Sermon for Epiphany 3: "The Appointed Time is Short" (Mark 1:14-20)

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:

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14-15).

 

Warning! Danger! This is an emergency! Alarms are going off. Gas is leaking. Water’s rising. Fire’s advancing. Tornado’s approaching. Don’t wait. Don’t waver. Ask questions later. Don’t worry about the lights. Don’t lock the door. Act fast. Don’t look back. Don’t look for or grab anything. Forget the phone. Forget the valuables. Get up. Get out. Don’t worry what you are wearing: pajamas, underwear, or naked. Just go! And hurry!

 

The prophet Jonah says it like this: “Forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4). St. Paul puts it this way: “The appointed time has grown very short.” This world in its present form is passing away (1 Corinthians 7:29)! And Jesus says this, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15)! “Immediately [Simon and Andrew] left their nets and followed Him” (Mark 1:18). “Immediately He called [James and John], and they left their father” (Mark 1:20).

 

Focus on the city of Nineveh, in the deserts and mountains, with temples and palaces. Cut to the kingdom of Judea, in Galilee and Palestine, with valleys and fields. Pan over imperial Corinth, amid Romans and Greeks, with seaside shrines.

 

A reaping is coming. The reckoning is commencing. Lighting flashes and thunder crashes. Earthquakes and hurricanes are rearing up. Hailstorms and hellfires are roaring forth. Famines bulldoze and floods steamroll. Planetary disaster. The abyss bursts open and beasts awaken, locust hordes swarm and rivers run red. Firmament peels back like a scroll, sun black as sackcloth and moon become blood. Heavenly bodies wobble out of orbit and stars plummet from the sky. Behold the horsemen of the apocalypse and elements melting, pelted by brimstone.

 

Human preferences have pressed the perimeters. But forces bigger than these will come with resolve. Human performances have flexed the fences. But fundamentals firmer than that are about to condense with vengeance. Human pursuit of pleasure has stretched the constraints. But principles deeper than the immediate pandemonium are going to consolidate for judgment. Human worship of power has tensed the tolerances. 

 

But realities greater than this arrogant mayhem are starting to tighten up and soon will demand recompense. Human pride has bent the borderlines. But laws older than the violent moment can’t help but straighten out for correction. Critical mass has accumulated. Heaven is getting ready to exhale. Almighty God is hollering, “Enough!”

 

On this Third Sunday after the Epiphany, which is known as Sanctity of Life Sunday, surprise pregnancy can come like this kind of emergency. Terminal diagnosis can cause this kind of anxiety. The abject panic, the existential dread threatens to drive us right out of our minds, or at least out of our right minds. Why else would we even consider something so otherwise reprehensible as intentionally ending life? One who is in such a situation may think, “I might not survive this. The humiliation will annihilate me. I stand to lose my very self. My options and escapes have run out. I have to kill or be killed.”

 

Drastic times call for drastic measures. But even elective abortion isn’t drastic enough. Even embryocide or physician-assisted euthanasia isn’t dire enough. The emergency that jeopardizes these circumstances exceeds physical discomfort and financial turmoil. The crisis that endangers our people eclipses psychological disfunction and social tribulation, limited resources and infringing upon liberties. The cataclysm that imperils us all looms larger than even primitive Ninevite savagery, Roman colonialism, Corinthian decadence, and Jewish disdain. 

 

So, it’s not just childbearing or disease that perpetrates the real wreckage. No, the primary predicament, the critical glitch, has hardwired itself into our nature and DNA. It’s selfishness. The competition impulse. Survival of the fittest. The zero-sum formula for advancement only at another’s expense. It’s sin. Day in, day out. It’s lifetimes of iniquity. Generations of deceiving and defrauding. Centuries of resenting and begrudging. It’s ages of slandering and disobeying almighty God.

 

And He is coming. God’s wrath is coming for each and every one of us. He will have you, toe to toe, head-to-head, face to face, eye to eye. He will demand ransom. He will require restitution. All our counterfeit prettiness, property, and popularity that euthanasia acquires will not suffice. The imitation pleasure, power, and pride abortion allows will not avail. Emergency will deprive us all of all that. That’s how emergency always works. Can’t grab anything to take with you. Can’t go back again. Desert your belongings. Leave even the valuables behind. The only way out is through, and the only way ahead is naked.

 

So, God comes naked. God Himself comes stripped down. The great I Am gets involved, no adjectives, no predicate nominatives. With the urgency so intense, God personally intervenes as never before. He sheds His majesty and enters our emergency. God draws near and meets us square where we are with mortals, with His creation, with us, sinners. God breathes and He bleeds as we do. God sits and suffers alongside just how we must: working, hurting, and disturbed.

 

Jesus, Emmanuel, God become man, is the gestating embryo who reaches us. Jesus the frail fetus and flailing infant reaches us with bare grace and patience. Jesus, the baby in the manger, greets us. Jesus, who appears as an ordinary boy, encounters us. Jesus, the humble, gentle drifter, embraces us. Jesus, who appears to be the regular, mediocre everyman and common, normal nobody, embraces us with undiluted dignity and unadulterated sanctity. As the ad campaign says: “He gets us.”

 

This God intrudes. This God invades. This God runs naked toward the emergency. This God throws Himself headlong into the disaster we brought upon ourselves. Jesus plunges face-first into our catastrophe and takes on not just our crisis but also its root cause: all human sinfulness. God holds nothing back to supply the sacrifice and to render the payment and to endure the punishment and to satisfy His wrath. Jesus the Christ comes, and He offers self and life in entirety to settle the accounts and to retire the debt to atone for man’s sins.

 

God’s naked grace invades to take us just as we are and make us just as Jesus is. 

 

He takes us just as we are. He makes us just as the I am. His unshielded substitution justifies our survival and salvation, no matter how unqualified or inadequate. His stark-naked crucifixion clinches the ruptures and stitches the fissures, no matter how unable or unattractive. His defenseless forgiveness bridges the rifts, heals the breaches, and relieves the emergencies, no matter how feeble or obsolete you and I, or any of us may be, and indeed are.

 

You see, naked doesn’t only mean death. Naked also embodies birth. We leave this life disrobed, but we enter existence unclothed as well. Jesus has made emergency the occasion for ending and for commencing. Emergent indicates coming forth. Crucifixion generates resurrection. Forgiveness fathers forevermore. Atonement births everlasting life. The slain Lamb stands raised again.

 

This Jesus ascended the throne of ultimate authority to embezzle death and vacate graves everywhere. The plane goes down, but the pilot gets the passengers out, and the pilgrimage goes on. The ship may sink, but the skipper recovers the sailors, and the crossing continues. So, our death in Christ leads to our resurrection in Christ. The power, the pride, the pleasure, the prettiness, property, and popularity – they never really mattered. The fellowship, the family, the kingdom, the community, the hearts and histories connected together, the lives bound one to another – that endures and outlasts even the emergencies.

 

Now, what about that alarm that is still sounding? Well, no need to panic. Proceed ahead in an orderly fashion. We will get through this and get out together. Jesus has prepared us for emergency. Perk your ears to the Voice of the One who’s been here before, who knows the Way. Fix your eyes on Him. Don’t look down or to the distractions around us. Let go of your false idols of comfort.

 

Your faith through the working of the Holy Spirit begun in your Baptism has quenched the flames and fireproofed you in Christ. The Lord’s Supper stocks us to full at each Divine Service, so we are ready for any storm. Christ strengthens our faith as we float along day by day, head above water. 

 

So, trust the One, the Great I Am, who became just as we are, and through Him, He makes us just as He is: righteous. Emergencies don’t just build character; they build community. So, proclaim and put this into practice. And there is no better occasion for courage than a surprise pregnancy. And there is no better opportunity for compassion than a terminal diagnosis. Through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling in you, you may change a heart or save a life – not just in this life, but also for eternity. Amen.

 

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

 

Special thanks to Rev. Michael Salemink of Lutherans for Life.

https://lutheransforlife.org/

Sermon for Epiphany 5: "Living as Salt and Light" (Matthew 5:13-20)

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:

Some time ago, I heard it said to me: “You know what would gain church attendance?” “What?” I asked. “Stop talking about repentance. People don’t want to hear that. Let me worship God in my own way. You need to adapt to the culture.”

 

Let me ask you, what would happen if we did just that? Our numbers may increase, but that’s doubtful. It’s doubtful, because the ones who want the church to adapt to the culture are the ones who have no intention on coming anyway. But, if we did that, would Prince of Peace Lutheran Church still be a Christian Church? If you ceased speaking God’s truth, would you still be a Christian? If we ceased calling sinners to repentance, would we still need a Savior from our sins?

 

Last week, Jesus began His most famous sermon, which is known as “The Sermon on the Mount” with the Beatitudes. Jesus began speaking of God’s blessings that rests on every true believer in Him. Today, Jesus continues as He speaks of the blessings we prove to be to the unbelieving world as we live as salt and light.

 

Jesus begins saying to His followers: “You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13a). It is likely that when you think of salt, you think of salt as a seasoning. It certainly is, but in the first century salt was used primarily for another purpose: as a preservative. Back in a time before refrigerators and freezers, salt was used to preserve food from spoiling. But how are we “salt of the earth”? How are we a preservative?

 

Jesus says “blessed are you” to be salt of the earth. We are blessed to be given a responsibility. As the preservative, Christians are called to be the check of moral corruption in the world. Jesus says, “You are,” and not, “You ought to be.” As the salt of the earth, we curb the immoral, godless living of the unconverted world. 

 

Oh, how things would have been much different if there had been ten righteous preservatives in the city of Sodom. God would have spared Sodom. Today, God preserves the whole world through His salt of the earth – you and me. God uses us as His preservative in order for Him to rescue lost souls from destruction by bringing them the saving gospel of Christ.

 

But the sinful and corrupt world will not love us for acting as salt in it. The sinful and corrupt world would rather prefer us to be like honey. This is the greatest temptation for Christians. As honey, we try to not offend unbelievers by trying to be a salt that doesn’t really bite into those who ignore or reject God. This is what Jesus was referring to when He said: “But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown down and trampled under people’s feet” (Matthew 5:13b).

 

Remember, Satan rules this fallen world that we live in. He is known by what he first said to our first parents: “Did God really say?” Ever since Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, each generation has faced that age-old question: “Did God really say?”

 

To the unbelieving world, they are not as aware of Satan’s deception as we are. Most think of Satan as a cartoon character with a pitchfork, or really as a figment of man’s imagination. And that is the way Satan prefers it to be. He isn’t all about wanting credit for his deceptions. He just wants us to go down with him. He never wanted to eternally suffer in hell by himself so he tries to take as many of us down with him.

 

Satan’s first deceit was questioning the truth of God. He has perfected this age-old trick. “Did God really say every Word He says in the Bible is true?” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) “Did God really say repent?” (Matthew 4:17) “Did God really say there are only two sexes: male and female?” (Genesis 1:27; Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6) “Did God really say living together before marriage is immoral?”(Genesis 2:24; 1 Corinthians 7:8-9; Hebrews 13:4) “Did God really say abortion is murder?” (Psalm 139; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20) “Did God really say that adulterers and homosexuals will not inherit His kingdom?” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10) “Why not just adapt to the culture?” “Isn’t God working through the culture to show what He approves of anyway?”

 

As the world has become less salty, we see the outcome. The world has become more and more rotten, since there are fewer preservatives. Life is no longer sacred. This past Tuesday in our neighboring state of Minnesota, elective abortion was legalized up until birth.[1] The Wisconsin governor hopes to do the same.

 

In years past, we heard it said, “Why do you care what goes on in the privacy of the bedroom?” to justify civil unions. So many Christians remained quiet. Suddenly, out of nowhere, it’s deemed medically necessary to mutilate children if they feel like they are of the opposite sex. 

From what was deemed private has come into the public sphere with drag shows at libraries and even during the halftime show at a recent Milwaukee Bucks game. The rotten world is actively grooming both children and adults.

 

Many wonder what happened? What happened to our culture? I have heard it said: “It didn’t used to be this way!” Maybe it’s because Christians by and large toned down our witness of Christ? Or we said things and did things that would make Christianity more palatable to the unbelieving world? Or are we attempting to serve Christ from our sofas, rather than engaging one another? In doing so, much of Christianity has lost its saltiness.

 

Within the recent past, so many Christians and their denominations have lost their saltiness as they have failed to live and practice what they professed. One thing to note: if the corrupt and sinful world approves and respects you as a Christian or as a church, are you really being “salt of the earth”? Now, that is a good question.

 

So, if we should yield completely to the temptation and try to be salt that has no bite to it, if we should pattern our lives after those of the world, we would cease to be members of His kingdom. Then we bring the Lord’s judgment upon ourselves: we are no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled upon.

 

During the earthly life of Jesus, impure salt would not be thrown into a field, since it would kill the vegetation. It was certainly not good enough to eat. Instead, impure salt would be thrown into the roads, since there it would do no harm, for nothing could grow there anyway.

 

As Christians, we preserve the world as a curb to immoral living. We live as “salt of the earth” as we preserve the earth from spoiling. But Jesus continues. He also says that we “are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). 

 

Again, Jesus says, “You are the light of the world,” and not, “You ought to be light of the world.” Due to sin, this whole earth is corrupt. To this corruption, God uses us as His salt. But this world is still living in deep darkness, deep ignorance, falseness, and spiritual blindness. To dispel this darkness, Jesus has placed His followers as the light of the world. 

 

But how are we “light”? Recall what Jesus calls Himself: “I am the Light of the World” (John 8:12). So, when we follow Him, we walk in the Light, and only then. Apart from Jesus, we are not the light of the world. In other words, we have all our light from Him. Jesus is the sun (s-u-n), and we are the moons reflecting His light. Our Lord transmits this light to us and fills us with it through His Word and Sacrament.

 

In Christ, we are the light that shines in a dark world. Jesus adds: “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14b). What Jesus is saying is this: “The Christians in the world, will, by their very nature, bring the saving light God has given them to a world lying in otherwise hopeless night.”

 

Though the light shining from Christ’s church cannot and will not be hidden, we may be tempted to hide the light, just as we may be tempted to become tasteless salt – out of fear of those who shun and hate all light from above. To this, Jesus adds: “Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house” (Matthew 5:15).

 

It makes no sense for a lamp to be placed under a basket, since the room is as dark as it was before. Instead, people put the lamp on a lampstand, so that light can shine out and illuminate the room for those using it.

 

So, a Christian who hides his light in this world is acting contrary to the character Jesus has given him. So, if we cease to bring the Light of Christ to others, we not only fail to carry out our function as the light, but we would also lose the light and plunge back into darkness.

 

Think of it this way: if you put a burning lamp under a bowl, eventually the burning lamp will use up all of its oxygen and go out.

 

Now, Jesus is not telling us to parade our piety. He is rather urging us to live our faith even in the presence of the ungodly. 

 

A couple weeks ago, a Philadelphia Fliers defenceman named Ivan Provorov was criticized and called “homophobic” and “transphobic” for refusing to wear a “Pride Night” hockey sweater during warmups. One sports commentator said of Provorov: “The theme is hockey is for everyone. … Stop offending people. This [sport] is supposed to be about inclusivity. What I heard him say was offensive. It didn’t make any sense.”[2]

 

So, what did this hockey player say? “I respect everybody’s choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion. That’s all I’m going to say.” Then the media questioned him, “What’s your religion?” He said: “Russian Orthodox.”[3]

 

To this, that sports commentator concluded: “Nothing scares me more than any human being who says: ‘I am not doing this because of my religious beliefs.’ Don’t give me that! Don’t feed me the religious beliefs line. The [NHL] today needs to fine that organization a million dollars and reevaluate how they support gay rights, because that is insulting.” In other words, he’s saying: keep your Christian faith to yourself, keep it hidden.

 

Provorov could have given in and wore the hockey sweater, but he didn’t. He refused to relax his Christian faith. He may not have realized it, but he was salting the earth and being a light of the world. Even if the ungodly ridicule our godly ways, the time will come when they have to acknowledge our works to be good. St. Peter proclaims: “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” – that is, the day God reveals Himself to them (1 Peter 2:12). You see, experiences with Christians may make unbelievers more likely to consider what Christians teach.

 

The question for all of us is this: Do people outside these church walls know that you are a Christian? Or do you just blend in with the world? It is not enough to say that you are a Christian. It’s not enough to only know God intellectually. We must also bear witness to the world that He is our Father and we are His children.

 

Now, in case you are wondering if your saltiness and your light isn’t where it should be, the Triune God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – has the antidote. This antidote is His Means of Grace: Word and Sacrament! This is why you are here in this place today! Through hearing His Word and receiving Christ’s Body and Blood, He strengthens our faith so that it is tasted and is seen!

 

Yes, we may still be hesitant in proclaiming the one true Christian faith. But all it takes is courage. If we do not publicly profess what we believe, to a certain point, we won’t believe it. Remember what Christ’s calls His disciples: blessed. And so, we are!  

 

Praise be to God that He is patient and does not quickly discard us when we fail. He leads us to repent, to renounce the ways of sin and darkness, to be forgiven for the sake of the cross, and to strive anew to follow Him and live a godly Christian life as the salt and light of the world. Amen.

 

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

 

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

---

[1] https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/walz-to-sign-pro-act-tuesday-codifying-abortion-rights-in-state-law/?fbclid=IwAR083GCUsst7yYRPY0ia4-A7KXAyV-rboceWw2G3YRapscVE8Dd5xtLPJt4

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yGm_E9Nj2Y&t=205s

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nce9VTthdgE&t=34s

Sermon for Epiphany 3: "Free From the Cares of the Word" (1 Corinthians 7:29-35)

 

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 

[Intro]

 

Millions of Americans walk into airports every day. They arrive at the airport to either board a plane to somewhere or to pick up a loved one.

 

While waiting for the plane to board or to pick up your loved one, it is hard not to notice the bank of television screens at our nation’s airports.

 

As we wait, we are inundated with the news, or what the news calls the news.

 

We see debate, arguing and name-calling, but not much of what is truly happening in our world. They focus on one topic of crisis and go over that same topic of crisis over and over again – from 4 a.m. until midnight. All the cable news cares about is their hope that we will be sucked in to what they are opining about. And many of us do. We get sucked in and we begin to worry about that single topic. But, eventually that topic takes the backburner for the next “breaking news topic of crisis” and we begin to worry about that issue.

 

You see, the news media wants its viewers to be consumed in the affairs that they care about.

 

Then we come to our homes, where we turn on our television sets. Are we inundating ourselves in our own homes with these topics of crisis?

 

Now, I’m not saying to turn off the news altogether, but instead to watch the news in moderation, so you do not begin to worry about things not worth worrying about.

As a former journalist, this is even hard for me, but I find myself happier when I don’t hear the constant bickering of opinions that is being masqueraded as news.

[Time is Short]

In this morning’s epistle lesson, the Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus Christ’s return is coming. And for this hope of return, we should live as if Christ is imminently going to make His return.

Paul writes, “The appointed time has grown very short” (1 Cor. 7:29).

Paul is saying that Christians should live as people who are always aware that they may have to leave this world at any moment. As Christian believers, we should focus on eternal essentials. We should not let our lives be dominated by the world and its values.

When we realize that our time is short, we often have a changed perspective. We begin to focus on sacred things, rather than worldly things.

So, feel free to turn off the news for a time to focus on what truly matters – Jesus Christ.

[Christ Matters Most]

As you heard the epistle being read earlier, did you wonder what Paul was writing about with his statement on marriage? So, what is Paul saying?

Paul writes, “From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it” (1 Cor. 7:29b-31a).

No husbands, no wives? No mourning? No rejoicing? Buy as though they had nothing?

Paul here is reminding us of what really matters most – the return of Jesus Christ. Every worldly thing will pass away. Everything in the world is temporary. Paul is saying to not be consumed with the affairs of this life – for there is a better life to come through Jesus.

Martin Luther even touches on this in his famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” in the final stanza:

“And take they our life, Goods, fame, child, and wife, Though these all be gone, Our victory has been won; The Kingdom ours remaineth.” (LSB 656)

No matter what, the Triune God is there with us. Through thick and thin, He is there. Rich or poor, He is there. Christ will never forsake us.

[First Priority]

For this, God wants us to be free from anxieties. He wants us to be unconcerned with the world. He wants us to be without care with the world. He wants us to be worry free with the world.

Instead, God wants us to be focused on the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord.

However in today’s fallen world, husbands and wives tend to focus upon each other, rather than God.

Now, it is good and God pleasing to love your spouse. We should devote ourselves to our spouse. The marriage of a man and woman is a relationship that is founded upon Jesus Christ and that the man and wife are always there for each other.

A healthy marriage thrives on attending the needs and wishes of one’s spouse, but Jesus also set down priorities in this regard saying, “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37).

The priority has been set. God made note of His demands with the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods.” For which Luther writes, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”

Paul again states the reason to devote yourselves to Jesus Christ saying, “I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord” (1 Cor. 7:35).

This is for our own benefit. Yes, we are to continue to love and respect our husband or wife. But, at the same time, we are to put God first. God is the first priority.

God created the heavens and the earth for Him. Not for us.

[Life is Very Good]

God created life for His benefit and He saw that it was very good. For every child is a gift from God.

Since the United States’ Supreme Court ruled in favor of legalizing abortion nationwide on January 22, 1973, the Church has cried out: “Lord have mercy! Christ have mercy! Lord have mercy!”

The Church has cried out to God to have mercy on those children and their mothers and/or fathers who have chosen to end the lives of their babies for worldly desires, or for pleasing the boyfriend or girlfriend, or for pleasing the husband or wife, instead of accepting this gift from God.

Even Norma McCorvey, the “Roe” in Roe v. Wade changed her views when she became a Christian in 1995. Since that time, she became active in the pro-life movement.

This past week, millions of people marched nationwide in support of life in hopes that one day the silent holocaust will come to an end. The good news is that Christ died for every sin and when we repent and ask God for forgiveness, He is there with open arms saying, “I forgive you, now go and sin no more.”

[Order of Creation]

God also created everything in good order. This good order is described by God in the first three chapters of Genesis.

Here is where God tells us of His order of creation. The Lord formed the man of dust from the ground (Genesis 2:7). Then God created a helper – Eve – for the man – Adam. God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18).

Here is where God creates and establishes marriage between one man and one woman. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).

But in time, this marriage had its first argument, because of sin. The devil disguised as a serpent convinces Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit and so she does. Eve then gives that fruit to Adam and he eats.

Then God shows up knowing what had just happened and confronts Adam and Eve. Immediately, Adam blames Eve, but God will have none of that.

Adam said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12).

You see, Adam was attempting to pass the blame to Eve, but God gave Adam Eve to be his helper.

To put it simply, Adam is ultimately responsible, because he is the head of his household. According to God, the head and the helper are not interchangeable. To be the head means he is responsible and accountable to what his helper does.

This order of creation relates to everything. This relates to the wider culture.

Now, a woman may take the reins on many issues in the marriage, such as finances and child disciplining or to whatever she is better at accomplishing, but it is the man who is ultimately responsible. The man is responsible for every decision, but his wife can give her input. This is the order of creation.

For us today, we may think, this is pretty backwards. After all, today’s world is all about equality. But this is God’s design. This is God promoting good order. This is God promoting family.

[The Son of God Submitted To His Father]

After all, Jesus Christ submitted to the will of His Father through His life, death and resurrection that gave us forgiveness of sins, opened eternal life and gave us salvation by grace through faith in Him and His promises. In a similar way, the wife submits to her husband and their children submit to their parents, because it is the husband and the parents who will do anything for each other.

Through submitting your undivided devotion to the Lord, you are following the will of God. You are following the order of creation. You are becoming more holy in your sanctified life.

We live this way, because of what Christ had done for us once and for all time. He sacrificed Himself for us, because of His love for us. Jesus Christ died hanging on the cross for us. He died of asphyxiation as he hung crucified lifeless on the cross after being beaten and stabbed. But it was not over. Three days later Christ also rose to life for us to prove He is the Son of God.

Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, our faith is not in vain. In fact, our faith is strengthened each time we remember our baptism each Divine Service and partake of the Sacrament.

Through Christ alone, we are free from all anxieties. We are free from the cares of this world. For everything has been accomplished for us by our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. Amen.

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