"To Government & Citizens" (Lent Midweek 2 - Luther's Table of Duties)

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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:

Lent is a season of repentance as we reflect on why our Lord died on the cross for us. But Lent is also about catechesis, because Lent is a catechetical season.

 

Tonight, we continue to make our way through the Christian “house rules” on how we deal with each other. These “house rules” serve as our groundwork on our Lutheran worldview of vocation. These vocations are the duties or responsibilities that we each owe to our neighbor.

 

As I said last week, first a word of warning: Luther’s intention in including the Table of Duties was to serve us as our guide – the Third Use of the Law – in how we ought to live in this world and what is our duty to one another. But as it always is, when the Law is at play, we often hear the Law as its Second Use – mirror, because the Law always accuses, but again, the primary use and focus of the Table of Duties is to encourage us as we live out our lives in the various vocations that God has placed you and I in.

 

Tonight, we will focus on the third of the Three Estates: government, as we consider the next two pairs in the Table of Duties: “Of Civil Government” and “Of Citizens.”

 

As we ponder this third estate, we are reminded that Christians are not anarchists. We believe that fallen man requires an earthly government. Luther, himself, has said that it is better to live under a tyrant than to live under an anarchy where there is no order, no predictability, and therefore no stability. So, the government has a claim on us. 

 

Today is March 4. Besides the news in the Middle East, if you turn on your television or listen to the radio or podcast, or wander through Walmart, you are quickly reminded that it is tax season. It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Well, it is if you like numbers and filing and stress and seeing your money vanish.

 

Paying taxes is one of the most direct ways that we experience the topic of these two pairings from the Table of Duties that we consider tonight. On one hand, these pairings are very straightforward. But they also confront us with challenging questions – questions that the Christian faith answers in ways that are different from the fallen world.

 

Luther provides only one Scripture text for the topic “Of Civil Government” and it’s likely that’s all that we will need. In Romans 13(:1-4), St. Paul writes, “Let every person be subject to the government authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.”

 

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul says in a straightforward manner that governing authorities have been instituted by God. God is the one who has provided them. And since God put them there, to resist the governing authority – the civil government – is to resist God Himself.

 

You see, the role of the civil government is simple. It is to restrain wrongdoing and is to maintain order. St. Paul adds, “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger to carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer”(Romans 13:3-4). Paul, here, is describing the civil government as “God’s servant.”

 

Civil government exists for one reason and one reason only. Civil government exists because of sin. Civil government exists because it is the means God has established to restrain and control evil. Because when given a chance, sinners will do terrible things. That is why God established civil government.

 

Again, the government is God’s servant. But what about when the government rejects what God has commanded? The government can be in the wrong when it overreaches the authority of its estate. An example of this is if the civil government would command things that are contrary to God’s will, such as commanding how the Church worships, and to that, we will say, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). And when that happens, we are called to suffer for the truth.

 

We must also remember that St. Paul wrote the Book of Romans during the reign of Roman Emperor Nero. So, if Christians were to be subject to Nero, an unstable man who had Christians burned as torches to light up the night, we are to be subject to all who are given the civil authority over us. Even with all his flaws, at least Nero kept order in the Roman Empire.

 

So, there is good reason why Luther included “good government” among the blessings of daily bread, because life without government is a frightening thing. Again, it is better to live under a tyrant than under an anarchy where there is no order.

 

But no government is free. It may appear that government is able to grow money from trees, but that money is paid for by our tax dollars. So, every government costs money. “Therefore,” Paul writes, “one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, … Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed” (Romans 13:5-6a, 7). In saying this, St. Paul was only repeating what Jesus had taught in Mark 12:17: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”

 

So, like it or not, government is a great blessing from God. And its main vocation is to restrain sin. And so, Paul said in 1 Timothy 2(:1-3): “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.”

 

When you were baptized into Christ, you were made a part of the royal priesthood of God’s people. As part of this priestly service, our vocation is to pray. And this is what we do at each Divine Service as we pray for our civil authorities each week. But this vocation isn’t just limited to our time together in this space as we are to pray for God’s enlightening of our civil authorities as a part of our daily lives.

 

During this season of Lent, we follow our Lord as He makes His way to the cross and empty tomb. He goes to the cross as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. By His death, He has won for us forgiveness. By His bodily resurrection, He has won for us eternal life.

 

Civil government is a great blessing from God. It restrains sin and allows us to live in peace. Our vocation is to obey the government, pay our taxes and pray for those who govern us. Yet, when the government acts unjustly, or when it commands things that violate God’s will, we are called to follow our Lord in entrusting ourselves to God in the midst of suffering. We do this knowing that all authorities have been instituted by God, who has given us forgiveness, life, and salvation through Jesus’ blood and merit. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"The Table of Duties: To Pastors and Hearers" (Lent Midweek 1)

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To Read Luther's Table of Duties, click here.

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:

Lent is a season of repentance as we reflect on why our Lord died on the cross for us. But Lent is also about catechesis, because Lent is a catechetical season.

 

When one thinks about Luther’s Small Catechism, one often thinks of the Six Chief Parts: (1) The Ten Commandments, (2) The Creed, (3) The Lord’s Prayer, (4) Baptism, (5) Confession, and (6) the Sacrament of the Altar. That is usually where one stops. Six Chief Parts. Good to go!

 

But what if I told you that there were sections at the very end of Luther’s Small Catechism that often goes unnoticed. Did you notice that something was missing? Well, at the conclusion of the Small Catechism, Luther places three more sections: Daily Prayers, The Table of Duties, and Christian Questions with Their Answers.

 

When I went through catechesis – that first time when I grew up in the ELCA, I thought this pamphlet contained the entire Luther’s Small Catechism. But upon further inspection, this pamphlet did not contain the Table of Duties and Christian Questions with Their Answers. However, I can give Augsburg Fortress a pass on one of them, since Christian Questions with Their Answers was not published until after Luther’s Death. But I do find it rather odd omitting the Table of Duties.

 

But I can’t just go after the ELCA, since the LCMS hasn’t been perfect in including the entirety of the Small Catechism either. Although the LCMS has always included the Table of Duties in its publication of the Small Catechism, it has not always been included in our hymnals. 

 

In my research through my LCMS hymnals, the first hymnal to include the Small Catechism was not the beloved red TLH, but the blue Lutheran Worship, but even with that publication, the Table of Duties was missing. Thanks be to God that the maroon LSB has included the entirety of the Small Catechism.

 

Beginning tonight and throughout these Lenten Midweeks we will look at that second of the last three parts of the Small Catechism: The Table of Duties.

 

So, what’s the importance of the Table of Duties? Well, for Luther, the Table of Duties were just as much of a part of the Small Catechism as the Six Chief Parts. For the Table of Duties describe how the faith, that was created and nourished by the Six Chief Parts, prays and lives. When Luther put the Table of Duties together, he was trying to teach what the Christian life looks like and how it is structured around our daily vocations.

 

These Table of Duties could be described as the Christian “house rules” on how we are to deal with one another. You see, Christians have holy orders, or vocations, that are created by God in which we all live. These vocations are the duties or responsibilities that we each owe to our neighbor.

 

Each of the vocations described in the Table of Duties are applicable to us. And Luther’s intention in including them was to serve as us the Third Use of the Law – our guide – in how we ought to live in this world and what our duty is to one another. But as a word of warning, when we hear of these vocations described to us in the Table of Duties, the Second Use of the Law will be in play, because the Holy Spirit always uses the Law to accuse us. The Second Use of the Law – mirror, is not Luther’s intention, but the Law always accuses, but the primary focus of the Table of Duties is actually that of encouragement.

 

You see, the Table of Duties serves us as a reorientation so that we would return to our first love, to what God has established and the orders that He has given. And order is so important in the Bible. The worst thing a person can be called in the Bible is to be lawless, that is, to be without order. And “order” means that things are actually predictable.

 

As human beings, we live in three estates that often overlap, but they are also unique from each other. The first of these three estates is the family. Out of the family comes the Church (The Second Estate) and the government (The Third Estate). 

 

But in order to understand these Three Estates, God has created various vocations, or callings. He instituted vocations in life that we occupy, and God uses these vocations to care for others. The Table of Duties is divided up according to these various vocations, or callings.

 

Tonight, we will consider the first pair in the Table of Duties: “To Bishops, Pastors and Preachers” and “What the Hearers Owe Their Pastors.”

None of the Means of Grace just happen on their own. The Means of Grace require a pastor. This is why God has instituted the Office of the Holy Ministry. This is the vocation into which all pastors are called. It is God’s Office. No one can take this Office for himself. Instead, God must call men through the work of His Church, through seminary education and the churchly Divine Call. And God tells us the requirements for the Pastoral Office as we heard earlier in 1 Timothy 3: “The overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive” (1 Timothy 3:2-4).

 

And no pastor is perfect, just as no one is perfect, except for one: Jesus Christ. For all Christians live by faith in the forgiveness that Jesus won by His death, bodily resurrection and ascension. Yet, as those who shepherd Christ’s flock, pastors are held to a higher standard. This is why St. Paul cautions “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil” (1 Timothy 3:6).

 

As your pastor, my Holy Office is to attend to the work of Word and Sacrament ministry. But this work takes place in the world. So, Luther adds “What the Hearers Owe Their Pastors.”

 

St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9(:14): “The Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.” Paul adds in Galatians 6(:6-7): “Let the one who is taught the Word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”

 

Just like laypeople, pastors and their families also can be tempted to want more daily bread. We, like, everyone else can covet what others have. Pastors can complain that they don’t receive more, even when God is providing what He has promised. But at the same time, congregations can look to get pastoral care “on the cheap.” There are congregations that are stingy with supporting their pastor. But where there are congregations who faithfully provide for her pastor, such as here at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, I give thanks to God that so many people are moved by the Holy Spirit to act in generous giving through their faith in Jesus Christ, who always provides for all our needs of body and soul.

 

St. Paul also makes it clear that the pastor is not to speak of his own ideas or his own opinions. Instead, Paul instructs pastors in Titus 1(:9) that “[pastors] must hold firm to the trustworthy Word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” So, pastors must teach what is true and correct what is false. 

 

Again, the Office of the Ministry is not man’s office, but God’s Office. So, we must always remember how the pastor came to serve in that place. I did not put myself here. God placed me here, working through His Church as you gave me the Divine Call to proclaim God’s Law and Gospel and His Means of Grace in this place.

 

The writer to the Hebrews wrote: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you” (Hebrews 13:17).

 

As we live in a world that is becoming more and more like the first century world, we have a pressing challenge that faces both pastors and their hearers alike. Will pastors be willing to continue proclaiming the truth of God’s Word? Will pastors continue to proclaim that Christ alone is the way to salvation? Will pastors continue to teach the Ten Commandments as God’s Commandments and not just God’s suggestions? Will pastors continue to condemn the taking of a life – including the unborn and elderly? Will pastors continue to teach against sexual immorality?

 

For hearers, will you be willing to hear, believe and accept these Biblical teachings, even when it pertains to a family member or close friend?

 

This is a great challenge that faces both pastors and hearers. But we do not face this challenge on our own. Instead, we face these challenges secure in the knowledge that Christ who was crucified on Good Friday, rose on Easter. The risen Lord, through the Holy Spirit, enables us to live in the confidence of His bodily resurrection knowing that because He rose, we, by faith in Him, will also rise! 

 

Because of Jesus’ atoning death and bodily resurrection, He causes us to live differently from the unbelieving world, because He has called us out of this dark world and into His marvelous light! Jesus gives us eyes to recognize His Church as the place where His forgiveness reigns and the place of 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 3: "I Believe in the Holy Spirit" (The Third 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:

Two weeks ago, we heard how the Creator remains present and active in His creation. And despite our ongoing misuse and abuse of His creation, He keeps His creation going. Last week, we heard how God came into His created world to be present and active in a very unique way – as a human being, yet without sin. He came into this fallen world to defeat the power of sin and evil that Satan and we humans brought into it.

 

Tonight, God comes to be present and active in another way. This time, God sends His Holy Spirit into us, into our bodies.

 

Jesus gained His Lordship through death, but how do we come to know Jesus? We no longer see Jesus fully as He is. So, if we have never physically met Jesus, how do we come to know Him? On our own, we are left to saying, “I believe … that I cannot believe” in Jesus as my Lord or come to Him. If Jesus’ redemption remains hidden, then all is lost.

 

To this question, the Third Article of the Creed enters in:  

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

     the holy Christian Church,

          the communion of saints,

     the forgiveness of sins,

     the resurrection of the body,

     and the life + everlasting.

 

So, in order that Christ’s death and resurrection may not remain hidden, the Holy Spirit comes and preaches, that is, the Holy Spirit leads us to the Lord, who redeems us.

 

The Holy Spirit sanctifies us through the following works: through the “forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”

 

To this, Luther says, “the Christian church is your mother, who gives birth to you and bears you through the Word. And this is done by the Holy Spirit who bears witness concerning Christ.”

 

In regard to the Holy Spirit, He leads the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints. This “communion of saints” is the Christian church, which is made up of saints, a congregation of saints. And you are in this Church, as the Holy Spirit makes us saints through the preaching of the gospel. It is only through the Christian Church that the Holy Spirit sanctifies us. Otherwise, we would never know or hear about Christ.

 

Then in this Christian Church sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we receive “the forgiveness of sins.” We receive the forgiveness of sins in the following ways: Holy Baptism, Absolution, the Lord’s Supper, hearing the Word preached, and the commendation of the dying. This is where we receive forgiveness. Outside of the Christian Church, there is no sanctification and there is no forgiveness.

 

Thirdly, the Holy Spirit will sanctify us through “the resurrection of the flesh.” So, after our death, sin will have completely passed away and the Holy Spirit will then complete His work. Therefore, after death, there is nothing but eternal life.

 

Outside the Christian Church, there is no sanctification. There is no justification. There is no salvation.

 

Here, in the one holy Christian and apostolic Church, the Holy Spirit preaches. He calls you and makes Christ known to you. 

 

Earlier this week, Elsie surprised Melissa and me. While Melissa was singing “Create in Me a Clean Heart,” the historic offertory from Psalm 51, Melissa paused and without any coaching, Elsie continued the song. That was the work of the Holy Spirit in Elsie. By being immersed in the liturgy week after week, the Holy Spirit inspired Elsie with what to say next. That is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He teaches us the faith through Word and Sacraments.

 

The Holy Spirit breathes into you the faith that through the Sacraments and God’s Word, you will be made free from sin. So, when you die, while remaining in the Church, the Holy Spirit will raise you up and sanctify you wholly.

 

Tonight, we have finished our series on the Second Chief Part, the Creed. Through the Creed, we can each say: “I believe in God, that He is my creator, in Jesus Christ, that He is my Lord, and in the Holy Spirit, that He is my sanctifier.” We can say, “God has created me and given me life, soul, body, and all goods; Christ has brought me into His Lordship through His body; and the Holy Spirit sanctifies me through His Word and Sacraments, which are in the Church, and will sanctify me wholly on the Last Day.”

 

The Creed is different from the Ten Commandments. The Commandments teach us what we should do, but the Creed teaches what we have received from God. The Creed, therefore, gives us what we need, so now, that we know God, we are now able to pray to our dear Father in heaven. 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 9: "Do Not Be Afraid!" (Genesis 9:8-17 & Mark 6:45-56)

 

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:

[Intro]

Eight people are left on earth. Noah and his family had witnessed the extinction of a world of men and beasts. They – along with two of every kind of creature – had been saved. They were surrounded by the evidence of the destruction worked by God in His righteous wrath against sin. Noah and his family were frightened. They were wondering: “What’s next?” What doom was on the horizon?

We also have the Twelve apostles. They, too, were terrified! As they were struggling against the currents upon the Sea of Galilee, they see what looks to be a specter or ghost or could it be the Leviathan? They all believed a watery grave awaited them.

These twenty people – the eight on the ark and the 12 on the boat – all were full of fear and trembling.

On this Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, God’s voice comes to calm all fear as He says, “I establish my covenant with you. Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid!” (Genesis 9:9, Mark 6:50)

[God’s Covenant]

Only eight people are left on the earth. They had seen the perils of water, but now they have seen God’s delivery from water. They had seen God’s righteous wrath against sin. Now, it is God Himself who makes the most solemn and binding promise that He can make to man.

God spoke: “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Genesis 9:9-11).

This divine covenant is not anything that we can pledge. This is a pledge to us from God. This covenant is bound to God Himself to carry out. And this covenant was not made only to Noah and his sons, but this covenant includes every one of their descendants: you and me!

God did not stop there, He gave Noah, his family, you and me an additional proof and guarantee that He would execute His covenant with Himself. God spoke saying, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations. I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. … When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between [Me] and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth” (Genesis 9:12-13, 16).

As Noah and his family were in need of assurance, God gave them this assurance: He would never again cause the extinction of the world through a world-wide flood.

We can only imagine what Noah and his family were thinking. Certainly, they were in awe of the words of God and of His covenant promise as He spoke: “Whenever the rainbow appears in the sky, I will remember my covenant between Me and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth” (Genesis 9:16).

Now, why would God need a way to remember His covenant promise? How could God forget? Of course, God never forgets His promises. This is God saying that the terms of His covenant between Himself and us would always be before Him.

But, unlike the triune God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – we are prone to forget. Today, how many in society, when they see a rainbow in the sky recall God’s covenant promise to Noah and us? Many may think of the Great Flood, but it is likely that most will not recall God’s covenant promise that He made to you and me.

In recent times, the sinful culture has pronounced a new meaning to the rainbow. It is no longer about God’s covenant with us. It is now a pronouncement that there is no need to lead a chaste and decent life with what we say and do. The culture pronounces that those who live contrary to God’s intention of marriage are in fact “born this way.” Now, I used to argue against the phrase “born this way,” but now I understand it. I actually agree with it. Yes, we are all born “this way,” we – you, me, and every person upon this earth – are born as enemies of God (Romans 5:10), due to sin, which every human being inherited from our first parents: Adam and Eve.

But while we were God’s enemy, He sent His Son to reconcile us to Himself – and all by grace through faith in His Son. Now, this doesn’t mean that we continue to live in our sin. Instead, we repent and confess our sins to God and receive His forgiveness.

You see, sin at its core, separates us from God. Sin separates us from His everlasting covenant with you and me.

The Sixth Commandment “You shall not commit adultery” does not apply to only husbands and wives. This commandment applies to all human beings, whether married or not, or cohabitating, and to all kinds of sexual desire and activity. God says that we are to fear and love Him by refraining from lustful desire or activity of any kind, whether heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or otherwise. We are to live sexually pure lives in modesty and in self-control. And our identity is not in our sexual preference, whether that be gay, straight, or otherwise.

Remember, our identity is in our Baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection (for which we have witnessed again here this morning, as God adopted Aiden). Through our Baptism into Christ, we are God’s children and thus, heirs of heaven. Since our identity is in Christ, we trust in God’s grace knowing that it is sufficient for us, and we look to Christ daily for forgiveness, strength, and contentment.

So, let God’s rainbow in the sky help us remember that He has kept His covenant promise these many centuries. There has been no world-wide flood. He has kept His promise, and He keeps every promise. Even the promise of the Savior.

[Terror Upon the Sea]

As God calmed the fears of Noah, the Twelve disciples thought they were about to be succumbed to a watery grave. Now, unlike when Jesus calmed the storm previously in Mark 4(:35-41), the disciples this time had no danger of drowning. The Sea of Galilee this night was just being unfavorable. You see, the sea is not the problem. What terrifies them is seeing Jesus and not understanding who He is.

After the disciples had struggled for hours upon the sea, Jesus makes His way to them – as He walked upon the sea.

It is likely the disciples yearned for Jesus as they fought the sea currents, but when Jesus finally arrives, every disciple comes to fear and trembling. “It is a ghost!”

You would think that when Jesus finally comes that the disciples would become calm. This is the same Jesus who displayed His divine mastery to the disciples over wind and wave just recently. It appears that they forgot.

Instead as Jesus comes closer to them, they all cry out, “It is a ghost!”

You see, the disciples believed that Jesus was a ghost, or worse! This is what is terrifying them. It is not a matter of the sea. There are no crashing waves. There is no storm. It is only Jesus. The Twelve believed that a watery grave was their fate.

In their fear, Jesus speaks to them, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (Mark 6:50). Here, Jesus speaks His covenant name: I am. This is the same name that God spoke to Moses. This is the same name God spoke to Noah and his family. “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” This is the incarnate God speaking to His disciples and to us saying, “Wherever you are, you are never away from My care. If I am with you, you have nothing to fear.”

Now, who or what are your ghosts? What do you fear? Are we trusting in something or someone that is not helpful for you? If we are trusting in anything other than the one true God, then we should be very afraid. But when Jesus is there – when we call upon Him for security – we have nothing to be afraid of at all. So, when “It is I” – the “I” being Jesus, the “I am” – then we have nothing to fear.

[Little Faith]

After witnessing the feeding of the 5,000, and so many other signs and miracles performed by Jesus right in front of their very eyes, the disciples should have understood so much more than they did. They should not have been so “utterly astounded” (Mark 6:51) at witnessing Jesus walk upon the sea. They should have comprehended that the One who had multiplied the loaves of bread, calmed the sea, healed the sick, and raised the dead, could really walk on the water.

Just as it was when Jesus calmed the storm, as we heard just weeks ago, the disciples still do not understand who Jesus is. Like the crowds – who “ate and were satisfied” (Mark 6:42) when Christ fed the 5,000 – His disciples couldn’t see what was right before their very eyes. Some thought He was just a prophet, some thought He was a bread king, others thought He was just a great teacher. Who is Jesus? As Jesus earlier spoke to them after calming the sea saying, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:40), we hear today that the disciples’ hearts were hardened. Now, this has nothing to do with rejecting God’s truth. Rather, this “hardening” is the spiritual condition of the disciples, which is the “littleness of faith.” Indeed, they have some faith – a little faith – but this faith needs to grow into understanding who Jesus truly is: God in the flesh.

We, too, often have little faith. We – like the disciples – often don’t see what is right in front of us. We often turn to fear. We begin to trust in people or things that promise relief and safety, but in reality, they only promise what they could never fulfil. Even in our little faith, God the Father doesn’t give up on us. Despite our little faith, He sent Jesus to be our Savior from sin, eternal death, and hell.

So, turn to the one true God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – who always fulfills His promises and says: “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

God comes to us today to serve us as He did Noah and the disciples. He serves us through His Word and Sacraments. He comes to us today to take upon Himself our fears and increase our faith.

Unlike the triune God who never forgets His covenant promise, He comes to us today to remind us that the powers of sin, death, and Satan are defeated through the power of Jesus’ atoning death upon the Cross and His bodily resurrection from the dead! This we need to hear repeatedly, because unlike God, we are prone to forget. We are prone to forget how God so loves us so much that He took it upon Himself to save us from sin's power, which is eternal death. He comes to us today speaking this promise of forgiveness of sins, which guarantees eternal life and salvation. He comes to us today reminding us all that we have nothing to fear, since we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone!

In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus pledges Himself to you and me as He says He will never leave us or forsake us. All we have to do is trust in Him. Through the very Words of Christ, “This is My body” and “This is My blood,” Jesus speaks to us another special covenant promise: that in this Sacrament, Christ’s saving death is proclaimed, and the fruits of His atonement are distributed for the forgiveness of our sins. “For as often as [we] eat this bread and drink the cup, [we] proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Unlike the sick at Gennesaret – who undoubtedly heard about the miracle healing of the woman with the 12 years of the flow of blood (Mark 5:25-34) – we don’t get to touch only a fringe of Christ’s garment for our healing. Instead, Jesus invites us to touch Him and taste Him as He takes our sins away through our eating and drinking of His body and blood under the bread and wine.

Although God never forgets His covenant promise, there is something that God does forget. You see, when we repent of our sins – all that we have done against God in our thoughts, words, or deeds – He immediately forgets that sin. God the Father immediately sees us as He sees His Son as perfectly righteous. It is by faith in Christ alone that our sin and fear are taken away! In response to this grace, we “give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1).

Yes, God’s steadfast love endures forever and so does His covenant, so “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid!” (Mark 6:50) Amen!

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

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T