Saturday, May 27, 2023

Pentecost Sermon

 

In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

    The crowd had gathered to the temple, as crowds would do every Pentecost – the holiday that happened 50 days after the Passover, the gathering of the first fruits. Faithful Jews from all over the Roman Empire and even beyond, people who had been scattered to the four winds over the course of history, they would dream about making it to Jerusalem for one of the major festivals like Pentecost. They'd return as semi-familiar strangers – speaking their own new languages or Greek, the Aramaic that was used in Jerusalem being foreign. And they'd go to the temple – and they'd get ready for the sacrifices, and they'd probably be overcharged and cheated by the moneychangers, but they were there.

    And this Pentecost, the faithful who came to the feast were met by strange rumors, happily translated. Strange things had happened 50 days earlier around the Passover. Rumors would have passed in Greek, the common language of the day, or maybe you'd pick up bits in your broken Aramaic – but some Jesus fellow was crucified – and was He raised from the dead or not? Was He a rebellious crackpot or the Messiah? Did He seek to destroy the temple or cleanse it? Imagine listening to those rumors in some other language. What confusion!

    And finally the day of Pentecost arrives, and you are there for all the proceedings. And first, there's a strange, mighty rushing wind – and you go to the temple, because that's the place where everyone would gather – and there are these Galileans, and they are preaching – but you hear them speaking not in Greek, not in Aramaic, but you hear them speaking clearly your own tongue, in your own language, as fluent as a native. And while you're amazed at this wonder, other people mock, deride – they're drunk.

    Then one of them, Peter, begins to preach. No, they are not drunk – this is what Joel spoke of being fulfilled, this is the Spirit of God being poured out – the preparation that comes before the end, before the great and magnificent day of the Lord. And Peter preaches:

     Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know—  this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.  God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it.  For David says concerning Him, “I saw the Lord always before me,  for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with Your presence.”

    Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne,  he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.  This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.  Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.” Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

    What had happened in Jerusalem 50 days before? You killed the the Christ. Yes, you. On account of your sin, on account of your wickedness, on account of the very sins that you came to the temple today to make sacrifice for, the true Sacrifice was made – the spotless Lamb of God was crucified. It may have been done by the hands of the Romans, it may have been spurred on by the priests – but in truth, it was your sin that placed Jesus upon the Cross.

    Yet Jesus' sacrifice there was not like any sacrifice you had seen before, or that your fathers had seen before. The sacrifices of old simply died. They may have been burned to ashes, they may have been turned into a feast, but they died, and those sacrifices stayed dead, and had to be repeated over and over and over again – the old dies and a new must be brought forth again and again. Now, no longer! For this Jesus whom you Crucified has been raised by God the Father, raised from the dead, raised to life imperishable. David told you this was coming! David spoke to the coming Messiah – indeed, David told us that the Messiah would sit at the right hand of God, and indeed, Jesus has been raised from the dead and He has ascended unto heaven and He sits at the right hand of the Father. Forget all rumors, ignore all mummuring – this is what has happened. Jesus the Messiah has come – and He has died, atoning for your sin, and He has been risen victorious, life restored, never to die again, and He is seated at the right hand of God with all power, with all authority.

    Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”   Of course the people were cut to the heart! Of course they were shocked and worried about what they were to do. This wasn't how people thought the story would go. The Messiah was to bring deliverance, the Messiah was to bring victory and triumph and crush our enemies – and we killed Him. It would be like hearing the story of David, but instead you help Goliath kill David – but worse. And it is my sin, what I have done! What shall we do, what can we do? How do we work our way out of this mess?

    You don't. Jesus gets you out of this mess. And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”  I'm not preaching this merely to condemn you. I'm not preaching this simply to tell you how lost you are. Oh, you are to see your lostness, your sinfulness, and you are to repent of it, to turn from it, to fight against it – and you'll be fighting against it and repenting of sin for the rest of your life. But the solution is this – Jesus will save you. He will save you by Baptizing you. And when He baptizes you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is making a promise to you. It is the promise that your sins are indeed forgiven before God, a promise that His death on the Cross indeed covers your sin – that no one has any right to pin your sin on you for He has taken it up. It is the promise of the Holy Spirit – the same Spirit who has called you to this faith in Jesus, the Spirit by which I preach, the Spirit by which you hear – the Spirit who is the Lord and Giver of life, not just physical life but life everlasting in the Name of Jesus.

    And having received this promise, know that it is not just for you – it is for your children. They too will be baptized and given this promise. And as for people who are even further removed from Jerusalem than you are, even gentiles and strangers from even farther away – yes, this promise is for them – behold Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

    Thus Peter's great Pentecost sermon. And there were others. All the Apostles would be preaching, this carries on the whole day. And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “[Be saved] from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. Do you see? Jesus is at work here, Jesus for you. Jesus who saves you out of whatever crooked generation you find yourself in – the same Jesus who calls you today out of the darkness of this present age into His marvelous light. The same Jesus who has you brought to the waters of Holy Baptism, just as He brought 3000 that first Pentecost to the waters of baptism. The same Jesus who put an end to the Old Testament sacrifices but not an end to the feast, who calls you to His table this very day to give you His own Body and Blood for the forgiveness of your sins and the strengthening of your faith.

    Yes, your sins are real. And as we move into the Trinity Season, we'll get all sorts of teaching that will touch upon how sin and unbelief attack you. But this is not to condemn you, but rather to shape and hone the repentance that Jesus gives you, and to prepare you to hear Christ's salvation again. Jesus says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Indeed, He does, over and over – peace and forgiveness through His Word and Sacraments! The Peace of the Lord be with you always. Amen. In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

Saturday, May 20, 2023

Ascension Observed Sermon

 

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia! +

    And while they were gazing into heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was take up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.” We have reached the Ascension of our Lord – past it, actually. 40 days after Easter – which would have been this past Thursday, Jesus ascends. He wraps up His teaching with the Apostles, preparing them for life in the New Testament Church. Then, He ascends – and the disciples are left there, staring into the sky. Why are you looking there? That's not the point – Jesus is going to come back – and shouldn't you be on your way back to Jerusalem – He told you to wait there until you'd be clothed with power from on high (that will be next weekend, not to spoil it for you all in the congregation).

    But let's have a moment of sympathy for the Apostles – they've seen so many wondrous things, and in some ways that's over for them. They are suddenly in the same boat as the rest of us – they'll have to wait until the end of their lives to see Jesus again. And this is something that we can forget when we ponder the Bible, the great stories therein, all the times when God does these majestic things. Those wild things tend to be... rare and temporary. Consider the children of Israel in the wilderness – yes, the LORD was with them in the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud... but He also set up the tabernacle and said, “this is the way I'm going to be with you in the promised land – less flashy, but I'll be there.” Or the fact that they crossed through the Red Sea once – seas didn't part for them every day. Elisha sees Elijah taken up into heaven... but then Elisha has to go back to his new job as the head prophet. Peter, James, and John see the Transfiguration, but then it's just back down the mountain. Things return to normal.

    And normal – well, it's actually quite good. God continues to give us our daily bread, He daily and richly forgives us in His Church, He gives us everything that we need. But we sinful people, we can have a problem with normal. We can get bored. We can get forgetful. In just a few weeks the paraments will shift to green for the season of Trinity – for normal time, regular time in the church – and it will be green for a long time. And in times of peaceful calm, we can become complacent towards God, we can forget the wonders of the simple forgiveness and life He gives, we can forget the depth of the riches that He provides for us in His Church. God always sets things up to be normal and routine because that way things are predictable and we know where to find the gifts of God.

    And so before He ascends, Jesus sets up an order, a routine for how things will work until He returns. And it's a good order, a good routine. A good one for you, for your benefit. How so? Well, first – Jesus has given us the Holy Scriptures. “These are My Words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” The Scriptures, whether they are the Old Testament – the books of Moses, or the Psalms (which we've read from today) or the Prophets (which we've read from today) – they're Jesus' Words. And the New Testament, the memoirs of the Apostles and the Letters – they are Jesus' Words. The Inspired Word of God are Jesus' Word for you, today, to hear, to listen to, to know. And they are all about Jesus and how He saves you – Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations.” This is the point of the Scriptures – that we are in need of saving, that we need to repent of our sin – and that, thanks be to God, Jesus comes and by His suffering, death, and resurrection He wins us salvation and forgives us our sin. And these Scriptures are read and are proclaimed throughout the world, to all nations – indeed, even unto here in little old Herscher thousands of miles away from Jerusalem and a few thousand years in the future from that date. And we get the same thing, the same Jesus, the same salvation.

    And this is what is normal for us. Every worship service here, whether it's our weekend service, or a midweek service, a funeral, a wedding, even the little facebook devotions – you know what they will all have? Scripture and then the proclamation of Christ Jesus. This is normal – this is the normal that Jesus sets up for the Church – read the Scriptures and then preach repentance and forgiveness on account of Christ. You've been a part of this hundreds, thousands of times. Jesus comes to you, over and over in His Word, in the preaching there of. And you know what – He comes to you even when you are doing your private devotions at home – you read the Word at home, you talk about Jesus – and Christ is there, seeing that you receive forgiveness, that you live in His forgiveness. It's utterly fantastic!

    And it's utterly ordinary. And it's utterly routine. And we can get bored with it. That's what sin does, it makes us bored and boring. And we think that if things were some how jazzed up it would be better – actually, that we'd be better. Nope – last week's old testament lesson was great. The people in the wilderness complain about how there's nothing to drink, no food, and we “hate this worthless food.” Well, if there's no food, how do you have worthless food to hate? Oh, wait... you're talking about Manna, manna from heaven – the miraculous bread, sweet and light, that God just gave you day by day... and you hate it. You're tired of it. You're sick of it. How could those people get sick of Manna, Pastor? The same way we get tempted to get sick and bored with the Word, with Church, with gathering together to hear God's Word with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

    And this boredom is dangerous. There's few things more dangerous than becoming bored and dismissive of the Word – because you'll be so easily tempted to run off after whatever shiny stupid sin the world dangles in front of you – and there are lots of those. And there's fewer things more dangerous for a preacher than to get bored of the Gospel – Churches get led astray by pastors who decide to ignore Jesus and His Word for some other hobby horse all the time. Because what Satan is trying to do is to wrest our eyes off of Jesus – to leave us staring in the sky hoping for some sort of spectacle while we stand and ignore the simple, regular, wonderful working of God for us over and over.

    No, we don't have to look for excitement or adventure or wonder. God does wonderful stuff for us all the time in the Church. And as for the wondrous, the miraculous – it happens. I've seen Jesus heal people – I've seen people protected and kept from harm in the most deadly and dangerous of situations. I'd bet you all have too. But that's not an everyday of our life thing – thanks be to God it isn't, I'd don't want you facing horrid death and destruction daily! Thanks be to God for normal days simply spent at home in peace and quiet! Instead, Jesus normally blesses you... normally. Daily bread. Forgiving you your sin. Leading you away from temptation and delivering you from evil before you even get a hint that evil is around.

    For another brief look at the wondrous normalcy of life in the Church, let's consider another Gospel. Matthew records a few other words from Jesus from the day of Ascension – we call them “the Great Commission” - even though it's not really a commission at all. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Again – this is just setting up the normal pattern of the Church. Jesus says that He has won – that all authority in heaven and earth is His. Our Risen Lord is in charge – and you know what that means for life in between the Ascension and our Lord's return? Well, the church is going to go out and make disciples of all nations – there will be baptisms in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – oh, look, there's a baptismal font, and the words that we started our service with. And there will be teaching to observe what Jesus commanded – hey, a lectern where Jesus' Words are read, a pulpit from which I'm supposed to go teach and preach the Words of Jesus, well what do you know. And lo, Jesus is with you always, even until He returns again at the end of the age – take and eat, this is My Body, take and drink, this is My Blood – as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do show forth the Lord's death until He comes. Simple, yet wondrous. We don't need to look up into the heavens to find Jesus – He's right where He has promised to be, in His Word and Sacraments, wherever two or three are gathered in His name as the baptized children of God – at His house, in our homes, in hospital rooms (because sometimes horrid excitement does come and please call me and I'll come and bring Jesus' Word and even the Supper to you in the Hospital) – all simple. All normal. All incredibly wonderful behind the simpleness that we can be tempted to despise.

    Jesus Christ, your ascended Lord, has established the Church for you, to keep you in the faith, to keep you centered in Christ by the Word and by the Sacraments, even until He comes again and you see Him face to face. Normal? That's pretty cool. Christ is risen, He is risen indeed, alleluia! + Amen.

Thursday, May 4, 2023

Easter 5 (with Confirmation)

 

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed, Alleluia! +

    I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. Jesus understands. Jesus understands what it is to be human, and He understands our limits, our capacity. He Himself got to grow and learn as a child – Luke says that He increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. We grow, we learn, we use what we have learned in service to God and our neighbor. And that growth is not instant, and sometimes there are things we simply aren't ready to know yet. And so, as people, God knows and understands that we will continually be learning and growing. And this idea of continually learning would have been no surprise to the Disciples – they were disciples. That's what a disciple is, a learner. But there in the upper room that Maundy Thursday, Jesus is pointing out that He is going away, He's going to go through Good Friday and then Easter and then the Ascension – He will be returning to the Father. Would the disciples still be learners without Jesus, with their Master having returned home? And the answer is yes – yes, you will still be learners, yes there will be growth in wisdom in the time of the New Testament church – even to our day. And this growth is really, in truth, the activity of the Holy Spirit – the Helper, the Comfortor, the Paraclete.

    Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. Pentecost is coming. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the subsequent spread of the Christian faith to the four corners of the world, to every part of the globe. No longer would we need to be pilgrims journeying to Jerusalem to participate in Holy things, but the Holy Spirit will be coming to us, sent by Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit will be active in the Holy Christian Church – in fact, we call the Church Holy not because of us, how holy we are, but because the Holy Christian Church is the domain, the province of the Holy Spirit, where He works for us. This is the 3rd article of the Creed from the Small Catechism – [the Holy Spirit] calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives my sins and the sins of all believers. After Jesus ascends, after Pentecost, the Church as we know it today comes – this wondrous Church spread out across the world with believers of every tribe and race in virtually every place. And in this church we see the activity of the Holy Spirit.

    The primary task of the Spirit is delivering Jesus and the forgiveness of sins. He takes Jesus and gives Jesus to you – He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. The Holy Spirit is present and at work in and through all the things that go on here in the Church – when we speak, when we sing, when we pray – the Spirit is at work there, enabling and causing this. Today we will talk about the “Means of Grace” - that forgiveness is given through the Word or the Sacraments, but Luther didn't actually use the term “means of grace” - he called the Word and Baptism and the Supper the “means of the Spirit” - that in the Word and in the Sacraments the Holy Spirit is given to us, that the Holy Spirit is active. When we hear God's Word – the Spirit is there, working. When we speak God's Word – in the liturgy, in prayers or hymns (which are spun out from God's Word), the Holy Spirit is there, working. In Baptism, the Holy Spirit is there, working, making you His own temple. The Spirit in there at the Supper, making you to receive Jesus and know forgiveness in the Supper. The Spirit, by the Word and the Sacraments, makes you to know and receive the good things of Jesus. We may not always talk about the Holy Spirit, but He is always present in the Word and in the Sacraments, fixing our eyes upon Jesus and providing understanding and wisdom as He knows that we need and are ready for.

    Then Jesus gives the disciples and us three tasks of the Spirit in our Gospel lesson – three things that He will do throughout the world. And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. In our day, in the time of the New Testament Church, by means of the preaching of the Word of God the Holy Spirit is going to convict the world – He is going to speak convincingly and authoritatively about the world – the present day world we find ourselves in. The Spirit will make sure the preaching of Jesus is always present tense, always applicable to the present day, and in particular from three different angles.

    The Holy Spirit will convict the world concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me. There's always going to be sin and unbelief in the world. Sometimes it will be veiled under a veneer of outward piety, and sometimes it will be open and gross, as it seems to be becoming more and moreso in our day. Either way, in the Christian Church the Holy Spirit will see God's Law proclaimed and sin pointed out. And note the reason, the cause of sin that Jesus gives here. Because people don't believe in Him. Where there is no faith in Christ, there sin will reign. Apart from Christ, ye can do nothing. And the Spirit will point out, will show how Christless, loveless, twisted and faithless acts and attitudes are today – even some acts and attitudes that appeal to us and our own sinful nature. And we learn in this. Sometimes we don't see how wicked and horrible something is right away – you cannot bear them now. But the Holy Spirit comes, and He preaches the Law, and He reveals sin to us – both the sin of the world so that we can avoid it, and our own sin so that we would be repented and returned to Christ.

    The Holy Spirit will also preach convictingly concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see Me no longer. Our righteousness is not in ourselves. It isn't based upon our own actions. We certainly remember that fact once the Spirit has gotten done with preaching convictingly about sin! And so the Spirit will have another task – to proclaim righteousness, true righteousness, the righteousness of Christ Jesus. When Jesus was walking around with the disciples, they had the very image of righteousness right there in front of them. But what of when Jesus has ascended? Well, the Spirit will have the task of proclaiming Christ Crucified and His righteousness, of fixing our eyes upon Jesus. Christ Jesus has died and risen, He has taken up the weight and guilt of your sin and the sin of the world, and He has crucified it upon the Cross. He has fulfilled God's law completely – He is totally and fully righteous, and He declares His righteousness to be yours – and therefore you are utterly righteous in God's sight – justified. All that is Christ's is yours – He will take what is mine and declare it to you. The Holy Spirit brings you, gives you Jesus and His righteousness in the Word, in Baptism, in the Supper. And the only place to find this righteousness is where the Holy Spirit uses the Word and Sacraments to deliver them.

    And then there is one more thing that the Spirit will proclaim convinctingly – concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. The Spirit preaches both Law and Gospel – shows us our sin and shows us our Savior. We often speak this way. But Jesus notes another aspect here – that the Spirit will proclaim the Victory of Christ Jesus over the world – and the Spirit will remind us of this fact. Often the world will seem big and scary – and it is, it's bigger than us and beyond our control. And we can be intimidated by the powers of evil at work and the abuses people in power levy – the corruption and greed that impacts our lives in a negative, lousy way. And the Holy Spirit will come and remind you not to worry about that. Jesus has won. They're judged – you don't have to worry about them, and you don't have to do a thing to them. Endure, Christ is with you – you are declared righteous, and Satan and all his minions are simply throwing a brief temper tantrum before they are consigned to hell for all eternity. They are judged already – they are defeated already, and they in truth can do nothing lasting, nothing real to you. As Christians we ought have a sense of defiance of the world – This world's prince may still scowl fierce as he will! He can harm us none! He's judged, the deed is done. One little world can fell him. And take they our life, goods, fame, child and wife. Though these all be gone our victory has been won. The kingdom ours remaineth. We can forget that defiant hope sometimes as we get worn and wearied in this world. And Spirit will come and bring this all to our remembrance.

    And the Spirit is and will be constantly at work in the Church for you. Why? I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. You will still learn, you will still grow. The Holy Spirit will bring this about. And He'll bring it about day by day, challenge by challenge. You're probably not ready to hear now and understand now the things that will challenge you down the road – so be it. For the Holy Spirit will be with you, ever active in Christ's Word, ever showing you the reality of what it means to be a baptized child of God, ever strengthening you in faith toward God and love toward neighbor in the Supper, whatever the day holds. And together, in Christ's Church the Holy Spirit will show us sin and its impacts, the Spirit will daily and richly forgive us our sins, and He will make us to remember Christ's victory over sin, death, and the Devil even in the face of wickedness now. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit that Christ Jesus has given you to. Amen. Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed, Alleluia! +