In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Today’s Gospel Reading all about forgiveness. And face it … we are bad at forgiveness. We’re bad at giving it … and we’re bad at asking for it.

Think about a time when you made an unjust accusation … when you failed to explain everything in the kindest possible way … when you tarnished someone’s reputation … when you got impatient or lost your temper. Your first inclination was likely not to ask for forgiveness. More likely than not, your inclination was to blame someone else for your own sinful anger and slander … perhaps even blaming God.

Our fallen human nature is prone to all sorts of anger, impatience, and unlovingness. And we’d much rather blame someone or something instead of repenting and asking for forgiveness. Deep down, we really don’t want to confess our sins. Nor do we naturally seek forgiveness: from God or our neighbor.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

For over seventeen hundred years, Christians have set aside a day to give thanks to God for those people that the Lord has translated from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant in heaven. In our First Reading, we heard part of St. John’s vision of heaven with God on His throne. Before His throne were the twenty-four elders – representing the Church of all times and places – who fell down and worshiped Him who sits upon the throne. In the midst of that throne room, St. John saw the Lamb who took the book of the seven seals and opened six of them. But before the Lamb opened the 7th seal of final judgment, the Blessed Apostle saw four angels at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds from destroying the earth until the servants of God were sealed and the elect of God were gathered in … that group of 144,000 which symbolizes perfection and completeness … from every nation, tribe, people, and language. And that vast multitude that was standing before the throne and the Lamb were clothed in white robes … symbolizing righteousness and purity … with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out. It’s so glorious that I have to read it again:
“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders said to John: “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” The answer is already known. “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” These are the saints in heaven who, on account of Jesus Christ – the very Lamb of God – stand before the throne and the Lamb in worship and adoration without hunger or thirst or suffering: having been guided to springs of living water and having had God Himself wipe away every tear from their eyes.

This, dear children of God, is a glimpse of those who’ve departed this life in the faith.

They’re still awaiting Christ’s second coming and the resurrection of their glorified bodies on the Last Day. But they’ve reached the rest that God has promised for His people, and we can be confident of their eternal safety and perfect joy. Their troubles are truly over. They’re done with the temptations of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. And we give thanks to God for their salvation and for their example of steadfast faith to us.

But our Gospel Reading from St. Matthew focuses on a different group of saints: the saints on earth – the Church Militant – all of us who continue to struggle with temptation, sin, and suffering.

The text is familiar to us. It’s the Beatitudes – the first part of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount – and it applies to us Christians who still bear witness to Christ’s saving truth as salt and light in a sin-darkened world.

Every one of the Beatitudes begins with the word ‘blessed’. When we hear this word, many think that it’s referring to happiness or pleasure or good fortune. But ‘blessed’ here means much more than that. Its root is the Greek work that means ‘great’ – as in, wealthy, powerful, and highly honored. And when Jesus uses that word to refer to His disciples – to us – He is saying that we are great not because we are somehow good and perfect (for we know our many transgressions and our sin is ever before us) … but He’s calling us great because we’ve been restored by His grace and mercy to the relationship we were intended to have with Him who is the very Author of Creation.

Jesus says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” We are poor in spirit when we realize that we’re all beggars.

We’re not self-sufficient but rely on God for every spiritual and material blessing. We’ve all experienced the inadequacy of our attempts at self-sufficiency … those times when the storms of life sweep over us, and we frantically try to keep our heads above water: only to realize that we’re drowning in sin and strife, and the brokenness of our flesh. But blessed are we indeed who, by God’s grace, do not depend on ourselves … receiving counsel and strength from God who alone is able to provide for our every need of body and soul. To such poor in spirit God gives the Kingdom of Heaven – the promise that in Christ we will triumphantly endure the enemies of this world until we join the victory celebration of the Church Triumphant of St. John’s vision.

Jesus says: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This mourning isn’t the sorrow that everyone experiences over the pain and heartache of this world, but the sorrow we have over our sins and how we so easily succumb to the temptations of the flesh: sins for which the Son of God was crucified.

We truly and rightly mourn when we stand at the foot of the cross and see the bloody love of Christ poured out for us who know the true sorrow of having sinned against Christ’s love by our ingratitude and our coldness of heart. Yet Jesus says that we who mourn our sins will be comforted. He says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). At the foot of the cross we receive the comfort of knowing that Christ has taken away the burden of our sin, cleared out everything that stands between us and God, and comforted with the lasting comfort of Christ’s mercy and forgiveness.

Jesus says: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” The natural reaction of our sinful nature is to fight and argue with God when He deals with us according to His will and our rebellious nature is really the source all our unhappiness. God wants us to perfectly love and serve Him and to perfectly love and serve our neighbor, but we want to do things our way … and for our own creature comforts. If we are meek, then we do not think too much of ourselves or our positions in life. We don’t allow or tempers to flare up when we’re provoked. And we don’t expect to always be treated with respect by the people around us. The meek simply strive to fulfill their God-given vocations in love – not seeking honor from men but seeking that which is pleasing to God. But this meekness isn’t natural to us as I’m sure you recognize. It’s a virtue. And, like all virtues, God Himself must work it in us by His Word and Spirit.

Christ’s perfect meekness won the victory over our enemies of sin and death. He patiently bore the insults and unjust punishments that we rightly deserve to put our sins of pride to death in His body. And as a follower of Christ the meek, He makes you an heir of His Kingdom.

Jesus says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Do you hunger and thirst for that right relationship with God that you lack by nature? Then the Word of God has aroused this desire in you and God is faithful to fulfill His promise. “For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in [Christ] we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).

Jesus says: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” If we are merciful, then we actively show mercy toward others. That’s God’s will for us. We should be reflecting the undeserved mercy of God toward us by showing mercy toward others. Not to somehow earn God’s mercy for ourselves, but because God first showed His mercy to us in Christ. As St. Paul writes: “you were dead in trespasses and sins … But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ … For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God …” (Eph 2:1-9).

Jesus says: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” In the way Holy Scripture speaks, the heart represents our whole moral nature: our understanding, our emotions, our conscience, our will, indeed, our whole inner life. The saints in heaven can certainly say that their hearts are pure, but can we? Jesus said that “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, [and] slander” (Matt 15:19). That’s a much better description of what comes naturally to our hearts. We see this clearly in the world around us – also within ourselves. So many folks seem to be unconscious to sin: unaware of the reality that their transgression of God’s moral code has eternally deadly consequences. But you’re here because you know the natural impurity of your heart. And, having confessed your sins, Jesus says to you, “take heart, your sins are forgiven” – absolving you and purifying your heart so that you might be a godly influence for the good of your fellow man in this life and ultimately stand among the great multitude of saints in heaven who see God with their own eyes.

Jesus says: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” If you want to be a peacemaker – and you should – you have to have peace yourself. And the greatest and most necessary peace is the peace that the angels sang about on that very first Christmas Eve: the peace with God that the infant Christ brought to earth. God is a God of peace and Christ is the Prince of Peace. As such, Christians are called to love and work for peace within our vocations: in our homes, in our families, in our churches, in our workplaces, in our neighborhoods and abroad. The world is a stranger to peace because it doesn’t know the peace of reconciliation with God that He effected while we were still His enemies. You are baptized … you are cleansed … you’ve been washed in the blood of the Lamb … reconciled to God and at peace … knowing that your sins are forgiven on account of the saving work of Jesus the Prince of Peace.

And Jesus says: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” This is especially pertinent to us Christians these days on account of the growing hatred toward God and toward His people so listen up. You’ve had the Gospel preached to you. By the life-giving Word of God, you’ve been given the gift of faith and your sins have been forgiven. Christ’s righteousness is now your righteousness: imputed to you through Word and Sacrament. So, when you live as a Christian, striving with the help of the Holy Spirit to live according to God’s will, you will be persecuted … you will be reviled … you will be mocked … you will be defamed just as your Lord and Savior was. But in spite of that, you are called to take up your cross and follow Christ.

In fact, the proof of your status as a child of God and a citizen of Christ’s kingdom is that you will suffer and be persecuted. But “rejoice and be glad” because you suffer in good company as we’re reminded on this Feast of All Saints’. The Holy Prophets, the glorious company of the Apostles, the noble army of Martyrs, and a great host of your brothers and sisters in the Holy Church throughout the world have walked that path – called by the Gospel to saving faith and strengthened by Christ’s Word and Spirit. The kingdom of heaven is theirs, and the kingdom of heaven is yours.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Pr. Jon Holst

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

In our Gospel reading for this Reformation Sunday, we heard Jesus say, “everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” (Jn 8:34). Martin Luther knew what it meant to be a slave to sin. He knew that every day he committed sins and that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t free himself from those sins. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t stop sinning. And it was a great burden to him because he knew that since God is holy, his own sin deserved God’s righteous wrath and punishment.

Luther wanted to escape his slavery to sin so much that he became a monk: thinking – as was typical in the Middle Ages – that the monastic life was somehow holier than our everyday vocations and that a life devoted to work, prayer, and self-denial would somehow get rid of his sinfulness.

Now, even though doing our God-given work in the world, praying regularly, and denying ourselves the creature comforts we covet to help to keep our sinful flesh in check to some degree and are good spiritual disciplines if rightly understood, the truth is that things didn’t get better for Luther.

In the monastery, being constantly reminded of the demands of a righteous God only caused him to feel the burden of his slavery to sin even more. Owing to the false teaching about how man is justified before God that the Medieval Church had taught him, his attempts to be righteous before God by his own works and merits became torture for him. “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”

In our time, we tend to experience the exact opposite of Luther’s struggle. We’ve become so de-sensitized to sin that we often don’t give much consideration at all to God’s holiness … to our personal sins … and to the wrath of God that we truly deserve on account of those sins.

Our lack of consideration for God’s infinite holiness, and our dismissiveness of the fact that God has given us moral absolutes – that is, the 10 Commandments … to show us what we should and shouldn’t do – has led our generation into a spiritual permissiveness that thinks we’re free to do whatever we want. And it’s this supposed “freedom” that actually ends up making us slaves.

The daily sins that each of us have promise us freedom and happiness, but in reality, they only trap us, bind us, and enslave us. It’s very easy for our desires and our passions to end up ruling over us because it’s our nature to rebel against our heavenly Father when He says ‘yes- do this’ or ‘no- don’t do that.

Greed enslaves us to our possessions. Gluttony enslaves us to food and drink. Lust enslaves us to pornography and fornication. Laziness enslaves us to pessimism and excuse-making. Pride enslaves us to the façade of our self-image. And our lack of love enslaves us to impatience and anger.

“Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”

No matter how hard we attempt to be a “good person”, it will never be sufficient to make us right before God. God says, “I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44). Yet, it’s clear from the slavery we have to our personal sins that we’re woefully far from this standard.

So, if we can’t live up to the standards of God’s moral Law, then why did He give it to us? Today’s Epistle Reading answers that question: “whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” In other words, God’s Law shows us our sins and our desperate need for God’s forgiveness.

And God doesn’t leave us in the knowledge of our sins without hope. Luther re-discovered that hope and proclaimed it far and wide to troubled consciences. And that hope is this:
“[we] are justified by [God’s] grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”

That’s what grace is: an undeserved gift of love. Even though we don’t deserve it on account of our sins, God justifies us, declares us righteous, and sets us right with Him based solely and completely on the work of Christ.

And what is that work of Christ? He redeemed you. He bought you back. He paid your ransom. He came to you who were enslaved to sin, death, and the devil, and purchased you out of your bondage to sin with His holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.

By His death and resurrection, Christ was victorious over our masters of sin, death, and devil. In Christ you are truly free, forgiven, and given newness of life. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”, as we heard in the Holy Gospel.

By the grace of God, Martin Luther and the other Lutheran Reformers restored the centrality of this Gospel truth to Christ’s Church. As Luther wrote in his Large Catechism:
“[Christ] has redeemed me from sin, from the devil, from death, and from all evil. For before, I did not have a Lord or King, but was captive under the devil’s power, condemned to death, stuck in sin and blindness. For when we had been created by God the Father and had received from Him all kinds of good, the devil came and led us into disobedience, sin, death, and all evil. So we fell under God’s wrath and displeasure and were doomed to eternal damnation, just as we had merited and deserved.
There was no counsel, help, or comfort until this only and eternal Son of God – in His immeasurable goodness – had compassion upon our misery and wretchedness. He came from heaven to help us. So those tyrants and jailers are all expelled now. In their place has come Jesus Christ, Lord of life, righteousness, every blessing, and salvation. He has delivered us poor, lost people from hell’s jaws, has won us, has made us free, and has brought us again into the Father’s favor and grace. He has taken us as His own property under His shelter and protection so that He may govern us by His righteousness, wisdom, power, life, and blessedness.” (LC II.2)

In God’s Holy Word, Luther found the freedom from our slavery to sin in the person and work of Jesus. Because of the errors of the Medieval Church, Luther thought that the righteousness of God meant God’s righteous demands on us – what we must do to get into God’s good graces. But in God’s Word to us in the Epistle to the Romans, Luther learned the truth of the Gospel where St. Paul wrote: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes … For in it the righteousness of God is revealed” (Rom 1:16-17). God gives us the gift of His righteousness so that through faith in Christ we are made clean and guiltless in God’s sight.

That pure Gospel of our free salvation in Jesus Christ changed everything for Luther and the Reformers and they worked tirelessly to restore the Gospel to its rightful place in the Church: a blessed heritage which we should likewise hold fast to … and strive to preserve and proclaim.

We often summarize Christian faith with the four “solas” of the Reformation: Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone, and Christ Alone. Our salvation is a pure gift of God’s grace alone, apart from anything we have done. We receive that grace by the gift of faith alone, and our God-given faith is in Christ alone.

And God brings us to faith and keeps us in the faith through His life-giving Word alone and not by any decision or spiritual effort that comes from within us. The glory for our salvation belongs not to us, but to God and His abundant mercy as Scripture declares: “we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Rom 3:28).

God’s promise to you is that you’re set free in Christ. This is the first and chief article of the Christian faith: justification by grace through faith for Christ’s sake.

But also remember what you have been freed for: You’re freed from slavery to sin so that you might have new life – a Christ-centered life in the household of God. As Jesus says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (Jn 8:31).

The way we ‘abide’ in Christ’s Word is to continue to receive it in all the ways that Jesus has instituted for that purpose: living in the gift of our baptism, where the Word of God was applied to us with simple water, drowning our old sinful selves and raising us to newness of life. We abide in Christ’s Word when hear faithful preaching and teaching that proclaims the saving truth of His Gospel. We abide in Christ’s Word by receiving absolution, by which the Word is applied to us personally and its gifts of life and salvation are given to us according to Jesus’ own Word of promise.

And we abide in Christ’s Word when we receive the Holy Supper of Christ’s body and blood for the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of our faith as He promised on the night when He was betrayed.

Our freedom from slavery to sin is freedom for life in communion with God and a life of love and service to God and neighbor: a freedom won for us by the all-availing sacrifice of Christ as the ransom for us all.

Abide in this … continue in this … trust in this – by God’s grace – and you are indeed Christ’s disciple. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”– free children of God who will abide in His house forever.

And the truth is this: you are “justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

In our Epistle Reading, St. Paul is addressing those of us who’ve been called by the Gospel to a true and living faith by the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. He exhorts us to: “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self”. That’s something that can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit working within you through the Word of God.

Are you Baptized? Have you rejoiced in the absolving Word of the Gospel?

If so, then you have the Holy Spirit working withing you to lay aside your old self and put on the new man. You don’t create that new man. That renewal is God’s work. But Paul exhorts us – by divine inspiration – to be renewed, that is, to live in that renewal, and safeguard ourselves against the desires of the flesh. We are God’s holy people who’ve been “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” What fellowship should such light have with the darkness of this world?

Let’s be clear. Christ has done all the work of redeeming us and creating that new self in us. But we’re still called to walk in the holiness, righteousness, and truth of the new man that He’s created in us. It’s just that we’re not always so good at that to say the least! Even St. Paul said: “the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Rom 7:19). That’s exactly why he’s encouraging and exhorting us. He knows that sin is still natural to our flesh on this side of heaven, so He tells us straight out to lay aside the old self and put on the new self.

That happens when, by God’s grace, we don’t let our old selves get in the way of the Holy Spirit, but instead let the Word of God shape our thoughts, words, and deeds. Our Lutheran Confessions put it this way:
“as soon as the Holy Spirit has begun his work of rebirth and renewal in us through the Word and the holy sacraments, it is certain that on the basis of his power we can and should be cooperating with him, though still in great weakness … This should be understood in no other way than that the converted do good to the extent that God rules, leads, and guides them with his Holy Spirit. If God would withdraw his gracious hand from such people, they could not for one moment remain obedient to God.” (FC SD II, 65-66)

St. Paul specifically addresses three things in today’s Epistle that our old selves struggle with in this regard. There are many more – some may even be coming to mind for you already – but Paul only mentions three. “Having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another”. The new man in Christ should embrace truth, just as Christ who is the Truth has chosen us and made us members of His own family.

As Christians, we’re members of one another in the body of Christ. So, we put on the new self when we speak the truth in love, bear with each other’s burdens, forgive those who ask for our forgiveness, seek out the forgiveness of those that we have wronged, and help to support the temporal needs of the body of Christ.

St. Paul also writes, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil”. As the children of God, we should deal with everything honestly, including our anger. We should confront our anger, and deal with the cause or source of our anger in a God-pleasing way. Sometimes that means recognizing that our anger is unjustified. Other times it means addressing the cause of our anger and seeking out a Godly solution which almost always involves confession and repentance by someone, and forgiveness from someone else.

“Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” Don’t let your anger grow worse and worse, but lovingly speak to your brother or sister in Christ about what’s troubling you.

And have the humility to listen to your fellow Christian’s perspective. And on the other side, show Christian compassion to one who comes to you with what’s troubling them. The old self can’t do this: only the man who’s been made new by God’s Word and Spirit can do this.

And St. Paul also addresses stealing by giving the example of a thief who’s been converted. The converted thief stops taking from others and starts working so that he has something to give to others. That’s all part of being the people of God, and the result of being the people of God. But ultimately, it’s a change that God alone works by His Word and Spirit. By God’s grace, we agree with it and do our best to live in it … but only in great weakness … guided by the Holy Spirit. God has to come to us.

So, consider our Old Testament Reading: the familiar account of Jacob’s ladder. In Jacob’s dream, there’s a ladder between earth and heaven. It’s not a ladder we can climb up because sin prevents us from approaching God. Jacob, for example, was running from his brother Esau because of his own lies and deceptions. Dreams and visions like this in Holy Scripture are filled with symbols and imagery. Here’s what Martin Luther had to say about Jacob’s ladder: “this dream signified that infinite, inexpressible, and wondrous mystery of the incarnation of Christ” (Lectures on Genesis AE: 5:217).

In other words, that ladder in Jacob’s dream is Christ who, by His incarnation, came down from heaven to be our only access to the Father. Christ Himself is the ladder that unites heaven and earth because He’s the only one who is fully God and fully man.

And He brings God and man back together by bearing our sins … satisfying the Law’s demand that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).

Forgiveness of our sins … reconciliation with the Father … and access to eternal life in heaven is found only in Christ.

In our Gospel reading, we heard Christ give this access to one such sinner who was suffering from paralysis and who couldn’t do anything for himself – either physically or spiritually.

“Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven‘.” By the life-giving Word of Christ, the sins of the paralytic man were taken away. At Christ’s Word, he was declared to be innocent before God: absolved by the Son of God Himself. And in that absolution, the man received comfort and peace.

Hold on to that most glorious detail. Only Jesus has the authority to free sinners like us from the weight of our sins – having borne our sins and the judgment we deserved: covering our sins with His atoning, life-giving blood … earning the right to free people like us who are spiritually paralyzed by our sin through His suffering and death on the cross.

The eyewitnesses saw Him do it. By the power of His life-giving Word He forgave this man’s sins and proved the power of His Word by restoring him to health. And Jesus still forgives sins today through the ministry of the Word that He Himself instituted and authorized.

Jesus forgives sins in the preaching of the Gospel: which is why He called men to preach the Gospel. He forgives sins and gives newness of life in Holy Baptism: which is why He called men to Baptize.

He forgives sins and comforts our troubled consciences in Absolution: which is why He gave His apostolic ministry the authority to Absolve in His name. And He forgives sins and strengthens faith in Holy Communion which is why He gave it to His Church as His last will and testament.

We all struggle to put off our old selves – selves that are painfully weak when the opportunity to sin is right there in front of us and so easily indulged. But take heart, Christ has given us the Office of the Holy Ministry to give out what Christ has won for us. And when we receive these Means of Grace by faith, we are restored from the paralysis of our sin to “the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness”. So, rejoice and be glad, dear Christian, because Christ our Ladder has “opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers” (Te Deum).

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Pr. Jon Holst

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Just before today’s Gospel reading Jesus said something that the Pharisees weren’t happy about. They asked Him if they should or shouldn’t be paying taxes to the occupying Roman government to which Jesus famously replied, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mt 22:21). By questioning Jesus on this, the Pharisees figured that they could either entrap Jesus or get Him to publicly side with their position on the matter.

Then the Sadducees came to Him thinking that He was on their side. The Sadducees accepted the books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy – but they didn’t believe in the existence of angels, and they didn’t believe in life after death or the resurrection of the body. So, they asked Jesus about a woman who had seven different husbands during her lifetime because each of the first six had died. They asked Jesus, “In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be?” (Mt 22:28). They thought that Jesus was going to reveal His solidarity with them by the way He answered, but Jesus said, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Mt 22:29-30).

The Sadducees wrongly thought that the resurrection would be a restoration of things as they are now in this world when, in reality, at the end of the age all things will be brought to their fulfillment in Christ in the new Creation. The faithful people of God will live in His glorious presence, just like the angels. We won’t be married, because the Church – the Bride of Christ – will live forever in the perfect love of Christ her heavenly Bridegroom. And Christ gave Scriptural proof for resurrected life after death by quoting from the books of Moses (which the Sadducees actually accepted).

500 years after the days of Abraham, God had told Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex 3:6). In other words, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are alive with God, and their bodies await the day of the resurrection.

So, while Jesus offended the Pharisees on the one hand, He was also no advocate for the religiously progressive Sadducees either.

The application of this to our modern situation is that just like the Pharisees and the Sadducees, sinful, self-serving people in our own day and age have a tendency to invoke Jesus as a supporter of our own self-serving and even openly evil causes.

When we twist Scripture in this way, we’re making ourselves out to be lord and master, and reducing Christ to the means of achieving our own goals which are self-serving at best … or blatantly wicked at worst.

But the reality is that Jesus is Lord and Master. His Word is true and unchanging. And Christ took on human flesh to accomplish God’s purposes, not ours.

So, the Pharisees asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” It was a question that was intended to lump Jesus into their movement and bring Holy Scripture down to the level of talking points instead of it being the Spirit-filled, life-giving Word of God that it is: “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb 4:12). The Law is there to cut us to the core. Its purpose is to lead us to repentance and to show us our need for Christ’s forgiveness and mercy.

Christ’s wisdom wouldn’t submit to their thinking, nor would He play their game. Instead of choosing a single commandment, Jesus summarized them all. First, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This isn’t something we can reduce to some ‘do this,’ and ‘don’t do this’ statements. The Law commands us to love God fully, completely, without exception, and without holding anything back from Him. God wants the entire devotion of our hearts: more devotion than you give your family, your country, or any secular organization you support or side with with. God wants all of our love, praise, adoration, worship, and allegiance to be with Him.

And lest you think all of this love for God means disregard for every-day life and other people … Jesus continues, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love of God, and love of neighbor are inseparable.

Part of loving God fully and completely is loving our neighbors. Our Lord Jesus Christ took our human nature upon Himself to love and serve us self-sacrificially as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. And He brings people into our lives that we might reflect His grace and mercy by loving and serving others. As the proverb says, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord …” (Prov 19:17). That’s why Christ says the commands are alike because God is served both in love for Him and in love for others.

And here’s where the living voice of the God’s Law hammers us. It smashes us open and exposes just how loveless we are; it reveals that deep-down we’d rather use the Law to justify ourselves and promote our own selfish causes. The Law brings nothing but judgment and death, and it calls us all to repent and to turn to Christ.

But there’s Good News in all of this. After revealing our sinfulness, Christ returns us to the path that leads to salvation and life. He counters the manipulative Law question that the Pharisees asked with His own freeing Gospel question that turns us away from our sinful self-identity and interests. Jesus asks, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” (Matt 22:42). They said to Him, “The Son of David” (Matt 22:42), which is correct. God had promised that the Messiah would be one of David’s descendants.

Jesus then asked, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”? (Matt 22:43-44).

David – the father and ancestor of Christ – referred to his descendant as Lord, and Jesus asked the Pharisees ‘why?’ The Pharisees had tried to entrap Jesus with a Law question and Jesus turned the tables on them by getting them to think about the truth of the Gospel and the saving reality of who He is.

Just as we try at times to fit Jesus into our own categories for our own purposes, the Jews at the time of our Lord’s public ministry pictured the Messiah as being a great prophet, a powerful political leader, but ultimately just a man. So, Jesus leads us to see that while He is fully man, that He’s also much more. David calls Him Lord because Jesus, his literal descendant, is also truly and fully the eternal Son of God.

Thankfully, Christ doesn’t come in a way that fits into our political or social categories or according to the expectations of whatever groups or movements we align ourselves with. His ways are infinitely higher and better than all such self-serving groups. Jesus doesn’t come in the way of fallen man, but in the way of His perfect humanity. Jesus, as the incarnate Son of God, is the only man in whom God’s love is perfectly embodied. He kept the Law perfectly for us. He loved His heavenly Father with all His heart, with all His soul, and with all His mind: doing His Father’s will entirely and perfectly … for us.

And Jesus loved His fallen and sinful neighbors as Himself … even counting them among His friends. He gave Himself completely to those around Him – healing them, helping them, and teaching them His saving truth. And ultimately, He gave His own life for us on the cross. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). Through that perfect act of love and self-giving, Jesus won the full forgiveness of all your sins.

Christ told the Pharisees that all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments of love. And Jesus, who is Love incarnate, hung on the cross to fulfill the Law of love perfectly for you. In Christ, the Law’s condemnation is taken away from you, as St. Paul says: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). You are cleansed, you are freed, Jesus is the propitiation for all your sins. His self-sacrifice has rescued you from eternal judgment and has brought you everlasting life.

Christ has made your enemies of sin, death, and the devil to be His enemies, and by His rising from the dead He’s made them His footstool. Death is conquered. Sin is taken away. Satan’s head has been crushed. And all of this that we now know by faith, we will ultimately see with our own eyes when Christ returns again in glory and all things that are under His feet will be put under our feet with Him.

Christ doesn’t work according to our selfish desires, but in the way of sacrificial self-giving. He doesn’t tell people what they want to hear in order get more followers and earthly power. Rather, He tells us the truth of our sin and the truth of His forgiveness which He purchased at a price, so that He might draw us to Himself as His beloved people who live with Him in His eternal kingdom.

Jesus gives us our eternal identity as the baptized people of God who’ve been redeemed by Christ the crucified. And as such we stand before the throne of God saying, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev. 5:12).

And Jesus is that very Lamb of God who is in our midst even this day: not to rally our support for a political or social movement … not to be the poster-boy for our sinfully woke passions … but to forgive, to strengthen, and to renew you by His Means of Grace. You are called by the Gospel to be on God’s side, not the world’s side. And you’re given your true identity, status, and cause by the preaching of the Word … by confession and absolution … by the reception of Christ’s body and blood. Here – in His Holy Church – the love of God and the love of neighbor all come together in Christ in Whom you are cleansed and sanctified and made a beloved saint before God on account of all that He’s done for you.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Pr. Jon Holst

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
God’s Word for us today from the Book of Proverbs said: “Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.” This has a direct parallel in what Jesus said in today’s Gospel reading: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.”

Today’s reading from St. Luke’s Gospel tells us how Jesus dealt with the sinful pride and the self-promoting behavior of the Pharisees. Sadly, we’re all inclined to such pride and self-promotion … thinking that we’re so much better than the next person. On this occasion, Jesus saw how everyone was trying to show how important they thought they were by trying to sit in the most honored places for this Sabbath feast. Jesus also knew that the Pharisees were keeping a close eye on Him … hoping to discover some error in His teaching that they could use against Him.

There was also a man at this feast who was afflicted with dropsy – what we call edema – which results in fluid retention, painful swelling, and even disfigurement. It’s likely this man was seated in one of the lowest positions at this gathering. But in spite of this man’s humbling condition and lowly place, Jesus comes to him. And in spite of how He knows the Pharisees will feel about this, Jesus asks “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

Of course, the Pharisees didn’t think that it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath since healing was work and no one was supposed to work on the Sabbath, right? The Pharisees had formulated all sorts of detailed regulations as to how they thought they should truly keep the Sabbath and in doing so, they turned God’s gift of a day of rest into a test to see which of them was better and thus more deserving of the honored place at the table.

Of course, Jesus isn’t overly concerned with how the Pharisees might feel and instead – out of His divine grace and mercy – He heals the man. Then He goes on to give some corrective instruction to the Pharisees by asking them a leading question: “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” Jesus knew that the Pharisees wouldn’t have a problem with helping to pull an ox or a donkey out of a pit on the Sabbath even though they would think it a great scandal that someone would heal a sick man on the Sabbath: rather inconsistent on their part.

In reality, Jesus perfectly kept the Sabbath by healing this man. Remember your catechism? “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” In other words, the Sabbath is a day of rest from our work to focus instead on God’s work for us. It’s like when we come together on Sunday for the Divine Service where the Divine (our Lord Jesus Christ) serves us in Word and Sacrament … not where we work our way to the higher place by our own efforts. It’s all about Christ and the blessèd truth that He is gracious and merciful to us even if we’re sitting in the lowest place because our bodies and souls that are swollen and inflamed by sin.

That should be the greatest comfort and consolation to each and every one of you. In spite of your faults … in spite of your failures … in spite of your weaknesses and sins; Christ comes to forgive and heal you.

St. Paul writes that, “[Sabbaths] are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Col 2:17). And Jesus says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). Truly keeping the Sabbath is holding fast to Christ: hearing and believing His Word. It’s all about Christ’s work for you. And Christ works in you by the preaching of His Word so that you see and repent of your sins, receive His full and free forgiveness, and learn to trust in Him who went to the cross to redeem you from sin, death, and hell.

The fact of the matter is that all too many people think that the reason we go to church is to do something for Jesus by praising and worshipping Him. But while it’s true that the faithful people of God rightly pray, praise, and give thanks for Christ’s many blessings, those things are only our inferior response to Christ’s perfect gifts. The primary reason for us to come together is to receive Him who comes to us in His Word, and in His Body and Blood shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins. We’re the ones who need to have something done for us … just like that ox or donkey that can’t get itself out of a pit (except we’re trapped in a pit of sin and death, and completely incapable of getting ourselves out.)

But Christ comes along, dies for your sins, descends into the pit of hell – on the Sabbath no less – and pulls you out of that pit by His glorious resurrection into which you are baptized.

So, this weekly Sabbath rest here at church is not a burdensome task to work your way to a higher seat at the Lord’s table, but is instead a gift from Christ – the Lord of the Sabbath – to heal you, restore you, and prepare you for your eternal Sabbath rest at His heavenly feast. To receive Christ and His forgiveness is to receive the peace of God which passes all understanding, and which comforts our weary souls in times of trial and temptation.

We can have no greater peace and consolation for our troubled souls than knowing that Christ shed His blood to cleanse us of our sins: reconciling us to God the Father. And that’s what Christ – your true Sabbath rest – promises and delivers to you in Word and Sacrament.

The Pharisees were full of themselves and lacking in godly humility. In our Epistle Reading, St. Paul admonishes us to “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.” But true humility is only found outside of ourselves and in Christ. Only in Christ have we been freed to bear with one another in self-sacrificial love that puts the care of others before ourselves and seeks to be of service without wanting something in return.

In the Parable of the Great Banquet that comes right after our text today, Jesus says: “when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you“ (Lk 14:13-14). In other words, don’t concern yourself with what you’ll get out of it, simply serve God by serving your neighbor. God has blessed you with the gifts of faith, life, salvation, and His providential care without any requirement on your part. And out of Christian love, you likewise have the privilege of sharing God’s gifts with your neighbor without expecting anything in return.

So, the heart of the matter is this: none of us – in and of ourselves – could ever be worthy of sitting even in the lowest place at the Lord’s table, but Christ “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8) and risen from the dead, God the Father has “highly exalted Him” (Phil 2:9). Moreover – by baptism and faith – you share in Christ’s exaltation. “You are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Cor 12:27) and as His body, His exaltation is your exaltation.

The places of honor at Christ’s table don’t belong to those who try to get them by self-promoting works, but to those to whom Christ says: “Friend, move up higher.”

We enter the feast simply rejoicing that we’ve been invited, and giving thanks for Christ’s abundant, grace, and mercy.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Pr. Jon Holst

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

We know the kind of suffering, injury, or even death that can be brought on by things that hit each other head on: cars … trains … plains … not pleasant stuff. In today’s Gospel, however, we hear about Christ’s head-on collision with death … which instead resulted in the end of suffering and death.

Christ’s disciples and a great multitude were following Him as they came upon the little town of Nain. Jesus had been doing a variety of miraculous things by His divine power and the multitude had heard and seen the reality of His miraculous works first-hand … no doubt filling them with wonder and joyful excitement.

But as they approached Nain they met another multitude: one that was not feeling joyful or excited. This group of people was a funeral procession, and they were walking towards a cemetery that was outside the city. The body of a young man was being carried on a bier and the young man’s widowed mother … now grieving the death of her son … was close behind. Jesus could have easily led His disciples and the crowd that was with Him around the funeral procession and into the city. But instead, He walked directly up to the young man’s lifeless body and spoke life into Him by the power of His divine Word. Jesus Hit death head-on.

God didn’t intend death for us. “He is not a God of the dead, but of the living” (Mark 12:27), as Scripture says. Death was not a part of how He created us. It was God’s intention that we live with Him in perfect communion for eternity. Our bodies weren’t supposed to suffer with pain, sickness, and death. But our first parents succumbed to temptation … brought sin into the world … corrupting God’s perfect creation and breaking that perfect communion between God and man. Now, faced with the consequences of sin, we spend our lives trying to avoid death because we inherently know that it’s not how we were created to be and that it isn’t really the natural thing we often pretend it is.

We avoid death because it’s contrary to our very being. We try to avoid it by exercise, healthy eating, and supplements. We even try and cover up the reality of aging and death with makeup and plastic surgery.

While we try to deny it … and desensitize ourselves to it … we’re actually quite afraid of death. What makes terrifying movies terrifying to us? It’s the pain, and suffering, and death that deep down we know is the horrible result of our sinful rebellion against our Creator. And we are terrified by it … and fight against it … because we know that death eventually comes for all of us, and we really have no control over when that will be.

The reality of death also has a tendency to encourage the sins of anger and doubt to fester within us. It causes us to question God’s wisdom and to blame Him for our troubles. And Satan is thrilled when he sees you filled with anger and doubt toward God because it’s at those times when you’re most vulnerable to his destructive assaults on your faith.

But we don’t face suffering and death alone. Jesus – who has power over life and death – collided with death head-on for us. As He said in His Good Shepherd Discourse, “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” (Jn 10:17-18). Christ doesn’t fear death like we do … because He has power over it.

So, Jesus approached the lifeless young man without any fear. He stretched out His almighty hand, and said “young man I say to you arise” and the young man was restored to life by Christ’s authoritative Word. Jesus confronted death head-on and brought an end to the mourners’ sadness and despair.

We have all experienced grief over the death of a loved one. So, know that Jesus has compassion on you like He had compassion on that widow. Jesus knew how much pain and suffering she had endured … the death of her husband … and now the death of her only son. Jesus not only knows our grief and suffering, but it also makes Him ache with compassion in His innermost parts as the Greek text conveys. That’s why He comforted the widow saying, “Do not weep.” And it wasn’t an idle attempt at comfort because Jesus – the incarnate Word of God – has authority over life and death.

Friends and family will often try to comfort us when we’ve experienced a significant loss or tragedy. And although they mean well, we know that their words don’t have any real power behind them to change things and put them right. But that’s not how Christ works. When Christ says, “do not weep” He actually gives you a reason not to weep.

When you’re confronted by the reality of your sin and the reality that death is the wages of sin, then know that Christ has already given you a reason not to weep. He has already conquered death for you by His own resurrection from the dead. Christ bore the cross for you and by His innocent and willing suffering and death He has redeemed you from all your sins – including those of doubt and anger – and reconciled you to the Father.

Jesus knows the pain and sorrow in your life – all of which is the result of sin – and He has compassion on you. By taking on our human flesh He experienced every pain and sorrow that we do in this broken world. And though Himself sinless, He bore the weight of your sin in His own body with each lash and each nail.

He went to the cross and paid the full redemption price for your sins by dying for them as the perfect sacrifice since, as Scripture says, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb 9:22).

Christ hit death head-on in order to conquer death for you: even descending into hell to proclaim His victory over sin death and the devil. And rising again to prove that His holy life and sacrificial death was a sufficient payment to God the Father for the sins of the world … for your sins.

And Christ is still with us, speaking His life into us by His divine Word as He spoke life into the young man of Nain.

In this historical account from St. Luke’s Gospel, the young man’s temporal life was restored. Because sin and death entered and remain a part of this world, though, he eventually died again. But the life that’s been created in you by the power of Christ’s Word is eternal. All those whose deaths we grieve but who died in the faith are not dead but are alive in the presence of Christ their Savior, as will you … by His grace and mercy.

St. Paul writes, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4). This newness of life is ours even now by baptism and faith. And it continues on for the faithful … even after our bodies of sin are long-since committed to the earth. In Christ you are a new creation and have the assurance that because Christ lives you also will live … eternally.

In baptism you died to sin and have risen from death to life with Christ. Jesus has performed a life-giving miracle in all of you who are baptized into His death and resurrection. Christ spoke His life-giving Word into you and your spiritually dead heart was awakened to a new life of faith. This washing of regeneration, as St. Titus calls baptism, has created and new heart in you and renewed a right Spirit within you.

And these Words of forgiveness and restoration to communion with God continue to come to you daily when you repent of your sins and receive His holy absolution. In Christ’s Word and Sacraments, He has given you the means to believe in Him … and the means to have your faith strengthened as you confront the reality of death.

We will all have to face death until Christ returns on the Last Day, but we need not fear it. In Christ your temporal death is but an entrance to eternal life. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (Jn 11:25–26).

Christ confronted death head-on and destroyed it for you. And when He comes again, He’ll speak His almighty Word and your already glorified soul will be reunited with your mortal body … so that you’ll become glorified in both body and soul. And until that time, I say to you along with St. Paul: “[God] grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Pr. Jon Holst

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

What great readings from the Word of God today. The widow of Zarephath was about to bake her last amount of flour so herself and her son could eat it and die. Imagine having no hope. That all was spent. No resources left no other place to turn that her only choice was to use what was left and then her and her son would perish. She has thrown in the towel. Then Elijah tells her to bring him something to drink and bake him some bread. What does the widow do? She tells Elijah everything and He tells her
“Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.'”

Then you hear what Jesus has to say in Matt. about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. The birds do not feed themselves, they do not store up food, nor do they plant it waiting for their harvest. The lilies do not toil or work to make their beauty, but it is given to them by God. What is Christ telling you? Do not be anxious. O you of little faith?
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
Do not be anxious about how much money you are bringing in, how many members you have, how long you will stay open. This is my last time with you for a while and it’s good that God gives you this gospel on this day. He tells you “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Do not misinterpret this as to wantonly spend your time and money on selfish things, because everything is futile. That is not at all what God is saying here. If the focus is on “Well I only live once so I better get mine as much as I can while I am here. Then you are serving mammon verses serving God because you cannot serve two masters. Nor does it mean that you can sit back and do nothing treating God as your butler to only serve you and your needs. This is definitely not what God is saying.

What do the birds and lilies do? What did the widow do? They trusted in God. The widow hopeless hears the Word of God through Elijah and does as commanded. She who thought she was about to die is given hope through God and what does she do takes what she has left and uses it for God. This faith this widow had is similar to that of Abraham. It is similar to the birds of the air. The birds have faith that they will be fed tomorrow and the next. This is why they do not store up. They have faith that their meal will come.

Good Shepherd Yucaipa. Do not worry about tomorrow. Focus on today. How can you serve your neighbor today? How can you show love to those around you today? How can you avoid sin and do His will today? Restore each other in gentleness, keep watch over yourself and bare each others burdens. Care for each other, forgive each other, love each other. Keep in the Spirit. Seek first the kingdom of God!

Focus on His Word today, focus on what Christ has done for you, focus on the sacrifice He made in your stead so that you can be free. Focus on your baptism, the washing you have received, the forgiveness you have been given, the grace and the love that has been poured out upon you. Focus on Christ. Just as the birds trust in their food today. Just as the lilies are dressed. Just as the widow trusted her remaining flour to Elijah. Trust in the Lord.

Why do you not need to worry about tomorrow? You don’t have to worry about tomorrow because God values you! He sent His only Son to this world so that the sin of the world would be placed on Him so that He could pay for it through His sacrifice of dying on the cross. His victory is in the resurrection solidifying the defeat over sin, death and the devil. This is why you do not need to worry about tomorrow because you have His grace today. You have it right now. Yes Good Shepherd you do have your worries about the future, but remember who has you and who’s you are. You are God’s people. You have been brought into His family by Him. He put His name upon you and you are His child.
What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Good Shepherd Yucaipa remember your name. He, Christ, is your Good Shepherd and you are His flock. He is the one that will lead you to lie down in green pastures and beside still waters. Even when you are in the valley of the shadow of death you do not have to fear evil because He is with you. He prepares a table before you here at the altar you get His very body and blood and this happens in the presence of your enemies this includes your fear your doubts, satan and this world; He anoints your head with oil you are pronounced holy and chosen because He has mad you His people; your cup overflows. Do you not have a super abundance of grace that comes from His nail pierced hands. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life because He is with you He has given you His Spirit to be your advocate, and you shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever because you have already died in your baptism and made a new creation in Christ.

You are not the birds of the air and you are not the lilies of the field. You are God’s children. Yes He gives you everything you have: your life, your health, your wealth, your home, your family, your clothing. This is important, but also know that He feeds you with His very body and blood. He gives you the bread of life. The food that takes away all hunger and thirst. He gives you His Word, the precious Gospel that gives you hope and peace. He clothes you. He robes you in His righteousness. He has cleansed you and purged you with hyssop so that you are whiter than snow. His blood has washed your sins away and His righteousness through His all availing sacrifice has put upon you and your raiment is more beautiful than any field of flowers. It is more lovelier than the rainbow because it pronounces you saved eternally.

Good Shepherd no matter what the future holds here on this side of heaven, here at this physical location. Do not be anxious! You are the sheep of the Good Shepherd, you are the children of God. He will never leave you nor forsake you. His Word is the promise that you can cling to today and hope in tomorrow because you know that you are His. He cares for you, He loves you. He died for you so that you can be with Him forever.
Just like the widow of Zarephath. The Word of God gave her hope where she had none. She had faith to do what needed to be done today because God would take care of her tomorrow, the next day, the day after that unto eternity. You too Good Shepherd have that same guarantee. You have the peace that surpasses all understanding. You have the hope that this world does not have. You have Christ, He is pronounced here in the Word and He comes to you in the Sacraments. He is with you today, tomorrow and forever. You are a blessed people. He has done this for you so that you can rejoice in Him today and look forward to tomorrow.

It truly has been a blessing to be here with you. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

SDG

Pr. Daniel Holm

Matt 6
24 No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

1 Kings 17
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.'” And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Galatians 5
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Ch. 6
1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.
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. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Have you ever stained your clothes? I have a notorious habit of spilling food on myself. It doesn’t matter how careful I am I somehow get something on my clothes. Usually it is food sometimes it is paint, sometimes oil from cooking, but it is all attracted to my clothes. Now if I don’t see that stain or choose to ignore it, the stain might come out a little bit or fade over time, but it never goes away. The only way to remove a stain is by bringing something to it that can remove it. Apparently, I am not the only one because there are advertisements for tide pens, spray and wash, and detergents that get out even the toughest stains.

Sin is mankind’s stain. You were born with it Psalm 51:5 and the longer you live the more you keep making it worse. The problem is that there is nothing you can do to remove it. There is no amount of washing, no amount of good deeds that will remove sin from you. You are unclean, you are stained, you are a sinner.

These 10 lepers in the gospel reading had the physical effects of sin showing for everyone to see. They were cast out away from the town not able to mix in with society because of their uncleanness. Those of us who show wrinkles, have graying hair, have scars, and have no hair also show the visible signs of sin. These are signs of death, that mankind is no longer immortal because of sin. Some of you may not have the outward signs of sin, but are just as much infected. You too are in the same boat as these lepers. In sin, you are outcast from the presence of God.

Then Jesus comes, the man who is born without sin, heading toward Jerusalem. What is the significance of going to Jerusalem? Is this just some regular trip? No, Jesus heads to Jerusalem for these very 10 lepers. He heads to Jerusalem for all mankind. He heads to Jerusalem to finally remove the stain of sin that has plagued mankind since Adam. This for you, the catechumen, the one who is receiving training in doctrine and discipline. It is for you to understand the miracle in light of Christ’s sacrifice.

In the Gospel, the 10 lepers shout “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” The unclean are asking for mercy. They see their plight and know that they cannot enter back into civilization or life without being clean. They call on Jesus to have mercy on their situation. Hopefully, this too reminds you of our liturgy. What is it that we ask for before we start the divine service? There is confession and absolution. Here you ask for mercy. You cry out to Christ just as these 10 lepers did. You confess your uncleanness to Him. These 10 lepers see Christ and see a way to be healed. They have hope, they have hope in Christ that He will be able to do something for them that they cannot do for themselves. You also as you came this week burdened down by your sin look to Christ because He is the one, the only one who can remove that burden from you.

Jesus sees the lepers. He sees them in their state. He sees them as the unclean outcasts, but He also sees them as they were meant to be. He too sees you with your sin. He sees you and has compassion on you. He sees you for what you are meant to be and wants to make it right. This is why Christ was going to Jerusalem, this was why Christ was going to the cross. He sees you and He knows you.

So what does Jesus do? Jesus responds to the lepers. He responds with a command. He tells them to go. He tells them to show themselves to the priests. This command accomplishes a couple of things. First, it shows that Christ is in complete agreement with the OT law. He, Christ fulfills it perfectly.
He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. So telling the lepers to go see the priests and offer a sacrifice was pointing to how you would be clean. That Christ as He heads to Jerusalem is going to be that sacrifice. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
Lastly, the lepers going to the priests is also to announce the One who does make the unclean clean is here. The Messiah has come. The Savior of the world is here.

A parallel for you is after you come to church to make your confessoin and receive absolution what do you start. The divine service. Before, confession and absolution was done before Sunday so that as you go to His divine service, you go clean, you go forgiven. Just as the lepers are told to go to the priests you go to His divine service. They went to hear God’s Word and to make the sacrifice for what Christ had done for them. Here you hear His Word and you are reminded of the sacrifice that Christ made for you so that you know you are clean.

Now in the Gospel reading this is very important. One of the lepers sees that they are clean, and instead of continuing on to see the priests he turns back praising God and fell at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. This man falling at Christ’s feet is a sign of worship. This now cleaned leper recognizes Who is there. He recognizes that Christ is Lord. For thanks was to be given to God, and this man recognized that God was no longer in the temple but here in the man Jesus Christ. He understands that Jesus Christ, God, Emmanuel, is with us. This is where true worship happens. Where do you run to when you are healed? Where do you run to when you are forgiven? The divine service! This is where Jesus is! Here He is in His flesh and blood in the Lord’s Supper. What do you do when He comes to you in His flesh and blood? You give thanks! The nunc dimittis! You give thanks because you know this is where Christ is and He has made you the unclean clean with His blood.

The Gospel is amazing because not only does one leper come back, but the man who comes back is a Samaritan. The significance of this man being a Samaritan and being made clean is very important. Remember where Christ is going? He is heading to Jerusalem. Is He heading their just for the jews? No, Christ is heading to Jerusalem for the Samaritan. He is heading there for the gentile and He is heading there for you. He goes to Jerusalem just like the Gospel shows to heal not just the Jews, but everyone. His healing is for the whole world. His sacrifice covers all people and all nations. Here letting the hearer know that the one who turns back is a Samaritan shows that the Gospel, the Good News is for all men. It is for those that think they are not good enough to receive grace. It is for those who think they can never be loved. Christ loves them, Christ died for them too. Christ is the only one who can make the unclean into the clean. He takes the foreigner, He takes the leper, He takes the sinner and through His death and resurrection makes them children of the Most High God.

The Gospel isn’t over because Christ after the man comes to give thanks to Christ asks the man three questions. “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except the foreigner?” These questions show what is to happen to the Jews. The chosen people reject Christ not seeing Him for who He is and it is the foreigners that benefit from it. It is you and me the Gentiles who now praise Him because His sacrifice was for all. Also, here in Christ’s questioning of the Samaritan He states that He is God. Jesus says “give praise to God” This is to show that Christ is the 2nd person of the Godhead. That He is declaring His divinity while taking on humanity.

Lastly, God tells the healed Samaritan leper “Rise and go your way, your faith has made you well.” Rise and go… you too after the Lord’s Supper pray that as you leave this place that you go with faith in Him and fervent love toward one another. You can leave here in hope and peace. You can continue on your trek through the wilderness knowing that God is with you, that God abides with you. You can go in faith that God has made you clean and in turn can share that with your neighbor knowing with full confidence that He is with you and He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Christ also says “Your faith has made you well.” The Samaritan’s faith was in Christ, the God/man, that He the Messiah, the Savior is here. His faith was in the fact that he could not save Himself, but only Christ was the one who could do it. This is what you have faith in. This is why you are here today because you know that is He and He alone that can take your burden, that can take your sin and separate it from you as far as the east is from the west. He alone is the Way in which you can be cleaned. He alone is the how you can receive new life. He alone is the truth that by His sacrifice you have been healed. Your faith is in Christ, He alone is what your faith is built upon and it cannot be shaken.

SDG

Pr. Daniel Holm

Luke 17
11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Prov 4
10 Hear, my son, and accept my words,
that the years of your life may be many.
I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble.
Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
guard her, for she is your life.
Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of the evil.
Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know over what they stumble.

My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.
Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.

Gal 5
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Gospel for this 13th Sunday after Trinity begins with Jesus’ statement about how everything the disciples had seen was what the prophets and kings of old wanted to see, but didn’t get to – that is, they didn’t get to see the ultimate fulfillment of God’s saving work for fallen humanity. Then comes Christ’s account of a lawyer – a teacher of God’s Law – who was trying to catch Jesus in a theological error: putting Him “to the test”. The lawyer realized that he’d just walked into his own trap and tried to free himself by asking Jesus to tell him just who his neighbor is, and Christ’s response was the parable of the Good Samaritan.

One aspect of this conversation is that of our responsibility. All of us are responsible before God. Jesus sums up the entirety of God’s Law for us in two simple commands – “Love God” and “Love your neighbor.”

Jesus then goes on to give us a crystal-clear definition of who our neighbor is and what it means to be a neighbor, so that none of us have any excuse or means of hiding from our responsibility under God’s Law.

We can’t escape God’s Law. It’s true for eternity, and it’s the duty of all people: even us Christians. The Law is God’s will and it’s His will that we should live according to it. And the Law demands love: love for God from the depths of our inmost being, and love for our neighbors that equals our love for ourselves. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind” (Lk 10:27).

It’s God’s will that we love Him. We should love God with our emotions: regulating our feelings in accord with a sincere love for Him. We should love God with our wills: regulating all our desires in accord with our love for Him. We should love God with all our strength, that is, our actions and deeds: doing the things that God calls us to do, and not doing anything that is contrary to God’s will. And we should love God with our minds, that is to say, we are to use our reason and intellect to grow in the knowledge and wisdom of God and to turn from all that is evil: regulating the use of our minds toward loving God in thought, word, and deed more and more throughout our earthly days.

But all that we should do, we repeatedly fail to do. The specifics of that are unique for each of us, but it’s true for us all that unholy thoughts enter our minds, unholy words come from our mouths, and unholy actions are done with our bodies. We are sinful and naturally love our selves, our comforts, our desires, and our personal feelings much more than we love God and our neighbors. This is the hard truth of who we are. And it should cause each and every one of us to reflect on how we have not loved God and our neighbor – and to repent: acknowledging our wrongdoings and laying our sins at the foot of the cross where Christ’s blood was shed to atone for them all.

Jesus spoke clearly about loving God and loving one’s neighbor to the lawyer and the lawyer knew his sin – he knew his failings – just as each of us does. Yet he still tried a last ditch effort to justify himself by some crafty word-play, asking “who is my neighbor?”

It’s to this question that Christ teaches the lawyer and us with the parable of the Good Samaritan.
A priest and a Levite – brothers in the faith and in the household of Israel with the wounded man – leave that wounded man to die. These are good, religious men, but they take care of themselves and avoid their brother-in-need on the side of the road.

The only one who is decent to the man is a Samaritan. Now, the Samaritan’s were non-Jews, living in Jewish lands and worshiping God, but not in the temple in Jerusalem and not according to the ceremonial laws of Judah. So, the Samaritans were hated by the Jews for who they were and where they lived.

So, it’s a striking feature of Christ’s parable that one of these hated Samaritans stopped to help a Jew, when none of the good, religious Jews would. And not only did he help, but he went out of his way and spent his own hard-earned money on the man. The Samaritan showed the kind of decency that we’d hope to find in someone if we were in such a desperate situation.

Then Jesus asked, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” (Lk 10:36). When the Lawyer was forced to admit that this Samaritan was the sort of fellow that we should all be, Jesus told him to “go and do likewise.” In saying that, Jesus gave us a comprehensive definition to the word ‘neighbor’ and what it means in God’s eyes to be a neighbor to someone.

There is no getting out of it. We’re commanded to love God to such a degree and in such ways as are beyond our ability as selfish, sinful people. And then we’re told to love our neighbor, that is, anyone who has need of us or whom God gives us the opportunity to serve.

How can we bear all of that with what we know about ourselves … about how selfish and unloving we really are?
The answer is this: we, like the disciples, have seen things no one else has seen and we have heard things that no one else has heard, namely, we have heard the fullness of the Gospel. The saving truth that God loves us to such a degree that He’s given us His Son. Christ died for us, precisely because we cannot love God the way that we should … because we are selfish to the core and don’t love our neighbors nearly as well as we should. But Christ does love God and neighbor perfectly, and because He died to pay the penalty for our sins, we are forgiven in Him.

Of course, the Law of God still applies to us. God’s ‘yes’ is still God’s ‘yes’ and God’s ‘no’ is still God’s ‘no’. Right is still right and wrong is still wrong, and as the people of God – who’ve been given the gift of the Holy Spirit by baptism and faith – we now want to do what is right and good and holy. You are baptized into Christ, you’re the adopted children of God. When sin beats you down and causes you to stumble, Christ – the Good Samaritan – is there to bind our wounds, forgive our sins, and strengthen us with His means of grace in the inn of His Holy Church. Our salvation and our love for God and neighbor depends entirely on Christ, and what He has done: His holiness – for us. Healed and strengthened by His saving gifts we are freed to pursue loving God as He ought to be loved, and loving our neighbors the way they ought to be loved.
And pursue these we must. There is no doing away with the command and will of God. But there’s also no doing away with the love of God which is ours in Christ.

Are we always the sort of people that God want’s us to be? Not even close. Is that a good excuse? Should that prevent us from striving for godly lives – with the help of the Holy Spirit – in order to be more of what we should be? St. Paul says something about this in our Epistle Reading: “Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law” (Gal 3:21).

So the Law – those 10 Commandments we all learned – is God’s will, it’s just that we cannot make ourselves righteous before God by keeping them. We’re not justified by works of the Law.

But there’s more to God’s will – the Gospel (what St. Paul calls God’s promise) – for God also wills to forgive us and save us from our repeated breaking of His commands. We, who fall so far short of loving God and neighbor as we should, are rescued, saved, forgiven, and welcomed into the very household of God, on account of Christ and His innocent suffering and death: the fulfillment and perfection of all of God’s saving work that the Old Testament promised and pointed forward to as St. Paul says: “But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (Gal 3:22): a promise that is given to you, even now, as Christ the Good Samaritan restores you and gives you new life – eternal life – by the saving medicine of His Word and Sacraments.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Pr. Jon Holst