words: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” Hear Him because our faith, our religion isn't about our emotions but about Jesus and His Word. His saving Word that gives us life.

And what does Jesus say? The Father says to listen to Him and the very next words out of Jesus' mouth are to the frightened disciples saying, “Do not be afraid!” You've just seen the glory of God Himself shining in Jesus Christ and glaring from the cloud. That's enough to scare poor, miserable sinners. So don't be afraid. When we make religion about ourselves, we're constantly trying to find a way to make ourselves feel good. But when faith is centered in Christ, His Word says, “Don't be afraid.” There is true comfort because it is the Lord who says it. He is the One who brings true peace to us by the forgiveness of sins that He accomplished for us on Calvary. This “don't be afraid” extends to the font where the Word and water rescue us from death and the devil. It is heard in the Absolution which tells us not to be afraid of our sins. It is spoken with the Words of Institution so that we don't fear death because Jesus' Body and Blood overcome death. That is our religion! That is our faith! What Christ has done and what He delivers to us by His comforting Word. Here it is no longer about what we can do and how we live and how we feel. It is about the promises of God Himself to be our God and defend us from all evil even unto eternal life. The big deal isn't that we can feel good about Jesus but that Jesus saves us from sin, death, devil, hell and all things that are against us!

Now, after they come down from the mountain, Jesus tells His disciples not to tell anyone what they've seen until after He's been raised from the dead. After that, Peter tells us that because He was an eyewitness of the glory of Christ, the Word He preaches is sure. To hear St. Peter preach is to hear Christ. To hear our called and ordained pastors preach is to hear Christ. The Transfiguration of Jesus means, now that He has been raised from the dead, that the Word that is preached has all of God Himself standing behind it to make it so. Peter's words in His epistle remind us that the Word we hear preached is not made up (like the world thinks!) But Jesus was seen by eyewitnesses and they have passed down His Word faithfully since, especially as it's confirmed and kept for us in the Bible. Those two things always go together. The preaching and the Scriptures. The preachers must always preach what is in the Scriptures and the Scriptures serve to show us whether what is preached is a religion about us—bad!--or the faith of Christ, which delivers His salvation faithfully. Hear Him means hear Jesus. And that's what the Bible is all about. And that's what the Word preached and taught in His church delivers to us.

When Jesus speaks to them, the disciples look up and see Jesus only. What a picture of our faith! Jesus only. The Transfiguration is written down for us to rescue us from a religion that is all about ourselves to to turn our hearts in faith to “see Jesus only.” Only in Him do we have the truest comfort and the voice of God Himself telling us not to be afraid. With such a Savior who is God and man, we have the unshakable promise that now, in Christ, we too are God's beloved sons. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

February 9, 2011 - Wednesday of Epiphany 5 - Genesis 18:20-33

We need to learn to pray like Abraham! The Lord planned on wiping Sodom and Gomorrah off the map and so Abraham pleads for his nephew Lot who lives there. Will you destroy the city if there are 50 righteous? No, it will be spared. Destroy it if there's 45? Nope. 30? No. 20? Nope. Just ten? Still no. It's like Abraham is bargaining at a car lot or something! But look at what's going on! Abraham in faith trusts that the Lord won't destroy the righteous with the wicked. So even if it means letting the whole evil city survive for the sake of Lot and his family, Abraham asks that. We need to learn to pray like Abraham! For one thing, we're so quick to pray and ask for something from the Lord and then give up when it doesn't seem our prayer is answered! See how Abraham presses God and why? He tells Him: You are the righteous Judge. You can't kill the righteous with the wicked. So we need to grab hold of God's promises in Christ and drum them in His ears with no fear, beseeching Him, pleading with Him, interceding for others based on what He has done for us in His Son.

Now here's the thing. God DOES destroy the righteous with the wicked. But He doesn't do it at Sodom. He does it on Calvary. Who is more righteous than the Son of God? Who is more innocent and holy than Jesus? And yet, who is more evil and wicked than that Lamb who is covered in our sins? When The Son of God dies for us on the cross, there is the judgment of God on the righteous and the wicked together. Christ is perfect and holy and yet He's covered with our sins and is guilty of them there. That is our salvation. That God does not deal with us WE deserve but deals with Christ as we deserve. When the Lord came to Sodom, He rescued Lot from that evil city. But when His Son comes to earth, the Lord allows His Son to be taken by wicked men and tortured and killed for the sake of the whole world. Always the Lord constantly rescues His people but when it came to the rescue of His own Son, He gave Him up into death as our sacrifice.

But Jesus rose from the dead. His righteousness overcame our sin and death and the grave were left behind on Easter. Now the Bible tells us that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father always INTERCEDING for us. What is interceding? It means doing what Abraham did: praying for the Lord to spare the wicked for the sake of the righteous. Jesus is righteous and has accomplished our salvation so He prays to the Father: “For my sake, spare them, Father and forgive their sins.” Think about it. We do all kinds of things every day that ought to rouse God's anger and have Him throw us into eternal judgment. But you are baptized. You are righteous with the righteousness of Jesus. When we sin, if the Father were ever to say, “I'm going to wipe that one out,” the Son intercedes, “No, Father. For my sake. Because I paid that price. Because I am righteous and have taken their sins away. You can't.” Jesus speaks to the Father even more boldly than Abraham for standing behind His prayers is all He did as the Father commanded to save us from our sins! Know this: because Jesus goes to bat for you, the Father will never destroy you along with the wicked. Your sins are taken care of and they can't cause God's judgment and punishment against you ever. As long as Jesus intercedes for us before the Father, our sins can never cause our doom.

There's something in there for us to learn too then for our neighbor's sake. Just as Jesus told His disciples not to go pulling up the weeds and so damage the wheat, and just as Abraham prayed even for wicked Sodom for Lot's sake, so we can learn to pray the Lord to spare those who are evil around us for the sake of His holy ones. Every day the Lord puts up with us for the sake of His Son even though we thoughtlessly sin against Him and others. So we ought to learn to pray for those who sin against us and trouble us. When we see the people around us sinning our first reaction ought to be Abraham's: Spare them, Lord, for the sake of the righteous. Since your Son has died for them too, don't hold their sins against them. Rather rescue them from their sins too and bring or keep them safely in your holy church. It is tempting to be offended at others and pray that they will just go away or leave us alone. It is much harder but more godly to throw the Lord's promises in His ear to have mercy upon them for Jesus' sake just as He has had mercy on us!

So what happened to Sodom? Well, I don't think there WERE ten righteous people there, ten people who trusted in God's promises. But the Lord was faithful. He led Lot and his family away from Sodom before He blasted it into ashes, never to be seen again. It's a reminder there WILL come a day when the Lord condemns and punishes those who oppose Him, who love wickedness more than righteousness and who persecute His holy church. Jesus says that day will come when the holy angels will gather up the weeds and burn them. But until that day, we live in the mercy of Jesus and we pray for the wicked as Abraham did, for the sake of the righteous. Always remember that your Lord stands before the Father, ever pleading for you, ever protecting you from judgment and wrath. And by His Word and gifts He will continue to keep you in the faith and remind you that He pleads for you and that for His sake the Father is always pleased with you. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

February 6, 2011 - The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany - St. Matthew 13:24-43

There's an old saying that goes “Whenever the Lord builds a church, the devil builds a chapel next door.” That means that wherever God's Word is preached, the devil will be right there with a false word. Jesus tells us this in the parable of the wheat and the weeds. Christ has planted His people all over the world through His Word and the devil is right there to plant false believers, his evil children. Just look around. Look at all the religions out there. Surrounding the Christian church are Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists and pagans and atheists (almost like their own religion!) and so many more, many of whom actively persecute and attack Christ's church. But then if you look at Christianity, you see so many denomiations: Lutherans and Roman Catholics and Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Pentecsostals, Non-denominationals and on and on. And you could pick any one of those groups and see that they are further subdivided. Just think of all the churches claiming the name Lutheran: the ELCA, LCMS, ELS, WELS, and tons more. The world is full of religions and denominations all clamoring for attention, most thinking they're right and others are wrong. It's a huge mess that could easily lead one to throw up their hands in despair and say, “Why bother!” And that's exactly what the devil wants you to do. He wants you to see all these different churches and religions and figure they're probably just all the same and it's not worth worrying about.

But if that were true, Jesus wouldn't have told us this parable! Just think. Farmers are always looking for the next best fertilizer that will help the crops grow while cutting down the number of weeds that grow up. Weeds are bad. They mess up the crops. They can ruin the harvest. So they try to prevent them. But here comes the devil sowing weeds to ruin the Lord's kingdom if He can. But He can't. Jesus tells us this parable to rescue us from despair. He wants us to be aware that where His Word is preached, it will be surrounded by false teachers and false religions and false believers, the children of the devil. The true sons of the kingdom, Christians, are sown by the Lord Himself who has shed His blood for sinners. Jesus knows that left to ourselves we'd just be confused and give it all up. So He comes to save us from our sins and make us His own people. You were sown in His field, made a part of His church when you were baptized. There you were planted as a son of Christ's kingdom and made His own. Now the Lord teaches us this parable to rescue us form the devil's lies and the danger of the weeds around us that want us to trust in something other than Jesus Christ.

St. Paul says to the Corinthians who had all kinds of divisions and splits in their church, that there MUST be divisions so that we can tell right from wrong, those who have God's Word and those who don't. So how do you identify the Christian church? How do you tell which is the wheat and what are the weeds? Simply apply this test: Jesus sent His apostles out to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name. Is the preaching of a church about Christ dying and rising for sinners? Or is it focused on something else. Does the teaching of the church point us to Christ or to ourselves. Are Christ's gifts of Baptism, Absolution and Holy Communion the big deal or is it something else? Is God's Word of Law and Gospel properly distinguished and proclaimed? Or is the Bible made into whatever people want it to be? The center of the Christian faith is Christ crucified for sinners and sinners justified through faith in Jesus Christ. If He is not the center, if His gifts aren't faithfully given, then whatever is going on is the devil's work. It is the enemy sowing bad weeds.

Jesus tells us this parable so we don't get all worked up over these devil weeds all around us, so that we don't look at our little church and despair that we're surrounded by false teaching in the world. But He also tells us the parable so that we don't become some kinds of zealots trying to go and purge the world of what is false. “Master, do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?” “No! You'll pull up the wheat too. Let the angels sort it out on the last day.” Muslims do this. They think they have to physically destroy those who will not convert. The church of Jesus has no such command. Rather we are to bear patiently with confessing the faith in this world and life until the Lord takes care of it on the Last Day. On the other hand, we are not to ignore that there WILL be a Last Day. The world loves to skip along, saying that all religions are the same, all faiths lead to the same place. We confess, from Jesus' own teaching, that on the Last Day, those who denied Him and taught their false religions and denied His Word will be taken away and removed from being around God's holy flock. So on the one hand, don't think it's your job to take down the enemy weeds. On the other hand, don't deny that there will come a day when those enemies will be taken care of.

So how then do we live? How SHOULD we react to these weeds all around us, to false teaching and all these denominations and religions. We should pray like Abraham. He knew His nephew Lot would be doomed if the Lord destroyed Sodom so He prayed the Lord to spare that wicked city even if He only found a few righteous living in it. Rather than rejoice in the destruction that the Lord was going to bring on Sodom, Abraham kept praying that the Lord wouldn't do it for even a few righteous people. We can look around the world and hope that the Lord will destroy those places where wicked and false religions run rampant but then what would happen to our brothers and sisters in Christ? We should pray for those places that the Lord would preserve His church and keep it from being torn apart, either by the enemy or by over zealous Christians. In short, as Christians, the Lord would have us praying for this world, putting up with those around us who hate us, and having our trust and hope in the Lord to make all things right when He comes again, and to preserve us in the true and pure faith until that Day. That's also what His parable is teaching us: to trust not in our own ability to get rid of evil but that He will do it while granting us grace to distinguish the false from the true.

Christ died and rose for sinners and sent His preachers into the world to deliver that Good News. Wherever that Good News is preached you can be sure the devil will be running alongside to try to establish some teaching that takes people away from Christ and His salvation. Jesus tells us this parable of the weeds and the wheat to protect us from the despair the devil would try to bring by confusing everything and ruining what Christ has done. He teaches us so that we might identify His true church and Word which rescue us from the devil. He teaches us so that we long for the Last Day when He removes all things which are against us and establishes His kingdom of righteousness and peace forever. You, dear Christians, are the sons of the kingdom. And when our Lord comes again, He promises to take away all of your enemies and you will shine like the sun in the kingdom of your Father forever. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

February 2, 2011 - The Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord - St. Luke 2:22-40

If you're anything like me, if you don't have to do something, you won't. Oh, sometimes we'll go out of our way but more often we'll take advantage of the fact that we're not required to do something. No sense doing it if we don't have to. Our selfishness often overcomes the desire to go above and beyond. Jesus, however, does exactly the opposite. When He DOESN'T have to do something, He does it for our sake. On the day He is presented in the Temple, Mary offers the sacrifices of the firstborn that the Law of Moses requires. The Law of Moses says that you have to redeem the firstborn; the firstborn is the Lord's but He graciously allows you to “buy back” your child for the life of a couple of turtledoves. But Jesus isn't under the Law. He made the Law. He gave the Law. He is perfect and sinless. The Law doesn't apply to Him. So why is He presented in the Temple? Because He came to do what He didn't have to do: whatever the Law says. Unlike us, who if we don't have to do it, usually don't. Jesus, who didn't have to do it, does it for our sakes.

But not only does Jesus do what He doesn't have to do, in doing so He's doing what we don't do. See, we ARE obligated by the Law. It demands of us that we love God more than anything else and that we love and serve our neighbor with no thought for ourselves. It's not just that you and I would not do something we didn't have to. We also don't do what we're SUPPOSED to do. We are born thinking our life is our own to do with as we please. If it pleases us, then we do it, with no thought for God's Name and glory or the cares of the people around us. We live our lives as if we are God and our the people around us are put here to serve and worship us. Idolatry. Adultery. Stealing. Trash-talking. We've got all the commandments. But we all know they only apply in certain times and when it's to our advantage. Otherwise we can quietly ignore them and do what we want. Our sin is that we don't do what we are commanded to do. Our salvation is that Christ does what He doesn't have to.

This festival today is all about seeing Jesus under the Law for our sakes. The reason Jesus came in the flesh is, as the book of Hebrews says, so that He could face death as we do and by that death He could destroy the devil whose power is death. Our salvation depends on Jesus putting Himself under the Law. He doesn't need to keep the Law. He hasn't broken it. But we have. The Law condemns us to death because we are born turned in on ourselves and we are haters of God and neighbor. So Jesus comes to fulfill the Law. To do what we couldn't do and have it count for us. In His life, He does what the Law commands Him to do: be circumcised, be presented and redeemed in the temple, to love His Father above all things. To love His neighbor as Himself. Jesus' whole life is one big work of doing what the Law commands. And His death too is the fulfillment of the Law. The Law's punishment is God's wrath and condemnation, so that's what Jesus faces on Calvary. The judgment of our sins. In His life, He did what we were SUPPOSED to do, lived how we are SUPPOSED to live. And in His death He was punished with the punishment WE were supposed to get. The cross is Jesus keeping the Law most of all: loving and obeying His Father above all things, even the pain of death; and loving His neighbor as Himself, even more than Himself by giving HIS life in exchange for ours. His resurrection then proves that He has done this saving work completely and once and for all. There's no question: Jesus has kept the Law and paid the price for our sins.

And that is the Blessed Exchange. Jesus trading with us. Jesus doing what He doesn't have to do because we don't do what we do have to do. Jesus keeping the Law because we didn't keep the Law. Jesus dying because we deserve death. By being united with Jesus in Baptism, His doing what He did becomes ours and we know that our sin has become His. That's the Blessed Exchange. His life for ours. His righteousness for our sin. His holiness for our transgressions. And in forgiving our sins and dwelling in us by His Body and Blood, our Savior Himself makes a Presentation. As He was presented in the Temple, so He presents us before the Father as pure and spotless and holy. By coming in the flesh and putting Himself under the Law, Jesus purifies and redeems your flesh and rescues you from the curse of the Law. Because He is presented in the temple as if He were under the Law, He presents you to the Father, free from the curse of the Law. This holy festival today reminds us of this Blessed Exchange in which Jesus, by trading places with us, gives us the highest place along with Him before the Father. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

January 30, 2011 - The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany - St. Matthew 8:23-27

I'm not sure what sort of help the disciples were expecting from Jesus. It must have been a pretty bad storm to scare these fisherman. Maybe they thought He'd help row or grab a bucket and start bailing. What they apparently didn't expect is for Jesus to stand up and tell the wind and the waves to quiet down! “Who can this be that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” And that's the question. Who can this be? It's the question every person has to come to grips with. When you consider what is most important and central to the Christian faith it's really the man this question is talking about. So who is He? Jesus answers their cry for help by saying, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Faith is all about the answer to this question. Who is this man? Who is this Jesus? The answer matters. It matters for us who believe. It matters for a world that refuses to hear it. Who can this be that even the winds and the sea obey Him?

Who can this be? Well for starters, He's the One who can stand up in a boat and tell the winds and the waves to be silent. The only One who can do that is the One who created them in the first place. Ever notice that when a hurricane approaches the coast we can't stop it. Or a tornado or some other disaster. But here is Jesus standing in the boat telling the wind and waves to pipe down. This power right there tells us that this Jesus, whatever else He is, is the Lord of creation. He is true God who made all things. Jesus is God. When we talk about God, we should be talking about Jesus. Of course we also confess the Father and the Spirit and the teaching of the One in Three and Three in One. But right here, on the Sea of Galilee, God the Son who is in the flesh is the One stilling this storm. This sets our faith apart from the rest of the religions of the world. Understand that. To confess that Jesus Himself is God is to deny everyone's opinion who thinks that Jesus is just some good teacher or religious prophet like Buddha or Mohamed. No, Jesus is not just a man. He is God Himself stilling the storm.

Who can this be? Notice that God doesn't speak from heaven to stop this storm. The Lord is standing in a boat. Which reminds us that this God is also a man too. Jesus is God. Jesus is man. And as if the fact that the God who made everything is standing in a boat is not amazing enough, the reason why He is there is truly astounding. He's there to save them. Despite their unbelief, He stands up and calms the storm. He doesn't say, “Look guys, I'm God and I'm really tired. Can you just go bail the boat out yourselves?” He doesn't do that. He DOES call them on their unbelief and then does what He does because He's their Savior. He saves them. And not just from the assault of some waves and wind. He's there in the flesh in the first place to save them from the assaults of sin, devil, death and hell. Jesus saves because He's a Savior, not just from storms but from everlasting death. That's why He's there in the flesh. So He can bear our sins and carry them to the cross. On Calvary is the Lord's reply to the cry, “We are perishing.” He goes for us. He sinks down into the depths of our sin and death and destroys then. Who can this be? It's the God in the flesh who saves sinners by being the sacrifice for their sin.

Who can this be? This is the God-man who doesn't just take the hit for us. He's the God-man who stops the storm. Quiets the wind. Calms the sea. Of sin. Of death. Of judgment. He does it by His resurrection which declares to the world: the power of sin and death are over. Done with. Paid for. Conquered. Overcome. Taken care of. There's something even greater than, “Who can this be whom even the wind and waves obey?” It's, “Who can this be who was dead and is now alive?” THAT is the heart and center of our faith as Christians: that Jesus isn't dead but alive. Who can this be? It's the One person who has died and come back to life on His own. Even unbelievers acknowledge the fact that that tomb was empty on Easter. But why? Because the One who lay dead in it is alive. Calming storms has got nothing on stopping death in its tracks. For that is what the Lord did. He rose to show that sin and death are taken care of. Who can this be? It's the God in the flesh who has calmed even the storms of sin and death and hell.

Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey Him? I'll tell you: It's the same Savior who calms the storms of your life and delivers you through them all. There is nothing in your life so bad, not even death itself, that can destroy you. You are God's child in Christ. On the day of your baptism, the Lord spoke to calm the storms that threatened to sink you. When sin lashes out at you with hurricane force to drive your troubled conscience to unbelief and despair, your Lord speaks the calming Word of Absolution. When the things of this world come at you and threaten to sink your boat, Jesus isn't in the back sleeping. He's here in His church standing among us with His Body and Blood to speak to the things that would harm us and drive them away. Think of all the disasters and difficulties you have faced and how the Lord has brought you through them all. Even when it seems as if He's asleep, He is with you by His Word and Sacraments to give you forgiveness, life and salvation. Who can this be? It's the God in the flesh who calms even the storms that threaten to swamp you and drown you.

The disciples surely weren't expecting Jesus to stand up and make the storm stop with just a word. Then again, we would never have expected God Himself to become man in order to suffer and die for us. Or to rise from the dead. Or to save and forgive us all. Who can this be? As the Gospels go on we find out. This is not just the One who can stop a storm with a word. This is the One who is God with us in the flesh. Who gives Himself as the payment for our sins. Who rises from the dead. Who washes and feeds us. The Savior of sinners. The Calmer of storms. The Lamb of God. Confess that, dear Christians, for that is your comfort and peace. He is your comfort and peace. Never doubt the answer to that question, Who can this be? It's Jesus. True God. True man. All Savior. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

January 26, 2011 - Wednesday of Epiphany 3 - 2 Kings 5:1-15

Naaman asks a pretty good question, “Aren't the rivers back home in Syria better than the Jordan River?” Seriously? Dip in the Jordan River? The backwater of some rinky dink little kingdom? To all appearances, the Jordan River's got nothing on the mighty rivers of Naaman's own country. To all appearances, a little splash of water in baptism doesn't seem to have anything on the great spiritual experiences people seem to have. Hearing God or some agonizing feelings of conversion or some peaceful feeling that makes you think God must love you: that's what people are looking for. There are so many strange and powerful experiences people have regarding religion that it doesn't seem like Baptism is really a big deal at all. But here's the thing. The Lord did not tell Naaman to dip in the waters of his home rivers to get rid of his leprosy. He told him to dip in the Jordan River. And He doesn't tell us to go looking for Him in some strange experience or burst of feelings. He tells us that being washed with water and the Spirit is what makes us a new creation and takes our sins away. In other words, the big deal isn't what LOOKS like the big deal. The big deal is the the thing to which the Lord attaches His Word and promise.

The devil always wants to lead us to look for God in our experiences and feelings rather than where His Word promises Him to be for us. That's the religion that Naaman starts with. “I thought he would come out and call on the name of his God and wave his hand over my leprosy.” Yeah, Naaman, that's how they do it on TV. That's what the devil wants us to look for. Something flashy. Or fancy. Or that looks spiritual or religious or miraculous. People love to “experience the Holy Spirit” or get wrapped up in strange History-channel religious puzzles or have some sort of dream or vision and think, “This must be God doing it.” Even if we don't go to those extremes there is still the temptation for us to try to figure God out from the way things are going in our lives. Something good happens and we cry, “God is good!” Something bad happens and we wonder, “Where was God?” But the Lord rescues us from all that sort of thinking by giving us His Word so that we can be certain where He is and what He is up to.

We know from today's Gospel reading that what Jesus says happens. He told the centurion his servant was healed and so the man was healed. When Naaman is told to dip in the Jordan, the Jordan washes away Christ's Word does what it says. But since Christ is Himself the Word made flesh what Jesus says and does is so. Make sense? If Jesus says it, it happens. If He does it, it is accomplished. Naaman would be surprised again. The world doesn't get it. Instead of a powerful shining in glory God who makes sure everyone knows He's God, Jesus is arrested, beaten, tortured, crucified. Doesn't look like God there does He? He doesn't look much like God when His corpse is being taken down from the cross and laid in a tomb. Aren't the rivers of Damascus better? Isn't some good feeling in my heart better? Nope. God dead on a cross. That's what takes away your sins. That's where God saves you. That's where He's most God, when He looks least of all like God and is doing everything for you. That's not the kind of religion Naaman believes in. It's not the kind of religion we'd go for either.

But pay close attention to Naaman. He walks into the water of the Jordan an unbeliever and comes out a believer. That water and Word and promise of God turn Him from one who denies God's truth to one who receives and believes it. He goes in an unbeliever and a leper and comes out a clean-skinned believer. He goes in as an enemy of God and comes out as one of the faithful of Israel. That is the power of God's Word and the water. It's the same power that works when a person is splashed with water and God's Word at the holy font. We bring an unbelieving baby who is stained with the leprosy of sin and they come away healed, forgiven, a child of God. That's what God's Word says happens. It doesn't look like anything fancy. The baby or person doesn't look any different after than before, other than being wet. But what is not seen is what God's Word says: a new name, a new creation, forgiveness of sins, rescue from death and the devil and eternal salvation! Now what does Naaman say? “There's no other God than the one in Israel!” The Lord did that. With His Word.

Your life will be filled with good and pleasant things that may tempt you to conclude that God loves you and is happy with you. Your life will also have its share of troubles and awful things that the devil will use to persuade you that you are doomed and God is against you. The devil will stop at nothing to try to convince you from your experiences or feelings something other than God wants you to know and believe. So learn from Naaman that there is nothing more solid than Christ's Word which does what it says. It can take a river like the Jordan and turn it into a leprosy-erasing bath. So learn from the centurion's servant that when Jesus speaks a thing, it is what it says it is and it gives what He says it gives. Thus you will be freed from trying to “read God” in the experiences and feelings of your life to trusting in Him surely and certainly by the promises He gives in the word and water of Baptism, the words of Holy Absolution and the Words of Institution of His Supper. For those words all say that you have the forgiveness of sins for His sake. That you are a child of God in Christ. That you are a new creation by His Word. That you have eternal life and a God who loves you, no matter what's going on around you. Jesus says it and that makes it so. For you to be certain! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

January 23, 2011 - The Third Sunday after the Epiphany - St. Matthew 8:1-13

It's funny how we deal with authority. When we're under authority, we don't like it. Yet when we have authority, we like to make sure others know it. Take parents for instance. When our kids challenge us, we give the time-tested answer: “Because I said so.” That is, we expect children to listen to us just because we're their parents and we have authority. But then consider when your boss tells you to do something you don't like or you get pulled over for speeding. When authority is over us, then we don't like it. We expect others to honor OUR authority but we chafe when someone tells US what to do. It happens this way in our marriages, in our families, in our jobs, in society. We want others to do things our way but we don't want to be told how to do anything.

When Jesus heard the centurion, He said, “I have not found such faith in Israel!” What does that mean? “Such faith.” Well, the centurion knew his place. He knew he was under authority and he had authority. There's no ignoring authority in the Roman army! If the centurion's superior told him to do something, he did it. If he told his troops to do something they did it. No fooling around there. In the Roman legions, you obey authority or you're in trouble. And because he understood this sort of authority, he understood that Jesus was under authority too. The centurion is under no illusions that he is worthy of Jesus coming under his roof. Worthiness doesn't enter into it. He doesn't ask Jesus to heal his servant because he deserves it. He asks him to heal the servant because Jesus is under authority. The authority of the Father. The Son of God did not come into this world because He liked what He saw. He didn't come because He thought we were worth saving. Look at this world: everyone for themselves. No, the Son of God came into the world because He is under authority. The Father's authority which sends Him to save sinners. Jesus comes because His Father has sent Him. And He fulfills that calling and work faithfully and without fail.

This is good news! Good news for sinners! It means there is no sin so large, so horrible, so wicked, so awful, that the Son of God can say, “Well that's it. I'm out. Not gonna do it.” He obeys His Father and comes to stand with sinners. To shed His blood for sinners. To die on the cross for sinners. To rise for sinners. Whoever said, “Lord, please come and save us?” “Lord, we are your people. We deserve for you to come and die for us. You owe us, Lord.” That's not faith. Faith doesn't say, “Well I'm not the world's worst person, so I guess the Lord can love me.” Faith doesn't say, “There must be something in us God loves enough to cause Him to send His Son. There must be something worthwhile in me.” Nope. Faith clings to Jesus' obedience. “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Lord, I am not worthy of anything. My sins condemn me. But you are under authority. The Father sent you. You obeyed Him and therefore I am saved.” Faith clings to what Jesus does and that rescues us from the devil's game of trying to show us that we're not worthy. When the devil comes and says, “No way you can be a child of God,” you just answer and say, “Duh. No surprise there. But I am because Jesus is under authority and He obeyed the Father and saved me from you and your lies.” Jesus comes to saves sinners on the authority of His Father and that is as solid and sure a foundation as you can get!

Notice how the faith of this centurion operates. He doesn't trust in His own worthiness. He doesn't trust in Jesus feeling up to it. He simply clings to the promise that Jesus is under authority and therefore His Word will have authority. Let that be the lesson for our faith! On the one hand, don't have the thought in the back of your mind that you're living a good enough life for God to do anything for you and that what you have is what you deserve. On the other hand, don't tie God to your feelings as if when you're down and out then God can't or doesn't love you. Rather, cling to the WORD. The authority of that Word that Christ demonstrates. Know that Christ has taken away your sins no matter how big or small and has made you a child of God. This is why the means of grace, the Word and Sacraments, are so important. They aren't just churchy things we see done. They are the very way in which Christ speaks to us to heal us and forgive us. When Christ's Word declares that centurion's servant healed, then the servant is healed. Because Jesus says so. When you are baptized, your sins are forgiven and you have eternal life. Because Christ's Word says so. When the Words of Holy Absolution are spoken your sins are forgiven. Because Christ's Word says so. When you eat and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus, you will be raised up on the Last Day. Because Christ says so.

So what does that mean for us authority-hating and authority-abusing types? It means this: Just because we say something, doesn't make it so. People under our authority may or may not obey. When we are told to do something, we may fall into the sin of disobedience. But when pastor speaks with the authority of Christ and declares your sins forgiven, they are. Because that's Christ's Word. He has to forgive you because He's under authority. He can't get out of it! But then, with such forgiveness, you pass that forgiveness to those around you. You can declare to another person that you forgive them. Not by YOUR authority but by Christ's. What is most sure, most certain is not whether we FEEL forgiven or not but that Christ's Word declares it to be so. What is most sure isn't whether we deserve anything from God but that He gives us all things through His Son. What is most sure isn't whether we can figure out what God is thinking somehow. We know in and through Jesus Christ. He stands under the authority of the Father and has saved us and given us everlasting life.

It would be great if everyone would do what they're told. If we could give orders that got followed and we could take orders without making a fuss. But our sinful natures rebel. But Christ came under orders, under authority, to save us. He comes with all the authority of being True God and true man so that no one can cancel out or contradict His Word. With the very Words of God Himself, Christ speaks forgiveness, life and salvation. He goes to death by the orders of His Father and accomplishes your salvation. The centurion knew this and so he knew Jesus would heal his servant. That same faith is yours, which clings to a Jesus who does what He says: gives you forgiveness and life. Orders in the name of Jesus. Amen.

January 20, 2011 - Funeral Sermon for Mary Mydler - St. John 11:17-27

Dear Roy and Alan, Wade and Jane, Royce and Char, Amy and Marcus, Kathy, Nancy, Karen and Andy—all of Mary's family and friends: Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

It was Good Friday. I got a call that Mary was in the hospital. Bad case of strep throat. But it wasn't. It was leukemia. And how many times did Mary have to go to St. Louis and suffer treatments and come in peril of her life and bounce back? You know a person's been too long in the cancer hospital when they know how to sneak into the hotel next door and get to the Applebee's without walking outside! And yet after all that it was some other kind of cancer that took her life. We want to say with Martha who told Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here she would not have died.” The thought has perhaps crossed our minds: why it is the Lord let cancer take Mary? Why did she die? Why did she go through all that treatment and in the end it didn't save her? And the answer to that question is the one Jesus gives: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, even though they die, they shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” Our question is the wrong one because we get wrapped up thinking that somehow death is the worst thing ever. Oh, it hurts. It makes us cry. It takes our loved ones away. But it is not the end. It doesn't get the final say. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He gets the last word.

On that Good Friday that Mary began her long ordeal, the church celebrated her Savior nailed to the cross for the sins of the world. Sin brought death. And Mary was a sinner. She told me so herself. She would get annoyed when people would ask “How can a good person have all this happen to them?” She knew that whatever she had from the Lord was a gift. Not earned and deserved but given by grace. Mary knew that her only hope in this life and through death was that Savior, the Son of God nailed to the cross for the whole world and for her. Mary knew that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and therefore death is not the end. Not the big deal. That's what our Scripture readings today all say. They teach us that where Christ is, death has no dominion, no power. Job says it. He declares that even though he dies, he's going to see God in his own body. St. Paul says it. He says nothing, not even death can separate us from God's love in Jesus Christ. Then Jesus Himself says it. He says to Martha and to us, that to those who believe in Him, even though they die, they shall live. So that's what we say about Mary. Even though she died, she will live. On the Last Day at the resurrection of our bodies, when Jesus returns in glory. Jesus died on the cross so that Mary's sins were wiped away. Then Jesus rose again on Easter so that Mary's death would not keep her down.

It is what Jesus did that was Mary's comfort through all this cancer. All these ups and downs. One day I went to visit her and she said, “Pastor, I've thought about this. I've realized that everything that is wrong has already been taken care of the day I was baptized.” Everything that is wrong has already been taken care of the day she was baptized. The day Mary was baptized, she was made a child of God and her sins were wiped away. She was given Jesus' own promise that He would raise her up on the Last Day. Ever since then, it was Christ's Word of forgiveness that strengthened her. It was His Body and Blood which nourished her. It was His Body and Blood by which Jesus lived in Mary and did so many good works through her for others. Our comfort today is not in what Mary did or how she lived. Our comfort is in what Christ has done. His perfect life for Mary. His death for Mary. His resurrection for Mary. His baptizing, absolving and feeding her which gave her comfort and strength in the roughest days of her illness and is now her sure defense against death. That pall on her casket reminds us that what the Lord began in her the day of her baptism will be finished when she is raised again on the Last Day. And that pall is a reminder of exactly what Mary said, applied to death: On the day she was baptized, her death was already taken care of by Jesus.

So Mary's all taken care of by her Lord. On her baptismal day, His washing of water and the Word made her a saint. A saint because Jesus makes her holy. But there is a way for us to honor her and remember her and to celebrate her life. And it is this: let her confession of faith be an example to you. For Mary, the comfort of Christ was a lifelong gift. Don't let this comfort of Jesus be a just-for-today sort of thing. Don't make sitting through this service something for Mary's sake. Rather, be found in Christ, in His church, where His Word and Sacraments are. Be where the preaching of Christ crucified and risen is delivered for the comfort of sinners. Be where you have the care of a pastor given for when you suffer the struggles of this life and for when death draws near. Learn as Mary did that religion isn't about her but about Jesus and what He has done. What joy it was a couple of days ago to pray with Mary the last prayers commending her to Jesus before she died. I pray the Lord will grant each of you, in His church, a faith which clings to Jesus Christ alone and a Christian death in Jesus, like Mary's!

Today is a day of sadness. There will be plenty of tears. There will be lots of laughter and remembering too. It is a day full of all kinds of emotions. But above all it is a day when we hear Christ's promises that death cannot come between Him and us. He has defeated death. He has defeated Mary's death. And while it is a good thought to think that those in Christ will see Mary again in eternity, the true Good news is that we, along with her, will be with our Lord forever. And that is why even though we cry today we rejoice. You can't ask for a better death than one like Mary's, to fall peacefully asleep in Jesus. Jesus is the Conqueror of sin and death. For Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. The Savior of sinners. Mary's Savior. The One who will raise her up on that Last Day. She sleeps now and is with the Lord. On that Day she will rise again. Jesus has said so. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

January 16, 2011 - The Second Sunday after the Epiphany - St. John 2:1-11

Our Lord' first sign. His first miracle. At a wedding. Why at a wedding? St. Paul gives us a clue: because Jesus came to have a bride, the holy, Christian church, for whom He gave Himself into death to cleanse her and make her holy. When the Lord first made man and woman, it began with a wedding when the Lord brought Eve to Adam. Now, with this miracle at a wedding, we learn what the Bible says elsewhere, that this Jesus is the new Adam. The old Adam brought death but the new Adam brings life. And there's going to be a wedding. A heavenly bridegroom and a beautiful bride. That wedding doesn't take place in Cana but this first sign of Jesus done at a wedding points us to that fulfillment and eternal wedding feast that is coming and begins at the cross. In fact, Jesus' turning water into wine points us in many ways to His accomplishing our salvation on the cross later on.

But first, a wedding. I want you to consider something: weddings back then have this in common with weddings today: they are an occasion to party. And consider this: Jesus' first miracle is essentially what we would call an “open bar” at a wedding. Let's first declare quite simply, in contrast to the folks around us, that when Jesus turned water into wine, it was wine. Good wine. The best wine. Not grape juice. Wine. Because, as the Psalmist says, “You make wine to gladden the hearts of men.” Jesus came to gladden our hearts. That means make us happy. One gift for that is a bunch of good wine at a wedding. The fact that it was a wedding is also important as it means that even in this sinful and fallen world, marriage is still a blessing from God. With His first sign of wine at a wedding, our Lord is teaching us that He came to save what He created. Wine and weddings are good things. They are not bad. They are not evil. They are gifts from God. And so the first thing our Savior teaches us by His first sign is that the things the Lord makes and gives to us are to be received with joy. Enjoy wine. Enjoy marriage. Enjoy creation! The gifts your heavenly Father has for you are to be enjoyed. Received with thanksgiving. The physical gifts of this life that God has given to you: marriage, your kids, your hobbies and sports and food and drink—enjoy those things as gifts that were meant to be enjoyed!

And there lies our problem. Our heavenly Father gives us all kinds of good gifts and we depise them or abuse them. Take wine for example: there's nothing wrong with wine. But when we abuse it and begin hurting others, we've taken God's gift and ruined it. Or take marriage. Our heavenly Father gives us a husband or wife and we treat them not as a gift but as a burden. So much so that often it seems easier just to end the marriage than learn to love the ones God gave us. Or our kids. They are given us to love and train up in the faith and instead we treat them like annoying inconveniences. Take your pick. Whatever our heavenly Father gives us, instead of cherishing it, we despise it. We reject it. We want something else. Something different. If you've ever given and given and given and gotten nothing in return but rejection for your efforts, you have a glimpse of how we treat the Lord and His gifts. Here's some repentance! Take a moment and realize how ungrateful you are for the things and people the Lord has given you. It's why we need a Savior

What we need, instead of being left to work things out of ourselves, is an arranged marriage! So the Father arranges the marriage of His Son with the church. The Lord's miracle at the wedding of Cana points in many ways to what He's going to do on the cross. First of all, the jars. Those jars were Law jars for the ritual cleansings according to the Law. They are filled to the brim. Jesus fulfills the Law on Calvary when He pays the price the Law demands for sin: death. Then water into wine. It reminds us of the water and blood that flowed from the Lord's side when it was pierced with that spear after He died. Now, let's back up and see how all this relates to marriage. When the Lord made Adam a wife, He caused Adam to sleep, opened His side, took a rib, and made Eve from that rib. Adam's wife was “born” from His side. On the cross, Jesus leaves behind His mother and His side is opened: water and blood came out. Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar. The Sacraments which gives us life and sustain our life. The church's sacraments. So from Jesus' side comes His Bride, the holy church. See? The cross is about the Lord having Himself a Bride. A Bride who is washed and cleansed of every spot and stain. A Bride whom the Lord looks at and sees no sin. A Bride whose selfishness and sin is covered by her husband. A Bride who is given birth from our Lord's side at His holy font and nourished and fed at His altar by His own body and blood. Having such a Savior who has such a Bride, it's no wonder our Lord first shows His glory at a wedding!

And then there is Mary, who has always been a picture of the church, trusting her Son to take care of the running out wine problem. Even when Jesus seems to say to Mary that it's not His problem, she still tells the servants to do what Jesus says. That's faith which trusts in Jesus. That's our example of faith. The truth is, the Lord often lets things in our lives get to the point where we seem to have “run out of wine,” that is, we can no longer rely on or trust in ourselves. There are times when it seems the only answer the Lord has for you is, “Not my problem.” But it IS His problem to take care of in His way and time. And the Lord's gifts are always the best ones. They're the kind of gifts, when we receive them, that we can't help but say, “Wow! You saved the best wine for last!” What else should we expect from such a Bride groom who came from heaven to redeem us and make us His own beloved Bride? After all, He loved us and gave Himself for us. He made the wine flow at a wedding. He'll take care of you too in every part of your life.

You, dear Christians, dear church, are Christ's holy Bride. You have been made from the side of your Lord. Born in the waters of baptism and made glad with the wine of Christ' blood, you are a Bride who is holy and precious in His sight. When your Lord looks at you, He doesn't see your sins, faults, spots, blemishes or imperfections. And where you see empty jars, He fills them with the wine of His forgiveness, life and salvation. Our Lord's first miracle. Done at a wedding. Because He came to take a Bride. Jesus came for your. And when He comes again, it will be the wedding day, the eternal feast in celebration of the union of Jesus and His church. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

January 12, 2011 - The Baptism of our Lord (Wednesday) - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

It just doesn't make sense. Jesus is the Son of God. John is baptizing sinners in the Jordan River. What on earth is Jesus doing standing there in the water to be baptized? John is the sinner. Jesus is the Savior. Jesus should be doing the baptizing. John is not even worthy to untie Jesus' shoes and He wants John to baptize Him? The fact is: when we focus on God's glory and power and majesty and might and awesomeness, we get religion all wrong. Paul tells us that God uses the foolish and despised and weak things of the world to shame the strong and mighty. He uses the things people think aren't worth anything to accomplish mighty things. That's what Jesus getting baptized is all about. Nobody would have suspected that God Himself would stand in the water with sinners to be baptized as if He were one of them. But St. Paul explains it in our epistle lesson: Christ has become for us the wisdom of God, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. How does God save us from sin and death. It starts with His Son standing in the Jordan River which the world wouldn't consider a big deal at all. But that is where He takes on our sin to take it away.

You talk about foolish? How about the cross? We are so used to the cross being a symbol in the church that we forget it was a brutal and torturous form of execution. How foolish is that? How weak or silly is it that the most important symbol in our religion is an instrument of capital punishment? The notion that the Father would sacrifice His Son and that Jesus is true God and true man who is sacrificed for our sins is just ridiculous. Yet it is in this way that the Lord accomplishes our salvation. To overcome our sin, He takes our sin upon Himself. To overcome death, He dies and rises. To defeat the devil, He goes head to head and resists all temptation and robs the devil of his power to accuse us. All this He does by letting Himself be handed over to evil men to suffer not only physical tortures but the crushing weight of the wrath of the Father. Thorns, nails, spear—these aren't the things people think of when they think of God's glory and might. But the Lord chose these instruments of pain and death to use in rescuing us all from sin and death. What is lowly, despised, looked down upon, foolish, crazy—what doesn't make sense—this cross—is what the Lord has chosen to shame the devil and everyone else by using that cross as the means of our salvation.

But there's more foolishness to be had. The Lord doesn't blast people with lightning bolts to save them. Glowing cosmic energy doesn't engulf people. The Lord doesn't work the way we imagine or that put in movies. He doesn't come to us now with flash and sparkle. Nope. Water. Bread. Wine. Words in a book. All around the world people get wrapped up in amazing and strange religious things. They flock to the big box thing in Mecca. They meditate peacefully in a mountaintop Buddhist monastery. They shake and shriek in some so called Holy Ghost revival. You can find a million different ways people try to get some spiritual something or other. But God just uses water, bread, wine and words. Water. It doesn't seem like much but in that Baptism you have been given a holy calling as a child of God and a disciple of Jesus. At the altar, Christ Himself is present, not to our eyes but the eyes of faith as we receive His Body and Blood. A man in a robe reads and preaches from a book that's 2000 years old. Does any of that sound impressive? To the world, not at all. It's a joke. A curiosity. Something foolish. But to you, who have been called by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul tells us that these simple things are used by God to shame the wise and mighty. For it is by these things that we have the forgiveness of sins, the promise of everlasting life and the sure knowledge that the Lord Himself is with us.

The world, whenever it has any religion, has it for the purpose of getting some knowledge about secret things or things that can't be seen. For the world, religion is a way to try to figure out God and what God is and how to get to God. For many, religion is a way of experiencing something they call God. It's also a way to make yourself feel better because you aren't like all the rest of the poor people out there who don't have your secret knowledge. Or perhaps religion is just a way to feel better when things are going badly. Whatever it is, the religion of the world is about flattering us mightily. But the true faith, the Christian faith, the faith of Jesus, is not any of those things. Rather, it is Jesus Himself, coming to us in His church to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Christ has become for you the wisdom of God that is, the way of eternal life, by His life and death and resurrection. Christ has become your righteousness by taking your sins and being baptized, crucified, and risen for you. Christ has become your sanctification and holiness because it is by His blood that you are made holy and it is Christ who lives in and through you. Christ has become your redemption by paying the price for your sins and setting you free. It all looks so simple and common but it is the very power of God unto salvation. Where the religions of the world run after glory and exalting themselves, in His Church, Christ saves sinners by common and ordinary things that He uses for His holy purposes.

No, it doesn't make sense that Jesus the Holy One should be getting baptized. But then it shouldn't make sense that splashing some water on you should give you eternal life. Welcome to the Kingdom of God where things don't work the way WE think they should, but in a way that casts down all that we thought was important and mighty and gives to us forgiveness and life in Christ. Were you noble? Rich? Popular? I don't think so. Doesn't matter. The Lord has called you and made you His own. And that calling to life in Christ is better than anything the world has, though the world can't see it. But for you that calling means forgiveness of sins and eternal life. It is what God gives through His gifts which are foolishness to the world but your life. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.