Voters' Meeting Devotion: "Imitating God the Father"

In Ephesians 3, St. Paul writes: ¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every father in heaven and on earth is named. 

All Fatherhood is named after the heavenly Father. Fatherhood is modeled after the heavenly Father. What does God the Father do for us? He created us and He protects us.

Fatherhood is a good gift of God given for the protection of children. Just like God the Father, earthly fathers protect their children. Earthly fathers find the perfect example for their own fatherhood in the Fatherhood of God the Father. It is God the Father who shapes, forms, and orders the fatherhood of man.

Yet, so often, instead of forming our fatherhood in God’s image, we end up with a skewed view of God’s Fatherhood because of our twisted image of earthly fatherhood. Modernism and modern life have made fatherhood optional at best, and at worst penalized it. Fallen man has redefined marriage and reconstructed fatherhood in our image and after our likeness, instead of God’s image and His likeness.

Our sinful flesh is destructive. Our sinful flesh is selfish. God the Father is not destructive. God the Father is sacrificial. He asks for nothing in return but faithfulness. He gives and gives and gives. He is selfless. 

As earthly fathers seek to imitate God in His Fatherhood, earthly fathers are to protect their children. Earthly fathers are to protect their children from fatherlessness. God the Father has ordered life in a very specific way. So, we must not pretend that fatherhood is optional or unimportant. 

Earthly fathers protect their children from Satan, who is waging war against the children of God and is seeking to devour our children (1 Peter 5:8). So, just as the father must be present at the supper table at home, the father must be present at the Lord’s Table. Satan is at war against fatherhood. Satan has caused his fallen world to call into question whether human fathers are necessary at all.

Fathers protect their children from Satan. This is the duty of fathers: to take their children to the Divine Service, raise them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, teach them all the Lord has done for them in redemption from slavery to sin, and instruct them in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6). In these ways, fathers protect their children from the assaults of the devil.

This is the duty of fathers. Let us give thanks to our Heavenly Father from whom our human fatherhood is named who also protects the souls of His blessed children.

Let us pray. Compassionate Father, from whom all fatherhood is named, we give You thanks for earthly fathers. Give them confidence in their station and zeal for their task to care for their families faithfully. Make them examples to their children of godly life and love of Your Word. Bless their work of bringing up children in the fear and instruction of the Lord, and give them the comfort of Your absolution over all their shortcomings. Amen.

Sermon for Pentecost 4: "The Growth of the Kingdom" (Mark 4:26-34)

LISTEN

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 kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground” (Mark 4:26).

 

Today, Jesus teaches us the Parable of the Automatic Growing Seed and the meaning of this parable is straightforward.

 

§  The “man” is Jesus. (Mark 4:26)

§  The “seed” is the Word of God. (Mark 4:27-28)

§  The “ground” are those living under God’s reign and rule. (Mark 4:26, 28)

§  The “seed” sprouts automatically – on its own. (Mark 4:27)

§  The “ground” with the “seed” in it produces fruit, that is the reign and rule of God being implemented in the lives of Christians. (Mark 4:27)

§  The “blade,” then the “ear,” and then the “full grain” shows the Christian’s growth and maturity. (Mark 4:28)

§  The “harvest” is the full goal of God’s plan. (Mark 4:29)

§  The “sickle” is the Final Judgment. (Mark 4:29)

§  For those in Christ, the harvest is beneficial for the “full grain,” so that by bearing fruits of faith, followers of Jesus will fare well at the Final Judgment.

 

As we are in the Green Season – the Season after Pentecost, we are focusing on our Christian spiritual growth. So, what do we make of this parable? What does this parable – the Parable of the Automatic Growing Seed – have to do with us?

 

What Jesus is teaching us today is a well-known fact about the growth of the seed, but He uses it to bring home to us a remarkable truth about the seed of the Word of God: “He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear” (Mark 4:27-28).

 

Now, over time, we have come to better know much about horticulture in how a seed sprouts into becoming a plant, but there is still so much that remains a mystery. 

 

We do not know or understand the power of life and growth inherent in a seed. Farmers trust that the seed simply germinates, develops, grows, and produces more seed. So, there is no need for farmers to worry about the seed in the ground, but instead to trust the seeds to develop and grow, so the farmer takes care of other work on his farm.

 

So, is Jesus teaching us to just sit down, relax, and do nothing? Well, yes – and no.

 

Look around you. Today’s attendance may not look like what you would want to see. Or today’s attendance may look like more than you thought. The Kingdom of God may look like a letdown. We know that we live in God’s Kingdom of grace, but when we look around, what do we see? Empty pews.

 

And to make matters even worse, we look at those sitting in the pews this morning. What do we see? Sinners! We see poor, miserable sinners. We see fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who aren’t as active in the church as we think they ought to be. We see people who don’t always treat us, or one another, as kindly as we think they should. We see people whose lives outside these church walls that don’t always rise to the standards we might set for them. And if we take an honest look at yourself, we must all admit that we, too, seem altogether out of place in the Kingdom of God.

 

Yes, we know that when we fellowship around God’s Word and Sacraments, the Kingdom of God is among us, but sometimes it is hard to believe. This just doesn’t look like what we think the Kingdom of God ought to look. Shouldn’t we do something?!

 

Again, Jesus says, “He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how” (Mark 4:27). But we want to know how! We want to find ways to grow! We want to know the sure way unbelievers and inactives can have the same certain hope and joy that we have in Jesus! We want to be able to explain church growth or decline! 

 

So, when it comes to the Kingdom of God, we want to learn the steps to make church growth happen! And there are plenty of programs out there designed to help churches grow. But more often than not, these church growth programs are not focused on Jesus and His Word, but on us: what I can do. The focus is on the self.

 

The truth behind how to grow the church or how to get loved ones to believe is not in exploring what we can do, but instead in what is already done. In other words, to ask what can be done is to assume that something is missing that we can work to supply or improve. We can begin to live as if Jesus was not sufficient to do what is to be accomplished. You see, the growth of the Kingdom of God is up to Jesus, not us.

 

God’s ministry is working. It needs no assistance. At once it is loose in the world, the reign of God has it in itself to grow. So, we don’t need to help the reign of God along. It will succeed. That is the meaning of this parable. 

 

Like the farmer has complete confidence in the seed, God’s Kingdom grows mysteriously of itself through the Word. So, we marvel at the mystery of all that Jesus describes: “The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear” (Mark 4:28). Automatically, it all happens. Life resides in the seed. Only when the seed is introduced into the soil does something happen. Apart from the seed, the soil of the sinner’s heart is dead, devoid of any spiritual life. Only when the living seed of the Word of God has been planted in the heart of the sinner can spiritual life be generated and sustained. So, the soil without the seed is dead. Likewise, the human heart without the Word of God is dead. 

 

So, what are we to do? Is there anything we can do? As followers of Christ, He has given us vocations – or callings in our daily living. And as Christians, we are seen as “little Christs.” We follow the Light of Christ and so His light is reflected onto us. Here, in the Divine Service, our faith in Christ takes root and is strengthened as it is fertilized, watered, and pruned through His Law and Gospel and in His forgiveness of our sins. Here, the Holy Spirit causes us to “Know and Grow” in Christ, so that we can “Go” to share the good news of salvation in Christ to others.

 

As the Christian faith has taken root and grown in our lives through Word and Sacrament, Jesus uses us in our daily vocations to bring that same seed – the Word of God – to others. St. Paul puts it this way, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6).

 

Like the “man” in our parable, we go about our day-to-day business as a child of God in our God-given vocations – in our homes, schools, workplaces, and communities. For we are a people who are called by the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism into Jesus’ death, formed by grace and forgiveness, shaped by mercy received at the Lord’s Table, who live by faith and prayer, patience and hope. 

So, we confidently ask God to grant the growth He wills for us, for those we love, for the one Holy Christian and apostolic Church throughout the world, and for those in whom the Kingdom of God is still but a seed.

 

Now, always take confidence in Jesus words here that the Word of God is the seed, and this Word of God is always powerful and reliable. All that needs to be done, and all that can be done, is to sow the seed, to proclaim the Word of God. The power is in the seed, the Word of God. It is sown; it sprouts; it matures; it is harvested. For God says, “So shall My Word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

 

The triune God grows His Kingdom. Though at times we may not see the results, there will be a harvest because the seed has God’s power within it.

 

This Parable of the Automatic Growing Seed was said by Jesus to steady His disciples, to comfort them, to assure them. Jesus said this parable to steady, comfort and assure us, too. 

 

Jesus is the One who sows the seed of the Word. His seed will go out and many will have ears to hear, many will receive a heart to humble itself and believe and follow. He keeps on sowing for the spiritual life and growth of His Kingdom – the Church, until the gracious time of sowing comes to a close at the Final Judgment. For us, who are in Christ, His Word produces spiritual fruit in Him, which will come to an end at our death – or if Christ returns first. Then comes the judgment, but this sickle of judgment holds no terror for us in Christ, since we are harvested and transformed from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant.

 

So rather than stress, know that when it comes to the growth of God’s Kingdom be like a farmer, who trusts in his seeds to produce. For by Jesus’ atoning death and bodily resurrection, God the Father will grant growth in His time and in His way. For now, just spread the seed of His Word, then sleep and rise night and day trusting that the Holy Spirit will sprout and grow those seeds while not knowing how. 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 Pentecost 3: "The Stronger Man" (Mark 3:20-35)

LISTEN

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:

 

Jesus said, “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house” (Mark 3:27).

 

Everywhere Jesus went, crowds gathered. We see this in today’s Gospel reading. People just wanted to touch Him. They just wanted to see Him perform miracles. They wanted to hear His powerful preaching. To this, there were certainly questions. Who is Jesus? Is He a rabbi? Is He a prophet? Is He a sorcerer? Could He be the promised Messiah? Could He just be crazy, a misguided lunatic, a charlatan, a fraud? Could He be an agent of Satan?

 

Even those who were closest to Jesus – His earthly family – did not know Him. Certainly, they thought they knew Jesus, but they did not. For they were saying, “He is out of His mind” (Mark 3:21). His family was saying to Him: “Enough!” They wanted to talk some sense into Him, or even restrain Him. They thought it was insane and unhealthy the way He was going about Galilee preaching and teaching. They thought the work had gotten to Him, or He was burned out. So, they came to Capernaum to do an intervention: “Jesus, it’s time to end this and just come home!”

 

By their actions, His own family did not know Him. They did not believe in Him as the promised Messiah. Nor did they understand the necessity of Him using every opportunity in sharing His message. 

 

If His family had serious misgivings about Jesus, the Jewish religious leaders went all out in seeking to undermine His influence. Now, they could not deny that Jesus was performing miracles or driving out demons. But their minds were made up about Him: “He’s evil!” They cry out: “‘He is possessed by Beelzebul,’ and ‘by the prince of demons he casts out demons’” (Mark 3:22).

 

Now, “Beelzebul” was a wordplay on the Philistine false god known as “Baal.” Beelzebul had become to be known as “the ruler of demons,” or “the master of the spirits.”

 

As they name dropped “Baal”, Jesus gives the true name for “Baal.” For “Baal” was just another disguise or alias for Satan himself.

 

Jesus replies, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end” (Mark 3:23-26). 

 

In effect, Jesus is saying: “How is Satan able to cast himself out? Do you not know basic principles? A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. If I am aligned with Satan, My ministry against him is divided. So, he is of no effect and is finished. But that is not true, since Satan is still living and active and is still a powerful force, a force that I am dealing with.”

 

You see, the last thing Satan would ever do is cast out his own demons. Satan would never cast out his own henchmen. Satan would never divide against himself.

 

As much as today’s society would like us to believe that Satan is a figment of our imagination, Jesus says here that Satan is very real. Satan likes working behind the scenes. Satan likes not taking the credit. That’s why he disguises himself as “Baal,” as “Molech,” as an “angel of light.”

 

Since the Fall of Man, by luring Adam and Eve to commit the original sin: pride. As Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Pride is the sin that is celebrated by the fallen world this month. Pride is the worship not of God, but a worship of the self and submission only to self. Pride should not be celebrated. No expression of pride – the excessive love of self – should ever be accepted or tolerated and certainly celebrated as pride has become its own false idol, a false idol that Satan used to convince angels to become demons, a false idol that Satan used to convince Adam and Eve to question God’s love for them.

 

As Adam and Eve bit into the forbidden fruit, Satan took possession of this fallen world and everyone in it. But now Jesus has come to bind up Satan. He has come to plunder Satan’s house. He has come to destroy Satan’s kingdom. Jesus has come to reclaim those who were possessed by Satan. Jesus has come to redeem all those who would trust in Him.

 

Jesus has come to set you free from your sins. He has come to claim you. He has come to make you His very own. 

But what do these Jewish religious leaders see in Jesus? They see Jesus as the incarnation of evil. 

 

The only unforgiveable sin is unbelief. For Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you … whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:28, 29). Jesus is extremely serious here. He isn’t mincing His words. 

 

You see, the Holy Spirit’s main work is to point us to Jesus, so that He may be known in the Means of Grace: His Word and Sacraments. 

 

As fallen people, we are spiritually blind and dead (Ephesians 2:1), so that we are unable to come to faith in Jesus on our own, let alone choose to entrust our lives to Him. Apart from the Holy Spirit, we actively resist the Gospel’s call to faith in Jesus Christ, since “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh” (Galatians 5:17).

 

This unforgiveable sin is the stubborn, persistent refusal to allow the Holy Spirit to do His work. Faith in Jesus is the gift of God. “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). 

 

People can and often do resist the Holy Spirit’s power. They hear the Gospel invitation, but they resist. By their own stubbornness, they close their hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit. And without the Holy Spirit, there can be no repentance; there can be no forgiveness; there can be no faith; and there can be no salvation.

 

When people resist the Holy Spirit, they remain in their sins, their unbelief, their blasphemy. This was the sin of these Jewish religious leaders. They refused to hear His Gospel promise. They claimed they knew who Jesus was, but they stubbornly resisted what the Holy Spirit wanted to reveal to them. Their hearts and their minds were closed.

 

Has it ever occurred to you that you may be guilty of an unforgiveable eternal sin? Have you ever doubted Jesus’ promises? Have you ever neglected Jesus’ words of Law and Gospel? We would like to say, “Not me!”

 

Do you recall those words said by your Godparents at your Baptism? Do you recall those words you said on your Confirmation Day? 

“Do you renounce the devil? Do you renounce all his works? Do you renounce all his ways?” Have you ever given into Satan’s temptations to live according to the fallen world? 

 

You see, Satan is consistently tempting us to not “Know, Grow, and Go” in God’s Word in avoiding your Sabbath rest in God’s Word and His Sacraments, but instead Satan urges us to follow his ways of sexual immorality, idolatry, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, divisions, and envy (Galatians 5:19-21).

 

Now, if you are worried that you may have committed an unforgivable eternal sin, let me assure you that you are not guilty of sinning against the Holy Spirit. The fact that you are concerned means that the Holy Spirit is working on you and in you and is still seeking to bring you to repentance and to assure you of salvation in Jesus Christ.

 

For people who are guilty of this sin, they never even consider it. They don’t even think about it. They go on in their lives in stubborn indifference with their minds closed to the truth. Their hearts resist the Holy Spirit’s gracious invitation.

 

May we never forget Christ’s Gospel promise: “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter” (Mark 3:28). So, if you are troubled by any particular sin, hear Christ’s words again: “All sins will be forgiven.” Remember, Jesus forgave those who spat in His face, who beat Him, who mocked Him, and who hung Him on the tree of the cross. He forgave and restored His disciples who had forsaken Him and denied Him. And He will even forgive you.

 

So, is Jesus crazy? Is He misguided? Is He of the devil? No, Jesus is the Strong One who came to bind up Satan. He came to rob Satan’s house by His dying on the cross. He has come to make you His own. He has come to forgive you. And He is here today as He comes to us in His very body and blood under the bread and wine in the Sacrament of the Altar to forgive your sins.

 

Thanks be to God that Satan’s power over us is broken. Yet, Satan still brings us troubles – as he is still living and active – in this fallen world, but he can never do more than Christ allows. Satan cannot hold us. For everyone in Christ, we no longer belong to Satan. We belong to the Stronger Man, who comes to you this day with the promise to forgive all your sins. 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 Pentecost 2: "Our Sabbath Rest" (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)

LISTEN

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: 

“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you” (Deuteronomy 5:12).

 

Have you ever found yourself sitting in a broken-down car and stranded? Well, I have. One Mother’s Day I was driving myself back to college, but as I turned onto the interstate, everything on my dashboard began to flicker and the radio began a whoosh-whoosh sound. For anyone who has been there, you know what was wrong. It was the alternator. I coasted to a stop on the shoulder of Interstate 69.

 

A week earlier, I began noticing issues. And I took the car to get maintenance. I paid for a new car battery. As it turned out, there wasn’t a problem with the battery. But not every car stranded on the road is there because of a worn-out alternator. 

 

For many new drivers, owning a car can be a challenge. Let’s say you are a new driver and one day, your car broke down. You are stranded. Thankfully, you are still near your workplace, so you call some fellow coworkers for help. One of them comes to assist you. When your coworker arrives, he asks you, “What happened?” Then you say, “I was just driving and then the car just quit running.” “Could you be out of gas?” “No, I just filled it up.” “Did it make a noise?” “Oh, yeah! As I was driving down the hill, it went brump, brump, brump, pow!” “When was the last time you changed the oil?” Like cars, our Christian faith needs to be under constant maintenance.

 

Now, how often do you hear statements such the following? “I don’t need to attend a church to be a Christian,” which means, “I don’t want Jesus teaching me how to live.” Or: “I’m spiritual, but not religious,” which is a copout for saying: “I don’t want to go to church.” Or: “Church is so boring. I’ve heard it all. I don’t want to hear the same thing over and over again.” Each of these statements are merely saying the same thing. They are all excuses. If we made excuses for not maintaining our cars, or made excuses for not eating and drinking, what would happen? Your car would be out of commission. You would die.

“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you” (Deuteronomy 5:12). This likely sounds familiar. This is the Third Commandment of God’s Law. Now, what is different is that today’s text is not from Exodus 20, but from Deuteronomy, which means “second law,” since this is the second time that the Law of God is recorded in the Bible. Isn’t one time enough? Well, how is it with us? We often need to be taught something multiple times for it to eventually sink in. 

 

Today, we begin the “green season” of the Church Year. For the next several months, the paraments will be green, which symbolizes our growth. Here at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, we are a disciple making community, where we “Know, Grow, and Go.” But in order to “Go,” we must first “Know” and “Grow.” You see, as Christ says in the Parable of the Sower, if you have no root, your faith will wither away. Or, if you continually live with the thorns of this fallen world, your faith may be choked (Matthew 13:3-9). So, in order to “Know, Grow, and Go,” we need to know God’s Word, spiritually grow in faith, so that we can share God’s grace with others! This is only accomplished through the Holy Spirit working in you!

 

As we begin this “green season,” it is certainly good, right, and salutary that we begin with the Third Commandment: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,” because it is on the Sabbath when our faith is fertilized, watered, and pruned by Law and Gospel in the Divine Service. 

 

So, with our focus this morning on the Sabbath, what exactly is meant by Sabbath? Well, Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word “shabbat,” which means rest. For some, “Sabbath” sounds a lot like “seven,” and the Hebrews did observe the Sabbath day on the seventh day of the week – Friday evening through Saturday evening. But “Sabbath” means “rest,” not “seventh.”

 

From Exodus 20, God spoke to Moses saying: “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11). So, God “rested” from creating on the seventh day.

 

We all need rest. We all need a day to relax. For the Old Testament Jews, and most Jews today, they believe that the Sabbath day is only fulfilled by doing no manual work whatsoever. While God says we need to rest and relax, they were misinterpreting the Third Commandment. They were forgetting that they also need spiritual rest. They were more concerned with their manmade laws, such as how many steps a Jew could take on the Sabbath day. But God always desires man to rest in Him.

So, is there any importance on the particular day we celebrate the Sabbath? Are we wrong in worshipping God on Sunday mornings and Monday evenings? Are we in violation of the Third Commandment? Well, let’s look at what God’s Word says!

 

First from Romans 14. St. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes this: “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” (Romans 14:5). So, what does this mean? It means that it is not necessary for Christians to observe the former Jewish Sabbath.

 

Next from Colossians 2. St. Paul writes, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” … “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:13-14, 16-17).

 

Here, Paul is saying that the Old Testament religious regulations were intended by God to prepare His people for the arrival of the Savior. Those ceremonial laws, rituals, and practices served as “a shadow of the things to come” (Colossians 2:17). The substance is the important thing. Now that the Messiah has appeared, that old shadow can be disregarded.

 

Since the Messiah has come, we are not obligated to observe the Old Testament rituals, including how the Jews observed the Sabbath day. In fact, from the very beginning, the disciples of Jesus began worship on Sundays, rather than the Jewish Sabbath day. But why the change? It was done because the most important event in all of Christianity – in all the world – was revealed on Sunday morning – the Resurrection of Jesus. The world changed with the Resurrection of Jesus. Sunday is our justification day. For us, the Sabbath day changed, but the idea and the point of the Sabbath day has remained.

 

Sabbath – “shabbat” – means: “rest.” And Jesus is our Sabbath rest. For He says, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28). And elsewhere, He said, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heaven laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29a).

Jesus is our Sabbath rest. So, how do we rest in Jesus?

 

First, we rest in Jesus, for in Him we receive forgiveness of sins. Jesus works forgiveness of all sins, because He gave His life on the cross to pay for what we have done wrong and for what we haven’t done what we should have done. This we confess at each Divine Service.

 

This suffering and death of Jesus is enough to satisfy the justice and judgment of God the Father. Jesus did the hard work. And because of His suffering and death, we get to rest. We no longer work to try to appease God or to please God enough to overlook our sins. Jesus has accomplished salvation for us. His death and resurrection makes Him our Savior and Lord. You see, forgiveness is only by God’s grace and mercy through Jesus Christ, our Lord. We are not in God’s good graces and favor because of yours or my work. Jesus has made us God the Father’s beloved sons and daughters by what He alone has done for us.

 

Second, we rest in Jesus, because He has fulfilled the ceremonial law for us. So, we no longer have to make burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, or have to eat a certain diet, or wear certain clothes. Jesus acted as our substitute, because He did what we are unable to do ourselves. Jesus kept God’s Law perfectly, so that we can rest in Him.

 

Because of Christ, we can now rest any day of the week, but for good order, most Christians rest on Sundays, since it is the Lord’s Day, the day of the Resurrection of our Lord. We rest in the hearing of God’s Word, the reading of God’s Word, the receiving of His Sacraments. So, whenever God’s Word is taught, preached, heard, read, or meditated upon, that is your Sabbath rest.

Jesus says, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). You see, the Sabbath was provided by God to satisfy important needs for all of us, a day of physical rest and spiritual restoration in Word and Sacraments. We keep the Sabbath by assembling ourselves together in mutual encouragement as we fellowship around Word and Sacraments as we “see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25). We keep the Sabbath as we hear those all too important words: “Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins.” So, fill up your faith as we rest in Jesus, who alone is our Sabbath rest. Amen.

 

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +