Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity: July 4, 2021 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

I wonder if there will be a cross in heaven. Now, before you quickly say yes or no to that possibility, think a little more about what the cross is. The question by itself doesn’t mean all that much since the Bible doesn’t definitively say anything about this specific fact, whether or not there will be a cross in heaven. But perhaps asking such a question, even if you don’t find the exact answer now, it still could help you grasp and understand and believe what Holy Scripture does say about this well-known standard of Christianity. For you know as the hymn proclaims, the cross of Jesus Christ is a glorious tree and a triumphant sign. You would suppose that anything that could be called glorious and triumphant now, here in this world, would be something that you’d be sure to see around God’s magnificent, heavenly throne.

Now, perhaps the cross is only the treasured symbol of the Church Militant. That is, if you are still on this earth, fighting against the devil’s attacks, fighting your own sinful desires, and fighting the false gods of this world, then the cross is your comfort, for it promises you that Jesus has fought all your battles and He has won the war. And then someday, when you have arrived in the joyful presence of your Heavenly Father, you will exchange that old rugged cross for a crown, and you will celebrate forever the glory and triumph that the cross brought to you in this life.

Most often though, the cross and suffering do not bring glory and triumph to mind. Rather, these are better recognized to most in this world as signs of defeat. Many people think that bad events in someone’s life, even tragedies as bad as the terrorist attacks of nearly twenty years ago, or just recently the high rise collapse in Miami, that such things come as punishments. On the other side of it, if you are a good person, and you have truly committed your life to the Lord, then it’s often held that you’ll avoid those terrible things and get some fringe benefits, too: like a happier life, you’ll build a more loving family free of conflict, and your temptations to sin will flee away. When seemingly indiscriminate pain and tragedy blow away this kind of thinking, there’s no further foundation on which to stand. And yet, human nature keeps chasing after the dream that what you do and how good you live your life is going to be rewarded. And because of that, the cross will never escape the label of “foolishness” that St. Paul describes in First Corinthians.

For he knew of two groups of people who right off the bat would treat the cross of Christ with scorn and derision. Those were Jews and Greeks. The Jews (of course, the Jews who didn’t believe in Jesus) they didn’t like the cross because many of them were convinced that the Messiah would be a glorious earthly king. They read the prophecies concerning the Christ’s reign as if life was suddenly going to be perfect. Everyone will have plenty to eat. The land would belong to them forever without any more war or foreign rulership. The whole system of doing good things to earn the favor of God would still be in place. But when Jesus was crucified, all those fantasy dreams were shattered. God’s own people could not bring themselves to believe that their Lord would save them by dying. The Jewish religion became one of rejection of their own Messiah, and they and their children after them threw away the salvation that their ancestors had so fervently desired and hoped for.

When you have expected earthly blessings to come your way because of your faith, then that is the moment that you have stumbled at the cross just like those Jews did. You in the same way have hoped that everything was going to be perfect for you. The most important thing God does, at least in your mind, is to take care of your needs and give you a few of your wants, too. Because God is a loving God (and it seems everyone at least knows that) He would want you to be happy and get a raise every year, that everyone close to you would live to a long, ripe old age, or that you’d have not a single care in the world. And you cannot shake the thought that if you’ve been nice enough to others and got involved in your church, then God would have no choice but to reward you. But the shame and humiliation of the cross, the challenges that seem to be too much for you to handle, all shatter that fantasy so that you end up despising God for doing this to you.

Why, then, did the Greeks see the cross as a foolish thing? It wasn’t because they didn’t tolerate different points of view. In fact, when Paul visited a gathering of these philosophical people, he couldn’t help but notice that they were extremely devoted to learning and even intent on finding out spiritual truths. They thought, Man was the measure of all things, and the Greeks looked to cultivate and preserve all the best that man could be. Take the Olympics, for an example. Not only were they thoroughly ritualistic and considered worship of various gods, which the 2004 Athens Olympics ceremonies did so well to depict, and I’m sure we’ll see something similar this year broadcast from Tokyo, but also the games themselves displayed the all-around virtue and strength of the human being.

When, however, the message of Jesus dying on the cross comes in the hearing of the Greeks, not only is there shock at the statement that man is sinful and corrupt, but also the whole claim that the only true God is a man, a criminal, who exposed Himself to the shame of being crucified in order to save man from destruction. It seems that Jesus could not successfully provide for Himself the rescue that He promised to give to others. Anyone who was not clever enough to escape such a fate is too foolish to be worth listening to. Another problem the Greeks had was that the Christian confession of faith did not allow for other religions to exist side-by-side with it. Later on, the Romans persecuted the Christians, not really because they worshiped Jesus, but rather because they wouldn’t also worship the Roman gods along with Him. Such a religious teaching that was so exclusive and incompatible with other beliefs was simply foolish to those who were perishing.

You would share the same offense at the cross along with the Greeks if you were to follow the world’s illusion that people are basically good and hold that there is more than one way to worship God. For as long as you see your life as a Christian in terms of what you are doing, then the cross and the gospel of what God has done for you will continually get in your way. You get caught in the temptation to measure all things compared to yourself, especially when it comes to your feelings and emotions. Your human nature gets easily offended when the law condemns you. You resist accepting forgiveness because it’s just too good. You don’t want it to be a “cheap grace” that doesn’t require a life-commitment on your part, or spur you on towards living a victorious Christian life. And then the suffering of the cross becomes something you do rather than God’s blessing placed upon you.

The cross still means death. First of all, it was the death of your Savior and His blood that was shed so many centuries ago that destroys your sin. No matter what you have done, even if you had questioned the very truth of Christianity itself, you can be certain that Christ took your sin with Him and He allowed Himself to suffer and die the punishment that was intended for you. The cross not only means Jesus’ death, but it also means death on a daily basis for you. It means that you must constantly deny yourself, and receive whatever happens to you in this life as God’s precious gift, even when life brings hurt and grief. In order to be forgiven and renewed, you as a sinner must die; you must be killed on the cross that was laid upon you when you were baptized.

So if the cross means death, why should you even think that there might be a cross in heaven? Wouldn’t that be like bringing a Good Friday mood into an Easter celebration? In the Father’s house where you and I have our permanent residence being prepared, there is only life. And yet, there are also the signs of how that eternal life was achieved for you. Jesus rose from the dead with a perfect body full of the Glory of God, and yet the wounds of His crucifixion remained. When Moses and Elijah appeared straight out of heaven in order to speak with Christ during the Transfiguration, the Evangelist Luke wrote that they talked about Jesus dying on the cross. The book of Revelation describes Christ over and over again in His state of exaltation as the “Lamb who was slain.” And you may have heard that without Good Friday, Easter would be just as exciting and joyful as a motel “Vacancy” sign. He’s not here, folks! No, He rose specifically from the tomb of death. So while the cross does still mean death, it is still death that is your means to obtaining eternal life. You are still drowned in baptismal water when you confess your sins. At this altar you still have the Body and Blood of Christ brought to you straight from the Holy Cross of Calvary. The cross is a symbol of victory and triumph not because of the suffering it has brought to you, but rather because of what your Lord accomplished for you when He was nailed to it.

It is impossible to say for sure that you will or will not see a cross when you get to heaven. But if you happen to see one, don’t be surprised, because it is truly a symbol of joy for you, the redeemed Christian. Feel free to make the sign of the cross over you when you pray, in order to teach you to fix your confidence not on yourself but on the Cross of Christ. Thank God that He has gathered you into a congregation that proclaims nothing more and nothing less than the “foolish” word of the cross. And because the body of your Lord paid for your sins there, it truly is for all believers a Holy Cross. May that Cross of Christ that we proclaim here be your one and only source of your hope for eternal life until the time comes when you will experience that blessing first-hand.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
  1 Kings 19:11–21 and after the fire a still small voice
  Psalm 16 At your right hand are pleasures evermore
  1 Cor. 1:18–25 the foolishness of God is wiser than men
    or 1 Peter 3:8–15 always be ready to give a defense
  Luke 5:1–11 Launch out into the deep and let down your nets

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity: June 27, 2021 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Jesus teaches, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” What is mercy? Mercy is not giving someone what they deserve. Mercy means that you know exactly what someone else has said and done. If things are right and fair, mercy would not be the expected outcome. Revenge is the expected outcome. Mercy is instead, when you know what someone deserves rightly and fairly, yet you choose to abandon the revenge. You forgive them instead. You don’t give them what they deserve. You showed mercy.

So when Jesus teaches, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful,” He is in fact teaching us the Law. Do this. Be merciful because that is pleasing to God. It’s His will. But, He knows perfectly well that we are not merciful. On the contrary we are full of revenge, judgment, anger toward our fellow human creatures. Have there been times when we have sat in church, listening to God’s Word of grace and mercy, while at the same time our hearts have been full of anger, hatred, judgment of someone, maybe one sitting in church with us!

Jesus teaches, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful,” and He helps us understand mercy through the 8th Commandment, in our Catechism: You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. Recall what this means: We should fear and love God that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.

Sounds easy, right? Just like “Be merciful,” sounds easy. But you know it’s terribly hard to put that into practice. Be merciful. Don’t give in to your evil desire! Don’t sit in judgment over others. Many people actually believe that they are not really that bad of sinners. They haven’t really seriously hurt anyone, so what harm can a little secret hatred do? But we hear Jesus’ words “Be merciful” and reflect on the Commandment, and we can’t deny the times we have been unkind, even cruel toward others in our own family, toward those we love, or should love. How often have you opted for revenge instead of mercy?

Joseph’s older brothers were by the time of Genesis 50 well into their grandparent years, but they could not put out of their minds what they did to Joseph at least 35 years before, out of their hatred. The decades-old guilt could not be quenched. They had sold him into slavery and he was taken down into Egypt. Joseph was ripped away from his loving father Jacob at the age of 17. He was later thrown into prison for a crime that was fabricated by his master’s wife.

Now look at Joseph! He’s the one in charge of the whole Egyptian kingdom. All the riches and fame that Joseph had now as the most powerful man in the land, second only to Pharaoh, still couldn’t reverse what his brothers had done to him (so they reasoned). They, too were by this time also living well in Egypt. Joseph was providing for his brothers and their families, and that despite the widespread famine. Joseph had forgiven them, but the brothers were still leery. They assumed that Joseph harbored the same hatred that they once had against him, even after all those years. Now that their father Jacob died, they feared that Joseph would seize the opportunity to take revenge.

Even though they lived so long ago, they knew well the language of our sinful flesh that is still with us today, the way of the world, as it were, that does not allow for love and forgiveness. It just doesn’t make sense, nor is it right or fair. The guilt these brothers had inside made them afraid of Governor Joseph. They thought they were protected by the life of their father, and now that shield was gone. What they had done against their little brother was quite an injustice, and they knew that he had every right to pay them back—that was what they feared.

Yet Joseph showed not revenge but mercy. He said, Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. You almost assume that the answer is, No, I am not in the place of God! I have no right to judge or condemn. Jesus echoes this when He teaches further, “Judge not, and you will not be judged.” What He is saying is that none of us stands in the place of God when it comes to passing judgment on others. It is not my job to stand as judge, jury, and executioner over my fellow Christians, or anyone. That is God’s place. My job, if you will, is what I read in the Catechism, my job is to defend my neighbor, speak well of him, and to explain everything about him in the kindest possible way. My place as a Christian is to remember, not that I was offended and hurt, but rather to remember that we all are poor, miserable sinners, with no room to say we’re better than anyone else.

This is a blest teaching: Judge not, and you will not be judged. Yet it can be often misunderstood. Many might take this to mean that Christians may never condemn sin or make a distinction between right and wrong. Some say that parents should never be allowed to discipline their children. Others think that pastors should never point out and condemn false teaching, or speak out against open, offensive sins that the world likes to praise with rainbow-colored pride. It’s clearly now rude and unloving in our culture, especially in the month of June, to point out that gay, lesbian, or transgender lifestyles are against God’s Word. They try to turn Jesus’ own teaching against Christians: Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?… You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. He’s really condemning a hypocritical double standard. He’s saying that you don’t hold others to a higher standard than you hold yourself. So what is the standard by which we are all to be judged? The standard is God’s holy Law, not our own petty rules. We all, talking about the big sinners of our crazy world today, and little old us as well, we all stand condemned before God’s Law, which we all break every day.

So we come back to Jesus’ first teaching, Be merciful, as your Father is merciful. What sort of mercy does our Father in heaven have toward us? We tend to judge others based on very little evidence, I look and see a little of what I don’t like in someone else, and I condemn him or her based just on that. By contrast, the Father sees all and knows all. There is nothing hidden from His sight. He knows all your faults and shortcomings, as He knows all of mine, down to the very end. Sin must be avenged. Its guilt must be quenched. It cannot be set aside and forgotten. As Joseph’s brothers could tell you, this kind of guilt is persistent. Your conscience may remind you about something you did, even if that sin was already forgiven. To erase that revenge we deserve, takes nothing less than an act of His marvelous grace.

And that is exactly what He has done! Our Father is merciful! Jesus demonstrates the Father’s mercy perfectly in His salvation mission: He took care of our sin once and for all by shedding His blood to death on the cross. His resurrection proved to all creation that the revenge due on our heads was paid fully by our merciful King of Kings. God did something very surprising. He did not take revenge on us, like we deserved, but He punished Jesus instead, in order to show mercy to you. It wasn’t fair to our Lord at all, He didn’t deserve revenge at all, but out of that gross injustice came the saving of many lives.

It’s very similar to what Joseph said to his brothers: What was intended for evil, God intended for good, for the saving of many, many lives- your life and mine included this time! Our loving Father has this way of turning evil on its head, of reversing the grim reality of death we have to face, and instead bringing forth life through the Gospel—life that is offered to you today. As Jesus breathed His last on the cross, He pronounced total victory over sin and death. You, as one crucified and buried together with Christ, also died to sin, and you are raised each day with Him, through your baptism, to new life.

Because Jesus died for you and was raised from the dead, God now speaks words of mercy and forgiveness to Your hearts. You don’t get what you deserve! Rejoice in the new life you now share with Me because I have won the victory over sin and death permanently. This is mercy of God for you now and forever. Judgment is no more, because true judgment has been fully rendered and satisfied. Anyone crying out for justice and equity in the affairs of this world will be utterly disappointed. It’s not going to happen. The appetite for revenge is just too great. There will always be another enemy in this sinful world who is taking away justice and fairness. But not in God’s kingdom! In God’s kingdom, you have assurance of your heavenly Father’s mercy.

You can tell the brothers completely lost hope when they finally reached Joseph’s presence. There they were in his courtyard, with nothing between them but the unresolved guilt. No longer did they sense having the upper hand to work out a deal for their forgiveness. They were ready to give up and become Joseph’s slaves, because they were so crushed with guilt. Quite a different attitude from the time when they sent the message, isn’t it?

Joseph forgave them. He told them repeatedly: Do not be afraid. He wasn’t going to take revenge; he wasn’t even going to take them up on their offer to make them his slaves. He assured them by saying God turned this evil that they had done into something good. He didn’t say it as though they were right to sell him into slavery 35 years before. He did say that God is in control, as He always is. He spoke tenderly to their hearts; what was broken has now been made right. God speaks to your heart today, and to your brothers and sisters in Christ. He is here today forgiving you, feeding you with His Body and Blood, that you may have full assurance despite any doubts that might return to you later. You don’t even have to come up with your own apology—He gives you the perfect words to say! Meditate on the words from Psalm 51 that are in the liturgy: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free spirit.

You acknowledge the forgiveness that comes from Christ and what He did for you. It’s not that you repeat certain words like a magic formula, but rather you’re trusting the promise that backs these words up. Believe that God is actually saying to you: I forgive you all your sins, and you will be confident in Him.

As you are confident that your heavenly Father will not take revenge against you, now you are free to abandon revenge against those closest to you who have done you wrong. Instead you may say: “Do not be afraid. What you did hurt me, yes, and I forgive you. God can now make something good come out of the situation.” That’s where, ironic though it feels, you are in the place of God, because God shows mercy. In God’s mercy there is great healing and a great future for our church today- it all starts with forgiveness.

Do not be afraid; confess your sin to God and to each other. Trust in Jesus and He will provide for you and your family, even making good come sometimes out of bad. Do not be afraid. Trust in mercy.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Gen. 50:15–21 you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good
Psalm 138 The LORD will perfect that which concerns me
Rom. 12:14–21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
or Rom. 8:18–23 eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
Luke 6:36–42 why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye

Sermon for the Third Sunday after Trinity, Father’s Day: June 20, 2021 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, that is, who is constantly repenting throughout one’s life, turning back from the sin that constantly is attacking. Congratulations! Jesus is here talking about you personally.

You see, Jesus likes to use common, everyday Words when He speaks to us. Jesus likes common Words because He wants us to understand His thoughts clearly and know His ways fully. Luke chapter 15 is a good example of our Lord’s simple speech. We may not have met too many shepherds in our everyday experience, but every preschooler can tell you what a sheep is. So, too, with the coin: who among us has not felt that surge of urgency that starts in the pit of your stomach once we realized we lost something valuable? What father would not take time to look for that lost toy that was his child’s entire world? Jesus uses coins and sheep and other common images because He wants us to understand an important spiritual truth, and avoid all the complex mental categories altogether. Eternal life may be greater than anything we can think of, but you can, in fact, think of it in terms of everyday experiences.

Yet even when Jesus speaks with such simplicity as you just heard today, always be ready for something you did not expect. He will use words that are easy to understand, but what He says will seem to be the total opposite of the way we naturally think. We will hear His Word, clear as a bell, and wonder, why would Jesus say that? Why, for instance, would He make Himself like a shepherd who chases down one, single, stray sheep—and leaves the 99 others all alone! That’s totally insane!

Then, He says that there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. More insanity! I thought God was pleased with righteousness in His people. Didn’t His Ten Commandments require us to be righteous persons? But what would be the use of working so hard to be a righteous person, when that would cause no celebration among the angels, after all?

Part of the misunderstanding is this. When you and I think and speak of “righteous people,” we usually mean those people who go to church every Sunday to receive God’s gift of righteousness from Jesus, who is here today to hand it out. To be sure, there are many places in God’s Bible that speak of righteousness in that manner (for example, Psalm 118:20, Matthew 25:46, and Hebrews 11:4). But that is not how Jesus uses the phrase “righteous persons” in today’s Gospel! Jesus actually turns things upside down in Luke 15. Surprisingly, Jesus says “righteous persons” today actually to speak about unbelievers, impenitent people, those who have no desire to hear God’s Word. How do I know this? Earlier in St. Luke’s book, Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). See? If you’re “righteous” according to this other definition, Jesus says, No need to bother.

What is a “righteous person,” in this surprising and unusual way that Jesus uses? A so-called “righteous person” is one who has no interest in Jesus; a person who sees in themselves no sins that need repentance; actually, this is a “self-righteous” person who does not feel lost and in need of being found. According to the surprising and unusual way Jesus uses the phrase, a “righteous person” is that person who refuses God’s Word and rejects His gift of faith. You are not that guy, are you? Jesus puts you in another category.

It is also a surprising and unusual manner when He describes you and me as lost sheep and lost coins. Generally, you and I think of “the lost” as those people who are still outside the church, those who have not yet been gathered into Christ’s salvation. We generally think of “the lost” only as those unbelievers whom we need to evangelize and get them to come to church. But Jesus has turned things upside down. In an unusual, even surprising manner, Jesus here defines the lost as all those who need Jesus, including those who have gathered in the presence of the Lord; even those who want to hear Jesus’ Words are “the lost.” After all, what prompted Jesus to tell the two parables we have here? Luke started by saying: Now the tax collectors and sinners were all DRAWING NEAR TO HEAR JESUS.

Knowing the surprising way Jesus speaks of things for you in today’s Gospel, listen again to what Jesus says for your comfort and joy:

Witness the diligence and faithfulness of your Lord! By turning things upside down—by calling you and all His Christians “lost sheep” and “lost coins”—Jesus is NOT condemning you and He is NOT calling you unbelievers. By turning things upside down—by calling you and all His Christians “lost sheep” and “lost coins”—Jesus is helping you better see in clear, understandable words what He continually does for you through His grace and by His mercy. According to the two parables you heard today, Jesus is your Good Shepherd who rejoices to carry you upon His shoulders and who feels great delight that He has now found you and gathered you safely into His holy Church. Jesus then commands His angels, “Rejoice with Me, for I have found My sheep that was lost.”

Jesus then compares Himself to a careful and painstaking woman who happily finds you laying helplessly in the dust, who sweeps through sand in a mud-hut in His sincere earnestness to have you, and who attaches great value to you. “Rejoice with Me,” says the Lord to His heavenly host, “for I have found the coin that I had lost.” And all you had to say was, Lord, have mercy on me, a poor miserable sinner. I need help, and you are the only one who can help me. I thank You, dear Savior, for sweeping through Your dusty world just to find me.

Take comfort in these Words, Christians! Return frequently to the Gospel! Each day as you rise and go your way, thank your Father in heaven that you ride through your daily life like a found lamb upon the strong and broad shoulders of Christ, your Good Shepherd. As you heard Jesus explain in today’s Gospel, “When He has found His Sheep, He lays it on His shoulders.” Each night as you lay down to rest, know that you sleep securely in the coin-purse of your Lord, who has diligently sought and found you through the light of His Word. Thus says the Lord, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners—that is, lost sheep and lost coins—to repentance” (Luke 5:32). Be glad, therefore, that you are a sinner in need of repentance. The sinfulness that you feel in yourself is good and faithful proof that Jesus came especially for you!

What is that repentance into which He has called you? Remember, it’s ongoing action, a constant turning away from the sin that is always trying to get back into your life, a struggle that you need to endure in this life, or else you will end up being one of those so-called “righteous persons” who end up convincing themselves that they don’t need a constant hard look at their lives in light of God’s Word and the Ten Commandments. You need to realize that forgiveness is not a one-time thing in your life, but a constant life-breath necessity.

That’s another surprise that came from Jesus that you weren’t expecting—you shall never escape your sinfulness, so long as your life on earth endures, and your Savior says, that’s a beautiful thing for you. He engaged in His insane, totally illogical mission to rescue you and bring you home to Him forever. That’s something to make you rejoice. Don’t stop being a sinner! Because at the very moment you and I stop being sinners, that’s when we stop needing Jesus. Stated another way, It is a good and blessed thing to be that “one sinner who is continually repenting” because hell is full of those so-called “righteous persons who need no repentance.”

Rejoice in your sinfulness, dear children of your heavenly Father, because all is forgiven in Christ! Gladly take your place among “the tax collectors and sinners who were all drawing near to hear Jesus.” There is no better place to be! Jesus says today about you, now that He has found you and gathered you in:
There will be more joy in heaven before the angels of God over one sinner who is continually repenting than over ninety-nine so-called righteous persons who claim to have no need for repentance.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Micah 7:18–20 You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea
Psalm 103:1–13 merciful and gracious, slow to anger
1 Tim. 1:12–17 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners
or 1 Peter 5:6–11 casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you.
Luke 15:1–10 What man of you, having a hundred sheep
or Luke 15:11–32 your brother was dead and is alive again

Proverbs 9:1-10; Ephesians 2:13-22; Luke 14:15-24 (ESV)
2nd Sunday after Trinity A.D. 2021. Pr. Neal Blanke

In Jesus’ name.

Our Gospel Reading, the Parable of the Great Banquet, is in the middle of the 14th chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Luke. The beginning of chapter 14 gives us the context for this parable of Jesus. Jesus is at the end of His earthly ministry. He is traveling south to Jerusalem for the last time to suffer and to die, for our sins and for the sins of all the world. On the cross and on this journey Jesus addresses our sinfulness. On this journey to Jerusalem, on a Saturday, Jesus has been invited to dinner. Luke, chapter 14, beginning at verse 1,

Dropsy is the old-fashioned word for edema, that is, “swelling that is caused by fluid trapped in your body’s tissues. Edema happens most often in the feet, ankles, and legs…” and is caused by a variety of diseases, “such as congestive heart failure and lung, liver, kidney, and thyroid diseases.” (clevelandclinic.org) Edema or dropsy can be very painful. Jesus, surrounded by the scribes and Pharisees and presented with a man who had dropsy, on the Sabbath, seized the moment to teach this dinner party about their own sinfulness and the true meaning of the 3rd Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8a NIV) What does it mean to “remember the Sabbath Day.” What does it mean to keep Sabbath? What work is allowed to be done on the Sabbath day? Jesus responded to the Jewish leaders’ legalism and their misunderstanding of the Sabbath. Luke, chapter 14, beginning with verse 3:

Thus Jesus taught that works of rescue and healing are appropriate on a Sabbath, but now that He has their attention, Jesus continues to teach this dinner party. Jesus’s 2nd lesson is a lesson on dining etiquette, a lesson which also points out the selfishness of the Jewish leaders. Verse 7:

This is a good lesson in table manners, but it is also a wonderful insight into how humility should dominate the entire Christian life. Also it is a parable which teaches us about our own selfishness and about how humility will be rewarded on Last Day.
Having given a lesson in table manners to all the guests, Jesus now turns to His host, the Pharisee, with a 2nd lesson about dining etiquette and selfishness. Verse 12:

In teaching table manners Jesus has certainly taken the focus off of temporal rewards and refocused our attention on eternal rewards. One of the men, who was dining with Jesus understood what Jesus said, and responded. His response is the beginning of our Gospel Reading. Verse 15,

Jesus’s response was the Parable of the Great Banquet. Verse 16:

In the parable, the man who gave the great banquet is God. Those, who originally heard Jesus speak this parable, the scribes and Pharisees, were well read in the Hebrew Scriptures. They would probably have remembered that God, through the prophet Isaiah, had foretold His banquet of salvation, which would, quote, “swallow up death forever.” Isaiah, chapter 25, beginning at verse 6, “On this mountain,” that is Mount Moriah on which Jerusalem was built:

Through the prophet Isaiah, God had foretold the banquet of salvation, which would come in Jesus Christ, and this banquet cost God dearly! Our Old Testament Reading reminds us of the expense of preparing for a banquet. In Proverbs, chapter 9, wisdom is personified as a woman who has prepared a banquet. Beginning with verse 1,

To prepare the banquet of our salvation, God the Father gave up His only begotten Son to suffer the torments of hell and to die in our place for our sins. The banquet of our salvation cost God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit dearly! It was our selfishness which required the infinite torments of hell. Christ went to the cross to endure that torment of hell fire for us. God loves us dearly and has sacrificed everything for us. In the Sacrament of the Altar God feeds us with the banquet of salvation, His own Body and Blood in our mouth, for the forgiveness of our sins.

Whom did God invite to His banquet of salvation? He invited every believer. He invited the entire Jewish nation, all the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Through His servants, the prophets, God has been inviting His people, ever since the Garden of Eden, to have their sins forgiven by the Seed of the Woman, but when the Messiah actually arrived, what was the response of the Jews? Jesus said in Luke 14, verse 18:

4000 years after the promise to Adam and Eve that the Seed of the Woman would crush the Serpent’s head, after the prophets repeatedly foretold of the coming Messiah, when the Messiah finally shows up, what was the response of the Jews?
They are too entangled in the affairs of this life to make time for God’s greatest gift,
and therein is the warning for us. We are to be good stewards of God’s earthly gifts, but woe to us, if ever make our work, our business or our family more important than God!

What was the response of the Master of the house to those who rejected His invitation? Verse 21:

God was angry with the Jewish rejection and disregard of Jesus, and so He promised that those, who rejected the Christ, would never taste His banquet. God turned and offered His salvation to the Gentiles. That is what our Epistle Reading explains, how God could offer to the Gentiles, those outside of the covenant, His salvation. Saint Paul wrote to the Gentiles at Ephesus. Verse 13, “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing…” Actually that is too strong of a word. Instead of abolishing, read neutralizing, for Christ did not destroy the Law, but by fulfilling the Law, He has relieved us of its requirements. I restart at Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 14:

In Christ Jesus, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 (NKJV) In His Body on the cross, Jesus has paid for your sins and the sins for all the world. Your sins are forgiven! Your selfishness is forgiven, and Jew and Gentile are united into one people of God, the holy Christian Church, which is God’s temple on earth. Meditate on your forgiveness and the great love of God for you, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Sermon for the First Sunday after Trinity: June 6, 2021 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Do you have a need for greed? Over the years there’ve been a number of game shows that used greed as a motivation. Whether it’s “So You Want To Be A Millionaire” or “Deal or No Deal,” even “Jeopardy!” and “The Price is Right,” the winner is the one who successfully executes the right strategy to take the most money home. In a sense these shows are pretty close to real life, because what happens there happens every day to you and me. In our day greed is no longer considered a vice. Instead, greed is now seen as a virtue worthy of praise. Why else would you throw good money after bad in pursuit of those things you think you have to have? Though we may try to curb the urge, the truth of the matter is that we often find it almost impossible to live without the newest toys and gadgets that catch our eye.

Behind this need for greed, dear Christian, is a lack of respect for God’s gifts. Although God has blessed each of us with all we need to sustain this body and life – not always by giving us what we want, but what we need – there are still times when we find themselves in the predicament of having “too much month at the end of the money.” Look at the loan industry, which is flourishing because people are willing to mortgage their future for a fleeting taste of the here and now. We think have to have the best to be the best. But when it comes to giving back to God, we are seldom as lavish with Him as He with us. God will simply have to wait until next week.

But greed works in other ways, too. It’s possible for a person to save so much money that soon they begin worshiping their savings portfolio rather than using it to love their neighbor. But to keep ourselves looking good, rather than calling it greed, we call it having “common sense” instead. Like the rich man, our clothes are turning purple and our tables are full. We are the rich man – refusing to listen to the Law as it tries to wake us up to God’s way of seeing things. For many of us, greed has become good, not evil – a way of life – and we love the way we live.

But we’re in good company. Did Abraham not try to help God fulfill the Promise He had given him – that his house would not be barren, and that his wife, Sarah would have a child in her old age? When God didn’t deliver the son He had promised in what Abraham considered a timely manner, he went and slept with Sarah’s maid, Hagar, who then gave birth to a son named Ishmael. Abraham’s greed—even greed for what the Lord already promised him—that impatient greed got the best of him. But did God give up on Abraham and look for another to be His heir? No. God still kept His Promise. Abraham believed that promise, and the Lord credited it to him for righteousness. He counted that faith as though Abraham was perfect.

Abraham’s problem was that he wouldn’t listen to or immediately believe God’s Word. And that was the rich man’s problem, as well. This unnamed rich man walked by Lazarus’ place at the gate of his house every day. Perhaps he even had a passing acquaintance with him. But it’s obvious he didn’t care about him. He had more important things to be concerned with. But when death came to them both, there is where we find the surprise. The rich man ended up in hell, while Lazarus was carried to Abraham’s bosom – that is, to heaven.

Yet even in hell the rich man in his greed was playing his greed game– still looking to make a deal. “Send Lazarus,” he pleaded, “so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. Send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment. If he goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” And how does Abraham respond? He tells the rich man that if his brothers refuse to hear Moses and the prophets, then neither will they be persuaded even if one should rise from the dead.”

Ouch! That must have stung. But it’s true. When you pay no attention to the Law and the prophets, neither will you pay any attention to Christ – even when He rises from the dead. The Law and the prophets, you see, their purpose is to prepare you to receive Jesus and His teaching. Saint John writes that if someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he’s a liar – for if he doesn’t love his brother whom he’s seen, how can he love God whom he hasn’t seen? You and I, we need to repent and give up our greed. We must turn away from wanting to help God only on our terms. We have to return to Christ so that His love might abide in us, and so that we might love Him even as He loves us. And this is how God loves us: He sent His only-begotten Son into the flesh, so that whosoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. God created this world because it’s His nature to love. And the Father sent Jesus into this world as an expression of that love – because God doesn’t want those whom He created to die and be forever separated from Him. Rather than passing us by every day as the rich man did Lazarus, God had pity on us, picked us up from the pit, took us out of it, and set us free.

Now, God counts our faith in all this – that is, our faith in Him – as righteousness. And to accomplish this He has placed our greed – indeed, all of our sin – upon Jesus, the sinless Lamb of God. God, you see, unlike us, is not greedy when He sacrifices His very best, His own dear Son. But here is where God is greedy. The Bible uses the word jealous. God is greedy in this sense: He wants to save you all on His own. He doesn’t want, seek, or need, your help. By saving you all on His own, He demonstrates the true meaning of love, and promises to abide in those who abide in Him. This He accomplishes by means of Holy Baptism, where water connected with the Word pulls you out of this world of sin and death into the endless life of the world to come. Forgiveness of sins and eternal life are now yours as a free gift, as through the faith of Jesus, God saves you from the death and hell we all rightly deserve.

God also abides with you in another way – through the Sacrament of the Altar, where you receive with your own mouth the true body and blood of our Savior, in, with, and under simple bread and wine. Though you’ve been wearied by the devil, the world, and your old sinful flesh, you will soon be eating and drinking at that Banquet Table which is God’s gift to make you whole again in Christ. Because God abides in you, you are now empowered to proclaim His love for others through your various vocations. Your life, hidden in Christ, becomes a light-filled sermon preached to the world. Though still weak, you no longer feel that “need for greed” because of Jesus. The richness you have in Christ is what moves you to show His love to others. Trusting in Him who saves us from our greed and gives us His love in return, you’ve been freed to love your neighbor even as God loves you. Greed is dead. Love is alive. Believe it for Jesus’ sake.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Gen. 15:1–6 the stars…So shall your descendants be
Psalm 33:12–22 the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him
1 John 4:16–21 perfect love casts out fear
Luke 16:19–31 They have Moses and the prophets

Sermon for the Festival of the Holy Trinity: May 30, 2021 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Throughout the Old Testament, God set before men like Isaiah, Jeremiah and the other prophets, an incredibly difficult, uncomfortable task. They were not called upon to explain the sublime doctrine of the Trinity, but what they were given to do was prophesy – prophesy concerning Israel’s impending destruction at the hands of her enemies. It’s a message of judgment, so it should come as no surprise to learn that these men suffered continual rejection in their quest to be faithful to God’s call.

On one occasion, for instance, Jeremiah was beaten by the chief officer of the Temple and placed in stocks so people could ridicule him as they passed by on their way to their false, hypocritical “worship.” At one time Jeremiah became so despondent on account of his God-given task that he complained of ever having been born. He wrote: Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed! Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, who made him very glad, saying, “A child is born to you – a son!” May that man be like the towns the Lord overthrew without pity. May he hear wailing in the morning, a battle cry at noon. For he did not kill me in the womb, with my mother as my grave, her womb enlarged forever. Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame? (Jeremiah 20:14-18)

In similar fashion, the holy man Job also suffered. However, unlike Jeremiah, he didn’t suffer at the hands of God’s people who rejected his preaching. Instead, Job suffered afflictions of body and soul which God permitted Satan to inflict upon him. He lost seven sons and three daughters in one catastrophic event. All his flocks of camels and sheep were stolen right out from under his nose. Satan was even permitted afflict him “with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.” So in his forsakenness, the famously patient Job also reached the point where he despaired of his birth, and said: May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is born!’ May that day turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine upon it. Why didn’t I perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day? There the wicked cease from turmoil and there the weary are at rest. (Job 3:3-6)

Yet the regrets of one’s birth are not confined only to the prophets. All who enter into this life and reject the faith God desires to give us all – who willfully live in conscious opposition to the Lord’s Christ – will likewise also regret their birth someday. Recall, for instance, what Jesus said of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed the Lord of Life to His death. He said: “The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!” (Mark 14:21)

Consider how some people, even today, regret having ever been born because of the course their life may have taken – because of regrettable actions they have done or because of regrettable punishments they may have suffered at the hands of evil men. Due to terrible things that happened to them, both Jeremiah and Job wished they had never been born. And, it would have been better for Judas not to have been born – not because of what he suffered, but because of what he willfully undertook – even though if he had not betrayed our Lord, someone else would have stepped up and taken his place.

But, you may be thinking that Jeremiah, Job and Judas are extreme examples. Maybe so. Is it not true, though, that each of us – sinners all – at one time or another are inclined to look back on our lives with a deep sense of regret? Is it not true that many addictive people rue the day they first gave in to temptation? Is it not true that many lament the sufferings they’ve experienced at various times in their life, not all of which they outwardly seem to have deserved? Is it not true that many would love to go back in time, do things differently, right the wrongs they may have committed, and perhaps maybe avoid some of the pain in their life?

What causes you remorse? Is it the way you may have been treated, the way you’ve treated others – or is it both? Is there something in your life that makes you desire a return to your birth, a chance to start over – fresh, spotless and new? If so, dear Christian, today’s Gospel is what you need to hear. It’s the story of Nicodemus, who came to Jesus at night under cover of darkness, with a hunger to know and understand the source of the great miracles Jesus had performed. But our Lord Christ had no desire to discuss the topic Nicodemus wanted to talk about. He didn’t want to get tangled up in explaining the three persons and the single essence of God. Rather, Jesus engaged him in another subject, more to the point: “I tell you the truth,” He said to him, “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” – born from above – “begotten of the Father” as we read in John chapter 1– “born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, nor a husband’s will, but born of God.”

Jesus wasn’t speaking to Nicodemus about the possibility that he could return to his mother’s womb – as if that were even feasible – but He did speak with him about a return to the fresh, clean innocence of an Eden-like birth – about a birth of water and the Spirit that restores regrettable, regretting sinners to an unceasing, child-like innocence – an innocence that has no “stain or wrinkle nor any other blemish” – an innocence which only God, and no one else, can give. Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about Baptism – his Baptism, your Baptism.

Nicodemus, you see, was more than just a “teacher of Israel,” as Jesus called him. He was also, perhaps more importantly, a battle-wearied sinner – a Word-of-God-speaker who had no idea what He was to speak – a truth-searcher who realized he had run out of places to search for the truth. So he came to Jesus at night and said to Him: “Rabbi, we know You are a teacher who has come from God.”

Here in this Gospel, Jesus taught the teacher, just as He teaches you and me. He teaches us that you can, indeed, return to your birth and start afresh. He teaches that new birth has already come to you as a gift from above – in a birth of water and Spirit that washes away all sins and regrets with their attendant remorse and shame.

As Paul reminds us in Romans 8, there is now no condemnation for the people of God – for you and for me. There is, instead, the continually flowing water of Baptism – a washing of water and the Holy Spirit – that repeatedly blots out all your transgressions, washes away all your iniquities, and cleanses you from all sin. There is no guilt that any longer need weigh heavily upon your heart, for the blood of Jesus has cleansed and purified you.

You need never regret your birth, for our heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has given you a new birth – a birth from above. And so, with Nicodemus, Jesus declares to you this day: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” – born from above says the Greek – you too are “begotten of the Father” – even incorporated into the Holy Trinity Himself, since you are unified with the ascended Christ.

This is the birth that the Holy Trinity has given to you; it’s by the will of the Father, through the death and resurrection of God’s Son, and by means of the Holy Spirit’s gifts. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,” and he has been given new birth. After speaking of your new birth, Jesus goes on to speak about the certainty of your forgiveness and salvation with these words: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

Here’s where believing in the Holy Trinity makes a difference for you as a Christian: The Father sends the Son. The Son is lifted up on the cross for the salvation of the world, so that all who look upon Him in faith may be saved. Then finally, the Holy Spirit pours out His grace into your heart and mind, so that having been born anew, you may now and always live in the new life Christ has won for us all. By this faith, children of flesh are made to be children of God, heirs of the kingdom of heaven, and possessors of eternal life. This is the lesson of today’s Festival and its Holy Gospel reading. May our dear, merciful God and Lord graciously nurture and sustain you in it, for the sake of His Son, and for the building up of His kingdom.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Is. 6:1–7 Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
Psalm 29 The voice of the LORD is over the waters
Rom. 11:33–36 Oh, the depth of the riches
John 3:1–17 unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Sermon for the Day of Pentecost: May 23, 2021 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

The ancient people of Shinar seem to be so different from us. They were all descended from Noah’s family and they had already started repopulating the earth after the devastating Flood. We find it hard to imagine, especially here in a state that today has over 200 different languages currently being used, that everyone always and exclusively spoke only one language. We don’t know what that’s like, everyone understanding exactly what everyone else is saying. In the city of Babel long ago, those people had great potential to do great things, since they were united in one very real, very advantageous way.

And yet, those same people had a great many fears, just like you have today. They feared that one day they might become scattered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. They feared that they would not make a name for themselves, that their reputation wouldn’t amount to anything at all. If the residents of Shinar didn’t act decisively and quickly, then irreversible disaster would most certainly strike. They were convinced, not by some warning from God, as if He had come down from heaven and told them—Hey, you guys, you nomads need to get your act together now and build up your city. Or, why haven’t you started on your tower yet? No, they had managed to convince themselves through their fear that they had made up in their own minds instead.

How soon they forgot that the Lord was their Shepherd, that He was the one who rescued them from the destructive waves of the Flood. That He had preserved them as His people and He gave them the gift of unity with one another and the gift of one, single, perfectly understandable language. They already had peace with God, a name and reputation that was all that they needed, but through their fear they chose instead to make a new name for themselves, a name that they created on their own with accomplishments they thought would salve their fears and give them the kind of peace they craved.

As we just read, that idea didn’t work out for the people of Shinar too well. They proceeded with their city of Babel, employing their new brickmaking technology, and they started raising up the tower that they had hoped would scrape the heavens.

The Lord came down to see, but He already knew. His people had rejected Him. God wasn’t jealous over bricks or an impressive city or even a tower. He wanted their hearts all to Himself, but they had chosen to follow their fears instead. He wanted their fear, love and trust to be centered in Him. Why? He created them, and rescued them from the waters of the Great Flood, and united them in one community and language, so He had the right to judge them for their wayward faith. The people of Babel would have to suffer the vengeance of God.

And the Lord didn’t have to do much at Babel. Very little effort would be necessary. He simply let their sin, and the chaos that it naturally produces, take over these people. They sincerely desired to proceed in their plans with God totally out of the picture. Often God answers the sinful intents of people by allowing them to feel the effects without His gracious interference. In many cases, there is no worse punishment possible! That is the frightening thing for you, isn’t it? You want something so bad, you can’t imagine life without it. You don’t think you’re going to get it, until you do, and you wish you had never even thought about it. That’s when you finally figure it out that whatever you desired actually became for you your god, just like the citizens of Babel made their own god out of building that tower. Out of their disdain for the Lord and their high praise of themselves, God mixed up their languages and scattered them—the result that they had feared the most. Their tower crumbled into the dust, and their bodies, like that of Adam their father, would soon follow suit and also turn back to dust. This is one teaching you gain from this: You inevitably see that there is always something that is missing in your hunt for things, fame, identity, power, popularity, the good life, or maybe just simply surviving one day to the next. What is missing? In a word: peace is what’s missing.

And Jesus offers you peace, not the fake peace that the world cherishes and bombards you with like annoying commercials, phone sales calls or Internet pop-up ads. Jesus is here and today giving you a Pentecost gift when He simply says: Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. The peace comes not as some light-hearted feeling that makes you tingle inside. The peace of Jesus is actually His gift of the Holy Spirit. This is something real, and truly powerful. Note what the gift of the Holy Spirit does to those frightened, bewildered apostles in the upper room on the first Pentecost Day: He fills them with joy, gives them boldness to preach in the face of certain resistance, and certainly not the least spectacular, He gives them the gift of speaking in many other languages.

Do you see now the great fulfillment that took place? The confusion and scattering due to a multiplicity of languages long ago at Babel has now at Pentecost in the city of Jerusalem been undone. Notice, though, that the reversal is not accomplished by wiping out all those diverse tongues and creating one language again. Instead, He accomplishes the reversal of Shinar’s curse by preaching the Gospel in the mouths of His first pastors in many different languages—not unrecognizable, babbling tongues—the specific languages of the very people who were visiting Jerusalem at that same time! The judgment of God handed down so long ago in Genesis 11 was finally turned on its head in Acts 2. And all of this was thanks to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, as Jesus promised. It was just the beginning of God’s mighty work of salvation in this sin-cursed world.

God is at work also here in faraway Yucaipa, where the Word of God has since Pentecost been spread all over the world. You are not too different at all from the ancient people of Shinar. You have fears hanging on to you today. You are tempted from time to time that something else besides God your Creator and Savior needs to fulfill your life, salve your fears and give you complete peace. They were saved from the cataclysmic Great Flood of Noah; you were saved through the Great Flood of your Baptism into Christ, washed clean in the forgiveness that Jesus paid for with His blood when He died on the cross.

Out of love for you, the Lord may have allowed you for a time to feel the painful tinge of the harm that your sins can do. But He didn’t condemn you, then or now. He was always with you, even when you didn’t feel His presence, or even when you might have felt disdain for Him. He wasn’t pleased that you decided for a while on another god in search of peace, to make a name for yourself, or to save you from that one disaster you most want to avoid. Yet your Shepherd still desired to gather you in with all of His scattered sheep. He created you, He saved you, and even today on Pentecost 2021 our Lord is uniting you His dispersed people. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a gift of a new name, a refreshed reputation of being the not perfect, but forgiven children of God, gathered here in this humble place. You have received a unity and a common language, the language of faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, for the resurrection of your bodies on the Last Day, and the life that will be everlasting.

Jesus Himself had said the Holy Spirit is your Comforter, the Helper. Why would your Lord give you a comforter if He did not know that you will be needing comfort? He says let not your heart be troubled. Then that must mean He must know that you constantly face fears and uncertainties and temptations to sin. You who could never have helped yourself any day of your life, be assured that Jesus has not left you as orphans. His Holy Spirit helps you as you struggle in this time known as the Christian’s life on earth: a time of trouble, hardship, and evil, but because of your Savior Jesus Christ it is a life full of true Holy Spirit-filled joy. You have His Word and His promise that you are forgiven. The blessed eternal inheritance has been yours ever since the water of Baptism placed the Holy Spirit into your heart.

On this Day of Pentecost, your prideful, crumbling, self-centered Babel heart is rebuilt and re-centered in God your heavenly Father, thanks to the death of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. You have the heavenly peace of God that goes beyond your own understanding. His gift of the Holy Spirit comes to you only one way—from His Word. From the Word you hear and read, from the Word with which you are washed, the Word you eat, the Word you drink. And the renewal of your life, the renewal of the world, the renewal of the Church, leave that up to Him. Let not your heart be troubled.

God has indeed given us great potential, not for our own accomplishments, but for His Word to sound forth in our lives as His Church. Put your trust not in the promises or personalities of men, nor in gimmicks or sales pitches, nor any fabulous tower-building projects to preserve the Church, for those are sure to crumble sooner or later. Jesus doesn’t care about our buildings or bank accounts—He wants your heart all to Himself. So, secure your trust squarely on Jesus Christ by the help of your Comforter, the Holy Spirit. It is a promise on which your Lord always comes through; He will never fail. Come, O Holy Spirit, and lead us every day to Jesus.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Gen. 11:1–9 the whole earth had one language
Psalm 143 Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications!
Acts 2:1–21 We hear them speaking in our own languages the wonderful works of God
John 14:23–31 My peace I give to you, not as the world gives

Sermon for the Seventh Sunday of Easter; Ascension: May 16, 2021 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

The Creeds of our Church confess the Biblical truth we just read in the last chapter of Mark that forty days after Christ’s Easter conquest over death and hell, He ascended to the right hand of God, the Father. Now, the “right hand” of the Father is actually everywhere, say our Confessions; it’s the position of power and authority over all things. And from this position of power and authority, He has and ever will reign and rule as King of kings and Lord of lords. This is very comforting for us. We belong to this powerful, exalted Christ, and He made us a promise. Yet we also need to be clear about what kind of power and authority that Jesus has. With His ascension He retains as the Son of God in resurrected human flesh everything that He willingly set aside when He arrived that first Christmas. So on this day when we celebrate our Lord’s ascension into glory, it would be right and good to draw from Holy Scripture exactly how the secular or left-hand kingdom of God’s reign is related to his Spiritual or right-hand realm, and also how those two must remain distinct.

When most people think of Jesus ruling His kingdom on earth, they don’t think much farther than a place like this. Sure, the Lord can live and reign under this roof, on Sunday mornings. But ask a Christian cake decorator that has recently been through a horrific lawsuit, whether they can enjoy the freedom of religion on other days of the week in their everyday lives at work. These days the world is saying to the Almighty God, we don’t want you to reign over us. Sure, we’ll give You control of our “faith life” so to speak, but we want our so-called “real life” to ourselves. It is impossible to limit God’s influence to one particular realm. It’s not as though you were here right now to fulfill some obligation to Christ, and then when you went on your way, that time left over belonged to you to do with however you please. No, the kingdom and rule of the Ascended Lord Jesus Christ controls even our everyday, secular life, for God lies hidden even in your neighbor whom He has placed in your path to serve just as though you were serving Him.

Whether it was the pious monks and nuns of the Middle Ages, or the well-meaning preachers of personal relationships and promise-keeping in our time, godly people have often felt that their spiritual lives had to be obviously apparent and different from this world, or else they will not reach true holiness. Finding spiritual gifts was quite the rage for a while, and to be sure, people should always exercise their unique ways of serving God, but certain other talents were pushed aside as though they were not “spiritual” enough. If it wasn’t termed a “ministry” of some sort, then it wouldn’t help build God’s kingdom. And if everything became a “ministry” then what would happen to the true, Biblical Ministry of preaching the Word and forgiveness of sins? The truth is that Jesus is ruler in the Church but also He rules in the mundane, everyday secular world. He may be hidden in the imperfect, self-serving government and other sinful neighbors, but living and working as a believing Christian in regular daily life is also considered godly service, even if it isn’t specifically called a “ministry!”

But there’s another serious error – namely, when the secular and spiritual are blended so completely there’s no longer any distinction left regarding the way Christ rules each of these domains. Even though they are not separated, the secular and spiritual do have a valid distinction from each other. It’s a distinction that’s just as much needed as the difference between Law and Gospel, even though both are God’s holy and necessary Word.

Since we live in a world where Christ reigns over all things ever since His Ascension – the question we ought to be asking then, isn’t whether or not Christ is reigning, but rather: “How far into our own lives is this reign of Jesus? What difference does it make to me?” I don’t like it when a family member of mine decides to move in with someone of the opposite sex when they should be getting married first. But I don’t want to upset them or lose them, and they are the exception—they can make sure that it doesn’t ruin their relationship. And so little by little, God’s rule over us is kept farther and farther at arm’s length. We learn in Ephesians that Christ’s rule and reign extends over all things. It was permanently established by the Father when He “seated Him at His right hand… far above all rule and authority and power and dominion.” He alone is King of kings and Lord of lords—the One to whom all must give answer on Judgment Day.

But, even though He rules over all things, in every realm He carries out that rule through different “means” – and in many very different ways. His rule in the left-hand secular realm, for instance, is normally carried out through governments, as St. Paul teaches in Romans: “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except what God established….” And in Colossians, saying: “By Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible…” He rules the world with power and the law, while He rules the Church by grace announced freely in the Gospel.

Through government God wields the sword of justice so that order might abound, for governments are ministers of God for our own good—and the government doesn’t bear the sword in vain. When it rains, when it’s dry, when the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening, and when flowers bloom and leaves sprout it’s all because of His power, which was awarded back to Jesus upon His Ascension. And yes, good governments rise and corrupt governments fall, as well as everything in between, because Christ is sitting on His throne and reigning!

He governs His Church by His grace – the grace He purchased and won for us on the cross – and upon which His Father stamped His seal of approval by raising Him from the dead and returning Him to His exalted throne. Men and women of every nation and tribe come to faith, and His children follow Him and desire to do His will because of this accomplished salvation mission. Your holy status has been achieved not as a result of your works, but because of Christ’s works for your sake. At the end of life, His elderly saints – at a ripe old age – and His young lambs- some of whose lives are swept away all too soon – when they die, they enjoy the glory of being in His presence because of Jesus.

And those who labor, struggle, and face the trials and tribulations of life, are able to do so only because of the abundance of His grace. This grace is what causes Christ to rule His Church with tenderness, kindness, and compassion – those same qualities He demands of men to love and serve their wife and family. But more important, Jesus so abundantly demonstrated that love perfectly when He gave up His life for us all. His means of handing out forgiveness is not found in laws and governments, or even special church programs, but only in Gospel Word and Sacraments. That’s what we’re here to do as a church.

Through means of His Word He reveals Himself. Jesus reminded His disciples how “all things written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” And how—so that His followers might see this— “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” Then in the same way, Paul prays that the eyes of our hearts might be enlightened to know the hope of Christ’s calling—the riches of the glory of His inheritance of forgiveness—and the surpassing greatness of His power toward all who believe.

Every time you gather to hear God’s Word, Christ is ruling His Church and showering forgiven saints with His grace. Here is where God desires His forgiveness to be proclaimed and the promise of eternal life extended. Here is where hope is bestowed upon all who call on the name of the Lord. And each of these blessings are given by means of His Word. But there’s more! By means of simple bread and wine in Holy Communion – and by means of water in Holy Baptism – God continually showers His people with countless blessings – all for our strength and benefit – and all so that we might be ruled by His grace. You and I, dear friends, we must seek Christ not only while He can still be found, but also where He wants to found.

Recall the angels’ directions to the shepherds: “And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, lying in a manger.” Martin Luther says in one of his Christmas sermons: “Word and Sacrament are the manger and the swaddling-clothes into which it has pleased Christ to lay Himself.” And while such lowliness might seem far too worldly to our fallen human reason, the fact is that our Lord will be found nowhere else. Dear children of God, you and I, we cannot set up boundaries regarding the rule and reign of Christ that don’t already exist in God’s Word. And, by the same token, neither can we mix up His reign in our day to day life or else we lose sight of that grace which He bestows upon His Church and Her people.

The reign of Christ “fills all in all” for He alone is the Lord—and not just over His Church, but over everything. The world He rules with power—bringing forth justice and order; and the Church He rules with grace—as He gives Himself to those who are His own with a rule that’s gentle, and brings the unspeakable gifts of forgiveness, life and eternal salvation. This is the rule of Christ in the hearts of His children—may it always be so in your life.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday of Easter; Rogate: May 9, 2021 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Jesus had already taught His disciples the Lord’s Prayer, the greatest, most holy words that human beings can say back to God. They had asked Him, with some urgency it had seemed, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And so the Lord gave them a truly blessed privilege, the privilege to call upon God your own Father in prayer. Remember how the catechism puts it when it explains the words Our Father who art in heaven: With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father. What a treasure this prayer must have been to them! So precious that their ears might have tingled once they heard the Lord’s Prayer. You would think that they would have prayed this prayer constantly, knowing that the Son of God Himself told them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father…'” and so forth.

Would you believe that they didn’t even bother? After He taught the disciples the prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, just like they asked Him, none of those eleven men had yet uttered a word of it, even up to the hours before Jesus would begin His Passion and suffering. “Until now,” He says, “you have asked nothing in my name.” He had to repeat to them His invitation to pray, almost pleading to them with the words, “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Why did they hesitate to pray? Why did it take Jesus until the eve of Good Friday to convince them they have this blessed access to God the Father?

Perhaps, but only maybe, they have an excuse. And that would be that these men were with Jesus constantly, talking to God in the flesh, hearing His gracious words of life and forgiveness. True, the Lord told them ask anything in my name it you shall receive it, but they truly had all they could possibly dream of, walking with Christ from place to place. Plus, it was not yet clear to these disciples how Jesus would bring their prayers to the heavenly Father. It would not be based on the specific words they would say, nor on anything good that they did, and not even based on the fact that they are the Lord’s own students. Instead, the Father would hear their prayers based on the death of the Son for their sake. Remember, Jesus was talking about His death when He told His followers, “A little while and you will not see me,” and mentioned His resurrection when He said, “And again a little while, and you will see me.” They already had the privilege of praying to the Father, it was just a matter of time before they will experience the need to pray, and here Jesus invites and even pleads with them to pray.

Where does that leave you? You don’t have the same excuse that the disciples had. You already have the need to pray, whether you choose to feel that need or not. It’s like what Luther would say to someone who didn’t feel the need to have the Lord’s Supper: touch your body, do you feel something? Then you have flesh and blood. Believe the terrifying things that God’s Word says about your sinful flesh, the human nature, and you’ll come every week to Holy Communion. Look around you, see anything? Then you are in the world, and if you really believe what the Bible says about the sinful world and its ruler, the devil, who wishes to attack you constantly, you would be much more serious about prayer than you are most days.

All of you who remember being confirmed: the temptation is unbelievable for you to deny the confession of faith you [had] just made. That’s the devil working. It’s what he wants. You are tempted to think you’re “done,” that there’s nothing more. I know. The same thoughts ran through my head at that time, too. But the Lord has a whole life of prayer left ahead of you. When He washed your sins away in Baptism, He breathed His Holy Spirit into you, the Spirit that cries out “Abba, Father!” in prayer.

But you have often resisted that urge to pray. You have put it off. You have thought that most things in your life are not that important yet. You have worried about what other people might think about you if you were regularly involved in a life of prayer. You have heard your pastor say that you don’t earn God’s blessing through prayer, and so you draw the false conclusion that prayer is not important. Most often when you’ve prayed, you have set terms, limits, demands upon your heavenly Father. You have been upset with Him for not coming through for you in the way you imagined. All the while you have ignored or otherwise failed to see His true blessings right in front of you the whole time. Perhaps you may have prayed for something while at the same time you remained confident that it would never happen.

But when Jesus invites you to pray like He does today, He sets aside all your sins that have occurred in the category of prayer. He not only forgives you for doubting Him, but He also gives you the sure foundation of His promise to hold on tight. That foundation was laid when Christ the Cornerstone was nailed to the cross. The words He said while He was crucified were His prayers made for your sake. Though you might have wasted words or said things you wished were taken back, Jesus made every word of His count so that your sins would be forgiven and you would be considered for time and eternity to be a precious child of God. Because of this, God is eager to hear your prayer, just as He plants within your heart the eager desire to pray.

God the Son assures you that the Father Himself loves you. Believe what He says. Your name is written in the Book of life, not by your decision for Him, but by His grace toward you. Ask God in confident prayer, and you will receive, that your joy may be full at the last Day. In the meantime, confess with your fellow Lutherans that you believe the true Christian faith with all your heart. Recall the promise God helped you to make that you would give up everything else, even your own life, rather than deny anything that the Scriptures or the Small Catechism says. And armed with that confident faith that only the Holy Spirit can give, you are bold to approach Almighty God on a regular basis and in Jesus’ name you are privileged to call Him “Our Father who art in heaven…”

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter: May 2, 2021 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

The Gospel of John, chapter 16 is full of comfort for fearful disciples on the verge of a transition. Jesus had been with His twelve followers for about three years. He had spoken about His death and that He would rise from the dead, but each time He brought it up, the disciples didn’t understand. Jesus was aware of that. Before He would go to the Father, the Son of God clothed in human flesh would first have to go to the cross. “But I will come again, and your sorrow will turn to joy.”

And joyful the disciples were in the few weeks that followed the first Easter Day. The Lord encouraged them more and more each time He appeared. Then another transition will come. Jesus will ascend to the Father. The Son, still clothed with human flesh, but now risen from the dead and glorified, will from that moment onward sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Where is the right hand of God? The right hand of God is everywhere, for the power and strength of God is everywhere, and Jesus is One with the Father. That is not what is turning the joyful disciples back to fear and sorrow.

They have fear and sorrow because they will not see Jesus any longer. A transition is soon to happen. Their Teacher will depart. They will be alone. They will have to face the raging evil of this world without His help. How can He leave us now? We’re finally starting to get it when He teaches us these things! Now He’s going to leave? We can’t do this without Jesus.

The disciples are right about one thing. They can’t do this without Jesus. They are sinners. They cannot deceive themselves by thinking that they are free from the weaknesses that hinder their service to God. They need forgiveness, a release from the weight of their sins. The Ten Commandments reveal that they have disobeyed God in their thoughts, words and actions. They need the blood of Jesus, His life that He gave for them on the cross, to give them their life, to give them their strength in this time of transition and for the rest of their future. They think that on the day when Jesus ascends to the Father, that’s when they will lose everything that Jesus gave them. In John chapter 16, Jesus comforts these fearful disciples that instead, they will gain even more help than when He was with them the past three years.

Jesus promised His disciples, and He promises you as well, the gift of the Holy Spirit. The name that Jesus gives the Holy Spirit is the Greek word Paraclete, which means Helper, Comforter, Cheerer, Exhorter. The Holy Spirit is One with Jesus and with the Father, and together they are the Holy Trinity. We will not see Jesus, but He will still be with us. His peace, His comfort and His joy will not depart from us, His Church.

The Holy Spirit is the guarantee that Jesus’ promise to be with us will always come true. When Jesus goes away to the right hand of the Father, He’s not leaving you, dear disciple. Instead, He’s drawing nearer to you than you will ever know. It is to your advantage that Jesus goes away and sends the Helper, the Holy Spirit, and in this way, Jesus will be with you always, even to the end of the age.

And Jesus Himself tells you what the Holy Spirit does: He will convict. At first, ‘convict’ doesn’t sound like much help. Convict sounds like bad news for us sinners. But Jesus says the Holy Spirit will convict. In order to convict, He will need to examine evidence and then render a verdict. Upon whom? Jesus says the Holy Spirit will convict the world.

He will convict the world of three things: sin, righteousness, and judgment, and this only when the words of God, as preserved and written down without error in the Bible, when these words are proclaimed in the mouth of God’s called servants for the whole world to hear. That’s where these disciples come in, and every pastor from their time onward who will preach the Word of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins. The disciples will not be alone; rather, the Holy Spirit will do His work of convicting the world through the Word of Jesus they will preach.

First, the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin. He reminds the world of sin not because you can do anything about it. The world needs to be told: what you value as good and right is actually an abomination to God. O World, what is fair and equitable and loving in your eyes is actually evil, twisted and shameful. No two ways about it. We shake our heads at the perversions that are running out of control all around us. In fact, the Holy Spirit reminds us, we need to rid ourselves of this very evil that also lurks inside us, not just out there.

Through the Word of God, the Holy Spirit speaks the Law to you to make you realize you have broken it and that for your punishment you are to be separated from heaven forever. The Holy Spirit must accuse you to death from God’s Law. Because you have not kept the Commandments perfectly, because you have offended God with your thoughts, words and actions, the Holy Spirit must accuse you of your sin against His Holy Word, but it doesn’t end there.

Secondly, He convicts of righteousness. The Holy Spirit announces the judge’s verdict—but, contrary to what your mind would expect—the verdict upon you is innocent. This is not because God changed His mind or decided to overlook your death sentence. No! It’s because your death sentence has already been served in your place. Righteousness is defined as absolute perfection in God’s sight—it’s something you did not have and only Jesus had. The righteousness of Jesus came in two forms: He led a perfect life and followed each and every commandment completely, and He suffered the full punishment even though He didn’t deserve any of it. Both of those produce an overwhelming benefit that the Bible calls righteousness. And the Father credits that righteousness, that perfection of Jesus, to your eternal account and the dividends, namely forgiveness and life together with God, are yours as His gift. The world will of course reject this gift of righteousness and constantly oppose the Gospel and the Church, in one way or another. Yet we fear not, because we have Jesus our Savior and His promised Helper, the Holy Spirit.

Finally, there’s the conviction of judgment. The devil, the ruler of this world, stands judged, says Jesus. He has been robbed of all his power over you, and he has no future except weeping and gnashing teeth. If one should refuse God’s gift of free forgiveness and hope instead to do enough good deeds to save oneself, then the judgment is hell. But for you who believe in Christ and hold fast to Him, the judgment is Heaven, resurrection of the body, life everlasting. And the Holy Spirit speaks of these three things: sin, righteousness, and judgment, when He proclaims to you Jesus, only Jesus.

This Jesus He brings right to you and places Him into your ears. The Holy Spirit takes the Body and Blood of Christ that was shed long ago and far away and feeds Him to you in your own mouth. And this Holy Spirit that convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment, the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, He brings your prayers before the Father. Because you are baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and because Jesus has ascended to the Father’s right hand, God hears your prayer in any situation, in any trouble, doubt, or blessing that you may experience.

By the Power of the Holy Spirit, you hear Jesus spoken, out of the perfect Word of God, and into your ears today, and you hold fast to Christ your bridegroom. Your heart is fixed where true joys are found. For He has cleansed you and made you His beautiful bride, without spot or wrinkle. Through all your life’s transitions and changes, He made His constant vow to you that He will not forsake you—and to seal that vow, He gave the gift of the Holy Spirit. And His greatest promise to lead you to eternal life forever in union with God will come to fulfillment thanks to, you guessed it, thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit. Sing for joy to the Lord! Your sorrow has been removed with forgiveness. You will never be alone. Jesus will return in visible form for you soon. Until that day, He has given you the Helper, the Holy Spirit. May you be and reman full of His comfort.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Is. 12:1–6 with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation
Psalm 66:1–8 They went through the river on foot
James 1:16–21 every perfect gift is from above
John 16:5–15 He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment