"Born of Water and the Spirit" (John 3:1-17)

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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:

Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God”(John 3:3).

 

Nicodemus was a curious man. Nicodemus was seen as a holy man. He was a Pharisee, a rabbi of the Jews. He was among the most learned men. But he was also a man of much fear. He feared what the others among the Sanhedrin would think about him visiting Jesus of Nazareth. He feared that he would lose his position among the rulers of the Jews. But he was curious. He wanted to know more about this man named Jesus.

 

So, in his curiosity, Nicodemus did visit Jesus, but not in the daylight, but under the cover of darkness. Nicodemus came to have an open conversation with Jesus and to debate Him.

 

But unlike the typical Pharisee who was savage and malicious toward Jesus, Nicodemus wanted to have a courteous and proper conversation. He did not want to deceive Jesus with cunning, nor test Jesus with wicked intent, nor to catch Him in His words. Rather, Nicodemus desired to ask Jesus how a man could be saved.

 

So, they began their conversation discussing the righteousness of the flesh and that of the righteousness of the Spirit. 

 

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Or more literally, “unless one is born ‘from above’ or ‘unless one is born not of this world.’”

 

And Nicodemus responded as any flesh-minded person would: How can this happen? “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”(John 3:4). That’s a logical question. How could that logically happen?

 

But he missed the point. Nicodemus was thirsting for righteousness and salvation, but he couldn’t get passed the idea of being physically re-born in his mother’s womb.

But Jesus says in proper Lutheran terms “You don’t have to understand it, so don’t over think it.” “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’” (John 3:7).

 

Of course, Nicodemus was marveling at “You must be born again.” He didn’t like what he heard. He didn’t like it, because he couldn’t understand it. He was trusting his human reason, just as we so often do. How can he be born again when he is old? This sounds like pure foolishness! How could he become newly born?

 

To this, Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of the water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

 

I’m sure this sounded like a riddle to Nicodemus. And this may even sound like a riddle to you. This means nothing other than to die to sin and live to righteousness by faith and the Holy Spirit. Jesus, here, is speaking of Baptism.

 

You see, in Holy Baptism, the old man is drowned in the water and is raised up again. The drowning is the putting to death of the flesh and the sweeping away of sins. The raising up is the renewal of the new man in the Holy Spirit. All the while, the man is the same physically, but he is changed spiritually.

 

When the children of Israel were journeying in the wilderness and murmured because of the length of the journey, God was angered and sent fiery serpents among them that bit them so that many of them died. Then God told Moses to make for himself a serpent of bronze and set it up as a sign, so that whoever is bitten and looks at it will be preserved.

 

At first, the children of Israel didn’t understand what Moses had made. They probably laughed at Moses. But soon, they understood. Soon, they realized that those who were bitten and looked up at that bronze serpent were preserved from death.

 

Outwardly, that bronze serpent was not something that would give a lot of hope. Especially when the snakes kept on coming. Remember, God never took way the serpents. But God gave His people a way out. He gave His people the way of salvation. Even though they would be bitten, the bite would not kill them, because whoever looked upon that bronze serpent in faith would live.

 

This sounds like pure foolishness. But remember, “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25). For “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise” and He “chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27).

 

You see, Jesus used that event of the bronze serpent to show Nicodemus how God works in the world. 

 

God works in mysterious ways. He works in ways that our human nature thinks to be crazy. He works in ways our human reason cannot possibly fathom. 

 

To the world, the waters of Holy Baptism appear to be just water – to which it is. But when that water is connected to the Word, to the very name of God – the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it becomes more than just water. It becomes a Sacrament. It becomes a way of salvation. Holy Baptism works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.

 

Connected with the Word of God, Baptism becomes a life-saving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit. For as St. Paul proclaims in Titus 3: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying” (Titus 3:5-8).

 

We may not truly understand it, but we believe it and we confess it. Through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, we are born spiritually, and in spirit we are born by the Word and Sacrament.

 

It is through the working of the Holy Spirit indwelling in us as given to us through Holy Baptism that we become new people. We are born anew. We are born from above. We don’t know how this happens, but we know this happens. For through the hearing of God’s Word and by receiving His Sacraments, we grow into new people. We grow in our discipleship to Christ. We grow in living out the Christian life. We don’t just believe differently than unbelievers, we live differently. All of this happens because of being born of water and the Spirit. For, as Jesus says, “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6).

 

That bronze serpent was a strong visual reminder of the fierce wrath of God over sin. It was lifted high so that every Israelite might see it, repent of their sin, and look up to it in obedient faith. To everyone who followed this call, their faith resulted in the preservation of their life.

 

Again, God works in mysterious ways. That snake was a prefigure of what would happen not just for those Israelites of old, but also served as a prefigure for the salvation of the world. So, just as everyone who looked in faith at the snake was healed from deadly bite, everyone who would look in faith at Jesus – high and lifted up – would be saved from the bite of eternal death and have eternal life.

 

Jesus says, “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” and “that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16, 17). Whoever is the promise. So, whoever – no matter how bad, how despicable, how wrong, how lazy, how negligent – whoever trusts in Jesus, whoever clings to Him in repentance and faith is forgiven and is given peace and eternal life. Whoever looks to Christ alone finds comfort, joy, and a sure and certain hope.

 

To those born of the flesh, to those who only follow human reason, this sounds like utter foolishness, but this is the power and wisdom of God; this is the way of the Spirit.

 

This is God’s plan for you and for the entire world. He wants to save you. He wants to heal you. He wants to comfort you. So, no matter how much those snake bites of sin attack you, remember that you born of water and the Spirit through your Baptism into Christ. Remember that when you repent of your sin, your sin is forgiven through the merit and work of Christ alone. Remember to lift up your eyes and heart to Christ crucified for you! For through His atoning death and bodily resurrection, He has given you peace. He has given you the fruits of His cross: forgiveness, life and salvation!

 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17). Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"Grieving in Hope and Faith" (Matthew 2:13-18) - The Holy Innocents, Martyrs

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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: 

“And [Joseph] rose and took the Child and His mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son’” (Matthew 2:14-15).

 

The days on our Church calendar following Christmas Day can leave us wondering: where has the joy of Christmas gone?

 

What happened to “Joy to the World”? What happened to “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled”?

 

These days following Christmas are very strange. Just one day after Christmas was the Festival of St. Stephen, Martyr. Two days after Christmas was the Festival of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist. And that leads us to today: the Festival of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs. It has been said St. Stephen was a martyr for Christ in both will and deed. St. John was Christ’s martyr in will, but not in deed. And the Holy Innocents, to which we observe today, were Christ’s martyrs not in will, but in deed.

 

This is so very strange. Again, just a few short days ago, we were gathered in unbridled joy. But now? Today, we heard of the death of children. Now we are gathered in deep sorrow. Instead of singing “Joy to the World,” we are crying out to God about rescuing us from “the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 71:1, today’s Gradual), and from the strangers who “have risen against me; [the] ruthless men [who] seek my life” (Psalm 54:3)

 

Then in today’s Gospel lesson, we heard of crying and deep sorrow. For the mothers in Bethlehem, they are like Rachel before them as they refuse to be comforted because their children are no more.

 

The pendulum of our life together in the Church has swung drastically since Christmas Day. But this is what life is like out there as we live in a fallen and sinful world. One minute you are living your life in joy, and then the next minute is filled with sorrow.

 

Just look at Bethlehem. At the announcement of the birth of the Christ Child, there were angels singing in the fields: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14). Upon hearing this, the shepherds run to see the promised Savior of the world. 

 

Sometime later, wise men came from afar to Bethlehem to see the one “who has been born king of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2). 

 

Then Joseph, as solid and reliable as a husband and father could be, is warned by an angel in a dream that his family is in immediate danger, and he doesn’t waste a minute. He, Mary, and the Christ Child depart before morning to Egypt.

 

To be sure, there was so much joy happening in Bethlehem! But then, in the blink of an eye, there is sudden and unexpected death.

 

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.’ When Herod heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him …” (Matthew 2:1-3).

 

Herod the Great was well known for his social concern and at the same time being cruel and merciless. Herod during a time of severe economic hardship gave back tax money collected from the people. And during a great famine, Herod melted down various gold objects in the palace to buy food for the poor. He built theaters, racetracks, and other structures to provide entertainment for the people. And he began the reconstruction project of the Temple in Jerusalem.

 

But as I said, Herod was also cruel and merciless. Herod was known for being incredibly jealous, suspicious, and afraid for his own position and power. For Herod, any potential threat would be dealt with. He had his wife’s brother drowned. He had his wife Mariamne killed. He had her mother killed. He had three of his own sons killed. And shortly before he would die, Herod had the most distinguished citizens of Jerusalem arrested and imprisoned to be executed the very moment he would die and just to guarantee that there would be mourning in Jerusalem. If not for him, it would be for those men. But there would still be mourning.

 

So, it is not far-fetched that when Herod was troubled, then all of Jerusalem would be troubled right along with him.

As the magi wandered around Jerusalem attempting to locate “he who has been born king of the Jews,” the people began to be concerned.

 

Knowing the past, anyone even suspected of doing Herod harm or threatening his position or power was in considerable danger. In Herod’s sweeping carnage many innocent people were often destroyed. Although Herod’s anger was not vented this time against Jerusalem, it would soon be vented against the nearby town of Bethlehem.

 

I wish I could say that sorrow is only unique to Bethlehem, but I can’t. The slaughter of children two years old and younger by Herod is unique. But not the deep sorrow. That’s what makes this time of year so hard for many.

 

Yes, just days ago, we sang “Joy to the World,” but what happened when that service ended? You either went home or spent time with loved ones, your family and friends. But some of us had people missing from this year’s gatherings – and not because they couldn’t make it because of other gatherings or travel distance – it was because they died.

 

Last Christmas, or some Christmas before, you were spending time with those whom you love: opening presents, talking and eating, singing, and going to church with them. But then, something sudden happened. Something unexpected happened. Something happened to take them away from you: a car accident, a fall, a heart attack, a stroke, cancer. You name it. It happens. Suddenly and unexpectedly, death happens. And now, this Christmas season, you join yourself with those grieving parents in Bethlehem.

 

Now, deep sorrow is bad enough, but when you are shaken to the core, it’s the questions that drive us nuts. It’s those questions that hurt the most. They range from the simple “why?” to the more complex “Why did this happen? Why did God allow this to happen? Why doesn’t God hear my prayer? Why does God allow suffering? Has God abandoned me?”

 

Sometimes, there are clear answers to the “why” questions. Like in our Old Testament lesson. There, God told them directly to love and worship Him only. What did Israel do? They refused. They turned their hearts away from God. They worshipped other gods. And for their idolatry, for their sin of unbelief, they received and suffered a consequence: 70 years of slavery, suffering, pain, and death at the hands of the Babylonians. 

Also, in our Gospel lesson. There, the “why” is answered because Herod feared losing his power. He was also furious that the magi did not return.

 

However, other times, there is no clear answer to our “whys.” Sometimes, there is not a clear cause and effect that we can easily point to. All we can point to is that we are poor, miserable sinners who live in a fallen world, which gives suffering, pain, evil and death. This is the world we live in thanks to Adam and Eve’s disobedience. “Sin came into the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

 

And for those “whys” that lack an answer, Jesus teaches us this: “In the world, you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). So, trouble is to be expected. Trouble is now considered normal.

 

Sadly, as we live in this fallen world of sin, suffering, pain, and death happen all the time. And in just a blink of an eye. One moment you are driving down the road and the next moment a truck turns right out in front of you.

 

Sometimes, we just don’t have the answer to the why question. We still wonder. We wonder where God is in all of this?

 

On this day of the Festival of the Holy Innocents, God gives us real hope for real people in the midst of sorrow.

 

Remember: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This is why “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). He came down into this fallen world to bear our sin and be our Savior. He came to save those Holy Innocents and He came to save you!

 

And nothing can stop Jesus from accomplishing that goal! Herod certainly tried. He tried to kill Jesus, but Joseph followed the command of the angel. And some years later, a son of Herod – one who lived – would attempt to prevent Jesus from going to the cross. But nothing can stop Jesus from accomplishing His goal! Jesus would finish His course. Jesus would cry out: “It is finished” (John 19:30). 

 

Then, in the blink of an eye, Jesus would bodily resurrect from the dead! And because Christ lives, we – by faith in Him – will live also! For everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him has eternal life, and God will raise him up on the Last Day! In Christ alone there is truly joy to the world!

 

Until that day of Christ’s final coming, you and I will grieve, but our grieving is mixed with hope as our tears are mixed with faith and our sadness is mixed with joy knowing that in the twinkle of an eye, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed as our bodies become immortal (1 Corinthians 15)! In Christ alone, there is true joy! Merry Christmas! Amen!

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"The Gift of God's Son" (Luke 2:1-20) - Christmas Eve

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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:

“Behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).

 

The Christmas season is marked with many decorations: evergreen trees laden with shiny ornaments and twinkling lights, evergreen wreaths and garland, tinsel and toys, poinsettias and peppermint, ribbons and bows, candy canes and candles, hung stockings and gingerbread houses.

 

But sometimes, the Christmas holiday becomes cluttered with such wrappings and trappings, making it difficult to sort out what Christmas is truly about. It’s hard to get down to the core message.

 

If you asked a random person what the most important thing about Christmas is, odds are that they would say the presents. For many people, the highlight of Christmas is unwrapping, or better yet, ripping open those presents. This is especially true for children. For most children, opening presents is the climax of the Christmas season. For most children, opening Christmas gifts is the foremost in their minds.

 

Certainly, Christmas is about a gift. Now, that gift is not found under the Christmas tree. And this most-important truth about Christmas is sometimes lost in our attention to the glitter and glitz of the Christmas holiday. It may get hidden behind the Santas and reindeer and snowmen. But the most important gift is found elsewhere. This is the truth of Christmas. This gift is located in a manger. This gift is a newborn Baby who has come to save His people from their sins.

 

During the Advent season, we prepare for the coming of the Christ. Now that we have come to Christmas, we now celebrate Christ’s arrival. The first Christmas gift was God’s only begotten Son, who took upon Himself human flesh and was born as a baby to save us, sinners. Jesus is the real gift of Christmas!

 

God had promised the gift of the Savior for centuries through His prophets. And God is always faithful to His promise. That gift arrived more than two thousand years ago in the package of a little baby, an infant who was fully God in human flesh.

 

The promised Emmanuel – “God with us” – had arrived. He came to deliver us from our captivity to sin and death. He came to be our Savior!

 

This was the gift the angel announced to the shepherds on that first Christmas night. Now, shepherds were regarded by the Jewish religious leaders as ceremonially unclean since they worked on the Sabbath. Moreover, shepherds were considered untrustworthy by the population at large. Shepherds were social outcasts. But it was to these outcasts that the angel first announced the coming Messiah saying, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10-12).

 

On that first Christmas, the angel announced the content of the newly delivered package – “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

 

In this announcement, the newborn Child is identified as the Savior and the Lord. The angel then equates the Baby with God. And the ascription of Savior indicates the mission of this Child: to save humanity from its fallen sinful condition and fatal destination in hell. In this birth announcement, the angel ascribes three important titles to the newborn Child: Savior, Christ, and Lord.

 

The angel then provides an additional sign in locating the Baby: “You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12).

 

Now, swaddling cloths is not a great distinctive sign, as swaddling cloths were a common practice with newborns. Infants were normally wrapped in cloths, which provided warmth and security in their new environment.

 

What was distinctive was the location of the Baby: “lying in a manger.” That is unexpected. This newborn Christ resides in the domicile of livestock animals. This is truly a strange circumstance that ought to jolt human expectations: the long-awaited Messiah enters human history in the humblest of contexts. He isn’t found lying in a royal crib in a king’s palace, but in a smelly, dirty stable lying in a feeding trough.

 

Jesus is the gift we needed. We needed someone to save us from our sins. We needed someone to save us all from Satan’s power when we had gone astray.

 

We had gone astray from God and His commandments in our selfish desires and sinful rebellion. Every one of us. We are all guilty. We were all destined for eternal death and eternal destruction. We could do nothing to save ourselves. We needed someone to save us from sin and its deadly consequences.

 

Thanks be to God that He delivered the gift of the Savior in the babe of Bethlehem. This is why the Child was named Jesus, which means “Yahweh saves,” for as we heard last Sunday by the angel that “He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

 

God entered our fallen, sinful world. He took upon Himself our flesh to rescue humanity. He gave us the Great Exchange. He lived the righteous life and died a sacrificial death for you. And in return, He gave you His perfect righteousness and holiness – and all by His grace through faith in Him. We did nothing to earn salvation. Yours and my salvation had nothing to do with our good works or behavior. Your salvation has everything to do with Jesus, who as your Savior gave you the gift of salvation purely out of His unmerited mercy and grace from His unconditional loving kindness.

 

As true God, Jesus saved humanity. He conquered Satan and destroyed eternal death for you. Jesus Christ, your Savior, is the real gift!

 

Tonight, as we gaze at the manger, we see a message wadded up – wrapped in swaddling cloths – which explains God’s real gift to us. He says, “I love you. I love you so much that I desire that you do not perish but have eternal life. I didn’t come to condemn you, but that you might be saved through Me.” (John 3:16-17)

 

In the gift of Jesus Christ, the triune God has given us His greatest gift because He has given us Himself. It was because of love that the infinite Creator of the universe took on human flesh, and a helpless infant one at that! It was for love that He grew up to offer His life as a ransom for sinners. As St. Paul proclaims, “The goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy” (Titus 3:4-5). Because of His life, death, bodily resurrection and ascension, you are forgiven and delivered from eternal death.

 

On this Nativity of Our Lord – Christmas Eve, we joyfully receive the supreme gift announced by the angel: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”(Luke 2:11). Merry Christmas! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"He Loves Us To The End" (John 13:1-17, 31b-35)

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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:

“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come 
to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1).

 

Jesus utterly loved His apostles. Jesus utterly loves you. He loves His whole creation.

 

Tonight is Maundy Thursday, or also called, Holy Thursday. The word “maundy” is derived from the Latin word mandatum, which means command. For it was on this night that Jesus gave the command to His disciples saying, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

 

“God is love” (1 John 4:16). John 3:16-17 sum up God’s love for us: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”

 

It was out of God’s love that caused Him to create the world in the first place. And His love endures forever. Jesus is the embodiment of this love. He is love in human flesh.

 

But we are the opposite of what God intended us to be. Instead of truly loving God and loving our neighbor, we are curved in on ourselves. We love ourselves. We would rather be served by others than to serve. We daily sin against the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods,” since we want to be God. We grasp equality with God as Adam and Eve did. We follow right in line with the original sin. We all want to be almighty God. This is supreme idolatry.

 

We so often fail at love. But what are we best at? We are best at being selfish. We are best at putting ourselves as the center of the universe and that everyone else should love and serve you. We use people. We manipulate people for our own benefit. A holy and just God would have every reason to give us what we truly deserve: eternal death apart from God. May we repent of our selfishness.

Because of our sinful condition, we cannot change ourselves into holy and righteous people. All we can do is possibly turn us poor, miserable sinners into sinners. Maybe, we could sin less, but we will continue to sin. And all sin separates us from God. It’s our sin that pulls us away from God’s love, while God is reaching out to us in His love. Our sinful nature wants nothing to do with God and His unconditional forgiveness.

 

For us to change, we must die and be born again as new people, with new minds, new thinking, and a new disposition. Clearly, we cannot do that. We can’t kill ourselves and make ourselves alive as holy people.

 

But God is love and as a loving God, He “desires all people to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4a). So, how does God show this love so that people would be saved?

 

We see this love in the Son of God who came down from heaven to serve, give everything, even Himself. He was born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin and placed in a feeder’s trough. “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head”(Matthew 8:20). Jesus was willing to leave everything behind and empty Himself of all the glory of heaven and the treasures of the entire universe to live among us and one of us.

 

What man covets; God laid aside. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

 

We all try to serve. We attempt to lose ourselves in service to our fellow man, but ultimately, self-righteousness and a self-serving attitude win the day.

 

But Jesus loves us to the end. On that first Maundy Thursday, Jesus used that occasion to demonstrate His complete, unwavering love for them and for us, a love He bore to the very end. The Passover dinner was underway, and this would be His last. On this night, He would institute the Lord’s Supper for the forgiveness of our sins and to strengthen our weak faith. On this night, He knew that He would be betrayed. Yet, Jesus was still in control. Heaven’s plan was coming together. It was now up to the Son of God to see it through.

 

So, Jesus, gives His disciples an old commandment, to which He renews. He speaks the words of Leviticus 19: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), to which He had previously renewed elsewhere in the Gospels. But Jesus uses this occasion to not just speak of this commandment, but to show this commandment in action.

 

So, Jesus rose from dinner and served His disciples as a slave would serve his master and his master’s guests. He washes their feet.

 

Now, is Jesus instituting a new sacrament? No. For He says, “I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done for you” (John 13:15). What Jesus is doing serves as an object lesson, a pattern of humility for Christians to follow, that still applies to us. You see, a true leader, a true friend, a true neighbor, is one who serves others. This act of washing His disciples’ feet tells us that a follower of Jesus will act in humble service as Jesus did.

 

This new commandment is not being spoken about, but shown. And by showing His love in action, He is giving this commandment a fresh and new quality. So, Jesus’ command was to love one another as He had loved them by lowing Himself to a servant. And from that night on, Jesus’ disciples were to practice that love in the light of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

 

This love is called “agape.” This love sacrifices for others. Jesus is the embodiment of this love. He gives and He gives, and He gives. He gives of Himself tonight in His very body and blood under bread and wine to forgive your sins.

 

Later that night, Jesus would “give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28) as He would “give for the life of the world [His] flesh” (John 6:51). 

 

As Jesus hung on the cross one day later, He took upon Himself all our wickedness, all our iniquity, all our brokenness, all our pain. He reconciled you and me back to God the Father. He changed us. He took all our selfishness upon Himself. He made a way to reconciliation. He made peace by the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:20).

 

God loved you so much that He died for you. And God did not remain dead. He rose, so that you would also rise. In Christ alone, you are a new creation. In Christ alone, you are born again. This is what happened at your Baptism. It was through the water and Word that the Holy Spirit gave you a new mind with new thinking and a new disposition. 

Now, through Christ’s love, you are able to look outside yourself. You are now able to serve your neighbor in agape love – sacrificial love. You don’t ask for anything in return. You just serve out of love. You serve in loving service to God.

 

God’s heart is one of eternal love, of sacrificial love. He loved you even before you loved Him. For “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

 

God loves us to the end. He loves by serving. Serving is what defines the one true God. He serves us sinners with His forgiveness in Word and Sacrament. He serves us life and salvation. May we all repent of our selfishness and receive Christ’s love through the forgiveness of sins. And may He continually empower us to “be imitators of God, as beloved Children” walking in love as Christ loved us (Ephesians 5:1-2) by giving and serving our neighbor in sacrificial love. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

"The Places of Grace"

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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:

The way one worships, determines their belief. The Church has always had practices that are not expressly commanded or forbidden by God’s Word. 

 

Adiaphora describes these practices. Adiaphora means “things morally indifferent” or “nonessentials in faith or conduct.” Adiaphora are matters left to Christian judgment and are done in Christian freedom. 

 

There is another phrase that we should be familiar with: “Lex orandi, lex credendi,” which means, “the rule of worship, determines the rule of belief.”

 

So, the things morally indifferent, those nonessentials in faith or conduct, do actually matter. There is no law that says Christian churches must worship at a particular time of day, but each congregation must pick a time to worship.

 

Tonight, we will begin a Lenten study on what adiaphora teaches, since those things that we may think do not particularly matter, do actually matter. Each week, we will focus on sights and sounds at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. Tonight, we will focus on the places of grace.

 

Church furnishings confess what we are doing in the worship space. When you enter any church, you can immediately see what that church identifies as important.

 

For churches that emphasize the Word over the Sacraments, often the altar disappears and all you have is a pulpit. For churches that emphasize the Sacrament of the Altar, over and against the proclamation of the Word, you may see a very large altar and not a place to preach from. And there are churches that don’t emphasize either Word or Sacrament. In those churches, such as the Quakers, the parishioners gather in a circle and there is no altar and no pulpit.

 

Church furnishings are a confession. Here at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, you can see what is important to us and why we gather here.

 

First, let’s look at the altar. What’s the point of the altar? Well, the altar is much like the cross or crucifix, as it is the place of life.

 

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, what whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life”(John 3:14-16). The altar is this sign of life. This is why we have an altar cross. That altar cross is there to proclaim that from this altar, we receive life.

 

In the Old Testament times, altars were the place of death and sacrifice. Today, because of Christ the crucified who died for our sins, we receive forgiveness and life through His broken body and shed blood given and shed for us! From that altar, the very Lamb of God is here to forgive your sins and strengthen your faith to life everlasting! Today, that altar is not just the symbol of death, but it is also the symbol of Christ’s resurrection and our resurrection!

 

That altar is central to our faith. That is why our altar is in the center of the chancel and not off to the left or to the right or hidden from our view. Everything in this space is arranged around the altar. And when I speak toward the altar, I speak on behalf of myself. And when I speak away from the altar, I speak on behalf of God as His called servant of the Word.

 

From that altar, we receive the risen and ascended Christ’s body and blood under bread and wine for the forgiveness of our sins. That altar is the place of eternal life! From there, we eat in fellowship with God and with one another, along with the angels, the archangels, and the whole company of heaven. That altar is the very meeting place of heaven and earth!

 

To each side of the altar, we have the lectern and pulpit. This shows that God’s Word is held sacred among us. Now, what’s the point of the pulpit? Is it to have a grand place for the pastor to preach? Is it to elevate the pastor? Well, in typical Lutheran fashion, it’s a yes and no answer. 

 

You see, the original intention for the pulpit was so the pastor could be heard. Before we had microphones, the pulpit would help amplify the pastor’s voice so that all could hear the proclamation of God’s Word. 

 

Today, we have microphones and state of the art sound systems. So, what’s the point of the pulpit today? Well, during the Reformation, pulpits took on a special prominence as the main symbol of the centrality and authority of Scripture in the church. So, even with microphones and sound systems, the pulpit furniture is teaching that from that place, the pulpit, the authoritative Word of God norms the congregation’s confession, teaching and life together. This pulpit also serves as a reminder that the pulpit isn’t about the preacher, but about the proclamation, as this furniture removes the focus from the pastor and puts the focus on the Word of God.

 

Lastly, tonight, I’d like to focus on another piece of church furniture that isn’t in the chancel, but it is a prominent fixture. As we enter Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, we pass by the font. That baptismal font is the first place we receive Christ’s benefits through the water and the Word in Holy Baptism. That font is a continuous reminder that Baptism is a continuous gift of God and not just for one moment of time. So, every time you walk by that font, you can remember how you became a child of God through Holy Baptism.

 

That font confesses your new birth. Your rebirth through water and the Word through the Holy Spirit. 

 

From that font, the Triune God first called you, He first gathered you, and He first enlightened you to faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior so that you would hear His Word preached and partake of the forgiveness of sins and receive strength for your faith from His altar.

 

So, what do these furnishings confess?

 

Here stands the font before our eyes,

Telling how God has received us.

The altar recalls Christ’s sacrifice

And what His Supper here gives us.

Here sound the Scriptures that proclaim

Christ yesterday, today, the same,

And evermore, our Redeemer. (Built on the Rock, LSB 645, stanza 4).

 

Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +