Our modern culture teaches us many ideas. Some lessons are better than others and some are terrible. Among the various ideas are concepts concerning forgiveness. Sometimes, our culture may teach us that “Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself.” Or we may be taught that “Forgiveness must be earned,” or that “Forgiveness is a process.” If we examine these statements one by one in light of Scripture, we see that they are all at least a little off-target.

First of all, when we hear that “Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself,” there is some truth here. What I mean is that if you hold a grudge against someone, then you may be holding a burden of bitterness inside of you. Forgiving the person releases you from that burden. From a psychological standpoint, this makes sense. But is it Scriptural? In today’s holy Gospel, Peter asks, “How often should I forgive my neighbor? Seven times?” We can almost hear in Peter’s voice some frustration. If someone sins against you seven times, and each time you forgive, you will probably feel frustration. You may ask, “Are they really sorry they did it, since they keep doing it?” Like Peter, you may wonder how many times is too much. After all that forgiving, it begins to wear on a person. You may begin to feel taken advantage of.

The problem is, if a person tells us they are sorry, we are to forgive them. We cannot dig into their secret emotions and thoughts to find out if they are truly sorry. We may ask them, but then we have to believe their answer. If we believe they are thinking or feeling something without concrete evidence, then we are slandering them. We have to accept that they are sorry, and then we are obligated to forgive.

Who does the burden fall upon? Upon the forgiver. If you forgive, you are agreeing to not seek retribution. You are agreeing to not hold a grudge. You are saying, in essence, that you will not hold this sin against them from the very moment you say the words, “I forgive you.” You are giving up any right to pay them back for the wrongs they did to you. Like the king in the parable, the debt is canceled, so there will be no debt collectors coming to take the money.

This can be tremendously difficult for us. By forgiving, you are removing a burden from the one you are forgiving, without asking for conditions of repayment or restitution. This is really the opposite of the world’s view that says that forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. No, forgiveness is a gift you give to the person you forgive.

Forgiveness may happen to benefit you in some way. But that should not be your motivation. Think of your neighbor and his need. Think of whether you would want him to forgive you. Think, most of all, about the fact that Christ our dear Lord wants us to forgive our brother without conditions, without strings attached, without limits.

How can we do that? Not from our sinful heart’s ability. The new heart that is created in us by the Holy Spirit is strong and loving and willing to forgive. But sometimes the old heart weakens us and weighs us down. Sometimes our emotions become too strong and all we can think about is how much we have been wronged.

The culture around us also sometimes says, “Forgiveness must be earned.” Again, there is some truth here. When a relationship becomes strained because trust has been broken, it will take time and effort to rebuild that trust. But anything is possible in Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Because Christ shed His precious Blood, our forgiveness is not limited by our human heart. The price is paid already, no matter how serious a sin was committed against us. Therefore, there should never be conditions upon forgiveness.

All this assumes that a person repents of their sin. If they have no sorrow for sin at all, or deny that Christ died for them, then we are not obligated to forgive. As He said, “Whoever’s sins you do not forgive, they are not forgiven,” which means that we are to withhold forgiveness from the impenitent as long as they do not repent. May we also repent of our sins, by God’s grace, so that our whole life may be one of repentance.

When our culture says, “Forgiveness is a process,” there is a little bit of truth there. It may take some time before a person who forgives feels completely forgiving in his heart. So our culture often counsels us to wait to forgive until we are ready. We are warned that if forgiveness is given too easily, it will be cheap grace.

But the forgiveness itself is not from our heart. It cannot be cheap grace because true forgiveness is ultimately from Christ and His Blood. It was bought at a most precious price. We are not the Redeemer. We only pass along the Good News that His death has purchased atonement for all sins. Every transgression has been paid for, so that we can tell people that their sins, also, are forgiven. This is not from us and our love, but from the infinite love of God.

Yet we also want to forgive from our heart. Christ says in our text: “So also My heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” Although the source of forgiveness is not in our heart, but Christ, yet our hearts should follow along with what our mouths speak. In other words, we should feel that all is forgiven between us and a brother who wronged us, without any lingering bitterness or grudge.

This may take some time. Our fragile hearts are easily bruised and easily scarred. When terrible sins tragically injure us, we are often too frail to immediately give full and complete forgiveness from our heart. We should still speak absolution to one who has gravely hurt us, yet we likely will not immediately and fully love them as if nothing had happened. Injured feelings take time to heal, if they heal completely at all. Although the forgiveness should be spoken as soon as we can, regardless of our feelings, we want our feelings to follow along with the truth of the Gospel we speak.

So do not say that you forgive someone and then willfully hold a grudge. If you find yourself harboring bitter feelings against someone you have forgiven, then work on putting your emotions in line with the Gospel. Pray for strength to do so. This is a sanctification matter, so the Holy Spirit will work with you in this goal.

So where does the power to forgive ultimately come from? It comes from mercy, and mercy gives grace, and with grace, there is forgiveness. Mercy is that which we must learn, for mercy is the compassionate treatment of those in distress, especially when one has the power and right to punish or harm them. It involves kindness, forgiveness, and benevolence towards others, often in situations where they may not deserve it.

We like the unforgiving servant are quick to receive and accept mercy but very often do not show mercy in return because of our selfish self defense and fear. Repent, each and every one of us. Look to the Cross. Look to the infinite worth of the Blood of God, shed for you and for all men. There we see true mercy, benevolence, grace, kindness, and forgiveness that no sinner deserves. This all comes from God’s perfect love. Christ has paid for all trespasses ever committed right there. There we see the power to forgive which He then brings to you in His forgiveness given in His Word and Sacraments. Therefore, do not be afraid to show mercy to those who repent to you, even as God has shown and continues to show mercy to you by the forgiveness of your own sins in Jesus Christ’s name.

As the parable of Christ makes clear, anyone who sees that his own gigantic debt is canceled should willingly forgive the relatively small debts of others. We have had our tremendously huge burden of sin forgiven freely by Christ. We have a lifetime filled with iniquities, including a multitude of sins that we do not realize we committed against God and our fellow humans. All of these are erased from God’s record by the Blood of Christ. He in perfect love puts those transgressions away from His memory. He chooses not to remember them, and to see us only as holy sons and daughters because of His promise and then accounted to us by faith.

Among the many sins for which we need forgiveness is our failure to fully forgive. If we were perfectly loving, as we should be, then we would happily forgive anything and never feel any bitter grudges against anyone. But instead, our sinful hearts sometimes fail to fully forgive because of weakness. This failure out of weakness is not the same as stubbornly refusing to ever forgive. In our weakness, we still struggle to try and forgive more fully from the heart. God give us grace to accomplish this difficult task.

To learn to forgive best, receive forgiveness and mercy yourself. Come to the Supper where He gives His grace and mercy by the forgiveness of sins in the very body and blood of our Savior. Come to Holy Absolution and take this to heart: that our repented sins are truly forgiven and will not be held against us for Jesus Christ’s sake. Come to hear the Gospel preached and taught. Receive with sincere faith, as one who knows that you are a sinner who deeply needs this Gospel. To help us, the Word is always accompanied by the Spirit, who is constantly molding our hearts to be more loving and more forgiving. It is the Holy Spirit who will give the ability to forgive so that as we heard in the Epistle your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes only through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.
God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 

God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.

It was all very good. So good that we are told that it was good 7 times. One time for each day of the newly created week.

Yet, in the Gospel lesson we heard of an official in Capernaum who came to Jesus travelling to Cana, he went to Him and asked Jesus to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
In the Epistle lesson, St. Paul tells us and the Ephesians to take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day… that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
In the collect for this morning, we prayed:
Lord,
keep Your household, the Church, in continual godliness
that through Your protection she may be free from all adversities and devoutly given to serve You in good works;

But wait, when God created the heavens and the earth, when He created each element, when He formed Adam and Eve, and looked upon all His creation: everything was good. But in the Gospel lesson, we are reminded that there is now sickness, there is the threat of the reality of death. We pray for protection in the collect, free from adversities, and pray that we would serve God in good works. But everything was good in the beginning. Good was a given, good works a natural outcome of that which is good. There is no mention of sickness, death, adversity, or the necessity of protection or armor or a wrestling against an enemy, let alone Satan.

What happened? I am sure that you have heard the saying “that there is a little good in all of us”. If so, good works should be easy. Why does it seem that evil is what seems to come more naturally to people, to society, even from within ourselves? We are so quick to say and do cruel, mean, and selfish things. We are so controlled and manipulated by fear, selfishness, and rage, that the only “good” that we see or desire is for our own benefit. What happened?

What happened was sin. Sin which is the opposite of good. Sin which comes from unbelief, which has its origin first from pride, both in the fall of that angel, whom we have come to call Satan who was jealous of His own Creator and in pride wished to be rid of His care and service and be as God for Himself and then we see this also in mankind.

Once defeated and cast down, the Devil planted that same seed of pride with distrust in the goodness of God into the hearts and minds of Adam and Eve who then rebelled against God’s good and gracious provision and will.

With that sin, came the curse. The curse of separation from God as light from darkness from good and evil. The curse of death: stealing away life: so dying, sickness, weeds, hunger, thirst, ignorance instead of wisdom, unbelief instead of faith, fear instead of love appeared. This now is the “so-called natural state” and condition of mankind since that fall of Adam and Eve.

Is there still goodness in the world? Yes, there is. But it is perceived in brief moments within God’s creation which retains some of its original beauty. But to our sin plagued senses, it is veiled as though under shadow when viewed outside of faith. Without faith in our creator, this view of good is often inverted and perverted toward selfish gain. “How can we use this?” Our tendency is to ruin what is good. Or without faith, the world sees the leftover of goodness in creation and wishes to worship it without acknowledging the creator, misunderstanding its beauty and meaning as reflecting the beauty and power of God in His Truth.

How can this veil be removed? How can there be joy and contentment in this life with hope for something more? Dear friends, you already know what it is. You already have it. You have already heard it.

It is in the Lord and in His Word. His Word which is Jesus Christ, the same Word spoken by the Father at Creation through whom the Spirit brought forth light and life and all goodness.

This Word is the answer to the fallen flesh of fallen creation, to you, me, and to the world which so often turns a deaf ear to its redeemer and creator.

But God continues to call out to the world to shelter them with His goodness, to redeem them from evil, from death, and the devil. The clues are in creation as God continues to allow beauty, breath, temporary life by His ongoing provision, but He speaks clearly His mercies, His Will, and His goodness by His preached, spoken, and written Word as recorded in Scripture and in the life of Jesus Christ. There is the redemption of the World proclaimed. Jesus Christ is the hope over against the sickness of sin, ignorance, unbelief, death, and the eternal death which our sins and the sins of the world deserve.

That is why God sent Jesus into the world, so that Jesus, the Son of God in perfect holy flesh would live not in pride and rebellion but in humility and obedience or in other words, in truly good works of faith and love. Love for His Father and love for His own creation, for men and women. So, Jesus as true God and true man, kept the whole Law, preaching and teaching that His Word is good and contrary to evil, that His Word has authority over sin. That by His Word, sickness, death, unbelief, doubts, anxieties, sorrow: all are rebuked, bested, and overcome. The official in the Gospel text heard the words of Jesus and believed and His faith was vindicated as will be all faith in Jesus Christ.

Dear friends, repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Forsake the darkness of your sin, the dark doubts and selfish hopes of this world, and be made truly free by the forgiveness of your sins, and the wellness of faith which is proclaimed to you anew this day in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ in His righteousness and mercy died upon the cross to pay for your sins. He has spoken His name upon you and by that same Word which spoke creation into existence, He speaks His grace to you which makes you His new creation. For you have been baptized into Jesus Christ, into His death, burial, and His resurrection. You are now His child. A healing child, a beloved child, a child destined not for death, but life in His eternal new creation in Jesus Christ by that water and that Word. You have been absolved and renewed in that baptism today as a member of His household, the Church. The veil of unbelief, ignorance, and separation have been removed for you, and you are called to live in faith, joy, hope, and fellowship with God and His wisdom for now and into eternity.

Yet, Satan, wishes to recall you to spiritual destruction and unbelief and he tries to attack you using the trials that still remain in this fallen world. He tries to get you to hearken to the sinful flesh that clings to you, and He whispers and shouts in your ears daily. Beware the media that you expose yourself to. The Devil can and will try to use music, news, movies, books, and even coworkers and family to tempt you to think that there is good in sin and selfish behavior, or that there is hope only in the things of this world or even to despair of God’s love and mercy for you.

That is why Paul’s Words in Ephesians are to be followed, for these Words are the Lord’s and with them come wisdom. The Devil is sly, and against him, we have no power of our own to overcome him but instead would be overcome and overwhelmed to our eternal destruction.

But you do not stand alone. You do not stand bare and exposed to the darts of the evil one and his offensive onslaught. You have Christ on your side, you have Christ covering you in His righteousness. You have His Scripture protecting your mind and Your heard. Therefore Study that Word, wield it, and cut through Satan’s lies, and know that in Christ you are able to stand, will stand, and will be guaranteed a share in the victory which Christ has already proclaimed at the cross for you for your salvation.

The Power of Good is in God and His Word alone for you and for your good. So come to Him where He is for you. Receive from Him your good in the Divine Service, where He dresses you for battle and feeds you with the medicine of immortality in the body and blood of your victorious Savior, Jesus Christ. Continue to be made new in confession and absolution, renewed by His Spirit in the light of His Word of Truth and life. Be encouraged. Stand strong under His protection against all adversities to devoutly serve Him in good works even as He serves you perfectly, mercifully by His good works in Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

The world has the idea that saints come about by virtue of their own moral character – their own good works. Some believe that saints only refer to those who have died and were in this life holy and virtually sinless people. That those saints have powers of intercession and can perform miracles from heaven. Yet in his letters, Paul often refers to his readers as “Saints”. Therefore, saints are not only those whose bodies are at rest or are a special class of people whose merits we can borrow.

We may often hear someone say, “What a saint,” when someone does something nice for us, or say it about someone who bears up under a tragedy with grace and dignity, or when someone is a great encourager and cheerleader within the community. Now, such people are wonderful, gallant, and noble, but are they truly saints because of what they do or who they are? It is true that good works and perseverance is a mark of a believer, but what does the Bible say about what is a saint?

The first reading for this day taken from the Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John helps to answer that question. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John had a vision of the saints in heaven. There are many saints at rest- more than anyone can number from every race, tribe, and language. One of the elders speaking to John tells John the exact process for making a saint or “holy one” as that is what “saint” means. The elder said, “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.” 

The blood of the Lamb is the blood of Jesus Christ as when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! The Apostle John wrote, [1 John 1:7] “The blood of Jesus [God’s] Son cleanses us from all sin.” The writer of Hebrews said, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Therefore, becoming “holy ones” or saints, comes only from the holiness of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. It comes by the washing of regeneration and sprinkling in Christ’s Blood in the pure waters of baptism as the merits and righteousness of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for sins on the cross are applied to His people by faith.

No one can confer sainthood on themselves, for in this life we have all become like one who is unclean by our sin, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. Instead, sainthood is conferred on us by the perfect life, and the innocent suffering and death of Jesus Christ our Lord and savior. If we were to call ourselves saints according to the world’s idea of sainthood, we would be pointing to our own accomplishments and the world would be right to call us arrogant and self-righteous. On the other hand, if we call ourselves saints according to the Bible, then we are pointing away from ourselves and toward the work and grace of Jesus Christ and are giving Him the glory and praise.

When we say that someone is a saint in the Biblical sense of the word, we are simply saying that the Holy Spirit has worked faith in them – that they believe that the Son of God took on human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ and earned the forgiveness of sins for them with His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.

All Christians who believe are saints and all saints are Christians. Today’s epistle gives us yet another name for saint: a child of God. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” Child of God, saint, Christian – these are all different names for those who have saving faith in Jesus Christ – all different names for those of the great multitude who will stand before the throne of the Lamb at the last and great day.

When we talk of all the saints as one large group of believers, we are really talking about the Holy Christian Church. The Holy Christian Church spans two different realities. Here on this earth, in this life, we are the Church Militant. We continue to struggle with life in this sin soaked world. Even though Jesus has defeated Satan with His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, Satan still bites and snaps, trying to wrest the victory from God’s children by tormenting and tempting them from the confession of Christ’s name. This is why we are the church Militant, we are yet in this life upon the battlefield. We would be defeated, except as we often sing in “A Mighty Fortress is our God”: “for us, fights the Valiant One”, that is, Jesus Christ who is that Mighty Fortress. He fights by our side now and continues to give us strength and power by the renewal of that washing in baptism, as He feeds and empowers us through His Word and Sacraments by the forgiveness of our sin, so that we may reach the goal and receive the victory by faith in His name.

Cheering us on, though not able to see our struggles, is the Church Triumphant. The Church Triumphant is made up of all those saints who are already gathered at the throne of the Lamb, who are now at rest from this earth’s labors. They are now without sin, without hunger, without misery, without tears, because the one called the Lamb is their Shepherd – who leads His lambs to living fountains of water. All memory of pain, death, sin, sickness, poverty, hunger, persecution, and hatred are wiped from their eyes along with their tears.

Even though this Church spans two realities, there are not two churches: one here on earth and another in heaven. Rather we “believe in one holy Christian and apostolic church.” The oneness of the Church is not destroyed even by the separation of temporal death of the human body. Christ has overcome death by His resurrection. Now where Jesus is, there are the saints – those here on earth, and those who have “come out of the great tribulation” of life in this world.

The Church on earth and the Church in heaven are united around the throne of God and in the presence of the Lamb through faith in Jesus Christ. When we gather around the altar on Sunday, we know that our deceased relatives and friends who have likewise “washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb” are right there with us. When we sing “Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world,” we sing along with the countless Christians of every age. When we chant “Holy, holy, holy,” we do so with billions of the faithful from every time and place. And when we come before the Body and Blood of the Lord, we are joined with those whom we love but can no longer embrace. We are not only in the presence of Jesus, but are also surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses, this host arrayed in white, those who fall on their faces night and day in worship before the Lord Himself.

So, it is proper on this All Saints Day that we praise God for the men and women of faith who have gone before us. It is appropriate that we honor the work that God has done in their lives to give them the true saving faith. It is also appropriate that we honor the work that God has done through their lives to affect the lives of the people around them. It is appropriate that we honor those who have preceded us into the Church Triumphant.

When we honor the redeemed, we are also honoring the Redeemer. The saints who are holy in God’s eyes testify to the only One who is eternally holy: our Lord Jesus Christ. It is His blood that covers our sin and allows us to stand in His presence. It is being baptized into His death that gives us a white robe. It is His Word and Sacraments that usher us into the throne room where we will never again suffer or be unhappy.

What then shall we do while we wait for our turn to leave the battle of this world and enter the rest our Savior has prepared for us? As we wait for the resurrection of the flesh at the last day?

Yes, life in this world is hard. Although we are saints in God’s eyes through faith in Christ, we still sin. The battle with sin rages around us and in us. We live in the great tribulation but we in repentance and weakness return to Christ’s cross and throne and are renewed. The Savior promises never to leave us or forsake us. We continue to live by grace and the forgiveness of sin given through faith in Jesus Christ. As He feeds and forgives us through His Word we are empowered by His Spirit to confess His name in worship and in our vocations to His glory and as a witness to others.

Though we live in a mortal body decaying with sin, these bodies will be raised and made new forever at Christ’s triumphant final return. Though our worship is imperfect, it will be perfected. Though our voices crack now, they will one day sing in perfect harmony with angels. Though we’re tired and distracted, hungry or bored, we will one day be so alive and filled with joy that we will never grow weary of joining this great crowd in heaven, singing and praising God.

Dear friends, we who believe are already saints. By His death on the cross, the Lord Himself clothes us with His righteousness, and through His resurrection He will one day shepherd us to everlasting life. In that blessed place we will experience the eternal joy of God’s presence along with the rest of the Communion of Saints. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

I sometimes wonder what the paralytic, lying there on his cot looking up at Jesus, was feeling and thinking when Jesus looks down at him and says, “Take heart, My son. Be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven.” And that was it.

Was he thinking…”Okay… thanks for that, but what about the whole paralysis problem here? What are you going to do about this, Jesus?” What were his friends thinking? The guys who had such faith in Jesus’ ability to heal that they brought him there. “Your sins are forgiven? That’s it? Don’t embarrass us!”

Admit it: If you were in the same situation, you would probably be disappointed too—maybe even a bit angry—if you went to all this trouble, only to find out that forgiveness of sins was the only thing you were going to get out of all of it. 

Sadly, many people continue to feel that way coming to church even today. Why? Because, like these men, many people, maybe even yourself, come to Jesus not to get sins forgiven but to get one’s life fixed or to get what they think they need or want. They come to church when something is seriously broken, and it needs fixing or expecting an earth shattering emotional experience, entertainment and life lessons… and all Jesus does is smile and say, “Be of good cheer! Your sins are forgiven.”

People come to church with all sort of expectations. Maybe they have broken or sick or sore and worn out bodies. Maybe they have broken lives with divorce, dysfunctional family drama, unemployment or financial troubles haunting their minds. Maybe they have broken spirits; with depression, grief/loss of a loved one. Maybe they want to escape it all or get a quick fix. Maybe they want just a pep talk or to hear funny stories or the newest hip Christian songs or only their favorite hymns.

You name it. People often shop for churches that best fit their felt-needs; whether it’s active and cool youth groups, men’s and ladies social organizations, because they have the best singles’ ministry, the best music, the most dynamic preacher. Yet, the Church doesn’t exist to babysit or entertain you or your kids or to facilitate a love connection for singles. Yet people attend churches, not because the Word is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered there for the forgiveness of sins, but because there, their particular itches get scratched even if it what they are getting is not ultimately healthy for their souls.

It is not enough for them to hear Jesus say: “Be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven.” Yeah… thanks for that, but that still doesn’t fix my problem. It doesn’t meet my desired expectations.” Yet this is the most important thing. To hear the Law and then receive the Gospel announcement of Absolution and forgiveness of sins is the starting point for all healing, for joy, strength for heart mind and body in this life and for eternity. 

In the Gospel text, Jesus pronounces His holy absolution upon this poor paralytic soul. His sins are forgiven. The scribes immediately began to say to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” “Only God can forgive sins.” That’s exactly what He was doing! Jesus Christ—God in the flesh—was forgiving sins.

Jesus responds: “Why do you think evil in your hearts?” He wants these wicked ones to repent their evil and see who it is who forgives sins. He uses this opportunity to teach about His divinity and the importance of forgiveness for sins as the ultimate need.

Now, pay attention to what Jesus actually says, He asks, “Which is easier to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Rise and walk'”? Jesus says the more difficult thing, right? It’s easy to speak the words of forgiveness, especially if it means nothing. Anyone can “say it” and it mean nothing. Anyone can speak words of forgiveness, but it’s quite another thing, to say, “Rise and walk!” to a paralytic and have it happen. The proof of His power and authority to forgive sins is proven in the healing of the paralytic. Jesus is using logic with these wicked doubters and evil naysayers. If Jesus has the power/authority to actually do the more difficult thing (heal the paralytic), then He most certainly has the power/authority to do the easier thing (forgive sins).

Jesus asks which is easier to say. He doesn’t ask about which is easier to do. Healing the lame, the sick, the blind, the deaf… even raising from the dead was very easy for God. If you look throughout the Old Testament, God worked these miracles through ordinary sinful men such as Elijah. Think about that for a moment. God didn’t even have to physically show up and heal. He simply authorized prophets to simply speak His Word of healing/restoration and it was. 

The forgiveness of sins is not so easy as it sounds. Look to this cross and you see. Speaking the command to that paralytic to rise and walk was actually very easy for Jesus. He didn’t even have to be present, if He didn’t want to. He didn’t even have to say a word, if He didn’t want to. He could simply will it from wherever He was at that moment, and it would be done like the servant of the Roman centurion. What about forgiveness though? Yes, Jesus spoke forgiveness and that was it—the guy was instantly and immediately forgiven. But look to that cross. That is where the power to forgive sins comes from. The sins had to be paid for. Now let’s talk about the more difficult thing, not to say, but to do. The earning of forgiveness is more difficult than to heal bodily ailments. Look to that bloodied corpse nailed to that cross. Jesus did the more difficult thing… for you… for the forgiveness of all your sin. When Adam and Eve plunged all of humanity into sin and damnation, God could’ve simply smote them on the spot, wiped the slate clean, and said, “Forget it. Not worth the trouble.” Or He could’ve taken the easy way we so often do and simply turned a blind eye to the sin. “Oh well! They will get their just desserts in Hell. Not my problem anymore.” After all, nobody wants to offend anyone, right? But He cared too much to just destroy them or let them destroy themselves. Instead, He gave up all of heaven’s majesty for flesh and blood. He gave up all of heaven for a virgin’s womb, a manger… a cross. He gave up all the praise of angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven not so that people can have temporary entertainment, their “felt needs met” or to have a fast fleeting and shallow “happiness”. He received ridicule, mockery, slander, and all other kinds of evil so that forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation could be truly accounted to those who receive this gift by faith. Jesus had prayed “Father, if there’s any other way, take this cup from Me!” Don’t tell me this cross was easy for Jesus! He agonized over what He was going to suffer on that cross… and still He did it. Your Lord Christ—God in the flesh—did the way more difficult thing… for you… for the forgiveness of all your sin and all the sins of the entire world. 

Saying that it’s “more difficult” is a gross understatement. Jesus did the impossible. He did what no person borne of Adam is capable of doing. He paid the full wage of sin with His perfect life and death. He actually made full and complete atonement for all sin for all time. We can’t even make atonement for one single sin, let alone all our sins. And yet… He does it, not because He needed the forgiveness, but because you need this forgiveness, and He has the only currency that is able to pay the wage of sin: His sacrificed body and His blood given and shed for you on the cross. It is this sacrifice that accomplished forgiveness. It is this precious, valuable, and life giving forgiveness of sins which is proclaimed and doled out here not with slick screens and gimmicks, but in the simple Words of Absolution spoken by a called and ordained sinner in Christ’s stead. Forgiveness of sins is given in the body and blood under the bread and wine. How can we not wonder and see that all our problems, our troubles must find their source of healing and fixing here? It is in this forgiveness of sins given in the anguishing and struggle of the cross of Jesus Christ, which gives you the power of mind and body and soul to wrestle against the problems of any given day. This is where peace from anxiety, grief, and guilt is given: where hope must be born in the midst of sickness, heartache, brokenness and suffering. Jesus Christ has suffered to ease your suffering first by earning and then giving you forgiveness for the sins which you have committed and from which you deserve to receive punishment. This is the greatness of God’s mercy. We deserve our troubles, but He heals us of the root cause by the forgiveness of our sins because of His love… and then He helps us in our other true needs by His power, mercy, and wisdom.

Life on earth could suddenly become absolutely perfect; not a care or worry in the world… and yet if you leave this world without God’s forgiveness, you’ve got nothing but eternal hell awaiting you. You tell me what’s most important! Perhaps, you may go through all of life with everything broken and hardships galore. But no matter how bad things may get, you have God’s forgiveness. Be of good cheer! Take heart! Your sins are forgiven! It is the most important thing from which all other gifts flow. Look to this cross. Look to the baptismal font. Look to this altar/communion rail. Here is Christ for you. Here is your blood-bought gift of forgiveness of sins. “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

So often we as children of Adam & Eve think that everything has to be about us. Yet that is not the point of the Scriptures at all. Even the Pharisees asked Jesus a very self-centered question as an expert in the Law to test Jesus asked: “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” In other words, they were focused on themselves and what they could do. How they could achieve favor and honor in the eyes of others; how they could stick it to the theological faction known as the Sadducees; how they could prove their wisdom, their goodness. Yes, many of them may have genuinely wanted to also please God, but they thought about it in terms of commandments, laws, accomplishing something to merit God’s attention, to prove their worth as a true “Son of Abraham”.

So one of the experts in the Law approached Jesus and asked Him the question regarding the Law. Jesus gave that expert the answer that follows the demands of the Law. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

I often tell our confirmation classes that the moral Law is rather simple. It has two parts. Yes, there are 10 commandments, but in order to fulfill them, you must love. Love is the key. Love God, love your neighbor. Sounds simple, right?

What does the Lord require of you?” Moses asked this of the people in the OT lesson for today. They were about to enter the land of promise. What was the answer he gave? “Fear the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, love him, serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, and Love the sojourner.”

Did you hear it? The key is to love. This kind of love isn’t mushy or weird. It means to care for. It sounds simple. It is, but it is near impossible to do. Like I said, all sons and daughters of Adam, Pharisees, Sadducees, Jews, Gentiles, Americans, Lutherans, Christians of any stripe, unbelievers, pagans, and atheists will have a hard time with this. Because we all want it to be about us. We love ourselves. Nobody needs to teach their kids to love themselves, unless they have run into people or media that shame people for not being like the world. No, our natural state is to want to worship ourselves and the things of this world. Love is easy. if it is for ourselves and those people and things that we value the most.

What is not easy is to love selflessly.

God seems to put a hard law upon us in that way. Love selflessly. Walk in all His ways, love Him, serve Him with all that we have, including looking out for the widows, the fatherless, and the sojourning wanderer and stranger that can give us nothing in return. It almost seems unfair to expect so much. But it is not unfair. It is reasonable. It is more than fair. God has created each and every human. He has granted them breath and life. Despite the sin of Adam and Eve, He has not yet destroyed the earth which so often mocks and derides His very name. Yet His judgement is coming. We are nearing the point in the Church year where we focus on that very thing: the coming judgement of Jesus’ final return. God is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but at the same time, He is fair and just and will visit punishment upon all evil doers at the last day.

This definitely should put the fear of God into people. Atheists and agnostics, that is people who stand for no truth can claim that they do not fear to burn in hellfire, but they should. So should we. If we continue in our sins, if we forget our God who has redeemed us, then should we not burn with the rest of the unbelievers? If we make the things of this world, its sports, our kids and family, ourselves: our resting and sleeping time, our making money to reward ourselves, pleasing others in the world, hiding our confession, so that they think well of us…if we allow the petty things of our pride to distract us from church even while attending, then we make us and our things “our gods”, then we are breaking the first and great commandment, are we not? Then we deserve to burn in hellfire and destruction.

But is there hope for forgiveness for sinners such as me and you when the punishment we deserve is so grave? Is this how God desires us to know Him? In fear and trembling, as terrible and awe-some and an unapproachable fiery terror of a god? No.

“Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn,” as Moses said. Repent, in other words, and in this there is hope in the Lord. That is why when Moses spoke to the people, He spoke to them of all God had done for them. He spoke of God’s nature as that of love. He does love. He does redeem. How can we know this love and redemption when all we see is ourselves and our failures or our pride? Look no more to yourself but to Christ. He will show us what the name of God and Lord truly means and what it means to the demands of the Law and love.

Jesus when asked a Law question, asked His own regarding the Christ. Why? To get the Pharisees to think about the fulfillment of the Law. To get them to think about the purpose and the way of the “Christ” who was to come. Why would God send Him? He was to come to reign and rule in the place and fulfillment of David. He would be a just and righteous king. But how would He accomplish…How would He usher in this reign? By showing us and revealing to us, the nature of God and the fulfillment of the Law. Jesus, the Christ, the second person within the Trinity showed the world the mercy and love of God. Jesus, God’s son, the Christ, showed that God doesn’t expect us to find Him or get right with Him or merit His grace. Rather by His Law He shows that we cannot earn God’s love or please Him. But in Jesus, we see that God is love. He is selfless. He is caring and merciful and desires our repentant faith, attention, and salvation. His Love fulfills His own law for you.

That is why God came and joined Himself to human flesh and put Himself under His own Law both the natural and moral law. And in Jesus He fulfilled the requirements that we and the world could not fulfill. Jesus showed the Love for God, but also the love for neighbor and all people. He took people in their pain, suffering, and sin, and healed and forgave them, pointing to the kingdom of grace that He had come to establish. The kingdom that changes people from sinners to believers made Holy by His righteousness. Because then Jesus, the son David, who was and is also David’s Lord and redeemer, went to the cross. He was sacrificed and died to pay the just judgement of God’s wrath upon the disobedience of you, me, and the world. In the cross, we see God clearly. We see how awe-some He is, why He worthy to be feared and respected. Worthy to be trusted, praised, and worshipped. Because, Jesus Christ, died for selfish sinners like us. He rescued us. He contended for us against our flesh, against the world, and the devil.

It is not about you and what you can do for God, but what God has done for you in Christ. This is the great message of life over death. He has given you all the gifts you need to survive, thrive, and live in this world. To receive a heritage not of judgement but life eternal and forgiveness. He has baptized you into His Son, sent His Holy Spirit to wash you and bring you through the cross to the newness of Christ’s resurrection. He has taught you His Word not to be an expert in how to be the greatest Christian, but to be strengthened by His Spirit and live in His grace and be the people that He has recreated you to be by faith. When you fail, He brings you here with your brothers and sisters, to confess your need for Christ. Your need for His forgiveness, His counsel and gifts.

It is all about Christ. It is all about God, who is your Lord. He calls you by name, so that you can call upon His name for help, for praise, for help, and thanksgiving. So pray to Him for others, for yourself, in the name of Jesus Christ.

As we live in gratitude and thanksgiving, first receive the gifts of Christ crucified and raised given here in His feast of His body and blood. Here be strengthened in His name and in His presence as He comes to you. Be not ashamed, but receive His love. Be filled here together in the confession of what He desires for you: life, peace, reconciliation with God and with each other in His Truth. Then you can love, because you have seen and known His love for you which has fulfilled the Law and covered your sins in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

In the Gospel lesson for today, Jesus observed how the people at the feast chose for themselves places of honor. Jesus told the people a summary of the Proverb: “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. Or as God had Micah write: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Contrary to the way of the world, or the way of the sinful pride of our flesh, the Christian life is a humble life. We know there is nothing we can do to earn His favor. We don’t deserve anything He gives us. God teaches us to repent of our sins and receive in grateful joy His forgiveness and any and all other gifts He gives us according to His good pleasure for the sake of Jesus Christ.

As Christians, this is a very basic lesson we have learned. You do not worship the passing earthly mammon of influence, riches, even the worship of this temporary life and health. Even if you have been blessed with all sorts of earthly influence and recognition, you know – if you’re a Christian – that your life is one of humility lived before God. You are not greater, more worthy, of more value than other believers. You must not and cannot scramble to crown yourself with laud and honor here, for there is only One who deserves it. But there’s another and even more basic reason why the Christian life is a humble life. It’s because Christ’s earthly life was a humble life.

Jesus took the lowest seat. He humbled Himself. From eternity, He shared all honor and glory with His Father. But He hid His glory under the form of a servant. He always had every right to the glory of His Father, yet He waited for His Father to honor and exalt Him at the proper time as He fulfilled the Law in His perfect God-man flesh. This is how He saved us from the dishonor, eternal shame, and condemnation that we deserve. He came to serve in His humility, His obedience, His waiting upon the Father. It is in His humility that we trust and rejoice. It is the very object and foundation of our faith. We rely on our Lord’s meekness. As David sings in Psalm 18, “Your humility made me great.” God’s humility, God’s meekness, God taking the lowest seat at the table is what establishes us, unworthy sinners, to be righteous.

It’s truly an incredible thought. But as incredible as it is, God gives us the faith to believe it and rely upon it. God credits His own humility to us. By this little seed of faith, we receive the very obedience, suffering, and death of His Son, Jesus Christ. So just as He was raised from the dead and given the greatest honor in heaven, so will God exalt us in His time and at the rightful place.

In fact, we already have this honor. We who believe in Christ and are baptized into His precious name, God has already appointed a seat with Him in heaven. In the meantime, as we walk on earth and carry around our dying bodies, He prepares a table for us and comes to serve us. He honors us with food of which the angels themselves long to catch a glimpse. He gives us His own Holy Spirit, sustaining us with His own living voice, and nurturing us with His own body and blood. Even now, in the gathering around His throne of grace, in the assembly of His powerful Word, He invites us to walk about His altar and receive the blessing of Christ sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins. Today, right now, we are His honored guests.

So now, what does our humbled and exalted Lord teach us? He who honors us with His own inheritance, who called us to be heirs of His own kingdom, who has given us a status greater than we could have ever imagined – what does He say to us? He tells us in our daily lives to take the lower seat. Walk with humility. Count yourself to be less significant than others. Bear with one another in love. Put up with the weaknesses and annoyances of those around you. Don’t try to impress the popular and influential people of this world. Instead, give attention to those who can’t give you anything in return.

Jesus says that those who honor themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be honored. He’s speaking to us who have already been honored even more than the highest angels. He speaks to us who have every right to boast of our standing before God. We who have been called to be a royal priesthood are taught by the one who called us to humble ourselves.

Now, we need to understand why the Christian life is a humble life. Yes, it’s because everything we have from God is a gift, unmerited, completely unearned by us. But more importantly, it’s because we are in Christ. Jesus shares everything He has with us. As St. John says, as He is, so are we in this world. If Christ has given us everything He has, then it follows that we begin to resemble Him, think like Him, talk like Him, and even smell like Him. St. Paul says that we are an aroma of death to those who are perishing but an aroma of life to those who are being saved. We are strangers in this world, because that’s how Jesus is. So Jesus teaches us to live this Christian life, to bear our crosses, and not expect our honors and praises right now. Not to expect earthly glory, riches, success, or love from this world. We are holding a much greater treasure, which is kept fully for us in heaven and given only in part by faith right now.

Just to clear, Jesus is not teaching us to be ashamed of our standing before God. He’s not teaching us to speak with less confidence. It isn’t arrogant to boast that you know that you will be saved, unless such confidence is built on your own feelings of accomplishment and security. But don’t be fooled by false humility. We should boast in the promise of our Savior who has conquered sin, death, the power of the devil, and will return to judge the world and vindicate His Holy people. We should boast that the head of the heavenly banquet has already invited us and called us to come up to the high seat. We should strive to keep this precious gem shining all around us.

When you strive for pure teaching, then you are not striving to be liked by the world. When you strive to keep the unity that only the Holy Spirit gives in His Word and received by faith, then this will rarely if ever give you a place of honor at the earth’s table. We should speak God’s Word with humility, not because we are afraid of how the world will react to us. No, Jesus isn’t teaching us to be timid or cowardly. Instead, we speak God’s Word with humility, because we know that it is the power of God to salvation. We tremble before it. And we know that the Lord who gives it to us also wants to give it to all people.

When you put all of that together, then you get a lot of humility in this life. You get a lot of disappointments. You encounter a lot of apathy, even a lot of anger and hostility. It’s humbling. It’s often humiliating.

Yet, we rely on this doctrine of our Lord to bring about what the world can’t recognize. We can boast in this doctrine of our Savior, defend it, and insist that it’s true. We don’t need to pull punches when we say that there is salvation in no one else than Christ. We don’t need to downplay any truth from God’s Word. It’s our inheritance. But when people don’t receive it well, when you aren’t given that promotion or you aren’t invited to sit with the cool kids, don’t despair. Turn to Him who invites you to a much higher seat. Because He will hear your complaints with more care, understanding, wisdom, and attention than all the vain sympathy of this world. Then join your fellow saints right here around the altar where your Lord serves you with the highest honor.

It’s very common for Christians to get discouraged by the humility they experience in the world. They see how they don’t fit in at work or school. And then they get obsessed with fitting in. That is partially why there is such a proliferation of church “types”. People want to go where people are like them, whatever that means. Maybe even in this congregation you may be tempted to feel like you “don’t fit in”. St. Paul doesn’t tell you to try to find a congregation that’s a good fit for you according to your preferences. We are all sinners in need of a Savior, in need of His unchanging Truth. No, there is one body and one Spirit. We were called to one hope. There is one Lord, one Faith, and one baptism. There is one God and Father of us all. This is what we confess together in the Creed. And it is only through this confession that we know we are accepted by God’s Grace revealed in His Son, Jesus Christ.

You may notice that several people in this world have more honor and prestige than you do. Perhaps you see people in church who are more talented, more accomplished, more joyful, or just seem to have their house in order better than you do. But consider this. Those same people have one and the same hope that you do. Those same Christians have staked their entire eternity on the same Christ and the same baptism. They call upon the same Father. Their faith and confession is ridiculed and attacked in this world just as much. Because it’s the same faith and confession. It didn’t come from them. And it didn’t come from you. It is a free gift of God who invites us to come up and dine with Him.

Knowing this is how you bear with one another in love. When you recognize that no matter how well off or well to do you are in comparison to your fellow saints, you confess together the same saving doctrine of Christ in His body to His glory. So, take the lower seat together in this world. If you have more of these world’s goods, then share them. If you don’t have as much, then don’t let it bother you. You have the Word of your Savior. You have the highest treasure there is. Receive it with meekness, because it has the power to save your soul. Let this be your boast and your confidence, even if you have to bear mockery and humiliation on account of it. It’s good for you to be humiliated in this world if it drives you to cling more firmly to Christ and His Word. And at the Last Day or at the hour of your earthly rest, your Host, Jesus Christ, shall come to you where you are and say: “Friend, move up higher!” And so you will be, in His glory forevermore. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus meets a funeral procession on its way out of the city of Nain. It was a funeral procession for an only son of a widow. Almost the entire city had come out to show their grief, support, and curiosity.

Did you notice where Jesus met them? Jesus met the death march procession: at the gate of the city. “What is so important about that?” you ask. Well, it is something that we might miss because we no longer live in cities surrounded by walls and barriers in case of invasion by foreign powers. However, we do know something about fences, gates for animals, for property, and parking structures. We know what doors are: for our homes and our buildings for work or business. Some gates and doors are very large and wide and tall. Some are less so.

Gates and doors are both barriers, but gates and doors are also the way into and out of places. How do you get into a parking garage or a stadium? Through the gate. How do you go into or out of your house or into a store, a bank, or other business? A door.

They can also be barriers to those who wish to enter but shouldn’t: for example: It can be to keep out criminals, or wild animals in the case of animal fences and gates. They can keep people or animals in a place as well, so that they do not go wandering off if they are likely to get lost. I am thinking specifically of animals, children, and those with mental health disorders. But they can also be barriers to exit for prisoners and other such situations.

To repeat then: gates and doors are both barriers or thorough ways to control traffic and who or what goes in or out at specific times.

In the Bible the terms door and gate are significant in their usage. After the fall into sin, God placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the entrance into Eden and the way to the tree of life. When the flood was about to take place, it was God who “closed and sealed the door” of the ark. It was on the doors and doorways that the blood of the spotless lamb was to be painted so the Angel of death would pass over a household in the original Passover meal which led to freedom and exodus from Egyptian slavery. There were gates into the temple of Jerusalem, but there was a closed door to the Holy of Holies where only the consecrated priests could approach the special earthly presence of God.

In our text for today’s Gospel Nain’s gate is called a “Pulay” which specifically a gate of the wider sort, like a city gate. It is the same word that Jesus uses when He refers to the entrance into Hell, which would fight against the Church in its confession of Christ: “even the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Interesting. The way to hell is wide. In Matthew and Luke Jesus also said: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Mt. 7:13-14)

Wide is the way that leads to destruction. This could be its own sermon regarding unbelief and morality, but let us ask this question: What is the widest of wide gates through which all of us must pass? Death. Death of our bodies is a result of our own sin and the curse of sin in this world. The wages of sin is death. The end result of that sin is the very thing we often fear and fight: death itself. Like I said last week: why do we worry, why do people covet, steal, kill, hate, slander, disobey, etc.? It is because ultimately each one of us is selfish. This is a result of original sin. This rebelliousness deserves the punishment of being barred from the grace of God, and being ushered through the wide gates not only into death of our bodies but through the gates into the immense abyss of Hell. To be trapped as prisoners in eternal punishment.

Many try to escape this eternal death seeking redemption by different doors. They may try being the best and most holy person they can be, thinking that will earn them favor with God. Others may try various religions, or pursue their own mixed bag variety of spirituality. Some may think that they can do whatever they want, live however they want, that God’s grace is cheap and will save all people or people who just aren’t the worst, which they assume they are not. Satan uses many pastors, leaders within the church bodies, who are really thieves and false shepherds, who say that “broad is the way that leads to salvation, and narrow is the way that leads to destruction.” You see they reversed it. They introduce false teachings, skewing, and twisting Scripture, pointing people to works or lawlessness recruiting, directing, and hastening their entry to those broad gates of Hell. We all deserve this as we daily sin much and deserve God’s wrath.

But there is a way that changes the gates of death; A miraculous exchange so that bodily death is no longer the entrance to damnation but eternal life for soul and body; a door through which people must be brought already in this life for their salvation to be rescued from destruction at the end.

It is narrow and singular. Jesus said: “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Also “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

How do we find Jesus who has been sent from the Heavenly Father? How do we unlock this door to be brought into salvation?

In the midst of death here on earth He meets you. Jesus, the Son of God, descended from the Father to meet those dead in their trespasses and sins, and overthrow the curse and the damnation caused by sin. This is the significance of the detail that Jesus the door to life eternal met the funeral procession at the wide gates of Nain as He meets humanity at the wide gates of death and sin. He did this at Nain to show what Jesus came to do in His earthly ministry: defeat the curse of sin: death itself.

In His perfect earthly life, and then in His crucifixion and His death, death and life contended, they fought. The perfect spotless lamb of God shed His blood and gave up His life at the cross to achieve victory. Even though they rolled a great stone in front of the door of the tomb’s dark prison which held the Son of God’s body, He could not be held. The angel rolled back that stone to show that the tomb was empty. “See, He is not here. Why do you seek the living among the dead?”

Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. The yawning gate of death has lost its dread. The door of salvation has already been opened for you. The door which guarded the Holy of Holies has been replaced with Jesus through whom you have access to the Father. This door does not wait for you to find Him. He finds you. You know the way. He has already come to you. He used your parents, your friends, your family, your pastor or neighbor, He uses His Word even now as He used the Sacrament of Holy baptism to enter the locked door of your heart and mine. Now His blood covers us over, as He works faith in us, to open our eyes, to see Himself and His cross, the narrow way of rescue from spiritual death through His death to life in spirit, mind, and body. For believers, Christ victorious stands at the gates of death, now death is no more than an entrance to the fulfillment of all God’s promises of redemption through Jesus Christ.

Beware the wolves who in this life lurk at the gates of your heart, the spiritual thieves from without and even our sinful nature from within, that would have us turn away again unto destruction.

Become students of the Word. Do not be lazy, but exercise your faith to become strong in the Lord. So that as you learn and grow you may receive Him rightly where He promises to continue to meet you. Here at this altar. Receive the very blood of that Passover Lamb, the Son of God in the Lord’s supper given and shed for you for your forgiveness, to seal you for life everlasting.

As St. Paul said in our Epistle lesson today: “according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” In Jesus Christ you too may arise, that is be resurrected in mind and heart now and at the last day. The people of Nain did not fully realize it, but they Confessed Jesus Christ as the One who would be raised. They said: A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 

Jesus Christ, the prophet of all prophets, the priest of all priest, king of all kings, has been crucified but has been raised and is raised among us by His working of Word and Sacrament. God has visited His people and has opened to us the way of eternal life. Do not weep. Rejoice, in Jesus Christ crucified and risen for us, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

To say we live in anxious times is a gross understatement. Although we all know that there is certainly nothing new under the sun: people have worried about the same basic things we do since the dawn of time; for example, plagues, corruption, tyranny, wars, economic upheaval, natural disasters, and so on, we also can’t help but see how the constant bombardment of the modern media stokes these anxious feelings regardless of your news source in these days. Now you may say, “Who me? Anxious? never.” I find that highly unlikely. If you wear the flesh of Adam and Eve, then you have things that make you anxious and cause you to worry and stress. You may not be anxious about the same things as your neighbor, but you’re still anxious about something or somethings. This is the result of the fall into sin and the curse of sin. We are born with an innate sense of …

And at this point we could easily turn this into a whole lesson on anxiety. Jesus Himself uses the word “anxious” six different times in these eleven verses, so it’s not like we’d be forcing the theme. This text is filled with anxiety! And yet… that’s really not what this lesson is all about. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” To all of our anxieties our Lord commands, “Stop being anxious. Seek first God’s reign and rule and His justification.” That’s really what this is all about, priorities: seeking first the reign and rule of God; seeking first His righteousness; His justification and we will not be as anxious. 

Now, I do need to make clear that there is a difference between faithful concern and unfaithful anxiety. You are expected to be concerned about all the gifts God entrusts to your care, including the gifts of health, wealth, and life. We are not to simply throw caution to the wind, stop working, stop being wise stewards of God’s gifts to us, doing whatever we want, fully expecting that God will cover us in our selfish stupidity. You are not to put God to the test. You are expected to be a good steward/manager over all that God gives you, and that includes the gift of life itself. You should be concerned. However… you are not to be anxious over such things. 

What’s the difference? Merimna-ō—the word we translate as “anxious”—is not talking about thoughtful responsibility, instead it is speaking more toward doubt and unbelief. Merimna-ō carries with it the meaning of having your thoughts and cares consumed by something other than God. Simply put, whatever makes you anxious has become your god. It’s your chief concern/worry. Anxiety winds up de-throning God. We wind up serving the gods of our anxieties rather than the one true God. This is sinful anxiety because we are not trusting God, but allow our worry to conquer confident faith in Him. We’re all guilty of it. We all have our anxieties. We all have things that we put before God. It’s not a debate. It does not make it ok. You can try to justify your particular anxieties all you want, but that still doesn’t make it right. “Do not be anxious. Seek first the reign and rule of God and His righteousness”. Your Lord leaves you no wiggle-room. If you’re honest, you will confess your sin that you don’t trust in God above all things all the time. Neither do I. 

But it comes with a promise. Seek this and be freed from anxiety knowing that God already knows your need and will provide them. How is that? Well if you seek His rule of righteousness, you will as St. Paul says in Galatians 5 and 6, “the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Gal. 6:8b) “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. (Gal. 5:16-24)

Jesus uses the birds and the grasses of the field to show to show the freedom of faith. The birds do a certain amount of work, but with few exceptions they do not store food, but live day by day for their provision provided by God. They know their creator and praise Him as they live without anxiety driving them to constant worry. This is the freedom of the Gospel. Besides: as Jesus said: “Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to your span of life?” Anxiety doesn’t add a single hour to our lives, but it can certainly cut our lives short.

This all goes right back to seeking first the reign and rule of God and His righteousness/justification. We get so worried and anxious about things we can’t even control; things that might take place days, weeks, and months down the line. You don’t know what the next hour or even the next ten minutes hold. “Seek first the reign and rule of God. Seek first His righteousness/justification.”

Repent of your sinful anxiety, your worship to the idols of your flesh, and be made righteous, and be made free in the peace of His Spirit given in His righteousness and rejoice in His fruits. Look to and ponder that life-saving, life-giving Divine righteousness which took on the very flesh of man in order to redeem man. Just look here [the crucifix]! Here is God’s remedy to all your anxieties and worries and cares and concerns! Here is God’s payment for sin, in full. Here is God’s unconditional and incomprehensible love for you, nailed to a cross and pierced with a spear… sacrificed for you. This is His divine provision greater than that given to the birds or the grasses. All so that you live not for a day but for an eternity with Him in His resurrection!

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: This is our reality right now! In spite of all the anxiety-producing things in our lives, we, by virtue of our baptism into Christ, are fully and completely redeemed. “Why are you so anxious about what you will wear?” Through Holy Baptism, you have been clothed in the all-availing righteousness of Christ. The finest and most perfect garment that no moth can destroy. Garments of celebration and life by the forgiveness of sins. Honestly: Is there anything more important? We have the Father’s mercy, grace, and peace. All paid for by Jesus’ own crucified body and blood; the very same body and blood He so richly and abundantly nourishes you with today. “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink.” Here He provides for you to eat and drink the most holy life giving food that could be provided here on earth. His very own body and blood given for you for the forgiveness of sins. Just one little crumb; just one little drop contains the super-abundance of God’s grace, mercy, and peace for all eternity. This is the over-flowing abundance of love and peace your Lord fills you with in His holy meal. Let that sink in for a moment. Here in your midst is the reign and rule of Almighty God! Here is the Lord of Life, reigning victoriously… here, in the midst of this shadowy valley of death and sorrow that we so foolishly dare to call “life.” Here is the righteousness of God, for you to overthrow your anxiety, your doubts, and your weakness by His strength. “Why ARE you so anxious about what you will eat or drink?”

Kind of puts everything else that makes us anxious in proper perspective, doesn’t it? It should. Again, no one is telling you to not be good stewards of all that God has entrusted to you. All God says is keep it in proper order. Seek first His reign, rule, and righteousness. Hold fast to the fact that He is working all things for the good of those who love Him. This means that no matter how bad or lean things may get in life, you belong to Him, and He is working all things for your good. Whether you live or die, you are resurrected and alive in Christ…and the best is yet to come! To live is Christ, and to die is gain, right? Well then why are you so anxious? Let’s seek the first and most important things—God and His righteousness—seeking and finding Him right where He tells us to look; right where He Himself is holding out these gifts of life, love, and peace to all who will receive by faith. Live now in His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control unto life everlasting in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Quite often when we look at the account of the healing of the 10 lepers, we think of the nine who didn’t give thanks as ungrateful. Perhaps they were. But we have to hand it to them, in this: They had known and owned their previous condition: unclean, leprous, and helpless…and when they heard that Jesus was coming, they went to the right person to cry out for help.

Leprosy was a nasty and painful wasting disease. It first attacked the skin, producing boils and scabs; turning it white and yellow. A person’s hair would fall out. Frequently, the nose and lip would be eaten away. The bones and joints would dissolve. Eventually, after long-suffering, death would occur. During that time between the diagnosis and death one would have to endure the social stigma, the isolation, and the permanent separation from society and those whom you loved, with the knowledge that you would most likely never get better.

According to the Law of Moses, if you had even the slightest symptom of leprosy, you had to be stripped and examined by the priest. If you were pronounced unclean, you were to quarantine away from the community, away from your wife or husband, children and parents and friends, and away from the temple and its sacrifices. This wasn’t like a 2 week quarantine like in 2020 with the coronavirus. This was a lifelong quarantine. Unless… what you had wasn’t leprosy but some other skin disease. If it were some other disease, it would get better, and once it was gone, you could show yourself to the priest and be welcomed back into the community.

This wasn’t the case for the ten leprous men. They had leprosy and were still quarantined outcasts, separated from their family, friends, and homes. The lives they used to live were gone. They were quarantined until death.

But they went specifically to where Jesus would be; the place of mercy. To the great high priest, the sacrifice to be, with the last of their hope. Standing at a distance, they lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” (Luke 17:12-13).

We know this prayer. Along with the Lord’s Prayer, it’s one of the most common prayers we pray to God. This cry asking for mercy is the essence of our faith in Christ. It is a cry of desperation, in trouble, trial, illness, and tribulation. It’s a cry acknowledging the death sentence of our sin, our desperate need for salvation from God and no other. It is the cry of one who is afraid of receiving the full weight of what sin deserves: isolation and quarantining from God, from His gifts, His presence. It acknowledges that one is worthy to be cast out from the holy assembly and community, sentenced to die a horrible never ending death in hell. This prayer for mercy relies upon the grace of God in Christ Jesus. There is hope in that cry of faith. That is why the cry of prayer goes out to the Lord even this day in all our trials, troubles, and needs. We seek the Lord to cry out to God for grace and mercy, completely reliant upon Him in order to receive forgiveness from sins for the sake of Jesus.

Leprosy and the way it was treated in the Old Testament, points to that greater disease that affects us all: sin. Sin is disobeying God’s Law in your thoughts, words, and deeds. It’s deadly and incurable, without Christ. You can’t shelter-in-place or mask-up to avoid it. Every person since Adam has been infected by it when we were conceived and then it grows by our own sinful act or inaction.

Unable to remove it, we’re completely reliant upon the mercy of God for rescue, relief, and restoration. And so, we cry out with the lepers, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” (Luke 17:12-13).

We see our dependency upon Him in all things, not just for forgiveness. We see our dependency upon Him to rule and bring order into this world, where conversation is met with violent reaction, as people celebrate any violence, murder, and cruelty, as protests wrack the country, as violence continues between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, and in other places around the globe, “Lord have mercy.”

We see our dependency upon Him as sudden storms created mudslides this week in parts of this community, as fires struck this area last year, as people wonder and worry about earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, drought, and the list could go on, “Lord have mercy.”

We see our dependency upon Him as we suffer illnesses, broken relationships, financial strains, hardship, and even death. We pray: “Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.”

In the face of their adversity, the ten lepers rightly cried out to Jesus. Their adversity taught them they couldn’t rely upon themselves. “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” (Luke 17:13).

“When He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests'” (Luke 17:14). Jesus had mercy upon these men, for as they went, they were cleansed (Luke 17:14). Yet, God’s mercy isn’t dependent upon the faithfulness of one’s cry for mercy. God is merciful because of His love in Christ Jesus. However, we see in this account how so many people respond to God’s mercy. Joy in receiving it, but ingratitude and forgetfulness regarding who granted the blessing afterwards. Despite this forgetful ingratitude, Jesus does not remove the healing.

“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?'” (Luke 17:15-18).

The nine lepers wanted mercy from God. They cried out to the God-Man Jesus for mercy in their time of need. However, once it was provided, they felt they no longer needed Jesus. In their minds, He had served His purpose, and then they forgot Him.

Does this sound familiar? It should. We see this ingratitude all the time. Sadly, we’re guilty of it too. Quite often us Christians are just like this in relation to God. We cry out to Jesus for mercy when we need Him. But once life’s troubles have passed, we easily forget Him. Our cries for mercy cease when our immediate troubles cease and we never return to thank and praise Him. And if we do, our thanksgiving is often short-lived.

To the nine, Jesus responds with a rebuke, but to the Samaritan who had returned to Jesus, who praised God with a loud voice, and threw himself at Jesus’ feet giving Him thanks, Jesus says, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well” (Luke 17:19). Literally, Jesus says, “…your faith has saved you.”

Fellow redeemed, God would have you continually go to Him in faith both in your time of need and when you’re well. So that you would live by faith in God every day, knowing and rejoicing that He is merciful for Christ’s sake. As your High Priest, Jesus doesn’t stigmatize you because of your sin, He does not cast you aside when you cry out in repentance, He does not relent in His mercy, instead, He willing comes to you. He bears the leprosy of your sin and the death it brings. He’s the true High Priest who offered up His own body on the altar of the cross to pay what your sins deserve, and His death and resurrection holds within it the cure and the way to cleanse you from your sin. He’s the One acceptable sacrifice who appeased God’s wrath. Through His holy and precious blood, He paid for and covered all your sins. He restored you to fellowship with God, even as we celebrate and receive that fellowship here in the Sacrament of the Altar. Through His blood, He richly and daily provides you with all that you need to support this body and life.

Jesus and His mercy aren’t merely a means to an end. He’s your beginning and your end. He’s the Alpha and the Omega. Go continually to your High Priest Jesus. Go to where you know He promises to be: in His church where His Word and His presence is preached, heard, and given. Continually cry out to Him, “Lord have mercy.” Receive the healing which the true Priest Jesus has earned for you by His death on the cross. Fall on your knees before Him. He is present in His church, at His altar, at His font, and in His Word for the forgiveness of your sin. Go show yourself to Him who heals you of your sin. Glorify Him with a loud voice in your songs. Give thanks to Him in your prayers. Show mercy to those around you. Return to Him, receive, and give thanks.

Thanksgiving is the natural response to faith. Christians complete their prayers and cries for mercy with uplifted voices of thanksgiving. Worship attendance, presence in this community that gathers around the Word and Sacrament that is the response of grateful faith. Christians gather where Christ is. Christians go to where Jesus is to hear their Lord’s Word and to receive their Lord’s Sacrament. They come together with other repentant sinners begging for mercy, to receive that mercy, and to respond in thanksgiving.

Two weeks in a row we have heard accounts of Samaritans. Last week in the Good Samaritan and this week in the Samaritan that falls down and worships Jesus as God. Two weeks in a row we see that the divine character of Jesus is to show this mercy to all who ask. So too, Jesus has come to show His mercy, every week, every Divine Service, in the midst of every trouble, all so that you can know His love and mercy, for you to be cleansed of your sin by His blood, to live in His grace by faith until we are brought to the place of complete and total healing: eternal life in the glory of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

“No servant can serve two masters”.
That is what Jesus said to the disciples in today’s Gospel lesson. The servant will either hate the one and love the other. He will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

The example used by Jesus as a master is “mammon”, or money, the pursuit of wealth. Wealth does not have to be the only thing that seeks to master us men and women. There are other interests that fight for our attention, our devotion, love, and worship. It could be family, our jobs, sporting activities. It could be pornography, alcohol, or legal marijuana. It could be social media, other forms of entertainment. It doesn’t matter what it is, if it becomes a priority above and beyond your faith, your witness, and your time with God and His Word, it/they/whatever has become your master over and above God.

For example, if you are afraid to rebuke someone in sin because you cherish their opinion of you more than the love of them and the love of God and the hope that they may repent, then that person and your pride, has become more important than God and His Word. If you are more willing to spend family time on a Sunday morning at home rather than bring that same family to the truth and treasures of God’s Word, then who are you devoted to? Who are you despising?

The passages for today are warnings against serving our selfish desires and against making friends with the world. Endearing ourselves with the world. More and more people in this country are abandoning the truth of God’s Word for their own version of God’s Word, editing out the parts that are uncomfortable for themselves or that might cause them scorn in the eyes of the world.

The steward in the Gospel lesson was using the treasures of his master to serve Himself, then when he was caught, he thought to make friends by buying off favors from those who owed his master other goods. Then, he thought they would welcome him into their homes.

What is this talking about? Well first, it is a summary of the Gospel lessons from the last three Sunday. These all speak of the role of pastors and teachers in the church. They are to be stewards of the mysteries of God. To be faithful in teaching. To be faithful in feeding the flock entrusted to them with the Word of God, with the right practice of the sacraments. But sadly, there are those wicked and false teachers who come in to twist God’s Word. They may relax parts of God’s Word, to soften God’s Word of Law or they may magnify the Law so that the Gospel is lost altogether. Perhaps they appeal only to emotion and sentiment or they despise the troubles and valid feelings of their charges. No, the false prophets appear in sheep’s clothing but inside are ravenous wolves who over the course destroy and lead astray.

So, the false prophets are like the steward in today’s text. They use God’s Word only to build themselves up, and then when the going gets hard and they are caught in misusing God’s Word, they make it worse. They try to make friends with the world. Instead of confessing their sin and admitting their failings to the master seeking mercy: they take advantage of their position one last time. They go to those who are in debt to the master and try to lessen the debt in their eyes so that they will think he is their kind of steward. So they can appreciate the favor he gave them. This is just like the false teachers of today, who seeing the winds of change in our society backtrack on a whole host of issues. The favorites of today: “so-called gay marriage” “transgender and other gender issues” in society and in the church. They will backtrack on anything, anything to make themselves seem like they are the buddy of the person they are talking to, to the community. They will back track on confirmation class instruction requirements, the liturgy, on the use of good hymns, on closed communion, on baptism. Oh, God’s Word says you are wrong? Let me take that away. No it’s ok, now, because I said so. Whatever it takes.

One who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If you make friends here on earth by giving up God and His Word, well expect to be received into their eternal dwellings. Those eternal dwellings are speaking about hell.

So what does that mean for you and for me? Well Jesus also said: “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much”.

All the gifts that you and I have been given are from the Lord. Essentially, we are all called to be stewards. Stewards not entrusted with the public ministry, but stewards nonetheless. You who have been baptized are stewards of God’s Word and faith as you have been instructed and received from Him. You have been called to hand it over faithfully as much as you can to your children (who are also God’s gifts and treasures to be stewards of) but to hand over and witness to the Word of God to your brothers/sisters/classmates/family/friends/ coworkers/neighbors/fellow citizens/ all those whom you come across in your vocation. You are by God entrusted with time here on earth, with money to help build up God’s kingdom. With the beauty that surrounds us to be stewards of all things that God has given to His glory and for your good.

But have you been faithful in what you have been given? Whether it seems to be much or little. To those around you, what do you declare to be most important in the living of your life? Ah, but who of us, pastor or parishioner, who of us has been faithful in the much or the little that God has given us? None of us.

We like David in our Introit psalm for today must honestly declare:
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
We do deserve to receive the full bill of what we owe God for our debt and being poor stewards. We should be cast out into the eternal dwellings of damnation with all the world, all the idolaters, sexual immoral, and others who have and will receive God’s righteous judgment. We cannot pay God back what we owe Him.

But God in His mercy, has already prepared Your forgiveness in His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the steward of God’s Grace who takes our bill which reads “condemned” and stamps “forgiven for the sake of Jesus Christ crucified”. That is sign of the cross upon Your forehead and upon Your heart given you at your baptism. That Jesus Christ died for your sins, He has risen for you, taking away your sin. In baptism, He took you out of the world and has changed you and continues to change you. By the blood of Jesus Christ, you have been purged, made clean, washed, and your sins made whiter than snow. When you confess your sins and repent, you are again purged and renewed in Your baptismal grace as you hear the absolution from your pastor as from Christ himself.

Dear friends, though you have failed this week, and I have too. We are renewed. He creates a clean heart in us. By the purity of His Word, He instructs you and makes you whole by His Holy Spirit.

This world is fallen, our natures our fallen. That does not mean that all in this world is bad. It is not. Much of it is good and wonderful. But do not make it your all and your god. This world will fail. Our bodies will fail. Tragedies come upon us because of the brokenness of sin. When these happen; when you grow tired, weak, or tempted to sin or be a people pleaser, or tempted to give up hope… When the world, rejects you for speaking a language and living a life foreign to itself…. Remember God’s love and mercy for you. Repent and return to Him. He has prepared through His Son’s death and resurrection: true life, true riches. He will not fail you. He will not allow you to be tempted more than you can bear. It may feel like more than we can bear, but look to the cross. Let Christ bear your troubles for you. In the midst of trouble see hope in that same cross of Jesus through which He has conquered your sin, your spiritual enemies, to redeem you and make you His own by the forgiveness of your sins and give you eternal life.

Now receive the body given for you and your salvation, your rest and refreshment. Drink the drink of His holy blood outpoured for you to be received in faith for the forgiveness of sins, for the strengthening of your faith and the faith of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Then take this Word of Law and Gospel, of life and hope, you who have received the Holy Spirit. Take it from this place with you, with boldness and joy and be faithful by His grace to speak of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who are ever faithful to exhort you, forgive you, to comfort you, to feed you until you are brought safely to the heavenly eternal dwelling that He has prepared for you in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas