Sermon for Lent Midweek 2: "I Believe in Jesus Christ, His Only Son, our Lord" (The Second Article of the Creed)

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Last week, we began our sermon series on the Creed focusing on the first part of the Creed: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” So, if you are asked what does this mean, you can say: “I believe that God is the Creator, who has given to me my body and soul, all members, all physical goods, all possessions. Therefore, I owe it to Him to serve, thank, and praise Him.”

 

Tonight, we continue with the Second Article of the Creed, which is the heart of the Christian faith:

[I believe] in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

     who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

     born of the virgin Mary,

     suffered under Pontius Pilate,

     was crucified, died and was buried.

     He descended into hell.

     The third day He rose again from the dead.

     He ascended into heaven

     and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

     From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

 

The Second Article of the Creed describes Jesus’ work of redemption for us. But why must Jesus redeem us? Well, that answer is sin. Again, the problem isn’t that we are creatures. The problem is not that this world is a material world. Remember, creation is God’s good work and His good gifts. The issue is human sin.

 

The problem is that we have used the best things that God has created and used them in the worst way. We don’t use bad things in the worst way; we use the best things in the worst way. So, what am I saying? These best things that God has given us are: our bodies, our lives, our family, our work, our income, and the list goes on. And what does it mean that we use these best things in the worst way? It means that we idolize them. We idolize created things. We force them to do things that they were not created to do. We try to get our security and happiness from them. And when we do that, we further misuse them by keeping them for ourselves rather than serving our neighbor.

 

So, what happens? We become enslaved to and entrapped by these best things. Or, worse yet, our desires for them entrap us. 

 

God says: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28a). God affirms His love for life all throughout His written Word. He says: “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward” (Psalm 127:3). For God, human life isn’t just good, it’s “very good” (Genesis 1:31). God says: Get married and be fruitful and multiply!

 

So, human life is very good. But do good ends – children – justify immoral means? This is a question that has received much attention within the past week. Is In Vitro Fertilization good? Is IVF ethical? If we believe life begins at conception, which you ought as Christians, that embryo in that laboratory container is, indeed, human life. We all know people who struggle with infertility – and whatever the circumstances or mechanisms of conception, every child is a gift from God. But there are still questions: what about “selective reduction,” which is aborting some embryos to improve the resources and chances to have the desired child? What about those “left over” embryos that are considered “medical waste”? Again, every child is a gift from God, no matter the circumstances or mechanisms of conception, including rape, incest, or IVF, but do good ends justify immoral means?

 

Some other, less heavy good things are sports and social media. Professional and amateur sports teams are good, but we can become enslaved to them if we try to get our security and happiness from them. Social media is good. It’s great that we can connect with people. But social media can also enslave us if we try to get our security and happiness from it. So, any of these best things cannot give us what we seek from them. Satan has lured us, who are God’s beloved human creatures, into captivity.

 

But just as we are enslaved to the devil’s deception, the Second Article of the Creed enters in. Since God has created this world, He refuses to let go of His creation. Afterall, God created everything as good. He loves creation. The world is not the problem. Sin is the problem. So, God sets out to reclaim and restore His creation – beginning with us, because the problem began with us. He who created us is He who redeems us – true God and true Man.

 

How does God redeem us? First, God dives down into the depths of His creation, to take up residence in it and fix it for good. Now, God has always been present and active in His creation, but here, He does something different. He takes a created body into Himself and He lives a creaturely life. He makes room in His life to take on a human body and all that it entails – a human mind, a human history, and human DNA that goes all the way back to Adam. He is “the only-begotten Son of God, begotten from His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man” (Nicene Creed).

 

Jesus is the Creator of the universe and a creature within that creation, all at the same time. Who would have ever imagined this?

 

Second, Jesus’ incarnation affirms the goodness of creation like nothing else. God is saying that His creation is good and important to Him. And Jesus does more than just take on a human body to live in the midst of sin and evil. He becomes human in order to destroy, and to overcome sin and evil and everything that pollutes and disfigures His beautiful world.

 

Jesus redeems mankind from sin, from the devil, from eternal death, and from all evil. Before Jesus did any of that, we did not have a Lord, instead, we were held captive under the devil’s power, condemned to eternal death, entangled in sin and spiritual blindness. 

 

Sin is deeply personal to God. Sin offends God because it shows our rejection of Him and His good purposes for us. Sin shows our betrayal of God. And yet, God in the most personal way enters His creation, personally takes our sin and rebellion upon Himself, personally does away with it, and personally conquers it. Jesus becomes our Lord.

 

As our Lord, Jesus has taken us as His own property under His shelter and protection, so that He may govern us by His righteousness, wisdom, power, life, and blessedness.

 

As our Lord, Jesus is our Redeemer. This means that He is the One who has brought us from Satan’s dominion to the Kingdom of God, from eternal death to eternal life, from sin to righteousness, and He preserves us.

 

Jesus, who is our Lord and our Redeemer, paid everything so that He might win us and bring us under His dominion. This is why He became man, was conceived and born without sin, from the Holy Spirit and from the virgin Mary, so that He might overcome sin. He made satisfaction for you and me, not with silver or gold, but with His own precious blood. He did this all in order to become your Lord.

 

These words hammer it home: He “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.” But three days later, He “rose again from the dead.” He rose again in His same body. He rose, so that we, too, shall also rise from the dead.

 

In the First Article of the Creed, we cannot deal with God apart from His creation. Now in the Second Article, we cannot deal with God’s graciousness in redeeming us from sin apart from the creaturely human body of Jesus. Through this physical human body, we encounter our Redeemer and Lord.

 

As we recite the Second Article of the Creed each week, we proclaim the redemption we have in Christ Jesus “that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

 

Jesus created us and He preserves us. He redeems us and raises us. Upon this Second Article is the entire Gospel and that upon this article our salvation and our happiness rests. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. 

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Lent 2: "The Everlasting Covenant" (Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16)

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

The Lord said to Abram, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations … As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. … I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her” (Genesis 17:4-5, 15-16).

 

God has a way of changing names. To name a handful: Simon is called Peter, Saul is called Paul, Jacob is called Israel, Abram is called Abraham, and Sarai is called Sarah.

 

Why the name changes? What’s the importance of a name?

 

First, Simon. When St. Mark introduces Peter in his Gospel, he writes: “[Jesus] appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter)” (Mark 3:16). Later on, Jesus says why He chose the name Peter for Simon. Following Simon’s great confession about Jesus. Jesus says, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church” (Matthew 16:17-18a). Jesus chose the name Peter for this moment. He knew that Simon would make this great confession, which is the rock that holds up the Church, the Rock of Jesus Christ.

 

Saul is a bit different. Saul was a pharisee of pharisees and a persecutor of the Church. After Saul fell from “his high horse” to faith in Jesus as the Christ, his name suddenly changed from Saul to Paul. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote, “To the Jews I became a Jew, in order to win Jews. … To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:20, 22). So, to the Jews, he was Saul (meaning: “prayed for”) and to the Gentiles, he was Paul (a transliteration of Saul into Greek meaning, “small or humble”). He became all things to all people, so that he might save sinners by bringing them to faith in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit.

 

Like Simon Peter, God is active in re-naming people. Following his wresting with God, Jacob is renamed Israel, which means “God prevails” (Genesis 32:28). And even with Abram and Sarai, God is active. God says to Abram, “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations” (Genesis 17:5). No longer is this man to be the “exalted father” or “chief,” but now he will be “the father of a multitude of nations.” The same goes with Sarai, which means “princess.” For now, she will be named Sarah, which means “princess of a multitude of nations.” And God repeats the significance of the name changes: that all nations would be blessed through their offspring.

 

The name change to Abraham and Sarah was the seal of the covenant, a guarantee that God would keep the promise He had made. And if God would fail to keep His covenant promise, the names Abraham and Sarah would be constantly testified against Him. But we know that God has kept His covenant: Abraham and Sarah would bear a son Isaac. Abraham did become the father of a multitudes of nations. Some are blood descendants, such as the Israelites, the Edomites, and the Arabs. And some are spiritual descendants of Abraham and Sarah by faith. As Christians, we have Abraham as our spiritual father, since like him, we too, are saved by faith alone.

 

For the triune God – the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit – names are very important to Him. He promises to bless Abram, now Abraham, and Sarai, now Sarah, so that they would be a blessing to others. He promises to make them the father and mother of a multitude of nations.

 

This brings us to today. God says to Abraham, “I will establish my covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you” (Genesis 17:7). 

 

Earlier this morning we all experienced this “everlasting covenant” as the triune God adopted Braxton Henry “to this lifelong comfort sure” as His redeemed child of the heavenly Father. 

 

As I have been mentioning the importance of names, I cannot ignore Braxton Henry. Jessica and Brandon, in case you aren’t aware, “Braxton” means “badger,” so be ready if he fulfills his name. But his middle name “Henry” has been a name chosen by many in royal families for it means “house ruler.” 

 

Today, little Braxton Henry has inherited the gift of paradise – the gift of eternal life. So as long as Braxton remains clung to Christ and His promises, the power of sin, eternal death, and Satan have no effect upon him.

 

We all experience this “everlasting covenant” as we pass through the waters of Holy Baptism and hear God’s Name pronounced over us: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

 

But how can this be an “everlasting covenant”? Abraham and Sarah have died. They are no longer with us. Human beings, indeed, have a life expectancy. We begin and we end. We each end because the result of sin is death.

 

So, to be an everlasting covenant, it would take a special descendant who would be like Abraham, a human descendant, but also like God, who would have no end. God fulfilled His promises to Abraham and Sarah as the promised Descendant who would make them the father and mother of multitudes of nations has come – Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

 

Jesus, the promised Offspring, paid for the sins of our weak faith. He paid for our doubts. He paid for our constant desire to do things our way. He did so by suffering our punishment. He shed His own blood to cover our sins. His own death paid for our wage of sin. And His glorious bodily resurrection conquered the power of death itself. Through Christ alone, “we have been justified by faith” (Romans 5:1) and are at peace with God.

 

It is only through Jesus Christ that all the promises given to Abraham, to Sarah, and to us are fulfilled. So, that by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, we are now numbered among the multitudes of descendants of Abraham.

 

Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords who has made this covenant everlasting to a multitude of nations. This was fulfilled when He sent forth His apostles to “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” (Matthew 28:19-20).

 

Through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, we each become a spiritual descendant of Abraham. Through Baptism, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and we become an heir of eternal life, an heir of the “everlasting covenant.” And it is through Baptism, that God gives us a new name too: a Christian.

But Baptism does not complete us as Christians. Neither does the Rite of Confirmation. It’s faith that is given to us from the Holy Spirit through Baptism that completes us. It’s the faith that grows and matures in us through the work of the Holy Spirit as we are taught the Scriptures and what the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, Confession, and the Lord’s Supper mean. It’s the faith that grows and matures in us through the Holy Spirit that leads us to confess our sins to God our Father and receive the forgiveness that His Son – our Brother – won for us on the cross through His atoning suffering and death. It’s the faith that grows and matures in us through the Holy Spirit as we love God by receiving His gifts in Word and Sacrament, and from these Means of Grace, we learn to love and serve our neighbor.

 

The triune God fulfills His promises as He upholds His everlasting covenant for you and me. He gives you this covenant in His blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. He has sealed you through His holy, precious blood, which strengthens your faith and keeps you in faith to life everlasting. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

 

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Lent Midweek 1: "I Believe in God the Father" (The First Article of the Creed)

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

Last Lenten midweek season, you heard the first part of Christian doctrine: the Ten Commandments:

      You shall have no other gods.

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

Honor your father and your mother.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

 

These Ten Commandments teach us all what God wants us to do and what He does not want us to do. We could very well begin and end all Christian doctrine with the Ten Commandments, but only if they are kept by us. But the issue is, our sinful nature does not want to keep any of these Commandments, especially the First Commandment. So, if we would end with the Ten Commandments in our sinful state, we would all be doomed to eternal death, for we all must answer God for our sins.

 

This evening, we begin a Lenten midweek series on the second part of Christian doctrine: the Creed. Tonight we begin with the First Article of the Creed: “I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth.”

 

Let’s ponder this. God – the maker of heaven and earth – He has created everything that exists. Sit back and marvel at this. He created everything ex nihilo, meaning “out of nothing.” God created because He chose to create. He created as an act of love. From eternity, the Triune God – the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit – lived in mutual love with each other. Then at some point, the Holy Trinity made the mutual decision to share that love. 

 

So, God created the universe. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). And God makes room in His life for creation and all creatures. He creates sun and moon, planets and stars, mountains and oceans, butterflies and whales. This is the foundation of everything we believe, teach, and confess. Without creation, we would not be here tonight talking and hearing about Jesus; there would be no sin; there would be no redemption; and there would be no us.

 

So, God created the universe to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31) as this physical world and all creatures came out of God’s outpouring of love. Creation was beautiful. Everything functioned just as God intended. Everything functioned in harmony.

 

But notice, I didn’t say “is” there, I instead said “was.” Today, we no longer live in this perfect creation. We now live in a fallen world as sin has corrupted God’s creation. Today, creation groans as we face the dangers of the devil, the fallen world, and our own sinful flesh.

 

But what kind of a Creator is God? What does He do? How can we praise Him, so He may be known?

 

The First Article of the Creed answers these questions with respect to the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods.” There is nothing else as the one true God. For there is no one else who could create heaven and earth.

 

But how does the fallen world react to the First Article of the Creed: “I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth”? Well, consider how few inside and outside orthodox Christianity truly believe it. Yes, we may say it with our mouths, but do you truly believe that God created everything?

 

Martin Luther puts it this way in his Large Catechism: “For if we believed this teaching with the heart, we would also act according to it. We would not strut about proudly; act defiantly, and boast as though we had life, riches, power, honor, and such, of ourselves” (LC 21).

 

So, our sinful nature never once thinks about God, or even wants to thank Him, or even acknowledge Him as Lord and Creator. Instead, we pat ourselves on the back. We often look to politicians and bureaucrats to fix the world’s ills. We would rather often listen to “so-called experts” than to God Himself as He reveals what we need to know in the Scriptures and His Sacraments.

 

But even though we live in a fallen world, God created this world, and He called it “very good.” So, this world, though fallen and corrupt, is valuable to Him. It’s so valuable to Him that He chose to redeem it, cleanse it, and restore it. Plus, the Creator of the universe took on a human body. God became man – a human creature, like you and me yet without sin – to affirm the goodness of creation. God could have destroyed His creation when it fell into sin and started over. Instead, He took it upon Himself.

 

The One through whom all things were made took upon Himself our flesh in order to make all things new. Jesus came to take on the task of renewing and re-creating His world. So, the beauty that we see today is but a sneak preview, a small glimpse, of the perfect world that is to come.

 

The suffering, atoning death, and bodily resurrection of Jesus opens the door to the paradise that was lost at the Fall. 

 

Until the day of Christ’s return, we live between God’s first creation and His new creation. In the meantime, God does not stop creating. He did not stop creating after the sixth day. God keeps on creating to this very day. God is still “hands-on” and is deeply involved in His creation.

 

In spite of sin and death, God continues to create. New life is created every day. Babies are born. Plants sprout in the spring. The sun continues to shine and give light and energy. God creates for the sake of redemption. Even now that Jesus has accomplished our redemption, God keeps the world going for the sake of the Gospel and the restoration of all things.

 

Among the just and the unjust, God continues to provide. He constantly preserves body, soul, and life, senses, reason, and understanding. He gives everyone food and drink, clothing and support, wife and children, grain, produce, good government, peace, and security. He daily preserves and defends us from all evil and misfortune. He directs all sorts of danger and disaster away from us. All this that God does for us, we call “our daily bread.”

 

So, what does God ask of us? All He asks is thanks and praise. This is not because God needs it, but that we acknowledge our dependence on Him. Yes, we can go on without thanksgiving, but we always end up boasting in ourselves. But when we give thanks and praise to the One who is the actual Giver, we remind ourselves how we live on the receiving end of His gifts. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. 

  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Lent 1: "Our Daily Battle" (James 1:12-18)

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life” (James 1:12).

 

Every day of yours and my life is a life under temptation. From the lure of the cookie jar to the draw of pornography. From gossip that we long to share to the grudge that we desire to nurse. From the fallen world, as it temps our sinful nature into believing that cohabitation is a “test” for marriage compatibility instead of proclaiming the holy estate of marriage as good. From being tempted by friends to drink underage at a party to being tempted to turn to drugs in order to “take away” the pain. From the temptation of the latest fads and trends to be popular all the way to homosexuality and transgenderism. From the worldly temptation of “Sunday Funday” in choosing sinful pleasure over God and His gifts in His Means of Grace. 

 

Day by day, our minds are not at peace. We are at war with ourselves, with the fallen world, and with a cunning devil. To this we say, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” as Jesus teaches us to pray. 

 

This morning, on this First Sunday in Lent, we see before us our daily enemies: evil, temptation, Satan, and sin. Daily we are at war against these lethal spiritual terrorists. But also daily, we have delivery from these evil foes through our Lord Jesus Christ who gives us the crown of life.

 

Now, it would be certainly nice if we didn’t have to battle temptation, but we live in a fallen world, so this is what we face day-in and day-out. We face temptation. Every single day we each face temptation. Why are we in this daily battle? Is it God tempting us?

 

To this, through the Holy Spirit, James says: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one” (James 1:13).

 

So, if it’s not God, then who is tempting us?

To this, James says: “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” (James 1:14). It’s sin. It’s the fallen world. It’s the devil. It’s your sinful desires.

 

Every day, we are under assault from our evil foes. Satan uses his human and demonic allies to try to distract us, trade our spiritual treasures for trash, sell our future for immediate gratification, grow tired of the Word of God, chase illusions, or to despair of any living communication or relationship with God.

 

And when you or I are tempted, this gives birth to sin. 

 

When you are running late to something, how do you usually drive? Do you follow the speed limit? Or do you ever follow the speed limit? Or do you always give or take 5-8 miles per hour? 

 

As you speed, what happens when you see those red and blue lights flashing behind you? What are your first thoughts? And be honest. Is it, “I know what I did” or is it, “Why did that cop have to be there?” Be honest.

 

As that cop walks up to your car, you and I most likely become like Adam and Eve in the Garden. We would like to blame anyone but yourself. “The woman whom you gave to be with me. It’s her fault!” “That serpent deceived me!” (Genesis 3:11-13).

 

It is not God, but our own sinfulness, the fallen world, and Satan that tempts us. We are so easily seduced to take “other gifts,” such as travel time via speeding. We are so hesitant to blame ourselves, but instead everyone else around us.

 

We want immediate gratification. We want to chase illusions. We want our lusts fulfilled. We want money and possessions at any cost.

 

But really, pastor, is temptation such a big deal? Am I really hurting myself and others if I give in to temptation?

 

Yes, temptation is a big deal. As St. James states: “Desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:15). The end result of temptation and evil desire is eternal death. The awful consequence of letting sinful desires take over us is eternal death.

 

Temptation is a problem. Temptations are evil suggestions to our hearts and minds to rebel against God’s will. Now, God certainly allows hardships, but His purpose is always good. His purpose is to test our faith as genuine and to draw us closer to Him, and away from our evil foes. God never, ever, wants His children to choose evil. He never wants us to give in to temptation. 

 

Again, our temptation problem is not from God, but is really from within. Cooking way in each person’s heart is a sinful self, a prideful self, that never wants to be converted. This prideful self seeks to dominate our thinking and our values. And it will never submit to God.

 

Even if we realize our struggle with temptation, feel guilty when we fall into it, or we make up our minds to defeat temptation, we can’t. And we won’t. We fail when we trust in ourselves to overcome any temptation. We fail 100 percent of the time.

 

But Christ overcomes temptation, sin, and death to give us the Father’s good gifts: the crown of life.

 

The first verse of our epistle today is: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12). Now, who is “the man” who remains steadfast under trial? It can’t be me or you. This man is none other than Jesus Christ, since He is the blessed Man who best resisted temptation. He alone remained steadfast under trial.

 

Jesus knows what trial is. Jesus knows what temptation is. Not only was He tempted by Satan as we heard in today’s Gospel reading; He was tempted even more than that. His greatest temptation was to avoid the cross, not to go to the cross to save you and me, not to suffer the trials that He faced. He was tempted to not suffer and die for you and for me. But He overcame that temptation. He went to the cross for you and for me to pay for all the times we fall into temptation. He is the only One who can defeat temptation for us.

 

Through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, we belong to God. We are His treasured possessions. He loves us. God the Father loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us. So, that through Jesus, we have forgiveness for all the times we have fallen into temptation. It is through Jesus Christ alone that we stand the test and receive the crown of life.

 

We stand the test as a Baptized child of the heavenly Father. We stand the test by living a life of repentance. We submit to God’s Law, which convicts and condemns our sinful hearts and crushes our sinful pride. Through Baptism, Christ’s saving Gospel clings to us and alone can give us worth and hope before God. For it is only God’s verdict of not guilty that will spare us from His divine wrath that will fall upon Satan and all evil on the Last Day. 

 

As Baptized Christians, whatever hinders us from faith in Christ must go; but the things that bind us to Christ – His Word and Sacraments – must be the center of our lives.

 

Daily, we face temptations. We face temptations from the fallen world, Satan, and from within us – our sinful desires. And since, we cannot create paradise on earth, God alone gives us the way to fight off every temptation. He feeds us with His Word, which sustains us. He strengthens you in His promises of His constant presence, sympathy, and understanding of what you are going through, because He has been there. His victory is your victory, and even if you fail, He will pick you up. He picks you up, forgives you, and prepares you by the power of His Word to strengthen your faith for the next time temptation comes. He does the same thing through His Holy Supper. There, He is feeding you with Himself – His very body and blood – that suffered and was shed for you. He strengthens your faith, forgives your sins, and gives you the crown of life.

 

God knows all about trials and temptations. He knows about being attacked by our evil foes on all sides. Yet, He always remained steadfast under trial – even unto death. 

 

The Holy Spirit leads us recognize, honestly and humbly, the enemy that can and will conceive and give birth to evil thoughts, evil words, and evil desires. He leads us to humbly repent of our sins daily as we receive His forgiveness.

 

God knows what we all go through. That is why He sent His only Son to suffer those trials and temptations, so that we can get through ours by clinging to Him and receive the crown of life that Jesus has won for you at the cross and the empty tomb. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

 

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Ash Wednesday: "The Ashes and Vocation" (Mathew 6:1-6, 16-21)

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

On Ash Wednesday, it is easy to focus on the ashes. “Ash” is right there in the name of the day. They are smudged in the shape of the cross on our foreheads. You can’t ignore those ashes on Ash Wednesday. These ashes, even in their cross shape, are speaking, albeit silently. They tell the fallen world, and everyone else who isn’t here tonight, that a new season has started: the springtime season of Lent.

 

These ashes also preach something else: something even less festive. They are a publicly visible personal testimony of your mortality. You are dying. You will die. This curse of death hangs there all the time – it’s over all creatures – it’s over you, and it marks you. That cross on your forehead just makes it more obvious this evening. Death – mine and yours – is around the corner ahead somewhere. So, yes, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” God spoke His words to fallen Adam in Eden, and again to us this evening: “You are dust” (Genesis 3:19). 

 

Because you are personally liable – the Creator of heaven and earth holds you accountable – for the disobedience that lives in your flesh, the sin that you inherited from your fathers all the way back to Adam, the sin that isn’t too hard to find just below the surface of even our most well-performed thoughts, words, and deeds.

 

Those ashes on your forehead make that point. Ashes remind you of your mortality. Ashes remind you that death is what your secret thoughts, whispered words, and covert deeds really finally get you. Even the ones you thought that were “good.”

 

Not to leave you in despair, those ashes on your forehead also represent one more thing: your only hope. Your sure and certain hope rests in the heavenly Father who “so loves the world, that He gave His only Son” (John 3:16), who is compassionate and wiling to commute the righteous death sentence He decreed. And who will now judge you not by who you are or from whom you came or even what you’ve done but will be satisfied in the punishment and death of another – His beloved Son, Jesus, who has taken your sin as well as your “dust,” and even your death. So those ashes on your forehead mark you with the sign of the cross – as one redeemed by Christ, the Crucified. God applies all the bloody salvation that Jesus has won to you.

 

The prophet Joel asks, “Who knows?” Perhaps God will relent and turn away His fierce anger so that we will not perish (Joel 2:14). Well, He will. He does. He has! That’s the prayer and the solid hope of the sinner, the Christian, the penitent – that God will be merciful to me, a sinner. So let the ashes “preach” all that and remind you that your Christian life is a life of daily repentance, even when Lent is over. As Christians, we repent daily and receive God’s forgiveness daily. 

 

As Christians, we experience real sorrow for sin, but this sorrow also stands alongside the sure mercies of God. The one true God is gracious and merciful. For merciful is precisely how God is. And to do you all this good, His mercies are tied forever to the suffering and death of Jesus. And He brings to you all this heavenly good in the place you are right now. He gives out exclusively what He has promised: you hear His Word and you are given His body and blood to feed and nourish your soul. He comes through Word and Sacrament.

 

Even though today is Ash Wednesday, the true emphasis of this day is not about those ashes. And the emphasis of Lent is not actually fasting, or prayer, or almsgiving for the poor, or anything else we might take on as part of your Lenten observance. Now, all those things are certainly good, right, and salutary, but they aren’t the main thing. Look at what Christ says in today’s Gospel lesson. Jesus doesn’t say to the Christian: “If you pray, if you give to the needy, if you fast.” No, what does He say? He says, “When you pray, when you give to the needy, when you fast.” So, He’s not adding three new commandments. He’s describing you and what you do in your Christian calling, your Christian vocation.

 

None of these things is done to draw attention to ourselves. No, He says, “Give to the needy … in secret. Pray … in secret. Fast …in secret.” Now, there is always a temptation to curve it all back onto ourselves, to “perform” our piety “out loud” or where people can see it, like posting about your Lenten fast on social media. And you may want to admire those ashes on your forehead in the mirror or post your Ash Wednesday picture on social media, but these only show yourself as dust. “Remember that you are dust.” And that Jesus comes to form and shape this dust of ours again, to breath into us His life again, His Word and Spirit.

 

So, by all means fast and pray and provide Christian charity so that you might remember the fasting of Jesus’ 40 days in the desert, the praying of Jesus continually, and the undeserved charity of His grace that our Lord has come to pour out on us in His suffering and death. Fast and make intercessions and deny yourselves for the needs of your neighbor, including inviting them here for your neighbor’s salvation. Deny yourself from the worldly cravings you have, all those unnecessary things you desire.

 

But when you fast, when you pray and when you give, don’t make a show of it. Don’t do it with the idea that you’re bettering yourself or fixing yourself. 

 

Rather, when you fast and pray and give, do it so your right hand doesn’t ever know what your left hand has done. Don’t do it to get your name on a plaque. Don’t take up these Lenten disciplines to become a better person, but so that you might better take in the gifts and treasures our Lord won for you by His Passion, His death, and His resurrection. It is always about that, about Him for you. Discipline your flesh, fast for a time. Not to lose weight. Not to “get a feel” for what Jesus experienced (as if we even could), but so that His Baptism and Holy Absolution and Sacrament on the Altar might be even more taken in by you. 

 

So, as Christ says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20a).

 

So, treasure those eternal things – the sure mercies of our God, His words in your Baptism, and the bread and wine where He gives you His body and blood. This is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion in and through the Holy Spirit. So, treasure up His riches and the inheritance you have from His shed blood. Everything tied to our Lord’s death: like your Baptism into that death and receiving His blood cupped from His hands, feet and side come from His death. You have the real treasure – heavenly treasure, which is the forgiveness of sins!

 

So, you don’t need to “lay up for yourselves treasures on earth” in your home or bank, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal, since our real treasure is right here, found in the Word and Sacraments, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Where Christ is, there is your treasure. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.   

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +